King Lucien’s demons had completely overtaken him. His demons dragged down deep into the abyss; he couldn’t see or hear anything. Demons of his past. His memories. His parent’s death. His cousin’s death. His pregnant sister’s death behind him in his library. Her screams as she called to him, and he couldn’t answer. Her lifeless, tear-filled eyes as she gazed into space, dead.
Screams. So many screams.
Children being raped. Men being whipped. Declan’s roars. Vetta’s screams. Baski’s cries. Remeta’s pain-filled shrieks. Chad’s howls as they brutally raped him. Cone’s devilish laughter. The smell of death. The lifeless eyes.
So many voices. Calling out to him for help.
So many voices in his head. He couldn’t help!
They called to him as they died. As they took their last breath, they begged their king to save them.
He couldn’t. They all died. Declan died. And it was all his fault.
Screams in his heart.
Screams in his head.
So many screams.
Escape! Escape!! ESCAPE!!!
He needed to escape from them. To get away. To make them stop.
They overpowered him. Overwhelmed him. His head was filled with screams and shouts.
But he put his hand on her, and it got better. Whoever she was, she made the screams quiet. Uncomfortable. He had to keep her close. He had to keep her close. Not letting go! He could not think past the roaring in his ears. He couldn’t think past burying himself inside the soft flesh caged before him.
She kept saying something to him, but he couldn’t hear her. He could not hear past the roaring in his ears.
She smelled so good, and he wanted her so much. To devour her. Bury himself so deep inside her until nothing separated them. To dominate her body completely. To own her. Until he could not think of anything else but her. Until he could forget everything else but her.
She. Is. Mine.
Baski was as restless as a husband whose wife was in the hands of the midwives. She couldn’t sit still, so she paced around.
She didn’t know how long had passed, but she couldn’t bear staying in Danika’s bedroom anymore. She walked out and went in search of her daughter. Who knew? Her daughter might already be ‘pushed’ into foresight, and she might tell her a thing or two about the situation at hand.
Baski walked towards the backyard but couldn’t find Remeta. She went to the river to see if her child had chased her crickets to that part of the kingdom, but she still couldn’t find Remeta.
In the end, she went back to the palace. Entering, Baski walked to her bedroom and opened the door. Remeta’s back was to her as she stood before the bed, her dyed-red hair asleep and beautiful behind her back, stopping just before her waist.
“Remeta! There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you!” Baski said as she entered and closed the door.
Remeta turned towards her mother at the sound of her voice. There were tears in her eyes and all over her cheeks.
Panic and relief filled Baski’s bones. Panic because of her tears and relief because she was foreseeing something. She grabbed hold of Remeta’s arms and jostled her. “What is it, Remeta!? Tell me what it is!” The answer Baski got was more tears rolling down her eyes. Eyes that stared right at her but weren’t really seeing her. “Remeta!” She shook her desperately. “This is not a time to keep quiet!”
Remeta sniffled and remained silent.
“Alright, that’s it.” Baski got up with a new purpose. She was going to the king’s chambers to get Danika out. She did not know how she’d achieve that, but that wasn’t what her mind was thinking about at the moment. She had to save the pregnant woman who had already had so many complications at such an early stage of her condition!
Getting up, Baski pulled away from Remeta and hurried to the door. A hand grabbed her. She turned to see Remeta clutching her tightly.
“It’s too late. Don’t,” Remeta whispered hoarsely.
“No, I have to---”
Remeta began rambling in a low voice. “You can’t take them from him. You can’t take them from him. Don’t take them from him. He won’t let you. He won’t let anyone. You can’t take them from him. If you take them from him, what will happen to him? He needs her. He needs them. He’s hurt. Gone. Mad. Hurt. Hurt. Hurt.”
Baski turned towards her daughter, trying to make sense of the things she was saying. Remeta was saying she shouldn’t take them away from the king? Danika and her unborn child? She knelt before her daughter, who was trembling and sobbing. She tried to find out if Remeta could say more for her to understand. “Remeta? My baby? I don’t understand.”
A full minute passed in a tense silence that was only interrupted by the sound of her sniffles and soft cries. And Baski’s loud heartbeats. Then Remeta looked her mother dead in the eyes with the saddest eyes Baski had ever seen. “It’s not his fault. He is hurting badly, Mama. We’re losing him. He has been fighting for five years, but every man has a breaking point. She is the only one that can help him.”
“Danika?” Baski’s breath caught in her throat. Fear sizzled down her spine.
She nodded once. “We can only hope that she reaches him in time. Or he will hurt her badly. And we will lose him completely.”
.
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