23: One step is all it takes

Rivan looked at the building before him, it looked like the very symbol of a ghost house, no one would have imagined that a building that was once bright, a home that was so happy would turn to a place of broken dreams.

He entered after knocking to no avail, the lights were all out, he looked to inspect the bulbs or rather the broken shards that now remained.

"Master Ceria" an elderly man came limping in with an injured arm, he was the head steward of the house "when did you arrive?"

"Not long ago? I knocked but no one answered" he asked inspecting the house, he caught sight of some servants peeping, fear in their eyes, they looked like they were begging for help.

"How is your mistress?" he turned to the butler

The older man kept mute for a while fumbling for what he might say "would you like to see her? I will take you to her"

With that they went up the stairs to Melinda's room.

The butler wanted to announce Rivan's presence, but the latter stopped him and sent him off.

He stealthily slipped into the room, shocked by the scene. Melinda, who was still unaware of the second person, in the room was drinking, and by the looks she'd done nothing but drink, her face was puffy and her eyes were red.

"It's funny how violent and shocking a fall can be" Rivan's voice startled Melinda who feverishly turned.

"What do you want?" She asked in a tone impressive for someone who was drunken to stupor.

"It's a miracle that you're still alive" he commented as he picked up the many arrays of bottles and put them aside.

"Answer me?" She yelled, throwing the bottle in her hands at him, he dodged but a shard hit him in the brow. He groaned as if he just encountered a minor inconvenience.

"Are you out of your mind? What am I even asking?"

Before he himself could think, he went to her bathroom and picked a bucket of water that looked like it'd been left out for days.

Melinda cocked her head confused at the sight before her "just what are you do—" SPLASH!!!

Cold water slapped her senses out of her and in the speed of light back into her, and warmth was violently snatched from her. She screamed and fell down shivering.

Rivan swallowed hard, guilty at his actions but he knew it had to be done, he stepped outside and called loud enough for anyone to hear

"Draw a hot bath for your mistress" three maids came scurrying

"Be fast, she's shivering and let her know she must see me when's she's done"

He went downstairs and was met with an apologetic and grateful look from the butler

"In the short time, she's getting ready, bring this house back to a semblence of it being habitable, I want to be able to see her face when I talk"

"Understood" the butler answered and quickly went ahead to see that Rivan's orders were carried out.

Sometime later, as the maids hurried to arrange the house, Melinda sat facing a disappointed Rivan.

She looked at his wounded eyebrow sympathetic "I'm sor–"

"Here, have it" he cut in handling her a red tablet "detoxifying medicine for all that alcohol"

She took it shyly and looked away, still embarrassed.

Rivan sighed and looked around "let's take a walk outside I can't think with all this walking about" he said referring to the haphazard restoration work that the house was undergoing.

As they quietly walked, Rivan slowed his pace taking his time to look at Melinda's silhouette, his heart ached, he was distraught and traumatized to see the woman he loved drive her self to the point of self destruction. He wanted to the bigger person and the better man but a big part of him wanted to know why she was so ready and why she so quickly wanted to destroy herself. Would it bring himself peace if he knew the reason? Would he be able to understand her better if she explained herself?

He sighed, he knew deep down that he wanted her to say a particular thing that would make him feel like he was wrong and that she wasn't becoming a monster and even if she was, he wanted to stop her from reaching the point of no return.

"How many days has it felt like to you?" He called out making her stop walking

"What?"

"I said; how many days has it felt like to you?"

She wryly chuckled and sat down on the soft grass, looking at the sky.

"I lost a grasp of the meaning of time, some moments went by so fast it seemed like it never happened or so slow that I thought I was living on loop"

"Did you feel cold or hot?"

Melinda raised her eyebrow at his question and just shrugged "I can't remember, I don't exactly know but, I felt like i was stripped naked in a furnace but I thought I would die of hypothermia"

Rivan clenched his jaw, he was feeling bitter; she had gone through so much but for what? He could ask all the questions in the world but not that.

"How are you so ready and willing to answer my questions?"

"I just...maybe it's my feeling of gratitude. The fact that you were here for me in my hard time"

"Do you hate Qaya?" He stuttered knowing this was not what he really wanted to ask.

"You mean Ms. Heris? Why would I?"

"Did all this not happen because of her engagement to the king? Or am I mistaken, is this love for her, because you're aware the king is a terrible person"

Melinda laughed and for a oddly long time too. When she stopped her expression was sour.

"There's only so much information my gratitude to you, can get you" she stood up and headed for her home.

Rivan held her back and immediately regretted his actions but he couldn't just look like a fool.

"What is the matter?" She asked coldly

"Get yourself together, you once told me that above all you wanted to be happy. You can get happiness just living like...I think you understand. And the king summoned you at the last minister meeting, meet him as soon as possible and be strong"

And with that, certain that he had delayed his 'friend's' impending doom, he left with his heart now with an extra crack.

****

Qaya smiled in happiness as the heavenly steak melted in her mouth, she gave a hum of approval and shook giddily. Zachary laughed, charmed at her display

"I am glad you like it" he commented and went back to reading his book.

Qaya had now been living in the palace for over a week and was in better spirits, she'd won the hearts of the officials and vassals and was doing her job well. And to make things better, she had only seen Awin once since she arrived.

"Where is Awin?" She asked between mouthfuls of food

"He travelled for a meeting with the world leaders today, we might not see him for a month"

She smiled and pushed her plate away, she wasn't so happy especially since she knew that once he came back he would ask that their marriage take place but at least she had time to put her life in order.

She was done with her meal and stretched, satisfied with the feast.

"Will you keep reading? You must have nothing to do" she asked curious as to why he was waiting with her.

He sighed and closed his book "I asked for leave, I'm supposed to leave for my home country, my father summoned me"

"And you've not left?"

"Don't fret, I'll leave when it's time" he chuckled and rose to his feet

"But now I'm worried that my absence will serve you an ulterior motive, you seem eager for me to leave" he half joked

She flinched and nervously laughed "it's just, you visit me too much people will start to talk"

This seemed like a reasonable concern but Qaya lied, she didn't trust him well enough to let him know what she was up to, after all, he was Awin's loyal servant. The earlier he left, the easier it would be for her to visit the guild and get information about the slave market.

Zachary nodded understanding her argument, "do not worry, I won't do anything to sully the throne's name"

Qaya grew quiet and looked at him with thorough scrutiny "is your loyalty to the Awin or the king of Easteford?"

He kept quiet for a while looking confused and lost "would differentiating change anything?"

"No, it won't" she said dejectedly and walked over to the window, peeping at the man who was smoking just outside.

"Zachary, do you think Awin is tailing me?"

"I imagine, he would want to know everything about you"

"I don't want that, though" she pouted "may I ask for a favour"

Zachary bowed his head "I have to know what you want"

"Just 1 hour, 1 hour where I'm left alone, that's what I want"

Zachary sighed

***

"You're here?" Awin smiled as Melinda walked in, an uninterested expression plastered on her face.

"Well, you called for me. Why are we meeting here though?" She asked. They were in a shabby hut in a local farm, it was where Awin's stable hand lived.

"I'm supposed to be out of the country you see, so I can't appear anywhere for now"

She shrugged and tried to shake off the utter disgust she felt. Yes, she was once poor but it wasn't the bad.

"Why did you call for me?"

"Should there be any special reason? You refused to show up in any of the meetings and

You haven't done anything of worth with 'the Harbinger' since, Qaya Wright would never have neglected her duties"

Melinda winced, with each passing second she wanted to erupt, to scream in this man's face that Qaya Wright was long dead and he should shut up, but she couldn't crack in front of him and let him see her as less of a human being than he already sees her. She managed to force a smile.

"Forgive my negligence, I will get to work immediately"

Awin rolled his eyes unimpressed "there's someone I need you to take care of"

Melinda swallowed.

*****

"What do you mean?" Qaya almost shouted at the lady before her.

She was in a restaurant with a young lady from the people investigating the slave market. Thanks to Zachary's kindness, she'd managed to leave the palace without anyone tailing her and went to a dessert parlor where she was now talking to this soft spoken staff of the guild.

"You heard me, ma'am" the lady confirmed whispering to remind Qaya that their conversation was a private one.

"It's just shocking"

"I understand your feelings, our investigation just got harder"

Qaya sighed, she had not expected this revelation that; at the same time she was emancipated, Awin had freed all the slaves in Zajey.

"What about the people that were freed, how are they living now?"

"That's the thing....they are nowhere to be found"

"The ones we managed to find out about either committed suicide or died from illnesses contracted in captivity"

Qaya bowed her head and thought hard, what on earth was Awin planning? As time passes, she began to realize that there were so many layers to Awin that she could never understand and worse was that she couldn't shake the conk feeling of apprehension, no matter how she thought about it, something untoward was happening.

She passed a decorative bag to the other lady. It, on a first glance, appeared to be a shopping bag but when the other lady checked it, she found money in it.

"This is more than we agreed"

"It's only fair you get more money, the work has become more complicated amd demanding"

The lady nodded and took a bite of her souffle.

"I'll try and help your investigation but I require the utmost user privacy meaning I'll need to speak directly to your boss"

The lady looked around apprehensively and gave a dry smile.

"I'm the boss"

"You are?" She asked surprised by the fact that the boss was talking to her

"We're actually three"

Qaya wanted to ask more questions but she didn't want to offend the young woman. Also, she didn't just want to trust the words of just anybody but the more she thought about it, the more she felt it didn't matter. Even if she got ratted out, she had this gut feeling that Awin wouldn't kill her, at least not immediately.

"Well, the person that I wanted you to investigate is Qaya Wright, you might have heard of her, she was the person murdered in the recent court case"

"I want to know how she got in the slave market"

The woman paid the bill and kept quiet until the server was out of sight. "This will take a lot of investigating so we might not be able to give you feedback on time, are you okay with that"

"I won't lie, I need the information as soon as possible, but then again I said as soon as possible"

The other lady raised her eyebrow for a second and smiled in understanding.

As Qaya left the building grateful that she used her one hour judiciously with time to spare.

But she met Rivan at the door, looking troubled.

"What's the matter?" She asked looking round hoping no one was looking at them.

"Someone wishes to see you" he answered.