(Day after the coronation, The duck's inn)
The town was covered in colors of the empire, countless banners, flags and ribbons were hanging all throughout the city, every business had a flag of the empire hanging in front of their store like it was a national holiday. Inn The ducks wasn't an exception, the two colored flag was placed over the shop's window, so now you could not see what was going on inside without walking in. This special effect perfectly suited anyone who does not want to be seen in the public eye.
Maria didn't know this when she called Gurtha to meet her. She just thought that it would be more natural for her to be seen in a bar rather than sneaking around town while trying to get to Gurtha's shop. The flag over the window and an empty bar served right as she needed.
Since Maria had only sent the invite that morning after seeing her mistress was asleep in her bed, she had little hope that Gurtha would come. In her note Maria wrote that the confirmation is not needed and that she will wait in the inn even if Gurtha decides not to come.
The luck was on her side once more, when she saw the mysterious woman come in through the door with a hood over her face. Even though she saw her only once, Maria recognized her right away.
"Miss Maria," She said while sitting down in the chair across from her. Upon her request, and a few silver coins, Indrig, the owner of the inn, gave the two of them privacy. Gurtha removed the hood from her head, "What makes you come here?"
Maria pulled out a piece of paper from her pouch and handed it to her across the table. "Lady Gabrielle doesn't know I have this." She placed her hands in her lap after giving Gurtha the paper, they were shaking and she needed to hide them.
Gurtha first looked at her suspiciously, then she took the folded paper and unraveled it. It took her a few minutes to read everything that was written on it.
"How did you find this?" Gurtha folded the paper again and hid it inside her cloak.
Maria looked around them even though she knew there was nobody there. "That is everything I heard at the ball last night. It isn't a lot, but everything on there I believe to be true," she corrected herself, "I know to be true."
There were a few different things written on that paper, for a lot of them Gurtha already knew not to be true or they were already written about and considered old news, but the very last thing caught her eye. Gurta lifted her eyes from the paper and looked at Maria, she shifted in her chair and placed the paper on the table with both of her hands covering the bottom writing.
It was about pregnancy, by the resources Miss Maria gathered, Her Majesty was pregnant. First mentioning of it came after her majesty fell suddenly sick after the grand court assembly a few weeks ago, since then she has been bed ridden and unable to come out of her chambers. When she was seen again, attending a dinner with her family, her majesty struggled to eat food in front of her and could often be caught with a hand on her stomach. Her attire changed from tight corsets to more casual day gowns that cover her curves and body entirely, while preparing the ball for the coronation ceremony she did not leave her office often and instead sent her court ladies to do field tasks for her. The Empress also ordered her son to stay away from her by sending him to learn how to sing in a choir. The rumors spread last night, at the ball, after several guests saw her with her hands placed on her stomach, somebody also overheard her talking with the new Duchess of Vendrig about children. How she misses the presence of children in the palace.
Gurtha took a deep breath. "Miss Maria, I already heard about this."
Maria's eyes opened in shock. "How come you haven't written anything about it then?"
"Miss Maria, this is not what your mistress is looking for. To write about pregnancy rumors will not help her in any way."
"Have you not read the last sentence? I saw that with my own eyes."
"Miss Maria-"
"It is not the Emperor's child!" Maria slammed both of her hands on the table.
Gurtha took another deep breath, the last thing Maria had written on the paper was that she saw a man leaving the Queen's palace late at night.
"Don't you understand? Even if it isn't true, it doesn't matter. This can destroy her, lady Gabrielle would not have to worry about anything else, this can help her. Help all of us." To Maria, she herself was the only one that took this matter seriously, the life she had been living with Gabrielle ever since she fell in love with the Emperor was everything she hoped would never happen to her. But now the end to it all is close, she just needs to get the Empress out of the picture, Gabrielle will be happy with just that, that is all she needs. Seducing the emperor afterwards will be a child's play, the easiest thing to do is seduce a man. Especially to someone as Lady Gabrielle.
For that very reason she has kept this information a secret from her mistress, Maria needs the reward and that reward is freedom.
"Miss Maria, find something else." Gurtha spoke in a strict tone. "The rumors were already spreading around. But several people saw the Empress's personal maid clean bloody sheets this morning."
"What? How could you know about that?"
"The same way I knew about Lady Gabrielle's incident, I have ears in the palace, but my ears can't go places you and your mistress can." Gurtha got up from her seat. "Find something from those places Miss Maria and you will see, she will crumble."