"The entire half a year, waiting for the moment I would be presented to the monarch, I thought only about the horrors my life would face." I looked at Talia with glassy eyes, the tears on the verge of rolling down my cheeks, but I didn't let them fall.
I stopped letting anyone see me cry a long time ago.
"What am I supposed to do, Talia? When a daydream hits you so hard you wish you never woke up from it?"
"Are you asking me such a question? I'm only your handmaid, an inconsiderate person who wants to keep you alive so that I may live."
"Right." I smiled. "How stupid of me to ask for your ears, pretend I said nothing of this. I'm just spiraling again."
"Do you know why I want to live, my lady?"
I shook my head.
"I have a sister, a little thing she is. I began serving in the noble house for her. She was born a sick child, and because of that, I learned medicine; my entire life was all about her. We are orphans, so we only have each other."
