“I can’t believe this bedroom is ours now!” Sally cried with excitement hours after she came back from the market.
At first, she’d been panicked when she saw their bedroom being emptied. But then she’d heard that they were moving to the royal quarters, and she just couldn’t believe it!
Danika smiled up at her, standing beside her, then they looked at Remeta, who was sleeping on the bed.
Baski had brought lunch earlier for her and Remeta, and she’d made Remeta eat hers. It made her mother thrilled, and when she’d asked her how the king was doing, Danika also told her that the king was sleeping. The happiness in Baski’s face was indescribable. The woman had tears of joy in her eyes, and after what the king told her about his relationship with Baski, she finally understood on a personal level how much the older woman loved the king so maternally.
Now, they watched Remeta lying on the bed. Sally bit her lip. “Now that we’re no longer in the slave’s quarters, d-do you think the king will allow me to keep staying with you, my princess?” Danika turned to her, seeing the helpless look in her eyes. “I don’t want to stay away from you. I don’t want to. They will force me too,” she continued.
Danika placed a hand on her shoulder. “All slaves, maids, and servants are under Madam Baski, and she already knows that you’re here. If the king finds out…”she bit her lip in thought, “We’ll cross that bridge later.”
Sally nodded her head. “Alright, my princess.” Her lips stretched in a smile. “We live in the moment. No point thinking about tomorrow, right!?”
Danika nodded with a smile. “Exactly. How was your day at the market?”
Sally flushed a little and ducked her head.
Danika’s brows rose in question. “Sally?”
“Sire Chad saw me on the way, and he escorted me. He walked me to the market, and even as I picked out my cottons, he stood there patiently and waited for me,” Sally told her princess shyly, her face glowing.
Danika’s eyes widened. She tried to reconcile the image of the stoic, cool personal guard of the king that didn’t care about looking at people’s faces, spending some time with Sally and walking her to the market. It was a little hard to believe, but she wasn’t surprised. Danika had seen the way the two of them stood together and talked.
Danika watched Sally’s glowing face and decided that her best friend did like Chad a lot. She wished Sally happiness—anything that would make Sally happy would make Danika happy.
“Oh, I heard that the wicked mistress went into the king’s chambers. Did she see you there?” Sally suddenly asked, her eyes wide.
The question reminded Danika of her burning scalp. Impulsively, her hand went up to her hair. It also reminded her of the things she’d said to the mistress and her cheeks turned red. She couldn’t believe that she’d spoken to her in that way.
“Oh, Sally.” She exhaled in defeat. The mistress would just tell the king about it, and she’d be punished for it.
“What happened?” Sally asked worriedly.
“The mistress almost scalped me, so I yanked her hand away from my hair and said some things to her. Not mean things,” she added. “Just things a slave should never say to a mistress.”
Sally thought about that, and her brow knitted in worry. She didn’t want anything to happen to her princess, but then again, that Wicked Witch of the West was just too… wicked.
“Don’t worry about it, Sally. We’ll cross that bridge later.” She went right ahead, reassuring Sally when she saw the worry.
Sally nodded. She even smiled. “Don’t mind that mistress. I don’t know why she hates you so much that she almost whipped you to death. Even the king never did that!”
“I wonder too.”
Sally smiled. “Let’s go wash clothes, my princess, before they come to call us.”
“Remeta will be awake by the time we’re done. Then we will go to the library. You, Sally, need to continue your education,” Danika said with a smile.
Sally pouted. “Reading and writing is wasted on me, my princess. You’ve been trying to teach me for ages, but I can’t learn.”
“One thing about life is that we don’t ever give up, Sally. I want you to know how to do these things. You’re just not a slave to me, Sally. You’ve never been.”
Sally’s cheeks flushed red, and she threw her arms around her princess’s middle. “I love you so much, my princess.”
Danika massaged her head lovingly. “You know I love you too.”
“Oh, my princess. I really hope the time will come when you’ll stop suffering like a slave. My princess doesn’t deserve this life. My princess doesn’t deserve this filthy life at all—a life where everybody can just beat her, order her around, and drag her by the hair whenever they want.” Her voice cracked and tears filled her eyes as she continued. “Once upon a time, none of them would have been able to look my princess in the eyes. To walk on the same ground she walked on, let alone put their filthy hands on her. It hurts me, my princess! It hurts me so much!”
Danika kept stroking her head as Sally’s tears soaked her clothing, covering her left breast.
“Please, stop crying, Sally. That’s all in the past now. Let’s not look behind. Let’s keep looking forward. Who knows?” She smiled in reassurance. “My future might get bright like the king, like his people’s future suddenly got bright five years ago.”