Betrothed To The King

Chapter29

King Archer stood from his bed as he tied his robe tightly around his waist. He had slept quite late because of Pearl’s kidnap. He could not just point out who exactly could have kidnapped his wife.

He knew that he had just one enemy that might be the culprit, but at the same time, he was not sure that his wife was taken away by Theodore. Theodore could not be such a lowly weakling to use his wife as bait when he could simply call for a fight.

He sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. He sat in front of his large mirror and stared at his bulgy face reflection. His eyes were swollen due to staying up late all night.

Maybe he was really a bad husband. Maybe he did not deserve to be with Pearl. Wait, what was he thinking? He did not care if Pearl loved him or not. He was simply saving her because of his unborn baby.

King Archer never wanted to believe that he was falling in love. To him, love was one crazy thing that trapped you with one person and made you a sudden softy. King Archer did not want that at all. He wanted to be feared, and he did not want to be manipulated by any woman.

A guard walked into the chamber, and he bowed upon seeing King Archer. He had a paper in his hand, and it was obviously a letter for the King.

“Good morning, my King. I am sorry for disturbing you this early, please pardon me,” Arlo said as he bowed, genuinely sorry for disturbing his King, but he knew that whatever was on the paper was going to be important as it was a letter given by the messenger of Prussiate.

“What’s that you’re holding?” the King said coldly as he walked to the guard, staring closely at the letter.

“This is a letter delivered by the messenger of Prussiate. He said that he was sent to deliver it by King Theodore,” Arlo said as he handed the letter to King Archer, who took it, curious about why Theodore would send him a letter and what it would contain.

He gently opened the paper and read through it. Suddenly, he started folding the paper in fury. He was suddenly burning in anger as his lips vibrated as if his teeth would fall out.

King Theodore, his enemy, was with his wife. He had dared him to come over to Prussiate and free his wife, or else he would turn her into a slave and add his own seed into her.

He could not imagine what his wife was going through with Theodore. He did not even want to imagine Theodore on top of his wife. That thought alone made him want to destroy everything.

Why would Theo want to involve Pearl, of all his wives, in a fight she did not know how it started?

“My King, you are bleeding!” Arlo muttered, not knowing if it would be wise to go close to his King.

King Archer was so angry that he could not feel the pain he was causing himself. He had injured himself by tightening his fist.

“Call all the guards together. We are going to Prussiate right now. Theodore is with my wife.” The guard bowed and quickly rushed out.

•

•

I weakly picked the lilies as I sowed them into the muddy ground. It was as if the more I sowed the lilies, the more they increased in the pot. It looked untouched, which made me weaker.

I was literally sitting on the muddy ground just as the cruel man left me. I was just too tired to get up, and even if I got up, I would not be able to bend and sow the lilies because of my waist.

I was looking so disgusting and dirty. I never imagined myself like this, even when I was a mere commoner. I had never worked so hard in my life. If only my friends could see me in this position.

I looked like a frustrated pregnant beggar. The stress was not supposed to be like this. I should be resting and not working.

“Hey, Lily Queen,” a fat girl in a uniform like mine uttered sarcastically, with disgust clear on her face as her fellows laughed out loud. The emphasis on the name got me thinking.

The fat slave girl pulled my dirty hair and yanked my head up to look straight into her ugly face. My head hurt from her grip.

“Let go of my hair, please!” I squealed in pain as she gripped me even tighter. Why was she suddenly mean to me even when she did not know who I was? I could see by the respect the other people gave her that she was the slave leader.

If she really was the leader, then I was triply doomed!

She pushed me to the ground, making the mud nearly enter my mouth as my body was already messed up. She looked at me with so much distaste, making me wonder why she already hated me on my first day.

“So, what is a Queen doing with lowlifes like us?” she said coldly as she folded her arms together, staring at me sternly with her dark eyes.

Well, she could not expect me to answer that question because I did not even know why I was here!

Her eyes drifted down to my baby bump as her expression changed to something I did not understand.

“Oh! Our Queen is expecting a baby soon! This is so cool!” she muttered as she turned to her fellows, who just fake smiled. “But we do not want you here! You can’t be a slave if you’re pregnant because slaves are strong people and not lazy people!” she yelled angrily as she hit my belly so hard that I felt like my baby was forced out. It hurt so much the way she hit it without emotion.

“Vicky, Ezra, the disciplinarian is coming!” one of the slaves called out as they all ran away. They really feared him. Indeed, he should be feared because he is dangerous.

***

“Seren! Pearl is in very big danger!” Rosamund cried worriedly as she entered the room to meet Seren, styling her hair.

“What happened!? Has she been found!?” Seren asked curiously as she walked over to Rosamund, who had tears in her eyes.

“No! Not that. She is captured by the deadly King of Prussiate!” Rosamund muttered as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“That’s the worst news I have heard in a long time! That King is cruel, and I am sure he would harm Pearl because of King Archer. Pearl is not in good hands at all!” Seren muttered as she slumped on the bed. She was way too strong to cry, but she felt like letting it out. She was scared of losing her friend to a wicked King and never seeing her again.

“Seren, please come up with an idea. We really need to get Pearl out of that kingdom. The people of that kingdom are not good in any way,” Rosamund said worriedly, turning to the frustrated Seren.

Ever since they came to that castle, they had not heard any good news. It was from one problem to another. Being royalty was not indeed a bed of roses as they thought.

“We have to know the King’s plans first,” Seren simply said as she heard loud masculine voices outside. It sounded like a call to war. “What’s going on outside?” she asked, walking towards the window.

“King Archer has gathered almost all the guards in the castle. They are going to Prussiate to get Pearl back,” Rosamund said, walking behind her to the window.

“God! This might not end well.”

King Archer stood amid his guards in fury. He was ready for war. He was ready to shed blood to get Pearl back. He could not bear having Pearl stay in a castle full of his enemies.

“We have made up our minds to accept whatever Theodore wants. We expect war and bloodshed, but we are ready, am I right!?” he called out angrily.

“Yes, your majesty!” the guards shouted in response with a voice so loud that it could be heard from the market.

“Good to know that we are all ready! So we are going to Prussiate to strike a war. Yes, we might have complications on our way or when we get to the kingdom, but that does not matter because we have conquered,” he said as the guards cheered in a serious way without a single smile on their faces, so serious that no normal being would go close to them.

“But if I die…” King Archer said blankly as he tightened his fist, “you all should bear whatever pain you might face. If you all think I am a cruel King, then you should be expecting something worse than mine,” King Archer said as he climbed on his horse.

The guards all climbed their horses as they rode alongside the King. Most of them were scared of getting killed, but they still had no other choice than to go with the King as it was their fate to serve the King till death.

Rosamund and Seren turned to each other as they suddenly shouted…

“War!”

“Seren, this is becoming worse than I thought! Did you see the look on the King’s face? That was a dangerous one,” Rosamund said as Seren ran her hand through her hair.

“I hope after all this, the King will come back alive with Pearl. I don’t wish for him to die because if he dies, the King of Prussiate takes over this kingdom and turns us into his slaves. We won’t have freedom in our kingdom anymore.”