"MISS, WAKE UP! Miss, you must be down for breakfast in twenty minutes! Miss!"

Maria's voice was sharp and, in the haze of a tired, early morning, extremely disturbing. The way she pulled the covers off of me were even more so.

"Miss!" she said again, her voice panicked. "Miss, breakfast starts in twenty minutes."

I frowned, sitting up. "Maria, I'll take breakfast in my room. I slept very late last night. Sometime after midnight."

That was a lie. I didn't know exactly how long I'd spent on the balcony yesterday, Prince Cairo's head leaning on my shoulder as he slept, me spending what must've been hours staring at a slowly lightening night sky before finally falling asleep on him, too, kept up with wondering if I had somehow made a mistake this whole way through.

Sometime during dawn, just as the sky had started being dyed orange and pink, Prince Cairo had woken up, shaken me awake, and told me he'd accompany me back to my room, 'as a date often should.'

When we finally got to the West Wing, he'd left me with a smile and a kiss on my hand.

And when I stumbled into bed, bleary and eyes drooping with sleep, I'd wondered whether the reason my face had gotten just the slightest bit warm was because of the residual heat from the sun, or because of something else.

Both fortunately and unfortunately, though, I'd fallen asleep before I got the chance to find out.

Maria frowned, shaking her head. "I apologize, Miss, but you're not allowed to take breakfast in your room today."

"Why not?"

"The King has finally come back from his trip. He's invited all the women to enjoy breakfast with him and the Princes. No matter what, unless you've come down with some sort of contagious disease, then you can't skip out on breakfast."

"The King went out on a trip? When?"

"A few weeks back, Miss. He went to Arabia, and just returned last night."

"He went to Arabia?" I couldn't help asking. "Why?"

Maria blinked. "I wouldn't know, Miss," she told me. "I don't have access to the King's information."

"Oh. Right."

Of course she didn't. She's just a chambermaid. What made me think that she'd be able to answer that question in the first place?

"I did overhear a conversation, though," Maria added, "one between his trusted aides."

"Oh? What is it?"

She paused. "Miss, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tell you."

"Who will I gossip it back to?" I asked her, raising an eyebrow. "West Wing is completely deserted. I don't have anyone to tell this to. And besides, Maria, I'm not stupid enough to spread information that might have me killed."

To spread information that might have me kicked out of the Palace, maybe. To spread that might have me killed, definitely not.

There were still too many things happening that I couldn't figure out.

After a long moment, Maria nodded. "Okay. I heard two of his aides talking in the corridor that the King went to set up negotiations with Arabia. They probably didn't notice me walking down the hallway because I was too small, or maybe because I'm just a chambermaid."

As she said this, her face glowed, as if proud that she'd managed to overhear that tidbit of conversation.

I frowned. "The King went to Arabia to set up negotiations?"

"That's what I heard Miss, yes."

"And he spent a few weeks in Arabia, only to come back last night?"

"I'm quite sure of it, yes."

"That's not right," I muttered, frowning even deeper.

To have the King visit to a nearby country, one that we currently didn't even have an alliance with, and have him spend a few weeks there?

A King acting as an ambassador of his own country? A King who could so easily leave the safety and protection of his kingdom?

Something is very, very wrong.

"Maria," I said. "Does the King usually leave for negotiations like this?"

She blinked, looking up to the ceiling before she said, "I'm actually not very sure, Miss. It's not often that I manage to overhear conversations like this. But I do know that the King has left for several expeditions like this in the past."

"Expeditions that last for weeks?"

"Most of the time, Miss, yes."

If they last for weeks, then what else could he be doing but trying to appease negotiations?

But why would the King of Persia be the one to do that?

"Have the princes ever gone on expeditions like these, Maria?"

"I think both the two older princes have," she answered. "Prince Raza and Prince Finn. But Prince Cairo has never been allowed to step out of the Heart of Persia."

"Never been allowed?"

"Yes," Maria said, nodding her head. "Or at least, that's what I know. I might be wrong, Miss."

The problem was, was that she was probably not.

After a long, silent moment, I said, "Maria?"

"Yes?"

"You're small, you're a chambermaid, and if I'm not mistaken, you have a lot of good friends within the Palace, don't you?"

Her cheeks pinked. "I'd like to think so, Miss."

"Good," I said. "From now on, try to gather as much information about the palace life as possible. It doesn't matter who it's about, what it's about. Even if you think that it's an insignificant rumor or mundane matter, gather it all. I want you to report it all to me before I go to bed."

Maria's eyebrows furrowed together. "Miss..."

"What is it? Don't worry about Ismal not allowing this; I'm sure he's never explicitly told you that you can't answer these sort of questions from me."

Of course he wouldn't — he'd never have thought a woman would be insolent enough to try and find information like this.

And, to an extent, I suppose no other woman would or was in a position that she'd be able to.

No other woman except for me.

Maria hesitated, before she finally said, "Miss, there are certain things that I might not be able to tell you."

"That's fine. I just need you to tell me everything you can. Is that alright?"

Slowly, she nodded. "I will try."

"Thank you."

"But Miss, now that we've finished this conversation, would you please get out of bed and allow me to help you get ready? We must bring you down for breakfast."

I frowned again. "Didn't you say that I could only skip out on breakfast if I came down with some sort of contagious disease?"

She nodded.

"Alright. Then tell them that I did come down with some sort of contagious disease. Maria, I slept extremely late last night."

This time, Maria shook her head, and did it so aggressively that a few strands of her hair fell out of her usually immaculate bun. "Miss, if we tell them that you really have come down with a contagious disease, then they might just choose to send you home. We don't want that!"

I resisted the urge to say that we might want that.

"Must I really go?" I finally asked. "Is there no other alternative?"

"I apologize, Miss, but no. You must go downstairs and eat breakfast with the King. If you don't, then the both of us might get punished!"

As she spoke, Maria's eyes grew wider and wider, her fingers gripping the sheets in a panic, and she looked so desperate and upset that I couldn't help but feel bad.

"Okay," I finally said. "Help me get ready."

Maria clapped her hands together and then, before I could fully register what was happening, had somehow managed to drag me out of bed, push me into a tub full of water — it was a bit cold, so it seemed that Maria had been preparing this quite a little while ago — and laid out my outfit.

I blinked. "You're very fast, Maria."

"Thank you, Miss," she said, now running to the vanity to get kohl and jewelry, her words starting to come out in between heavy breaths. "We don't have much time. I do try."

"No, I can see that you do," I replied, starting to soap my body, just before Maria reached to touch my face and apply kohl. "Must we do this now?"

"Unfortunately, yes," she answered. "I apologize for the inconvenience, Miss, but we really don't have much time. You cannot be late to this sort of breakfast."

"Yes, I know," I said, watching as, in the matter of moments, she'd closed the small tub of kohl and started pulling me out of the bath. "I can see that."

If Maria heard my last statement, she didn't show it, because the next thing I knew, she was pulling over a gorgeous red dress over my body, spinning me around to fully fasten the garment.

I couldn't help but frown. "This... This dress is a little ostentatious for a breakfast, don't you think?"

"For a regular breakfast, yes," she answered. "But you are dining with the King, Miss. You must stand out. To win Prince Cairo, you must win the King's attention and preference. After all, every Prince follows after their Father. The King has the final say in all."

As I looked up into the bronze mirror on my vanity, standing a good four, five meters away, I could just barely see myself frown.

From what I've seen so far, Maria's words don't seem to be very true.

***

The corridor was bustling with people, chambermaids and butlers running around the halls, from one direction to another, everyone adding to the sort of chaotic, frantic atmosphere that, though was very prevalent back in Babylon, I had never before seen happen in the Palace.

"What's going on?" I asked Maria, who was desperately pulling me along the corridor. "Why is everyone in such a rush?"

"It's most probably because the King has just come back, Miss," she answered off-handedly, still urging me to walk faster. "That's the only possible reason that I can come up with."

Once again, I frowned, watching a butler whisper something to a maid, her face growing pale afterwards.

For some reason, Maria's words didn't seem right, once again.

"Is everyone usually this nervous?"

Maria paused. "Well, usually, no," she admitted. "At least, they don't get this nervous due to the expeditions. Expeditions like this one have happened quite a few times before, so most of the staff are already well-trained on what to do. Perhaps something else have happened."

"Yes," I murmured. "Perhaps something else has happened."

As two butlers walked past us, their steps small but quick, their mouths frantically moving against each other's ears, I dug my feet into the floor just enough to try and overhear part of their conversation.

"Did you find it? Who found it?"

"It certainly wasn't me! I think a scullery maid found it. It was in a locked room somewhere on the second floor, I think. I'm not too sure."

"This is utterly insane. How can this keep happening?"

"That doesn't matter now. Just move! We need to clean this up, before the King notices anything wrong."

Maria tugged on my hand before I could finish overhearing anything else. "Miss! Please hurry! We have two minutes before the King arrives and you'll be considered late!"

"Oh, yes," I muttered, stumbling after her, the bangles on my arms clanging with my steps.

As Maria continued leading the way, pulling me down corners and stairs, I couldn't help but throw one last glance to the two butlers hysterically mumbling to each other. Even at a distance, I could see the way their sweat had started to soak through the back of their white uniforms.

What's going on with this Palace?

ooh, things are heating up, eh? ;) I hoped you enjoyed this chapter! I'm really grateful for all of your votes, your comments, your excitement on Aliya — it means the world to know that people actually enjoy what I'm writing! please continue giving Aliya your love and support <3

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