THE QUEEN'S SERVANT

27

Rocky woke up in the royal bedroom, a place she thought to never see again. She was alone in the big wide bed and by the sun rays coming from the balcony, she could tell it was midday.

Adama was sitting on a chair near the bed. She straightened herself when she saw that the queen was finally awake. The young servant approached her and asked with a very soft voice:

"Are you feeling okay?"

The queen tried to speak but her throat was very dry. Adama was quick to react. Using a water pitcher, she filled a cup and gave it to Rocky. She drank and felt very refreshed. The next thing on her mind was her child that she couldn't see anywhere.

"Where is the baby?"

"Don't worry. A healer is taking care of him. He is doing really well."

"I want to see my baby...What happened to Raja?"

"I...I really don't know, your majesty. Let me go get the baby."

Rocky was left alone. She bit on her nails. Now that she was back in the palace, she wouldn't be able to escape her destiny. She assumed Hassan was king again and he'd have to punish her for her treacherous actions. She knew she deserved it but now that she met her child, she didn't want to leave him.

When the door opened again, she saw Hassan and her heart almost jumped out of her mouth. He was back to wearing his expensive clothes, the crown lazily placed on his head. He was holding their son.

Rocky wondered if he could tell that the child was his. The king just looked so...Grave. She feared him. Despite her weakness, she stood up, back against the wall. Was he going to announce her execution? Was he just waiting for her to wake up to do it? 

"You should stay in bed." The king said.

Rocky didn't reply. When he got closer, she noticed the fresh cut he had on his neck. Someone slashed him with a knife, probably during his battle with the Roumanian. Again, it was all her fault.

"I thought you wanted to see your child?" The king asked after a long silence.

"I do."

She stretched out her arms.

"Sit first. You are still weak and could drop him."

Rocky wanted to say she could never drop her own child but decided against it. It wasn't time to argue anyway. She sat down on the bed and the king handed her the sleeping boy. She was in awe, looking at his tiny fists.

"He is so small." She noticed.

"Yeah. Actually, the healers told me that it's a miracle that he's alive. You gave birth way too soon. But don't worry, he should grow up well with proper care. But how did this happen, though? Did your trip to the northern regions trigger the childbirth?"

She shook her head, hot tears falling on the blanket covering her son.

"We ran into an insane couple. The woman wanted to steal my child and she made me drink something that forced me to give birth. She obviously didn't care if I survived or not and her actions could have killed the baby too. 

"Raja was there?"

Rocky flinched at the sound of that name coming out of Hassan's mouth. She nodded slowly. The king breathed out loud enough to show how upset he was.

"How could he allow that?"

She shrugged.

"He is insane too... I wish I had died there, Hassan. But then you wouldn't have the pleasure of seeing my head roll on the day of my execution."