"Evie, where did you learn how to apply such good makeup?" Helga said, looking at a small mirror the next-door neighbour lent them. "I look so different," Helga said, admiring herself. "I just learnt it myself," Evie said as she continued to draw on her eyebrows over and over again. "Mine makes me look exquisite; yours makes you look ugly," she said.
"You need to look pretty because you are the mistress and I am the maid, and we make sure no one recognises us," Evie said. "Let's go now," she added.
Knock, knock. "Max, are you there?" Evie asked, knocking on Max's room. She lifted her hand to knock on the door once again, but her hand stopped midway as the door was flung open. "Good morning, Sister Evie and Sister Marie," Max said as he stepped out of the room, dressed like a little landlord.
"Wow," he gasped as he stared at Helga. "Sister Marie, you look more beautiful today than you did yesterday," he said, pointing to her face. "What about me?" Evie asked. "You have gotten uglier, Sister Evie," he said, looking at Evie, his lips turned upwards, making Evie and Helga laugh.
"Why, thank you, Max," Evie said. "Did you sleep well?" she added, resisting the urge to lift her hand and pinch his cheeks. "We have lots of things to do today, and you will be taking us around. Let's go," Evie said, side-stepping to let Max and Helga pass as she walked a step behind them.
They reached the front of the alms-house to find Sister Magdalene, the nun that welcomed them the previous day, gardening. "Good morning, Sister," Max said with a bow, trying to mimic Evie. "Thank you for letting my sister and me stay in the alms-house. We had a nice sleep last night, thanks to you," he added.
This little rascal lies a little too well, Evie thought as she saw the nun beam with a big smile, looking at Max.
"Sister, we will be going out today to get our carriage repaired and come back in the evening," Evie said, lying with ease.
"Yes, but have breakfast before you leave," the sister said, leading them. "Stop staring," Evie mouthed at Helga and Max, gesturing them to follow the nun.
A loud knocking rang through the main compound gate of the alms house, making everyone seated jump to their feet. "Who is that?" the nun said, panicked. "Wait, I am coming to open...." The door was kicked in, shocking all those present as throng after throng of soldiers streamed into the compound.
Marie hugged Max as Evie stepped closer to her. "Helga, remember confidence. They will not recognise us," she whispered, patting Helga's back.
"Who is in charge of this place?" a voice asked as a tall man with blonde hair and blue eyes, who appeared to be the leader of the bunch, stepped forward. "I am, Sister Magdalene," the nun said. "We need to search the place at the behest of the emperor," he said. "Sure," the nun said, her voice shaky.
"Okay, go," the man said as about twenty guards rushed into the rooms. "Did you receive any guests yesterday?" the man asked. "Yes, we had a brother, a sister, and their maid from Velma who came from the Starian Empire," she said, pointing to where they were standing.
"Come out," the man said, beckoning them with his fingers as all three of them stepped out. Evie was confident; Helga was full of anxiety but was not showing it, but Max was visibly shaking.
The man looked at Helga, all his attention on her. "Where are you from?" he questioned. "My name is Marie Calderon, and this is my brother, Maximillian. My father is Count Evans Calderon, and my mother is the deceased Theodora Harrington, the daughter of Viscount Isaac Harrington. My grandmother passed away; we attended the funeral and are going to Velma," she said, staring into the man's eyes. "And this is our maid, Evelyn Sharpe," she added, forcing a breath out of her lungs.
"Do you have your identifications with you?" he asked. "Yes, I do," Helga stuttered, not expecting the question. "Well, then go get it for me," he said, and Helga felt as if she had been hit by a thunderbolt, standing transfixed. "Is this how the men in the Valerian Empire treat ladies?" she asked, catching the man off guard.
"How?" he asked, his eyebrows raising. "We do not know who you are, and you just barged in here early morning like a hoodlum, demanding things from us, but just to give you the benefit of the doubt, I introduced myself despite not knowing you, but demanding our identification? Is that the correct way to treat your empire's guest?"
"Oh, no, sorry. I failed to recognise you, Miss Marie, the great envoy from Velma Kingdom who was humble enough to grace our tiny empire of Valerian. It is truly the emperor who should have come to ask for your identification," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
The whole courtyard stared at him with their jaws on the floor. "Oh, what a gentleman. If this is how you treat other women, I pity your wife," Helga returned his question with a dose of sarcasm of her own.
"I don't currently have a wife. Maybe I should go to Velma and meet the count," the man replied as he walked towards her, and Helga turned red in the face. "Captain Conner, we have reports from the guards at the Vinehounds gate of the presence of two women travelling alone," a guard said, rushing into the compound.
"Stick the portrait around the compound and let's go," Conner said. He turned to Helga. "We are not done here," he said, turning to leave.
Helga's leg gave out, and she fell to the ground as the man exited the compound "Are you okay?" Evie asked, rushing to Helga and enclosing her in a hug as Max burst out into tears.