[The Ladies' Sunroom]

The women sat around the round, draped table having specially made cups of tea according to their own preferences. Christabel put hers down in the gold rimmed saucer and coughed gracefully to address the whole table.

"So, ladies," she smiled, her pearl white teeth shining behind her cherry stained lips. "Isn't today a lovely day?"

"Not more than usual," Lorelei sighed, sipping from her cup. "It's been much too lonely without the princess."

An atmosphere of hush fell on the table.

"How much ever the tragic incident befalls us, we mustn't let it hinder our duties, ladies," Yesenia, who was ever the level-headed woman, imparted. "Lady Sumner, how have you been doing lately?"

Everybody turned to look at the elegant, red-headed woman seated near the corner. Yvonne smiled uncertainly at the sudden attention, her ice blue eyes widening in alarm.

"Oh, yes..." she mumbled as she put down her cup of tea, her red painted lips barely moving. "I've settled in quite fittingly. The maids here have kept me wonderful company in my earliest hard times at the Royal palace."

"And have we not?" Christabel pouted as she folded her arms. "I thought we got along well, Lady Sumner."

Yvonne just wanted to finish the tea and leave, for she did not enjoy associating with these inwardly hostile females, ready to point daggers at each others' throats when the time came. Yvonne flicked her eyes towards Christabel, who was still pouting, and then her eyes scanned everyone else at the table...coming to rest on Lady Obsilia- or Elora, as we all like to call the snake.

Yvonne smiled her fatal smile, at which Elora scoffed and downed her tea. She looked back at Christabel.

"Yes, of course. I've found great comfort in everyone's presence."

Christabel slumped back, half satisfied as she wasn't given special attention to. Still, she smiled and gave Lorelei by her side a friendly nudge.

Elora put down her cup with a louder than necessary clink and smiled sweetly at Yvonne. "Lady Sumner, was it? Oh, what a lovely, lovely name. Was your father a landscaper?"

Yvonne blinked for a moment, then smiled. Inside, she felt like she wanted to strangle Elora for looking upon her with contempt.

"No, my dear lady," Yvonne uttered softly as she picked up her cup again and took a sip. "He was a respectable earl. Why? Is your father a pond-cleaner?"

Elora turned beet red and she slapped her palms on the table. "Wh-What insolence! My father was a duke, for goodness' sake!"

Christabel and Lorelei sniggered. It was rare that Elora would get so riled up by one of the mistresses as she considered herself above everyone else.

"Oh, well," Yvonne breathed as she absent-mindedly circled the rim of her cup. "I only asked in case you mentioned my father because your own was looking for a helper. Wouldn't a pond-cleaner look good tagging behind a landscaper? Oh, what a duo that would be!"

Yvonne smiled triumphantly while Elora gaped at her. She had never been talked back to that way, never in a couple decades! Huffily, Elora pulled her hands back off the table and hung them limply by her side.

"Lady Sumner," Odette said calmly as she fixed her monocle, who had been supervising the whole ordeal, but since she didn't like Elora more than the rest of them, she decided to stay silent about the comeback. "I hope the food has been up to your liking here. I heard King Irvin has some of the best sous chefs under his wing, so I was afraid our chefs wouldn't be able to produce to the level of your refined tastes."

Yvonne waved her hands dismissively, her eyebrows curving with worry. "No, no, everything's quite alright! How considerate of you to ask, though."

Odette smiled gently and sipped her tea while Elora seethed in her seat.

"I-I need to go to the lavatories, if you could please excuse me," Elora mumbled as she clumsily got up and strode off, her maids hurrying in tow. The moment Elora left the room, everybody started chattering loudly.

"Oh, that vile, vile woman," Lorelei hissed as she looked at the door. "I was quite impressed how you didn't succumb to her words, Lady Sumner."

"Please," Yvonne laughed shyly, "just Yvonne would suffice. Has Lady Obsilia always been this way?"

"Oh, you have no idea!" Christabel drawled out as she leaned back in her chair. "I remember when I first came here, she was such a dear, always caring and asking after me. I don't know what happened after a month or two, but her personality change was as appalling as ever. I asked Yesenia but she told me that Elora had never been a dear to begin with."

Yesenia nodded somberly, staring into her teacup.

Yvonne folded her arms as she furrowed her eyebrows, tilting her head at Christabel.

"What was her personality change like?" she asked with deep curiosity.

Christabel played with the ribbons on her dress. "Oh, you know…strange. She started being a bit violent. We all noticed."

Lorelei, Yesenia, Odette and Enya (who had been there the whole time) nodded in agreement.

Yesenia leaned forward, a maniacal gleam in her eyes. "Violent how?"

Christabel rolled a ribbon around her index finger as she stared at her bodice. "She would 'accidentally' drop flowerpots over the terrace whenever one of us was out having a walk. Thank god our guards were always there to protect us. I once found broken glass in my shoe whilst I was slipping it on, and I got injured rather badly. I still have the small scars to prove it. One day when I came back from a dressing appointment in town, I found my wardrobe in a mess and all my dresses slashed. When I confronted Elora, she assigned baseless blame to my maids and had them thrown into the dungeons without my consent. Personally, I think she's insecure about her position at the palace."

Lorelei nodded, her face screwed up in pain as she remembered her past. "We've experienced similar happenings, though we never had solid proof to accuse her of these sins. His Majesty favors her a lot, anyway."

Yesenia tapped her finger on the table at a second intervals. "She's much worse lately, now that the princess was starting to get more confident in her standing. Well...before the incident, that is."

From the silent side of the table, a small voice squeaked up. "I heard she abuses her maids."

Everybody's faces turned to Enya who sat with her head so low that her dark brown hair dipped in her teacup that sat untouched on the table.

"What?" Yvonne asked, her eyes wide.

Enya lifted her head a little, revealing two amber irises. "She beats them. Her maids. I saw them covering their bruises as they ran to the physicians."

Everyone fell silent.

The ladies' maids that stood around the table to serve them furtively exchanged anxious glances. Yvonne noticed the exchange from the corners of her eyes and decided to ask more.

"Bruises, you say?" she said very softly as she reached forward and put a gentle hand on Enya's shaking one, at which Enya flinched but didn't pull her hand away. "Tell us more."

Enya trembled in her seat as she stared at her cold tea. Her lips opened to form words, but none came out.

Yvonne patted Enya's hand. "Well?"

Enya gave a long sigh and sat straighter before she spoke. "She accidentally dropped a tiny vial in the halls once. Before I even opened it to check, I knew what it was. I could tell from the smell that it was some kind of poison."

Everyone looked at each other worriedly. "Poison? What's she been doing with poison?"

Enya took a deep, shaky breath. "Apparently, she's been building up her tolerance for poison by consuming a small amount of it everyday mixed in her tea. E-Even now, there's no way of telling if the tea she had been drinking was contaminated."

Instinctively, everybody's eyes went to the little lone teacup Elora had been drinking from before she had supposedly run off to the lavatories. Lorelei shivered while Christabel gagged. Yesenia and Odette sat silent.

"How interesting," Yvonne muttered, her thoughts running wild. Elora Obsilia was a much more interesting character than she had thought her to be. Truth be told, Yvonne was exhilarated upon hearing all this. "What type of poison was it?"

Enya shrugged as she hadn't a clue. At this, Odette spoke up.

"If you have the bottle, still, I would surely be able to tell which poison Elora's so afraid of."

Yvonne raised her eyebrows, impressed. She had been told that Odette was a very knowledgeable woman, and it seemed that she hadn't been lied to. She could be a great asset to her.

Yvonne had a plan forming in her mind, and she knew perfectly well how to execute it.