Next, Akila took action.

  First, she questioned the other maids: who could this girl be, and why was the Prince so tender towards her?

  However, no matter how many maids she asked about this, either none of them really knew anything, or they simply did not want to talk, fearing for their safety. Aquila did not pressure them — she understood that now they were, in essence, in the same position she had been in just one day ago — in a vulnerable position. Yes, they had been there for her when she told them about her tragedy, yes, they had comforted her, but... that was all. None of them were willing to risk their lives or the lives of their loved ones for the sake of some other servant.

  There was no such thing as friendship in the royal palace, as everyone there knew perfectly well that at any moment, anyone could betray you.

  And those who shouted the loudest about friendship were always — always — the first to betray.

  Akila had already given up hope of finding any information when suddenly the senior maid in the palace approached her and struck up a conversation:

  "I hear you're interested in the girl who recently arrived at the palace?"

  Akila nodded; she narrowed her eyes — it seemed strange to her that a maid, and not just any maid, but the senior maid of the palace, had approached her and started such a conversation. She sensed something fishy, but for now, she couldn't figure out what it was.

  "Why do you need to know?" asked the senior maid.

  "Just curious," replied Akila. "I've never seen her here before, so her sudden appearance seemed strange to me."

  "She is the Prince's beloved," the maid suddenly said, causing Akila to freeze. "It's true... she doesn't know it yet, but that doesn't matter, because if the Prince has decided that..."

  "What do you mean, the Prince's beloved?" Akila narrowed her eyes even more. "Doesn't he have a fiancée?"

  "Yes," nodded the maid. "But he doesn't like her. Everyone in the palace knows about it; every time she came here, he turned his nose up at her, for which he was then punished by his father."

  "So... you mean... the prince has secretly started a relationship with another girl?"

  "Exactly."

  "But what about his father?" asked Akila. "Isn't he..."

  "He doesn't know yet, as this girl has only recently appeared at the palace."

  "But what will the Prince do when his father returns?"

  "I don't know," said the maid. "But what I do know for sure is that he has some kind of plan."

  With each passing moment, Akila grew more and more tense; it was all so strange: some unknown girl in the palace; the Prince harbouring tender feelings for her; the senior maid who approached her first and told her a ton of information that Akila was sure could get her killed.

  But Akila, driven by wild fury and an uncontrollable desire for revenge, could not ignore this information, however dubious it might be.

  "Thank you, of course, but... why did you tell me all this?" Akila asked. "Aren't you afraid that the Prince might kill you?"

  "I'm telling you all this solely because I'm worried about the Prince," she replied. "I've known him since he was born, cared for him, fed him and..." Her voice trailed off. "In short, he's very dear to me," she said finally. "This beloved of his... I don't like her. I'm worried she might harm the Prince."

  "What does that have to do with me?" asked Akila.

  "You're right; you have nothing to do with it. But," she paused, "of all the other maids, you are the bravest and most courageous. The others simply would not agree to my request, so I want to ask you to watch over her and report any suspicions you may have to me immediately. I don't know what she might do, but I'm sure it won't be anything good."

  "But why don't you just tell his father, Pharaoh?"

  "Who knows what could happen to the Prince before His Majesty returns. Besides... if his father finds out about his antics, he will punish him, and I don't want that. He is still a very young boy and it is natural for him to make mistakes..."

  'Such as murdering people,' thought Akila.

  "...and I wouldn't want his relationship with his father to be ruined forever because of some mistake."

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  'Forever' rang in Akila's head like a bell. 'So... their relationship isn't very good already.'

  Aquila was going to take advantage of that.

  "Thank you for your trust," said Aquila. "Rest assured, I will not let you down."

  The senior maid nodded, and before turning around and leaving, she said sadly:

  "I know."

  ***

  Although Akila had agreed to the senior maid's request, she was not ready to trust her so quickly; first, she had to make sure that the senior maid was not lying and find evidence to support their mutual suspicions.

  Initially, Akila wanted to look for evidence in Pharaoh's office, which the Prince was now actively using, but she doubted that the Prince was stupid enough to leave compromising evidence right under his own father's nose.

  However, that did not mean that Akila was not going to check.

  Akilah was unsure how to get into Pharaoh's office, as no one was allowed in there, not even for cleaning. Usually, Pharaoh cleaned it himself, but now that the Prince was occupying the office, he did it instead of Pharaoh.

  Then the senior maid came to her aid.

  "I'll distract the Prince," she said to her, "and you search the office while I do so."

  So that's what they did.

  At first, Akila was worried that the senior maid might betray her; pretend to the Prince that she was a thief or something else, and hand her over to him. Of course, there was no reason for this, but there doesn't have to be a reason for betrayal. However, Akila's concern was not so strong that she refused; first, she had already lost the most precious thing she had, and second, her desire for revenge was much stronger than any concern.

  When the senior maid distracted the Prince and the guard who was with him, Akila quietly slipped into the study. She searched all the shelves and quickly looked through all the records she had time for; even though she was now just a maid, her long-ago days as the daughter of an aristocratic family had taught her to read, so she had no trouble deciphering the text in the records.

  However, nothing written in the records and books was even remotely important; most of the things written there were ordinary historical references and nothing more. This disappointed Akila somewhat, but not enough to make her stop halfway.

  "Don't you want to stop?" the senior maid suddenly asked her.

  "Why do you ask?"

  "Just wondering... maybe you changed your mind... or maybe you got scared and—"

  "No," Akila interrupted her. "I won't back down."

  The senior maid sighed and said again, in a suspiciously sad voice:

  "As you wish."

  ***

  The second place Akila searched was the Prince's bedroom.

  As the senior maid explained to her, many books and notes were kept in his room, as he had loved reading since childhood and therefore constantly carried various books and notes to his room, then simply forgot to put them back.

  She got into his bedroom the same way she got into his study; the senior maid distracted him, and she slipped inside.

  There she found many books taken by the Prince from the library, as well as historical records from Pharaoh's study, but none of them contained any information that could in any way be used to compromise the Prince.

  The last thing left to check was the room of the unknown girl, who was most likely the Prince's secret lover.

  A few hours before she went to her room, she had another conversation with the senior maid, who again asked her a strange question about whether she wanted to stay.

  This aroused enough suspicion - it was always the same thing; she repeated the question to her over and over again.

  It was like a hint.

  However, fortunately or unfortunately, Akila was not going to give up, even if the senior maid asked her to. She was not alone — she was going to find something that would destroy the Prince, and no one and nothing could stop her.

  So, just like the senior maid, she repeated her answer:

  "I will not back down."

  And then, for the first time ever, the senior maid said something that made Akila even more suspicious:

  "Think about it. Maybe you should still..."

  "No. I will continue..." pause, "...to watch over the Prince."

  And then, the senior maid sighed one last time and said:

  "I understand you."

  ***

  The moment when Akila made her way into the bedroom of the Crown Prince's secret lover finally arrived.

  First, Akila examined the cupboards: apart from various historical records and art books, which the Prince had apparently brought here, there was nothing else on them; and the books and records themselves also contained no secret messages that could be used to compromise the Prince.

  After the cupboards, she searched the chests: in them she found many incredibly beautiful and high-quality dresses, as well as several headdresses. She was about to close one of the chests when she suddenly felt something sharp prick her through the fabric of one of the dresses. Lifting everything up, she found a strange homemade stick at the bottom of the chest, with something resembling ink on its sharp tip.

  It was a very strange find and could be linked to the story that the Prince's secret lover was planning to stab him during one of their next nights together, but there was no evidence to support this theory; besides, Akila had come here for a completely different kind of evidence.

  The next thing Akila rummaged through were jewellery boxes and boxes of cosmetics. In the boxes of cosmetics, she found kohl, lipstick and eye shadow, the shade of which was quite similar to that on the tip of the strange stick at the bottom of the chest. She didn't find anything interesting in the jewellery boxes either: there were only various kinds of precious stones and jewellery; what attracted the most attention was a tiara that looked incredibly expensive even to an inexperienced eye — it sparkled with silver and precious stones.

  For a second, Akila even wanted to steal it — it looked so expensive. Akila was sure that the money she could get from selling this piece of jewellery would be more than enough to provide for herself for the rest of her life.

  However, although Akila had experience in stealing, like any other homeless person, she had not come here for that, so without thinking twice, she simply slammed the lid of the box shut.

  Then, Akila began to search the entire perimeter of the room: she examined the floor, walls and ceiling, illuminating every inch of them in an attempt to find something that could be used as compromising evidence against the Prince.

  She was about to give up when she suddenly saw an inscription peeking out from behind one of the chests. Placing the lamp on the floor, she tried to move the chest aside as quietly as possible. Once she had done so, she picked up the lamp from the floor and shone it on the slightly crooked but legible text written on the wall: promise; fire, water, scream, blow. She looked closely and noticed another text under the word promise, which read: "Arenor did not keep his promise."

  Akila was delighted to see this inscription, because it at least indicated a very familiar relationship between the Prince and the owner of this room, since, apart from her, it was unlikely that anyone else would call the Crown Prince by his first name.

  However, all this was still no proof; who knows what this strange girl might have written on the wall in her room.

  Akila had to find at least one more piece of compelling evidence.

  And then, at that moment, a memory flashed through her mind: once, when Akila visited the royal palace as a child, she saw Queen Afaria and Pharaoh's Wife, Malika Arland. And then, in the sunlight, an incredibly beautiful ornament shone on her head.

  A decoration that Akila had seen just a few moments ago in the jewellery box.

  She jumped up from the floor and rushed to the box. Opening it, she saw the very same tiara that the Queen had worn when she was still alive.

  When she was a child, her attention was often drawn to all sorts of shiny things, so when she saw this ornament on the Queen's head for the first time, she couldn't help but ask what it was.

  "It's a family heirloom of the Royal Family," her mother told her at the time. "It is passed down through the female line."

  "That means..." She bit her lip, not understanding, and then her mother explained.

  "It means that when the heir to the throne marries, this heirloom will pass from his mother to his wife."

  She didn't understand the meaning of it all at the time, but now that she was older, she understood what it all meant.

  This ornament... it was supposed to go to his future wife and current fiancée. That very same Rahis. However, for some reason, this ornament was in the room of the Prince's secret lover, and Akila strongly doubted that Pharaoh knew about it.

  What, if not this, was compelling evidence of the Prince himself obstructing the Pharaoh's will?

  It was sufficient proof.

  Akila jumped to her feet and, turning towards the door, was about to run out of the room when she suddenly encountered the blood-curdling gaze of Prince Arenor.

  "Greetings... Akila," he said.

  Behind him stood two guards and... the senior maid.