Betrothed To The King

Chapter25

A knock came on the door, which was opened almost immediately, revealing Sage. I smiled on seeing her as she bowed.

“My queen, the king said you should come over for dinner with your friends,” she said as I nodded.

“I love the sound of QUEEN,” Seren whispered clumsily as I chuckled lightly.

“Let’s get going for lunch. I am famished,” I said as I swung my legs off the mattress.

“And I am nervous,” Rosamund said as we headed out.

“Same here. I am sure your co-wives have an attitude,” Seren said as I nodded slowly, looking forward to the hallway.

“You both just have to act boujee and respect yourselves. Talk only when you are spoken to,” I said, knowing the kind of loud mouths I have as friends.

We got into the dining room to see only the king sitting at the extreme middle chair where he always sits. Zinnia and the rest were yet to come out.

My besties and I sat at the far end from the king. I didn’t want to get too close to him just yet to avoid weird moments.

“Pearl, come sit over here,” he said coldly, pointing to the seat directly beside him, not looking at me but at the piece of paper in his hand.

The thought of eating close to the king by his wish felt so possessive. He would literally make me choke on my food.

“Uhm… My king, I need to stay close to…”

“Hey, come on, we are fine. Just sit close to your husband,” Rosamund said with a crazy wink. The way she called him my husband made it seem weird. I was more uncomfortable than I was before.

Gosh, I really wanted to strangle her for not helping me out at such a weird moment.

I forced myself to the chair next to the king as my co-wives entered, looking all normal as if they didn’t mind the position I was sitting in.

I expected a usual reaction from Zinnia, but this time she acted cool. She even came into the dining room with a smile curved on her thin wide lips. She greeted the king and sat down in her usual spot close to him, but she wasn’t making an attempt to get his attention.

I was becoming confused. Why the sudden change of attitude? I couldn’t tell if it was genuine or if she had a plan behind it.

The thought of her sudden attitude got me thinking, and I decided to watch her closely all through the dinner. Maybe that would help me foresee her plans.

“Are you ladies Pearl’s friends that we have been waiting for? Nice meeting you, ladies,” she said with a wild smile, making me choke on my drink and start coughing hard as I quickly drank a cup full of water.

“Thank you for having us, my queen,” Seren replied with a smile as they both bowed their heads.

What’s with Zinnia and this sudden kind attitude? I hope it is for real and I hope I am safe.

The maids walked in as they served the food to everyone and stood by to watch us eat. That was a normal occurrence. They had to stand by in case the food was poisoned or anyone got harmed by eating it.

“So Pearl, how is the baby kicking? Hope the baby isn’t stressing you much?” Zinnia started as all the queens turned to her. They were as surprised as me.

I didn’t even know if it would make sense replying to her because I didn’t understand anything going on.

I cleared my throat and sat up.

“Well, my baby is kicking real good,” I replied and faked a smile.

“It’s high time I started taking care of you properly as the head queen. There are some roots I know about that flourish the skin and keep you strong, you know? You deserve attention from as many people as possible, Pearl,” she said in a caring tone as Queen Lula turned to her in surprise.

“Excuse me, Queen Zinnia, I thought you were hating on Pearl. Why the sudden kindness? Because it’s really suspicious!” Lula said. I love her because she is blunt. She doesn’t care what you feel. She says what her mind gives out.

“Lula,” Zinnia said and smiled as she kept her fork back on her plate, now facing us all. “I saw this question coming anyway, so I am not surprised. I never hated Pearl. I was only jealous of her always being close to the king and equally getting pregnant when we haven’t given the king a child as the first married wives,” she said and sipped her drink. “I just had to accept it because she is betrothed to the king, and the rest of us got married for some crazy reasons. So she is different from us,” Zinnia said.

She was making sense. Her reasons sounded genuine, and I could see through her eyes that she might sincerely want to accept me.

“Thank God for the change of mind, Zinnia, and thank you for volunteering to help me out in this trouble,” I said, pointing at my very big baby bump. It’s already getting to five months. I could feel the king’s eyes piercing through my belly. I wonder what his mind reads.

“Okay now, enough of the discussions, ladies. Face your food before someone chokes,” the king said coldly as we all turned to our meal. Indeed, I hadn’t been able to eat anything.

I turned to Seren and Rosamund as our eyes met. They definitely would feed me with a million and one questions.

***

King Theodore paced angrily around his chamber. He was vibrating with anger.

“Guards!” he called out as they hurried in and bowed, kneeling on their right knees. They knew how dangerous King Theodore could be when he was angry, so they dared not waste a second of his time when he called.

“I need Pearl, King Archer’s wife, here in this castle with me. You should go get her for me!” he yelled as he sat back on his throne. He knew how impossible it would be to get Pearl out of a castle with thousands of guards, but he didn’t care. All he wanted was Pearl in his arms.

“My king, your request…”

“Shut up! My request is going to be done, and you all are going right away to Guham to get me that lady. I don’t know how you want to do it, but you have just 48 hours!” he yelled as the guards bowed and hurried out, immediately knowing how impossible that task was and that they needed to get it done as the king wished.

King Theodore knew quite well that he didn’t love or have any form of mutual feelings for Pearl, but all he wanted was to use her as bait to get Archer dead.

He had lots of plans for her. Once she is captured and brought to him, he doesn’t have any good plans. He never has a good plan anyway.

“My king, you look stressed this beautiful evening. Why don’t you give me a chance to make you feel better,” Ciara, his mistress, said, walking to him half naked.

She knows how to manipulate Theo, and he always falls for her trap. He stood from his throne hungrily and walked up to her as he pulled her hair, dragging her back to the room.

She was used to such aggressiveness from King Theodore, and she doesn’t see it as anything strange. She is like a wife figure to him because he never got married, and she is his only mistress. He hardly sleeps with her, but anytime he comes for her, she has to beg him to pull off. He is so dangerous in bed.

***

"Did that Queen Zinnia really hate you?” Rosamund asked as I nodded.

“She didn’t treat me nicely. I could say that she hated the path I walked on,” I said and sighed, kicking my shoes off my feet.

“Was it that bad? And now she suddenly comes acting nice to you? Was she nice to you this morning?” Rosamund asked again as if she was investigating something in her mind.

“Nope, we had a beef this morning and even before we arrived from Prussiate,” I said as they both looked at each other and shook their heads.

“Be careful of her, Pearl. Don’t be carried away by her sudden kindness. I am sure she has a backup plan, and she just wants you to be free with her to achieve that. I know all these tricks.”

“Wait. Do you really think any of your co-wives will ever like you? Pearl, no, never. They can’t like you. You have got what they don’t have, and that is pissing them off. Stay in your lane and avoid them,” Seren said as she bit her lips. “Seriously, it’s not easy being married into a royal home,” she added.

Now I am confused. I don’t know if I should avoid Zinnia or be cool with her. I can’t snub her if she says hi to me.

“It’s fine to greet her and smile with her, but just be wise.”

“Being royalty is making Pearl so dull and weak. It’s so unlike her!” Seren added as I sighed.

They are right anyway. I will play along and watch Zinnia’s backup plans.