A black pot grew hot, the water within beginning to bubble, as it lay suspended over an open flame. The timber beneath crackled and slowly gave way to ash, steam rising from within. Though, no soup or stew boiled within its darkened black curves, but rather a plain body of warm water; one that would soon become larger, as a hand came upon its handle.

With a great deal of strength that pulled against her whole body, Helene carried it to the center of the room and poured it out into a nearly filled bath.

"It's ready," she said, wiping her brow from the labor. "Sorry it took so long."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Elizabeth replied, putting to rest the page of parchment she read. "Water takes the time it needs to get warm. Besides, it has been an eventful day..." for a moment she drifted off into her mind, staring blankly at what she had been reading.

"While you get ready, I should tell you," Helene explained, contending with the many tasks that demanded attention. "Your children have been taken care of and are already asleep."

"That's good to hear," Elizabeth replied. "I hope they can sleep. It will be busy in the coming days. It will be busy. It always is..."

Helene was silent, gazing out blankly against the wall in patience and deep thought.

"I forgot to thank you, Helene," Elizabeth said, as the soft cloth that draped her skin fell to the floor and she was left with only her undergarments. The lump of her belly called the eye, and had any been there to peak, they would have stared. "I know you would have liked to stay for the funeral, but I needed you to do those tasks. So, thank you, Helene."

"No need to thank me," Helene quickly replied, turning further to avert her eyes. "I was just doing what was needed of me. That's all."

"You were doing much more," Elizabeth said, stripping the last of her vestment and letting the mix of warmth and cold touch her skin. She pressed against the sensation of the air and dipped into the warm bath, letting out a sigh of relief. "Ahh, that is what I needed... My bones were aching... I think I could sit here all day, or until the water gets cold. Almost makes you wish you could do this every day."

Helene grew the faintest of smiles, turning back to the Queen, though as she stood there, it was relatively quick to vanish. "My Queen," she finally said as she lowered her head. "My Queen I—"

"My Queen?" Elizabeth interrupted with her eyebrows raised. "Helene we are not in anyone's company. There is no need for such things. I told you this when we became friends, you don't have to act that way." She fell silent as she stared at her, "what's wrong, Helene? You can tell me anything."

"I am sorry," Helene began. "I am sorry for your loss. I am sorry I have not been more involved with your grief. I am sorry I was not there to take better care of you when you needed it. And I am sorry for not saying it sooner... but... but... I will do what you need of me. I will do anything you ask, my Queen. I will gladly serve you for your future."

Elizabeth was silent for a moment, before pulling her arm out of the warmth of the water. With a wave and a reach, she called to her friend and quickly held her hand in her own.

"Helene, my friend. You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should say that I am sorry. I did not mean to put so much weight on your shoulders. And I should not have asked, I should have—"

"No," Helene interrupted. "I'm sorry, but no. You do not have to apologize. I have to apologize. I should be the one who—"

With a laugh and a warm smile, Elizabeth broke the tension that gripped the room and brought about a levity that calmed the very soul.

"Is this going to be like that time we first met? When we went back and forth apologizing until we became friends? Do you remember that? Seems like just yesterday, but..."

"So long ago..." Helene added with a laugh of her own.

A silence held the air between them, as the warmth of the bath slowly faded away. Though, the warmth of the two hands and the pulse of the two beating hearts that flowed through them, held its constancy.

"I have a plan," Elizabeth said, lowering herself deeper into the bath and relishing the warmth.

"A plan?" Helene asked with a hint of surprise.

"Why are you surprised at that?" Elizabeth asked back.

"No, no," Helene replied with a slight wave of self-defense. "I didn't mean it in that form."

"I know," Elizabeth said with a coy smile, soaking in the last bit of warmth. "I'm just toying with you. But, I do have a plan. Want to know what it is?"

"I—" Helene began to reply, though was swiftly interrupted before she could.

"I know you said you would gladly serve, but..." Elizabeth explained with a somber tone. "I just want you to know that I won't think less of you if you don't. Nor would it jeopardize your position with me, or that of your husband. You have my word on that. We are friends, nothing will change that, Helene. And if my plan should fail, you would be spared of the direct consequences of my actions. So, before you answer please think one last time, because after I tell you, there will be no way to undo your choice. So, are you ready? And are you sure?"

"At first I was not sure," Helene confessed. "I grew afraid, not just for myself, but for my children. But, I know... I know that it is not something I can decide not to do. This is something I must do. This is something I must do for my children and their future, as well as for you, for your children, and if not for them, then for the Kingdom. So, now I can say, yes. I am sure. I am ready."

"Thank you, Helene," Elizabeth said. "And please believe me when I say thank you. I mean that... Let me ask you this, do you know the history of the Crown, Helene?"

"Well," Helene replied, shifting her head back and forth. "If we are talking about the Crown that belongs to the Kingdom, I know what they told me when I was a child. I tell those stories as well as I can remember to my own. But, I wouldn't call that history, more of a simple conversation to distract the little ones with."

"What of the legend?" Elizabeth asked.

"I know of that," Helene replied with a smile, as she moved to tend to her labor. "I doubt there is not a farmer worth their salt who does not know it."

"Would you tell me what you know?" Elizabeth asked.

"I think I actually told my little one this story just a little while ago." Helene confessed, throwing her a look mixed with joy and suspicion. "She was in the bath too."

A light chuckle left the Queen's lips as she tilted her head back and closed her eyes. "Then I will imagine I am a child again."

"Alright now bear with me," Helene said, clearing her throat with a cough. "I will tell you the shortened version... Long ago, back when the Kingdom was a child, just like you, a saint was given a crown by the pope after he had been blessed by a vivid dream of angels. Though, before the crown could be placed on the royal head, your great, great, great, great, great grandfather, Saint Stephen, offered the crown to the Virgin Mary. She accepted it and by doing so, a contract, divine in nature was made. That is how the Crown became holy, a halo for all those who wear it."

"Did she really come down for the Crown?" Elizabeth asked, playing her role. "Did she really touch it?"

"That is what the legend says," Helene replied. "You see, the Virgin Mary accepted the saint's divine contract and made the Crown divine, so that only those chosen by God may have the right to rule. And by doing so, the Virgin Mary became the patron saint of all the Kingdom. And with it, a purity, divine in nature governs the Kingdom."

"It is a good legend and you gave it justice," Elizabeth said. "Thank you."

"If only my children were so kind after I told them a story," Helene said while laughing, as she turned her attention back to her labor. "Half the time they demand another. The other half, they fall asleep mid-story."

"Isn't the point to make them fall asleep?" Elizabeth asked with a light laugh.

"Well I mean it is, but no one wants to think they are that bad at telling a tale," Helene replied with coy smile and a bit of a laugh. "It's like my mother told me, a blessing in one situation is a curse in another."

A lull filled the air between the two women, as they drifted off to the labyrinth's of their minds.

"Do you want to know about the history?" Elizabeth suddenly asked with a somber tone.

"Sure," Helene replied with a laugh. "I could use it in the next story I tell my young ones."

"The Crown has been used since the origins of the Kingdom," Elizabeth began with a calm demeanor, raising herself and stepping out of the body of water. Drops fell to the floor and the carpet, as she quickly found herself wrapped in soft clothes that grew wet as she dried. "It dates back to the first King. Made of gold and covered with enamels that were made in Constantinople, it was beyond valuable at the time it was made. And now, it is priceless. Though, that is not why it is so guarded. No, it is guarded beyond the reach of even armies for the symbolism it holds. It is so important, that no King can be recognized without it. So much so, that they say that the Crown is not for the King, but the King is for the Crown."

Helene fell silent and still, as she listened to the words and passed clean articles of clothing for her to put on. She opened her mouth to speak, though no sound emerged, as the words of the Queen lingered in her mind and kept her there.

"I think I stayed too long in here," Elizabeth suddenly explained, holding her hand out and showing the wrinkles that were on her skin from her bath. "Then again, at the same time I wish I could have stayed in longer." She added, finishing her process of covering her skin and emerging with a simple, yet unapologetically elegant green gown.

"Do you mean to say...?" Helene finally asked, though before she could add her thoughts and make them form deeper reason, she drew silent again.

"Come on," Elizabeth said, forcing the wrinkles out of her dress. "We are going to need help."

"Help?" Helene asked. "From whom? And for what?"

"Someone who can get into a castle," Elizabeth replied.

"I think your words could do that," Helene said bluntly. "You are the Queen, there is no one who can, or would for that matter, barricade their door to you."

"Without me being there," Elizabeth replied. "As I will be busy contending with the nobles."

"Many women in waiting could do that too," Helene replied, the hint of uncertainty and suspicion in her voice. "In fact, I could go and do that for you. You would just have to tell me what it is you would like to get and from which castle."

Elizabeth turned her gaze to her for a moment with a smile. "And into a vault."

"A vault!" Helene said with disbelief. "You don't mean to say, that you... That is your plan? The Crown?"

Elizabeth stared at her reflection, as the wordsspoken to her quickly vanished, though like the echo that whispered a truthback, she finally replied. "The one that is history and a legend."