Maria looked at the room filled with people celebrating the royal wedding….her wedding. It was almost too good…too perfect to be real. She looked at her new husband, the king and thought “I have you right where I want you”. Maria had to hold back her tears. In this moment she could not help but think of her sister, Ana.

Ana was a beautiful, carefree young woman with an extrordinary talent for cooking. Ana spent most of her time foraging for different herbs and plants ultimately to test out on my mother and I. Ana took her creations to sell in the central market and she became quite well known. Her culinary talent eventually was noticed by someone in the royall court. Ana was invited to cater one the royall balls.

Ana was so excited for the chance to feed members of the royal family that for months she concentrated on creating the perfect menu.

On the night of the ball, Ana and I prepped and packaged up all the food and headed to the castle. We were all given special attire to wear that night. This was to be an incredible costume party. The instructions were clear that we were not to look like ourselves….common folk. The ball was just as fantastic as I’d imagined. There were lots of magnificent lords and ladies dressed in the most dazzling costumes. Ana and I had played many games where we pretended to be the fancy people that attended these parties and now we were here. Granted we were invited in a domestic capacity but to us it felt like a dream.

Once the crowd thinned out and the night was coming to an end, we started to clean and pack up. I had been so enamored by the festivities that I hadnt….relieved myself in hours. I excuse myself from Ana and head towards the privy. I couldnt have been gone more than 15-20 minutes. As I approach the great hall I hear what sounds like dishes breaking. The closer I get I can hear men whispering and it sounds like they are in a panick. I peak around the doorway not wanting to fully reveal myself and I hold back a scream. I see 3 men standing over her lifeless body. The men still had their masks on so I couldnt tell right away who it was. As I stood there, devastated, one of the men removes his mask. It was the king