Once upon a time in a small, peaceful Kingdom there lived a beautiful Princess named Luminaira. The portrait of her which hung on the wall in the Great Hall of the Castle showed a pale young woman of about seventeen with long black hair and large blue eyes, but this was the closest any of the people in the Kingdom ever got to actually seeing the Princess. No one ever saw her. Luminaira had locked herself in the highest tower of the castle and refused to let anyone in her room. This was because although she longed to be with the people in her Kingdom, she was cursed. Whenever she made eye contact with anyone, they would immediately turn into ice. She did not know the reason for this curse and there appeared to be no cure for it, she decided to lock herself away. If she never saw anyone, she couldn’t hurt them. Their beloved daughter’s refusal to make contact with the world greatly worried the King and Queen. They constantly tried to get people to talk to her and force her out of her room. Not one person could get a word out of her until the day the King and Queen hired a new maid to clean the Princess’ room.

The maid’s name was Mayna. She was always smiling or laughing. Her constant cheer won over Luminaira and they became good friends. She took very good care in making sure she never once made eye contact with her new friend, so usually their conversations were done without looking at each other at all. Even though Mayna was only a maid, the two would spend countless hours talking and enjoying each other’s company, always in the privacy of Luminaira’s room. She refused to leave, no matter what. Mayna became the only person she could talk to and with Mayna she could talk about practically everything.

By this time, Luminaira had reached the age where the Princes of other Kingdoms were interested in marriage. Most of them were turned away, but one Prince, whose name was Hash, was so persistent that the King and Queen decided to give him a chance and he was allowed to visit her. At first, the Princess refused to speak to him at all. Mayna convinced her to give him a chance, and so Hash was allowed to sit outside the door and talk to them. Even though he was never allowed into her room, the Prince would visit every day and quickly became their friend. He was often confused about whether he was talking to Mayna or to the Princess because Luminaira would not allow him to visit unless she had Mayna with her, and the Prince could not tell the difference between their voices.

For the first few months that they knew each other, Hash never saw the Princess or her maid. He would always leave before Mayna came out of the room to resume her chores, but one day as he was walking up the stairs he caught sight of Mayna walking out of the room. He knew she wasn’t the Princess because of her clothing and because he had seen the portrait of Luminaira, so he knew she must be the Princess’ trusted maid. He yelled out her name. Mayna turned around, surprised, but gave one of her cheery smiles and greeted him back. Because he couldn’t go see the Princess without Mayna, he decided to just talk to the maid. The two began talking and their conversation lasted well into the night. By the end of the night, Hash realized that while he had come to this kingdom to marry the Princess, he had managed to fall in love with her maid instead. Though she had no real beauty to speak of, there was something about her that he was drawn to. As the light of dawn rose above the horizon, a silence fell between the two. At this moment, he leaned over and kissed her.

Mayna was taken completely by surprise. She had not expected a kiss, of all things. After all, she knew why the Prince was still in her friend’s lands. She knew that she was just a maid and could not expect any sort of love to come her way. She also knew as soon as his lips touched hers that she was also in love with him.

She looked into his eyes and knew what he felt better than if he had spoken. Her stomach churned. She knew she should not get involved with a Prince, especially one who was supposed to be convincing her best friend to marry him. She had every reason to walk away right then, to pretend that she felt nothing toward him and allow him to continue courting the Princess. She had no reason at all to kiss him back, but that is exactly what she did. And then he knew she loved him as well.

The next few weeks continued as they had in the past. Mayna would sit with Luminaira and talk to the Prince through the door for a few hours a day, then return to her duties. But every night, just as she was finishing her daily work, Hash would show up and visit her alone. They were the most wonderful nights she had ever experienced. At first, she felt very guilty, but then this new feeling swept her up. It felt like her blood was racing around her body and the tips of her fingers would become tingly and restless. She couldn’t breathe; she wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Although Mayna had never felt like this before, she knew it was love.

Luminaira, alone in her room, started to wonder about a few things she had noticed. Mayna had been acting strange. She hurried away from the tower after they had only talked for a little while, claiming she had an urgent need to finish all of her chores. When she spoke of the Prince, her whole face lit up. Hash’s responses to anything the maid said were also more enthusiastic than they had been before. It was very strange indeed.

The Princess had never been in love, nor had she really had any contact with those who were, but she knew what was going on. As time progressed, she became bitter and jealous. She did not have any feelings of love for the Prince, but she had become fond of his presence. She was afraid that if she allowed her two friends to be in love with each other, they would leave her alone in her little room and she would never be able to talk to them again. Late one night, the little lantern in her room would stay lit as she thought of a plan to tear them apart.

Luminaira was sitting with Mayna again the next day in her room. Hash had just arrived, and the three of them were continuing a cheerful conversation when Luminaira suddenly spoke up. She told Hash to come into her room. Mayna jumped a little, and struggled not to look up in surprise as Hash cautiously entered the room. The Princess told him in a warm voice to take a seat on the sofa next to Mayna, and he did so eagerly.

In a low voice, Luminaira told her friends that she knew what was going on. The two lovers tried to deny it, but there was nothing they could do. The Princess knew about them and was angry. Mayna was the one who finally confessed. She told the Princess that it was true, she was in love with Hash and he with her, but that it didn’t mean Luminaira was any less important to them. At that point, the Princess looked up. Her pale blue eyes were filled with rage as she glared at them. The sudden movement caused both Hash and Mayna to look up suddenly. For a brief second, they felt their veins freeze over and their muscles become numb. Then they never felt anything ever again.

Luminaira looked over at two perfect statues of ice in front of her. Calmly, she walked over and placed them on opposite sides of the room both facing the place where the Princess usually sat. She smiled serenely. Now they could all remain friends, forever.