24: Old wounds can't heal again

Qaya looked at Rivan apprehensively, she tried to guess who wanted to see her and for what reason the person needed to talk to her that could make the normally uninterested Rivan pensive.

When she could no longer tolerate the suspense she groaned "who's this person I'm about to see?"

They were riding in Rivan's carriage away from his residency and she was in a very uncomfortable disguise made to make her look like an elderly nanny.

Rivan frowned at her outburst, but he couldn't blame her, she had very little time to be away from the palace before her designated spy would start searching for her.

"On the bright side with the one hour headstart and my disguise, it will be difficult to find me" she consoled herself and turned to Rivan annoyed

"Answer my question"

The man sighed "I secretly got into contact with the family of the person whose corpse you stole?"

Qaya gasped "are you dense? For what reason would you do that?"

He rolled his eyes and continued "I wanted them to at least know where to meet their mother and not go and mourn some carcass that Awin had his men throw there"

Qaya sighed, she understood his point but boy, was Rivan reckless, or more accurately put, he was too trusting.

"Her daughter said she wanted to say something about Ms. Wright, so I naturally thought you would be the best person to meet for that"

Her interest was piqued and she was a little bit apologetic for insulting him when all he was doing was helping her investigation.

They got to the house, it was in a secluded place in the outskirts of the main town, and by the looks of it, the occupants had moved to this residence recently.

A woman came to greet them, she was swaddling a baby and seemed very busy.

"Welcome Lord Rivan"

"A tad excessive, don't you think?" he replied shocked by her display, she was practically prostrating before him, at least she should consider the child in her bossom.

The lady turned to Qaya deadpan, it seemed she was waiting for an introduction.

Rivan cleared his throat "she's a close friend of Ms. Wright and the one who sought for the justice of..."

"Ma'am, I want you to know that my mother was innocent" she cut in, desperately holding unto Qaya, the latter gave her smile and took the child from her hands, the baby was quite the beauty.

"I know that she was framed, after all I know the actual culprit, I see Rivan did not tell you I was the one who broke out your mother's corpse, I hope you're not too offended"

The girl managed to chuckle and lead them into her abode "I normally would, stealing a loved one's remains is a sensitive matter, but with the circumstances it happened and the end result, I feel more gratitude than anger towards you"

"I am glad" Qaya answered tickling the baby "how old is he?"

"My nephew, ah I'm not exactly sure, he should be around 10 months to a year. You see he's my elder brother's son, he was left in my care three months ago"

"Where's your brother?"

"That rascal? He ran away along time ago, he got some girl pregnant and they abandoned the child. He didn't even properly meet me, just dropped the poor boy on the threshold, with a letter."

"It's only the both of you left, is it?"

The woman sighed and nodded in resignation.

"It's been hard ever since my mother died, especially since it was avoidable"

Qaya raised her eyebrow and turned to Rivan "what do you mean?"

"That night, she appeared very scared and guilty when she got home"

"That's natural, by my calculations, the corpse was put there to frame Sir Milton, your mother must have seen the corpse" Qaya reasoned

The lady shook her head "no, that's not it...she was different. And the guilt she had was not something about that particular night but something she had done a long time ago"

"Could you explain further?" Rivan cut in, settling down. The story was becoming interesting.

"That night, she came home pale and cold, as cold as a dead body...I warmed her some ginger ale and we sat here... exactly where we are sitting now"

"She asked me if I had done something bad, the kind, I couldn't forgive myself for. I answered no, she seemed pleased and begged it remained that way because even if I tried to atone for my sin, it'd be too late"

"Naturally, I was perturbed and I probed her asking that she tell me what happened and all she said was this; 'today, I visited the farm of sins, I'll reap what I have sown'. That night she was quiet and fearful throughout, looking around. Then I heard her praying for one Qaya to forgive her, not long after...I discovered her..."

She broke down in tears, Rivan handed her an handkerchief, that she gladly accepted.

"I'm really sorry" This was Qaya

"it's okay... really. While I am certain that my mother didn't kill that lady, I know that in her youth, she dabbled in disgraceful things"

"Are you certain of this?"

She nodded "you see my late father was a top personnel at Zajey and that's where he met my mother...do you Zajey? It's a horrible, horrible place and my parents did so many evil things to innocent people. I imagine all the things our family has passed through is the price of my parents' actions"

Qaya was quiet for a while, she handed the baby back to his aunt and got lost in thought. Things just got more complicated. For a moment it seemed that she was close to uncovering the truth but she just came to the realization that all she had done was just untangle a measly portion of a giant convoluted net. The lady's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"I've witnessed things, and I know i should not defend my parents actions but they were a product of their environment, they only had an illusion of choice when in truth their hands were tied. I plan to absolve and repent of their sins, on their behalf"

"Morgan, what do you mean?" This was Rivan asking

"I'll help investigate what my mother was so guilty of. I don't know why but I think what she was involved in was bigger that just human trafficking, as bad as that sounds"

"This is risky, you know that" Qaya asked walking up to Morgan.

"As long as my nephew is safe, I'm alright. Though I have a selfish request to ask"

"Tell me"

"You're the future queen, you can guarantee the safety of my nephew and..."

"And what?"

"I do not want him to be related to this despicable family, he's so precious, he does not need to share in our punishment. Please..." Now Morgan was shaking, basically convulsing with held back tears and desperation. She really was about to make a shameless request. A request so shameless, she couldn't dare utter.

"I do it, I'll adopt your nephew"

Qaya's statement shocked everyone in the room. "What?" Rivan and Morgan asked in unison.

" I just wanted you to give him a noble name and have a family adopt him"

"And I did just that. Didn't I? But one thing still concerns me"

"What?"

"Won't this child need a nanny?"

***

The whole room was tense, at that moment it felt like a crime to breathe.

In the future queen's room were a row of servant praying fervently that at the end of the day, their heads were still on their necks. And the cause of this fear and newly strengthened faith in God was none other that Awin. He was seething with rage.

"So you all could not keep one woman? Are you that incompetent?" He thundered trying his hardest to not hit the closest person to him.

"What's all this ruckus about?" This voice gave everyone mixed feelings; the servants were not sure if they should be happy or fearful that Qaya had returned and to make matters worse, she had strange company. The king was too angry to even notice that.

"Where were you?" He asked, his voice grave

"My, this information must be gold. If you have a problem with me having freedom of movement you should have locked me in the room or be more liberal and just chain me"

Awin snickered "maybe I should do that next time"

"But I doubt you'd be competent enough to do that"

Qaya's statement made the servants stiff, with each passing moment, they felt like this woman was pushing them to their coffins, why was she being so disrespectful to the king in their presence?

"If you wish to have something, just say it, I'll have someone get it for you" Awin stated trying to keep the peace but Qaya was hardly interested.

"Point taken" she answered nonchalantly and turned to a servant, the room across this one, prepare it for the child.

"The what?" Awin asked in shock

Qaya laughed and took the baby from Morgan's arms "you must have thought I was holding a doll. Awin don't you think you have too much faith in our technology?"

"What nonsense is this?" This time Awin was mad with rage.

"Everyone out!" Qaya commanded and settled down as every other person scurried out of the room in relief.

With only her and Awin in the room, she didn't fear anything. "I apologize, I thought our relationship was one where we didn't need to consult the other, I mean, that's practically how this relationship came to be"

"I am a king! Why would I need to consult you?"

"I'm not surprised, that's what a queenless king would say."

"Excuse..."

A servant's knock interrupted them.

"What's the matter?"

"Rachel Esquire is here to see you, my lady"

Qaya's expression changed immediately from spiteful to glad.

"Really? I'll be down in a minute. My king, why don't we put a pin on this and continue some other time?"

As Qaya skipped away paying no heed to the king, he turned to his personal bodyguard, who recently entered the room to inform the king of a meeting.

"Call off the person tailing Qaya, I think the person I should pay more attention is that foolish rat, I don't know what but his loyalty is declining"

The bodyguard nodded and got to work.

***

"It's been long, Madame Rachel"

"How are you?" Rachel asked in a tone that showed that she was asking a genuine question.

"Like I'm in a rat trap" she answered wistfully but quickly laughed not wanting to ruin the mood.

"Are you not preparing for the exams?"

Qaya kept mute, she'd almost forgotten about that, she didn't know if she wanted to be like Madame Rachel anymore, so much was happening in her life, she couldn't have time to study.

"I came to let you know that we'll resume lectures tomorrow"

Qaya was about to object when she had an amazing idea, she could have her meetings with the guild now, with ease because she had an excuse to leave the palace.

"Shall we have them in your office?" She asked with a mischievous smile.

***

".. So you see, unlike other societies, Easteford correction system is based on the principle of remorse and penance, we may operate a secular legal system but even that is heavily influenced by the Gal..."

Qaya sighed, Rachel was overhauling her with so much information, she must really be serious.

"Madame, I thought we would just start with basics"

"Basics? Did you not read the books I gave you?"

"Well...you know so much as been happening in my life ..."

"Pen this down, I need you to give me a 1000-word essay, commenting on the relationship of the topics of the books I gave you"

"What?!!"

"That's not all, submit it two days from now"

"Madame Rachel..."

"I do not care for your sob stories, I've been more than generous giving you two days"

Qaya groaned, this was too much even for Rachel. "I'll try my best"

As the class went on, with Qaya hating herself, it seemed like there was a commotion outside. Rachel paused and tried to access the situation.

"Why on earth are they making so much noise?" She mumbled

Just then, someone walked in, anxiety and excitement on his face.

"Madame Rachel, your attention is needed in the board room"

The older woman cocked her head, annoyed by the interruption.

"What for?"

"Apparently, a serious allegation has been brought to light and we need your insight"

"What's so serious that a board meeting is being called?"

"The Harbinger...is saying that the Ceria family is guilty of tax evasion and embezzlement"

Rachel rolled her eyes and put her teaching paraphernalia away "are we really taking Melinda Charmale serious?"

"No, this time...it might be true and what's unsettling is that there are claims that the Ceria family is siphoning this stolen funds into something much more devious"

"I see this matter has become complicated, that's why my help is requested"

"Yes"

Rachel turned to Qaya "see this as more time to prepare for your assignment" she briskly walked out of her office, leaving Qaya to her thoughts.

"Madame Rachel, I really wish that were the case, that I could focus on my assignment" but she knew in her heart that that was a false hope. She just heard more distressing news. She thought after the whole case with Sir Milton, that Melinda would take a break...so what was this? And why would she pin it on Rivan's family?

The best thing she could do was lie low, if she went to visit Rivan, she could get tied up in the drama and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Maybe I SHOULD really focus on getting the assignment done"

***

It's been three days after The Harbinger's most recent publication about House Ceria's misdeeds and while they vehemently denied the allegations, many people were giving testimonies against them, so the people that normally didn't take the Harbinger serious still decided to look into the issue.

An adhoc investigation team was made comprising of Esquire Rachel, competent accountants, police, detectives and auditors. And the whole situation was looking like there was no end to the string that they were untying.

"I still feel that there's a strong probability that House Ceria is actually guilty" one of the police said.

Rachel shook her head "there's no concrete evidence, we've checked their account books, there's hardly any irregularity and we've interrogated everyone, there's hardly anything that suggests foul play."

"Then what about the people that came out to testify?"

Rachel snickered "this is the Harbinger we're talking about don't you remember the Sir Milton case? So many false testimonies were made that day, what's the guarantee that Melinda Charmale isn't doing the same thing all over again?"

"That makes sense" the head detective added

"The Harbinger has a track record of making false allegations, and is particularly vindicative to people you would think she should be close to"

"Exactly! she has a fallout with her allies and then punishes them in this manner, in her eyes we're just tools for vengeance"

"Still, the reason why we're conducting this whole investigation is because of the proof that the Harbinger provided" the head detective stood up and looked through files.

"Oh, that" Rachel seemed to understand his sentiment, after all that was the same reason why she still bothered with the investigation.

The Harbinger built it's whole claim on the fact that there was an offshore hotel, a front for all forms of trafficking that was receiving funds from an unknown source, the Harbinger declared House Ceria as the hidden sponsor.

"I'm certain we will progress in this whole investigation, if we can get our hands on just one person from that hotel" one said

"You make a valid point but they all fled after the publication, our men are working on arresting as many as possible as we speak but it's no child play" one of the policemen replied.

Just then, like it was premeditated, one of the policemen designated to search for the hotel workers, rushed in.

"We've got a lead, a major lead" he declared happily, trying to catch his breath

"We caught one of the top guys trying to flee the country, he is currently being interrogated"

"Really?" This was Rachel, she seemed skeptical "you couldn't find the lower members, but somehow caught one of the bosses?"

"You're reading too much into this. It's not out of the ordinary" the head detective assured

"Exactly let's go and see"

***

Qaya frowned, how could her favourite food taste so foul?

"Is anything the matter?" The reason for her food tasting bad, asked

"Nothing"

"Really? Someone would thinking you're eating stones" Awin asked and chuckled at his own joke.

"Why are you here? Was the dinning area recently under attack that you could not eat there?"

"I just wanted to see the face of my future wife"

Qaya winced and dropped her cutlery "I'm afraid, I've lost my appetite" she stood up to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Have you forgotten? I have classes with Esquire Rachel, today is the day she comments on my assignment, so I can't miss class"

"Really?" He asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

This time Qaya wasn't even in the mood to amuse him. She got ready to leave but was met with a shocking sight as she got downstairs.

Madame Rachel was downstairs waiting for her but not just her teacher, several other individuals were there.

"Just what is this?" She asked looking at the unwanted visitors

"Lady Heris-Mariale, we have to put you under investigation"

"Excuse me?" She asked not believing her ears.

"We have reason to detain you as concrete evidence has adduced you to be sponsoring a trafficking business"

"What?!"