The royal moon witch

Chapter 6 - A new friend

* Elvira P.O.V *

The maid that helped at the pick nick took me to my room and helped me in the bathroom.

‘’A bath, it will be cold but it is for the best’’ she said and I smiled through the burning pain.

‘’Just my hands will do, my leg was only indirect’’ I said and she looked at me.

‘’Are you sure?’’ she asked and I nodded.

‘’Very sure’’ I said and she walked to the sink. After a moment of letting the water run, she looked at me.

‘’If you are ready’’ she said and I shook my head.

‘’I am not but I have to’’ I said with a painful tone.

‘’Alright, here we go’’ she said and helped me put my hands under the cold water. I clenched my teeth because the pressure of the water hurt my hands even more. I closed my eyes and breathed slowly in and out to ignore the pain but it was impossible to ignore. After always thinking to have a high pain limit, it was quite a eye opener that right now I felt tears burn behind my eyes just as much as I felt the burning feeling in my hands.

‘’Are you alright?’’ the maid asked and I nodded first but then shook my head.

‘’I would lie if I said yes, but I have to get through this or else the pain won’t leave at all’’ I said.

‘’Or the blisters will grow even bigger’’ she said and I nodded.

Fifteen minutes later, we sat on my couch looking at my hands when the door opened and queen Rose walked in with a older men. I was confused for what the reason of this visit would be, until I saw the brown leather bag with a stethoscope hanging from it.

‘’What happened? Are you alright?’’ she asked with a worried tone and I nodded.

‘’Yes, I am alright.. Thanks to..’’ I said and looked at the maid. I didn’t know her name even though she helped me very well.

‘’Riella’’ she said and I nodded.

‘’Thank you and sorry for not asking earlier’’ I said and she smiled.

‘’It’s alright’’ she said and got up. She bowed for the queen and then left the room, she probably had more to do than just sit here and chat with me. I turned my head back to the queen.

‘’Thanks to Riella I am fine’’ I said and she looked at me with a no nonsense look in her eyes.

‘’This men here is the royal doctor and he is gonna take a look at your hands, and after that I’ll scold my son for treating you like this’’ she said.

‘’Queen Rose.. I actually think it was a accident..’’ I said and something inside me told me right away I shouldn’t be lying. It had not been a accident and I knew very well. Yet what if it was? And I would not say something and he would indeed get scolded. Then maybe the start of a friendship would be gone and I did not want to risk that. Well, not the idea of it.

‘’You do not have to defend him even if it is very noble of you’’ queen Rose said and I smiled at her. She looked at me and slowly nodded.

‘’I’ll ask him about it and Sam.. If I have the feeling it was not a accident, he will hear from me’’ she said and this time I nodded. The doctor was looking at my hands but I knew very well what I would have to do. Better to say, I had two options. Option one would take the longest, it would mean slowly cool the blisters every day and after a few days popping them slowly one by one. Or option two, pop them right now, tear the loose skin away and put a gauze or band aid on it. Maybe I could make some ointment to put on it for the process.

‘’So, what is your opinion doctor?’’ queen Rose asked and the doctor looked at me.

‘’I am very sure that this will heal good without my help, my patient here knows very well what to do’’ he said. ‘’Thank you doctor’’ I said but the queen wasn’t happy with this answer.

‘’I want you to at least give us some instructions on how to threat this the best’’ she said.

‘’Well, maybe some bandages so she will not use her hands too much, and every day cooling’’ the doctor said and the queen nodded.

‘’Good, I’ll get you a personal maid that will help you at least until there are less blisters’’ she said. There were not much blisters but I nodded and smiled.

‘’Alright, I’ll listen to what you want’’ I said and she smiled.

They both left after the doctor had put bandages around my hands and I sat on the large couch in my room to rest a bit. I sighed because I barely could move my hands, the only part I could move were my fingertips. I looked at my hands and a hopeless feeling came over me. As I was trying to fight the tears, when someone knocked on the door. I took a deep breath and looked up.

‘’W-who is there?’’ I asked, hating it that my voice cracked at the beginning of the sentence.

‘’It’s me, Riella’’ a female voice said and I took another deep breath.

‘’Come in’’ I said, this time without a crack in my voice which I was glad about. She opened the door with her elbow while she walked in backwards and turned slowly when she door was open enough. She closed the door softly with her foot and smiled.

‘’I thought you might wanted something to drink.. And since I didn’t know very well what you like, I brought you a glass of water with a straw’’ she said and gave a friendly smile. I smiled back but it wasn’t genuine.

‘’Hey, are you alright?’’ Riella asked and put the tray on the table. She sat down and looked at me with a caring look in her eyes. I nodded, not trusting my voice.

‘’Come on Vira.. Speak to me..’’ she said. I held up my hands and seeing them again, made my eyes water and I was unable to stop the tears from flowing.

Riella carefully came closer and placed a arm around me. I leaned against her and cried in silence. Not able to actually explain why I was crying, I just let the tears flow. Riella didn’t speak during my crying and just held her arm around me and rubbed my back. I was so thankful for this that I wouldn’t be able to explain how much it meant for me. It felt like she really tried to be my friend instead of just a employee at the palace. When I felt my tears dry up and no more were falling down, I looked up at her and she gave me a sweet and warm smile.

‘’T-thank you’’ I said and she nodded.

‘’You’re welcome, are you feeling better now?’’ she asked and I nodded this time.

‘’Yes, I do feel better, thank you’’ I said and she smiled. She turned to the table and picked up the glass of water and held it in front of me. I took the straw in my mouth and sucked up some sips of the water. It felt refreshing after the crying.

‘’I know I am just a maid.. And of course friendships have to grow over time but I really would like it if you could see me more like a friend than your maid to help you’’ Riella said. I looked at her and nodded.

‘’I like that idea.. I probably could use a friend around here’’ I said and she giggled.

‘’Good’’ she said and put the glass back down.

‘’Now please tell me what you like, so I can be of very good service to you’’ Riella said. She grabbed a pen and paper I had not noticed from the tray and was ready to write down what ever I would tell her.

We spend some time on making a list after that she guided me to the library and every book I wanted, she piled up on a cart. I ended up with a full series that contained five books. We walked back to my room. Once there again, I sat down on the couch and looked at Riella.

‘’Anything else?’’ she asked and I shook my head.

‘’No, this is good for now. I can always call for you later.’’ I said and she nodded.

‘’Then I shall leave you alone with your books’’ she said and left the room. I took the first book of the series I had taken with me from the library and started reading.

------ two days later ------

It was two days ago that I had been on a ‘date’ with Valentino. He had accidentally burned my hands. Well, accidentally? I still didn’t think it was a accident but that was my thought. It wasn’t like I knew for sure it wasn’t a accident but I did have a strong feeling it wasn’t. The past days had been quiet and boring. By my own choice I stayed mostly in my room because I didn’t want to run into Valentino. He had come by to ask if I was alright and everything was as I pleased, though I didn’t think it was on his own idea that he did this. It was okay, I didn’t have much hard feelings about it even if Riella thought I should have. Queen Rose had made a great choice by pointing Riella to me. At first she was careful about her behavior but when she had come with my dinner later the day of the accident, she warmed up. Especially because I said she should get her meal too, so we could eat together. Riella is a young women, three years older and ten centimetres taller than I am. She had blond hair with a rebellious pink dyed lock and often wore her hair in a ponytail or a messy bun. She is not like most maids all ‘yes ma’am’ and ‘alright ma’am’. She actually made it fun to be helped around all day and after eating together, we had started to grow more towards each other and I could almost say we were friends. From my side at least there is friendship, I didn’t know if she sees it that way too.

The past two days I had mostly spend reading, watching TV and tending to the needs of the plants I had taken with me from home. With the help of Riella I had changed one windowsill completely into a little inside garden. Every plant got exact enough sunlight and I watered them every day. Thinking back about the first time I watered them with Riella in the room made me laugh because I had used a spell to do this and she had squealed at the sudden sight of a little rain cloud inside the windowsill.

Someone knocked on the door while I was overthinking and before I would answer, a familiar voice sounded from the other side of the door:

‘’Miss Vira?’’. It was Riella, she was probably here to help me cool my hands and maybe see if one of the blisters were ready to be popped. It was weird to hear her say Miss in front of my name because I already said she didn’t have to and she had quickly adjusted to it. She probably did it now so she would not get scolded by the head of staff or something.

‘’Come in Riella’’ I said with a smile.

‘’Are you ready for some cooling?’’ she asked as she walked in and I nodded.

‘’Yes, they actually started to burn a little, I think one blister is open’’ I said honestly. Yesterday I found out how she reacted if I wouldn’t say the truth.

Normally I was quite good at not showing what I actually felt but yesterday I ended up in the bath with a very cold stream of water on my head. My clothes were all soaked and she only stopped after I honestly said that my hands had been burning again. At the time she had come in yesterday, they had been burning for almost thirty minutes but I had no idea how to contact her. After I told her that, she put her number in my phone and told me to call the moment I needed her. She seemed determined to show she was the perfect choice to be my ‘head-maid’ once my injuries would be gone and I didn’t mind the idea at all. I liked her. Especially how she talked about Valentino being stuck up and how he should learn to be humble.

We walked towards my bathroom and there she carefully rolled the bandages of my hands and placed them on the sink. They were not fully necessary anymore but it helped me remind myself of the fact I couldn’t use my hands right now. And it was better for when a blister would pop from itself when I moved my hands too much, because then it would have less chance to get a infection.

‘’Well, those can be thrown away’’ Riella said after she saw that one small blister had indeed popped and I nodded.

‘’Yeah.. Can I have some time without bandages?’’ I asked and Riella looked at my hands.

‘’Well, maybe a little time can’t do much harm’’ she said and we walked out of the bathroom together.

‘’So, did you already tell the queen that it wasn’t a accident?’’ Riella asked as she sat down on the couch. She was not going to like my answer especially since she had been there when it happened and had seen what had happened.

‘’No I have not changed my answer because I am not going to change it’’ I said honestly.

‘’You are crazy that you didn’t do that, it was clearly not a accident’’ she said and she shook her head.

‘’I don’t want more bad blood between him and me than there already is’’ I said and looked at her.

‘’The bad blood is on his side not on yours.. And you will be a old lady before he realizes that ’’ Riella said. I chuckled from her comment but then looked at her.

‘’Well that is true but what did you expect? I am here because of a plan our parents have.. My plan is just to show him that witches aren’t bad. Maybe manage to become friends. I don’t want to marry a stuck up like him’’ I said and Riella looked at me.

She suddenly started to laugh and I looked at her a bit confused. Why did she laugh?

‘’Oh my.. hahaha she said and tried to catch her breath but she saw my confused look and laughed even harder.

It took her about ten minutes to calm down because every time she was about to stop, she looked at me and started laughing again. I didn’t know what I did but was glad she could laugh this good about what I had said and I decided it was best to just wait until she would stop. I used a spell to grab a book and was reading some while waiting for her to stop. It was hard to concentrate but I managed especially because I was used to read with noise around me. When she had been quiet for about a minute, I slowly looked up, waiting for her to start laughing again but she didn’t.

‘’Where did that laughing fit come from?’’ I asked when I thought it to be safe to speak again and she smiled.

‘’Oh it just.. I am used to hear women call Valentino a lot but not a stuck up. Like never ever have I heard a women say that he is stuck up.. The female guests at parties, always are so into him that they only talk about how amazing he is and such a friendly men. How they wished he would have a bit more time for them and such’’ Riella explained and it made total sense now why she laughed.

‘’Ha, I don’t think they want to have a talk with me then’’ I said. My opinion on him right now was not at all that friendly.

‘’Yeah I am sure they would say that you are a hater of royalty and unlike them, who love the royal house, should not be in their presence’’ Riella said and I nodded.

She took my book and I looked at her as she laid it on the coffee table.

‘’Is something the matter?’’ I asked. Riella looked at me and shook her head.

‘’No, I just thought you would not want your blisters to pop from using too much magic’’ she said and this time I laughed a bit. Not as much as she had done but I still laughed and shook my head.

‘’From using magic my blisters won’t pop silly’’ I said and looked at my hands. They were almost healed even though I had not used my healing spell on them. Some blisters that had popped during my sleep had filled them self up again but that was alright.

‘’Riella, can you do something for me?’’ I asked and she looked at me.

‘’Of course’’ She said a little surprised and I could understand why because the past few days I had kept trying to do everything myself.

‘’I want to open the blisters and tear of the skin that is keeping them closed.. That ointment I made yesterday will help them not get infected and I will be able to move my hands more, even if they have bandages on them’’ I said and Riella nodded.

‘’I was already wondering when you would ask me for this’’ Riella said and she got up from the couch. She started to retrieve some items like a needle, a candle, fresh bandages, gauze and the ointment. She was looking for one last thing when I looked at her and with a spell I light up the candle.

‘’If you are looking for matches, no need to’’ I said and she turned around.

‘’Oh, cool’’ she said with a smile. She sat down next to me and started to pop the blisters one by one on my left hand. She did as I asked and I clenched my teeth when she put the ointment on my hands. I even closed my eyes because the feeling of a thousand needles being pricked into my skin wasn’t one I really enjoyed. Riella worked fast and she was almost like a nurse so concentrated on doing what she did. I had not seen her this concentrated before and I wondered a bit why she was a maid here if she had such great skills.

When she was done with hand one, I gave her hand too and she looked at me a little worried.

‘’Are you okay?’’ she asked and I nodded.

‘’Sure, just the feeling of a thousand needles being pricked into my skin isn’t a nice one’’ I said and she smiled understanding.

‘’Alright.. Well, your right hand will be worse because the blister is still covering a quarter of your palm’’ she said and I nodded.

‘’Yes yes.. Just do it..’’ I said and wanted it to be over. She started on the blister and made several small holes in it. After that, she pulled the skin of it carefully. I took a deep breath and she worked quickly to put the ointment on it. I hissed at the feeling, this time it wasn’t like a thousand needles but more like a million needles. She put the bandages on my right hand and when she was done, got up and handed me a glass of water with a piece of lemon and two ice cubes in it. I carefully took it with my left hand from her, since that one didn’t have blisters on the inside of my hand and took a few sips.

‘’Thank you..’’ I said grateful for her help and she bowed.

‘’At your service, my queen’’ she said and I pulled a weird face at her.

‘’That sounds so weird.. Can you promise to never do that again?’’ I asked and she giggled.

‘’No, I can’t because you might become our queen one day’’ she said and I shook my head.

‘’Probably not, I have no romantic feelings for him even if he is good looking and he clearly doesn’t have them for me’’ I said and she nodded.

‘’Maybe so but you never know and you did just admit you think he is hot’’ she said and I rolled my eyes. ‘’Jus call me Vira, you’ve been doing that all along.. Okay?’’ I said, not reacting on what she said about me admitting something and she nodded.

‘’Alright Vira’’ she said.

Someone knocked on the door and I looked up.

‘’Yes?’’ I asked and the door opened slowly. It was Sam, a guard here that seemed to be very good friends with Valentino but not at all like him.

‘’I came to check on you and ask how you are doing’’ he said and held a note in his hand.

‘’And I came to give you this’’ he said. Riella walked over to him and with a smile she took the note. I had noticed that Riella always starts to smile when she sees Sam. He had come by a few times the past few days and even if we were talking about telling the queen that it wasn’t a accident and she was frowning, the moment Sam came with a note or to ask how I was doing, she smiled right away. I believed she has a crush on him and I couldn’t blame her. He was blonde, with clear blue eyes and had a strong build body, not my taste but that didn’t matter.

‘’I’m doing fine, thank you’’ I said with a smile and held up my hands.

‘’We just tore the blisters open so now they will hopefully heal soon’’ I said.

Riella gave me the note and it said that the queen and king would leave for their business trip in two days. I nodded.

‘’You can tell the queen that I’ll be there to tell them goodbye, and that I am doing good.. Oh and please also tell that Riella is a great help’’ I said and Sam nodded. He then left and Riella closed the door.

‘’He is handsome huh?’’ I asked with a cheeky smile.

‘’Oh he is more than handsome’’ Riella said and when she noticed what she just said, she turned bright red.

‘’Oh you tricked me!’’ she said and I laughed.

‘’Maybe a bit but tell me, how long have you been crushing on him?’’ I asked.

‘’For longer than that I worked here..’’ she said and I got even more curious.

‘’Tell me’’ I said but she shook her head.

‘’No, I can’t.. Its embarrassing" Riella said.

‘’Oh come on Riella.. We are friends right?’’ I said and she nodded.

‘’So, friends talk about boys, don’t they?’’ I asked and she looked surprised at me.

‘’Never talked about boys with friends?’’ she asked and I shrugged.

‘’Well, it’s a bit weird to talk about boys where I come from.. We don’t have much guys in our coven, let alone one that is worth talking about with friends. Also because if we talk about boys, the parents are on our noses right away, seeing if they can make a witch and wizard couple.. Something about getting stronger kids from two parents that posses magic’’ I explained. Riella looked at me and nodded slowly.

‘’We do not do arranged marriages normally if you want to ask that’’ I said quickly. She chuckled and nodded.

‘’Alright, but I guess I can understand that if talking about a certain guy means he suddenly is invited next dinner, you do not feel like talking about them’’ Riella said.

I looked at her and my curiosity grew because I really wanted to hear what she actually felt for Sam.

‘’Fine.. I like Sam..’’ she admitted and then hid her face in one of the pillows. I laughed at her reaction because it was unexpectedly cute and she looked at me, narrowing her eyes at my laughter.

‘’Hey! Don’t laugh at me’’ she said and I held up my hands.

‘’Sorry sorry, it just looks funny to see you blush like that’’ I said honestly.

‘’So, what do you like the most about him?’’ I asked and she smiled.

‘’His eyes, the way he always is so careful and on guard to help whomever is in danger.. And I saw a few times how he is with his little brother. He has a really goofy side’’ she said and I could see that she truly was in love.

‘’But you said you liked him already before you worked here, how did that happen?’’ I asked. She had leaned back and was hugging a pillow, looking at me when she suddenly sat straight again and looked at me. The twinkle in her eyes showed me that she had a idea.

‘’Wanna hold a sleep over?’’ Riella asked and as surprising the idea was, I nodded right away.

‘’Sure, love that idea but I also want a answer’’ I said but she was already out the door to get who knows what.

Riella returned about half an hour later and let herself in my room.

‘’I won’t make it a habit, I promise’’ she said but I didn’t really mind that she had done so, I had started reading again.

‘’As long as you won’t open the bathroom door without asking, I’m fine’’ I said and saw the little cart she pushed inside with all kind of treats on it in bowls.

‘’I’ll definitely not do that’’ Riella said and we both laughed.

‘’Now lets see.. I have chips, chocolate, ice cream and cookies.. As for drinks I brought coke, seven-up, orange juice and of course.. Water with lemon and cucumber’’ she said. She had really memorized the list we made that first day she was appointed to me as my personal maid.

‘’Great, and now my answer’’ I said and really looked forward to this.

‘’For food I ordered pizza from the kitchen’’ Riella then said and ignored what I said.

‘’Alright but why do you keep ignoring my question’’ I said and then looked at her.

‘’Because I don’t want to talk about it.. Our first meeting wasn’t all that fun to be honest’’ She said honestly and I could understand.

‘’Okay.. Well, I am still curious but then I’ll wait for you to be ready to tell me’’ I said.

‘’Plus, I don’t even think he remembers that night, so why bother think of it all the time.. I just have to show how cute I am now that I work here and hope he will notice me, which probably never will work because there are maids here that are twenty times prettier than I am’’ she said and sat down. I moved over to her and wrapped my arms around her.

‘’Don’t be so silly, you are amazing.. Those others might look pretty but I have seen how they look around, looking for a high ranked guard or any other higher ranked male that would show interest in them.. You are nothing like that’’ I said and she nodded.

‘’If you say so’’ she said and I nodded.

‘’I am very sure about that’’ I said. She took a deep breath and put a smile on her face again.

‘’Good, then let’s just enjoy our evening!’’ she said.

The evening was full of laughter and Riella and I had a lot of fun. We watched some movies, played a game of truth or dare, which mostly was us calling truths because we were chickens and didn’t want to do dares. Riella did dare me twice to show her doing some magic so I did. With the help of my element, I filled her glass with coke. She found it very interesting and I chuckled from her reaction. In the middle of the night, during the seventh movie we were watching I saw how she fell asleep. I put a blanket over her and put her legs on the couch so she could properly lay down. After that I sat back down and watched the rest of the movie, though I also didn’t reach the end of it. That night I slept on the couch, with my new friend on the other side of it. Not knowing what the next day would bring nor suspecting that my life would soon take another drastic turn.