ZARA'S POV
I woke up feeling much better than I felt yesterday. My limbs were no longer numb, and I felt more alive.
Twirling to the side, my gaze landed on Carl who was sleeping peacefully beside me. He must have been exhausted from taking care of me and other matters.
"Apparently Carl had returned to the room last night. He wanted to be the first Zara saw when she woke up."
My gaze snaps from his long eyelash to his chiseled jaw, and then his pink lips. He looked like an angel. I must have done something good in my past life to have a husband like him. I remembered when father had first asked me to marry him, and I was pissed off, who would have thought things would turn out this way?
Smiling, I lifted my hand to touch his face to remove a strand of hair, and he stirred, taking my hand in his.
Again, I used my other hands to trail his sharp jaw, and this time, his eyes snaps open, casting me a gaze.
"Zara," he called, jerking up instantly.
"Sorry I woke you up," I apologized.
"No my queen, you shouldn't apologize, I should be the one apologizing for not being awake before you."
"It's okay Carl," I replied, pulling him into a hug. For some reason, it felt like it's been ages since I last saw him.
Pulling away, Carl's eyes roam over my body. "Are you okay, does it hurt anywhere?" he asked, concern evident in his voice.
"Of course I'm fine, and I'm sure the baby is also fine," I replied, and I saw something akin to hurt flash across his face, or it could be I was imagining things.
"Carl, are you okay?" I asked, giving him a curious look.
He sighs, looking like he wanted to say something, but decided against it.
"I'll have the servant prepare a bath," he said instead.
...
After my bath, I put on a simple white gown, letting my hair fall loose. I didn't wear any jewelry, because I wanted to look normal and be free from the burden of it.
Glancing into the mirror, my lips curved into a smile when I saw my reflection and I couldn't help but caress my belly. The thought of my baby being safe, made my heart twitch in joy.
Yesterday, I had being so scared that something happened to my baby, due to the way Carl and the others acted when I asked them about it...
Carl stood behind me, with eyes full of admiration and something akin to guilt, making me wonder if something was wrong. Is there something he was not telling me?
I shrugged, discarding the thought. if there was something, I'm sure he would tell me when he's ready.
"Come, Zara, it's time to meet the council and everyone else," Carl muttered, taking my hand in his.
...
Carl and I made our way to the throne room, and when we got there, everyone gave me strange looks, like they were seeing me for the first time.
Virtually, everyone who held a post in the kingdom was here.
At that moment my gaze went to Catherine, Aunt Anna, Lia, and Myla who watched me with happy expressions on their faces, and I cast them a smile, waving my hand in the air.
"Queen Zara, it gives us great pleasure, to see you back on your feet, and in a healthy state," one of the council members spoke.
"Yes queen Zara, we thank the deities for giving you back to us, now we can say with certainty that thing will go back to the way it was."
I smiled before replying "I'm so grateful to you all for caring so much about me, thank you."
However, I felt like something else happened to me? something more serious than what the physician said.
I tilt my gaze to look at Carl, whose expression was filled with worry, but immediately disappeared when he felt my gaze on him.
"I want to appreciate you all for the prayers and support you gave to me and my queen in our time of need, I'm really grateful," Carl let out.
"Your majesty, it's not only the king and queen, that has a duty towards the people, but the people also. They have their own duties towards you and that is to support and pray for you."
"Your majesty, I would like to suggest that we celebrate the queen's recovery."
"Yes my king, we should light lamps, and give food to the poor and needy."
I smiled, seeing as they were taking my recovery so seriously, I was only asleep for two days, and they were making it look like it's been years. But I wouldn't deny that I loved the Idea, of feeding the needy.
"I agree with you all, but I will like the celebration to be held at the arena, so that all the people of Everton, will be present," I declared openly.
"You heard the queen, the celebration should be held in the arena, with the people, so inform them," Carl instructed.
...
The celebration was held at dawn, and the arena was crowded with thousands of people.
I was so happy that finally, I got a chance to meet the people, as I walked around happily with Carl trailing beside me.
Meanwhile, Gwen followed Zara secretly, waiting for the perfect opportunity, that is when she would be alone.
She watched as Zara laughed and related with the people, they all loved her. "Your laughter will be replaced with tears soon," she thought.
"How have you been lady Gwen? I see you handled everything perfectly well," someone said from behind Gwen and she twirled, staring at the person in shock.
"You," Gwen rasped. "How dare you show your face again after what you did?"
"And what did I do lady Gwen?"
"Don't act like you don't know. you were the one who gave me the purple vine to poison Zara, but disappeared after for me to take the blame," Gwen said in a whisper, but enough for the person(the spy) to hear.
"But you are still here Gwen. It means, you are slowly learning, that if you want something, you must be willing to sacrifice. Tell me, Gwen, how did you not get caught, what did you do?"
Gwen scoffed, clenching her fist. "First tell me, why you disappeared?"
"Forget about that Gwen,"
"If you don't tell me, I'll make sure to expose you in front of everyone."
"And how will you do that, who would believe you? Queen Zara and king Carl already trust me so much, do you think they will believe you. Besides what motive do I have to poison the queen, unlike you Gwen...anyway, let bygones be bygones, and let's work together again.
"Just stay away from me, I no longer want to work with you."
"You don't work with me Gwen, you work for me. so I'll suggest you do as I say, or I might decide to expose you, and you won't know how," the spy told Gwen, before walking away.
Gwen stared at her retreating figure, and a dangerous glint flashed across her features. "You don't know that I'm no longer the old Gwen, just wait and see how I get rid of you, little spy.
...
"Come let's dance," Zara said happily to a group of women, and they were gobsmacked.
"Did the queen just ask us to dance with her?" They whispered amongst themselves.
"No, she didn't. we might just be imagining things," one responded.
Zara saw that they were hesitant to come dance with her, so she went ahead to pull two of them, from the group, leading them to the dance floor.
The crowd stared in shock, as Zara danced and laughed happily with them and those who had a bad impression of her, quickly changed it.
Some had thought that Zara, would be proud and boastful since she was a queen, but what they saw left them speechless.
Zara didn't only just dance with them, she also ate with them and carried their children, both the poor and rich.
She didn't care at all if her clothes would get dirty, or smell bad.
After a while, Zara was tired of dancing, and decided to go meet with Carl. she noticed that he has been acting distant, and always seemed to be lost in thoughts.
As she made her to where he was, Gwen came and stood in front of her.
"Queen Zara," said in a mock tone.
"What do you want Gwen?" Zara asked, slightly upset that Gwen was blocking her path.
"You shouldn't be rude to me, I only came here to tell you how happy I am to see you alive, although I can't say the same about your baby."
Zara was gobsmacked when Gwen said that. "what did she mean by that? Maybe I should just ignore her," she thought and decided to walk away.
However, when Gwen saw that Zara ignored her she quickly added, "King Carl didn't tell you that you were poisoned and lost your baby."
Zara stopped abruptly in her track, turning to Gwen.
"What do you mean Gwen?" She asked, giving Gwen a curious look. She immediately became scared.
Seeing that Zara was riled up, Gwen's lips curved into a smirk then she said.
"Didn't Carl tell you? You were poisoned, and lost your baby."
"You are lying Gwen, the physician himself told me that I didn't lose my baby. he said my baby was alright. Catherine also told me that I was asleep for two days, due to a sickness caused by pregnancy, So why are you saying I was poisoned?
Gwen chuckled. She was enjoying the confused and restless look Zara had on her face.
"Who would have thought that you could easily be fooled, Zara? "The truth is that you were unconscious for seven days, due to poisoning. Not only that, but you also lost your baby. And do you know who told them to lie to you, it was your husband, King Carl."
Zara gasped, shaking her head repeatedly. "No it's not true, it's not true," she mumbled.
"It's true Zara, and if you don't believe me, you can as well go ask Carl, but as of now, I'll take my leave," Gwen said, triumphantly walking past a pale Zara who stood motionless.
"Oh, Zara, I forgot to tell you that Carl is getting married to someone else. She is the princess of Nedal and Carl seems to like her a lot."