Louisa stared ahead, not really seeing anything as warm hands peeled off the layers of her solid gown. She had spent weeks in the design, the fitted pink velvet, meant to compliment Neve’s crimson red. Pink was a shade of red after all.

Louisa let out a broken sob at the thought of Neve. Ashamed, she pushed the princess’s face from her mind, or at least she tried to.

The fabric was pulled down, someone tugging her arms from the fitted sleeves. If she could feel anything other than despair right now, she might have noted how cold the room was, but Louisa was entirely numb. She was vaguely aware of the gown being pulled down to her ankles, leaving her in her chemise. The garment was a pale pink silk with finely woven floral lace trim. A gift from Neve and her favorite.

Another broken sob burst from her throat, thick tears coating her lashes and trailing down her patchy cheeks.

Her father had to drag her away from Neve’s convulsing body as one of the guards swooped in and gathered the princess up into his arms, rushing for the infirmary.

How much time had passed since then, Louisa couldn’t say. Minutes. Hours. A full day. Too long.

The chemise was pulled over her head and then someone was working on loosening the intricate braid from her hair. Louisa kept staring ahead, looking at nothing in particular, hearing no one.

A set of hands firmly took hold of her shoulders, another hand taking Louisa’s own and guided her… somewhere. Louisa wasn’t even entirely sure where she was right now.

She startled as was set into a tub of warm water, a fluffy cloth saturated with water gently rubbed in small circles along her arm. Following the arm, she looked up and found Cassandra, another one of Neve’s ladies-in-waiting, washing her in silence.

Cassandra looked nearly as bad as how Louisa felt. Shocked tears streamed down the other woman’s face as she washed Louisa off.

“Some of it got on you,” Cassandra said when she realized Louisa was looking at her, her voice hollow.

“It?” Louisa asked, her voice barely more than a whisper, but still her throat burned with the effort. She hadn’t realized how hard she’d been crying.

Cassandra grimaced. “Whatever it was she spewed up.”

Louisa’s chest constricted as if she was being crushed by a serpent. Unsure of what to say, Louisa looked away and let the other woman work in peace.

When Cassandra had finished, she pulled Louisa from the bath and wrapped a fluffy cotton towel over her. Someone had laid out a fresh set of clothes, a nightgown by the looks of it, confirming it was still night.

Cassandra reached for the nightgown, but Louisa stepped forward and snatched it from the chair.

“It’s fine, I can do it,” Louisa said, throat, eyes and chest all still burning. The words tasted like ash in her mouth. Nothing was fine. Nothing might ever be fine again.

Cassandra didn’t argue, but took the towel from Louisa so she could dress. The latter shivered as the damp towel fell away. She wasn’t embarrassed by her sudden nudity. Years of tending to Neve, both women had seen a naked woman’s body multiple times. Even more in Louisa’s case, having spent many nights sneaking out to roll in the bed of another lady’s bed.

It was a secret she hadn’t even shared with Neve, that she preferred women to me. It hardly seemed to matter. She knew she’d never have the one woman she truly wanted.

Louisa wasn’t entirely sure when or why she had fallen in love with the princess, but realized it the day she had turned sixteen. Neve had thrown a small party for her, like she always did for her ladies-in-waiting. Louisa had been her best friend since before Neve’s mother died, so her parties were always slightly more elaborate, a little more special.

One minute she had been blowing out the candles on the three tier cake that had been brought out, the next she looked at Neve and a warm feeling washed over her, settling in her stomach in strange tingles. It was then she knew she was in love with Neve. Her best friend and her princess.

As heir to the throne, Louisa knew that even if Neve were to return her feelings they could never be together. Same sex relationships weren’t uncommon in Terrania, but it was still expected of royalty to provide heirs. So there was never any hope of a happily ever after with Neve. At least not for Louisa.

When it had been announced that Neve was to marry Prince Asher of Cendril, Louisa nearly threw up right then and there. She knew the day would come when King Cygrus finally married his daughter off, but Louisa never imagined it to be so soon after Neve’s birthday. Foolish thinking in hindsight, but it left her feeling hollow all the same.

Not long after the announcement, Neve pulled Louisa aside and all but begged her to come with her to Cendril after the wedding.

“Please,” Neve begged, eyes wide in earnest and biting on her bottom lip in the way that drove Louisa insane. “Please come with me. I’ll feel so much better if you’re by my side.”

Louisa had wanted to break down crying. Whether that was in relief or sorrow, she still didn’t know. Relief in still getting to be a part of Neve’s life, and sorrow in being her so close but with seeing her with another. The thought of standing by her friend’s side as she married Prince Asher and bore his children made Louisa want to scream and throw things.

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

In the end Louisa plastered on a wide smile that didn’t quite reach her glassy eyes, and agreed to go.

“Of course I’ll come with you,” she said. “I’ll always be with you.”

Neve had let out a sob of relief and threw her arms around her friend, pulling her close. Louisa wrapped her arms around the princess, breathing in the rose perfume she loved and feeling her heart shatter.

Once she was decent, dressed in her nightgown with her dressing gown wrapped tightly around her, Louisa followed Cassandra back to Neve’s room. The other five ladies-in-waiting to the princess were already there, sitting in Neve’s little sitting room in silence. All wore the same dazed, glassy look in their eyes, as if they couldn’t quite believe what had just happened.

“Any news?” Cassandra asked the room.

Raquel, a dark-skinned girl with straight black hair, shook her head. “Nothing.”

Cassandra sighed and went and sat beside Helena, a short, portly girl with chestnut brown hair.

Jocelyn, a fair-skinned, freckled redhead, patted the empty space beside her on the settee. “Come and sit, Louisa.”

Wordlessly, Louisa obeyed, sinking into the space between her and Melody. Alicient stood by the window, the same window Neve had been absentmindedly looking out hours before.

The night sky was black, but soft snowflakes could still be seen gently falling from the sky.

“Do you think,” Cassandra began, her voice catching in her throat as she struggled to find the words. “Do you think she’s dead?”

After what they had all witnessed earlier that night, it wasn’t unfathomable that Neve would succumb to whatever caused her to collapse, but the possibility finally spoken out loud felt like a knife to Louisa’s gut. She bent forward, resting her head between her hands with her elbows balanced on her thighs.

“We shouldn’t make assumptions,” Jocelyn said sharply, glaring at Cassandra and glancing down at Louisa.

“That’s right,” Melody chimed in. “We won’t know for sure until we get word. There’s no point in worrying ourselves.”

Cassandra muttered something unintelligible, but sank back in her seat with her arms crossed and didn’t utter another word.

“Should we call for tea, perhaps?” Raquel suggested, looking about the room awkwardly.

Alicient scoffed at the window. “You want to drink tea at a time like this?”

“It was only a suggestion,” Raquel muttered, glaring at Alicient’s back.

“I think we all need something stronger,” Cassandra said, twisting the belt at her dressing gown over her fingers.

Alicient finally turned away from the window, leaning back against the windowpane. “Now there’s a suggestion.”

The sound of footsteps drawing closer in the hall caught the ladies’ attention, and they all fell silent again. The footsteps landed right outside the princess’s door, and a moment later Queen Cordelia came in, followed by one of her own ladies-in-waiting, Mira, and Captain Kentworth, the Captain of the King’s Guard.

As the three entered, all of the ladies rushed to their feet, waiting in apprehension for one of them to speak.

Queen Cordelia looked terrible. The normally beautiful woman’s eyes were swollen and rimmed with red. The rouge and charcoal she had used to accent her features earlier had been smeared down her face in blotchy patches from crying.

The queen opened her mouth and closed her mouth, unable to find the words.

Finally, she breathed out, “she’s alive.”

Relief burst through Louisa’s chest like a firework display at the midsummer celebration. She sank back down into her seat, letting out a sob of relief.

Around the room, the other ladies-in-waiting also made sounds of relief. Cassandra and Helena embraced each other, while Melody sank down beside Louisa, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Louisa looked up, and was surprised to see the queen and her companions looking somber. One would think that Neve had actually died.

“I’m not finished,” Queen Cordelia said, her voice breaking as she struggled to get the words out. “She’s still alive, but only just.”

An icy chill filled the room, stamping out the happiness that was felt moments before.

“What do you mean, ‘only just’?” Alicient asked harshly, and then added, “Your Majesty.”

Queen Cordelia opened her mouth, one hand on her pregnant stomach. She opened her mouth to answer, but only a strangled sob came out. Clasping her other hand over her mouth, the queen turned away from them. Mira placed a comforting hand on the queen’s shoulder as she sobbed.

At this point, Captain Kentworth stepped forward. Tall and muscular, he was practically born ready to be a warrior, but as there hadn’t been a cause for war between the kingdoms of Terrania in generations, the best he could do was aim for the King’s personal guard. Louisa guessed him to be in his early fifties, judging by the lines in his face and the silver hairs peppering his hair and mustache. He was a severe man at the best of times, and tonight was no exception.

“If you ladies haven’t already guessed, Her Highness was poisoned this evening. The doctors have managed to stop the poison from killing her, but sadly it’s still in her system. As a result, the princess has fallen into a coma to which the doctors can’t seem to wake her from.”

The silence was deafening. Louisa felt like she was sitting at the bottom of a pond staring up at the surface obscured by the murky water. She knew Queen Cordelia and Captain Kentworth were there, but she could not see or hear them clearly.

Standing beside her, Jocelyn asked, “won’t we just have to wait until Her Highness’s system flushes out the poison?”

Captain Kentworth gave her a pitying look. “Unfortunately, the doctors don’t know what kind of poison was used. They’ve managed to stop it from spreading for now, but they’ve yet to assess how much damage was actually done or if the princess will even be able to recover. Until they confirm what the poison is, there’s not much anyone can do.”

Anger and frustration took over Louisa. She sprang up from her seat and glared at the captain.

“How do they not know?” she demanded. “Are they not the best physicians in Hercynia?”

Captain Kentworth turned that pitying expression onto Louisa, who very much wanted to slap it off.

“It seems this is a poison the doctors are unfamiliar with,” Captain Kentworth said. “They’re not sure what could have caused such a violent reaction so quickly. Until they determine the poison, we’re all at a loss.”

Captain Kentworth ran a hand through his graying hair and sighed. “I know this is a difficult time for all of you, but I’m going to need you all to make statements. How you interacted with Her Highness before and during the ball, if she consumed anything unusual, if you noticed anyone unfamiliar hanging about.”

Alicient frowned. “Why?”

“Because, we don’t know who poisoned the princess or why, or even when exactly she consumed the poison. It could have been during the ball or hours before. Any information you might have could help us piece together what exactly happened tonight.”

Louisa stared dumbly at the Captain, it finally dawning on her that this wasn’t an accident. Someone had tried to murder Neve.