Chapter 40 The heat
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” Fuck! This is how I got pregnant in the first place,” She said with a mischievous grin as she pulled the straps gently.
” Such a foul word coming from your sweet little mouth” He mumbled as he placed a dominating kiss on her mouth again. Her soaked core responded to him by getting wetter at his touches. Instead of covering her body with beating scars, he covered them with love bites. He loves seeing the pink little marks littered around her body. He sucked on the latest one as his hands went under her blouse to her breast. He squeezed them softly and she responded with a melodic moan. She arched her back towards him as her pregnancy hormones drove her insane.
He pushed the table away from them and undressed her gently, her big breasts had gotten slightly bigger and that turned him on more. And that began another night of symphony under the bright moonlight and by the quiet pond.
….
Annalise opened the door to her Chambers at the pavilion of women with a frown on her face. The candles were lit already, compared to her house outside the palace. The chamber boasts of a simple but beautiful decor, nothing extravagant just simple artistic decorations.
Her gaze landed on the young girl on the floor, her hands and legs were tied with a rag cloth. A gag was also placed on her mouth, she stared at Annalise with fear evident on her face. The other two maids bowed at Annalise before holding a pouch towards her.
” We found this on her, your ladyship,” One of the maids said with a low tone. Annalise smiled, not one of her lovely smiles but the one that glint with wickedness. She squatted in front of the young girl who shook in fear.
” Amaranth, you do have quite a lovely face don’t you?” She said grabbing the girl’s chin, the girl looked away but Annalise’s grip on her face tightened as she forced the girl to look at her.
” You do know licorice is harmful to pregnant women right? It can cause miscarriages in some cases yet you hurriedly went to prepare it for the Queen. Who knows what else you put in that stupid calming tea?” Annalise said with a smile. The girl replied with a grunt. Annalise reached to remove the gag from her mouth.
” The only way I can save your life is if you confess right here, right now. But if I have to find out myself, you will be beheaded!”
” I didn’t know Her Majesty was pregnant! I only make the tea because she loves and requests for it every time!” The girl whimpered under Annalise’s gaze, clearly lying.
” And now that you know she is with child, you went ahead to make the tea again not caring about the fate of the unborn child,” Annalise said with an amused smile. ” Well I can say, licorice is excusable but if I end up finding different ingredients inside this” She dangles the pouch in front of the panicking girl. ” I won’t be able to control myself from telling the king”
She stood up giving the pouch back to one of the maids. The frightened girl started breathing hard and the other maid reached to tie the gag again.
” I will talk! Please save my head from His Majesty’s wrath” The girl pleaded shaking her head frantically.
” I’m listening” Annalise closed the door again and stepped back. She nodded at the other maids and they held the gag back moving away from both of them.
” I don’t know what is inside the pouch, I didn’t even know it contains licorice. I was just following consort Meisi’s order. She paid me a hefty amount to serve this to Her Majesty every morning. Please save my life” Tears spilled out of Amaranth’s eyes as she spilled out everything. By the time she was done, her nose was already runny too which made Annalise scrunched her nose in disgust at both her confession and the name she mentioned, but she hid her reaction quickly.
” How dare you try to frame the king’s royal consort?!”
” No, I will never lie to you, your ladyship. It was consort Meisi. You can search the servant quarters for proof. I have every ornament she gave me as a payment for my services” The girl spilled more still frightened.
” How can I believe that you didn’t steal from her room to implicate her?” Annalise said with a wicked smile that made the hopeless girl break down into tears.
” Nati is my witness, I’m not lying”
Annalise nodded to the two maids and they stepped forward with the gag and tied it to Amaranth’s mouth once again, muffling out her cries. Annalise left the room with a satisfied smirk on her face. It was time to teach one obnoxious consort a lesson.
She headed straight to the infirmary, The lady inspectors were waiting for her already. She had everything planned out ever since Erxi smelt Sylvanis petals inside the Queen’s tea, And the king left everything in her hands also. If the powder inside the pouch really contains Sylvanis petals, then Meisi really won’t be able to save herself this time around.
While the lady inspectors were busy with their work, The King strolled inside the infirmary with a serious look on his cold face. His hard gaze made some of the ladies shiver in fear but still, they continued their job. The other servants bowed and greeted him almost running out of the room at the sight of the king. But when he faced Annalise, his expression softened as he stared at the woman he regarded as his mother.
” Your majesty” Annalise bowed politely but whispered yelled to him ” You are not supposed to be here” as she raised her head slowly.
” I need a name, did the little wench talk?” He asked ignoring her words.
” I’m afraid, I will only tell you about that once we are done with the investigation, Your Majesty,” Annalise said with a scowl, it was obvious that the king’s presence was affecting the inspectors.
“Your ladyship, I found it!” One of the inspectors called out holding a white ceramic bowl and some other materials she used to separate the ingredients of the content in the pouch. Both the king and Annalise rushed over to the inspector’s table.
” This is quite dangerous for a woman. The mixture of the ingredients can render Her Majesty permanently Barren or even kill her. It’s a miracle she got pregnant but she needs to be monitored in case complications arise later” The lady inspector explained Annalise nodded but the king wasn’t satisfied.
” What exactly is inside that pouch that made it so dangerous?” he asked so he could decide the best way to punish whoever wanted to harm his queen.
” Licorice, although beneficial to the health when used wrongly caboose major risks, than Sylvanis petals, the scent was masked with a lot of cloves. Another dangerous combination to a woman’s womb” The lady explained.
…
” Scram!” Annalise bellowed to the maids in front of Meisi’s door and they quickly scrambled away like little rats. She flung the door open with a scowl on her face. The lady inspectors are hot on her trails.
” How dare you barge into my chamber like…” Meisi’s words were snapped off with a resounding slap from the head maid, Down to the ground she went with her hands on her face with shock written all over her.
” Shut your trap!” One of the maids following Annalise threatened with a sickly soft smile.
” Search every corner in this Chamber!” Annalise commanded and a loud response echoed from the lady inspectors.
” Yes, your ladyship!”
” You dare lay your filthy hands on me?! The King will have your hands severed for this!” She cried out with a Stony glare at Annalise who paid her no attention. She was busy supervising the lady inspectors as they searched through every corner of the Chambers, they even broke some of the expensive ceramics that the consort owned but Annalise didn’t care about it.
” Keep searching”
” Yes, your ladyship!” The work doubled as the inspectors opened every shelf in the room, the flung out more jewelry boxes that made Meisi flinch every time. She was confused as to why they were searching her room and doing all this to her. She kept threatening them but the ladies continued without minding her.
” I found them your Ladyship” One of the lady inspectors brought a large box she found on one of those shelves beside Meisi’s favourite cushion. She opened the box and showed the contents of the box which are many pouches similar to the one they tested at the infirmary.
” Care to explain what this is, Your worship?” Annalise said holding one of the pretty pouches to Annalise’s face. The consort faltered in her steps, knowing exactly what Annalise meant but she hid her reaction well with her signature sneer.
” I do not need to answer to a lowly maid!” Meisi bit back and Annalise laughed loudly.
” But you will answer to her Majesty, right? Speak now”
” They are just calming tea, I even shared them with other consorts too” Meisi Scoffed trying to mask her internal fear but her pale face was giving her out.
” You feed this to other consorts too? That is interesting. Now I get it” Annalise nodded her head with a wide smile, ” Drag her out of here,” She said to the lady inspectors who pounced on Meisi instantly.
” Take your filthy hands off me! I will have His Majesty punish you for this!” Meisi’s shrill voice rang out as she tried to pry the lady’s hands from her body, Annalise stopped them and faced the consort directly.
” I’m not sure if your little brain can process this but the king wants your head right now”
” What? I didn’t do anything!”
” You should tell him that yourself, drag her out!”
” Get your filthy hands off me right now! Get your hands off me!”