The king was leaning heavily on Danika even as he kept most of his weight away from her, so he didn’t crush her. They took steady steps until, finally, they arrived at the turn of the hallway that led to his chambers.
He stopped. “Go and tell the guards that I dismiss them,” he grated, sweat beading on his forehead.
Would they listen to her? Danika wondered about it, but she still nodded, bowed, and gently extracted herself from him. She rounded the corner and strode straight to the guards. She gave them the king’s orders, and none of them argued with her. The door was suddenly empty, like the hallway.
“It is done, Master,” she said as she walked back to him.
He nodded curtly and started forward again. Danika took her place at his side with her arm around him, taking some of his weight
