THE KING’S SLAVE.
{My master and I}
By: Lilly Chidinma.
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Episode Twenty seven.
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¤ Nadine ¤
Violet and I were ma-king our be-ds and preparing for to sleep. Since she’s the as-sistant head maid, she gets to share the room with me. Suddenly she st©pped and smiled broadly at me, I was shocked by her sudden change of mood that I had to ask.
“What is it Violet? You’re scaring me with that smile of yours” I said and she giggled.
“No nee-d to be scared dear Nadine. Our kingdom’s future is secured, we will have an heir soon, the revelation just c@m£ to me” she said happily, sighing.
“An heir? From Annabelle?” I asked, frowning. If the heir is from that witch then we are all doomed.
“May the creator forbid!” Violet spat out and shrugged.
“Our heir is from none other than our dearest Erica” she announced but in a hushed tone. A feeling of goodness and calmness ran throu-gh me, this is the best news I’ve heard in a long time.
“Violet are you sure? This means Erica is pregnant with the king’s child” I jubiliated and she laughed.
“Yes, and in no time, she will be back to the castle..” she said and we both sighed. If this happens then our land is saved from the wicked reign of the evil queen. The king can’t even st©p her, he is much too depressed to rise against her. Having Erica back here will give him the strength he nee-ds.
We made our be-ds and went to sleep, I sle-pt very well that night, having hope of what Violet told me.
* * *
I woke up the next morning and found Violet still slee-ping. I went to clean up myself and c@m£ out minutes later, only to find Violet kneeling before the so called queen. She looked angry, immediately she saw me, she commanded me to kneel as well which I did.
“So which one of you did it?” she asked angrily. Violet and I stared at each other, unable to comprehend what was happening.
“Are you both deaf!?” she thun-dered.
“My queen, with all due respect, I haven’t a clue what you mean” I said, trying to sound as calm and as respective as possible.
“Really? Okay I’ll tell you. A diamond n£¢klace worth millions was s£nt to me by my father as a gift, but now it is nowhere to be found!” she growled. My heart started thumping. I remembered her saying that she’ll make me leave this castle, is this her way?
“My queen plea-se forgive us, we would never steal from you because we know very well the consequences” Violet said and I nod in support but she wasn’t willing to hear us out.
“Mara!” she called in her handmaid who appeared from outside.
“Search this room and search it thor0ûghly. I’m sure one of them stole it” she ordered.
“What makes you so sure that it’s in here? Did you plant it in here by yourself?” I asked but she sl@pped me ha-rd across the face.
“You wretched old woman! Learn to control your ton-gue, I am your queen and you don’t dare say that to me. Now search this room!” she yelled. I held my cheek in pain and watched her ravage the room looking for the so called n£¢klace.
“My queen, I found it!” the maid said, she was holding my bag. I g@sped in fear, how on earth did such a big n£¢klace get into my bag?
“Who owns this bag?” Annabelle barked. With tears in my eyes, I raised my hand and she smiled mockingly.
“Thief! That’s what you are. Guards! Take her to the dungeon until the king returns. I’ll decide what to do to her by then” she ordered and left. I pleaded, Violet pleaded but the guards ignored us and dragged me down to the dungeon, the dirty, smelly dungeon.
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¤ Erica ¤
I was washing the dishes and humming a local song when mom entered with a disturbe-d look on her face. She was de-eply thinking about something.
“What is the matter?” I asked, still washing my plates.
“I’m just coming from the market, news is everywhere about queen Annabelle” she answered and huffed.
“News? What did she do?”
“I heard that she imprisoned that old woman Nadine for stealing” she replied. My heart skipped a beat on hearing the news. I was devastated. Why Nadine? She was the only one who cared for me, who took care of me, who went against the king to look out for me… No, she is not a thief, something is wrong. I dropped the plates and wiped my hands.
“Annabelle sure is evil, first it was Adrian, now an innocent woman. I won’t let any harm come to Nadine, never! Not after all she did for me” I said with eyes full of rage.
“Are you planning on going to the castle? How will you save her?” mom asked.
“Let me get there first, Nadine is like a mother to me. I will leave no stone unturned to prove her innocent” I answered. If not for anything, I will save her because she saved me in my time of nee-d, a time when nob©dy cared for me.
“I have to go as soon as possible, before that wicked queen harms Nadine” I said and followed my mother upstairs. But now the question is, how do I get into the castle without being seen by Annabelle?
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THE KING’S SLAVE.
{My master and I}
By: Lilly Chidinma.
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Episode Twenty eight.
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¤ Erica ¤
I got re-ady to leave for the castle but my mother stood in my way looking very worried. I had alre-ady as-sured her that I would be fine but she’s still worried, I’m not surprised, that’s what mothers do.
“Mom, plea-se let me go, there’s no time” I pleaded and she sighed.
“Remember the king is not in the kingdom right now, what if that witch of a queen hurts you and your baby?” she asked, tou-ching my stomach. I took her hand and k!$$£d it.
“That is more reason why I have to be with Nadine right now, king Marion is not with her. But I promise you that I’ll be fine” I as-sured again and she moved out of the way. I hvgged her and immediately left for the castle.
I arrived at the gate with a bowel of fruits, this was my plan to get into the castle, I bought the fruits on my way here.
“Halt! Who goes there?” the guard at the gate asked. I covered my head and half of my face with my face to avoid being recognized.
“I c@m£ to deliver fresh fruits to her royal majesty, the queen” I answered. He moped at me suspiciously before finally moving out of the way, giving me access into the castle. Thankfully, Annabelle was nowhere to be seen, so I dropped the bowel of fruits and went down to the dungeon.
“Oh $h!t!” I cursed when I saw two large guards parading the dungeon. I couldn’t think of anything, I hid behind a pillar and prayed that they don’t find me because I’d be dead. I saw Nadine sitting in a cell, looking exhausted and weak. She had alre-ady been beaten and probably starved. I couldn’t control my tears, seeing her in that condition.
Her eyes met mine and she g@sped. I signalled her with my f!nger to be quiet. She made a signal to distract the guards.
“My leg!” she screamed, the guards rushed over to her.
“Oh my leg, it hurts so badly!” she continued the yell. The guards opened the cell o check on her and I took the opportunity to pick up a heavy metal and hit them both on the head. They fell unconscious and I quic-kly went to help Nadine up.
“Erica, I’m so happy to see you but you shouldn’t have come. If Annabelle sees you here, we’ll both be in trouble” she said.
“That’s why we have to leave right away. Let’s go” I said and took her along with me. We made it out of the dungeon and into the throne room. I used an extra scarf to cover her to avoid being recognized.
We hurriedly left the castle gate but Annabelle appeared from nowhere with her maids and she saw my face.
“Erica? Guards seize her!” she ordered, the guards ran after Nadine and I. I pushed Nadine ahead and told her to run into the village and hide. I gave her directions to my house and she took to her heels. I knew if I continued running, the guards would definitely catch up with Nadine, so I sacrificed myself.
“What did you come back here to do? Who gave you the right to sneak Nadine out of here? You’ll rot in jail for this” Annabelle said to me and ordered for me to be taken to the dungeon. They put me in a cell and fed me nothing throu-ghout that day.
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¤ King Marion ¤
As soon as I entered my palace, something felt off, I felt strange. I felt that something was wrong and I bec@m£ restless. I immediately called for Nadine but a maid told me that she’s nowhere to be found.
“What? What do you mean by that?” I asked, enraged.
“My lord, she was arrested by the queen for stealing but she escaped and now Erica is in the dungeon” she explained, my br@in went numb at the news. Nadine, a thief? Erica in jail? Something is definitely wrong.
“Annabelle! Annabelle!!” I screamed and she c@m£ down the stairs, smiling.
“Oh my king, you’re home” she said, trying to hvg me but I pushed her away.
“Don’t you dare!” I roared.
“Exactly what did Nadine do to you?” I asked.
“She stole my priceless diamond n£¢klace” she answered carelessly. I tried very ha-rd to control my urge to sl@p her.
“Shut up! Nadine has been with me since I was born and has never stolen a dime from me. What would she want from you?! Now, make sure you find her before sunset tomorrow or stand to face my wrath” I growled, gnashing my teeth in anger.
“And what will you do? I am the queen” she rolled her eyes and I landed a sound sl@p on her cheek. She looked at me in shock and fear.
“You are still un-der my authority Annabelle, never forget that” I said and she staggered backwards.
“Guards! Go and get Erica right now” I ordered, feeling awful about her being in jail. They ran off to get her while Annabelle c@m£ to stand before me.
“You don’t have any right to re-lease my prisoner. She’s un-der my custody, it’s the law” she reminded.
“And who are you to tell me about the law? It’s my kingdom, my castle, my dungeon. Get out of my sight immediately” I ordered and she stormed off in anger.
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.tbc
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