Chapter One

Sophia stared at the pregnancy test kit in her hand and prayed from the depth of her heart that it showed only one line.

"Please, please, please,"

 She muttered in fear. But her prayers weren't answered because, like the previous three test kits that she had used, it showed two lines.

"No, no, no, please no,"

 She pleaded to wish for it to be a dream, but she knew it wasn't, she was pregnant and the baby, the baby belonged to the king, she sat down in the toilet and bowed her head as tears dripped from her eyes.

What had she expected when she had slept with the king without protection, it was all her fault.

Now, what is the going to do? She didn't have anyone here to talk to, she came here for work and the only people she knew where wee co-palace works, she couldn't talk to them either, because they were all part of the kingdom, she was like the only foreigner working here, once upon a time her life has been in Briscout, she had been a Nurse and even though her life wasn't that great back then, she had been happy but even that small form of happiness had ended when her whole family was killed, her dad mixed with the wrong crowd which got their family in a mess, leaving her mom, dad and younger brother dead. she had been the only one to survive and she had run away looking for where to hide and had found this palace, far away from home and with no family members, it became her safe place, but now she has ruined that by getting involved with the king, she bit down hard on her lips trying to calm herself.

She was living in the palace under a fake identity, the fact that it has not been discovered this past two years didn't mean it won't be found out, this wasn't the way she wanted it to.

"What do I do now?"

She asked herself, she couldn't stay in this palace and give birth, they are gonna want to know who the father of the child is, and if they find out, they would force her to have an abortion or they will take her baby away from her when it is born, she had watched one of the king's brother's mistress have her baby taken away, while she was made to leave the palace, she couldn't let the same happen to her, even if leaving the palace means they might find her again and probably complete the work they were unable to finish,

If she stayed here, there was a possibility of them finding out she is living here under a fake identity, this was messed up, she should have known better than getting involved with the king, what's more, the king didn't seem to remember anything, because, he acted just the way he used to act, not asking her a thing, not talking about the night.

"This is messed up,"

Abortion is not even in the picture because there was no way she would kill her unborn child, not when the baby just became her only living family member.

She left the bathroom after making sure the pregnancy kits were properly disposed of, she walked into the room she shared with Diva, Diva is a native and is working in the palace longer than her, she will be leaving at the end of the month as she is getting married soon, she wished she had a family or anyone to go to.

"Hey Sophia, the king asked to see you."

Diva said as she walked into the room.

"What? Why?"

"Hmm, does the king need a reason to call on his maid? Well the only way to find out is to go and meet him, you should hurry though, I heard he is in a bad mood, his wife to be is arriving at the palace soon and he still hasn't made any preparations to receive her,"

Another thing that made leaving the palace the best idea, even if it means her life would be in danger again. The King was getting married, she couldn't jeopardize the king's upcoming wedding with her stupid mistake, she had to leave the palace soon before she starts showing, which would begin soon since she was already about two months gone, going by the date she slept with the king.

The King, King Lance, the third has been ruling for over five years, and despite his scandalous way, he was a good king who loves his people and they love him too by the way they were always so happy to see him and one can only hear good things about the king, as the king, he was allowed to have as many women as he wanted so his womanizing ways weren't wrong in the eyes of the people of Otano, but for her, she saw it as a flaw, so why had she let the king have his way with her? Just why? And now she was in deep trouble because of a moment that would have been avoided, a moment that only she remembered

Sophia walked fast towards the king's chamber wondering what she was needed for again.

"Look who finally showed up,"

The King said clapping his hand.

"I am sorry I took so long your majesty,"

Sophia bowed apology.

"I don't need you to apologize, I need you to run some errands for me and you are the only one I can trust to do this without spreading it,"

"What may that be my King?"

"Nothing much, you just need to deliver a package to an address that I will give you, you are not to look or talk about it to anyone, do you understand?"

"Yes, your majesty, but to whom do I have to deliver this?"

She asked already thinking of who it would possibly be, she could guess it must be one of his many women, maybe he was trying to let some off now that he was about to be married.

"You will know once you get there, bear in mind that what I am giving you is worth millions of Otano dollars and you will pay if anything happens to it,"

He warned, Sophia wished he would just send someone else and not make her go through this stress and in fear at that, what if she loses it? She didn't have any money to pay back, all the money she had in this world wasn't up to a million, God helps her poor soul, she was next to penny less, the palace doesn't pay enough to meet her regular needs and still collect tax from the little pay, she only works at the palace because it was the only place she could hide safely and might be the only place a foreigner can work in Otano, the people of Otano were friendly but would rather give to their own than to a foreigner.

"Yes, my king,"

She replied waiting for him to give her what he had but he just stood there, she couldn't look up at him so her head stayed down.

"My king?"

She called when after two minutes he didn't say a word.

"Oh, here it is,"

He said finally handing her a bag, it wasn't big, just of the right size, maybe it was jewelry, she thought.

"That's all you may go, the driver will take you, once you give it to the household, come back to the palace right away, I have a few things to talk to you about, do you understand?"

"Yes, my king,"

She said as she left, she wondered what he wanted to talk to her about, it couldn't be because of what happened that night, he didn't remember, even if he did, he won't talk to her about it, he might just see it as another one of his conquests, she was just one in his numerous ranges of women, or maybe he found out her real identity, she couldn't kill herself by thinking of what it might be, so she decided to just wait it out, here what he had to say when she gets back

Before leaving the palace, first, she went back to her room to dress warm, the weather was cold at this time of the year and she needed layers and layers of clothes to keep her way, after dressing up properly, she took the package with her and walked the distance to where the palace driver who usually take the king out was waiting for her, she expected to see a guard too but maybe the king doesn't want a lot of people to know because when she got in the car, the driver started off the car.

"Are we going alone?"

Sophia asked, usually, when any maid leaves the palace for official reasons, they are accompanied by a royal guard.

"Yes,"

That was all the driver said, she wasn't used to him so she just sat quietly as he drove out of the palace?

"How long before we get to where we are going?"

Sophia asked the royal driver, they have been driving for hours, they were now at the outskirts of the kingdom, she knew because the bushes were now more than the houses, and the last house they saw was about thirty minutes drive ago, who could the king want to deliver a package for at this part of the kingdom, the royal driver didn't respond to her question, which raised her anxiety, where could they be going, she didn't have a phone so she couldn't check her GPS, they weren't given phones in the palace, if anyone wanna talk to their family, then they have to use the general phone, she didn't have anyone so she has never used it.

"Excuse me? Where are we going to? We have been driving for hours and there are no houses in this area,"

She said again, the driver didn't answer but he slowly came to a stop, there were still no houses, which made his stopping suspicious.

"I was happy you weren't asking any questions, why do you have to start questioning me now?"

"What do you mean by that, you have been driving for hours and we are not getting to where we are going, just where are we going to?"

She asked as the driver got out of the car and went to the back, when he came back, he had something in his hand that made her fear for her safety, he had a gun.

"What? What's the meaning of this?"

She asked in fear.

"This? This is to shut you up until we get to where we are going, one word for you, and you are gone,"

He said sternly, igniting more fear in her, she couldn't tell what was about to happen.

"What's going on? I don't get why do you have a gun? Where are you taking me to? Is this the king's instruction?"

Sophia asked, she was scared but keeping quiet won't help her either, she already knew she was in trouble as the driver got out again, came back and gagged her mouth, tied her hands, she tried to struggle but he was much bigger and stronger than her, she sat there, hands tied and mouth gagged waiting for her fate...