Arrival at the Imperial palace was known to all the staff of the palace, and it did not sit right with any of them. Originally, Marquise's family was supposed to arrive one day before the coronation, not two. So preparations for their stay had to be rushed, and with various tasks for the upcoming coronation going on in the whole palace, their early arrival caused more than a few problems. Especially since the family is supposed to be separated in two parts of the palace. Lady Gabrielle, with her friend Lady Maria, is supposed to stay at the Queen's palace, like the Emperor ordered, and the rest of the family will be staying in the Green palace, like all the other guests that were coming from far away.
Most issues caused the preparation of the lady Gabrielle's room. The Queen's palace had few empty rooms, but they were enormous, not meant to be used by anyone besides the members of the Imperial family and, on occasion, their cousins. These rooms were not in use for years, it took a lot of time and hands to get one of them ready. So now the amount of work servants had to do for the upcoming ball stayed the same, but time was cut in half.
Empress even decided to cancel making of jasmin consists she asked her court ladies to make, just in order to get everything done in time. And that was a very important thing for her, an old tradition that she hoped to bring back to life.
Now, instead of finalizing preparations, she had to get ready to welcome this family. The family that was not supposed to be here regardless of the Emperor's order to invite them. With this turn of events, they look more important than the Empress herself, not just her, but all the guests invited to the coronation. And they certainly feel important.
Marchioness Porsha, wife of Marquise Favre, and her two younger daughters were settled in their rooms in Green palace, they have reportedly not left their rooms and are waiting for Marquise to visit them, but their eldest daughter, Lady Gabrielle von Favre, was already dressed in one of her best dresses, sitting in the drawing room of her chambers, because they were so big that she had a privilege of having a drawing room, as well as a closet, main bedroom with a balcony, huge private bathroom with a porcelain bathtub and a private servant entrance.
This glorious room with gold door handles, was at the other end of the Queen's palace, furthest possible one from the Empress's chambers on the second floor. Lady Diana made sure that woman was placed there, before the Emperor could come up with some excuse to put her somewhere close to the Empress's chambers. Perhaps even in her chambers.
Gabrielle sat patiently and waited, not by her own will. She wanted to go and explore the palace, look for the Emperor, and plan ways to bump into him by accident. But she couldn't, due to her situation, she needed to sit there and wait for the Empress to come and pardon her. That, with an image she created of herself with letters she had sent to the Empress, was real torture. She gave everything in her to stay calm, only for a little while, only until this treacherous meeting came to an end. Then she can continue with her mission.
Gabriella kept thinking about Gurtha, it was only a day ago that they last talked and came to an arrangement, Gurtha has her way of getting information from the palace, however it is usually just regular things that anybody can know, like lady Gabriella banishment, but the real stories from private lives of Imperial family she struggles to get. That is where Gabriella and Maria step in, there is a task upon then to find anything about the Empress that Gurtha can write about in her paper, it didn't matter if it was good or bad thing, she only needed one true information to create a story, that perhaps will not be so true.
In return for helping her tarnish the Empress's image, Gabriella will fund Gurtha's paper for however long needed. These women had a similar interest, that was to tarnish the perfect image of the Empress, but with separate purposes. For Gabrielle, it was necessary to do so in order to get closer to the Emperor, she is going to become him mistress, she did not need help with that, but she also wanted to become the empress, and that was easier if the current Empress would be dismissed by the Emperor who would divorce her, but in order for his decision to be accepted by the people that love her so much, her reputation needed to crumble in their eyes.
Gurtha's reason was far more simple, she just wants her paper to get more attention, to get more buyers and more exclusive stories, she also believes in injustice society faces because of the woman on the throne.
Gabrielle did not care much for it, Gurtha was a perfect pick for her mission, it didn't really matter to her why she agreed to help her. In reality she herself didn't really understand why one would hate the Empress. Even though she didn't hate her, that woman simply got in her way. It didn't matter that she was from poverty, if she was a daughter of the richest noble man in the county it wouldn't matter for her. It is only her position she is after.
"How much longer am I supposed to wait?" Gabrielle angrily stood up.
"Should I send a word?" Maria asked her.
"No, no, that would ruin our current position."
"I am sure she will come, my lady."
"Oh she will come! She must come! She is just making me wait on purpose." She angrily stomped around the room. Gabrielle liked this room very much, it was much nicer than her room back at home. And also, it made her feel important.
"There are preparations going on and-"
Gabrielle cut her off without hesitation, she stopped and looked at Maria. "Why are you defending her?"
For a short moment she looked shocked, "I am not."
"You are, who's side are you on?"
Maria took a deep breath and swallowed her words. "I am sorry, she is very rude for not coming to greet you my lady."
"Right." Gabrielle sat down again. "If I weren't in need of her stupid pardon, my life would be much easier. I mean, my sisters are probably roaming around the palace, driving my mother crazy, and I am stuck here, waiting for stupid rustic nobility-"
There was a knock on the door.
"Enter." Gabrielle said and started fixing her dress.
A maid entered, she was tall and thin, in a dark blue uniform with a red apron around her waist. She wore a silver brooch in the shape of an Imperial crest on the left side of her chest. That brooch meant that her position in the Queen's place was higher than one of a regular maid. Yet, she wore a standard uniform of maids in the Queen's palace. Her hair was up in a tight bun with a short ribbon, the same colour as her apron. They all looked similar also, even without the uniform. This maid was perhaps the same one that showed Gabrielle to her room, but she couldn't tell, to her, they all looked the same.
"Her Majesty will join you now, Lady Gabriella." She said with a small smile on her face.
"Great." Gabrielle said with a huge smile. But was puzzled when the maid opened the door and said to them.
"If you would please follow me, I will take you to Her Majesty."
Maria stood up first and answered for Gabriella who was too shocked and too focused at staying calm, to answer.
It was obvious that Her Majesty wouldn't come to them, they needed to come to her.
"Of course." Said Maria and looked at Gabriella. "My lady?"
She blinked a few times. "Yes." Then stood up and rushed towards the door, but quickly realized that her heavy, dark pink, dress was too heavy for her to walk that fast. She stopped in the middle of the hallway and turned around to look at Maria and the maid, who were desperately trying to catch up to her, especially the maid who was supposed to lead the way. When she managed to get in front of them Gabriella asked her:
"Where are we going?"
"Her Majesty will take you to her office, unfortunately due to ongoing preparations, she could not meet with you sooner."
"I see."
The maid took them out of the Queen's palace, and leaving the Queen's palace was like entering another universe. There were no silent and empty hallways, instead there were people everywhere, staff was running around, from maids to busboys, Gabrielle even could swear she saw the Imperial chef at one point walking down the hallway. There were also several nobles wandering around the palace, stopping to speak with each other in the middle of a hallway standing in everyone's way. Outside, through the windows Gabrielle could see gardeners taking care of the gardens, setting up tables and chairs in several resting places, and them being occupied by wandering nobles almost immediately. They were all over the place, strolling through the famous Imperial gardens and staring up at the beautiful architecture of the Imperial palace. Sometimes you could see them whispering and pointing in the direction of the Queen's palace, probably speaking about the garden hidden behind it. Saying how they wish to see it, even for a moment.
As they got closer to the King's palace, where all the offices were, the atmosphere changed again, from seeing maids, Gabrielle now saw many government officials, going from one office to another, as well as many mailboys running around taking messages from one end of the palace to another. They were all carrying silver trays, sometimes with several envelopes on them, scrolls, empty papers, bottles of ink and fresh, new feathers.
Compared to the Queen's place, both King's palace and the Yellow palace they went through, these too had much less Imperial guards at duty, unlike in the Queen's palace where there was a guard at every corner, despite the place being much less crowded.
The Empress's office was on the second floor, same as the Emperor's, only his being little further down the hallway, Gabrielle remembered that from her father's letters. He would often describe her different parts of the palace in them just because he needed to fill empty space on paper because his wife scolded him every time his letters, to his daughters, were shorter than two pages.
The tall, mahogany, double doors of the Empress's office were open, another mailboy had just entered before them carrying a tray full of letters. They had a brief conversation about him coming for her responses later in the day.
The maid that led the way knocked on the door. The Empress said goodbye to the mailboy and told the maid to enter and close the door after them.
"Thank you Torra." Her Majesty told the maid before she left.
Empress sat behind a big, light brown table, an enormous piece of furniture weighted with several piles of papers, letters, a nice writing pad made out of the same wood as the table and a few books with leather covers.
The office was big, with two sofas in front of the table in blue, the same colour as the chair she was sitting on and the curtains, the carpet was grey with some kind of pattern on it. Both walls had bookshelves on them going from floor to the ceiling, filled to the brim with books. Two large windows behind the table were open.
Empress didn't stand up from her seat, she spoke from there instead.
"Welcome lady Gabriella, lady Maria." She nodded to both of them as they bowed. "Please take a seat." She pointed to the sofas in front of the table.
Gabriella took a deep breath in order to compose herself. "Yes Your Majesty."
It was almost like neither one of them knew what to do in this situation.
"I would offer you some tea, but I am afraid we don't have that much time. You must be tired from your journey, it is a long way from western border to here." Empress sat straight in her chair, she wore a baby blue dress that went all the way up her neck, her hair was tied in a bun, but her overall lock was simple, much simpler then Lady Gabrielle's dark pink dress. Gabrielle thought for certain that that woman would be dressed from top to bottom in her best pieces just to assert dominance in her presence.
"Our journey was quite easy, Your Majesty, thank you for asking." Gabrielle said, almost biting her tongue. "I am most honored that you took time and read my letters, and even more that you invited me back to the palace." Gabrielle wanted to be respectful, just for the sake of keeping the image she created in her letters, but also she knew no matter how rude she was the Empress will still forgive her.
"There is no need to thank me. I see that I made a mistake, by ordering your banishment out of the palace."
"Please, Your Majesty, it was a mistake on my side, I should have known better than to wander into someone's home like I did. And mistaking you for your daughter, well in my defence I can only say you two look very much alike." Gabrielle thought that by complimenting her that stone look on her smiling face would soften up a bit, but it did not budge. "Please accept my deepest apology."
"Think of it as forgiven lady Gabrielle. Enjoy your stay at the palace, it is my pleasure to be your host for this short time." She reached for the bell on her table to call the maid back in but Gabriella stopped her, she wanted this conversation to continue. She was in need of something and with this she had nothing.
"Your Majesty, as I have said in my letters, I must reflect upon my actions..."
"Lady Gabriella, there is really no need for further discussion, you are forgiven, rest assured there is no need for anything else. As for your letters, I remember you writing about finding yourself in religion." Empress stared at her intensely, like she was absorbing every line of her face. "The temple doors are always open, feel free to visit it." Then she took the bell and rang it, the maid from earlier opened the door to take them back to their room.
Gabrielle couldn't accept that, but what other choice did she have, that is the highest woman in the country and to cross her again is not a good idea no matter if she is forgiven or not. So Gabrielle stood up, bowed to her and walked out of that office, Empress would not talk to her, she had no slightest interest in it. But there had to be other ways to approach the information she needed.
For example the very maid that is taking them back to the Queen's palace through this maze of crowded hallways, she is maid working in the Queen's palace, colour of her uniform bounded her to it, other maids wore gray dresses with white aprons, no matter what section of the palace they were working in. But ones from the Queen's palace were different for a reason, they are carefully picked, and when one so carefully picks their staff, they have something to hide. One that has secrets picks who is going to know those secrets, but also who gets to see them.
It all makes sense that the Empress is hiding something, only from maids and guards working in the Queen's palace any fool could come to that conclusion.
The only thing left is to find a way to find what is being hidden, and Gabrielle had her ways that always lead to successful outcomes..
Word is the only one she can befriend in this palace of riches. And that she intends to do.