Chapter 37 His fear
.
Meisi hummed a folk countryside song as she worked on her embroidery piece. Aside from being a delusional wannabe Queen, she was a talented embroiderer. Her pieces were always beautiful and aesthetically pleasing to the eyes. She was dressed in a sky blue blue sleeveless blouse and a matching skirt. One of her embroidery patterns stood elegantly on the band of her skirt.
She often embroiders the king’s pillow case as his handkerchiefs, but ever since he found the Queen, He stopped caring about the little things she does for him. He eats Linda’s dishes as usual, he still has Konan’s paintings in his room but stops asking her for her handkerchiefs. She believed he was still punishing her for that incident with his child. And when he finally got tired of the Queen, he would come back to her again.
” Your worship!” One of her maids screamed as she entered Meisi’s chamber. The Young maid held her breath as Meisi fixed the slave a piercing glare.
” The Queen..” The girl breathed hard as she tried to get the words out. Meisi raised her head from her work as the word caught her attention. Did the bitch finally slump and died? Or one of the consorts pushed her into the well? The other consorts might be acting like sister wives with the queen but who is to say that they won’t have ulterior motives too?
“What happened to her mighty tramp?” Meisi hissed while the girl caught her breath.
” She fainted at the temple. The entire palace is in chaos right now!” The girl said and Meisi burst into laughter. The first real laughter ever since the king found that woman. She loved the piece of news more than anything.
” Oh my! Is she unconscious right now?” She squeezed her lips in mock sorrow as she stared at the maid with a bright glint in her eyes. She was almost going crazy with excitement.
” Yes, she was rushed to the royal infirmary. She looked almost lifeless” The girl said and Meisi’s smile couldn’t be wider enough.
” So our queen healer couldn’t heal herself? Poor thing!” She covered her mouth with her right hand as she giggled loudly. She opened her box of pieces of jewelry and threw a jade hairpin at the maid.
” Thanks for bringing me such a piece of happy news. That is your payment” She said and the maid bowed staring at her with a confused expression. How could she be paid for bringing such a piece of sad news? The maid left after a quiet thanks. Meisi burst into a loud laughter as she pushed her embroidery aside.
” I hope she never wakes up”
” Is someone out there? Bring me a tray of snacks and tea right now. No! bring me the best wine in the palace” She yelled out and sat on her comfortable cushion chair and crossed her legs with a bright smile on her face.
…..
At the king’s courtroom. Treven sat on his majestic throne that was elevated on dias, looking down at his court members with a cold calculating gaze. The atmosphere was rich with a sense of authority and tension radiating from him as he read through the petitions on the perfectly carved wooden table in front of his throne. He flung the first petition away and it landed on the ceramic tiled floor with a loud creak. The court members tried not to flinch.
” Why are you all so afraid of women being literate?” He grunted throwing the second petition away also.
” Your Majesty. Permit me to say but allowing women to read will put stupid ideas in their empty heads. It will distract them from taking care of the household and focusing on raising children” Lord Ay one of the grey-haired ministers spoke out with an unreasonable amount of disgust in his tone.
” And it might give them ideas of thinking they can become government officials like men” Another fat short minister sided with Lord Ay, Treven nodded reading through the third petition.
” Any woman caught learning how to read should be beheaded? Really? Even the barbarians of Aransas teach their womenfolks how to read but a prosperous kingdom like Nayak shouldn’t because the old ministers are afraid of finding out how brilliant the weaker sex can be?” The king’s voice boomed throughout the hall angrily as the ministers almost cowered in fear.
” My mother was a literate and she helped my father in making decisions of the court and guess what? The new Queen is literate too, more brilliant than all of you combined. You all are so engrossed in your egoistical lives that you have nightmares at the mention of a woman being smarter than you?”
” Your Majesty. This is our tradition, women can be allowed to read. They belong in the kitchen not in front of a book” Lord Li said after clearing his throat. Even though they were afraid of the King, they still voiced their opinions.
” Any man who says a woman belongs to the kitchen don’t know what to do with them inside the bedroom” A young minister raised his voice for the first time to the dismay of the old men. The other youngsters like him nodded their heads in agreement, some even tried hard to disguise their laughter as a cough.
” Well those ideas are now old fashioned anyway, any woman that is interested in learning should learn,” Treven said with a softer tone, he was also trying not to laugh at the young Minister’s words. A series of murmurs followed his words.
” But this has been the law since the days of our forefathers” Lord Ay’s voice slithered the murmurs like a sharp knife.
“Well, I didn’t just say what I said earlier. It has become another law, females in this kingdom now have a right to be literate!” He said with a Stern gaze that sent chills down the hall. Once he made that expression, everyone knew better than to go against him.
” And that reminds me, about the barbarians” Moving away from the subject he took a deep breath and opened another petition. It was about women’s literacy again and he threw it away instantly.
” General Kim!”
” Yes, Your Majesty” A warrior-man stepped out to his front after bowed immediately. He was also wearing the colorful robes of the court members even though he was one of Treven’s war generals.
” You will leave for the southern borders tomorrow. Straighten the patrols there and report any strange movement from the Aransas to me. I will not be marching on their lands until they give me a reason to”
The general knelt at his king’s command immediately. The ministers whispered among each other wondering why the king suddenly changed his mind about soaking the desert sand with the blood of the barbarians.
“At your command your majesty”
” And moving on to the next…” Opening another petition, his statement was cut off but the door opened suddenly. A temple maid rushed in breathing heavily.
” This is no place for a lowly servant like you” One of the ministers chastised the maid with a Stern voice.
” The Queen just consciousness” The girl cried out and Treven cursed as he bolted down from his throne almost immediately.
” What happened to her?” he barked at the trembling girl. The were mixed reactions from the ministers to the news, some were worried and some were scared of the king’s wrath while some of them were smirking underneath.
” She finished healing a man at the temple and she collapsed all of a sudden” The girl couldn’t stop trembling as she answered his question.
” Where is she?” He asked already heading out of the hall. He was scared and that bothered him a lot, he didn’t know fear even though he faced an enemy army three times his own but he tasted the putrid taste of fear at the thought of losing his Queen.
” At the royal infirmary”
” This meeting is dismissed,” He said on his way out of the hall. He stormed to the infirmary like a crazy man. He can’t lose her after he just found her, he can’t lose her when he has just started falling in love with her. She was the first woman who made him this way and he fears losing her before he could even tell her how much he loves her.