One: Who am I?

"Do I also get to be in heaven?" Qaya muttered, her mouth was bitter. she looked up at the most splendid ceiling in the world, her eyes scanned her surroundings. she was in a luxurious bed with comfortable bedding.

she heard a woman shriek "the young mistress is awake"

"that hurt my ears" Qaya paused and turned around so fast. someone said the same thing as her, at the same time? she was certain that wasn't her voice, surely...

"what in..." Qaya was stunned by her complexion, she was normally tan but now she had fair and pale skin with occasional freckles.

she looked around for a mirror this was not her but this was her reflection, not her face.

A plump woman rushed in with a younger lady following behind her.

"in this trying time, God has decided to bless us, he has returned Ms Heris to us" the woman sobbed.

Qaya looked on at them in a daze and the first words that came out of her mouth were "I'm starving"

"it's a given you've been taking nothing but sugar water" the younger woman commented and went out. but she came back inside almost immediately.

"what day is today" she asked smelling her own breath, and shook her head in repulsion.

"oh my, how you have suffered" the plump woman fell in hysteria and wept. Qaya was still in a daze and watched in curiosity at the drama before her.

"I doubt the afterlife is this theatrical"

the crying woman paused, looked at her master in shock and wailed.

"the afterlife?! The heavens rebuke it"

"forgive nanny" the younger lady chipped in "it's only natural she acts this way,

everyone else was certain you'll die"

"you were sleeping and wouldn't wake up no matter how hard we tried to wake you"

Qaya just nodded "so what's today's date"

"Monday the third day of the seventh month in the tenth year of King Awin"

" the same day I died" Qaya noted in her mind.

"I would like to speak to a physician, one versed in psyche"

"we have sent word to the family physician of your consciousness, he will come with his colleagues and disciples soon" the plump lady answered cleaning her face.

A servant walked into the room with a tray of custard and omelette. Qaya wiped the drizzle of saliva and waited patiently for her food to be set.

as soon as the food landed, she devoured it.

"you've been asleep for a year, do you not want to know what happened all that time?" the younger lady, Jaslin asked

In between mouthfuls, she replied "I don't think I missed much".

"The Heris household is nearing collapse and it's all because of that darn Harbinger" this was nanny

Qaya paused and swallowed her food "what?"

"they set up madam Marie Heris as an arms trafficker sponsoring treason and now the head has..."

"what did the head of Harbinger do?"

"the king put the head of Harbinger as the new information minister and now she announced in her paper that you're an illegitimate child, that did not learn from your mistakes..."

"what?!" Ms Heris bellowed in the ugliest voice

"the Harbinger has told the whole of Easteford that you've been absent from the public gaze because you're pregnant"

"what? I didn't do that?"

"of course, you were in a coma all these while"

"the head of Harbinger? when did she become information minister, I thought..."

"my lady, the information minister told the whole world this morning, that she was the one handling the Harbinger, singlehandedly too, at least until today"

Qaya no longer felt like eating, as everything sunk in. suffocating nausea overwhelmed her "you mean Melinda Charmale said that?"

"my goodness how did you know that Melinda was the information minister, she just took the post a week ago" Nanny asked in shock but was cut short by Qaya retching, she had thrown up. they hurried to clean up the mess.

"I'd like to be alone" an exhausted Qaya muttered as she slumped in her bed, rubbing her throbbing temples.

the two women wanted to protest but when they saw the grave look on her face, they left.

" I am Miss Heris, Dame Marie's daughter. but... I am..." she shook her head, this was too much, was her mind fractured. This situation was something out of a children's tale. her mind went to the king.

"what exactly is Awin playing at?"

she thought for a while and chuckled "he promised the information minister post to the owner of Harbinger, not Qaya Wright. slimy bastard"

"why didn't I die? I had completely forgotten about The Heris legacy and anything else while I was Qaya Wright so...." she shook her head violently hoping that the jigsaw of a situation before her will be solved.

A knock on the mahogany door broke her out of her reverie.

"young master, the physician and his companions are here"

"they may enter"

the physician was an older man in his fifties, he used a cane to support himself because he had a limp. Behind him were about five people, men and women alike.

the man gave a bright smile "Qaya, you are well"

she froze at the man's words "what did you just call me?"

the physician looked around confused and slightly embarrassed "my apologies Ms. Heris, I watched you grow and took care of you, so the urge to call you by your first name was..."

"No, do not apologize, it's just... that name felt familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. it almost felt wrong that you called me that, but I like it, you can call me that"

The old man took a seat beside her and gave her a pat on her dark curly hair. "I made sure the maids tended to your hair, we all know how much you treasure them"

Qaya smiled brightly at him "I am one lucky niece, aren't I?"

The physician smiled back "your mother would have been so angry if she heard you say that"

"Uncle Francis, I need to consult you on a matter... privately"

the man scrunched his face in worry and slightly hesitated. He signalled to his students and they quietly left.

"what is it?"

"I was scared to say this because I thought you would deem me mad but..."

"it's okay, you can trust me"

she nodded "is it possible that someone in comatose can live as another person, in their state of unconsciousness?"

"what?"

"as I snapped out of my daze, I was certain that I am The Heris Heir, Qaya Heris but I am also certain that just this morning, at dawn, I had completed a twenty-year-old life as Qaya Wright"

Francis looked skeptical "it's possible that your brain concocted that story, that would explain the unusual passage of time"

"I can tell you things that happened this past year while I was unconscious. For example, eight months ago, The King signed a treaty with the boarder countries that for military assistance, the Kings of the other countries will pay dues... everyone estimated that this was the King's sly way of taking control of the other countries, but then again a country that can afford military supplies shouldn't be on its own in the first place and again..."

Francis was still doubtful "Jaslin was reading the news to you, everyday...you were probably hearing and this influenced your comatose dream"

"oh really" she sulked

"don't be angry, I don't think you're mad, but think about it, you can't be two people at the same time, you were unconscious for one year and lived a twenty year life as another person in that same space of time and in this same period, it's highly unlikely"

"I am certain that my life as Qaya Wright was real"

the man looked on in silence for a long time, "you haven't left your bed since you woke up? try and take walks around the estate, it will help"

"okay"

"I'll be sure to visit outside of working hours" he picked his cane to leave, limping away.

she didn't reply, she was thinking about what he said. he spoke the truth but she was also convinced of her own experience being real.

she climbed down from her bed but still her legs felt wobbly, Nanny entered and became frightened at the sight before her.

"calm down, nanny, I wanted to take a warm bath and walk round the estate, that was the prescription I was given"

"very well" the woman replied. Qaya noted that she seemed more level headed now.

After her bath, she sat down in her robe, her hair dripping. Jaslin entered into the room

"you will catch a cold like that"

"what are you doing?" Qaya asked in an alarmed tone,as she saw Jasmine taking out all her clothes

"I thought you had outgrown wearing outfits with trousers"

"I will surely inform you when that happens"

"I assumed you were wearing clothes like these because of Dame Marie. forgive my impudence"

"it's no problem"

Jaslin started drying her master's hair " the family physician told me and nanny of your...um"

"do you think, I'm running mad?"

"of course not, it just seems rather..."

"far fetched? I understand how absurd this is"

"especially since I'm technically behind my families mishap" she said the second part in her mind

"Qaya wright, you say that's who you were yesterday and twenty years ago, when you are in fact nineteen??"

"I am getting irritated"

"forgive me master"

Nanny burst into the room looking frantic.

"so much for being level headed" Qaya mused.

"The Harbinger has struck again and this time..."

"The story of Qaya Wright: The Milton-Lackey"

"Why???" Qaya wailed in her mind