Although the Queen did recover, her health was never the same. The doctors told the King that his beloved queen had tuberculosis, and that she would physically be fragile for the rest of her life. The disease quickly robbed the Queen of her strength, but she insisted on spending as much time in the garden as possible, resting many hours on the bench where she and the King had fallen in love.
Unfortunately, as Summer breathed its last, so did the fragile Queen. A servant found her laying in a bed of wildflowers next to the wooden bench, the life gone from her eyes and her heart long still.
Aside from the King and their children, no one was hit by the Queen's untimely death more than her former Lady-in-Waiting Elizaveta, now the head of the Royal Household. The Queen had been her dearest friend, and in fact it was she who found the lifeless Queen when she failed to come to dinner.
A month of kingdom-wide mourning followed the death of their beloved Queen.
The King, stripped of the true love he once enjoyed, began in earnest to find suitable matches for his two children, so that they might also know true love before it was too late. In particular he kept up correspondence with King Edward of Soluna. King Edward ruled another very large and prosperous kingdom, and was also graced with a beautiful daughter, his pride and joy and only heir after his queen died in childbirth. Princess Katherine was charming, well read, eloquent, gracious, a true princess. She had also served as acting queen ever since she was old enough to help her father. She was an ideal match to marry James and become the kingdom's next queen when King Hubert gave the crown to his son in one year's time.
As soon as they reached the nearest town, snow still falling and concealing their tracks, Elle and Flora stopped by a tailor's shop and Flora sold her fine gown to buy them both simple country gowns and tickets for a carriage to the Capitol. The proprietor of the shop thought their behavior suspicious until they told her of their predicament. Kindly she offered to pay for their fee for the carriage and assured them that her lips were sealed, even if their mother came looking for them.
The pair liberally thanked the woman and left their old life permanently in the dust.
The carriage pulled up by the castle gates. "Are you sure this is where you want to go Lassies?" he asked, his accent strong.
"Yes Sir. Thank you." Flora answered him confidently.
No sooner had Elle hopped out of the carriage than it sped off to grab the next set of travelers.
"Are you sure about this Elle?" whispered Flora as they passed through the highly imposing gates, skirting along the wall to the service entrance to the castle.
"Yes Flora. This will work. If it doesn't, we can try to get work in one of the manor houses until we can leave the kingdom."
Flora smiled uneasily and followed Elle to the closed door, on which Elle gracefully knocked, stepping back to wait for it to open. It did, and a woman appraised them, standing in the snow. The fine quality of her gown signaled that she was probably the Head of the Royal Household. "Come in out of the cold." she said, opening the door wide to allow them entry.
"Thank you Madame." The girls chimed, beating the snow off their hems at the door.
Elizaveta set them by the warm fire and offered them each a warm cup of tea. The pair accepted graciously, wanting to give the best impression possible.
"What brings you here on such a cold afternoon?" Asked Elizaveta, putting their cups away.
The girls stood up, but Flora stood back, letting Elle do the talking. Flora didn't know how to talk to people without sounding like an aristocrat, and sounding as such would not convince Elizaveta that they were simple country women looking for a job at the palace. However, Flora worried that her stepsister's hair would give them away.
Elle spoke. "My sister and I have been traveling for many hours and we hoped to inquire about a job."
"Really?" the greying brunette huffed, crossing her arms sceptically.
"Yes ma'am." Elle answered.
"Your hair tells me that you are anything but a country bumpkin."
"Yes Madame. I am of noble blood, but my sister and I are trying to escape our retched life. You see, with the way we were treated, anything is better than that, so we will gladly work for the castle. I cook very well and clean. My sister is new to the arts but she is a fast learner and very good with music."
"What are your names?"
"Margarete and Elizabeth." Elle quickly answered. "I'm Margarete, and my sister is Elizabeth."
"Do you have any magic?"
Elle nodded, Flora shook her head in denial.
Elizaveta considered it for a moment, then said, "I could use a bit more help."
Later that evening, Elle and Flora were getting settled. Elle was excited and relieved, but Flora was very apprehensive still. "Are you sure about this Elle?"
"Yes. Things will work out all right. I promise."
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