Lovers

Yoddal made sure that they were out of anybody's hearing before she finally stopped with Lilac. She looked around to double-check and saw that no one was there. "Why are you still here?" She asked Lilac in a quiet voice.

"His highness refused to leave. I don't know why." Lilac responded. Yoddal thought hard. 'Could it be that I am the reason he refused to leave?' Yoddal wondered.

"Am I the reason for him not leaving?" She asked her question. "Most probably," Lilac replied before gasping suddenly.

"What is it? What happened?" Yoddal inquired of her after hearing her sudden gasp. "He requested for you to see him." She answered quietly. "When?"

"Last night." She answered Yoddal. Her eyes were already brimming with unshed tears. She was scared of what he could do to her. She out rightly defied his instruction which was something he hated so much.

"He told me to inform you to see him last night but it skipped my mind. I am going to be in so much trouble." She said in fear, her voice shaking.

Yoddal felt bad for her and tried to rest her mind. "Do not worry. I will go to see him later. And if he asks you why I did not come to see him just say you told me I just did not listen. Okay?" She said to her. "Really? You would do that for me?" She said in huge relief.

She was very sure that her mistress would not be punished. And even if she was to be punished, it would be so little and would not cause her any harm.

But if it were to be herself, she might not be able to move around for days.

Yoddal nodded at her and smiled. Lilac returned her smile. After a few moments, Lilac proceeded to ask her some questions. "How is it here? You work as one of the Queen's handmaidens?" Lilac asked.

"Yes," Yoddal answered with a frown on her face. Lilac noticed her frown and asked her what was wrong.

"That woman is so overbearing. She shouts at every tiny mistake. She transfers her aggression to all of the maids. Myself included..."

Lilac gasped. She knows how much her mistress hates being shouted at. And how ugly she can get if angered.

"You have no idea how much of my patience and self-control I exert just to stop myself from pouncing on her." Yoddal gritted her teeth and clench her fists a little bit in slight anger.

"There is no mark on her face so I guess you did a very good job at keeping your anger at bay." Lilac praised her.

Truly, Yoddal uses subtle but dangerous methods to deal with her enemies but there are times that she just loses it and goes all violent.

"I sure did. Let me tell you that woman is so selfish and manipulative. She cares about nobody else aside herself." Yoddal said.

After a moment of pausing she talked again. "One of the things that sometimes gets me feeling strange is how matters, even the confidential ones, are not kept secret. Everyone in the palace knows about everything that is happening. You know that there are some things that even we know nothing about back in Nirias because it is confidential? That does not apply here. Every single thing is just made known to every single person. That is wrong, right?"

She directed her question at Lilac who nodded in agreement with her.

"I think maybe their King is deeply in love with their Queen because every King that I know so far will not allow the Queen to behave the way she did when we got here without receiving some kind of reprimanding," Lilac said her point of view.

"How did she behave when you got here?" Yoddal asked her curiously. "Well, she was seductively smiling at His Majesty." Lilac filled her in in a quiet voice.

Yoddal gasped. "That is very disrespectful and rude." She said.

"I wonder if that is how she behaves whenever she sees a handsome man." Lilac thought aloud. Yoddal moved closer to Lilac and looked around to make sure once again that no one was around to listen in on what she was about to tell Lilac.

Lilac noticed her actions and knew that she only does like that when she is about to tell her something important and confidential. "What is it?" She asked her mistress in a hushed tone.

"I saw her last night," Yoddal said. Lilac was confused as to who the "her" was. "Who?" She could not help but ask her.

"Queen Rita," Yoddal replied Lilac. Lilac then also replied with "oh".

"I saw her last night, with General Livius." "Ooh. That sounds scandalous." Lilac said with a hint of thrill in her voice.

"Well, it is scandalous. She was trying to seduce the General." She said in a very low and quiet voice. Her voice was so low that whoever passed in front of them would not be able to hear what they were saying.

They were both good at gossiping with each other. Of course, Yoddal would only show this side of hers to Lilac. They did not treat each other as masters and servants. Even though Lilac still accords respect to Yoddal when necessary, they were more like sisters to each other.

"Really?!" "Yes! I tell you. Do you want to know what else I know?" She asked to which Lilac nodded her head.

"I think they must have had something together in the past. Because from what she said and what he replied with, one would know that they have got something going on." Yoddal further explained what she saw and heard.

"So, are you trying to say that General Livius and Queen Rita are lovers?" Lilac inquired of Yoddal again. They were both talking in a hush-hush manner.

"Yes," Yoddal replied while nodding her head slowly at Lilac. "Oh my goodness. This is huge. What will the King do now? Is the so-called prince even his?" Lilac wondered as she felt pity for Richard.

"Who knows?" Yoddal replied. They both continued their discussion. However, unknown to them, someone was secretly watching them in a corner.