A/N: So here's the second chapter. I don't know how much I like it, but I really really wanted to make Kyria yell at the Witch (whose name I still don't know). So she does. I honestly have no idea what's going to happen next. Thanks for reading, and please review!

Not So Helpless

Chapter 2

"A ball? We're invited to the Royal Ball?" Gretchen rushed into the Witch's room, where I was delivering the invitation. She had obviously only just gotten out of bed.

"Yes, we're invited to the Royal Ball." I said exasperatedly. I'd made that tea for Wretchen and now she wasn't even drinking it. To boot, I'd just explained about the ball to Geraldine, and before that, the Witch. It was getting annoying to have to keep repeating myself.

The Witch's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'we'? You're not invited. They don't invite filthy little servant girls to Royal Balls."

I sighed. "I am, too, invited. Look at the invitation. 'All eligible maidens' includes me. I am not married or betrothed; therefore I am eligible. I am a maiden. And I am not a 'little' girl. If I am little, so is Geraldine, who, may I point out, is two months younger than me."

"You're still a servant girl," Geraldine said spitefully. I think my point hit home.

"By blood, I am the heir to Fief Windlan. You are of Carnor blood, not Windlan. Maia is both. I don't care what you say. I'm going to the Royal Ball. You can't stop me."

"Watch me." the Witch said maliciously.

"I don't have to wait on you," I pointed out. "I could run away. Make you hire a servant and actually pay them. I don't have to mend your dresses and make your food and clean your manor – which is actually mine, but I'll get to that later – I don't have to do any of it."

"You can't leave. You have no living relatives. Nobody would take you in. I am only keeping you out of the kindness of my heart. Your father left the fief to me, not you." Though her words were still cruel, I could sense her slight panic. Nobody would work for her; she had a reputation for beating her servants. Gretchen and Geraldine watched, as though transfixed.

"I'm sure people would take me in. Plenty of nobles live at court, you know, and my title is actually Lady Kyria of Windlan. If I told the king how you treat your people, I expect he'd take action. I could have my fief, my home, and my people back within weeks. And you could live in the dungeon. It's only through the kindness of my heart that you live here. Not yours. Mine." My words were rash; I was speaking more from desperation than from actual knowledge. Yet I found myself believing them.

The Witch was white. She opened her mouth, and suddenly I found I didn't want to hear it. I reached forward, snatched the invitation out of her hand, grinned at her, and left the room.

------------------------------------------------

"Kyria?"

I looked down. There was Maia, sticking her little head out the window of the kitchen. "Yes, Maia?"

"Can I come up?" She sounded tentative, as though she were afraid I would yell.

I felt a pang of guilt. I'd said all that stuff to the Witch and not even thought about what would happen to Maia if I turned her mother in. "Sure, Maia. Here, I'll help you." I climbed down and showed her where the handholds were, then went up after her to make sure she didn't fall.

Maia took one look at the countryside – which was, admittedly, covered with mist – and said, "It's beautiful. I wish I could stay up here all the time."

"So do I," I admitted.

"And I don't even have people yelling at me all the time to bring them tea or clean their rooms or make dinner," Maia continued.

I winced. This nine-year-old girl was more perceptive than I'd given her credit for. "You're not a witch, though. In your mother's sense." I winced again. "Sorry, I shouldn't have said – "

"No, you're right, it's true. She's horrible. She taxes the commoners too heavily, then confiscates all they have when they can't pay. It's going to ruin Windlan, which is – as you said – your fief."

"You heard all that?" I said apprehensively.

Maia nodded. "I'm quiet. I can slip in and listen to people. It's how I know about what Mother does to Windlan's people – she's always bragging about our wealth to Gretchen. And I go down to the village sometimes, when I think she won't catch me. The village people know me, and they don't care what I look like."

"You're quite pretty, you know. I honestly don't understand why she doesn't treat you like Wretchen - sorry, Gretchen - and Geraldine." Not strictly true, but I wasn't going to tell Maia that.

Maia laughed, I guess at the whole Wretchen/Gretchen thing. "I don't know either. But I mainly wanted to tell you that I'll help you get to the ball if you want to go. Between us I bet we can figure out a plan."

My breath caught in my chest. "You'd do that? For me? But what about you - don't you want to go? She'd let you."

"But I'm nine. I don't have a chance at marrying the prince. You do, so you should go. And anyway, I hate social functions. They're so boring. The food's good but that's it."

It was my turn to laugh. "Okay, thanks."

"KYRIA! GET DOWN HERE!"

I sighed. "And here I thought they'd forgotten me. Come on, we'd best get down there. It's nearly dinnertime."

"I'll help," Maia promised, scrambling awkwardly down the wall. I followed, jumping the last few feet to the ground and dusting off my skirt.

"Thanks. I was thinking of potatoes. How does that sound? We could do rolls for dessert or something."

A/N: What do you think? Thanks to Fiyero for reviewing the first chapter - I took your suggestion and changed the conversation between Thor and Kyria. I'll try to update within the next couple of days if I can. Otherwise, please review so I know what's good, bad, and horrible! Thanks!

Lunaterra