“Just follow my instructions,” Baski encouraged, sniffling to keep the tears at bay. She breathed deeply, and Danika followed her obediently. “That’s it. That’s it. You’re doing well.” The older woman kept patting Danika’s hair rhythmically. “That’s my baby. That’s my strong princess.”
Slowly, the jerks subsided, and Danika’s body went lax on the ground after she shuddered the last time. Tears kept dripping from her eyes.
“I...I th-think I’m losing my ch-child, Baski,” she cried, pain lacing her shaking voice.
“I know, Danika. It’s okay. Keep breathing through the pain,” Baski instructed, wiping her tears. “You will be fine.”
“I-I don’t...oh, heavens!” she cried out, clutching her belly tighter and rolling over. “I-I don’t want to l-lose my child.”
“We have to take her now,” Dargak interrupted gently.
Baski nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. She moved aside. “Please, carry her, Dargak. Don’t drag her away, please. Her body can’t take it.”
“Alright, Ma’am.” Dargak leaned down and lifted an almost-naked crying Danika into his arms. He carried her away, and the other guards followed him.
Alone, Baski sat beside Karandy’s dead body and began crying her eyes out. Clutching her chest, she cried like the world was ending.
Maybe the world was indeed ending.
How did this happen? How is it possible that Danika would cheat on the king? She loved him so much and hated Karandy more than anything else. Then how was it possible? Some things did not add up at all.
Or was Baski just trying to see the best in Danika in this situation? Baski shook her head miserably, developing a headache.
Was this why Remeta disappeared from the palace? Was this why her daughter fell sick the night before, cried herself to sleep? Was this why she ran away at dawn?
Baski shook her head miserably, drawing her knees up and wrapping her arms around them. How could there be so much disaster in one morning?
Danika was caught in the arms of a lover.
The king is shattered.
Danika is losing her pregnancy.
Remeta is missing.
Danika will be executed in three days.
The king just killed his own child by his own hands.
Baski did not know how long she sat there on the cold hard ground. Later, she wiped her tears and got up.
No. There was no way she was letting all this go. She would investigate! She would do her best to find out the truth of everything that happened today!
First of all, she needed to hear from Danika. Then she would look for Remeta. Her daughter might be the only person that knew the whole truth about this tragedy that befall this kingdom today.
The king did not walk so regally anymore. In fact, he looked like he was doing his best to keep from staggering on his feet as he walked.
Vetta watched him closely, ignoring the painful pinches she was feeling on her abdomen. She had been feeling that tiny needle-like pinches since she took her fertility pills.
She followed right behind him. “Your Highness, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Danika did something so abominable! I'm so sorry that you had to witness that.”
He did not turn around. Neither did his steps falter. He kept walking to his bedroom, saying absolutely nothing.
“I don't know how to make you feel better, Your Majesty,” Vetta continued hurriedly, following him closely. “Danika betrayed you in the worst possible way. Having a lover behind your back, sleeping with him in the storeroom for heavens knows how long? Getting pregnant for him and trying to pin it on you?”
He flinched again like he'd been slapped. But he kept on walking.
Vetta shook her head sympathetically. “She is, indeed, her father's daughter. So heartless and---”
“Get lost.” A calm monotone penetrated her, sending a chill down her body.
What? She did not think she heard him correctly.
“My king?” They had gotten to his chambers, and he'd walked into it while she was at the door.
He threw a glance at her behind his shoulder. “Get. Lost.”
Okay. She never expected him to push her away so blatantly. He has never done that before. Swallowing tightly, she wondered what Danika would do in this situation. Like every other human being, the former princess might be very afraid of the king, but she would have taken a bold step anyway to go close to him. To try to calm him. Help him.
Maybe that was how she got a powerful man like him to fall for her.
Vetta squared her shoulders. Well, she could do that too.
“I know you're hurt, Lucien,” she began in a voice she hoped was soothing. “I know you feel so betrayed because of what she did. I want to help you.”
“Get out, Vetta.” He walked into his wardrobe and began taking off his clothes.
Vetta tried to know what was going on in his mind, but there was no way to know that. His inscrutable cold face scared her, and his strangely calm demeanor was terrifying. “Can I come in?” she pushed. “I can stay with you in case you need someone to—”
He raised his eyes and looked at her, effectively cutting her off without saying a word.
Then, “Get lost from my presence, Vetta. I want to be alone. I don't need you. I don't need anybody,” he stated baldly, his cold eyes holding hers. “If I have to say it again, I will banish you from Salem just to get rid of your presence. Get lost from my side. I do not want to see your face.”
That said, he turned and walked back to his inner chambers and closed the door.