Elora's distant screams are what aroused me from my slumber next morning.

"Martha, what…?" I asked, still half asleep.

Martha was rummaging in my closet. "Quick, Your Highness, we have no time to waste," she urged as she took out a white, fluffy robe. She brought it over to my bed and laid it on the duvet.

"What's happened?" .

She sighed. "The palace kitchen has caught on fire," she said as she helped me in the robe. "We aren't sure how it happened but what we do know is that the fire has spread to the palace corridors."

"The kitchen in the west wing, you mean? But it's quite close to the Women's Room," I mumbled as I slipped on my slippers. "Has it burned down?"

"I am not sure. Nobody got close enough to confirm, but from the outside it is quite visible that the whole kitchen and the corridor outside has been reduced to ashes. Oh, hurry it up, Your Highness," Martha said impatiently as she knelt down to help my feet into the slippers. "Follow me, now. Make sure you keep a napkin over your nose to avoid any harmful inbreathing of smoke. The corridors are reeking with it." She took a rag out of her pocket and covered her own nose.

I followed Martha as she opened the door. "Stick close to me, Your Highness." And off we went.

The palace was swarming with palace staff running in different directions. I almost got knocked down by a servant in tears, running away from the direction of the fire. Guards were running either with or without buckets of water in their clasps towards the dense clouds of smoke. Maids were running with their valuables clutched to their chests and some were even barefoot. Martha led the way for me amidst all this chaos, occasionally checking up on me behind her back.

"Are we to go to the palace gardens?" I asked, my voice barely audible because of the napkin on my face. I wasn't sure if Martha heard so I removed the napkin and repeated it but the smoke made me cough so the question came out in a series of splutters and gasps.

"Your Highness, are you alright? I told you not to remove the cloth," she said worriedly, but kept moving. "We're almost outside." Oh. So we really were going out in the gardens. I wonder if everyone else would be there, safe and sound. Hopefully, nobody was caught by the fire.

I took a huge gulp of fresh air as I stepped out into the gardens. Humans really do take good oxygen for granted, I realized. It felt heavenly to breathe in and not be met by a black cloud of bitter smoke.

I looked around for the others and spotted the royal crowd. Amongst the crowds of people, I must have caught the Emperor's eye because he came running towards me, his arms outstretched. "Cynthia, my daughter!" he cried as he swooped me in his arms. "Are you alright? I was afraid you might sleep through this whole situation if no one came to pick you up, so I sent your maid and some guards to get you out of there. How are you feeling?"

I registered his words and smiled as I gently pulled out of his tight grasp. "I'm doing fine, Father. Martha came to get me at just the right moment." From the sides of my eyes, I saw Elora who, despite all the earlier screaming, seemed in perfect condition, if a bit unkempt. Her hair was poking out in different directions in a frenzy. Every few seconds, she would hand-brush her hair, and asked her maid to make sure if she looked presentable. As the Emperor burst out laughing with relief after making sure that I was alright, Elora's eyes fixed on mine as she looked upon me with contempt.

"Your Majesty!" She approached us with long, striding steps. "Your Majesty, would you please look here," she tugged the Emperor's rob, trying to gain his attention. "Look, I got hurt while running from the fire. It pains me so much!" She tried to show her barely scratched arm to the Emperor but his attention was elsewhere. "Forgive me, my darling, I'm a bit busy at the moment, he said, distracted as he looked around for someone. "Wick!" he called to a nearby guard. "Where's Gradral? Did you see him leave the barracks?"

"No, Your Majesty!" he called back.

The Emperor went off to talk to another nearby guard, leaving me and Elora all alone.

"Another one of your tricks, I suppose?"

I whipped my head around to see Elora's face right up close to mine. Oof, not another tiff with this despicable woman. "Pardon? Are you addressing me?"

Annoyed, Elora pulled her face back and examined me. "No, I'm talking to the ducks in the pond over there. Of course I'm talking to you," she said. "Do you have any idea how worried he was because you didn't make it out even after 20 minutes of sending the little rescue group to you? You could've saved him so much hassle if you had made it out yourself."

"So..." I said, thinking over what she had just said. "Am I supposed to, like, apologize?"

Even more annoyed, Elora once again raked her hair with her hands. "Shouldn't you? To the Emperor?"

"I don't suppose so," I said, getting tired of standing there. "He's my father. It's his duty to ensure my safety."

Elora scoffed. "Whatever," she retorted. "But remember that he bears more affection for me than he does for you, you get that?" And with those words, she went striding off to the other women, not even sparing me a glance back.

"O….kay....?" I said, confused. I had learnt to not pay much heed to Elora's insignificant bickering. She was always trying to prove the Emperor's love for her, every single time I've had a chance to conversate with her. It was as if she believed that a father should love his mistress more than his daughter. What a load of hogwash.

"Lorelei!" I called as I spotted a head of blonde hair.

"Your Highness!" Lorelei turned around at my call. "What a relief. We all thought you won't be able to get out in time. Christa even threw up at the thought."

"No I did NOT!" Christabel defended herself, her cheeks flushed. "It was the smoke, I swear upon it. Your Highness," Christabel turned to face me, "I would never do anything of the sort. After all, I'm a lady."

Lorelei snickered at which Christabel turned to her and pounced at her. "How dare you, you insolent woman!"

"CHRISTA! AREN'T YOU A LADY!?" Lorelei shrieked. "Your Highness, save me….!"

After sometime, we were all laughing, sitting on the dewy, morning grass.

"A pity, isn't it?" Lorelei sighed. "Half of the west wing has been burnt down, according to Odette's analytics. Even the Women's room wasn't left unscorched. To think that all of my art supplies were stored there."

All of us observed the palace exterior while similar thoughts ran through our minds. I eyed the window frames along the walls, counting how many windows there were. My eyes moved to the front door of the west wing of the palace, where maids and guards were still running around, in and out.

"There are only 4 days left until the ceremony, too. It's quite unusual how the fire struck out at such a time...we've all lived here long enough to know that the kitchen staff are extremely skilled, the best of the best, personally selected by His Majesty," Christabel said, addressing nobody in general. "Never has such an event occurred."

Now that she mentioned it, I found it quite strange as well. This wasn't some small, typical kitchen fire. There must've been enough guards around to diffuse it, if that actually was the case.

No, this wasn't a small thing, it was a big fire. If we perceive this logically, we could maybe find the answer. Breakfast preparations don't start before 7 am. Martha had woken me up at exactly 7:03, so it was impossible to imagine that the fire had been started because of the cooks. No, the fire started before the breakfast preparations; before the staff entered the kitchen. Such a fire...there was only one possible answer.

We all turned to look at each other at the same time.

"Oh Lord, it cannot be," I whispered.

Lorelei gulped. "It has to be."

"What? What is it?" Christabel sweated profusely. "I don't get it."

Lorelei and I turned in unison to stare at Christabel.

"Arson."