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Martha remembered her orders clearly.
"See to it that Lady Nair is kept under your supervision. Under no circumstances is she allowed to wander anywhere without our eyes."
It was like that same voice had been whispering in her ear for a century, the words now morphing into a senseless mantra. Her mind went rampant with question after question. How would she protect her Lady? What troubles has the palace been facing as of lately to have them heavily monitoring Lady Nair? What would happen if she failed to not only watch but to protect her Lady?
Martha's face was etched with concern as her mind began to ruminate over the vast sea of thoughts, her brown eyes narrowing in discomfort. Her side ponytail bounced along as she marched down the lavish corridor and she stood before two large imperial doors, her attention glued to the palm of her hand. She needed a breath of fresh air. All these rudimentary strictures the palace had made her feel suffocated.
The garden was what her mind settled on, it was her favorite place to reside in when things turned for the worst.
The brunette opened the door and there is a lake of white lilies and lavender, a woman of beautiful stature sat in the middle. She had a gauzy white dress that hugged her body outlining her effeminate figure, aring of white roses circled her chest to her back leaving her pale shoulders exposed to the night air, and she had her golden hair tied in a bun. A gossamer white veil crowned her head and to an extent, it curtained the rest of her beauty from being seen.
An ethereal goddess bathed in luxurious whites and golds. That's what she was.
It all looked like some setting brought from a fairy-tale.
Martha stood by the door as if her feet were rooted into the ground.
...She felt terribly sheepish.
Lady Nair turned to meet her with genuine surprise alighted on her face; she had the most brilliant crystalline blue eyes that Martha had ever seen.
"...Can I help you?" Said the woman with an accent, her voice a soft soprano.
Martha looked askance, she had felt so embarrassed tottering into the woman's presence unknowingly.
"Not at all my lady. I apologize for stumbling in so suddenly…" The royal guard knelt by the flower bed. She could smell the strong floral fragrance coming from the woman. Had she known Lady Nair was here she wouldn't have bothered to seek solitude here.
A smile graced the woman's lips, "It's quite alright. Vera is just fine."
Though her chaste smile carried guileless mirth there was something else hidden underneath it. The brunette began looking around… maybe some small talk would be alright?
Before she began, Vera spoke once again. "What is your name?"
The brunette blinked, "Martha Behamfil."
As if in deep thought the woman sent a doleful glance to the grass. After a pregnant pause, she raised her head still looking towards the distance. "Martha, if you knew you had done something, something unforgivable ," Her brows furrowed, "What would you do?"
The question surprised the guard. Was Vera troubled by something she had done? Martha raised her head and watched the woman's back pondering what to say. "I would try to live a way that I feel forgiven for the damage I've caused, my lady."
"You wouldn't want to forget?" She asked with subtle intrigue. "You wouldn't want to change the past; you wouldn't try to forget any of it?"
Silence.
Martha glanced around still anxious on what to say. Would she offend her lady? Would her answer suffice?
All in a moment of silence the brown-haired woman inhaled very slowly.
"...Wouldn't that change who I am?"
The woman turned to fully face the guard, her brows raised.
"The past exists to remind us of what mistakes we've made, what awful things happened. Memories don't only exist for us to ponder in remembrance, they exist so we can learn from the past. Changing it would ultimately change who I am. It would change who you are." Her brown eyes met with Vera's oceanic ones.
"I wouldn't change a thing."
It was then that Vera had realized something. She realized an incontrovertible surmise. No matter the heartache, no matter the prickling pain gnawing at her heart, no matter the eternity of grieving, she could never escape what she had done. She could never take back what precious life she had stolen. Like the grim reaper himself, she was an angel, a sight to see; however, she reaped a soul and left a trail of decay wherever she went. The memory still haunted her. Forever harrowed by her own ambitions she would continue to roam this Earth. But perhaps she could learn and be a better person rather than running from the inevitable truth?
Rather than running away from the crime she committed; from the life, she had stolen?
'...Dear sister. How sorry I am for what I have done to you… what I have taken from you.'
The breath of life slipped between her twin sister's paling lips, her hands holding the girl's throat captive in a vicious grip.
"This should have been mine!" She screeched inhumanely as she applied more pressure to her sister's neck.
Vera's shoulders began to tremble as she inhaled sharply. Afraid she would lose composure she cast her head down in shame and released a defeated chuckle.
"What I have done could never be taken back." She held herself. "This palace - my home - it's meant to be a place I can feel relief. A place that I'm supposed to feel safe."
"...But you don't, do you?"
Her eyes reflected the epitome of melancholy. It punctured Martha's heart much like the pernicious pricking of vines.
Suddenly Martha rose to her two legs and reached her hand outward. The blonde examined the other's hand, exchanging looks between it and Martha's unreadable gaze. Unsure of what else to do the lady slowly took the other's hand and was raised from the ground.
The brunette never let go and proceeded to walk towards the garden's back exit.
The doors were opened and Vera soon understood what was happening.
"Martha, what are you doing-"
"You said you didn't feel safe here." The woman cut her off. "You're unhappy."
Suddenly Martha began to run, her legs spreading far into a jog with Vera close behind her. "W-wait," protested the lady. "I can't run in these!" She expressed her anxiety as she stumbled like a newborn faun.
"Don't think, just run!" Was all Martha replied with.
"But what about the palace? What if we're caught?" She boiled over with questions but Martha just wasn't answering. If only she could see her face and see what expression she held.
Soon the dirt became lengthy grass scratching at their calves. Soon the palace doors were no more and the darkness of night shrouded them. An ocean of grass surrounded them - a prairie. Martha then took off into a run which then escalated to an all-out sprint. Vera's heels began tumbling off her feet as she continued to trample over them. The cool touch of the grass spread through her toes, the lukewarm zephyr of night brushed her cheeks as she ran, the silver ray of the full moon's light was shining them - she soon found that she didn't care for her shoes.
She didn't care about the palace.
She didn't care about anything at all.
'Don't think, just run!'
She ran. And she ran. And she ran.
Adrenaline rushed through her blood like fire, a new endeavor exploding within her conscious. Ringing so loud and clear, she knew what she wanted at that very moment. She held on tight to Martha's hand and let out a laugh. It was quiet and sweet, a sound the brunette enjoyed. She joined in and they laughed together as they ran through the night. A melody of idyll sounding all throughout the prairie.
Their faces carried the essence of happiness.
It seemed like it was all out of a fantasy.
They ran up a hill with their hands intertwined like knots afraid that if they ever let go their happiness would stop. Suddenly Vera tripped and rammed into Martha, the two tumbling down the hill and crashing in a large pond.
Martha raised herself from the water and looked for her lady who had been kneeling in the water. She ran to her without hesitation and sunk to her level. The veil that draped the woman's face had fallen off and was nearly floating on the water and her hair was slightly disheveled.
Having felt worried at the sight of her lady quaking, the brunette pressed forward with such poignancy. "Is everything alright? I-I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Vera never stopped chuckling, she began to worry the guard sick.
'Oh no, I've messed up! She's going to ridicule me, that's what she must be laughing about, right? Oh no, once the council finds out I'm through! I'm- I-'
"On the contrary, Martha."
Eventually, the woman glanced her way, her luminous blue eyes sparkling with newfound mirth as tears beaded at the corners. She was smiling.
Never had Martha been stunned by utter confusion and bewilderment, not since the passing of her late lover moons ago. Her heart that was once drumming against her chest had found its respite.
Vera continued to laugh and it was the most mellifluous sound Martha could have ever heard. She felt as if her ears had been blessed by the angels of God. Was her lady an angel in disguise? Either way, her anxiety immediately dwindled and she cracked a laugh.
It perplexed Vera how she could have forgotten all the negatives in her life with just a short moment of euphoria. It was then that she realized something else. While there would always be depressing, sad, gritty things in life there would always be lovely, happy, great things that will counter them later in time. There will always be a purpose to something. She never felt so carefree until Martha showed her. Some things are bound to chain someone but that doesn't mean you have to stay that way. In all the world's intricate implicitness, she realized she could maintain her gaiety.
The sky had never looked brighter in the dead of night. The trillions of stars that speckled the sky twinkled in their eyes.
In some way they were like those celestial bodies… shining ever so bright in a dark abyss. No one could come near them.
No one could ever come between them.
"Sorry about your dress…" Martha rubbed the back of her neck. She didn't really plan on it going like that. She didn't plan on doing that at all, really.
Vera sent a kind smile. "Never mind that." She enjoyed herself. A few dirt stains and a funky pond smell wouldn't be a problem to her.
After walking all the way back to the palace doors the brunette could already anticipate the punishment she would be getting if she were to ever be caught. There could be a way to avoid it but with Lady Nair having been exposed to the outdoors and it was her job to supervise her it would be on her head.
It was late. It was time for Lady Nair to head back inside.
"Martha," Vera said, the guard nearly shivering at her name being spoken with such a gentle voice. "Thank you for tonight. I thoroughly enjoyed myself." She never thought she could ever say that. She never thought she could indulge in such elation.
Martha stood by the door genuinely surprised. She then got on her knee and bowed her head. "The pleasure was all mine, Vera." She smiled with such devotion.
For the majority of her life Martha had been ignored for her past endeavors she sought to accomplish. She felt that whatever she strove for… it all fell on deaf ears. They said she was foolish. And, now, Vera Nair was expressing her feelings without a care in the world, the same way Martha always did in the past. They both have been through things, haven't they?
As she rose to meet the blonde's gaze, a hand caressed her cheek and lingered there. It was warm, it was fire itself but it wasn't burning her. Her cheeks dusted a rosy hue as Vera gazed into her eyes and planted a kiss on her cheek. Vera chuckled at the look of surprise alighted on the guard's face, her laugh of glee sounding like that of bells.
Vera turned on her heel and snuck through the palace doors.
Martha traced her cheek where Vera kissed her, the sensation lingering like that of a phantom.
A flame kindled in her chest.
She smiled before heading in the opposite direction and stood by the corridor's end. For the remainder of the night, the guard had a goofy grin plastered on her face.
She cherished the memory of her lady emitting such vivid happiness. Never would it die, nor would her unyielding satisfaction of knowing that smile was directed to her.