6 Helena Does Her Bit.

Sorrentino decided he had to tell someone else about the situation. He needed another point of view to make sense of it. But the few castle guards he confided in were flippant. "Stop being paranoid Sorrentino." One fellow had said. "If anyone wanted to poison us, I assure you they wouldn't be this obvious." Another man shrugged. "It's just a gesture, nothing more. I bet the good King put them up to this. And well deserved if you ask me. That's why Malcolm will always be my King." Helena as well did not seem to see anything wrong when he went to see her a week later. The king had gone off on one of his annual tours around the kingdom so as long as they remained discreet, it was much easier to meet. Sorrentino after slipping in made sure he remained in the shadows of her bedchamber in case someone should burst in suddenly. "You don't need to worry yourself." Helena had said lazily. She was as big as a house now due anytime. "I can assure you that the king has forgotten about me. When we do get away from here, we may not need to rush. In fact, we may just stroll out of here comfortably with Malcolm Corrad himself waving us goodbye." Sorrentino had chuckled at the mental image of the king waving goodbye as he and Helena set out. It would be one hell of an occurrence for sure. Then he went out to bring her up to speed with the new feeding arrangements. Helena had listened patiently. "What are you thinking Max?" She asked when he was through. "Surely you don't think they plan to poison the guards or anything like that? If that’s the plan, isn't it rather a bit too obvious?" "That's what some of the other fellows said too." Sorrentino frowned. "And besides, it's been about a week now isn't it?" Helena continued. "And so far nobody has dropped dead." Sorrentino was frowning harder now. He dropped to a squat and held his head. "I know what I heard." He insisted. "I don't know what the reason is but I can assure you that these happenings are not ordinary. What if the idea is not to poison the guards?” He straightened again and began to pace back and forth. “What if there’s something else going on?” “Like what?” Helena asked promptly. Sorrentino stopped short and considered the question. Well, like what really? He did not know. He could not think of anything else apart from poison. "I have not been eating their food anyway." He finally said lamely. Helena looked at him sympathetically and considered for a bit. "Okay, I can see this matter is eating you up. So why not just shadow the maid in question for a while?" She suggested. "If there's something really up, she should soon lead you to the answer." "Of course!" Sorrentino exclaimed. The answer was so incredibly simple, he was wondering why he had not even thought about it earlier. "Here am I, spending the whole week worrying and worrying when I should simply have done that. I'm losing my edge." "You see, that's why you need me in your life." Helena batted an eyelid flirtatiously and was rewarded with a quick kiss from Maxwell. "And that's why I love you." He said grinning. "Stop it." Helena said but she was also grinning from ear to ear. They spent the next few minutes in companionable silence. Sorrentino took a look around the room where Helena was lodged. Though the king had put him in charge of lodging her here, he had simply delegated it to someone else again. He had been way too distraught at the time. There wasn't anything too out of place really. At least what you wouldn't expect in a bedroom chamber. The big four-poster bed, the dressing table with a mirror, the closet, the portrait of the sunrise on a winter day behind the bed, the big tub in a corner… "Wait a minute," Sorrentino strode over to the portrait and examined it carefully. "What are you doing?" Helena asked. "Remember that room the King requested you should be taken to that first night?" "Yeah, what about it?" "I am sorry. I know you don't want to relive that. We came into that room through a secret entrance. I'm just wondering if your room also has the same feature." "I couldn't care less where you came in through that day." Helena said. Sorrentino knew she did not want to talk about that day at all. He understood and fell silent. He had been a fool to bring it up in the first place. He examined the portrait in the meanwhile. Just like the one he had seen that day in the corridor, it was in fact not nailed to the wall; only hanging on a nail. He lifted it off to reveal a panelled wall similar to how the section in the corridor had looked. Excitedly, he started tapping at it the same way he had seen the king do it. But before anything happened, they heard footsteps outside. Sorrentino immediately replaced the portrait and dived out of sight in one fluid motion. And it was well he did so for who should come in then but Malcolm Corrad; the King! "My dear Helena," The King spread his arms out. "My word, you look like you're about to burst." "No, no, sit back down. Don't be silly." He said immediately as the pregnant woman attempted to get up and curtsy. From where he was well hidden, Sorrentino's brow furrowed. What was the king doing here? He had merely left the castle just the previous day. He was not supposed to be back for at least another two months. But here he was, as large as life. Helena was wondering the same thing too. "My Lord, forgive me for saying this but it's quite a surprise to see you here today. I was told you had departed for your annual tour. Is my Lord in fine health?" Sorrentino silently chuckled to himself. Where did Helena learn to use that manner of expression? She probably hoped the man was not in good health too. "Well, I am as fine as can be." Malcolm said easily. He strode over to the woman seated in the chair and bent to listen at her immense belly. "My brother and one other member of the cabinet sent an urgent message after me. Apparently, there's an issue to be resolved soon. Quite frankly, I don't know what's up with them but my brother has been acting strange lately. I thought to oblige him a bit. Besides, I don't really feel up to a tour this year haha!" He laughed pleasantly. "Hey, this little fella in there is kicking healthy and good alright I say. He's going to be a prince you know." "Or princess." Helena responded automatically. The King laughed again. He was in a good mood it would seem. "Have it your way." He said. "But I'm telling you, it's going to be a boy." He stayed around for a bit longer before leaving. Sorrentino waited a bit longer in his hiding place before he too exited the room.