The King's Choice

Chapter 15

     Matilda was shocked, "Christian gathering? In this kingdom? Impossible".

     The royal family will forever remember the days when Christians were becoming violent in the land, always opposing the royal decrees claiming it was not biblical. The revolt was always led by a man who called himself Bishop Rohan. He came from far east to cause havoc in this kingdom and the late king had banned Christianity in the kingdom and he banished the Bishop Rohan and some of his elite followers.

     Pauline and Janielle were shocked to see the look on Matilda's face. Was it a crime to attend Christian gatherings? Pauline suddenly remembered what her late husband always told her about what Christians did in the past but she didn't take it seriously.

     "Are you planning anything against my son! I knew it, so you're siding with the Christians to ruin this kingdom?", Matilda accused happily. This Janielle and her mother was certainly going to go down today.

     "We would never do that your highness", Pauline said with so much conviction.

     "Yes, your highness. I just got interested in what they were saying", Janielle replied.

     Pauline signalled her to shut up since she already knew what to say while she continued, "My daughter's curiously will be the death of me! She told me she heard about the Christian gathering and she wanted to know what they were planning to discuss! You never know what they're planning against the king. After all, we all remember what they did when the late king was on throne".

     Matilda narrowed her eyes at her, she sounded sincere, loyal and most importantly- useful. But she was too wise to be carried away by her enticing words. After much thought she spoke, "I must say, you have a way with your words, you lowlife woman and I have a feeling that we could be friends if you're willing to obey me".

    Pauline and Janielle were confused as to where Matilda was heading to.

    "My loyalty remains undivided for the prosperity and happiness of the kingdom", Pauline replied.

    "Whatever", Matilda said and rolled her eyes. "Just meet me at my palace when she's back. I want the two of you together!", She then turned back and walked gracefully back to her palace. Janielle and Pauline stared at her back, so she was letting Janielle go?. Was she just trying to scare them? Pauline shook her head and sighed, 'that woman!". Then she turned to Janielle, "Just return fast and we'll deal with her after. Just return in one piece!".

    "Yes, I will", Janielle rolled her eyes in her mind and entered the carriage.
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     Janielle arrived on time, before the butler and head of the kitchen could detect that she was away.

    "Good, thank God you're on time, report to the kitchen now!", Pauline instructed and left to her room. Before Janielle left the room, she kept a little pamphlet and a small Bible under her pillow. She got it from Pastor Joe Berliner, he also invited her to the fellowships they held every Saturday evenings. She doubted she'd be able to attend but she promised herself that she'd at least read the Bible he gave her.

     With that done, she left for the kitchen.
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     "You're on time", the head cook said as soon as Janielle stepped into the kitchen. Some kitchen staff looked up to greet her. Janielle remembered the name of one of them, Kira. She was a pretty girl and a sharp girl. She wondered why she chose to serve in the castle or maybe the king forced her as he had forced her also.

     While Janielle was still thinking, the head cook cleared her throat, "Kira, Zara and Janielle, the king has chosen you to be join the maids to serve him every day so be fast with your work and attend to him and as we all know, the king's birthday is coming up soon. It is going to be stressful for us so we should work hard". When the head cook mentioned the king's birthday, the cooks and kitchen servants began murmuring, some were so happy.

      Later, she found out that they were going to be lots of competition and that the king said he'll pick a wife in his birthday. Among all the maids,Kira was most enthusiastic. She felt that among the servants, she was the only one who deserved the position of being queen.

     After all, she was literate, pretty and talented. Janielle then found out why Kira chose to serve in the castle. It was because she loved the king. It had been a crush that had developed over the years to obsession. One of the girls that Matilda wanted to seduce her son had mysteriously died. No one knew it was Kira's work. After all, everyone admired her and loved her.
      *.   *.   *.
While Kira, Janielle and Zara were accompanying the maids to the royal dinning hall, Kira quietly went beside Janielle and whispered to her, "I want to discuss something with you after our shift".

     Janielle was somehow shocked but she managed to nod her head before the door opened for them to enter.

     As usual, some servants were already present setting the dinning table. They quickly entered and arranged the food on the table and in no time, Tyler arrived.

    When he entered, they all bowed till he was seated. Then he calmly said, "rise". He then carefully scrutinized the food, " who cooked?"

     They were all scared thinking he wasn't satisfied with the food they cooked.

    "I and the head cook my Lord", Kira said confidently while bowing low. Even her accent was admirable. It was obvious she didn't grow up in their kingdom, probably in the north.

    Tyler frowned, "I expected my new cook to have cooked this time around" , he said while looking at Janielle. Janielle didn't dare look at the king in the eye, she just bowed quietly. She was slightly scared but then, she just did as she was instructed by the head cook.

     "Take this food away and let Janielle cook alone", he said and left the dinning hall. Everyone was shocked for the fact that he cared to know the name of someone who served him and that he wanted to eat her food specially that he was willing to stay hungry.