Chapter 9 - Looming Danger
The door pushed open as Lowie rushed in. That snapped Ismena's attention away from the mirror. They seemed frantic as Meryl rolled in the food trolley.
"My Queen. We heard that he was here. We heard that you were asleep. We could not come in," Meryl said and stopped behind her, shutting the door.
"He sent us here to get you ready. But he said you must eat first, that you must be tired."
She was.
Tired and in physical pain. But not playing along with him was her way of demanding to be punished again.
She looked briefly at the mirror, her finger trailing by the side of her neck where she had seen the claw mark. But there was nothing there. Perhaps, there had been nothing there to begin with. It was just her mind. The dream had frightened her too much and now she was seeing things.
She had to remain focused. Especially today, when she would be spending all her time with the King.
When she looked back at her handmaidens, Meryl was done setting the food on the small table in a corner of the room. Lowie, however, remained rigid by the door. Her face was as hard as her stance. She seemed to be trying hard not to say something.
Propose that they help her escape? Again?
After last time she wouldn't make that mistake even if last time was two years ago. The memory was enough to scare both of them from ever attempting it again. The scars too.
Ismena offered both of them a smile. She rose with concealed difficulty and sat at the table. Meryl gasped when she saw her back. Ismena tried to push their reactions to the background of her mind while she ate, but that didn't stop her from seeing how Lowie had balled her fists tightly or stop her from hearing Meryl's quiet sobbing behind her.
After what felt like forever, Lowie finally spoke. "The King sent us here to prepare you for the day."
Ismena nodded gently, then rose to her feet. She headed to the washroom, stepped out as quickly as possible and was ready to meet the King in no time. When it was time to leave the room, Ismena expected Lowie to speak her mind but she did not. Instead, she stayed silent.
It made her feel so unsettled and even worse when Lowie sought her permission to leave her side for the morning in order to pay a visit to her sick grandmother.
Ismena agreed but she couldn't let her go without a warning. "Do not do anything stupid."
When Lowie begrudgingly nodded and decided she would use her visitation permit another day, Ismena knew Lowie had been planning exactly that.
Something brash and absolutely stupid.
As if there was anything a mere handmaiden could do to the King of Ragma, when even she couldn't do anything to him.
—-
—-
Ismena had not expected Haron to visit her orphanage today.
True. Two years ago, he had offered her this side of the castle.
She has spent an entire year before that, begging him for it.
Haron had been reluctant to give it to her because he believed that her having an orphanage meant that she would turn her attention away from having children of their own. But she had convinced him that it wouldn't stop her. Although at that point, she had seen him have children with many women in the castle. Her heart had already been broken countless times and she no longer desired to have his child as much as she did before.
But she had agreed nonetheless. And to keep him convinced, she never denied him of her no matter how much he repulsed her as months went by. If she were to, he would punish her and destroy her orphanage.
This orphanage meant so much to her. After all, it was an apology gift after he had almost tortured her and Lowie to death for her attempted escape two years ago.
These children were the only children she would ever have.
Now that Haron had, for the first time ever, come to see them, she couldn't help but feel agitated.
What if he saw anything he hated about them? What if he were to think they were distracting her from having a baby for him? She hadn't staged a miscarriage lately. What if he grew suspicious?
What would he do?
Ah. By the Sun, she had to make sure his visit here would be short. She didn't want Haron to be with her children for any longer than necessary in fear that he might hurt them.
"Good morning, your Majesties!" All 18 of them said in unison. 9 Boys and Girls. Ranging from age 12 to…
"Whhh! Whhhh!" The crying of a baby - Aji - tore through the room.
Age 12 to 0.
Madam Rora, the woman in charge of the children, had found Aji two weeks ago by the dumpster in the marketplace. It had been a miracle to revive her and to hear her crying like this, alive, brought a smile to Ismena's face.
Madam Rora pressed the feeding bottle to Aji's lips, and the baby sucked and fell silent. Madam Rora rushed to the front of the children and bowed.
"Your Majesties." Then she rose, with a smile. "It is a pleasant surprise to see you here, my King."
Haron laughed heartily. That was how he was to everyone else. He was kind. He was good. Of course, he was loved.
But Madam Rora knew that he was sometimes wicked… to Ismena. But seeing them here together must have made her believe that it was all in the past now. She was an older woman and she had always advised Ismena that after everything, the King would come back to her because she was home, because she was Queen. Because at the end of the day, only she could give him an heir.
She was a grandma and one of the women who had told her that things would get better after marriage.
Better. Uh.
That thought alone made the back of Ismena's throat bitter.
Madam Rora was introducing each child to Haron and he would say something to make them smile.
Each of them.
They laughed. Each sound made her chest feel hollow.
She didn't want to feel this way. She just couldn't help it. Then Madam Rora offered Aji to him, Ismena's breath hitched. With bated breath, she watched him take the baby in his arms so gently. He smiled at her and her sleepy face smiled back up at him.
Haron just had that thing that made everyone like him. Even babies. It always made her wonder if something was wrong with her to have such an experience with him. Maybe it wasn't his fault because his strange behaviours only happened with her. So maybe something was wrong with her.
He moved his gaze from the baby to her and Ismena smiled back. She knew what he was saying even without words.
He wanted his own… with her. A son, though.
The first must be a son.
"She is so lovely," he said, turning back to Madam Rora and Ismena let loose a breath.
She moved closer to him when he returned the child and she saw that the rest of the children were returning to whatever activities they had been doing before their entry.
They would usually come to her, talk to her, complain to her, talk to her, and tell her unending stories as children did. But Madam Rora along with the two other ladies helping her, ensured that none of the children approached her. They only greeted her while they were being introduced to the King.
Ismena had demanded it. In fact, when she suspected that the King was heading to the orphanage, she had sent Lowie ahead to prepare them.
This way, there would be nothing to make Haron angry.
"Haron?" She said quietly and he turned to her.
"They are lovely to look at. You've done well."
It was an unexpected compliment. She didn't know what to do with it. "Only because of you."
He smiled and placed his hand on her back but she flinched slightly, a look of pain crossing her face.
He frowned. "Sorry—"
"It is nothing. I'll heal in no time." She lowered her voice. "I just think that we can go now…." She held his questioning gaze, her heart skipping a beat on this risk she was taking. "To continue the rest of the day as you've planned."
The thundering of her heart increased when he didn't speak.
Why was he here? Was the punishment not over already? His eyes had such a glint in them that she didn't know how to interpret it.
She just needed him out of here already. With him here, her children were in danger.
His hand reached up to her face and toyed with a curled strand of her red hair. "We have time." A chuckle vibrated from his chest. "Besides, I have a surprise for you right now right here."
Then guards stormed into the room.
No!