Ejection

The walk back to the boys' quarters was a long one. Fallon felt empty. She dared not speak to Leroy about it. He would call her insane or delusional. He wouldn't believe her.

She wouldn't survive in the four walls of the palace, with the torturing thought of her baby in the hands of Jada and Prince Maxwell. The royal family of Ardenwood would trample on people and anything to get whatever they wanted. There was nothing she could do. She was poor, and she had nobody to turn to for help if things started to go down the drain.

Priya was lulling Danika to sleep when they got to their room. Leroy hated the slur Priya added to her voice whenever she was speaking or singing Hindi. But if it was lulling the baby Danika to sleep, he could deal with it.

Priya didn't ask them anything. She knew better than that. Where she hailed from, it was an offense to ask someone about a dead person.

"Leroy. We have to leave this place."

"Sshhhhhhhh." Priya hushed Fallon quiet.

Fallon swallowed the rest of everything she had wanted to say. She would discuss with Leroy after Priya was gone. Leaving the palace was the only solution to her dilemma. Her baby was somewhere on the other side of the palace. She couldn't live with it. Knowing it was hard enough. Seeing it would be extreme torture.

Priya did not leave until an hour later. As soon as Danika was safely tucked inside her crib, Fallon seized the moment to discuss with Leroy.

"We should relocate." She announced. Leroy whipped his head around to face her.

"Are you alright?" He asked instead.

"I'm fine. I'm not suffering from post delivery trauma. I want us to relocate. We can't have our kids here. The inferiority complex effect will be too much for them. You are the gardener, and I'm the girl you met at a coffee shop. Danika deserves the best."

Leroy shook his head. Where did she want them to go?

"The cost of relocating would be overbearing on us. I'm just a gardener! Buying a house is a ridiculous idea. I don't have enough money. We might start thinking about it when the year is over."

"You want to wait till the year is over? Get a loan, do something. We could rent an apartment. We have to get out of this place. Danika won't be a baby forever. She'll grow and come to understand the fact that she is worth nothing in this palace. I don't want that for her. I'm a victim. I know how hard it is.

I want to be there for her." Her shoulders shook violently as she cried. Leroy went to her and hugged her to his chest.

"We'll do anything you say. For Danika. For us. I promise." She felt wanted in his arms. Leroy was understanding and patient. He loved to reason with her without being judgemental. He was just Leroy. Full of life and love.

Things returned to normalcy. Prince Maxwell had returned to his old self. Happy, jovial and buoyant. But Fallon hated him.

Fallon was trying to change Danika's diapers when someone tapped three knocks on the door. Leroy had gone out into town to buy some seeds for planting season. He wouldn't be back until evening. Fallon nipped both side of the diapers to Danika's small waist and quickly dressed her into an overall.

She carried her in her arms as she went to get the door. She opened it and shrank back in terror. There were three guards standing at the door.

"Where is Leroy?" The one with the scar running down his neck asked.

"He went out into town." Fallon answered. They exchanged glances with each other and murmured to themselves.

They left after. Fallon wondered what they wanted with Leroy. She shut the door and leaned on it. She lowered Danika so she could cradle her in her arms. Danika started blankly at her. Priya was coming to pierce her ears later in the evening so she could wear ear rings.

Priya came later than planned. She dropped her bag on the small table in the room and emptied its contents on it.

"Will it hurt her?" Fallon asked. If she had delivered Danika in a private hospital outside the palace, the nurses would have perforated a hole for her. But as it was, the matron didn't give her the first class treatment.

"No. I will use the pin the earrings to make a hole. But I will first massage her earlobes, especially the lower part with this my oil here to make it soft enough for piercing." Priya explained, raising a small bottle of oil for Fallon to see. Fallon nodded. Priya was four years older and experienced. Fallon had come to like her, despite the fact that she barely Priya.

"I brought gloves too. She might catch an infection if I use my bare hands."

Fallon handed Danika to Priya who played with the baby before getting down to business.

"She won't feel it. I will massage her ear lobes until it gets soft. Soft enough to tear even. Her flesh is still very delicate and soft."

She turned Danika so she was lying face up. Danika began to kick her legs, flailing her arms. She was uncomfortable on Priya's lap. But as soon as Priya began to massage her earlobes, she started to relax.

"See, she is feeling drowsy. She is gaining weight. What have you been feeding her?" Priya joked.

Just then the door opened and Leroy walked in. His steps were like that of a dejected man, and the gloomy expression on his face made him look older than he was.

"Why is your man so sad? I've never seen him wearing a frown before. This is strange." Priya whispered. Fallon agreed. She rose from the bed and went to meet him.

"You're so late today. You don't look happy too. Did you lose some money?" Leroy shook his head and buried his head in his hands.

Priya was humming a song. The song Leroy hated.

"I wish." Leroy answered.

"Is it that bad? What happened?" Fallon was getting curious. She hoped he had not been robbed.

"Some guards were here, weren't they?" Fallon nodded.

"They came to kick us out." Leroy dropped the bombshell.

"I don't understand. Why? They don't want you anymore?" Fallon asked.

"Done." Priya announced. A satisfactory smile was growing on her face, but it faded as quickly as it had come immediately she saw Fallon's pained facial expression.

Danika was sleeping peacefully. Priya rose gently and put the baby in her crib. She went to stand beside Fallon.

"Do you need privacy? I can come back later to get my things." She whispered.

"No. Stay, please. You have come to be like my sister here." Fallon pleaded.

"Okay. But is everything alright?" Priya asked.

"They're kicking us out." Fallon answered. Her eyes were growing teary.

"Kicking you out. Why? Is Roy resigning?"

"No. Roy says he was asked to the king's courthouse this evening. There, they said they would not be able to accommodate us anymore because of the baby." Fallon answered. The tears that she had been forcing back came rolling down onto her cheeks.

"Bhagavaan madad kare. This is bad." Leroy didn't care that Priya spoke Hindi. Fallon wiped her cheeks with the back of her palm.

"Don't cry, Fallon. I have a friend who is a caretaker. She has empty apartments that are not put out for rent. I will talk to her this evening. I'm going to see her tonight for you."

Leroy raised his head. Priya was smiling at him.

"You will? Thank you so much. I really wish things were different. Thank you."

Fallon hugged Priya's large frame, her small hands barely reaching each other behind Priya.

"Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine."

That evening, the plan changed. They were ejected that very night, and Priya had to beg a friend to drive them to her friend's house. Fallon's world was crashing faster than she could catch. She cried all through the drive to Rudolph, where Priya's friend lived; with Danika in her arms.