"Hey! Have you heard?" Within the confines of a large opulent and wealth radiating room, a lady asked. She was blessed with brown hair tied into a bun and dressed in attires of color black and white. Around her bun was a white ribbon use to hold the bun perfectly in place and shape. Her smooth skin and face was a sign of her young age.
The lady's pair of dark eyes peered into the other person's eyes present in the room with her. "What? There's news?" The other figure, another lady dressed in the same attire but slightly shorter, responded with a question.
She was prettier than the first lady with a similar brown hair also tied into a bun. Her bright brown eyes stared back at the lady standing opposite her.
Even as they communicated, their voices were barely audible, mere whispers as they were afraid of being overhead.
"I guess you wouldn't know yet since it'll only be announced in a day's time but I'll share it with you now," The first lady looked around as she spoke. She was being wary of her surroundings.
Whatever she was about to say, it was very important for both parties and could very well jeopardise their positions if overhead.
"Tell me, tell me!" The second lady said, her voice still a whisper only the first lady could hear. She leaned in closer as the first lady had gestured.
The first lady placed her mouth close to the second one's ear and whispered words that made the second one gasp in surprise. "Lady Terrace has just delivered a set of twin boys."
The shock was evident on the face of the second lady as she asked with a subtle smile. "Are you certain of this information?"
The first lady grinned, raising her head high. "You're aware my mother works as a senior servant of this household, isn't that so?"
In response to the first lady's question, the second lady nodded obediently, leading the first lady to continue. "She took care of the delivery along with two midwives some hours ago."
Hearing this, the second lady wore a wide smile that mirrored the first lady's. "That makes it the third pair of twins for the Terrace family. That makes this a thing of joy!"
The first lady nodded along, feeling accomplished after sharing sensitive information of the Terrace family.
Before they could continue their discussion, the door to the room swung open and another figure, a male stood there. "Maid Sheryl and Lyra, Lady Reyla requests both your presences."
After delivering the information to the two ladies who turned out to be maids, the man walked away, leaving the door open.
Both ladies stood, frozen on the spot at the mention of Lady Reyla. There was a brief moment of shock before the ladies finally turned to stare at each other. "It's just a coincidence. Yes, a coincidence!" The first one said wit a nod.
"Let's not waste any more seconds and head out then." The second one added and quickly, both figures exited the room, closing the door shut behind them as they made their way to the abode of revered Lady Reyla.
Lady Reyla was one of the highest ranking individuals of the Terrace family whose name spoke fear into the hearts of the maids.
She was strict and appeared cold whenever she was seen walking around.
The maids finally arrived in front of a large triangle shaped door.
"Come in," one of the most attractive female voices echoed from within the room beyond the door.
Maid Sheryl, the first maid who'd provided the information pushed the door open and both of them walked into the room side by side, holding each other's hands.
The room that presented itself before them was way larger than the one they'd been in before and was filled with different things that made it even more attractive. A king sized bed at the far end of the room, two large bookshelves, two large wardrobes with intricate flower designs, a few small drawers placed in different parts of the room—two of which were by the sides of the bed.
At the centre of the room was the fur and head of a lion-like beast. The head looked almost alive as it stared at the two young ladies that had just walked in.
About a meter and half from the bed was a large door that led to a balcony and on the balcony was a table and a few chairs. It was also filled with vases of various flowers.
Spotting the figure sitting on one of the chairs on the balcony, Sheryl and Lyra proceeded toward the balcony. "You called for us, Lady Reyla." Sheryl said with a bow. Lyra also bowed out of respect for Lady Reyla who simply stared at them as they performed the greeting expected of their position.
Lady Reyla simply nodded after the two ladies finished bowing toward her. "Come closer." She commanded with her charming voice and the ladies immediately obeyed, their eyes fixed on the floor.
This was their first private encounter with her and they didn't want to mess it up one way or another. They heard rumors of how strict she was after all in private and wanted to be of best behaviour.
"Look at me." Another command went out of the lips of Lady Reyla but this time, the ladies in front of her contemplated obeying the command.
"I said raise your heads and look at me." She repeated, her voice tinged with a trace of impatience.
The ladies finally raised their heads and the face before them made their hearts skip a bit.
Round blue eyes and woven silver hair that flowed down her back, smooth white skin and peach lips, round small face that was just the perfect size for her petite body structure. she looked even younger than the two maids before her. She was dressed in a silver gown similar to the maids.
Although Sheryl and Lyra had seen her before, neither of them had seen her this close.
"You'll stare me to death with those eyes." Lady Reyla chuckled, staring back at the girls with her ocean blue eyes.
"Our apologies!" Lyra bowed first and Sheryl followed. When they finally raised their heads, they avoided eye contact with Reyla.
"It seems like the rumor of my elder brother giving birth to his own set of twins have already started spreading." Reyla said with a straight face.
However, when Sheryl and Lyra heard the words she'd spoken, they froze, too scared to move.
They immediately knew she'd overheard them. Eager to clarify the situation, Sheryl quickly spoke first. "Lady Reyla, that's not…"
"That's not why I called you both here though." Reyla interrupted Sheryl's sentence.
"Pardon?" Sheryl asked with a perplexed expression. Lyra on the other hand, remained silent as though she wasn't even in the room or even a part of the conversation. As a newly hired maid, she was too scared to speak and risk getting fired or worse, persecuted.
"Look at my hair. It's rough and their ceremony is only six days away. I need you both to remake it." Reyla said with a shrug. She gestured for both ladies to move closer which they immediately did.
"Make it very neat and I won't have to punish you both for sharing information that's yet to be official." Reyla warned and they immediately rushed to begin work.
"Yes, Lady Reyla!"