RE: Village Female Characters One Shots

Proposal Part 3: Cassandra

Cassandra and I have been dating for almost two years, at least I think we've been dating. We haven't made anything official but she kisses me and we have sex, frequently, so we must be in a romantic relationship of some sort. Now that I think about it more, I've never said 'I love you' nor has she said it to me, but she says it in her own ways. The way she curls into my lap at night when she's had a hard day, how her form becomes less solid when she's flustered or overly emotional. Or how she gives me random trinkets that 'reminded her of me.'I remember when I first arrived at the castle, I didn't know there was a third daughter until a month in when I saw her with her mother. Then and now she's the most handsome woman I've ever seen and it makes my heart giddy to think about her.

It progressed slowly, at first I thought it was my paranoia telling me that I was being watched only to find out I was. I would see shadows in the corner of my eyes, a low droning always in the background that I eventually ignored, and eventually a stray fly or two. Why me? I still have no idea. What started it all was when a man and two women were visiting Lady Dimitrescu for a business deal. I don't know what he said or did. All I remember is him running for his life and trying to use me as a human shield. When he grabbed me by the shoulders I saw only a blink of Cassandra half formed with her sickle gleaming in the light. She floated in the air, as if she was waiting for me to make a decision, help him or help her. It was an easy choice in all honesty. I didn't know the man and he literally tried to sacrifice me for his own skin.

"Here! Take her!" He screamed.

He threw me forward toward Cassandra and I landed hard on my hands and knees, Cassandra hesitated for a moment before she flew by me. I grabbed both sides of the rug and yanked with all my might, the man fell forward and didn't catch himself as well as I did. About a week later Cassandra gifted me a necklace that looked very similar to hers; it had three different silver swords, a yellow stone, and instead of a large crystal there was a piece of bone. I haven't taken off since.

She kissed me for the first time after I overheard some maids talking about my size, saying I could stand to skip a few meals. She found me stress cleaning with tears running down my face. I'd never seen her so sweet when she stopped my cleaning and knelt beside me, she threatened me to give her names and kissed me on the forehead when I cracked. After that she hovered more than usual, I often found flies around me or tucked into my uniform when I was working. Her sisters teased her and I relentlessly, often giving me tasks that they knew would make me cross paths with Cassandra. I guess I should thank them for pushing her to finally make an official move, well, I should thank Daniela.

She approached me out of the blue, well not really, I heard her heavy footfalls from a mile away. Clearly not used to walking. She stood in front of me until I acknowledged her presence and she shoved a bouquet of flowers into my face, ordering me to walk with her. Obviously her asking out skills were rusty too, but they only got better with time and so did her flirtatious gestures. However, that leads me back to my original thought, we certainly act like a couple but lately she's been distant. The maids are even less on edge around the castle because she hasn't made her presence known, her flies aren't around as often, and I only know she's even alive because she comes to bed late at night only to leave a few hours later.

I sigh heavily as I lift up the bucket of mop water to dump out over the window edge onto the ground below before reaching up to lock the window tight. I put the bucket and mop away into the storage closet and look down the hallway toward the kitchen. With Cassandra not around my insecurities and anxieties around eating in front of the other staff rears its ugly head. Usually I take the smallest helping I can and eat by myself in the courtyard until I know the rest of the staff leaves for the evening. Tonight however, Bela cuts me off from going toward the kitchen, I look up at her expectantly with a tilt of my head.