The city seemed not to be awake yet. The cold night air was still lingering above them and only the tired guard in the distance and a common slave girl watched, as they made their way into the empty streets. This was indeed, the only time that the lavished princess was allowed to leave her chambers to walk a bit, letting the sun tan her perfect skin. She had never spoken to him before, so he was nearly shocked, when she broke the silence and her soft voice adressed him: "You know," she whispered, "there is not so much difference between the cardinal and me. WE were both an exotic gift to please our masters, living in a golden cage and dreaming of freedom." She paused and he stopped in his tracks, looking away a bit shamefully. He already knew that his master had paid a dissipative amount of gold for her, but he had never known, never give a second thought about her...feelings toward this abasing situation. "My bird is...trained well. If I set him free, he would find his way back home...or get captured by the soldiers. And I know, that he want to be free again, flying high in the golden skies. I was thinking...sometimes, that he may be happier...if he simply died. Then it all would be over. But I am a weak woman. I could never...help him in that way." He did not see her face, but strangly enough, he knew she was smiling in a way, that let him shiver. His gaze flickered to the fortress. "But you..." she said, barly audible, "you are strong." She was not facing him, her voice so soft and small and he felt a strange twist in his heart. "Will you...help me?" And it was the desperation, that made him see, that her whole speech has never neen about the bird in her petite hands. english is not my mother language, so please oversee all the mistakes I have made in my little story. This is the idea behind that picture.