“"So let me get something very straight. You, my king, almost executed the long lost brother of the king of Salem?" Queen Izia, Princess Kamara's mother, arched her brows at her king.
They were in his chambers. King Valendy behind his desk while the queen sat on the bed giving him a look that managed to be both smug and elegant at the same time.
King Valendy cleared his throat sheepishly. "Well, how was I supposed to know that the peasant is no peasant after all but a prince?"
"Maybe if you had let your daughter follow her heart, we might at least notice some little, little details that hint that the man did not behave like a peasant at all." She paused, letting that one sink in. Flapping her folding feather fan open she began fanning herself. "Maybe if you had stopped listening to your mistress for a second and disregarding your daughter's feelings, you would have noticed a few things too."
"So now I take all the blame?" King Valendy arched his brow at his queen.
"Not at all, my king. You can share some with your mistress. There is enough blame to reach you both in massive quantity," she provided in the most respectable tone ever.
The king paused in his writing and glanced at his wife. He noticed the lines on her very beautiful face that indicated that she was trying to hold back her laughter.
"You are enjoying this too much, Izia." He crossed his arms, his gaze boring down at her.
The queen did smile then. A beautiful smile that he hadn't seen on her face for a very long time. "I'm sure the princess will enjoy it more than I do, my king."
He missed that smile, King Valendy admitted to himself. "You are a very beautiful woman, Izia." The words left his mouth before he even gave it a thought.
The queen flushed like a young school girl. She could not remember the last time her husband complimented her in all her twenty-five years of marriage to him.
"You f-flatter me." She was flustered. That compliment had thrown her off-balance—made feelings long buried start waking from the dead.
"You know me well enough to know I do not flatter, my queen. You are an exquisite woman." And she was. His body reacted to her. King Valendy tried to remember the last time he had taken his wife to bed. Was it five years ago? Six?
She smiled at him again. "Thank you, my king." Butterflies spread inside her lower belly. Time to go. She rose to her feet. "I'm afraid that I have to get back to—"
"No, don't leave." He was quick to interrupt. "Please," he added at her bewildered look.
"Oh." She looked clearly uneasy and relieved at the same time.
I must have been blind all these years, King Valendy thought to himself.
"Can I ask something of you, my queen?"
"Okay?"
"Can you give me a shoulder massage?"
She used to give him that whenever he worked too much and his back begin aching. The last time was when? Fifteen years ago?
"Please?" he added. What had happened to them?
The uneasiness dissolved. She gave him that smile again. "As you wish, my king."
Queen Danika's eyes widened, and her heart filled with excitement as she saw him. He is here! King Lucien is here for her! But what is he doing in court?
King Lucien walked straight through the aisle of the court looking powerful and formidable as always. The two guards the king came with, Zariel and Chad, remained at the door's entrance.
Everyone bowed down to him in greeting. He nodded his head curtly, but his eyes weren't on theirs. No, they were on the queen seated on the golden throne, whose eyes had gone wide, zeroed in on him.
When he got to the very end of the pathway, he stood in front of Danika. For a few seconds, the world fell away. They looked at each other like they were the only people in the world—maybe they were.
He reached out his hand to her. She took it without hesitation. He helped her rise from her throne, holding her in the cushion of his strong arms. "How are you feeling today?"
"Achy," she whispered, her pain-filled eyes searching his, her breath shallow. "I ache all over."
His eyes lowered to her swollen belly, the harsh lines on his face dissolved. When his eyes met hers again, it was filled with tenderness. "I'm so sorry, dearling. We will be having our baby today."
"Today?"
"According to the seer." He leaned in and kissed her forehead.
Her eyes slid close as his lips touched her forehead. "Oh. I hope so too. I think I'm going to die at this rate."
"No, no, don't ever say something like that again." He patted her hair.
She clung to him, tears burning the back of her eyes. This new emotional and caring King Lucien melted her like a puddle. She threw her arms around his neck. "I missed you so much."
He barely resisted the urge to lift her off her feet. Instead, he had to remind himself that they were not alone. They were in court. His hands lingered for a few more seconds before he pulled back from her completely.
Finally, when King Lucien could no longer ignore the shocked gasps and whispers of bewilderment and hushed murmurings, he turned and faced the Mombana court.
Everywhere went silent immediately. No sound was heard. Not even a harsh breath.
"I know you all wonder why I am here today. Not only in Mombana, but in the royal court," he stated firmly.
"Yes, Your Majesty," the ministers responded uniformly, bowing their heads.
"I am here to ask for Queen Danika's hand in marriage."
The announcement produced the expected reaction. Gasps of shock echoed everywhere. Everyone began talking at once.
"But that isn't possible!?"
"How is it possible!?"
"A king cannot marry a queen!"
"What will happen to their kingdoms!?"
"But the king hates our queen and our kingdom!"
King Lucien raised his hand in a silent command.
Everyone stopped talking. Silence descended.
"I know you all have lots of questions. I do believe that they are also necessary questions you think will explain what is happening here on this day. I do not have a lot of words to satisfy you all, but I do know a few things." He paused. They all looked at him expectantly. He continued. "I hated Queen Danika for a long time. After what Salem went through, I hated her with a passion that was indescribable. At first, the thoughts of her filled me with rage. Her name made me boil in anger and revenge. The sight of her raised—and not in a good way—those monsters her father created in me.”
“Then a lot changed. I am not a man of so many words, so I do not have any idea how to explain how a lot changed. But then, the thoughts of her filled me with possession. Her presence brings me the best kind of peace.” He stared at her, a softer light in his eyes. “And the very sight of her gladdens my heart and sets my monsters to sleep.”
Queen Danika was too dumbfounded to say a word, but the tears that overflowed from her eyes were loud. Loud and filled with love.
He turned back to the shocked ministers. “I love your queen. She is my woman. My possession. I love her and my child she is carrying inside her. So I am here today to ask for her hand in marriage.”
Letting the ministers stew over that, he turned back to Danika. Using his finger, he collected a tear running down her eyes. Then he lowered himself to his knees in front of her, completely ignoring the shocked gasps of people around them. For the second time since he got out of slavery, he knelt for another human being. For the same woman.
“Will you accept my marriage proposal, Queen Danika?” he asked, staring her in the eyes.