When morning came, she was still lying on her bed, staring out the window. The only difference was that now she knew what she was going to do about that strange housecarl she had encountered the night before. She hadn't slept at all last night- but that was no surprise, seeing as she rarely did. She was about to get up and get ready to go down to breakfast when there was a knock on the door. Still in a bit of a stupor from her restless night, she threw on a dress and walked down the spiral staircase to get the door.
"Alyssa! What the hell are you doing here?" She demanded coldly. "What do you want?" She asked, hoping that her obvious bad mood might scare the girl away.
It didn't. Seemingly unbothered by Medea's rudeness, Alyssa smiled. "Well, it's a message from your mother, Queen Thirrin." She announced, and Medea rolled her eyes, although not humorously.
"I know my own mother's first name, thank you very much. I'm not that stupid."
Alyssa grinned nervously, clearing her throat. "Right, well Thirrin says that your response to her summons last night was completely uncalled for, and that you're, well, grounded." She looked thoughtful. "Kind of." She corrected herself.
Medea smirked. "Well you can tell my dearest mother that I don't give a rat's arse about being grounded, seeing as I would much rather remain in my room all day anyway. Be sure to tell her that she's done me a favor, actually." She said triumphantly.
Alyssa cringed.
"She also said that she had a feeling you'd say something along those lines, and to tell you that by 'grounded' she means 'not allowed in your room'."
Medea's eyes widened considerably. Mother...Expects me to... to be... to be social? But that's... I can't... No way!
"B-But I can't- I- What?" She asked incredulously, her voice loosing it's edge for a split second as she floundered in shock. Alyssa looked sympathetic.
"That sucks. I'm really sorry, honestly. She says twenty-eight days, that's how long you're grounded for. Sorry Medea." She apologized, and Medea was surprised to find that she actually sounded sincere. "If you get bored or lonely or something, you could come hang out with my friends and I down in the armory and stuff-"
"No, that will not be necessary." Medea snapped with unnecessary venom. She knew all too well that it probably wasn't fair to take out her irritation on the housecarl- but she knew that if she didn't take it out on someone, it would bother her for the rest of the day.
"Uh, alright." Alyssa said, not phased in the slightest by Medea's hostility. "Well if you change your mind you can join us any time that you want."
"I can assure you, I have no desire to 'hang out' with you and your 'friends'. Now if you'll excuse me, I have business to attend to elsewhere." She growled. Alyssa smiled, and it was a knowing smile, the kind of smile that made Medea feel very uncomfortable. Made her feel like glass. Then the girl stepped aside, still smiling.
"Yeah, okay. Good luck, see you around."
Medea nodded, walking past her without a word.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
"It lives! It lives!" Cerdic yelled, dancing around her in circles as she entered the mess hall. "Aye! The mighty Medea Queen-of-the-bitches Lindenshield has come to join us lowly humans for breakfast!"
Medea scowled, side stepping her younger brother as he attempted to jump on her from behind. She turned around to watch as his arms closed around empty air and he fell to the ground.
"Can it jerk, that's Medea to you!" She corrected, sitting down next to her older sister and heir to the throne, Cressida. There was an uncomfortable silence as they sat there, looking at each other, neither sure what to say.
"So... Uh... What's wrong? You never leave your tower, is everything okay?" Cressida asked at last.
Medea internally cursed. She really didn't want to inform her siblings that she'd been temporarily banished from the solitude of her tower- She knew that they would never leave her alone if she did.
"Nothing is wrong, Cressida... Can't a girl leave her own room at least once a year without triggering the apocalypse?" She said smartly, sarcasm ringing clear in her every syllable. Cressida frowned. She knew that if Medea didn't want to talk about something, it was no use trying to make her.
"Right. So, what's up?"
"What a stupid question."
More silence. Finally Medea spoke.
"I have things to do. I'll see you later. Maybe."
She got up and walked away, out the double doors and into the hallway. There she leaned up against the wall, crossing her arms and letting the back of her head hit the wall in frustration. These were going to be the longest four weeks of her life.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The rest of the day went on in a similar fashion. Despite the fact that she was really bored, her pride forbade her to go back to Alyssa after turning her down earlier that morning. And so it was that Medea returned to her room in the castle rather than her room in her tower for the first time in eight years, and was extremely displeased to find a particular bubbly housecarl waiting for her inside.
"Gods! What do you want Alyssa? And why are you in my room?" She half shouted, towering over the other girl. Alyssa waited patiently until Medea was done yelling before she spoke at last.
"So, how was your day? Are you done with those 'important matters' that you had to attend to elsewhere, or have you still got more to do?" The housecarl asked calmly, seemingly unfazed by the outburst. Then, noting Medea's abnormal lack of a witty answer, "Do you want to talk about anything?"
Medea scowled.
"What are you, my therapist? Get lost!" She huffed, sitting down heavily on the edge of her bed. Her blood boiled as Alyssa sat down next to her.
"No, I'm your friend, and I just want to talk. You seem like something's wrong." She prompted, not unkindly. But Medea wouldn't budge.
"Well I don't. I've had a long day, and I have a long night ahead of me. Just leave."
"Not until you promise me that you'll hang out with the housecarls tomorrow."
"I'll do no such thing!" Medea growled.
Alyssa made a pouty face.
"Aw, please? Why not?"
She knew that she was pushing her luck, but she really wanted to get to know the princess. After all, if Medea intended to kill her, wouldn't she have done it by now?
"I'm not going to 'hang out' because I don't want to. Leave me alone." Medea said, her voice a deadly whisper.
"Then I guess I'll be staying." Alyssa said flatly, dead serious. Then her face brightened considerably. "Ooh, I know! We can have a sleepover!" The girl squealed, clapping her hands excitedly. In a rare show of emotion, Medea fell backwards onto her bed, groaning in exasperation.
"Nooo.…" She begged. "Alyssa, what exactly do you want from me? If Sharley put you up to this, I swear to god-"
"Medea! How could you even say something like that? I just wanna have a sleepover! That doesn't mean that I've been hired by your brother to harass you!" Alyssa scolded. Medea sat up.
"Some other night? Please?" The word felt strange on her tounge- she didn't like it much. As a matter of fact, she didn't like it at all. But if it would make her one-girl fanclub leave her alone, it was a small price to pay... right?
"Good try Medea, but saying please won't get you out of this one." Alyssa said disapprovingly. "Just promise you'll hang out with us and I swear I'll leave you alone!"
Medea sighed. they both knew that the sorceress could easily blow the girl out of the room, through the roof, and down onto the flagstones hundreds of feet below. But she hadn't so far, and in Alyssa's opinion, this was a very good sign.
"If it'll make you leave... Fine, I'll visit with the housecarls tomorrow." She said in defeat. She refused to use the words 'hang out.' They were far to unprofessional for her taste. But then her voice regained it's usual hardness. "Now get out, I have things to do."
Placated, Alyssa smiled and left.
