Hearts' Remedy
Chapter 13
Serena sat in the quiet study of Gor's cabin perusing through the books that she had spent weeks looking at after borrowing them from the librarian in the next village next to hers. Gor was out and she was supposed to keep watch, but the prince, who had volunteered to help, told her to relax and let him handle the watching. If frowning over some of the hard concepts and words in her monstrous books was called relaxing, the prince grew worried.
"Serena? I know you love books, but this isn't healthy," Darien said with genuine concern.
"Hey, if I have time for my books I can live an eternity without water," she said, without even glancing at him.
He sighed and went back out again. Serena watched him go and spent only a few seconds staring at the book she was getting into before she slammed it shut and set it aside with the others. She drew scribbles on the parchment in front of her. Quietly, she giggled to herself as she drew little stick figures across the page. She wasn't that boring was she? When she wasn't out, she spent hours with any book to enhance her knowledge. Prince Darien was not the only one complaining about her passion. Her family and Gor chide her sometimes as well. If they only knew that books opened a new world for her. She had missed a world of intelligence for most of her life. Opening a book was like inhaling a breath of fresh air and freedom after being cooped up in a dungeon. Books revealed a truth in the world and she wanted to learn more about such things.
"Serena! Someone's hurt!" Darien shouted through the curtains.
Serena jumped from her chair and ran out of the room to meet him.
"Serena, it's Sammy…"
"He's hurt…"
"You have to help him…"
"And hurry!"
Serena looked from one child to the next as they took turns speaking. They were all out of breath from running.
"Come, come! Show me the way," Serena urged, forcing one of the boys forward.
The boy led the group to where Sammy laid moaning next to a tree. Sammy was an exuberant nine-year-old who was constantly off doing adventuress things and getting hurt from his audacity. He was known for that, ever since Serena learned about him after he was bitten by a poisonous snake out in a field, forbidden for children. What ever he was moaning about now worried her as much as the bite five years ago.
"Sammy!" Serena knelt down beside him, taking out her various tools from her bag. She stopped, at the frustration of her mess and worriedly felt his forehead.
"What's wrong, what's wrong?" She kept asking him.
"Serena, he hurt his leg after jumping from that branch," said the girl name Cecilia. She was pointing at the tree above their heads. The last branch was only about three and a half feet above the ground. Something the boy, Sammy at his height couldn't have broken his foot over.
"Tell me, Cel. How and why exactly did he get up on that tree, and end up on the floor moaning?"
The six-year-old was tracing a pattern on the dirt with her toe, without looking at Serena. This was what she was accustomed to doing whenever she felt guilty about betraying a friend, which at this moment, she was about to do.
Everyone watched her with unblinking eyes, except for the only two mature people, like Serena and Darien. "Well, Terry made a bet with him. If Sammy could climb up the top of the big oak tree, he would give him his lunch tomorrow. At first, Sammy was looking up the tree and knew how hard it was going to be. Then, everyone started calling him a 'chicken,' and started clucking," at this, Cecilia clucked and bent her elbows and flapped them furiously as she ran around the children, who soon started clucking with their little friend.
Serena stopped them and made Cecilia finish her story.
"Sammy said, 'No, I'm not a chicken,' and then Terry said, 'Oh yeah!? Prove it!' Then Sammy climbed. When he reached the top, he started coming down again. Once he reached the last branch, everyone was cheering. He was so proud; he just leapt off without really looking down. We saw him! He landed on his two feet, but fell down. He kept repeating, 'Owy! Owy! Go get Serena! I broke my foot!' We all thought he was playing, until he started really crying with big drops of tears. Then, we sent the quickest boys to you and so, here we are," Cecilia said with a triumphant smile, swelling with pride at being the one to tell the story. However, the children all gave her angry looks at betraying them.
"Hmmm…" Serena knelt down and pressed two fingers around the bruised foot that Sammy said he broke. He wasn't making any noises as she pressed. Suddenly on an irritated impulse, she pinched the bruise and encouraged a yelp from him.
"That will teach you to never climb trees again!" Serena sniffed in annoyance. "You're lucky it is only a sprain." She wrapped his foot with bandages. "If I catch you hurting yourself from falling off a tree again I will make Nora take away your outing privileges, understand?"
She helped him up. "I want the orphans to follow me back to Nora. And let the rest of you other children—especially you Terry—be warned that I will tell each of your parents what you have done today. Now go home and stay out of trouble!" Serena watched them all run in different directions.
Sighing, she mumbled to Sammy, "Don't think you're off the hook that easily. You're going to walk on your own all the way back."
"Aw, Serena. Do I have to?"
"You have both legs. I think you'll manage. Now, go."
Serena and Darien walked behind the children. "Stay away from Sammy! Don't help him!" She shouted at some of them.
"Very good," Darien laughed genially.
"Well, someone has to teach him. I can't tend to every bruise and cut he gets. He's been nothing but trouble since I met him."
Darien nodded. "Maybe not so harsh of a punishment I suggest. He's only a child."
"Don't tell me if your son went and did something very terrible you wouldn't do anything about it." She stopped and muttered quietly, "Bosh, only a child."
"I don't have a son," Darien said, blinking his eyes at her, blankly.
"Alright then, what about the king and queen? How did they discipline you when you were a child?"
There was a moment of silence before he answered. "My mother and father were too busy to worry about me. The servants took care of me and I kind of taught myself what's right and what's wrong."
"I guess the both of us have a lot in common." Serena looked up at him, with a look of empathy. "My mother rarely had time for me. All she did was come up with cruel punishments when I did something bad. My nurses taught me manners."
"Which you apparently do not apply to your conduct," Darien said, daring to change the depressing subject to tease her.
"Hey, not wearing elaborate evening gowns or dresses doesn't mean I don't know how to be a lady." Serena brought her chin up as she said this.
"I'm sure of that. It's just that I'm surprised no one has asked you for your hand."
Serena tripped and almost fell over if Darien had not caught her in time. Heat flushed her face at her display of clumsiness again in front of the prince. Even after he steadied her, she still felt feeble in the knees.
Without thinking she let the answer roll out of her tongue. "I'm not actually what men look for or want to see in a woman."
"I find you pleasant to look at. And you are way past the age to marry."
What Darien really wanted to tell her was that he found her to be the most beautiful person he had ever met. He really wanted to let her know that she was beautiful inside and out, but he could not. It would be so embarrassing since he had, never in his life, tell anyone that. (And that is because he has never met anyone close or even equal to Serena.) And he didn't want her to suddenly feel shy around him or worse hurt herself. On the other hand, he found her clumsiness to be quite adorable.
"As you have heard, I am sure, that I was not born and raised here. I ran away from home to avoid an arranged marriage made by my parents." Her eyes and voice took on a softer look and tone as she continued. "I kind of promised him I would marry no other if I ran away."
"Promised who? Your betrothed?" Darien asked.
"Prince Darien, The Snoop, always trying to pry things up from the grave," she wagged her finger and clicked her tongue at him. Then, she looked up ahead, "Looks like the children are safe now." She and Darien watched them flood into the orphanage.
"You are lucky," Darien sighed.
"Why is that? The little monsters are a nightmare!"
"No, you are lucky that you are free. Ikuko and Kenji will not force you to marry."
Serena looked at him, sympathetically. "I know how it feels to be forced into marriage. It takes a lot of heart to run out."
"Yes, but I can't run."
Serena pats him on the back, just an innocent amiable gesture, one maybe Darien's father or a friend would give him. "It's alright. I bet things will work out. Your parents aren't pressing you now, are they?"
"Not really…"
"I'll be right here when you need someone to talk to," Serena assured him, smiling up to his midnight blue eyes. He would never get tired of that smile and face.
Chapter 13
Serena sat in the quiet study of Gor's cabin perusing through the books that she had spent weeks looking at after borrowing them from the librarian in the next village next to hers. Gor was out and she was supposed to keep watch, but the prince, who had volunteered to help, told her to relax and let him handle the watching. If frowning over some of the hard concepts and words in her monstrous books was called relaxing, the prince grew worried.
"Serena? I know you love books, but this isn't healthy," Darien said with genuine concern.
"Hey, if I have time for my books I can live an eternity without water," she said, without even glancing at him.
He sighed and went back out again. Serena watched him go and spent only a few seconds staring at the book she was getting into before she slammed it shut and set it aside with the others. She drew scribbles on the parchment in front of her. Quietly, she giggled to herself as she drew little stick figures across the page. She wasn't that boring was she? When she wasn't out, she spent hours with any book to enhance her knowledge. Prince Darien was not the only one complaining about her passion. Her family and Gor chide her sometimes as well. If they only knew that books opened a new world for her. She had missed a world of intelligence for most of her life. Opening a book was like inhaling a breath of fresh air and freedom after being cooped up in a dungeon. Books revealed a truth in the world and she wanted to learn more about such things.
"Serena! Someone's hurt!" Darien shouted through the curtains.
Serena jumped from her chair and ran out of the room to meet him.
"Serena, it's Sammy…"
"He's hurt…"
"You have to help him…"
"And hurry!"
Serena looked from one child to the next as they took turns speaking. They were all out of breath from running.
"Come, come! Show me the way," Serena urged, forcing one of the boys forward.
The boy led the group to where Sammy laid moaning next to a tree. Sammy was an exuberant nine-year-old who was constantly off doing adventuress things and getting hurt from his audacity. He was known for that, ever since Serena learned about him after he was bitten by a poisonous snake out in a field, forbidden for children. What ever he was moaning about now worried her as much as the bite five years ago.
"Sammy!" Serena knelt down beside him, taking out her various tools from her bag. She stopped, at the frustration of her mess and worriedly felt his forehead.
"What's wrong, what's wrong?" She kept asking him.
"Serena, he hurt his leg after jumping from that branch," said the girl name Cecilia. She was pointing at the tree above their heads. The last branch was only about three and a half feet above the ground. Something the boy, Sammy at his height couldn't have broken his foot over.
"Tell me, Cel. How and why exactly did he get up on that tree, and end up on the floor moaning?"
The six-year-old was tracing a pattern on the dirt with her toe, without looking at Serena. This was what she was accustomed to doing whenever she felt guilty about betraying a friend, which at this moment, she was about to do.
Everyone watched her with unblinking eyes, except for the only two mature people, like Serena and Darien. "Well, Terry made a bet with him. If Sammy could climb up the top of the big oak tree, he would give him his lunch tomorrow. At first, Sammy was looking up the tree and knew how hard it was going to be. Then, everyone started calling him a 'chicken,' and started clucking," at this, Cecilia clucked and bent her elbows and flapped them furiously as she ran around the children, who soon started clucking with their little friend.
Serena stopped them and made Cecilia finish her story.
"Sammy said, 'No, I'm not a chicken,' and then Terry said, 'Oh yeah!? Prove it!' Then Sammy climbed. When he reached the top, he started coming down again. Once he reached the last branch, everyone was cheering. He was so proud; he just leapt off without really looking down. We saw him! He landed on his two feet, but fell down. He kept repeating, 'Owy! Owy! Go get Serena! I broke my foot!' We all thought he was playing, until he started really crying with big drops of tears. Then, we sent the quickest boys to you and so, here we are," Cecilia said with a triumphant smile, swelling with pride at being the one to tell the story. However, the children all gave her angry looks at betraying them.
"Hmmm…" Serena knelt down and pressed two fingers around the bruised foot that Sammy said he broke. He wasn't making any noises as she pressed. Suddenly on an irritated impulse, she pinched the bruise and encouraged a yelp from him.
"That will teach you to never climb trees again!" Serena sniffed in annoyance. "You're lucky it is only a sprain." She wrapped his foot with bandages. "If I catch you hurting yourself from falling off a tree again I will make Nora take away your outing privileges, understand?"
She helped him up. "I want the orphans to follow me back to Nora. And let the rest of you other children—especially you Terry—be warned that I will tell each of your parents what you have done today. Now go home and stay out of trouble!" Serena watched them all run in different directions.
Sighing, she mumbled to Sammy, "Don't think you're off the hook that easily. You're going to walk on your own all the way back."
"Aw, Serena. Do I have to?"
"You have both legs. I think you'll manage. Now, go."
Serena and Darien walked behind the children. "Stay away from Sammy! Don't help him!" She shouted at some of them.
"Very good," Darien laughed genially.
"Well, someone has to teach him. I can't tend to every bruise and cut he gets. He's been nothing but trouble since I met him."
Darien nodded. "Maybe not so harsh of a punishment I suggest. He's only a child."
"Don't tell me if your son went and did something very terrible you wouldn't do anything about it." She stopped and muttered quietly, "Bosh, only a child."
"I don't have a son," Darien said, blinking his eyes at her, blankly.
"Alright then, what about the king and queen? How did they discipline you when you were a child?"
There was a moment of silence before he answered. "My mother and father were too busy to worry about me. The servants took care of me and I kind of taught myself what's right and what's wrong."
"I guess the both of us have a lot in common." Serena looked up at him, with a look of empathy. "My mother rarely had time for me. All she did was come up with cruel punishments when I did something bad. My nurses taught me manners."
"Which you apparently do not apply to your conduct," Darien said, daring to change the depressing subject to tease her.
"Hey, not wearing elaborate evening gowns or dresses doesn't mean I don't know how to be a lady." Serena brought her chin up as she said this.
"I'm sure of that. It's just that I'm surprised no one has asked you for your hand."
Serena tripped and almost fell over if Darien had not caught her in time. Heat flushed her face at her display of clumsiness again in front of the prince. Even after he steadied her, she still felt feeble in the knees.
Without thinking she let the answer roll out of her tongue. "I'm not actually what men look for or want to see in a woman."
"I find you pleasant to look at. And you are way past the age to marry."
What Darien really wanted to tell her was that he found her to be the most beautiful person he had ever met. He really wanted to let her know that she was beautiful inside and out, but he could not. It would be so embarrassing since he had, never in his life, tell anyone that. (And that is because he has never met anyone close or even equal to Serena.) And he didn't want her to suddenly feel shy around him or worse hurt herself. On the other hand, he found her clumsiness to be quite adorable.
"As you have heard, I am sure, that I was not born and raised here. I ran away from home to avoid an arranged marriage made by my parents." Her eyes and voice took on a softer look and tone as she continued. "I kind of promised him I would marry no other if I ran away."
"Promised who? Your betrothed?" Darien asked.
"Prince Darien, The Snoop, always trying to pry things up from the grave," she wagged her finger and clicked her tongue at him. Then, she looked up ahead, "Looks like the children are safe now." She and Darien watched them flood into the orphanage.
"You are lucky," Darien sighed.
"Why is that? The little monsters are a nightmare!"
"No, you are lucky that you are free. Ikuko and Kenji will not force you to marry."
Serena looked at him, sympathetically. "I know how it feels to be forced into marriage. It takes a lot of heart to run out."
"Yes, but I can't run."
Serena pats him on the back, just an innocent amiable gesture, one maybe Darien's father or a friend would give him. "It's alright. I bet things will work out. Your parents aren't pressing you now, are they?"
"Not really…"
"I'll be right here when you need someone to talk to," Serena assured him, smiling up to his midnight blue eyes. He would never get tired of that smile and face.