Vercillia and two of her sisters rush down the corridor into their father's bedroom. Two maids and a servant stand around the master bed, rushing about.

Vercillia leads the girls into the room and to their father's side.

"What has happened?" Vercillia yells, her long black hair a frayed mess behind her.

One of the maids withdraws from the small group. "Ma'am, someone has poisoned the king. We are doing all we can to help him."

Calycina, the third sister, begins to whimper in fear for her father. Lonica, the second, places a hand on her younger sister to calm her down.

"Calycina, he has been through worse. He will be fine."

Vercillia looks at her distraught sister. "Lonica, this is not the time."

The maid speaks again, this time more calmly. "Vercillia, your father has requested to speak only to you."

"Why just me?" The maid shrugs and returns to aiding the sickly king.

Vercillia looks again at her sisters. "I guess you two must go out into the hallway?"

Calycina nods and turns to leave, still crying. Lonica hesitates, glaring at Vercillia. She then follows Calycina out of the room.

Vercillia goes to her father's side when they leave.

"Vercillia, my eldest" an old frail voice says. "I will make it through this, so do not fret. I just wanted to talk to you. Just in case things turn out badly, for I have other concerns."

She nods and listens.

Out in the hall, the two girls walk slowly down the path. Calycina is upset still, much quieter than her ranting sister.

Lonica throws her arms into the air. "Why HER?! Why can't he tell us anything?"

Calycina wipes the remaining tears from her cheek. "Lonica… she is the oldest, it makes sense that he would want to speak to only her. She would be first to inherit everything he owns."

The older scoffs. "Yea whatever… just because she's the oldest doesn't mean we have to be left out of everything. Do we even get anything? What about the other six girls? They're not even his!"

Calycina sighs, knowing this rant can go on for a while. She plays with her straight bangs, then adjusting her long black braid cascading down her shoulder.

Lonica's tight black bun is uneven from all the commotion, but she pays no mind.

Suddenly, two other girls rush around the corner. One with dark brown hair covering her right eye and the other, bright white-blonde, approach the sisters.

The blonde speaks. "We heard about father. What is the matter?" The other stays silent.

Lonica huffs, not willing to talk about it anymore. Calycina rolls her eyes at her stubborn sister. "Someone had poisoned him Sodalia, but he should be alright…" she trails off.

The blonde's face turns to sadness. "That's terrible. Is it okay to go see him?" Calycina shakes her head.

"Not right now, Vercillia is in there right now. He wanted to speak to her privately."

Sodalia looks down and nods. "Good thing it's her… and not one of us… no offense but I don't think anyone can handle what she has to deal with, being the oldest."

Calycina forces a smile. "Yes, I believe that. I wouldn't feel fit enough to take up any of his duties. I could hardly keep you out of trouble when we were little. Why, even now!"

All girls laugh except Lonica, who has a look of disgust on her stern face.

Calycina and Sodalia start telling the other girl, Jasper, about when they were little. Lonica turns and slips away without them really noticing. However, Calycina does notice but pays no attention to the absence. She shrugs and takes her younger sisters to the garden.

Lonica returns to the her quarters she shared with the two eldest sisters. She peeks in through the door and sees the room is empty, then rushes into the side room where her bed is and slams the door behind her.

She throws herself onto the bed. The bed sheets become a tangled mess as she has a fit. The decorative pillow is thrown across the room in front of a tall mirror.

Lonica gazes at her reflection, panting heavily.

She glares at herself, getting angrier as she slowly walks up to the mirror.

Her eyes flare with fury as she reels her arm back to punch the reflection, but something stops her.

She stands there, confused. Something in her has changed to make her realize she's overreacting.

Lonica sighs and her arm limps to her side.

"Why is she more than I? Does father not love me too?" she places a hand on the mirror.

Suddenly, her reflection changes into a dark shadowy version of herself. She screams, backing away in fear.

The reflection is her again, this time showing her in fear. Her hair is askew.

She places a hand on her face. "I… I'm seeing things now…"

Footsteps echo outside her room. The door swings open and a young guard runs in, wielding a short sword.

"Princess Lonica, are you alright? I heard you scream!"

Lonica regains her stature, her stern face returning. "I'm alright, I just... " she looks at her messy bed sheets. "Thought I saw a large bug in my bed" she quickly responds. "I guess it was my imagination. Sorry to bother you, Sovil."

Sovil lets out a relieved sigh. "No no, it's alright. I should be the one apologizing. I've been so jumpy since the King was poisoned. I'll leave you be." He bows his head and steps out, closing the door.

Once the door is closed Lonica turns away, grumbling. The mirror looks completely normal.

"I look…. Awful."

She sighs, trying to calm down. "maybe I will just… sleep it off... " she mumbles to herself as she fixes her bed covers.

Lonica neatly makes her bed and lays on top. She stares at the wall thinking about her sisters. "Why her… why…."

She drifts off to sleep within a few minutes.