Ovelia/Agrias ficlet
Ovelia and Alma had been friends, and with nothing better to do the girls took even the smallest opportunities to keep themselves busy, from fashioning flutes out of blades of grass to caring for each other's hair.
When Alma left the monastery, Ovelia--who never mastered the grass flute, and had only learned to braid another's hair, not her own--had nothing better to do than wander the silent halls. Behold, she would think, my grand domain; I am a ruler of empty air.
Now Agrias had learned some time ago that to succeed in the knights, she had to give up the womanly pursuits; her hands needed to master the arts of destruction, not the art of beauty. She forsook her makeup and let her hair grow straight, a style that would require little maintenance. And this practice took her far; she climbed the ranks and became a knight of the Lionsguard, eventually even becoming the captain of the princess' entourage.
It wasn't long before the Holy Knight noticed the tendency of her knights to gossip, and knowing the value of such rumors, she took to whiling away her time drinking in corners. In this way, she observed her knights unobtrusively and began to learn about the background of her charge. Learning what the princess had experienced, Agrias fell into a moody disposition; when she walked the halls of her princess, she came to understand how the only sound that came there to the princess was the echoes of her own footsteps. When she gazed out a window, the stone walls of the monastery felt more a prison, the windows only there to taunt her highness with the freedom she would never have.
One day as she passed Ovelia's room, she heard the princess let out an angry mutter. Agrias stopped at the door, hesitated, and finally asked, "Your highness? Are you well?"
There was a gasp. "Lady Agrias! I...I did not call for you. Rest assured the body you guard is safe."
Still Agrias remained at the door, and she thought out her next words for some time. Finally she spoke, "It is a relief to know no harm has come to your highness' body. Yet I would beg permission to ask: is your highness well?"
Agrias thought she heard a sob. "I seem unable to properly care for my hair. Am I to even be denied the appearance of the role I am forced to play?"
"Do not speak so--your highness is most fair."
"Do the duties of the guard captain now include flattery as well?" Ovelia asked bitterly.
"No, highness," Agrias answered automatically.
"Then I suggest you limit yourself to your role. Or has your princess not set a well enough example?"
"Yes, highness. I will do so immediately." With that, Agrias meant to go about her business, but, seized by the mood that had growing in her since she began sympathizing for Ovelia, she instead fell to a knee. "It is my duty to care for your highness, the Princess Ovelia Atkascha--and it seems to me that there is more to Ovelia Atkascha's welfare than whether or not her flesh is whole."
Agrias remained in that postion for some time, waiting for Ovelia's response. Her knee against the stone floor began to ache, and muscles threatened to cramp. But she remained there, and in time the door before her opened. Agrias looked up at her princess, noting the rumpled dress, the unkempt hair, and the blotchy face of one who has been crying for some time. "Your highness is most fair," she whispered.
"Does the captain of my guard know of braids?"
Agrias bowed her head again. "No, your highness. I have not had time for womanly pursuits."
Ovelia smiled weakly. "Then, Lady Agrias, you will have to learn, and you are lucky that your charge at least knows something of braiding the hair of others. I would braid your hair, and your hands will follow my motions until you have puzzled out how to do it for yourself. Then you shall do the same for me. Will you submit?"
"Of course, highness."
--
Some weeks later, Alicia and Lavian pretended not to see their captain make her way to the room of the princess. "Have you noticed, Lavian?" asked Alicia. "Something's changed about Lady Agrias."
"Aye," Lavian said, "she braids her hair now, and she seems happier for it."
"But," Alicia said, a glint in her eye, "did you notice about the princess?"
"Of course."
"Then you've noticed that Lady Agrias wears her hair with a single braid in the back, with loose hair on the sides?"
"Of course, Alicia. But what of it?"
"Well, the princess wears her hair loose in the back, with a braid the size of Lady Agrias' loose hair on either side," Alicia explained. "And it seems to me that there is rather too much symmetry to this for it to be chance."
Lavian laughed. "Perhaps! Now, let us speculate as to the meaning of this symmetry..."
When Alma left the monastery, Ovelia--who never mastered the grass flute, and had only learned to braid another's hair, not her own--had nothing better to do than wander the silent halls. Behold, she would think, my grand domain; I am a ruler of empty air.
Now Agrias had learned some time ago that to succeed in the knights, she had to give up the womanly pursuits; her hands needed to master the arts of destruction, not the art of beauty. She forsook her makeup and let her hair grow straight, a style that would require little maintenance. And this practice took her far; she climbed the ranks and became a knight of the Lionsguard, eventually even becoming the captain of the princess' entourage.
It wasn't long before the Holy Knight noticed the tendency of her knights to gossip, and knowing the value of such rumors, she took to whiling away her time drinking in corners. In this way, she observed her knights unobtrusively and began to learn about the background of her charge. Learning what the princess had experienced, Agrias fell into a moody disposition; when she walked the halls of her princess, she came to understand how the only sound that came there to the princess was the echoes of her own footsteps. When she gazed out a window, the stone walls of the monastery felt more a prison, the windows only there to taunt her highness with the freedom she would never have.
One day as she passed Ovelia's room, she heard the princess let out an angry mutter. Agrias stopped at the door, hesitated, and finally asked, "Your highness? Are you well?"
There was a gasp. "Lady Agrias! I...I did not call for you. Rest assured the body you guard is safe."
Still Agrias remained at the door, and she thought out her next words for some time. Finally she spoke, "It is a relief to know no harm has come to your highness' body. Yet I would beg permission to ask: is your highness well?"
Agrias thought she heard a sob. "I seem unable to properly care for my hair. Am I to even be denied the appearance of the role I am forced to play?"
"Do not speak so--your highness is most fair."
"Do the duties of the guard captain now include flattery as well?" Ovelia asked bitterly.
"No, highness," Agrias answered automatically.
"Then I suggest you limit yourself to your role. Or has your princess not set a well enough example?"
"Yes, highness. I will do so immediately." With that, Agrias meant to go about her business, but, seized by the mood that had growing in her since she began sympathizing for Ovelia, she instead fell to a knee. "It is my duty to care for your highness, the Princess Ovelia Atkascha--and it seems to me that there is more to Ovelia Atkascha's welfare than whether or not her flesh is whole."
Agrias remained in that postion for some time, waiting for Ovelia's response. Her knee against the stone floor began to ache, and muscles threatened to cramp. But she remained there, and in time the door before her opened. Agrias looked up at her princess, noting the rumpled dress, the unkempt hair, and the blotchy face of one who has been crying for some time. "Your highness is most fair," she whispered.
"Does the captain of my guard know of braids?"
Agrias bowed her head again. "No, your highness. I have not had time for womanly pursuits."
Ovelia smiled weakly. "Then, Lady Agrias, you will have to learn, and you are lucky that your charge at least knows something of braiding the hair of others. I would braid your hair, and your hands will follow my motions until you have puzzled out how to do it for yourself. Then you shall do the same for me. Will you submit?"
"Of course, highness."
--
Some weeks later, Alicia and Lavian pretended not to see their captain make her way to the room of the princess. "Have you noticed, Lavian?" asked Alicia. "Something's changed about Lady Agrias."
"Aye," Lavian said, "she braids her hair now, and she seems happier for it."
"But," Alicia said, a glint in her eye, "did you notice about the princess?"
"Of course."
"Then you've noticed that Lady Agrias wears her hair with a single braid in the back, with loose hair on the sides?"
"Of course, Alicia. But what of it?"
"Well, the princess wears her hair loose in the back, with a braid the size of Lady Agrias' loose hair on either side," Alicia explained. "And it seems to me that there is rather too much symmetry to this for it to be chance."
Lavian laughed. "Perhaps! Now, let us speculate as to the meaning of this symmetry..."