It was 9 am and the princess hadn’t woken up. The head maid carefully turned the lock and cracked open the door and got inside to find the princess asleep. She was the only one entrusted with a key to the princess’s room besides the king. The head maid soundlessly walked across the room all the way to the other side to draw the curtains to the large window open. She didn’t want to wake the princess but she also couldn’t risk making the princess sleep for too long. It was like a double edged sword for her having to deal with the princess in mornings like these. She wouldn’t know whether to wake the princess up or to let her sleep some more. Because, if she tried to wake her up, the princess would reprimand her for disturbing her sleep. If she decided not to wake the princess up, again she would be on the receiving end of another hostile bout for not waking her up on time. The elderly head maid didnt like mornings one bit, especially mornings like these. 
There had been countless maids either thrown out of the palace or sent directly to the torture room when they were entrusted with the task of waking the princess up in the mornings. In the end, this arduous task had to be taken care of by the head maid herself as she was the only one the princess couldn’t fire as she was like a second mother to the princess.

She slowly pulled the huge window curtains to let some of the sunlight in, thinking the sunlight would wake the sleeping princess up naturally. 

When she had waited for about half an hour and the princess didn’t stir, she decided it couldn’t go on. 
News had been sent earlier that an envoy from the kingdom of Hamon was to arrive soon to discuss some matters on trade and since the princess was back in the palace, the king had asked to see his daughter before they sat down with the envoy. 
The king knew his children well. HE knew his son inclined a little towards justice and had deep compassion and was charitable whereas his daughter excelled in matters of dealing with trade and the like, her selfish and greedy nature coupled with her charisma always assured the maximum possible profit in any trade with the neighbouring kingdoms. 

“Your highness”, the head maid called out, standing on the far left of the princess’s grand bed.
“Princess Sarocha?”, she called again.
Silence answered her.
She could wake her up by shaking like a normal human but the princess didn’t like being touched so she had to resort to using different soft tones until the princess awoke.

“It’s almost 10, your highness. Your father, his majesty asked your presence in his study”, 

“Mami, send for my brother. I didn’t get much sleep yet.” Was the muffled reply the head maid heard. She felt a little at ease as the princess sounded very calm and non threatening. “Your highness, I believe your brother hasn’t arrived yet.”

The princess cracked open her eyes and let out a soft groan. “ what’s the time?”

“It’s 12 minutes to 10, your highness.”

“Tell father I’ll come soon.”

“Princess, might I inform you, we are expecting an envoy from Hamon in the afternoon.” 

The princess groaned louder this time.

“Alright Mami, just go, will you? I want breakfast in 15 minutes.”

“As you wish, your highness.” 

___________________________________________

When the meeting was done, the princess had her tea in her father’s study. It was one of those days where the weather was unexpectedly sweltering hot so she decided to have her tea indoors.

Evening approached fast and the king would still not let the princess go. Being a princess and the heir to the throne wasn’t as breezy and people would believe. A good administration was always the result of hours and hours of data analysis, observation, meetings, discussions and deliberations. As much as the princess found it boring and demanding, she would not miss the chance to impress her father to continually assert herself as the deserving heir to his throne. She knew once she got ahold of the throne, she could do whatever she pleased. Until then, she had to show whatever respect there was to show her father lest her father would consider her brother for the throne of Aries as the majority of the people in the kingdom favoured her brother. 

She knew her father would never pick her brother over her. She knew she was the favourite child. She knew she had absolute authority over the court officials. The throne was hers and only hers to keep. Only she was capable to bring the kingdom to greatness. It mattered a little that people liked her brother over her. The kingdom was a monarchy, not a democracy. She had the upper hand. But still she needed to do her best to remain her father’s favourite. 

She glanced at the large wall clock on the wall, letting out a very lady-like sigh. She pulled out her pocket watch again to recheck the time. It was already time her useless maid would go to clean her art gallery. And as much as she told herself she hated the younger girl, a part of her wanted to get a glimpse of of the girl. It was a growing thirst she didn’t want to acknowledge.   

A pretty heavy downpour coupled with lightning and thunder graced itself early that night. And soon, everyone had forgotten how hot it had been earlier in the day and were taking shelter indoors.
The princess had to lean in very close to the glass of the window on her father’s study that overlooked the garden outside. With every of lightning, she could see her stupid maid sitting at the nearest shed in the garden. 
“What in the world”, she though out loud as she waited for another lightning. When it came, she saw the girl again. This time, she knew she was not imagining things. She saw the girl, sitting on the bench, an umbrella lying close to her side.
By the way she was sitting, people could easily mistake her for a ghost.
“She’s got to be out of her mind, that imbecile.” The princess mumbled as she watched on in silence. There was no reason anyone would want to be outside when it was raining. 

________________________________________________

The next morning, the skies had cleared and the sun was shining in the horizon. Becky and her friend, Irin were out in the front of the palace, strolling around before their work began. 

In the distance, Becky saw a familiar looking ginger cat walking alongside an elaborately dressed lady, followed by some royal guards.
Becky hadn’t seen the cat in a while ever since the cat scratched her. She held no resentment towards the cat and was delighted to see her. 

“Hey there PomPom” Becky called out, smiling widely, Gesturing with her hands for the cat to come to her. Said cat also lazily skipped towards the now kneeling Becky. 
Becky scooped the cat up and its fur, mumbling sweet things to the cat. 

Lady Nam looked at the exchange fondly. 

Irin bowed at Nam when she approached them. However, for Becky, she was too preoccupied with the cat to notice a noble woman approaching them.

“You two must be new.” Lady Nam said, acknowledging Irin’s curtesy.
“Yes, ma’am” Irin responded.
Becky, finally noticing the approaching woman, bowed and offered her a smile. Lady Nam smiled back instantly. 
“I am surprised my cat knows you well.”

“Oh, I thought, Pompom belonged here in the palace.” Becky thought out loud. Becky knew for sure the noble lady in front of her was not a resident of the palace. 

“Yes, she used to. Now Pompom is not allowed here” lady Nam shrugged her shoulders. “She just accompanied me here. I will be sending her back to my place with my guards” She smiled sweetly. “Now, Could you help me arrange my room a little? I will be staying for a few days.” Lady Nam asked Becky.

Becky gave a nod and put pompom down to follow the woman. 

Becky wanted to turn and run when she saw the princess joining the king on the dining table with lady Nam. From what she learnt, Lady Nam was a distant cousin of the princess. Her and the princess seemed close, that much Becky picked up on judging from how fondly lady Nam talked about the princess. It almost made Becky jealous. Nevertheless, Lady Nam was a very warm and talkative person. She was nothing like the princess. 

Becky chose to stay as far away from where the princess was sat. The chef took over to assist at the dining table. 
A poorly subdued sneeze resonated across the room and everyone in the dining room turned to look at the culprit who was non other than miss Rebecca Patricia Armstrong. 
All blood rushes up to Becky’s face as soon as she made eye contact with the princess. She didn’t know why she had to start sneezing in the dining room in front of the royals of all the places. 
The head butler cleared his throat, successfully gaining Becky’s attention. “You are excused, Miss Armstrong.” He gently reminded. Sneezing near the royals was a complete no-no in the palace, especially in the kitchen or the dining hall. It was strictly prohibited for health-reasons for the royals. Becky bowed, apologised for sneezing and left the room.

Lady Nam chuckled softly.
“Isn’t she absolutely adorable?” She asked the princess as she took up her spoon. 
The princess said nothing and started drinking her soup. 

“I bet you’ve chased away the shoulder-length haired maid who tended to me the last time I was here.”

“ I don’t recall who you are talking about.” The princess answered. 

“It’s alright.” Lady Nam said. “I’ll have that cute kid to take care of me while I am here.”

“Which one?” The princess asked, putting her spoon down gently to face Nam as if she was about to listen to something important.

“The one that stood here and sneezed just a while ago” Nam answered, matter of factly.

“No.” 
Princess Sarocha replied calmly and resumed drinking her soup.

“Pardon?”

“That idiotic girl is completely useless. She is not capable of doing anything right. She’ll only annoy you.” She reasoned calmly.

“That’s not at all true. She helped set up my room earlier. She did a wonderful job. And she’s unfathomably cute. Too bad I forgot to ask her name.”

This time, the princess choked on the soup and coughed a couple of times. 

“Good heavens! Are you okay, dear?” The king asked from the far end of the table.

“You what?”, the princess asked Nam incredulously, completely ignoring the reigning king of Aries. 

“Are you okay now?” Lady Nam enquired, reaching her hand out to pat on the princess’s back. 

“I am fine, don’t touch me. You used my maid without my permission?” 

Lady Nam blinked a couple of times to make sense of the situation. She could not derive a conclusion as to why the princess was acting up for something as trivial as using one of the maids in the palace. She always picked whomever maid she wanted to every time she visited.

“And why cannot I do that?”

“This is my palace”, was the childish and arrogant argument of the princess.

____________________________________________

That early afternoon, Becky was escorted out of the kitchen by the head maid and she had been led to the maids’ chamber. The head maid had been instructed by non other than the princess to carry out this exact task.
“You must stay inside your room until you get better.”

“I can’t go outside for a walk anymore?” Poor Becky enquired.

“Don’t go out. Just stay in. Your cold is contagious.” 
The head maid strolled away leaving Becky standing sadly in her shared room. 

Since she was no longer able to step outside, she decided to send her friend Irin to clean the princess’s gallery later that day. With that thought, she slumped down on her bed. 
Having a weak immune system . She would henceforth be confined in her room for however long her cold will last. Just when she was about to take a nap, her door swung open and in came the head maid again wearing an annoyed face. She was indeed annoyed and had every right to be. Despite being the head maid, there she was delivering medicine for a mere maid. This was something she had never done before. But orders were orders. It was not like she could deny. She wordlessly put a tray on Becky’s bedside table.
“Drink that up”, she spoke, leaving as soon as she had come.
“Okay” Becky mumbled but the head maid was no longer there to hear her.

Early in the evening, Irin stood in front of the large door of the grand gallery of the princess.
The door was ajar and she could hear the princess and lady Nam inside. Her temple began to throb in trepidation. She was expecting to find the place empty but in vain. She regretted agreeing to Becky to come up and clean the gallery as a substitute. 
She pushed the door open and properly greeted the two residents inside before stepping in. News had it that not many people were allowed in the gallery of the princess. 

The princess looked at her and then down at the mop and bucket at Irin’s side. 
“And what are you doing here, miss ?” The princess calmly enquired. Her voice was like silk and the tone was soft but it carried a level of menacing undertone.

“Irin. It is Irin. I am here to clean, your highness.”

There was silence after where Irin stood uncomfortably.

“And who, may I ask sent you here?”

“Becky, I mean, Rebecca. She’s is also one of the newer recruits. She is not feeling well so she thought I should go and clean the gallery instead.”

“Well, well. What authority has she to decide who to send?” Now, the princess had crossed her arms. “Tell me, miss Irin, how close are you to each other to just ditch your own work and come here to assist your friend?”

“Your highness, she is my friend and roommate. And I-I have not ditched my work.. I had some- ” 

“Enough. Leave” 

______________________________________________

It really had been a single day after prince Non had returned to the palace and he had received an order from his sister that he had to visit the port city of Celeste. He couldn’t for the life of him, wanted to take part in his sister’s immoral business.
He had not seen Becky the whole of previous day and he wanted to see the girl before he left for Celeste. That was the reason why he was right outside the maids’ chamber in front of Becky’s door. 

Becky opened the door and politely greeted the prince. 

“Oh don’t. You don’t need to be so formal” Prince Non said. “Can we walk in the garden for a while?” 

“Actually. I am under room arrest of some sort. I am not really allowed to leave until I have fully recovered from my flu.”

Prince Non laughed. “You have been released from the prison by the prince of Aries. You can roam free now.”

They had walked the length of the garden talking and while the prince kept up a cheerful face, Becky could sense sadness in his eyes.
“You seem sad. What’s the matter?” 

“No, I am not.” The prince playfully denied. He stopped in his tracks and turned to Becky, a more serious look on his face. He hesitated for a bit before confessing his grievances to his friend, Becky. “I, I don’t know why my sister suddenly asked me to go. She normally doesn’t let me take part in these things.” 

“What things?” Becky enquired.

The prince averted eye contact for a bit before continuing. “I will be off to a port city to receive slaves to work in concentration camps.”

“Slaves?” Becky asked, her heart beating a little faster.

“Yes, slaves. For free labour. Foreign slaves my sister and father had bought. They are to be kept in the most hideous of places to work day and night for construction work.” The prince looked into Becky’s eyes. “Please don’t freak out.”

“I don’t understand. How long has this been going on here?”

“It’s been years, Becca. I am torn because I am not able to stop this”

“How could she do things like this?” Becky asked. She knew the princess was cruel but she had never in her wildest dreams thought the princess would be cruel to this extent.

The prince chuckled. “That’s not all Becca. It’s not immediately noticeable to people but my sister is up to no good. Her greed for power and wealth has completely blinded her. And my father is no better. He has been enabling all this to go on.” He took a long sigh “Becca, our kingdom is really wealthy and there are bad things going on here. My sister uses the dirtiest ways to keep all smaller neighbouring kingdoms under her.”

In the king’s study, Lady Nam narrowed her eyes to the two figures standing still in deep conversation in the garden in the distance. 
“Wait, isn’t that your brother with the maid. They seem very friendly, don’t they?”

Princess Sarocha immediately dropped the paper she had been reading. Taking off her reading glasses as she got up to inspect the situation from the window. 
She pressed her palms against the glass of the window and watched on. She saw, in the distance, her brother and Becky. 
“That ” she mumbled. 
“What?” Lady Nam asked.

“I just said ‘that ’” the princess stated, now looking over at her cousin. 

___________________________________________

Becky rushed to the princess’s room in a hurry. She was in the middle of a very grim conversation with the prince when she was informed the princess had called for her.

She opened the door and sent up a little prayer  to the gods. She was truly afraid of what the princess might say to her this time. She was never lucky when it came to the princess. And all the sinister things she had heard about the princess earlier did not help ease her fear.

“Your highness, may I come in” she meekly asked.

“Come” came the short reply.

Becky walked up to the princess, all the while keeping her eyes low so as not to meet the princess’s because she knew she couldn’t face her. 
The princess had her arms crossed and looked all too ready to slap someone. There was no one else in the room and Becky prayed whatever they were about to talk about would be quick.

“Your highness, you called for me?”

“ You really are brave, aren’t you?” The princess started. She looked down on the younger girl who had set her eyes fixed to the floor below. 
“First, you dare send your fellow maid to my gallery and then you are out meeting people in the garden when you should be in your room.”
Silence ensued.
“ Are you feeling well now?”

“Yes. I do feel a lot better, your hi-“

“Silence, now!”

Becky closed her eyes to try and calm her heart that was thundering in her chest. It drowned out all thoughts in her mind.”

The princess was a little pissed seeing the younger girl wouldn’t meet her eyes. And then, something caught her eyes and her heart seemed to skip a beat. There on the neck of the younger girl was a thin chain of platinum and a pendent that looked carefully crafted. The princess knew expensive stone when she saw one. How she had missed this for so long, she had no idea. She had noticed Becky’s necklace before but she dismissed it every time thinking it was some cheap shiny counterfeit stone. But now, standing this close, she saw the stone for what it was and her hand automatically moved to take the pendant in her hand.

Becky, jarred by the sudden action of the princess leaned a little back.

“Where did you get this?” The princess asked.

Becky had to close her eyes again and she didn’t know if she heard the princess correctly. All she could hear was her heart and her knees were about to give out from all the pressure. 

“A gift” was all Becky could muster.

Right then, the princess felt a very ugly feeling and she knew that feeling very well. It was raging jealousy that had suddenly consumed her. 

She was not jealous of the pendant. 
Who would have given such an expensive piece of jewellery to a mere peasant like the girl in front of her. 
She was ready to hate the person with all of her might.