Baski had developed a terrible headache. She watched Remeta, who laid on Baski’s bed, crying her eyes out. She had tried consoling her daughter, but Remeta was inconsolable.
She kept sobbing and muttering, “He is leaving. He is leaving. So restless. He is so restless. He is hurting. He is leaving.”
Baski was torn. She had tried to get Remeta to explain or elaborate, but she wouldn’t say anything more, just kept repeating the same words over and over again.
Should she give her sleeping herbs like she gave to Sally? She knew Remeta wouldn’t take them. She wondered what was happening to her daughter, and she was worrying about Danika.
The beating she got wasn’t a minor one, and her bruises weren’t minor either. She had to sedate Sally to sleep; she would have cried herself sick because of Danika’s condition.
What she went through… Baski couldn’t imagine it.
For a pregnant woman, it was a miracle she was still alive after all those beatings. She was barely hanging in there. And she wasn’t sure if the baby was still there or not. Her bet was Danika had miscarried, and the baby was no more.
She’d been able to stop the bleeding, but Danika had lost a lot of blood. When the medicine man came, she’d been prepared to swear Angie to secrecy about Danika’s pregnancy—at least until she had heard from Danika.
But Argie didn’t detect a baby or any pregnancy in all the hours he stayed treating every cut and bruise.
It was safe to say that the baby was no longer in there.
Baski didn’t know how she felt about the knowledge. As she began pulling herself out of her mind, she noticed that everything had gone silent. She swiveled her head towards the bed. Remeta had fallen asleep. She let out a breath of relief she hadn’t known she was holding at the sight. She could check on Danika again before she retired for the night.
Baski stood and headed out of her bedroom, closing the door as quietly as she could.
Today was the best day of Vetta’s life.
On her way home, she’d asked one woman what happened in the market and the woman told her everything, how Danika was beaten brutally and mercilessly. Vetta hadn’t waited for the woman to finish before she continued on to the palace with a huge smile on her face.
Only for the grin to be wiped from her face when she got to the palace gate.
She saw a crowd seated just inside the gate. Most women were praying; some prayed to the gods they served, the others prayed to the one in the heavens. Other women held their sleeping children to their bodies and stayed quiet. Men were there too.
Vetta called out to one woman. “What is going on?” she asked in confusion.
“It’s the slave princess. We won’t leave here until we hear that she’s alright!” the woman said passionately.
WHAT!? Vetta couldn’t believe it. Surely, she hadn’t heard the woman correctly.
The woman began crying. “What we did was so wrong! So wrong! Have to go back and keep praying for her!”
Before Vetta could ask if she was out of her mind, the woman was already hurrying away from her. She walked back to the crowd, sat down on her spot, and began praying again.
What the hell was happening!? What was going on!? That wasn’t part of the plan at all! What were all these people doing here!? They should be in their houses, happy and celebrating their revenge on King Cone’s daughter. So, what were they doing there!?
And why were they crying!? Why the fuck were they praying!?
Vetta fumed in confusion as she made her way into the palace. To calm herself, she knew where her source of happiness would come from again.
She headed straight to Danika’s bedroom.
She turned down the hallway to see Baski standing outside the cover walkway, looking inside the bedroom with a passionate look on her face. A tear dropped from her an eye. She turned and saw Vetta walking closer and bowed her head slightly but didn’t move away.
Vetta moved closer and noticed that they locked the door from the inside. Baski only stepped away from the window for her.
She stopped in front of the window, looked inside, and froze at the sight in front of her.
They bandaged almost every part of Danika’s body. She looked terrible, a sight for sore eyes. She must be in so much pain, and her condition looked critical.
Indeed, her plan worked out more than perfectly. But Vetta wasn’t happy at all.
Because beside Danika’s bed, King Lucien sat, staring at her. His guard was down because he didn’t know anybody was watching. He looked so worried and concerned for her. In fact, there were so many emotions in his eyes, Vetta wasn’t able to make out what they all were.
But she knew for sure that none of them was hatred. Far from it.
Vetta was still watching when he lifted his hand, took Danika’s smaller hand into his and squeezed slightly, his eyes closed intensely.
She watched when he placed her hand to his mouth and kissed it, lingering.
Then he lowered his head to her belly and laid it there. For a man that hated touch, he hadn’t let go of her hand.
In fact, he held her hand like he never wanted to let go again.
.
.