[ON HOLD] The Empress

XX. Truth Hurts

Fiyona woke with a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

'Something was wrong,' the Handmaiden thought. 'Something terrible has happened. But what?'

Rising from her bed, the Handmaiden hurried to Zilyana's chambers. She had memorized how many steps it was from her bed to the door, and grasped the lock, pulling at it hard. There was cloth at her feet that weren't there last night, and the door seemed to be stuck in place.

Fiyona gritted her teeth and pulled on the door with all her might.

"Princess?" Fiyona called out. "My Lady, are you there?"

Rather than Zilyana's strong voice filling the room, Fiyona heard soft wheezing.

"My Lady?!" Fiyona called out again, taking tiny steps. "Where are...ahh!"

The Handmaiden cried out in surprise as she tripped over something. No...over someone. Fiyona reached out and traced the being with her hands, her eyes growing wide with shock. "Zilyana!"

Fiyona held Zilyana's face in her hands and leaned forward. "What happened, can you tell me what's wrong?"

"A...A... Att...ack..." Zilyana wheezed.

Not wasting a moment, Fiyona leaped to her feet and ran to Zilyana's doors and flung them open.

"Help! I need a midwife!" Fiyona yelled. "I need Alchemists! Someone, help me!"

The concubines at the bottom floor were just waking up and looked at the Handmaiden with confusion.

"What's wrong, Fiyona?" one of them asked.

"Zilyana's been hurt! Someone attacked her in the night," Fiyona answered. "Please, someone help me!"

The first eunuch to arrive to help was Wyllam, followed by others, and a small crowd of concubines who wanted to see what was happening. Wyllam gasped in shock, the concubines screamed in horror as Zilyana's body was revealed. The eunuch rushed forward, putting his ear to Zilyana's mouth to listen to her breathing.

"I can hardly hear anything," Wyllam said. "We need to get her to the infirmary."

Carefully, Wyllam lifted Zilyana in his arms, surprised by how heavy the young woman was. Gritting his teeth, he shouted for everyone to get out of the way, as he practically ran down the halls.

"Someone needs to tell the Imperial Matron!" one of the Concubines whispered.

"Shouldn't we tell the Grandmatron?" another asked.

Lady Sanda, although shocked and horrified, knew she had to regain control. "The Imperial Matron leads this harem, thus, I will tell her."

Lady Sanda turned to leave but stopped when something caught her eye. The blade of a knife stuck out from among the tossed rugs. Frowning, the Harem Treasurer bend down and picked up the knife with a piece of cloth, before hurrying to Marleina's chamber.

Wyllam reached the infirmary and placed Zilyana carefully on a bed. "Please," he said to a nearby Alchemist, help her."

The Alchemist looked at Zilyana with wide, aghast eyes. "What in the name of the Five happened to her?"

"I don't know," Fiyona replied. "I went into her chambers and found her like this. What...is it bad?"

"She looks like she's been a fight for her life," the Alchemist replied. "Find me some midwives and let's see if she has any internal damage."

Meanwhile, Lady Sanda was waiting to be allowed into Marleina's chambers. A handmaiden had announced her, yet the older woman hoped the Imperial Matron would quicken his steps. When the doors finally opened, Lady Sanda rushed in, bowing low.