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CHAPTER 5

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MARIAH 

I looked up into the eyes of my father as he came walking in through the front door, his face gleaming with excitement.I squealed with excitement as I stumbled down the short passage and into his arms, he caught me with his ease....he always did."Hello Papa" I said in my baby voice, I was only 5 years old at the time. still the only child and the apple of my fathers eye.

"Hello baby. Where your mama?" He asked placing me on his hip as he walked further into our small house and to the main room."Hey, hunny" my father greeted, his face still young with age as he smiled widely. I always loved his smile, because it showed how happy he was."Hello, I'm glad your back" my mother said walking to my father and giving him and bug hug and a kiss making me squeal in disgust.

My mother looked at me with a funny face and pulled my face to hers and kissed me.My father was still smiling as he watched our exchange, his eyes bright with fondness.I love you both so much, he had said after that. And my mother and I laughed as we gave him endless hugs and kisses.That was when my mother noticed the bag in my fathers other hand and looked up at him with wonder.

"What have you got there?" She teased as he walked me to the bed and sat me down, smiling all the way as he have my mother a look."So I stopped by the market before coming home and decided to buy us a treat since business has been so good" he said pulling out the strange looking fruits. One for each of us. My mother clapped her hand excitedly as she quickly took one and showed it to me.

"This, baby, is a peach. Here take bite and tell me if you like it" she said placing the fruit in my hands.I looked up at my father and mother with wonder before taking a big bite out of the soft delicacy.

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I woke up with my a pain in my arm, just the same as the day before.I didn't understand what was happening or where I was as I glanced around the room, but then it all came flooding back to me.The porridge, the sandwich, the pasta ... the peach and the king.I sat up and looked around the room, surprised to see that it was empty. Or so I thought until I saw a dark shadow in the corner of the room.  I looked up to see the king, sitting in the corner of the room watching me with dark eyes. As my eyes met his he grimaced and stood up, walking towards me.

"Why didn't you tell me? What didn't you tell the maids?" He asked lowly sitting at the foot of the bed. I looked up at him in fear before stuttering out a reply."F-forgive me, your highness, but-but I did try to tell you" my voice was hoarse from the pain in my throat as I turned to reach for the glass of water placed on the table beside the bed.He nodded his head and stood up. His regretful appearance now gone as he seemed to come to terms that he didn't actually care for me.

"Make a list of things you are allergic to and give it to one of the maids. After that you will follow her down to the kitchen were you will be working from now on" he said and just as he spoke the door opened and a man walked in."Your majesty" the man said as he bowed, "I'm here to check on the girl".  The king nodded his head before allowing the man to come toward me with medical tools and supplies all in a box.

"Good afternoon, young lady" the man said with a smile. " you were out quite a while, almost made me scared you wouldn't wake up" he joked making me laugh a little, but the king didn't seem to find the joke as amusing as I did, when he let out a low threatening growl. The doctor paled and proceeded to check my pulse and my throat before feeling my forehead for a fever and my hands for any signs of swelling.

Once he was done he smiled and wrote a few notes on the clipboard. " well. You seem to be doing just fine, little lady. But I do suggest drinking a lot of water and fruit juice. You lost a lot of liquids during the process of extracting the content of your stomach so your extremely dehydrated. " the doctor said kindly before exiting the room.The king followed shortly after but not before reminding me to give the maid the list and then follow her.

He left me piece of parchment and a little but of ink on a pen, I wasn't allergic to much, just all some fruit. My mother had told me it came from my father's side of the family, but the funny thing is that my father had told me the same thing about her.After my first reaction with the peach and my second one with a plum I never had one again, I kept far away from all exotic fruit sticking strictly to apples, bananas and oranges, until now . My parents kept me far from any fruit of the sort that they thought I could be allergic to and even the ones I wasn't.

After the first scare they became a lot more paranoid.

"My baby, my baby" my mothers wails broke though the endless black of my unconsciousness. My eyes cracked opened as o saw my father holding my mother in my arms with tears in his eyes.

"What's wrong with Mama, Papa?" I asked groggily as I sat up slowly. His eyes went wide as he saw me awake and pulled me into a tight hug, mama hanging not even a second later.

"Oh my baby." My father said sadly, "Papa is so sorry, it's his fault you got sick" he said kissing my forehead tenderly.  That was when I noticed that I wasn’t in my room, or even my house. I recognized the room as the one in the village hospital and I began to wonder what had happened.

"Mama? Papa? Why are we at the hospital?" I asked as I saw the needle in my arm. My bottom lip quivered as I try to pull it out but my father stopped me telling me not to touch it. I remember crying for hours a night the needle until one if the nurse came and took it out for me.

I cried for another hour that as well. And that was how I found out about my allergy to peaches.