Mother's POV – 109978
I never thought the day would come when my small, cracked plates would hold food for the King himself.
When he sat, my hands trembled so hard I nearly dropped the tray. But he didn't let me serve like a servant. No… he took the plate from me with his own hands and said, quietly:
"Sit. Eat with me."
I froze. Me? Sit with him? My knees wanted to fall to the ground, but his eyes were firm. So I obeyed.
We sat. My husband, my son, and I… and the King. One plate. One spoon. One meal.
He dipped first, tearing into the pounded yam like a man starved. He ate without disgust, without hesitation, even though the soup was thin and poor. When he chewed, he nodded.
"Good. Real. Not palace food."
I felt shame wash over me — shame at our poverty, shame that this was the meal on my table. But then, when I tried to rise to fetch another plate, he stopped me with a hand.
"No. We share. Tonight, I eat like you."
And so we did.
Piece by piece, swallow by swallow, I watched my King eat from the same plate that fed my family.
The children whispered behind me, too stunned to laugh. My son dared to stretch his spoon into the plate, stealing a piece before the King. I gasped — but Chris only chuckled.
"Good boy. Hunger is bold."
I nearly wept.
The house smelled of soup and sweat, the laughter of children mixed with the silence of fear. My husband sat stiff as a statue, but my son giggled, not knowing the weight of the man beside him.
When the plate was nearly empty, Chris pushed the last piece of meat to my son.
"For the one who was brave enough to invite me."
That broke me. Tears spilled down my face. Not because of fear this time, but because of the strangeness of it all — the most powerful man in the world humbling himself in my house, touching the same food, chewing from the same spoon, blessing my child without even knowing it.
And in my heart, I whispered:
If this is the King's game, then it is a dangerous one. But if it is his truth… then maybe, just maybe, the Blackwood name still carries something human.
---