The maid left urgently after guiding Margeret to the  maid's chamber. She took a look at her surroundings. The beds were kept in a row. She sat on one of them never getting the feeling of the plush bed on which she used to sleep. She heard someone coughing. She saw a woman lying on a bed adjacent to the one on which she was sitting right now. Margeret went towards her and kept her palm on the woman's forehead.

"Mother!" Margeret turns her head to see a young woman running towards the sick lady. She came near her and sat on the bed, "Drink this, you will feel alright," She says while drawing a glass towards the ill woman's mouth. Margeret helped the woman to sit on the bed and kept an old ragged blanket behind her back for support.

"What happened to your mother?" Margeret asked the young lady.
"She has some infection," she said while stroking her mother's hair.
"What is your name?" Margeret asked the young woman.
"Sunniva."
"You have a beautiful name,"Margeret said.

Sunniva smiled, "My mother kept it. It means gift of the Sun because I was born at the time when the first rays of Sun hit our cottage."
Margeret smiled. The woman started shaking, Sunniva wrapped a blanket around her mother.
"Did you inform the royal doctor?"

"Royal doctors are for royal people not for maids like us."

The woman again coughed and spitted some blood. Sunniva wiped her mother's mouth, "Please recover soon mother," She said while sobbing.

Margeret went near her and placed her hand on her shoulder, "Your mother will be alright. Do not loose hope."

"Mere words won't help! How can I keep hope when I can see my own mother suffering in front of my eyes, and I am unable to do anything to reduce her sufferings?" Sunniva retorted.

Margeret was taken aback by the change in her tone.
"I apologize. I should not talk with you in such a harsh tone," she says while wiping away the tears with the back of her hands.
Margeret smiled, "No need for that, and yes your mother will be alright soon."
Sunniva smiled. Her eyes shone with a new hope.

*********
"What do you think of Margeret?" Caroline asked Victor who was deep in thought. Victor walked to and fro in the room, when he heard Caroline ask a question he stopped and stood still, paused for a minute and then said, "Being a royal person, a queen herself she took all your orders. Did not show any resistance, why?"

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows, "She must have accepted her defeat?" Caroline said. Her statement sounded like a question.
Victor nodded his head in disapproval, "No I don't think so. There has to be some solid reason behind it."
"And I will find that reason," Caroline said with determination.
"No!" Victor exclaimed and sat beside Caroline.
Caroline gave him a confused look, "But why?"

"She is our enemy."

"But how?"

"Braith has kept her as your maid, why her, why not somebody else? He can make her as his own slave and can torment her in unimaginable ways then why sparing her from torture and giving her a life of your maid?"

Caroline pondered on Victor's words.
Victor paused for some time and began again, "I am sure Braith wants her to do some job and that's why she is our enemy."

"But we can still try to find what job she is assinged for. She hates Braith and we too so we can ally with her," Caroline said.

"No we can't," Caroline was about to open her mouth to speak something when Victor kept his finger on her lips, "Before you ask why, I will tell you," he said. Caroline kissed his finger and smiled. Victor smiled and said, "What if this is all a trap set up by your husband? What if he is waiting for you to start digging about Margeret's work and ally with her so that he can catch our secret through Margeret?"

"You have a point Victor," she said.

"We have to wait. Let us see if she really is a threat or can prove to be of some help. But we have to keep a close eye on her. It is best to keep our enemies more close to us than our friends. We have to wait till she approaches us first."

Caroline kept her hands over Victor's, "I won't let anything happen to us, Victor. And if this Margeret really hates Braith she must be plotting something against him and we can use this against her by telling it to Braith. No suspicions will be raised on us."

"You are becoming more and more intelligent, Caroline," Victor says playfully. Caroline laughs and says, "This is all because of  you Victor, being in your presence has made me quiet intelligent."

Caroline then showed her gorgeous smile which never failed to melt Victor's heart. He held her close and kissed her forehead.

********
There was silence all around the chamber. Margeret slowly climbed out of her bed and started to open the door. She looked behind her to see all the maids sleeping soundly due to their exertion.

She started to walk in the hallways making each and every effort to make no sound. She kept glancing at her sides to make sure nobody saw her. Christopher's room was not far enough from the maid's chamber and she was surprised to see no guard standing around his room. She felt relieved.

She softly knocked on the door. Within a second  Christopher opened the door and led her in.

"Margeret! Are you alright?" Leo said while wrapping his arms around her.
"I am fine Leo, I was worried about you," she said.

Christopher motions towards the chairs. All the three of them sit on the respective chairs.

"So, Margeret you wanted to tell something," Christopher says keeping his hands on the table.

"We are desperate to know what, Margeret," This time it was Leo who spoke. Both had their eyes fixed on Margeret. She takes a deep breath and says, "I talked to the Queen today and she is as arrogant as her husband."

"That's why she is Braith's wife, Margeret," Christopher says.

Margeret nods her head, "But I can sense something odd."
"What?" Leo asked.

"The bodyguard of the Queen was inside her room, and above that the door was locked. From what I know Braith loves his wife so how can he let any other man inside his Queen's room and that too with closed doors."

"This is something new, Margeret. I never closely paid an attention to Queen Caroline. This bodyguard is giving an inkling to me. I should talk with him now," Christopher said narrowing his eyes.

"And the way they looked at each other fuelled my doubts. He surely is something more than a bodyguard to the Queen," Margeret says and folds her hands.

"I cannot do anything in this matter, that Braith has kept me outside the palace but yes I heard some of the guards talking that they hear laughter coming from Caroline's room often and that too in the absence of Braith," Leo says and drinks the water kept in the glass on the table.

"We are getting new clues which might help us in the future. I just have to know what is going on between the bodyguard and the Queen."

"But we have to be wiser and more careful this time. She is Caroline, Braith's wife. She will not let you know anything that she is hiding, and we even do not know if the Queen is hiding something or not," Christopher said.

"She is definitely hiding something, Christopher," Margeret widens her eyes. It was the first time she had called Christopher with his name, all the time she used to call him advisor orbroyal advisor. Christopher smiled at her. Margeret shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"You were saying something," Leo says raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, the Queen.. I will find what she is hiding," Margeret says.

"I think we should stop now, we are getting late General," Christopher says getting up from his chair. Margeret and Leo follow his actions and stand.

"I will go with the guards that you sent to fetch me, Christopher. I think you should go with Margeret, there might be some danger lurking in the hallways," Leo says in a serious tone.

Leo leaves with the guards that came to Christopher on his command and so does Christopher and Margeret. There was an awkward silence between both of them.
"You can call me Christopher, I don't mind that. You calling me advisor makes me feel aged."

Margeret laughs in response, "Okay I will try to call you by your name, advisor," Christopher raises his eyebrow ,"I mean Christopher, and yes you are quiet young to be an advisor, how did you became the advisor but?"

Christopher smiles, "That's a tale I will tell when we are free, Margeret,"

"The time will not come soon," Margeret says with a serious face.

"It will if we all try, surely it will," Christopher says. Margeret looked him in the eyes and all that she could see was a hope for a bright future. She smiled. Christopher stops when the door comes in sight.
He whispers, "You should go now, we will meet when you or any one of us has some useful information to share."

Margeret agrees with Christopher and walks towards the door. She looks behind to see Christopher walking in the hallways. Margeret opened the door slowly to see all the maids sleeping. She smiled before going to sleep.

So what are your thoughts on this chapter?
Will Margeret unravel Caroline's secret or will Caroline know about Margeret and Christopher, and will use them for her own benefit?

And what role will Sunniva play? Any guesses? Is she a friend or a foe?
Comment your thoughts below. Keep reading and voting
Love lots❤❤