Karandy was still thinking about the plan. “The maid that will report us to the king, won’t she call my name? That will get me killed,” he reasoned.
“She doesn’t know you. All she knows is that she caught the king’s slave fooling around with a man in the palace storeroom.”
“Wouldn’t Danika tell on me during interrogation?”
Vetta couldn’t help herself, and she chuckled at his naivety. “If you think the king would give her a chance to be interrogated after such a crime, then you don’t know the king at all. My bet is that he will order her execution immediately. Betrayal is a crime worse than murder to the king.”
Karandy wasn’t surprised. King Lucien was not a man to be trifled with.
Vetta continued. “Why do you think she hasn’t told him about her pregnancy? She is terrified about how he’ll take it. If I were still a slave, I’d rather die than get pregnant by a master like the king,” she stated vehemently. “As a slave, Danika treads the most dangerous ground.”
“So, why don’t you just go to the king and tell him his slave is pregnant? That will be a win for you, too, and a loss for her.”
She leaned back in her chair. “It wouldn’t kill three birds with one stone.”
“I don’t understand.” His confusion was apparent.
She waved him away. “You won’t. There’s no greater win than the one which will come from the king’s belief that Danika had a lover all along. It is the worst kind of betrayal. He’ll find out about her pregnancy then, and it will be disastrous for her. I look forward to seeing the king kill his own child by his own hands.”
Karandy winced. That plan was perfect and harsh. It reminded him of how wicked the mistress was. Dread filled him for the first time since he forced her to sleep with him. Was he safe?
“Is there more to the plan?” he asked her, trying to tamp down his doubts.
She shook her head with a purse of her lips. “No. That is all. Do not worry, it is a perfect plan. You and I will get what we want.”
His excitement was apparent on his face, and she had to resist the urge to laugh out loud. The useless bastard.
He had no idea.
.
.
CHAPTER 43
THE HEALING KING“C
ome and sit with me. I do not want to eat alone. I do not want you to go.”
Danika turned towards the deep baritone of his voice, her heart doing a somersault. He didn’t want her to go. He wanted her to stay with him. “As you wish, Your Highness,” she replied hoarsely.
She walked back to the dining table and sat beside him. He dug into the broth in front of him, scooping it into his mouth. She watched him eat, keeping quiet because she knew how much he loved his silence. There was no food in front of her, but she wasn’t hungry. Just having a moment to watch him eat was enough to feed whatever hunger was in her.
Folding her hands on her lap, she resisted the urge to caress her baby. It was a habit she had developed over the past few weeks. Touching and caressing her belly in private whenever she was thinking of the king. A bad habit considering her situation, but one she couldn’t stop.
The king raised his head, catching her watching him. Her cheeks heated at being caught, and she quickly lowered her eyes.
“Guards,” he spoke in that calm voice of his.
A few seconds passed. The door opened, and Zariel entered. “You summoned, My Lord?”
“Go to the kitchen and get an extra plate of food. Do not forget to get a basin of water and linen towels, too,” he ordered, chewing softly on the meat in his mouth.
“Your wish is my command, Your Highness,” Zariel answered immediately and hurried out of the room.
“I am not hungry, my king,” Danika protested softly. These days, her appetite had taken a vacation. Not that Baski cared. The older woman always forced her to eat everything, saying it was good for her child. She tried her best to eat but had very little appetite.
The king glanced at her. “You look a little skinnier. You will eat.”
She swallowed a gasp at his astute observation. It was almost creepy how he would notice the slightest difference in her. She was suddenly thankful that she had been wearing big double corsets lately to hide her condition. He would have noticed otherwise.
You will spend the night naked in his arms tomorrow, Danika. He will definitely find out.
She shut her mind against the frightening thought and focused on watching the king eat in silence. She watched how he scooped up some little potatoes and directed them to his mouth.
The door opened, and Zariel entered with an identical tray to the one the king had. If the king noticed he brought food for her on a plate meant for a queen to eat from, he said nothing. Instead, he picked up the wine and drank from it.
Zariel walked around the table towards her and set the tray of food in front of her. In the minute that followed, he set the food as it should be in front of her before he bowed to the king and walked out of his chambers.
She thanked him for the food and dug into her food. They ate in comfortable silence.
Vetta was returning from Karandy’s house. She had been having an exquisite day as she rounded the corner that led to the gate of the palace when something bumped into her, dragging her out of her thoughts. She looked down to see a small boy who couldn’t be older than seven staring up at her.
“How dare you touch me!? Do you want me to have you whipped!?” she hissed angrily, shoving the boy hard.
The child fell and began crying. A heavily pregnant woman ran towards them, and her eyes widened when she saw who her child had run into. “I-I’m so sorry, Mistress. Please, forgive my son! I’m sorry!” the woman cried, fear gripping her because she had heard the rumors about the king’s mistress being short-tempered and intolerable.
“He should look where he is going, the hellion!” Vetta hissed.
The woman’s eyes widened at the anger in the mistress’s voice. The woman knelt and began crying and begging. She feared her son would be taken into the palace and whipped.
Vetta dusted her dress clean, hating the dirtiness she felt. She turned to the boy and narrowed her eyes at him. “Make sure you look where you’re going next time!”
The boy only cried harder, running to his mother to hug her tight.
Vetta noticed she was drawing the attention of other people, so she turned and stormed away. “Ugly dirty lowlifes!” she fumed as she walked.
When she arrived at the palace, her thoughts returned to Karandy, and a smile touched her cheeks, wiping out the ugly event from outside the palace a few moments ago. The useless bastard really had no idea. There was so much more to her plan than he knew. She would kill three birds with one stone. That included Danika, her child, and the idiot, Karandy.
Vetta had something to smile about for the first time in a few weeks. Something delightful. She headed for the king’s quarters.
She reached the door, but Zariel stopped her. “The king is having dinner. He does not like to be disturbed.”
Of course, she knew he didn’t like to be disturbed when eating. She had no plans to invoke his anger by doing so. “I will come back later.” She turned to leave and stopped when her eyes glanced at the closed window.
Two shadows sitting and eating. The king and Danika.
Vetta pushed down the anger she felt. It didn’t matter. They had limited time to spend together in the future, anyway.
Let Danika have the moment.
She turned and walked away. Reaching into her petticoat, she withdrew the fertility pills she got from Monah. He would be hers tomorrow night; she would make sure of that.