----------------------------------------------------Nora--------------------------------------------------

I groaned. "Ugh, five more minutes, please?"

"But Lady Daria, Prince Jerrold is coming back today, and Lady Eleanor is coming to visit, you must get ready!" Elfie, my maid shook me awake, laughing as I flung a pillow at her and knocked over stool halfway across the room.

"Ugh. Fine. But if I turn into a hag from lack of sleep, I'll be blaming you."

Elfie grinned, then curtsied. I sighed, how many times did I have to tell her not to curtsy for me? She never listened! "Yes, milady, if you turn into even more of a hag, I shall be sure to take the blame."

I nodded, smiling satisfactorily. "Good." Before Elfie could bow out, however, the real impact of her words hit me. "Wait a minute, even more of a hag? What do you mean by that???"

Elfie burst out laughing, and I had a hard time keeping my face straight. Turning around to hide my grin, I dismissed the girl.

I sighed as I pulled on my clothes. I knew many people, Jerrold at the top of my list, who never even looked twice at their maids. I, fortunately, was not one of them. Elfie and I were not just mistress and maid; we were good friends. I learned much of the palace gossip through her, though it puzzled me why all the maids thought Jerrold was 'handsome enough to swoon over' and 'so kind, too!'. Were we even talking about the same boy?

Shaking all thoughts of my future husband from my head, I turned to happier ponderings. Nora was coming to visit today! Nora, or rather, Lady Eleanor, was my best noble friend, she was such fun to be around! Nora always had wonderful stories to tell, she was so spirited and free, I rather envied her for her energy, her brilliance. She was just a wonderful person.

With a happy smile on my face, I went downstairs for the morning meal.

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"Nora!"

"Daria!" Nora bounded over and gave me a bone-breaking hug.

"Guess, what? I've created a new pastime! The stair rails at home are absolutely perfect for sliding on, you whiz all the way to the bottom! It's like flying!"

I looked at my friends flushed face, laughing. "You just never grow tired of acting like a little girl, do you? We're sixteen, for heaven's sake! We should be acting like young ladies!" So saying, I turned up my nose and pranced around, pretending to be a court lady.

We were soon caught up in gales of laughter. Nora dragged me by my arm to the stair rails. Pushing me onto the rail, she slid me down despite my screams.

"Nora! Help! I'm going to die! AHHHH!!!" I slid down most ungracefully, screaming all the way.

When I reached the bottom, Nora planted herself on the stair rail and slid down right after me, looking as if she had been sliding down stair rails all her life. A sharp contrast to my flailing arms and kicking legs! "How do you manage to look so nice doing it?"

"Believe me, the first time I went, I was even worse than you! I fell off halfway, and started swearing I'd never go on again! Of course, I still loved it... and it was a wonderful way to scare Mistress Katrina. That governess has too much spare time on her hands! Fortunately... Well, I'll tell you later." Nora's eyes glittered brightly.

We spent the whole morning sliding, and I soon mastered the art of sliding as prettily as Nora. The only thing was that the bottoms of our dresses were starting to look a little worn; so, reluctantly, we stopped.

Leading Nora into my room for tea, we started talking. We always swapped stories of our everyday lives. I would tell of my 'servitude' under Jerrold, and Nora would sympathize, then she'd tell of her times with her sweetheart, Peter.

Peter was a poor merchants son, and I secretly believed that that was one of the reasons Nora like him. He, at least, wasn't spoiled to death.

"... He took me out into the forest, we had great fun running there and avoiding my governess! I tore my dress to shreds climbing trees, but it was worth it to escape from Mistress Katrina!"

I sighed, "You have such a wonderful life, it's like a fairy story. The gentle lady, the peasant lad... And I'm still stuck with the Prince Brat!"

Nora smiled. "But it's really you who has a fairy life! You have an evil prince vowing to keep you forever, you're forced into servitude, degraded and bemoaned. Soon, your true love will come and whisk you away! Or," her eyes gleamed. "You could run away yourself! Have tons of adventures and-what?"

I was laughing so hard I could barely breath. "You get so carried away sometimes, it's hilarious! I'll just agree with you before I get talked to death, shall I? Come on, lets go slide again."

"Fine fine! But wait! What about our dresses?" Nora pretended to look concerned.

I giggled. "Who cares about the dresses? Come on! You go first!"

Grinning, Nora jumped onto the banister, sliding down. Quickly, I hopped on behind her and followed. Unfortunately, I had gotten on too soon and Nora had not the time to move away before I crashed into her.

I immediately sat up, worried. "Oh! Are you all right? I didn't mean it, I'm so sorry!"

"It's no big deal, you weigh no more than a feather! Why, you're so light I could lift you with one hand! In fact, I am Nora the Strong! I could probably lift this whole castle up with one hand!"

I giggled yet again. Nora and I certainly joked around a lot together. When Nora was around, there never was a dull moment. Laughing uproariously, we raced up the stairs. In fact, we laughed so loud we drowned out the creaking of the doors behind us as they opened.

"Here, I'll go first this time, wouldn't want to crush out your super strength!" With that said, I swung my legs over the rail and started the long smooth glide downwards. It wasn't until I was almost all the way down did I realize that I had an audience. When we weren't looking, the great oaken doors of the main entrance had been opened and people were pouring in, Jerrold among them.

Unfortunately, I couldn't exactly stop my flight. I soared off of the banister, knocking over a courtier on the way. Before I could fall flat on my back like last time, however, I felt someone grab onto my arm. Jerrold, who else?

He had returned from Ayortha this very day. My month-long haven was ended.

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I know, I know really long time before update, really tacky update. I'm surprised that your still sticking with me! I don't mind, of course. I love all you wonderful reviewers!

And I'll love you even more if you review again! I'm not going to have any personal replies this time, because it's been too long since my last update (eeeek! Sorry!) and it would just be useless. But if you review this time... Lol.

Eeeek! Fifteen reviews turned into twenty-two! I'm so sorry! How about thirty-five for the next chapter? I promise I'll update immediately then!