Saraiyu

4-The Ghost

"What do you mean?" She asked again.

He gulped, "three years ago she was found dead in my chambers."

Lárima replayed the scene in her mind. He had returned to the castle with the ghost in his arms. Now Lárima was in her chambers laying on her back on her bed.

Then she remembered the love note she had found and hidden. She quickly took out her book and realized she had never unfolded the parchment to see what was on the front. She already knew what was on the back.

Once again she saw the writing in Danlica, but this time, she unfolded it. The front held an insignia of a rose, but the stem wasn't a stem, it was a dragon.

So her theory had been wrong then. She had connected too many dots with made up points in between. But if Lari was wrong about the girl being his former lover, why did he look at her with such tenderness and affection. Lárima decided to give it a rest before she turned mad.

She made her way to her ladies' rooms and entered. Wanting to talk with someone. She knew she could use all her ladies for this.

She sat at the window with Anaik, Kamelia and Eliena. They talked over the different happenings recently.

When Lárima told them of her suspicions they got uneasy.

"She's a threat to you and your place here in Suliná," Anaik warned.

"You aren't yet wed to Leonjairo therefore you and your crown are at risk," Eliena explained further.

Kamelia nodded and started to say something when she started coughing. They patiently waited for a few seconds until she started turning blue.

"Guards!" Lari called out and rushed to Kamelia desperately.

"Guards!" She called again and they barged in, pointing their swords straight at her and her ladies.

"Help! Someone help!" Lárima yelled realizing the poison was meant for her and the guards were impostors.

"Shut her up," said the first guard.

Two soldiers grabbed her by the arms, stuffing a rag in her mouth.

Tears streamed down her face. She was helpless. She desperately tried to look at Kamelia, she was blue and had stopped moving. Realizing she was too far gone, Lárima fell limp in the rogue soldiers' restraining arms.

Anaik and Eliena sat shocked at what had just occurred. The guards were pointing swords at them but the queen in waiting's ladies didn't protest. They sat staring at their best friend who had just died because she had drunken from the wrong cup.

"Tie 'em up an' gag 'em," the leader said in a North American accent. Lárima was hauled up and taken to her bed post where she was tied along with her ladies, excepting one, who was lying on the floor, dead.

Lárima prayed with her whole soul hoping someone would come and save them.

"So what're we going to do to you, eh?" The remaining rogue asked in Itslym. Her own people had attacked her.

She pulled on the ropes weakly.

"Tha's right keep pullin' you're useless without your guards and servants," The first impostor said.