Princesses

Since Leonor was a little girl, she had been living in the same old tower, thick stone walls separating her from the world beyond her room. Some mornings, the nostalgia of the wheat fields of her childhood home flooded her mind, but most of the times she just resigned herself and waited by the window, daydreaming about the shiny knight that would free her one day. After all, that was what a princess was suppossed to do. Just sit in her prison awaiting for the arrival of her bright, victorious, curse-breaking prince, who would take her to a kingdom of happiness and prosperity. Or even to a not-so-prosperous kingdom, one with a few bloodthirsty dragons, or an annual plague or two. Anything was bound to be better than that a half-ruined tower.

Of course, Leonor wasn’t too optimistic. Her dowry wasn’t half bad, but that wasn’t enough to make a knight willing to travel to the frozen mountains beyond the end of the world to battle the seven-headed semigod of despair (which actually was the mission that had to be accomplished to earn her hand in marriage). When the princess gazette announced that due to a shortage of towers some of the most undemanded princesses would have to share their dwellings, she wasn’t surprised to be one of the chosen.

Esmeralda was the name of the princess assigned to Leonor’s tower. She was a sleeping beauty, whose value had somehow decreased due to a sudden overpopulation of princesses with such condition, and when Leonor first saw her, she almost stopped breathing. Her green eyes shone like emeralds, and her hair was jet black, falling in perfect waves up to her waist. Until she saw her blushing, she didn’t believe she was human.

Soon, Leonor and Esmeralda became inseparable. Not only did they share the tower, but also their hopes and dreams. They talked about their memories, and played games with made-up rules. In comparison, their earlier life in solitude seemed now a waste of time, and they started dreading the day a knight would declare her love to Esmeralda, thus tossing her in a deep sleep that would only end when said knight had defeated the corresponding evil witches and had come back to kiss her.

However, that day finally came, and a handsome lad from a neighbour kingdom rode his horse to the tower to declare his intentions of battling his way into Esmeralda’s heart. She felt asleep instantly. After the warrior had gone to fulfill his errand, Leonor tried to wake her, but it was useless. She tried calling her name, shaking her with all her strength and even throwing buckets of water at her face. Nothing worked.

And thus, Leonor went back to her previous lonesome life. She spent hours taking care of Esmeralda, combing her hair and fixing her clothes so she would be perfect when her prince came back. Leonor tried to go back to waiting and daydreaming, but everything seemed more painful without Esmeralda.

One day, Leonor couldn’t take it anymore. Tears started flowing from her eyes and nothing she could do stopped them. Hopeless, she threw hershelf on the bed by Esmeralda, and leting denied feelings run free, she kissed her. Suddenly, all her body turned back to life, and before Leonor could wrap her mind around this miracle, Esmeralda’s lips were chasing her own. As they hungrily explored their new discovery, the rest of the world seemed to vanish.

When they were out of breath, they simply got up and left the tower. No one had bothered to lock the doors. Outside, colors seemed brighter, and the dawning sun talked about far away paradises and broken destinies.