Ornella dropped her supplies and billows of bedclothes down, next to the fireplace. No one was in the servants' workroom. She smiled weakly as she sat next to the fireplace, rubbing her hands together. They were already dirty with grime, but she had forgotten long ago what it was like to be totally clean.
She knew that she would have to be hard at work this week preparing the castle for the ball. Her smile surrendered as she thought of her dear Caspian being given to another, unknown woman. Caspian would never know how much she loved him.
He had no clue that for the past year, Ornella had grown to love him. He talked to her and was friendly with her, nothing more. And she continued to act the part of the willing, cheerful confidant. All the while, however, she felt the pain in her heart grow as she realized that she cared for him, but that he probably saw her as nothing more than a friend. Though, with his recent confession, she knew that if he married another woman, he wouldn't love her. And that was enough for her.
"Dreaming again?" a voice whispered in her ear.
She jolted out of her seat. "Land's sake, Miss Titania, don't scare me like that!" Ornella clutched her heart.
"Oh, I'm sorry dear, I thought you saw me," the servants' headmistress apologized. Miss Titania was a gentle, middle-aged woman, who looked very young for her age. Her hair was pure silver, but her face was unlined, her posture erect and her voice without harshness or quaver. What were most startling about her were her bright blue eyes – no Telmarine had naturally blue eyes, and that alone made some people suspect that Miss Titania was part Old Narnian, the race that used to inhabit Narnia. Miss Titania was Ornella's closest friend, after Caspian. After Ornella was taken on as a scullery maid, Miss Titania looked after her as if Ornella were her own daughter.
"That ball that Queen Cyrena is planning will be the death of us. Did you know that she has ordered thirty whole, cooked bucks? The poor cooks will be half-dead by the end of the night."
"Will I have to clean the ballroom once again?" Ornella asked, stoking the fire.
"Oh, no. That ballroom gleams like a jewel. You can't find a speck of dust on it." Miss Titania grabbed a wooden bucket and handed it to Ornella. "Please help fill up the washing cauldron."
After lugging buckets of water for half an hour, Ornella wearily helped Miss Titania with the wash.
"Shouldn't the wash maids handle this?" Ornella asked.
"Oh, it's just an excuse for me to talk to you, dearie," Miss Titania smiled, twisting a limp cloth in her hands. "So, how long have you loved Prince Caspian?"
Ornella felt an electric current run through her body: she hadn't told anyone about her secret love – she knew it would be foolish if anyone found out. "What are you talking about?" Her voice faltered and stammered, betraying Ornella.
"Oh, don't lie to me, Ornella," Miss Titania gently rebuked, wringing out a shirt. "I see how you look at him and how you stare distantly into space, sighing as if nothing can cure you. I know that look very well. It's a look of a woman hopelessly in love." She was not taunting the maid, but simply stating a fact.
"Miss Titania, you can't tell anyone that," Ornella murmured, glancing about as if to find some eavesdroppers. "You know what would happen if anyone found out about me, a scullery maid, in love with a prince? I'd be the joke of the castle, or worse –I'd be dismissed at once."
"Of course I won't, dearie. But you know, a crying heart can't stay quiet forever." She hung the shirt over the clothesline running around the room. "You never answered how long you've loved him."
Ornella continued to keep her voice down. "Only this past year. I can't say why…he's just so quiet and misunderstood. None of the noblewomen knows how to talk to him. They say he's a big dreamer, but he's only wondering about the finer things in life. He's a thinker, not an aggressor, like Miraz. I don't think many women can appreciate that."
"And you feel that you're the same way, too," Miss Titania observed.
"Well…not exactly. I can talk to him and understand his feelings, but I'm more grounded than he is. I can keep him in balance. I don't think most women know how to deal with thoughtful husbands. They seem a little alien, I suppose."
"They're just used to men like Miraz, who flirt and tried to win favor from them. Caspian is a bit of an oddity," Miss Titania agreed, pinning an apron on the line.
"The noblewomen have more of a chance of winning him than I do," Ornella cursed bitterly. She sloshed the remaining clothes about the cauldron with her arms in frustration.
"Why would you say that, dearie? You said that he has no interest in them," Miss Titania gave her a curious look.
"Because no commoner has married a prince in the history of Telmar or Narnia or – or – or anything!" Ornella cried. Two small tears slipped out of her eyes and fell down her cheeks, into the lukewarm water below.
"My dear, what happened to your happiness, your hope? You're not one to cry and complain in hopelessness," Miss Titania comforted, wrapping her arms around the desolate girl.
"Oh, it's still there, Miss Titania. It's just – I can't seem to find anything good about this situation, no matter what I think. Even if he wasn't a prince, who's to say that he loves me? He just sees me as Ornella his friend, not Ornella his lover."
"I'd say you need a cry, dearie," Miss Titania decided, holding Ornella close to her. Ornella's tears came softer than her hacking, heart-breaking sobs. The tears flowed easily down her face. "I didn't mean to provoke you so."
"Oh, you didn't. Everything's just been building up," Ornella apologized, sniffling. She pulled away and searched her apron pockets for a handkerchief, but couldn't find one, as usual. Miss Titania handed her one.
"May I remind you that the first king and queen of Narnia were commoners themselves?" Miss Titania reminded comfortingly.
"Miss Titania!" Ornella gasped, her tears vanishing with the sudden shock she received. "You know the law – no talking about Old Narnia, ever!"
"Oh, that law is ridiculous!" Miss Titania replied, looking as angry as Ornella was shocked. "How can we pretend an entire culture never existed? Old Narnia was a lot better than the new one, I can tell you that," she dismissed, wringing a tunic out violently.
"Well, we're stuck in the present right now," Ornella concluded, taking a final wiped of her nose and returning the handkerchief to Miss Titania. "Next Thursday Prince Caspian of Narnia will be forced to find a bride, and I'll go on being Ornella, an unimportant maid. I'd give anything to go to that ball, just to see him one last time by himself, without anyone on his arm," Ornella sighed, as she gave a pair of pants an overly-energetic flick, splaying water all about, including all over her face. She huffed in frustration. "I wish my stepsisters would know what it's like to work and slave while their relatives live in luxury."
"Why don't you just quit?" the lady asked.
"I tried once before, but my stepmother told me that I wouldn't have a house to come home to if I did. I didn't want to chance it; I have no other family, and outside of being a maid, a woman can't get a job in Narnia."
Miss Titania looked at her, wide-eyed. "Your stepmother sounds terrible!"
"I don't know if 'terrible' is the right word," Ornella said diplomatically. "She is very distant, and has only seen me four or five times. Ever since Father died, she doesn't want me around. I suppose she loved father, and I remind her too much of him."
"That or she doesn't want to admit that she has a stepdaughter who's a scullery maid."
"Maybe," Ornella admitted, with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know my stepfamily that well at all, other than the fact that my stepsisters are a little foolish, according to the prince."
There were only a few more pieces of clothing left in the cauldron as they hung the sheets on the line. "You know, Ornella, there's no law saying that a commoner can't marry a prince. Isn't this a ball for all of Narnia as well – for commoners to attend, too?" Miss Titania asked
Ornella sighed, frowning slightly. "Yes, but everyone knows it's a joke – if the prince isn't satisfied with the noblewomen, why would he be with a commoner? Besides, I doubt they would give the help the night off."
"Oh, don't worry, dearie," Miss Titania soothed. "Things will work out."
Unless I become the princess of a foreign land, I highly doubt that, Ornella thought to herself, as she twisted the water out of a skirt.