The Dancing Princess Episode 8

 

Queen Adaeze’s stomach was growing bigger and her pregnancy became a bit obvious, although the king initially did not allow her out of the palace or even to disturb herself.

maids were assigned to carry out all her needs.

The Queen was not happy with the fact that she was not allowed to do anything; at times, she would force herself to cook, and the king would end up punishing the maidens in charge of cooking for the day.

They all stopped allowing her cook.

"What do you want me to do in this big palace? There is no one to keep me company," she would ask the king, who would just sigh.

"This is a life that so many people are dreaming of, to sit without doing anything, and you are complaining.

If you complain too much, all these will be taken away from you," he would caution her.

At times, the child would kick in the womb, and at times, the child would not even move, causing her to panic.

Queen Adaeze spent her alone time praying to the gods to favour her, promising to offer sacrifices in return for their favour.

"A ēeformed child is still a child; they did not create themselves.

Anyway, my child, come out; I will accept him or her," she would whisper to herself. Her stomach became noticeable, and soon everyone in the community knew that the Queen was pregnant.

The news that she went to Ala to beg for a child also spread throughout the whole village, so that every single person heard about it.

It made the king so ashamed that he wondered what they would all say about her child.

At a certain time, he overheard the villagers gossiping about the full possibility of the Queen giving birth to a dėformed child and how they would love to see the king’s reaction and how he would send the Queen away from the palace.

To the king, the child was still in the womb, and they had already started mōcking it.

"It was mostly the women that had prepared themselves to become the next wives of the land, especially when they heard the king would take a second wife.

They were not even happy with the fact that the Queen was pregnant; if they had it their way, they would strāngle the child themselves, but they were waiting for fate to take its turn.

They knew there was no way the child would come out without any problems.

As the Queen walked around the market square, the women secretly mocked her, laughing at how she had been bārren for years only to be pregnant with a cūrsed child. T

here was an instance where she walked around the market square as usual just to exercise.

One of the women tapped the other to a corner and said, "The cursed child is really taking space in her stomach; it’s growing."

The other woman looked at the Queen and said, "I cannot wait for it to come out to earth so we can all laugh together.

Then the king will be asking all the maidens of this community to appear at the market square, and he will choose me as his Queen.

I will give him a healthy child." She said as they both laughed.

Queen Adaeze overheard them, and when she turned, they both acted like they were walking to different destinations. “Wait, I heard you say something," she interfered, hoping they would both repeat themselves.

"My Queen, we were just talking to ourselves; we were not talking about you," the first maiden said, and the other one pinched her.

She had already confėssed because the Queen was not asking if she was talking about her.

"But I never asked if you were talking about me," the Queen asked with a smile, even when she was sad. "My Queen, don’t mind her; that is how she talks. Please, we beg to take our leave."

"The second maiden said as she dragged the other one and left the Queen’s presence.

As soon as Queen Adaeze walked a bit farther from there, they both started arguing among themselves.

“You would have put me into trouble with the king; it’s like you have forgotten who he is."

The second maiden said as they both walked home, turning to see if the Queen was watching them.

As soon as the Queen got back home, she entered her room and began to cry, not knowing that the king had noticed when she entered the palace.

She was still crying when she heard a knock at the door.

"Open up, it’s the king," he said, and she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes, but she just could not stop them from flowing; she had to open the door.

“Who is making my Queen cry?" the king inquired, already foaming with ānger.

"Is such a person a member of this community? Just tell me, and I will find him or her and inflīct pain on such a person, "he commanded, but she did not say a word."