Baski beat herself up for being so busy all day as she walked towards the consultation room. There was a recruit of new palace workers, so she had a lot to do.
It was late at night now. Only an hour ago, she got enough time to go to the kitchen and sneak out a huge meal for Vetta. She’d taken it to her in the dungeon before returning to the kitchen and cooking chicken broth herself for Danika.
As usual, the pregnant woman made a huge fuss because she had no interest in eating broth, but in the end, she’d eat it anyway while cussing her and creating so much fuss.
Afterwards, Baski made her bed for her and they’d said goodnight. She had just returned to her bedroom when the guards told her that the king had summoned her to the consultation room.
Why the consultation room? It’s late at night; shouldn’t he be in his bed chambers?
Why was he summoning her by this time of the night? What could be so important? So pressing?
Standing in front of the consultation room, she knocked on the door. “I’m here, my king.” Her voice accompanied the sound.
A pause.
“Come in,” his voice came through.
She walked through the door and closed it. “You sent for me, Your Highness.”
.
.
.
hy the consultation room? Baski asked herself. It was late at night; shouldn't he be in his bed chambers?
Why as he summoning her by this time of the night? What could be so important? So pressing?
Standing in front of the consultation room, she knocked on the door. “I'm here, my king.” Her voice accompanied the sound.
A pause.
“Come in,” his voice came through.
She walked through the door and closed it. “You sent for me, Your Highness.”
“I want to free Danika,” the king announced from the fur chair he was seated on.
For a full minute, Baski couldn't process the words. Just like those moments when a sentence you've always wanted to hear but know it is impossible is hauled at you.
“W-what?” No. She must have misheard his words. She couldn't have heard him correctly.
He got up. Hands behind him, the king walked towards the window of the room and overlooked the dark night. “I have been thinking about it a lot. I decided that it's time I let her go. I am freeing her from slavery.”
“Oh, my heavens!” Shaky hands covered her mouth and tears filled her eyes. Indeed, she heard him correctly. “You're freeing Danika!?”
“Yes. I made the decision a week ago. I am merely implementing it now. I already sent out the message. On the morrow, the kings will be here. I will uncollar her.”
Baski rushed towards him and hugged him from behind. He flinched. She didn't mind. She didn't let go.
“Thank you so, so much, Lucien. Thank you so much. Thank you for letting go of your ultimate hate for Cone. Thank you for seeing Danika's heart and sincerity. Thank you so much for taking the greatest step in recovery...which is letting go. I'm so happy for all of us,” she gasped, clutching him tight.
His eyes didn't stray from the night's clouds. His heart was too heavy for words. “I will always hate and boil for Cone, Baski. I do not think I can ever unhate that man. If that is what healing means, then I'm afraid I'm still so far away.”
“No.” Her head shook against his back vigorously. “No, you have every right to hate that monster. I hate him too, Chad does—not to mention Vetta. But I'm so happy that you see Danika. You really do see her for who she really is. She is nothing like her father.”
“I do see. What I see has my heart and mind in tangles, Baski. I do not know if what I see, is what I should really see. Or I see what circumstances and an instinctive sense of survival made her to be. Or I see what I want to see.”
Baski was lost. “What do you mean?”
He pulled away from her. Just a slight move indicating this request for space and Baski let him go immediately, taking two steps back.
“I...” He had never been a master when it came to explaining himself. His mouth snapped shut.
“It doesn't matter, my king. I'm sure everything will be fine. What matters is that you're releasing her from slavery! She will stay here as a free person and give birth to the baby as a free—”
“She will not be staying,” he said calmly.
Baski paused and snorted. “Of course she'll be staying, and she will be so happy! She—”
“I am giving her back her rightful place, Baski. Being a free person does not cut it for a royalty,” he stated matter-of-factly. “I will make her a queen.”
A queen?
Baski's mouth was ready to shriek in sheer happiness, but her heart became heavy. “No, my king. She can't ascend Mombana’s throne! Not now!”
“She can. It is required of her.”
“Have you forgotten her condition, my king? She can't. Not in this condition when she is most vulnerable!”
Silence.
Then. “In my life, I have known several strong women. But Danika and Vetta will remain the strongest women I have ever met.”
“That is without doubt, Your Majesty,” she conceded with a calming smile.
“She will be fine, Baski. She will be more than fine. She has all qualities of a great leader. That much I know is true.”
That last statement... There was something about it...
Then it all suddenly dawned on her. All of it.
“I see what you're doing,” she whispered, her eyes widening.
Her words were met with silence.
“You're pushing her away. Letting her go. You're having second thoughts that she might not be who she truly seems. You think all she needs from you is her freedom, and that is why she 'pretends' to love you so unconditionally.” Her mind whirled through every aspect. “You think it's why she's so loving—so kind, so different from her father. You think it's because she's still a slave?”
More silence was her response, but his tensed shoulders and rigid back confirmed her claims more than anything.
“No! No, Lucien!” Baski called his name so desperately. “That is who she is! Danika loves you so much! She loves you more than you can ever imagine!”
He cringed. “Have you seen me, Baski?” he asked at last.
“I-I do not understand.”
“Have you seen me? All of me?” He turned then, glancing at her with an unreadable face, but eyes pinched with indescribable pain. “I am a horror to little children. There are more scars on my body than flesh. My mind is a complete dark place and I tether the very edge of insanity.”
His eyes closed. “She is all keeping me sane. Standing between me and a huge cliff of nothingness. I think about her more than anything else. More than my duties. More than my people. She has come to mean so much to me—so much, it's frightening.”