It had been what felt like only minutes after Princess Emma had laid her head onto her soft pillows that she was being rudely awoken by her handmaid, Blue. The sun had still not yet risen and Emma's head was pounding.
"Princess, Princess wake up! It's your brother," Blue frantically whispered as she shook the weary Princess. Emma groaned as she threw her legs over the edge of her bed, her thin bed sheets still tangled around her lower limbs. She prayed that Blue had been woken her at this ungodly hour for a valid reason. She haphazardly yanked on yesterday's green tunic over her naked body as Blue opened the thick curtains; bars of pale moonlight washed over the tops of Emma's bare feet and against the white marble floors. Blue kept her attention on the sea as Emma changed. She stared at the endless ripples of the sea that glistened like black ink below the luxurious manor she worked in. One day, she thought, I will swim in that ocean. Her mind flashed back to the multiple times she'd sat on the hot white sand as a young Princess Emma floated in the cool cobalt water, dipping and diving underneath the soft waves. Blue was always desperate to feel the water against her skin but happily collected pretty seashells whilst the Princess swam.
"What happened to Antony?" Emma grumbled as she tied the golden belt around her thin waist; her blonde hair cascading down and over her back. Blue yelped and attempted to run her fingers through the Princess's hair, preparing to braid it. Emma pushed the maid's tiny hands away,

"Madam, please let me fix your hair before you leave," Blue squeaked.
"Blue! Stop it! What's wrong with Antony?" Emma flicked all her hair to one side and stifled a yawn. The handmaid busied herself with collecting Emma's sandals, intentionally avoiding the Princess's query. By the time she'd turned around, Emma had left. The Princess padded barefoot down the main corridor of the mansion that she shared with her mother, Mary and her twin brother, Antony. Emma knew that Antony was in battle somewhere near the border of Greece and Macedonia, finishing off the mission her father, had started. Emma heard Blue fight her way through the layers of thin material that acted like a door; separating Emma's quarter from the rest of the building. She had no time to deal with Blue at the moment because something terrible had happened and she needed to get to the bottom of it. Emma took a sharp right, narrowly missing a marble statue that stood in the corner. Blue, however, had not been so lucky. The outstretched hand of the statue caught on her hair net, ripping it clean off. Blue's squealed and quickly put both hands on top of her head, hoping to catch most of her hair before her hairstyle completely fell apart. She glanced up to see that her headdress was completely ruined; one of the statue's fingers had ripped a massive hole through it. Blue sighed and dropped her hands. She'll be damned if she has to look respectable in front of the Queen. She'd raised the woman's children since she was fifteen years old, for God's sake. Blue picked up the hem of her cream coloured toga, and jogged after the Princess.

Emma had lived here for nineteen years and knew all the staff; partially because she'd grown up with the majority of them and partially because there weren't a lot of people who willingly visited the royal mansion to speak to her or her family. The staff raised her and looked out for her when Blue and her mother, Mary, did not.
So when Emma spotted a few of the kitchen staff and gardeners huddling around, whispering, she did not bark at them to return to their common room but instead headed straight to them.
"Princess," An elderly lady bowed her head at Emma as the other staff skittered away like cockroaches in daylight.
"Granny," Emma pulled the older woman into a hug.
"Princess," Granny whispered again, "Find Mary, she has news to tell you. Something terrible has happened,"

Blue finally caught up to the Princess, breathing hard through her nostrils, "Emma we must go. Your mother is waiting for you," Blue laid a reassuring hand on Emma's shoulder, more so to steady herself, "Please".

Emma was furious that everyone else seemed to know what was going on except her. She'd even noticed that the kitchen staff, before running away from her, had tears in their eyes. There had been only one other time that she'd seen people in this much distress, and that was when her father died. Surely, her brother, as stupid as he was some days, was okay. He was the only logical reason behind all this commotion, she thought. Emma glanced down at Blue, who was stone faced and barely able to keep up with the Princess's speed. She suddenly felt sorry for the poor woman. Blue had raised both Emma and Antony. It was no secret that the woman preferred Antony over Emma; not that she treated Emma terribly different but because Blue would always sneak sweets to Antony in their classes together. Blue always spoke and often treated Antony like he was son she never had.

Blue quickly zipped in front of Emma and pushed open the door for her; the handmaid wheezing at the door's weight. They stood in the middle of the front garden; a wide open space filled with ponds, statues and more plants than necessary. The glint of the moon shone through the open rooftop, throwing eerie shadows across the walls and freshly manicured grass. Emma's eyes narrowed in on the marble bench littered with colourful pillows that sat in the middle of the garden. She stepped out onto the grass and felt the soft blades squish slightly underfoot. The bench sat on a beautiful mosaicked platform; tiny fragments of red, purple, orange and brown glass placed together to create a brilliant battle scene. It was her favourite growing up; she'd always run her fingers across the glass, imagining the different scenarios in her head, and Mary would chastise her in fear her daughter would cut herself on a piece.

As Emma reached the platform, there was a loud yell and a sudden bang. The doors on the other side of the garden were thrown open and her mother, Queen Mary, entered with a large and boisterous group of Senators in her wake. Mary looked ferocious; her eyes bright and her long black hair, a wild mane that whipped behind her. She did not look like she even walked across the ground but instead, floated; the gold trimmings of her forest green toga flicking the shins of the Senators that were desperate to keep up with the Queen's stride.
"My Queen, the government will fall!"
"How will the soldiers fight without a leader?"
"If our enemies were to find out, we'd be done for!"
Each Senator was sound more hysterical than the last but Mary's intense stature softened when she spotted her daughter standing nervously in the garden.
"Emma!" Mary grabbed her daughter and pulled her into a tight hug, "Oh Emma there has been a grave mishap!"
The Senators behind them realised that the Princess was unaware of the recent events and quickly shut their mouths. Emma got a mouthful of her mother's raven hair before Mary started sobbing, "Your brother…he…h-he was killed," Mary burst into tears; Emma felt the drops leak into her tunic.

"No, he can't…" Emma whispered as she woodenly wrapped her own arms around her distraught mother as she tried to digest the information. Antony, her twin, was dead. Not just gone for a few weeks for war but gone for eternity. He was no longer going to make fun of her for her left-handedness when they practised their swordsmanship, he was no longer going to race her on horseback across the sandy beaches, or overachieve in archery or throw grapes at her at dinner when mother wasn't looking. He was gone.