The Virtue

The Crystal Affair

(The song that I am listening to while writing this piece is Safe and Sound - Taylor swift ft Civil wars)It is like the background song between Medusa and Nova!

Nova's POV

I mount my majestic white horse Ella and fix myself better on the saddle so that I don't slip like I always did when I was younger. My father King Darrell taught me how to ride. I feel nostalgic when I go to the stables or when I just take in the aroma of the horse and the stables. I remember how my father was so patient with me even though I was a terrible horse rider. He taught me everything that I know now such as Horse riding, reading latin, calligraphy and archery. My mother despised him because he made me a different woman, a strong and well educated all rounder that men in my country don't want to get married to because a woman like me always have an upper hand in whatever they do but as my father always said "Nova you have to be a woman that you look upto before you become a woman who your daughters look upto". That advice has forever stayed in my soul

"Haaa! let's go Ella!" I say to Ella and Ella neighs we ride in the rain, drenched in cold water

I ride through the wood alone, I have plenty of guards but when I want some solitary time I bribe them with the promise of finest french champagne that they happily oblige too, men you see are just born like that. This is very un-princess like and if my mother happens to find out this ritual of mine, I am sure I would be guillotined but I never care to think that deep or far about my mother's wrath.

Riding through the woods alone sets my soul on fire, I find the peach walls of my chambers very suffocating. Sometimes I wish I were as free as the hares that roam in the woods or the swans in the lake but a sudden sadness creeps in my heart knowing that I will never be that free.

I reach my destination in 30 minutes, It is a small hut with a round top made of straws. A dirty old board hangs on the entrance which reads 'Medusa's Crystals', it's written in blue. The house looks old, dirty and cold but the sight of it always makes my heart go warm. I dismount my horse and pat Ella, "I will come back in an hour or so, wait for me Ella". I say to Ella, Christ knows why I talk to my horse, but I always do.

I climb the two stairs in front of the house and ring the iron bell that seems to be hanging, covered with spider webs, I quickly dust my self and fix my hair a little as I am about to see my favourite person

"NOVA!!!!" a thin framed, middle aged lady says as she opens the door. She is Medusa, my everything

"Oh love, it's so good to see you my princess, you are drenched in rain! Come in!" she hugs me and kisses on my forehead. "Bless the lord" she says while looking up to the starch ceiling with her hands in the air

The room is dingy and the fireplace is in it's full force, the room is filled with crystals on the table and the floor, there are two cushion seats and one wooden table. I remove my cloak and go near the fireplace to warm and dry myself.

"oh my darling, what brings you here today, in such rain?" Medusa asks with her kind eyes staring into mine

Medusa has been more like a mother to me than my own mother has, when I was young I sometimes used to escape the castle for just the thrill of it, unfortunately/fortunately I got lost in the woods one day. I was only 8 years old. I sat by the stream that runs behind Medusa's house and cried a-lot. Hearing me cry Medusa ran outside, only to spot me sitting by the stream and on the rocks, crying hysterically. That day I thought I would die but I didn't because Medusa saved me.

Medusa came to me while the tears were streaming down my face, the sight of her scared me because I thought she was a witch, like from the stories I heard in the castle but she took my hand and took me to her home. She gave me bread with strawberry jam and blueberry muffins and kept me warm. She told me stories that made me laugh and made me forget all my fears. That night Medusa and I bonded like I have never bonded with anyone else and I never will with anyone like that again. She combed my hair and gave me warm baths, I was with her for one week before the King's guards found me.

I starkly remember the day I was found, the guards knocked on the door and Medusa opened the door, they stormed inside while shoving her aside. I was chopping potatoes for soup and they came in and said "Found the Princess! She is in here, Bless the Lord!", they quickly took me in their arms while I protested. I wanted to stay with Medusa forever, I wanted her to be my mother and teach me everything. I remember the tears in Medusa's eyes when the guards were taking me away. The pain in here voice when she asked the guard "A princess? The beautiful child is a french princess?", "Yes" the guard said snobbishly and took me away

I remember the joy and the pain in those green eyes of her's that day, that is why I escape the castle nearly every month to see her ever since.

"I missed you Medusa, I just wanted to be here with you for a while" I say with my eyes glued to the floor

"What is it child? This sadness and misery doesn't suit your beautiful face, these big brown eyes are meant to be filled with happiness and your pink lips meant to be kissed by the love of your life, tell me, what is it that bothers you?" she says kindly and seats herself close to me by the fireplace. It is just us and the crystals which could hear our conversations.

"Medusa I don't know what I ought to be in life. I feel unloved and lonely. I am happy but not as happy as I envisioned myself to be when I was young. I am pretty but I don't feel beautiful" I say while grabbing her soft hands and placing them in mine. She rubs my hands slightly and lean towards me.

"I am listening what you have to say, don't stop my love" she says with a friendly smile and a sense of warmth in her touch.

It is going to be a long night.

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