Seeing the thoughts and feelings from the Queen, Mahnu was upset that the Queen and Thomas could not have been together. Having remembered previously, quite some time ago, she had wondered if arranged marriages worked or not, she saw that by the look of this particular one, with the King and Queen…It hadn’t…

If the Queen had not married the King, back then…Would she had met Thomas at some point? Or someone else…And had lived better then now?

Having been full of her father’s wishes and words, the Queen seemed to have become someone that hardly lived to enjoy life. She was afraid…

Afraid that her father was right, and she should do all that she had to do to keep the King’s attention on only herself. But…Since she had been hurt by the King and had felt wronged…Mahnu couldn’t blame the Queen of going down the path that she had. It was because she was brought up to make the best of her situation as the Queen, and as doing what she wanted…

The only thing to do…Was let the King, her husband, deal with her. As a third party, Mahnu felt like she couldn’t interfere any further. In fact…Mahnu was starting to wonder if revealing the Queen’s secret was a bit harsh now.

The Queen might have had an affair and gotten pregnant with another man’s child, besides her husband, but…Perhaps it was still too much…

Having been provoked, and recently been in bad circumstances, Mahnu was feeling very defensive and knew that it couldn’t be helped any longer…The King will have to take over now…

 

No! The Queen thought in sudden panic.

She had come here without His Majesty’s consent, she had wanted this girl under her, before she returned to the palace. She had wanted to scare her and have her answer her every command!

If that wasn’t going to happen then she would find any excuse to get rid of her! But…This wasn’t working...Proof…She would need proof!

…There’s nothing! Ha! What am I afraid of!? Bring the King! Let him see this girl make a fool of herself and have no choice but to kill her for slandering the Queen! Haha!

Not only that, wouldn’t it also make him not like her? Perhaps this silly, little girl will be abandoned after today!

Finding herself calm once again, the Queen smiled smugly at Mahnu. Girl, you have just killed yourself!

Mahnu just stared right back at her…She wasn’t sure whether she should pity the Queen or frown to the Queen’s foolishness…

 

 

They waited near an hour, for the King to arrive at Mahnu’s residence. He raced into the sitting room and went straight to Mahnu, not sparing a glance at the Queen.

“Mahnu? Are you okay?” He asked checking her attentively.

The Queen was shocked! “Your Majesty!”

The King turned to the Queen, finally, and she could see that he was unhappy. “What are you doing here?”

“Is she not a consort? I came here to formally invite her into the palace. As Queen, is it not my duty to do so? Instead, this girl slandered the Queen of this nation, I demand justice!”

“Are you in denial? Will you continue your lies…Queen of the nation?” Mahnu’s voice rang out in righteousness, making others see that power over a title was being used.

“Lies?” King Richard asked, wondering what was going on.

“I have no need to speak. This girl wants my position! She does not deserve to be by your side, Your Majesty!” The Queen pointed to Mahnu, looking just as righteous as Mahnu.

Again, Mahnu was angered by this materialistic and selfish Queen, “You, who deceives the King of Kralaide, think she  deserves the position of Queen of the nation!?”

 

“Deceives? Tell me what you are talking about!” The King yelled impatiently.

Mahnu looked at the King sadly. She suddenly lost the courage to talk…It was considered as telling another’s secret…Was this a good idea?

Before she could answer the King though, William said what he had heard and spoke instead, “From what Mahnu had said, a guard, named Thomas, had died about three months ago.”

Mahnu looked at the Queen, hearing her thoughts of letting them continue to speak, to dig their own graves.

Mahnu then continued herself, not wanting to get William into trouble, “The Queen killed him with poison that resides in a secret compartment under the floor, under her bed. Once she found that she had conceived his child, she killed him to keep the truth from being told. She was going to make this child yours, knowing months ago you drank often and would just make up the time and say it easily that you had forgotten. She wanted to get revenge for you hitting her…She wanted a child…And then there was Thomas. This plan started from then, for six months, until she became pregnant. When she finally got the news of her pregnancy, she wanted to keep her adultery a secret, so she silenced Thomas. She was going to keep it secret till the end but…Not only did she keep her poison…Thomas had written letters to her…They are also hidden in another secret compartment in her wardrobe.”

“Preposterous! Do…Do not listen, Your Majesty! Close your ears to this girl’s dirty lies and schemes!” The Queen was scared stiff. How had she gained so much information? How did she know of the letters and hidden compartments?

As far as she was aware, she had never seen this woman and can’t ever remembering on having her inside her inner chambers to have to chance to look for them!

The Queen looked at the King, then seeing his disgust, the Queen staggered, falling down onto the chair.

If she only had the heart to get rid of those letters!

But…Even now…She can’t! Those words kept her going!

The poison though…How stupid of her to have kept it just in case for the future! Now…It may very well be a beheading!

“Check the Queen’s chambers…Go!” The King yelled impatiently.

 

The Queen started to cry, how had it come to this? She got up in a hurry and kneeled at her husband’s feet, "Your...Your Majesty! Please...You mustn't..."

He interrupted her, "Mustn't what!?"

The Queen's tears ran down her face. What could she say? What could she do? The Queen was not sure how to continue to fight...They had proof to adultery...Wouldn't that...Wouldn't that be her death?

"Make sure she doesn't kill herself." Mahnu said to the guards.

She had only done what her father said! She had only wanted another child! Why…Why is it so hard to accomplish these two things!? Was I asking too much!? But, it’s only two things! Why can’t I just do this! This child, I would have looked after this child so much and what if they want me to get rid of it!?

How could I!?

Please…I haven’t done much wrong! And I will never do it again!

…Everyone was still in shock but watched the Queen as she started to cry…

 

The Queen sobbed and sobbed, until the proof was in front of all of them.

Mahnu had heard all of her thoughts and bent down slightly to the Queen. "The Queen's position was not what I was after. Your hastiness in thinking that you had to secure it, lead to you making a bad choice...Bad choice or not, we can't allow anything to happen to you until the innocent child inside of you is born."

Mahnu reflected on her words and silently asked herself if the Queen really did make a bad choice…She had felt loved in that time…Perhaps instead of saying ‘bad choice’, maybe instead it was just something a married lady shouldn’t have done, yet not wrong…It was…Confusing…

King Richard had been raging inside of his heart all this time but Mahnu's words made him calmer. "Mahnu is right. Thomas's family will be informed and given the chance to raise their grandchild."

The Queen remained silent, regretting her life. Her father had always made her worry…She had become this person because of him! Seeing him recently, on his bed, he was still implementing her power inside her mind.

…Now, everything was finished...If only she could have been with Thomas in the open, if only she had married him instead! But…

What was she to do now? This child…They are going to save it?

That’s good…

 

"Her father brought her up to use her power..." Mahnu said.

Hearing those words, the Queen looked up in surprise. "How?"

Mahnu didn't answer her, just asked another question, "Do you want to live?"

The Queen nodded in haste. She wanted to bring up this beloved child so much!

Would he or she look like Thomas? And…My Crowned Prince and Princess, I want to be with them too!

"Mahnu? How could we save her?" King Richard wondered why Mahnu asked that question, when what the Queen did could only court death!

"You love your children?" Mahnu asked the Queen, ignoring the King.

Images of the Queen doting her children came into Mahnu's mind, especially a want to dote on the one that was still growing within her.

"Yes! Of course!" The Queen answered.

 

Silence filled the room as Mahnu stared at her.

"Mahnu?" The King asked again.

Finally, Mahnu looked at him. "She's not wholly bad, just led astray. If she doesn't meet her father and demoted to a maid, to serve her children...I'm sure she would do so wholeheartedly."

The King stared at Mahnu, she wanted to save the Queen?

And the Queen gasped. A maid? Not see her father? A Queen to be demoted?

Everything seemed so terrible and overwhelming to the Queen…That she fainted…

"Look after her until her child is born." Mahnu said sadly.

"Agreed." The King said, "Take her to a cell and keep an eye on her. An imperial physician will be allocated to her for the well being of the child. For now, this will stay secret and we will conclude it when the child is born."

 

After some time, the place was cleared of everybody, except Betty, Donald, Mahnu and the King.

"Why do you want to save her? If the people find out about what happened, they will want her killed." King Richard was curious, Mahnu's mind was something that he had always wished he could read. "Didn't she try to harm you?"

Mahnu looked up at him sadly, "She only committed wrong because of me...She might have been materialistic and listening to her father's words...But she went this far because of me."

Mahnu stopped for a moment, "…Marcus was worried that I'd be the ruin of Kralaide. I don't want...To be the ruin of Kralaide."

King Richard sighed, his Mahnu was so sensitive.

 

Pulling her into his arms, he said softly, "I can't see that being possible Mahnu. I said it before, and I'll say it now, you are the heart of Kralaide...To be honest, I didn't even think of sparing the innocent child's life…It was probably my fault, as I am the one that hit her, yet, I wanted to kill the Queen just now...You are nicer then I am."

He kissed her forehead, and continued, "If they find out..."

Mahnu interrupted him, "I know, it would be hard to keep her alive. At least, they might wait until the child is born, that would be enough."

They embraced each other lovingly, both of them even more glad to be with each other now. Richard had been worried, when he found out that he was summoned by the Queen to come here. At least Mahnu wasn’t put into a tough situation of being forced into the palace. If the Queen had done that, there might not have been anything that he could have done.

…On the other hand, Mahnu was still unsure that she had done the right thing…Even when one of the guards had been close to Thomas and became really angry upon finding out what happened to their friend, Mahnu still wasn’t sure if she should have brought this secret into the open. Thomas needed justice, yet the Queen didn’t have a black heart…

This is exactly why she felt like she needed to become stronger!

Snuggling into Richard’s embrace, Mahnu felt like she could accomplish anything though. If she had been summoned into the palace, just as Richard’s thoughts suggested…She would have gone…Simply because she adored this man!

 

King Richard could only see a brighter future for Kralaide, with Mahnu by his side, and Mahnu was no longer as stressed. She may have been a reason for the Queen to act that way but...The Queen had chosen the journey of being married and having an affair and killing someone all by herself.

Finding justice for Thomas became something that Mahnu thought was right, she just wished that it could have been done another way…

Mahnu decided then that she definitely didn't want to make choices that would hinder what she had strived so hard to get. She also wanted to get used to not using her ‘gift’ to get back at others, just because she was angry…She also wanted to think a bit more before she acted…Seeing now what the truth does to some people, she wished she had spent more time with humans, so that she knew how to act when she was in a predicament.

Her time of being a human had only just begun, leaving her Immortal God days behind…

Kralaide was now free from God’s and she held the person she held most dear within her heart…

She wanted people to be free to make their own choices. She wanted to give them the choice to live for themselves and their desires...

And finally, now, it's all up to them…

 

***