Kapitel 28: A Looming Shadow

The sky was dark, with silver stars scattered across as Nesrin read 'The Political Warfare' and Jane gently brushed her hair.

Nesrin had once thought that studying for her medical profession was the hardest thing to do, but learning about politics was much harder for her.

She had just taken her dinner, and it has only been half an hour since she started this book but her eyes were already heavy.

The gates of her room were shut with a loud sound.

Nesrin and Jane both flinched as they turned around to find Alice leaning against the door, her face was pale.

Her eyes met with the curious and worried gazes of the two ladies.

Alice masked her face and cleared her throat before she strode towards the bed and begin her night duties.

"Are you alright...?" Nesrin asked.

"Mn,"

Alice fixed the bed and lit scented candles, there was a slight tremor in her hands as she ignored everything else and tried to focus on her work.

"I wonder what happened..." Nesrin whispered.

"Don't worry about her, your highness," Jane whispered back but didn't tried to keep her voice low, "Alice is too obnoxious for her highness to-"

"I can hear you," Alice glanced at Jane with wide eyes, "and I am not obnoxious!"

"Not only obnoxious," Jane continued as if she had heard nothing, "she is also very, very, unladylike."

"You are calling me unladylike?" Alice scoffed in disbelief, "Ms Jane, crying like a five year old is also very unladylike!"

"Hey-"

"Can you two please-" Nesrin nervously tried to stop them but was quickly interrupted.

"It's been only a week since I came here, and you have cried like ten times-" Alice laughed,

"Five times!" Jane retorted, "Alice, you need to learn how to respect elders!"

"You? Elder?" Alice smirked, "Your height says otherwise."

"Did you just-" Jane's face turned red.

"Alice! Jane!" Nesrin shut her book close, "You both need to respect each other more."

Alice rolled her eyes causing expressions of disbelief to appear upon Jane's face.

"Alice, you don't seem well tonight. It would be good if you go and rest. I will do the rest of things," Nesrin noticed how the paleness never left her face despite how much she tried to hide her fear with anger.

"I am alright," Alice muttered, "There are many duties I have to do, her highness has lived a life of privilege...it would be bothersome for you to do all the work."

"The audacity!" Jane exclaimed,

"It's fine, you should take some rest, Alice," Nesrin insisted.

"I will finish my duties first!"

Alice was some creature of foreign breed for Jane. Maids are supposed to be docile but how Alice acted was completely different.

She behaved as if Nesrin had done something very wrong to her.

Then Jane raised her eyebrows as she realized something.

"What happened, Alice? You are the one who is always desperate to leave first...you are never this serious about your duties."

Nesrin agreed with the point.

Alice stiffened when she heard Jane.

Jane and Nesrin exchanged glances. It was clear that Alice was trying to avoid leaving the room for some reason.

"Alice, I am worried about your health. You should really just go and rest," Jane tried to hide her smile, "What if you fall sick? Don't worry I will do your work!"

"Stop asking me to rest and relax!" Alice snapped, "I can't just go out when-"

She froze and clasped her mouth.

"Are you...scared of the night?" Jane wondered, today was Alice's first night shift.

"I am not some small kid-"

"You are twelve," Jane stated.

Alice opened her mouth to object but she was cut off by Jane,

"Don't worry, your elder sister Jane will take you to your dorm!" Jane giggled, it was rare for Alice to be this flustered and Jane was enjoying every second of this.

Alice pressed her lips into a thin line and watched Jane coldly.

"You have no idea what you are talking about..." she said mysteriously as she walked towards the fireplace to add more wood.

Her eyes turned deep and distant as the shadows of flames flickered upon her face.

"Today is the thirteenth day of Lunar Month," Alice muttered.

Jane's hand froze while combing Nesrin's hair. She looked at Alice silently for some time, then shook her head.

"That's just a legend,"

Nesrin was clueless as she tried to understand what caused the two maids to have these grim expressions all of sudden.

"I used to think that too..." Alice said, "But tonight I heard a strange voice coming from the north wing of the palace."

Jane was silent.

Nesrin's heart became uneasy at this eerie silence, the only sound that came was from the crackling of wood.

"Ah...what are you two talking about?"

Alice looked at Nesrin with dark eyes.

"There is a legend in this palace-"

"Alice, don't scare her highness," Jane interrupted, "That is just a legend and nothing more!"

"If her highness is not careful, she could become her next victim. She should at least know the legend," Alice smiled mysteriously, "Every year, on the thirteenth day of the lunar month, someone from the palace dies. Their death is always certain and this has been happening for thirteen years...

"The legend says that in the thirteenth year, a massacre would occur in the palace and everything would be stained with blood."

Nesrin reminded herself that this is just a legend, but her heart wouldn't stop racing fast.

Alice turned her eyes back towards the flames in front of her.

"It started when the grand emperor took Lady Anna as his twelfth consort. She was from a small kingdom, but it is said that she had an angelic beauty. Back then, this palace used to be the harem and there were many wives of the emperor that resided here.

"One of his many wives became jealous of Lady Anna, so she decided to frame her for poisoning the grand emperor. The jealous wife had the status of queen while Lady Anna was merely an imperial consort, she had no chance against the queen.

Nesrin glanced at her cold numb hands in disbelief, why did this story made her feel like this?

Alice sighed heavily and continued.

"The queen didn't wait for a trial and declared a punishment for Lady Anna on her own. Lady Anna was whipped with hundred lashes until her breaths left her.

"This scared the queen because no matter how high her status was within the harem, she could not murder someone and get away with it. The grand emperor was a fire monarch.

"Fearing the consequences of her actions, the queen secretly hid the body of Lady Anna behind one of the secret walls of the northern wing. The night when lady Anna died was the thirteenth of the Lunar month.

Nesrin patted the cold sweat that covered her with a handkerchief. Her fingers trembled, she could not understand what was happening with her body but for some reason, her heart was beating too fast, so fast that a panic was rising inside her.

"One month later," Alice continued, "The queen fell sick and died, one by one, everyone who was involved in the murder of Lady Anna died in exact same way..."

Lightning rumbled in the skies, a stormy wind invaded the room and swept the flames off all the candles.

The three ladies screamed at the sudden sound, Jane hugged Nesrin tightly and Alice collapsed on the floor from her chair.

The only light that came was from the fireplace.

A long eerie silence settled inside the room.

"I-It is...it is said that Lady Anna visits her victims at the time of night, while wearing a blood stained white gown," Alice finished, "She knocks on the door...one should never answer her..."

There was a loud impatient rapping on the door that made all of them scream again.

Jane had hugged Nesrin to the point that it became harder to breath, she glanced at Nesrin with teary eyes.

The rapping continued, making Nesrin's heart beat faster and faster.

She freed herself from Jane and stood up,

"It could be something important..."

"D-don't go," Alice whispered.

Nesrin swallowed hard and walked towards the gates, the rapping sound stopped and Nesrin hesitated for a while before pulling the gates open.

There was a maid who looked familiar.

She nervously glanced inside the room before curtsying.

"Ms Jane and Ms Alice are late for the maid evaluation, kindly give them permission to come. Lady Croff is furious," she said.

Nesrin looked at the two maids inside, they heard the message for them and hesitatingly walked towards the gates. Jane looked at Nesrin with worry,

"Keep your gates locked...don't open them, no matter what," Jane sniffled as she bid farewell to Nesrin.

Alice walked outside without saying anything, but she glanced once at Nesrin before she left.

Nesrin took in a deep breath to calm her nerves as she shut the gates close.

She had only walked a few steps, when her head spun all of sudden. The cold numbness she had felt earlier in her hands had now claimed her completely.

The guards were just outside the door, if she simply went out then they would help her but Nesrin could take even one step before her body collapsed on the ground.

Her vision turned blurred, the darkness was clouding her when the gate of her chamber opened and she saw a shadow enter.