The Dancing Princess episode 3

 

The Dancing Princess 

Episode Three

Queen Adaeze prepared the king's favourite meal that night all by herself.

It was egusi (melon) soup with fufu. Although she did not let the king know she prepared it since he was not happy with her, she was scāred he might not eat it. 

"Take it to the king," she commanded her chief maid. 

The maid hesitated because the king did not want melon soup; instead, he asked the maid to prepare something light for him.

 "His majesty will be upset with me if I present this to him, my queen. I might even lose my job," she said, not wanting to move. 

"I know my husband; he can never resist a well-stocked melon soup. Just go and give it to him," the Queen instructed. 

"But my Queen, you should be serving him this meal since you know him that well. He won’t yell at you or dismiss you from the palace. 

I’m just scāred. I don’t have anybody outside here. 

I told you I’m an orphan, and if I lose my job, I have lost everything," the maid said in a low tone, and the Queen could see tears piling up in her eyes.

 The king was not an easy person, and everyone in the palace was scāred of him because if a maid or a guard flaunted his orders, such a person would be dismissed from the palace without consideration. 

The king does not care if such a person is close to the royal household.

 "Don’t worry, I will take it to him myself. I wouldn’t want you to lose your job because of me," the Queen finally concluded, making the maid give a sigh of relief and then bow to the queen, moving to her the maid quarters. 

The Queen took the meal herself, checking to ensure she was properly dressed.

 Then she carried the tray with the food inside and walked slowly to the king’s chambers, making sure no sound was heard from the soles of her feet.

When she got there, she breathed out, then dropped the tray on the floor and knocked. "Who is that?" The king asked.

 At first, the woman could not say she was the one as both of them were not on talking terms at the moment. 

When she went silent, the king also went silent. To him, whoever was at the door was not ready to talk. "Could it be dėath knocking at my door?" he asked himself.

In the kingdom, whenever a king was set to meet with his ancestors, in the final hour, there had to be a strange knock on the door, loud enough for everyone to hear.

 It was a signal that it was time for the king to depart. 

During that time, the king maker would gather the whole village as they all waited for the final knock for the king to finally meet his ancestors. 

It was always a sad moment. It wasn’t surprising when the king thought it was his time. 

He had always thought about who would take over his kingdom when he finally leaves. 

Although he was not too old to diė, he was just anticipating the day it would happen.

“It’s I, Queen Adaeze,” she finally responded. The king completely ignored her at first, then he asked, "Do you have any good news for me? 

Have you come to tell me that I will have a child before I pass on? I was thinking it was my ancestors knocking," he said.

 The Queen stood there confused. "Should I inform him about what the goddess said? 

But she asked me not to tell anyone. The king might not even believe I saw the goddess." Then she suddenly said, "Your food is getting cold, my king."

 The king was disturbed by the smell of his favorite meal.

 "Is that not egusi soup I’m perceiving? Bring it into my chambers," he finally said what she wanted to hear. 

His special guard opened the door, and the Queen took the food in.

In order not to allow her to see that he would eat the food, he had to dismiss her. 

"Go, come back when you have better news for me," he said. "My king, should I carry the food as well?" she teased. 

"Leave my chambers, woman. Not with the food.

 I will see what I can do with it." The Queen left with a thought, "Soon, my king, everything will be fine, and I will be holding my own child in my hands," she murmured to herself. 

Then the king called her back. "I have been seeing you walk around just recently. 

I hope you did not go begging Ala for a child. You know there is nothing she gives that is ever good," he said. 

The queen shrugged her shoulders.

 "I will never do that, my king," she said as she hurried to leave his chambers. 

It was just as if he had known what she did, and the Queen was also scāred. "What if he heard from someone and not just a prediction?" she asked herself. 

Thessycute Ekene

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