Chapter 8 Awake

Zamira stayed throughout the night awake. No matter how she tried it felt as though even sleep was mourning with her. What was worst was that the night which she prayed should be long was unexpectedly short. She never wanted to see the light of day, at least not after hearing the petrifying news that her mother told her –news that she was going to get married a few hours later to the least person a lady would want to get married to. She had stayed up so long that her eyes ached but it was nothing compared to the pains she felt in her heart. It didn't even feel as though the night came at all but rather it felt as though she was caterpulted straight to the next day right after hearing from her mother that she would be getting married to Alvarez. That was typically how the world was, she thought. Whenever she was expecting something good to happen to her, nights would seem longer but now that a disaster was about to happen, the night didn't seem to take place at all.

As she sat on her bed, she started to think about the numerous things that she was going to miss out on as a youth – despite the fact that she didn't seem to understand her parents sometimes, she couldn't deny the fact that she had peace. She had a few friends that she made from both inside and outside the palace and she had her own share of fun as her life wasn't completely bitter to her. Even though that her childhood hadn't been a smooth one, she could at least attest to the fact that she loved her life in her kingdom which was way better than the life that was waiting for her at Divaria. She turned her head to look at the alarm clock by her side and saw that it had already hit 5am in the morning and at that moment after remembering that her wedding was going to take place that day, she knew that in no distant time, the servants would come knocking on her door. She couldn't even think about escaping as it was already late for her to do so and just as her mother had said, they would find her.

There was absolutely nothing that she could do now and she had made peace with her fate but what she didn't seem to understand was why she was getting married in Alvarez's hotel – by right and by tradition, the marriage rites was supposed to take place in her home and not at a hotel and without a doubt it was obvious that Alvarez was the brain behind the ridiculous plan. He had always been the type to involve himself in the kingdom affairs and would sometimes make decisions on behalf of the kingdom. It made her wonder how exactly her kingdom got into that mess but that wasn't her concern at that moment.

Just as she predicted, a knock soon came on her door and she knew that the servants had come to prepare her for her so-called big day. She wasn't going to fight it anymore and as a matter of fact, she stood up from her bed at that instant to open the door for them to come in.

''Good morning, my princess.'' 3 female servants chorused and curtsied. Each of them held trays containing different ornaments, clothes and jewelleries.

Without saying a word to them, Mira went straight ahead to remove her clothes so that she could have her bath. Even the maidens were surprised. Was there anyone in the palace that didn't know that the Princess didn't want to get married to Alvarez? Seeing her undressing herself without argument nor tears made them wonder but they dared not to speak.

Her clothes fell to the ground and she slipped out of it and entered her bathroom. Her bathroom was almost the size of her bedroom with a white glass tub at the end of it. The curtains were thick and red and on the tiled floor was a red fluffy rug. All that never mattered to her before now -- she had never appreciated the luxurious things she had but right at that moment, a sense of regret filled her bones. If she had known that a day like this would come, she would have appreciated the little things that she had, at least she wasn't going to feel that bad and now she was going to miss them all. As her legs stepped on the red fluffy rug, she stood still and took a deep breath, then she gathered her momentum and walked straight to the tub. Just as she was about to enter the bathtub which was already filled with water, one of the maidens stopped her.

"Your highness please!" The maiden's hand was stretched out half way in a bid to stop her and Mira turned slowly towards her direction to find out what the fuss was about.

"Why?" Mira asked in a low tone.

"Umm...the...the water," she stuttered, "it is cold." She continued. "Please allow us to refill the tub with warm water." From the look on her face Mira could tell that she was actually concerned for her but that wasn't her concern as she appeared to be unbothered about it.

"Am I also not free to bathe in any water temperature of my choice? Has my will been taken away from me also?" Mira asked her.

"No my princess. I just think that it isn't healthy for you to bathe in cold water."

"Then come."

The maiden thought that she misheard her and so she looked at the two others that were standing beside her in confusion seeking for some sort of answer 

"Yes come." Mira repeated. "Let's see if the water is healthy for me or not or don't you wanna find out?" The maiden walked straight to where she was standing and stood just a few inches from her awaiting the next thing.

"Touch me."

"Pardon?"

"I said touch me." Mira repeated again and the maiden touched her shoulders. "Now tell me. What does my skin feel like?"

"Your highness! Your body is... It's hot!" She answered.

"Good. With that being said, do you still think that I need a warm bath? Can a warm bath truly calm me down?"

"No, your highness." The maiden answered with her head bowed towards the ground.

"In that case I urge you to allow me to bathe with the last cold water that I will be bathing with in this Kingdom. In peace." She said sternly to her.