She told Baski about how he was so deeply buried in the past that he almost lost his sanity with her and how she came close to telling him that she was pregnant and his response.
“Oh, dear.” The older woman palmed her wrinkled forehead. “I’m glad you withdrew when you did. I can’t imagine what would have happened to you if you had told him and he took the news badly. He really believes he can’t father a child, and no one can blame him.”
“You’re right. I just couldn’t go through with it. I didn’t have the courage,” Danika said sadly.
“I’m watching closely for his schedule to loosen up, then I will go to him and explain Remeta’s gift to him. His schedule is packed to the gills. He is a very busy man.”
“He is.”
“Oh, thank you so much, Danika, for pulling him out of that abyss. I knew you could do it. I never lost hope that if any woman could reach him when he’s losing the fight with himself, it would be you.” Baski teared up as she put herbs on her body.
Danika looked around and noticed that Remeta had disappeared again. She hadn’t said a word to her all morning, just a lot of smiles and happiness.
In the time that passed, Baski rubbed herbs and liquid concoctions Danika had never seen before on her body, but knew better than to question the older woman’s extensive knowledge of herbs.
Already, her body started feeling better. Soothed. The pain lessened.
Finally, Baski’s face took up a concerned note. “Do you feel any discomfort in your stomach? Have you had any bleeding, even if it was just a little, since last night?”
“No, I feel perfectly fine. Not even a drop,” she answered truthfully.
Baski let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding, her face a light of relief. “Thank heavens. If you feel any sharp pain or see any blood, no matter how little, inform me. Do you hear me?”
Danika nodded her head.
Seven weeks later, Danika was watching Remeta play in the palace garden. Remeta giggled as she ran around, her new friend—a fox—following her everywhere. She still couldn’t believe that this was the same girl who, five months earlier, was afraid of her shadow and almost mad with the horrors of a past that a girl her age should never have.
She was a different person. Remeta was like three different people.
The sad, haunted girl she promised that there would be ‘no more bed’ for.
The child who ran around the woods chasing crickets, carrying a fox around and being happy.
And the seer that kept warning her of a big danger coming.
“Beware of the three W’s.” That had become a new mantra for the seer, Remeta, whenever she talked to her. Danika had tried to find out what the three W’s were. Even Baski had tried, but there was no way for them to know. Remeta wouldn’t say anything more.
Once the seer, Remeta, decided to keep quiet, she said nothing. And that was the problem they had been having for more than a month.
“See the sky, my queen!” Remeta shouted, pointing at the sky.
Pulled out of her thoughts, Danika glanced up at the yellow sun that rose in the sky, giving the evening and the garden a beautiful, serene glow.
“It is so beautiful,” she whispered truthfully, drawn away from her problems to the beautiful sky.
“Yes. It looks almost as beautiful as you, my queen.” The girl turned and grinned at her. “Almost. You are the most beautiful sun. The most glowing moon. And the most alluring star on earth and in the sky.”
Danika’s heart swelled with love for the fifteen-year-old girl that had stolen her heart a long time ago. A smile touched her lips. “Thank you so much, Remeta. You’re just as beautiful.”
The girl only grinned wider before she began plucking beautiful flowers and inhaling them excitedly.
“Remeta?” she called, just to try her luck again for the countless time.
“Yes, my queen?”
“What are the three W’s?” she asked softly.
As always, Remeta frowned a bit. Then she looked at her with a smile and continued doing what she was doing. This time, she continued plucking the rose before her.
Danika sighed in defeat. So much to worry about. So much to think about. Her biggest problem was that she was over three months pregnant, and the king didn’t know she was carrying his child. She was thirteen weeks gone.
Baski was finally able to get a moment with the king, and she explained Remeta’s gift and ancestry to him. She’d told the king the truth about her great grandfather, a big fearsome shaman in Salem. There were healers and shamans in her ancestry.
The king believed her. He had heard stories of the great Gunther and knew through his father that the great Gunther was Baski’s great-grandfather.
So, the king didn’t find it hard to believe that Remeta had the gift of foresight.
Danika remembered that day. They were so happy. So thrilled that the king believed them. All that remained was for Remeta to go to the king and tell him about her condition.
That was where all the problems lay. Till today.
No matter how they begged Remeta and told the girl about how dire their situation was, Remeta wouldn’t go to the king. At one time, Baski had told her to wait when Remeta would ‘see’ another future, and they would plead with her then.
It was a long time until Remeta came to her bedroom, tugged on her clothes and warned her of the three W’s for the first time. She’d begged the girl then to go to the king and give him the news herself so that the king would believe, but Remeta only shook her head.
“It is not yet time,” she’d said in a stilted monotone.
Danika had tried to find out what she meant by that, but the girl only blinked hard and came back to her normal self. She’d grinned at her and skidded out of her bedroom.
Now, she was at a crossroads. She was so worried she wasn’t sleeping properly anymore. Her hand touched her stomach, caressing it. Her belly was no longer as flat as it used to be. There was a slight bump to it.
And while she could easily pass it off for something she ate, how would she explain the hard surface of her belly?