Kitanna
Chapter 113: RETRIBUTION

Chapter 113: RETRIBUTION

[MUSIC RECOMMENDATION: ADAGIO FOR STRINGS ~ SAMUEL BARBER]

Larel held the baby closely; since the issues started in the palace, little Labre had been sick. As Bareea stopped giving him the utmost attention he needed, in her defense, she was trying to secure a good future for him.

Larel made sure to feed the boy, with plain milk since Bareea wouldn’t agree to do it, and she slept in the same room with the child. The boy had just finished bathing, and Larel was applying oil on his skin. She felt very happy staying close to the baby, a feeling of comfort and warmth came from the child, and every time she felt down, all she had to do was carry the child close to her chest, and she felt better.

"Is he done bathing?" Larel raised her face to see Bareea, whose hands rested on her waist, looking at her like she did something wrong.

"My child, is he done bathing? He needs to visit his father and grandmother." Bareea repeated her question, this time with more clarity.

Larel smiled sadly; moments like these made her remember that the child was not her real child, but it didn’t deter her from loving the boy even more. "Yes, he is. Let me apply a little oil on his skin."

"You can hand him over to me. I’ll take it from here," Bareea interjected. She didn’t like the way Khelan had spoken to her, and looking at Larel now, it really appeared that the child was her son. Bareea decided to change things and make it right.

Larel noticed the way Bareea was now talking to her, and something about it worried her. Not wanting to exchange words with the woman as she is the boy’s mother, Larel carried the baby and handed it over to the mother.

Labre, feeling that he was no longer held by Larel, broke out crying. Even Bareea was shocked at the child’s reaction.

"Shut up!" She warned the child, but this only caused the baby to cry even more.

Larel decided to interfere, "No, don’t do that; here, give him to me." She raised her hand to carry the child when Bareea hit her hand away, pushing it roughly. This act shocked Larel.

"I don’t know what you have done to my child, but I will want you to stay away from him." Saying this, Bareea walked out of the room with the child still crying, desperately trying to hold Larel.

Larel stood at the same point; she looked at her hands which Bareea hit a moment ago, then she brought it down to her side. Turning to look at the bed where the baby things were still lying around, Larel bit her lips.

"If he keeps crying, he will get a fever," the young woman muttered to herself.

Deep inside the royal prison, Almaria’s voice was heard; she kept shouting at the guards on duty.

"Get me out of here!" As the days passed, she was already beginning to lose her mind. She was used to being a person that held power, and a person that commands respect. The days that now passed with her withering away inside the prison without any news of what was going on in the outside world frustrated her the most. It started with her hitting her head on the wall, then advanced to shouting at the top of her voice, demanding to be released.

"Get me out of here!!" Her voice, which was almost becoming hoarse, was heard again.

Deonisia opened her eyes that she shut since in meditation, she moved her neck left and right. "Almaria, you should be hiding yourself, not embarrassing yourself further."

"Big sister, do something. I don’t want to stay here tonight, please. I need to have my milk bath and change into my own dress. These ones are itching my skin." Almaria protested.

Deonisia shook her head; this was the same comment Almaria made every time she asked her to stop talking. It seemed like her cousin was slowly losing her mind.

Deonisia turned her head to look at their mouse, who was now locked in the same prison with them, but her cell was on the opposite side.

"What do you think will be our fate?" The older woman asked.

Misam, knowing that the question was directed to her, raised her eyes to look at Deonisia, and she let out a small laugh, still feeling confident. "The princess would soon ask of me. All she has is but a fragment of her memory; she would need me to fill in some gaps."

Deonisia shook her head slightly, "I think you’re feeling too confident. If the princess should remember on her own what you did to her, then you should be worried about staying alive." She warned the younger woman who was feeling very important.

Misam slightly glared at the older woman, "What I did to her? On whose orders did I carry it out?" She remarked, her face scrunched up in annoyance.

Deonisia threw her head back in laughter, suppressing the urge to even laugh louder.

"Are you saying that you are a good person then? Have you forgotten where I found you? You lowly dirt. You killed your sister because you harbored feelings for her husband, and when the story came to light, you ran away from your village. Pretending to be who you’re not until I found you. Evil knows evil, my child."

Misam felt very bitter when her past story, which she assumed was forever erased in the minds of people, was now being told out.

Almaria stopped soliloquizing when she heard Deonisia speak, and she turned to look at Misam with a scowl on her face, "You killed your own sister. I don’t deserve to stay in the same prison with a sinner like you. You’re the worst." She said, judging Misam with her eyes.

Misam clenched her jaw in anger; it was as if these women now wanted to make her the bad person overnight. "I am the bad person? What about you? Does Khelan know who his father is? You will be separated forever from your son! And he will die an outcast not knowing his real father." Misam poured salt on the open injury. And like expected, Almaria reacted immediately.

"You wench! Don’t you ever mention my son’s name with that filthy mouth of yours! My battle is not over yet." Almaria hit the prison door harshly.

Misam scoffed, "I beg to differ!" She said rolling her eyes.

Almaria tapped Deonisia, who was just listening to the two women come at each other violently. "Did you see that? She is looking down on me! Wait until I leave this place; I will make sure you are punished. I am the Queen dowager."

"Wake up, woman! You’re just Almaria the prisoner." Misam added more insult to injury.

Almaria shrieked, causing the guards to rush inside the prison. She held her hands screaming and scratching her face.

"I am the Queen dowager!!! I am the king’s mother!!" The woman continued to scream, pulling her hair.

Deonisia rested her back on the wall and closed her eyes, "Retribution," she said, inhaling softly.

The guards rushed inside the room and dragged Almaria to another cell room, chaining her hands so she would stop hurting herself.

Alone inside the cell room, Deonisia said to Misam, "Refrain from provoking her. She’s cranky in thesw trial times. We should worry how to leave here, not attack each other."

Misam nodded gently without saying any other thing. She looked around the cell room, and it was enough to drive anyone crazy.

"I sent news out. Let’s be hopeful," Deonisia muttered, but loud enough for Misam’s ears to grasp.