THE KING'S SLAVE BRIDE

MESSAGE FOR THE QUEEN DOWAGER

NA’IMAH

“How are you feeling?” I asked Sadie as I walked into her tent.

It’s been eight days since the day I treated her, and Jodi has been helping me keep a close eye on the teen girl. From all the reports from Jodi, her wounds have healed significantly, but she’s still down from the pregnancy symptoms.

“Like I’d live…” She replied, smiling warmly, and it reminded me of the last time I was here to see her and how she had made a comment about dying.

“That’s a good feeling. I’m happy to see that your wounds are better healed now. How is the pregnancy making you feel?” I asked, patting down her face and neck, checking her over as I asked various questions.

“I’ve not been throwing up, but I feel dizzy almost all the time. I get tired easily and sometimes even moving around the tent is a hassle,” she explained, and I backlogged everything she said in my brain.

“I think we can do something about that.” Rummaging through my stash of herbs as I continued conversing with her, I fished out some leaves and tea barks that I knew would be useful.

“You’ll need to chew some of this every morning before drinking water or eating any food; it would taste awful. Are you fine with that?” She nodded.

“Alright, so you see this?” I brought the flower close to her face. “I’ll leave this here with you for the next few days; take a leaf or two and chew until you can feel the juice, then you swallow. After that, you’ll have to wait an hour at most before ingesting any type of substance, either water or food. This will make it, so your body sustains more nutrients from whatever you eat.” Nodding attentively, she took the pouch filled with leaves as I handed it to her.

Fishing out a flower pouch from my bag, and another leaf that we often called ewe eje, ‘blood leaf’. I handed both to her. “These are ‘Ewe Eje’ and ‘Juhi’. You cook the leaf separate from the flower on low heat. You can always add as much water as you want and can reheat the pot whenever you want a drink. Just take a cup from both teas, mix them together and drink. It can be any time of the day; just make sure you’re drinking both consistently, and it’s lukewarm when you drink them,” I instructed.

A frown crossed her face as she collected the two pouches from me. “I don’t have pots or pans. Even if I do, where will I find fire?” She asked in a dejected voice. I looked around her tent, noticing how empty it was. I had forgotten we were back in the camp, and we barely had access to anything.

With a brave smile on. “Don’t worry; I’ll have someone bring you a few supplies by evening, and I’ll let the royal guards know you’re not strong enough for labor.”

Her eyes filled with tears. “Thank you,” she muttered, sniffing.

“You don’t need to thank me.”

“I have to. I need to, my princess; if not for you, I would’ve been long dead with my child. This baby is the only piece of my mate I have left, and it would pain my soul to know that I had unintentionally killed the baby with my ailment. You saved me, you saved us, and you’re still here looking out for me when we are both in the same predicament.” Tears rolled down her cheeks as she talked, and I pulled her into a hug to comfort her.

I rubbed her back as she cried, glad that she couldn’t see my face right now to know how uncomfortable I was. It wasn’t that I thought myself too big to accept her appreciation, but it’s the fact that I don’t actually deserve her gratitude. Would she still feel the same way if she knew that I got us into this predicament in the first place? If she knew that I had blindly trusted a stranger and let my guard down around him, and he used me to get to our people?

I don’t think any member of my clan would see me as their savior if they found out I am the reason why they are all collared, cut off from their hybrids and are being forced into manual labor. Once, I was able to get her to stop crying and calm down. I asked her if there was anything else she needed—food, clothing or any basic item she would want. I made a mental note of everything she mentioned and encouraged her to stay strong, and I left her after promising to have those things delivered in the evening or in a few days.

“Good noon, my princess,” Jodi greeted as I cut the corner of the path that took me to where most of the royal guards were stationed.

“Jodi, you’re back early,” I noted, quite surprised. She was one of the few that was picked up this morning and escorted out of the camp. I’ve tried to keep track of the routines, but the guards often show up unannounced and pick people up at random to work. For some reason, in those past months that we’ve been held captive here, I haven’t been chosen for any labor and I think I know why now. But that makes me wonder how long the Queen Dowager has had her eyes on her.

“Yes, weird. I know. I thought they were taking us to the field, but, surprisingly, we were led to a home and asked to clean up the place. They brought us back to the camp after we finished working; they even fed us puffs and gave us water,” she explained in a happy voice.

It was weird, because they’ve been working my people like camels for the past months, and this change is coming after my visit to the palace. Was this the Queen Dowager’s doing, or Kaedyr? I shook my head at the thought. No, it can’t be Kaedyr.

“That’s good. Very good,” I responded, wondering if this was the Queen Dowager's way of saying she was serious. But this was barely anything significant, though, because my people were still in chains and collars, being worked to the bone.

“Are you alright?” The question snapped me out of my thoughts and I turned to her.

“I am. Why do you ask?” She gave me a careful look before sighing.

“You’ve been different since your last visit to the palace.”

I frowned. “Different how?” I had made sure to clean up that day before returning to the camp. I had taken a detour in the woods, and washed up in the stream downhill beneath the mountains. The last thing I wanted was for my clan to see me bruised and bleeding; I was their only beacon of hope and I couldn’t let them see me like that. Although Jodi was waiting for me in my tent when I walked in, and at that moment, I was glad that I had taken the little detour to clean myself.

“You just. I don’t know how to explain it. Your eyes, they’re different, you—there’s always a distant look on your face when you think no one is watching.”

I smiled reassuringly. “I promise, I’m fine. I am not going to look my best every day; some days will be better than others as long as we remain captive here. And most days, I might look like it’s the end of the world, but that’s just because I’m filling my head with worries and thinking of ways to get us out of this mess. You don’t have to worry about me; as long as I get the chance to keep our people alive and healthy, I’ll be fine.”

Jodi sighed. “I can’t help but worry. You’re not responsible for our ill fate; you don’t need to bear all the brunt you’ve put on yourself.”

If only she knew the truth. “It’s fine,” I replied lamely as guilt took hold of my chest. “Wait here; I’ll be back in a minute.” I gestured to her to stand beside the tree to her left as we reached the base of the guards.

I walked up to the group of soldiers who seemed to be having their best day around the keg of palm wine in the center of the circle they had formed, laughing and spewing incoherent words. When I got to the group, I tapped the arm of the one I believed to be a higher rank soldier.

“What?” He sneered, drink sloshing out of his bamboo cup as he whirled around to face me.

“I need you to deliver a message to the Queen Dowager for me.”