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She kept quiet. Breathing harshly, sweat poured from her face. She was in a lot of pain. The king noticed. He let go of her hand and stood, then walked to the table and poured water into the wooden cup. He took it back to her and raised her head slightly. “Here, drink this.”

She followed his instructions and drank as much as she could. Afterwards, he set the cup beside him.

“You can’t take another