“You’re very clearly not fine,” said Rinka. “You don’t have to talk to me, but perhaps I can just sit here with you for a little while. So you won’t be on your own.”
The princess did not say anything. She did not move, but she also did not protest when Rinka took a seat on the bench.
Rinka waited in silence, hoping that Idris would forgive her for the delay.
Ceri sobbed once, and then again, and then finally on the third sob, she sat down next to Rinka, holding her head in her hands.
“Nice weather we’re having,” said Rinka.
Ceri laughed and sniffled through her tears. “It’s a perfect night.” She wiped her nose on her handkerchief and turned to Rinka. “That’s another lovely gown you’re wearing.”
Rinka could hear no mockery in her voice. Perhaps this was the princess’s version of small talk.
“Yours is lovely too, your highness.” Ceri’s gown of dark green silk blended with the hedges in the dim light, nearly making her vanish from some angles.
Rinka waited again. In the distance, church bells chimed midnight.
“Is my brother nearby?” asked Ceri.
Not near enough, thought Rinka, but what she said was, “No. I came out for a walk on my own to cool down.”
“I know you’re not who you say you are,” said Ceri.
Rinka blinked, looking straight ahead and trying to keep as straight of a face as she could. “What do you mean?”
Ceri placed her gloved hand on Rinka’s forearm. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m not going to expose you. But I know you’re not from Paistos. And I know you’re not nobility.”
Rinka’s heart pounded in her ears. Idris had warned her about Ceri, about her games and schemes. And Rinka had seen her playful cruelty firsthand. What if this was some kind of trap? Some way of blackmailing her into doing something she didn’t want to do?
Rinka looked at the princess. Her pretty blue eyes were puffy from the tears, and she looked so small sitting there, so young. She may have been a princess, and perhaps the things Idris said about her were true, but Rinka found it hard to feel anything but sympathy for her in that moment.
“You’re right,” she said. “I’m not.”
Ceri nodded as though she appreciated Rinka’s honesty. “Idris has a habit of falling for the wrong person,” she said.
Rinka’s heart skipped a beat on the word “falling.”
The princess continued. “It’s a trait we share, it turns out.”
“Is that why you’re out here?” Rinka ventured to guess.
To her surprise, the princess responded. “Yes,” she said, her voice trembling as she began to cry once more. “He’s engaged.”
Ceri collapsed into tears. Rinka lifted a hand and gently rested it on Ceri’s shoulder, moving slowly, cautiously, as if she was trying to catch a rabbit.
Ceri leaned into Rinka, nearly toppling her over, and sobbed violently on Rinka’s shoulder. “He said he loved me,” she chokedout. “He still loves me. But he can’t marry me. He doesn’t want it, any of it. Not the title, not the crown. Not the life in the castle.”
Rinka patted the princess’s back in shock.
“How could he love me?” Ceri continued. “That’s all that I am. That’s all that I have. I’m not like Idris. He’s wanted something else for as long as I’ve known him. But I don’t. This is the life I want. So how could he love me? How could he love me if he could leave me for someone else?”
Rinka could see that Ceri was hoping for a response, some kind of wise answer from someone older that would give her comfort.
“To be honest, your highness, I know little of love. But I think it’s possible to love someone very much and not be right for them. That sometimes love isn’t enough, even though it feels like it should be. Even though it feels like the only thing that matters. And I know that sometimes, the right thing to do is to walk away from someone to let them have a chance of being happy. Maybe he left you because he loved you so much, he didn’t want to make you miserable.”
Ceri cried quietly for a while, but eventually, her tears slowed. “I’m not sure I believe that’s true, not for him at least, but I hope you’re right,” she said. “It’s a pretty thought. You have a kind heart, Lady Rinka. I can see why my brother cares for you.”
Rinka sighed as the princess released her from her embrace.
