The horse threw him, and the king fell.
“Nooo!” Danika screamed as she saw it happen.
The king’s enormous body caught the arrow from the landmine his horse stepped
on the second time.
An arrow shot him. And he had a nasty fall.
Chad jumped down from his horse and raced to the king with a speed that would
have surprised Danika if she wasn’t so panicked at the king’s fall. Within seconds, he
raced past them and reached the king. Danika jumped down, too, and was fast on his
heel.
King Lucien opened his eyes and groaned. Then he closed his eyes again.
“Wh-why is he un-unable to keep his eyes open?”Danika’s voice trembled.
Chad reached for the arrow stuck in the king’s left chest to pull it out, but his arm
suddenly hung in the air.
“Pull it out! Why are you not pulling it out!?” King Valendy was shouting as he
raced closer.
Chad looked up at them. “It’s poisoned. The arrow… it’s poisoned.”
.
.
.
The palace was in chaos, even though only a few people knew the king was
injured.
They took the king back to his chambers, the medicine man already sent for. The
three guards, including Chad, laid him on his bed, and his eyes were firmly closed.
Danika tried to control her tears. She didn’t know what this meant for her. The
king hated her so much and now this happened.
Would he survive this?
She banished thoughts of her precarious situation because, even though her future
wasn’t looking so bright, she didn’t want anything to happen to him.
The mistress was angrily giving commands to the guards while she hovered around
the king with Baski and Chad. Baski looked like she was dangerously close to tears as
she covered her hand with a cloth and pulled the arrow from his chest. She talked
about examining the arrow to find out which poison they used and how to get the
antidote.
That was when the mistress finally looked at Danika with rage in her eyes. Vetta
marched towards Danika and struck her hard across the face. “What are you doing
here!? Isn’t it enough that your father is still tormenting him after his death!? What
are you doing here!?”
Danika’s ears rang, the pain of the slap radiated from her cheek down her body.
Her eyes blurred.
“Get out! Get out, now!” Vetta screamed at her.
Danika turned and ran out of the room, so discombobulated she openly sobbed in
the hallway. Her only relief was that the hallway was empty. “Oh, why did this have
to happen!?” she cried, sobs racking her body. She didn’t know how long she sat in
front of his bedroom until Sally found her and took her away.
Just when she thought everything would be alright-just when the sun was shining
brightly for her-something had to take it all away.
As Sally guided Danika to their room, she sobbed and stared at her best friend.
“Oh, Sally. What’s g-going to become of me now?”
Sally couldn’t control her tears because her princess was crying. “You will be fine,
my princess. You’ve survived for this long. You will be fine!”
But even as she did her best to console her princess, Sally couldn’t help weeping,
because nothing looked right. Nothing at all.
When the guards came to take Danika in the late evening, panic filled her. She had
dreaded this moment all day; she had been unable to do anything. They would torture
her now. Hurt her for being Cone’s daughter.
“No! No! Please, just leave my princess alone!” Sally cried to the guards as they
took Danika’s hand.
Danika’s only solace was that Remeta wasn’t around to witness this; she was at the
backyard watching the maids play the moonlight game. At least Remeta wasn’t here.
This would have traumatized her further.
As Sally cried and pleaded, they took Danika away from their room. But as they
walked, they didn’t take the turn that led out of the royal quarters. Instead, the guards
walked her down the long hallway that separated her bedroom from the king’s
chambers. One of them opened the door and walked Danika into the king’s room.
“I brought her, Court Lady,” the guard addressed Madam Baski. She nodded and
told the guards to leave. They all left.
Danika took a peek at the mistress, who stood beside Baski. The mistress glared at
her.
Baski started towards Danika with tears in her eyes. “The medicine man just left
now. He had applied the antidote for the poison; it was a deadly poison. The king is
running a high fever, and even though I could get him to take the potions, he won’t let
anyone touch him.” Baski continued. “He’s running a fever so high, his body needs to
be bathed with cold water, especially his face. I’ve tried doing it, but it makes him
restless. He has always hated people putting their hands on him; now he needs it, but
he won’t let us touch him.”
Vetta folded her arms across her chest. “And what makes you think that he’ll let
her put her filthy hands on him? I tried touching him and he recoiled from me,” the
mistress added with a snort. “What makes you think he won’t go ballistic because she
placed her filthy hands on him?”
“You’d be surprised by the things the king allow from her,” Baski muttered under
her breath.
“What did you say?” Vetta demanded.
“Nothing.” Baski faced a confused Danika again. “Can you try to bathe his face
and chest? I would have continued doing so, but the more agitated he gets, the more it
diminishes the treatment, so he must stay still.”
“I-I can try,” Danika whispered softly, already nervous. She didn’t know what
gave Baski the idea that the king would allow her touch.