"Jerk…" Khalilah muttered to herself on her way back to her chambers. "Asshole."
She called again as she stomped across the halls angrily "Son of a bitch!" This one was louder than the rest and Anna cringe fearfully, she feared for the queen, she could guess that no one had informed her the king could hear every single thing that happens in the palace, even down to the last thoughts of every single person.
What was even scarier about the whole situation was that even though the His Royal Majesty could hear everything he is refusing to do anything about it. Anna trembled fearfully as they walked across the hallway, she feared the king would appear out of nowhere to punish them.
"Your grace," She inched towards Khalilah who was still in the middle of her monologue, her eyes not once meeting hers. "Please you cannot say those things about his majesty."
It dawned on her that if she left the queen unchastised, she might be one to carry majority of the punishment, and the punishment for the blasphemy of the king was the capital punishment.
Which is death…
Khalilah was back to biting her thumb in anticipation of what is to come, she was very scared for Malia, she didn't want anything to happen to her and with the psychopath for a king it seemed almost impossible.
Days passed and there was still no news of the girl, the most annoying part was none of the other maids refused to tell her what exactly was wrong with her or how she was doing.
"We have prepared your bath, my lady." Anna announced with a light bow, and Khalilah got up from her bed, she was tired of protesting, but she considered meeting with Olive again tonight.
"Cough Cough!" Rose Anne Earhart coughed as she ambled towards the decorating team in her small bakery, she felt light headed and bile rising up to her throat. She had been feeling under the weather for quite a while now, truth be told it was ever since Khalilah was taken away from her. It has been almost a month since they have decided to give the girl up, but the guilt was strong for Rose-Anne. She usually spent her nights tossing and turning, images of Lord Olive's brutality displayed in her head and she could tell that Khalilah was not doing well and she even feared she might be dead now.
"Grannie Rosie, are you sure you don't want to go see a doctor?" Robert asked with the thick look of concern falling on his eyebrows, but Rose-Anne shook her head immediately, she knew whatever is wrong with her is not something so serious.
She missed her grand-daughter greatly, she didn't know how she was and the lack of communication was getting to her.
"No, I'm okay." She missed her step but Robert caught her just before she could fall, she smiled softly at the concerned young man and she stabled on her feet once more.
"Madam are you okay?" Everyone rushed towards her and she nodded with a light smile.
"How is the preparation of Madam Becky's cake going?" She asked curiously looking at the ten-step cake that was half way done on the table, her eyes narrowed softly as she tried to figure the problem with the cake. "Remember Madam Becky is a perfectionist and the cake is her third daughter's wedding cake, it has to be perfect."
She coughed a few more times, and Chelsea handed her a glass of water, which she gulped down immediately.
"Yes, ma'am." Her staff chorused and she nodded, since she wasn't able to spot anything wrong with the cake, she turned on her heels to leave but her eyesight darkened and she fell to the ground, everyone rushed towards her but by time they got to her Grannie had already passed out and she was rushed to the hospital immediately.
"Rosie, how long will you continue to be like this?" Leonard asked his sister and she turned away from him immediately. "The girl is gone, you should forget about her, it's almost a month already. I know in the letter you sent you have explained things to her to the best of your ability."
"Aren't you worried about her, Leonard?" Rose-Anne asked curiously as she tried to get up in her bed, but she was unable too. "She is but a little child and we… we gave her to death."
"Is it because you were so worried you have refused to eat for the past two weeks?" Leo scolded and Rosie rolled her eyes, she was already so old, no one would care if she died or so she thought and that was the reason she stopped eating. "I know just how much you care for each and everyone of your grandchildren, but you should know where to draw the line."
"And Khalilah is where to draw it?" She asked him curiously, her eyes widening in disbelief. "We don't even know how she is holding up; we don't know what that monster is doing to her and yet you want me to draw the line?"
"That's not what I meant, but look at all these freedoms we are enjoying, do you want it to go back to the way it used to be?" Leonard's voice darkened almost immediately. "Where there used to be the fear of death everywhere, is that what you want?"
Rosie stared down at her legs in the bed, she had selfishly hoped that once Khalilah was taken away, she wouldn't have to deal with those beasts anymore. She was selfish and she didn't once think about how Khalilah would feel, but then again, she was enjoying the so-called freedom that she longed for and she wished her husband was alive to witness it as well.
Right from a young age, she had been thrown into a lifetime of slavery along with her family, and to think that there would be a day it would be over… but at what expense.
The door to the ward opened and her eldest daughter Vina opened the door with a small frown on her face.
"Mother." She called as she rushed to the edge of the bed with a look of disapproval on her face. "I was in a very important meeting with Uncle Leonard called me, why have you refused to eat?"
"Apparently, your mother here feels guilty for handing Khalilah over to Lord Olive and she would rather we all just died instead." Leonard explained spitefully and Rose-Anne rolled her eyes; but she noticed Vina's expression fell at the mention of Khalilah. "I think you should talk to her instead."
Leonard got up from the visitor's chair and strolled out of the room.
"Mother, what is wrong with you?" Vina asked with a small growl. "We agreed on this before now, so why are you getting all depressed and punishing us all?"
"Vina, what are you talking about?" Grannie Rosie asked curiously as she arched towards her daughter. "Of all the people you shouldn't talk like this because you are her mother."
Vina rolled her eyes.
"Do you think it passed me that you never even took good care of Khalilah and you have always neglected her?" Rosie accused and Vina frowned softly. "I never taught you to train your children in diversity, even her elder sisters don't even care about her."
"I did my best for, Khalilah as a mother, even though she wasn't my daughter." Vina snapped and Rosie's eyes widened immediately.
"What did you just say to me, Vina?" Rosie asked in disbelief, her mouth opened slightly at the information she heard.
"You heard me, Mother, Khalilah is not my daughter." Vina repeated this time with teary eyes. "I swore within myself to keep what happened a secret but you asked for it mother."
"What on earth do you mean? What do you mean Khalilah is not your daughter?" There was a sudden surge of emotions within Rosie and it was anger. "It's not even possible."
"I will tell you everything, Mom, everything including the truth of my divorce with Karl and the death of Iris." She wiped the tear that was at the edge of her eyes with her thumb, Rosie's eyes widened immediately, Iris was her last daughter and Vina's younger sister. Iris used to live with Vina and her family, just so she could study in one of the universities in the city until one day she got a phone call about a terrible accident and how Iris perished in it.
"What about Iris?"
"Iris didn't die in a car accident like we reported," Vina started in a calm but shaking voice, she wasn't shaking out of fear, but she was shaking from the anger remembrance of the incident brought. "She died during childbirth."
Rosie's eyes narrowed in confusion, it was just too much for her to handle at once, for nineteen years, she believed her youngest daughter met her end at a very terrible car accident just to find out that wasn't the case.
"What did you do to Iris?" Rosie asked in a rush trying to reach for Vina.
"It's not about Iris, it's about me, mom." Vina snarled. "It's about what Iris did to me."