Chapter 8: What's Wrong

An hour passed, and there was a knock at Tiqa's door. She said, "Come in," and Elisabeth entered the room saying, "Oh there you are, your Highness I've been looking all over for you." Tiqa said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were looking for me." Elisabeth chuckled and said, "It's okay. I just didn't know how good of a hider you were. The girls told me that you were with his Highness, but when I went to ask him where you were, he didn't know." Tiqa laid back on her bed and yelled, "Ugh." Elisabeth asked, "Is something wrong, your Highness?" Tiqa said, "Ugh, nothing. It wouldn't matter anyway." Elisabeth said, "Well, your Highness, if you need to talk, I'm here to listen." Tiqa said, "Thanks, Elisabeth." Elisabeth said, "You're welcome, Your Highness. Now the girls want to play with you in the playroom, do you want to go?" Tiqa stood up and said, "Yes, can you please take me to them?" Elisabeth said, "Yes, come your Highness."

Elisabeth walked Tiqa to the playroom. As they walked, Tiqa said, "Elisabeth?" Elisabeth answered, "Yes, your Highness?" Tiqa asked, "Why do you keep calling me your Highness instead of Tiqa?" Elisabeth said, "Because I'm a servant girl. My title is lower than yours. It's very much lower than yours." Tiqa asked."What if you were a lady in waiting would you still have to call me your Highness?" Elisabeth said, "Me a lady in waiting? Well, that would be something, wouldn't it? I've always dreamed of being a lady in waiting. I was supposed to become a lady in waiting too, but things changed. I mean I could be without food, water, clothes, a job, etc... But I'm not, and it's a Blessing from God, isn't it?" Tiqa said, "Yes, it is, but why aren't you a lady in waiting?" Elisabeth answered, "Well, I lost my title a long time ago." Tiqa asked, "How did you lose your title?" Tiqa and Elisabeth stood by a redwood door, and Elisabeth said, "That's a story for another time. We're here at the playroom now, but I promise to tell you my story later." Tiqa said, "Alright, " and Elisabeth opened the door to the playroom.

They entered the playroom and saw sparkly pink walls that had a picture of a Cross hanging up, dark wood floors, a big window covered by a light pink curtain, 2 you boxes full of toys (such as stuff animals, horses, board games, dolls, etc...), and a bookshelf full of coloring books and storybooks. Inside the bookshelf were packets of crayons, markers, and color pencils. Cedar, Susan, Jenessa, and Driaka sat on the floor, playing with horses and dolls.

Cedar, Susan, Jenessa, and Driaka looked at Elisabeth and Tiqa, and Driaka said, "Tiqa! Come play." Cedar said, "Yes, please come, play, and save me!" Tiqa said, "Alright." Tiqa walked over to them and sat down. Susan walked over to a toy box, got a doll, walked back over to them, sat down, and handed Tiqa the doll while saying, "Here you can be her." Tiqa grabbed the doll and said, "Oh, she's beautiful." Cedar said, "And on that note, it's time for me to go. Goodbye, ladies." Susan said, "But Cedar, can't you play for a little longer?" Jenessa and Driaka said, "Yeah, can't you?" Cedar's face turned red, and he said, "Well girls, I was going to go to sword practice with Prince Stephen." Jenessa said, "But sword practice isn't for another hour." Cedar said, "Yeah, but I need a sandwich so badly, and it takes Justin forever to make the sandwich I like." Driaka said, 'But if you go, who's going to be the brown horse?" Cedar said, "Uh," sighed, and Tiqa said, "Girls, why don't we let Nobleman Cedar go and make his food, and maybe Elisabeth can play the brown horse? What do you say, Elisabeth?" Elisabeth gasped and said, "Well, I have a lot of chores to do..." Driaka and Susan ran up to Elisabeth, each of them taking one of her hands, and walked her back over to where they were playing while Driaka said, "Certainly you can play with us." Susan said, "Yes, Elisabeth, you must play with us." Elisabeth said, "But girls, I have chores to do, and what will your parents say, Princess Susan? I could lose my pay or worse my job." Susan said, "They won't say anything of the sort. If they asked, I'd tell them that you were playing with us because I asked. They'll understand." Elisabeth said, "But girls, I..." Tiqa, Susan, Driaka, Jenessa, and Cedar all said, "Please, Elisabeth." Elisabeth sat down and said, "Oh alright." The girls cheered, Cedar walked over to Tiqa, whispered in her ear, "Thank you," and Tiqa whispered back, "You're welcome. Just tell his Highness that I said hello." Cedar smiled and left. Elisabeth picked up the brown horse, and Susan said, "So Tiqa, how was tea with my big brother?" Tiqa said, "Emm, it was something alright." Driaka said, "Something as in something good or something as in something bad?" Tiqa chuckled and said, "It was just something." Jenessa said, "Does that mean you'll have more tea with him?" The girls looked at Tiqa smiling, and Tiqa asked, "Why are you three girls so interested in me and his Highness?" The girls said, "No reason." Susan said, "I just think you and my brother are interesting, is all." Jenessa said, "Yeah, just very, very interesting." Tiqa said, "Well, I think we should play dolls." Susan said, "Oh come on, so you're not going to tell us anything... I mean, don't you want to tell us how nice of a time you had with Stephen?" Tiqa said, "Ugh, you girls, don't give up, do you?" Driaka said, "Nope!" Tiqa sighed and said, "Well girls, if you must know, I ran away." Susan, Jenessa, and Driaka yelled, "You did what," and Susan asked, "Why did you run away?" Driaka said, "Yeah, why did you run away?" Tiqa said, "Well, excuse me. Look girls its complicated. I just ran away, is all." Susan asked, "Don't you like my brother?" Tiqa looked at Susan and said, "Well, I... I... well, of course I like him. I like him and your family and Cedar and you guys and..." Driaka interrupted, saying, "No, we mean, really like Tiqa. Don't you like him." Tiqa said, "Oh girls. I... I... I'm going to get something from my room. I'll be right back." Tiqa left the room, and Elisabeth said, "I'm going to go help her get it. Girls, we'll be right back. You three keep playing." Driaka asked, "Can I come too?" Elisabeth said, "Um... this won't take long, Your Highness. We'll be right back." Driaka said, "Okay, " and the girls played while Elisabeth left.

She walked to Tiqa's bedroom, opened the door, saw Tiqa laying on the bed covering her face with a pillow, and walked into the room while saying, "Can I come in?" Tiqa removed the pillow from her face and said, "Sure, why not?" Elisabeth closed the door behind her and said, "I thought you might need some help." Tiqa sat up and said, "Nothing is going right, Elisabeth." Elisabeth asked, "Is something wrong, Your Highness?" Tiqa said, "Yes, everything!" Elisabeth sat on the bed and said, "Well, talk to me. What's wrong?" Tiqa said, "It's just I keep running away. I keep running away from his Highness." Elisabeth asked, "Do you not like him?" Tiqa answered, "No. I do like him. I really, really do, and it's weird. I like him and I just don't know how to react so I run away." Elisabeth said, "Why do you run away?" Tiqa said, "I don't know fear? Embarrassment? The truth is his Highness deals with all these princesses all the time, and I've never dealt with anyone. What if he doesn't feel the same way? What if I'm the only one feeling this way?" Elisabeth said, "Well, Your Highness, out of all the princesses his Highness has dealt with, I've never seen him look at a princess the way he looks at you. His eyes light up like I've never seen before." Tiqa said, "They do? Are you sure?" Elisabeth said, "Yes, he's never acted this way before your Highness. I think you underestimate yourself. Don't you know that God made you something beautiful. Have confidence in yourself and know that God made you something special. It's a really beautiful catch. Just walk humbly. Be confident yet humble. Remember what God has done and remember God is going to do great things with you." Tiqa smiled and said, "Thank you, Elisabeth." Elisabeth smiled and said, "Anytime your Highness. Now, let's get back to the playroom." Tiqa said, "alright," and they left for the playroom.