"Mikeal!" Oris woke up with a start, the Knight's name leaving her lips before her dream had even faded to nothingness.

She didn't know why she had dreamt of him dying in her arms; she didn't know why she had assumed it was him in the first place. She could not remember the features of the man that had been stabbed to death protecting her in the dream-world.

It could as well have been Bren that had taken the blow for her, but it hadn't been his name on the tip of her tongue. Instead, she had mourned, however short the duration might have been, a man she knew next to nothing about.

I must be losing my mind, she shook her head. Mikeal was charming—there was no doubt about—and they shared a strange sense of familiarity but that was all. The fact that he happened to be the only man in the palace that had seen what she looked like didn't help things.

Now she had a loose end she had no idea how to take care of.

He had witnessed her buy food and medicine to attract the lower class, and he was smart enough to know what she had been up to.

So, why didn't he turn me in?

He had even been afraid of something untoward happening to her and so decided to watch over her as she slept.

What sort of person does that?

Oris knew that she had done nothing to win his favor. In total, they had only met thrice, and till now he did not even know her name.

She was not the most beautiful candidate, she knew, and she was far from the most influential. An alliance with her at this point was not only meaninglessness, it could also be detrimental.

She subconsciously scanned the room for a trace of the Knight despite her senses telling her that he was long gone.

She wanted him to make his intentions clear once and for all. What exactly did he want from her?

She knew from his behavior that Mikeal did not love her—at best he was just curious—so the only reason that remained to explain his actions was that the Emperor had asked him to observe her.

That would mean that since Inqa, Hermes had known of her existence and suspected her identity. All the events that gave her no way out would then simply be tests to see if she truly was who she said she was.

Oris felt her blood run cold, her heart thumping hard against her ribs. No, she forced herself to remain calm, I must be overthinking.

Even Marcka and Tristan had no idea who she was. How could Hermes, who lived weeks' away from Orse, know that she had been disguising as a stable boy in an inn by the border?

How could he have predicted that she would be captured and used to replace one of his beauties? How could he have known that she was the last candidate?

"Mistress?"

Oris stiffened on hearing Seline's voice through the door. She did not turn to it.

Her gaze had been fixed on the spot Mikeal would have been had he stayed, so she hadn't had time to examine the room she had slept in.

Now that she did, she realized that it was as luxurious as it was plain. The blatant lack of color made her wince. The beige walls and curtains were paired along with cheap furniture bearing upholstery the color of straw. Even the bedsheets were the same color.

It seems like I'll need to redecorate soon.

She reached to her face and wiped at the stiff streaks where her tears had dried before answering, "Come in."

The sliding doors were pushed apart and three of her four maids trooped in, their heads bowed as they fell to their knees and kowtowed thrice to her.

Before she could order them to stop, they had already gotten to their feet, their blank expressions eerily identical.

"What are you three doing?" she asked softly, noticing Andrea's absence.

"We pledge our lives to Mistress," they chanted together, prompting Oris to raise a brow.

"You don't need to do that," she said, wondering what had happened while she had been unconscious. Too many strange things were happening around her.

"When we were in trouble, Mistress didn't hesitate to risk her life to save us." Mayree said, looking more sombre with her curls packed into a tight bun that sat at the nape of her neck.

Seline had put her own hair up into a ponytail that seemed to increase the tension in her already tense facial skin.

"It was our fault that the plan was not executed as expected but you took all the blame," she said, then pressed her lips into a thin line.

Keziah was the only one whose curls hung free, ringlets of dark hair lying on her forehead and obscuring an eye. "Our lives are already yours, this is merely a formality," she added.

Oris never thought that she would win over her maids to this extent. It was a surprise, but a pleasant one. Even as Queen, there were few truly loyal to her. Many times she wondered if she truly was inept a person as she was a ruler, but what has just occurred wiped away all her doubts.

"Thank you," she told them with all her honesty. It meant a lot to her, after all. Till date, Rodholf had been the only one to put her life before all else, yet at Hermes' palace she had found more loyal servants. . .no, friends. She would never treat them as servants if they served her with all their hearts.

And they were not at all beneath her. In fact, each of their statuses at the moment, was higher that hers. While she was now a commoner, they worked in the palace along side the Emperor's future brides. They had futures beyond the palace walls. They were not prisoners in a glided cage.

Oris smiled at them, feeling touched. "You all may serve at my side, but you are part of the few I have come to trust. You don't need to offer me your lives. Our fates have been intertwined long ago. Here in the palace, we live and die together."

"Mistress," Mayree cried, tears forming in her eyes. "Even though our time together has been short, there is not a day I regretted serving you."

Seline looked away from the emotional display and made a show of clearing her throat while Keziah stretched an embroidered handkerchief over.

The oldest maid grabbed the cloth and blew into it several times before finally regaining her composure.

"Where is Andrea?" Oris asked. "Why did she not come to see me?"

"She is kneeling outside," Seline answered stiffly.

"Kneeling?" Oris pushed her body off the wall and swung her legs over the side of the bed. Already, she could feel her bones protesting the movement.

In hindsight, she should not have slept while sitting.

Oris steeled her expression and forced her knees to straighten, getting to her feet with sheer willpower.

Her struggle must have been obvious because Keziah rushed to support her, grabbing one of her hands and helping her off the bed.

Mayree walked over to the bed and took hold of her other hand. "Mistress, don't stress yourself."

"Why is she kneeling?" Oris asked, brushing off her maids' concerns. She was not so weak that a few less drops of blood in her veins would make her collapse.

"Why shouldn't she kneel?" Seline muttered bitterly. "She nearly cost Mistress her life."

Oris threw the girl a look of exasperation before shifting her gaze to Mayree and Keziah. The two maids turned their heads, not daring to look at her any longer.

"Unbelievable." She shook her head and made her way to the door as they supported her on either side. "She is still a child, Mayree. How could you make her kneel?"

"She needs to learn," the maid said softly, pain visible in her eyes. "We are servants in the palace, we cannot act as we will. This is the only way to save her life, lest in the future she may. . ."

Mayree didn't continue, she didn't dare to, not when Oris narrowed her eyes at her.

"I know," she said, her tone heavy with implications. "I do not have the power to protect you all so you are afraid that one day she will offend those who should not be offended and end up being punished, or worse, dead."

Mayree's eyes widened at her mistress and she hurried to defend herself. "Mistress, that isn't what I meant."

"It's okay," Oris said. "I understand your good intentions."

After saying that, she set her gaze on the young girl kneeling in front of her room with her head bowed and her shoulders shaking.

"You heard everything, didn't you?" Oris asked.

"Yes," Andrea lifted her head, revealing swollen, red eyes still filled with tears. "Mistress, I have learnt my lesson. I won't do it again."

"Oh?" Oris tilted her head to the side. "Tell me then, what did you do wrong?"

"I. . ." the girl sniffled a little before continuing. "I shouldn't have gone so far from the carriage. I shouldn't have fought with that guard. I shouldn't have tried to kill myself. . ."

Then she broke down again and fresh tears started to fall. "Mis-tress, forgive me," she crawled towards Oris, "I was wrong."

"I was wrong," she repeated as she wrapped her arms around Oris' legs and buried her face in her gown. "I was wrong."

"Andrea!" Mayree had already dropped Oris' hand to pull the girl off.

With a shake of her head, Oris stopped her, reaching down to pat Andrea on her head. As she passed her fingers through the tangles that met them, her thoughts inevitably shifted to the past.

She remembered her younger siblings, especially the carefree and silly ones who liked to play around her skirts. The ones who always came to report to her when they were bullied; they liked to pout and grab onto her dress until she picked them up and gave them her special healing kisses.

A smile tugged on Oris' lips when she remembered Irene, who followed her wherever she went, hiding her face in her gown whenever she thought a stranger could see her.

She hadn't realized how much she missed them until now.

"Mistress?" Mayree's voice pulled her out of the memory and she focused her gaze on the maid.

"What happened after I passed out in the Great Hall?" Oris asked, pretending that her little lapse in attention never happened. By now, Andrea had gone silent, her breathing ever so quiet as she rested her head on her mistress' hand.

"After you collapsed, guards moved in to surround us. While Andrea held you, I, Seline and Keziah blocked the guards. Our struggle was useless and we were soon brought to our knees. We pleaded for leniency but," Mayree shook her head and started a new sentence. "The Empress Dowager asked the guards to arrest us but we resisted and begged the Emperor to spare you and call for a physician—the carpet of the Great Hall had soaked up so much of your blood."

"And then?" Oris asked quietly. Despite already knowing what happened from Mikeal's rendition of the event, she knew that her maids' version of what happened would be more detailed since they were actually present.

"Some officials said it would be inauspicious for a death to occur in the court just days to when the Emperor would marry. They said it may curse the rest of his reign," Seline answered, a small smile on her lips. "The Emperor was so furious that all the officials fell on their knees and begged for forgiveness."

"He threatened to behead the lot of them," Keziah added. "But his advisor intervened."

"Magnus?" Oris asked in surprise. "He stopped the Emperor from killing me?"

Mayree nodded. "He said that your case should be investigated further since the matter was still unclear. He also reminded the Emperor that there was not enough time to replace a bride candidate and that the selection had been delayed long enough."

"So the Emperor conceded in the end and let me off," Oris said softly, thinking to herself: Magnus is the one who saved me. But why? Doesn't Hermes want to prolong the selection? As his advisor, Magnus shouldn't be working against him.

"When is the selection?" she asked.

Mayree's gaze dropped to the floor. "Today, Mistress. I'm afraid it cannot be delayed."

"I see," Oris said. "Let us go inside first."

Seline pulled Andrea to her feet and nodded.

Andrea grabbed Oris' hand. "I'm sorry."

Oris only smiled at Andrea before taking her hand out of Keziah's and stroking the girl's face. "It is my fault for not being strong enough to protect you. I tried my best but in the end it was as good as smashing a rock with an egg. Here in the palace, I am nothing."

"No, Mistress," Andrea said with a strong resolve that had Oris blinking in surprise. "They do not know it, but I do. You are going to be the most powerful woman in the world."

Oris couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. She couldn't even stop when her wound began to hurt again. "You're really the definition of forgetting grievances the moment the wound heals. The one who did this, the Empress Dowager. She is the most powerful woman in the world."

Andrea pouted and hugged Oris' arm. "Stop laughing, Mistress. I was being serious."

Oris raised an eyebrow and pressed a hand to her lips to silence her chuckles. "Really? I couldn't tell."

"Mistress," Andrea whined. "You're not being fair."

"What's not fair?" Mayree said and fanned herself with her hand. "Mistress already let you hold her despite the fact that you look like a raccoon covered in snivel."

"A raccoon?" Seline snorted. Then aghast, her eyes widened almost comically and she covered her mouth with her hand. "I did not mean to do that."

"I?" Andrea questioned playfully, her smile nearly reaching her ears. "Don't you always say you're This Servant?"

"You—!"

Andrea giggled and danced out of the older girl's reach, into the room. Seline took off after her.

"Girls!" Mayree picked up her skirts and chased after them. "This is the palace, running is prohibited."

Keziah shook her head, the only maid left beside Oris. "They are so childish."

"You should be too," Oris said and flashed the girl a mysterious smile before dashing after the rest of her maids.

Keziah remained outside for a few moments before sighing to herself and stepping into the room. Closing the doors behind her, she followed her mistress and fellow maids in running circles around each other and various pieces of furniture.

~