Royal Disaster

"Give the infant to her wet nurse immediately." Lord Benley whispered to the queen's midwife, who carried the child near the door, pushing her outside the royal chamber where the queen had just given birth. "But my Lord, the queen has barely enough time. I fear she might not make it. Don't you think the queen deserves to see her child before she passes on?" The midwife answered Lord Benley. "In addition to that, are you even allowed to be here, sir?" "Marissa, I need you to listen to me. You must leave the palace immediately together with the princess's wet nurse. You must not be seen and neither should the princess. The princess will be in grave danger if the king finds out she is alive." Lord Benley snapped back. "But my lord, she is the king's daughter. Why would he do such a thing? That would not make sense." The midwife was puzzled and suddenly felt frightened. "Marissa, I need you to trust me. If you are a loyal servant of the queen, you must protect this child at all cost. You start by getting her out of here. The king does not favor this child and when he learns the queen is dying because of her, I can assure you she will be thrown in the river and and would drown by the next minute." Lord Benley paused, "Now, would you want that to happen to the child you just helped come out of this world?" The midwife's puzzled face, now frightened, stared straight into the Lord Benley's horror-stricken eyes. Without knowing the reason why the king would do such a thing to his own daughter, she knew that killing his daughter would truly be a possibility given the recent ballistic actions the king has done. "Alright. Where should I find the wet nurse? Where will she take the baby? Will she be truly safe?" Marissa asked. "She is waiting for the princess, two hallways away from here, in a room with a secret passage-way leading outside of this castle. She will then go as far away from the palace as possible. I would come and check up on the princess a month from today." Lord Benley answered. "Now quick, get her out of here before the king arrives. I heard he rushed back directly to the castle upon hearing the queen was in labor." Marissa quickly grabbed another clean robe to wrap the baby twice as it was a cold december evening. "Then I must be on my way, Lord Benley." The midwife hurriedly walked in the direction Lord Benley had described. Upon nearing the room, Marissa slowed down when she heard voices. She tiptoed and listened carefully who were having a conversation. "The baby should have been delivered to me by now. I wonder what took so long." a woman muttered softly. She continued, "I heard the king wants her dead. It would be an honor to do it myself." Marissa stopped dead on her tracks and retreated from the direction she was about to go to. She then abruptly decided to head for the opposite direction. "Oh dear princess. What is happening..." whispering to herself. She thought of returning to the royal delivery chamber and hand the princess to Lord Benley, but debated against it as she was certain the king has reached the queen by now. She knew she needed to decide quickly to be able to save the princess... Marissa was a few meters away from her home when she realized she just abducted the princess with the purpose of saving her. As she opened the door, she saw her husband segregating the fishes he caught from one basket to another, back against the door. "Home so soon? Were there no any festivities after the queen's delivery?" Cedric asked his wife. Marissa, still holding the baby in her arms, stayed quiet and waited for Cedric to turn his back and look at her. As soon as Cedric did, the horror on his face was undeniable. "What have you done?" he asked. "The princess is in danger. I had no other choice." Marissa started to sob, walking towards her husband. "Marissa, this is treason! Our heads could be on spikes tomorrow morning!" Cedric exclaimed bringing both his arms forward as if stopping Marissa to come closer. "Cedric, she needs to be protected. If we can't protect her, who else will? We swore an oath to be good people. What an honor would it be to be given this chance to prove ourselves worthy of that oath?" "Marissa, it is not that simple. We cannot simply allow this to fall into our hands." Cedric answered back while cupping his wife's face. "You know I'm working the best I can to provide for you. I still want to live, have kids and grow old with you. But what would all my sacrifices be worth if we'd both be dead tomorrow?" "We write our own stories, Cedric. I will not allow goodness to be overshadowed by fear. If not seeing the sun tomorrow means I could save this child for tonight, then so be it. I would die for honor and I know God would welcome me in good faith."