"What are you talking about Sharaina?" Farali asked, confused.
"Well, I am talking about how Tamithra caused my sister in-law to leave our home and return to her mother." Sharaina said with a smile on her face and her hands put together.
"Aunt don't listen to her." Tamithra defensively denied.
"Why did you do it Tamithra? You knew that Naian is married now but you shamelessly threw yourself on him. In fact you are married too so why did you do it?" Sharaina asked her and Liss folded her hands.
"I am the one that your brother loves Sharaina and there is nothing you can do about it. You have always been jealous of our love. I don't blame you. You have never been in a stable relationship so you have this unhealthy hold on your brother. You will never be able to do the things that I can do to pleasure him so I suggest you let go of him." Tamithra spat.
"Tamithra shut the hell up! How dare you say such disgusting things and worse, in my presence?!" Farali yelled with a threatening finger at Tamithra. "So you truly went after Naian despite knowing that he is married. I was just about to throw Sharaina out of here before you said that nonsense. I am utterly disgusted by your behavior. You stupid girl!"
"I LOVE HIM! He is mine and only mine you hear me?" Tamithra screamed at Farali and Sharaina---shooting daggas at them. She viciously pointed at Sharaina. "Your jealousy won't stop Naian and I from being together."
Sharaina squinted her eyes at Tamithra. "She has completely gone mad." She said in a low voice. "You are insane. Can you hear yourself?" She cleared her throat. "Tamithra I'm going to say this once so listen carefully. Naian does not love you anymore. He moved on the day you decided to get married to someone else. He wants nothing to do with you stupid bitch. The sooner you accept this, the easier your life will be."
"He will never love that seer." Tamithra hissed.
Sharaina shook her head disapprovingly. "I can't see how that is any of your business. You are married therefore you shouldn't concern yourself with whether another man loves his wife or not."
"I am not married any more."
"So you failed to keep your marriage and now you want to destroy another woman's marriage? Tamithra you are a disgrace. You treated my brother like shit and now you think that you can just walk back into his life like nothing happened? Are you serious? You are Naian's past. Emelinia is his present and his future. This will never change no matter what you do."
"Enough! Get out right now. I don't want to see your face!" Tamithra furiously screamed at Sharaina.
"The only reason I haven't snatched you off those stairs is because I am in uniform and you are Liss's cousin but you should know that my patience is thin. Stay away from my brother and Emelinia or else there will be dire consequences that I will personally inflict." Sharaina threatened with seriousness and Tamithra rolled her eyes.
Sharaina turned to Farali and respectfully put her hands together. "Good night ma. I'd promise to come and visit you again but I don't want to end up doing something I will regret." she motioned her head to Tamithra and Farali nodded.
Tamithra dashed back to her room leaving Farali boiling with rage. Liss escorted Sharaina to the door.
"You better come over tomorrow." Sharaina smiled mischievously at Liss.
"Have I ever disappointed you Sharaina?" Liss smirked. "I'll come over in the morning with Mayla." Liss winked at Sharaina who smiled at her and left.
****
King Meelzib sat on his throne with his legs crossed. In his hand was a lit cigar and down at his feet were two barely dressed maidens who held his legs seductively.
Lavila was disgusted by them but she didn't dare to send them away. The last thing she wanted was to anger Meelzib any more than he already was.
Ever since he got the prophecy, he was feeling agitated and stressed. Lavila did her best to stay out of his way because she feared his temper. It was worse than Raglan's temper because unlike him, Meelzib was extremely violent. So instead of arguing with him, Lavila stood away and watched him in silence.
Commander Luven entered the room and he gave Meelzib a bow. He gave Lavila a bow too and she was pleased. Meelzib left his throne and stood on the terrace. Luven wasn't far behind. Lavila chose to return to her room and let the two men talk in private.
"I saw a long queue on my way up here. Aren't you going to address those people?" Luven asked him with his usual smirk.
"I have more pressing matters to attend to than concern myself with petty personal problems. I am not like my father. He wasted countless hours attending to such issues that he neglected the army. No wonder my army is so pathetic." King Meelzib answered back in a cold tone.
Luven laughed softly. "I hear that you have sent the new recruits home for two weeks."
"This is the only time I will give them chance to see their families. Once they return, they will not be allowed to return until their training is complete and they have served in the army for at least five years. I have designed a special training program for them that will turn them into beasts on the battlefield. Change had better start with them because they are still fresh." King Meelzib explained with a stoic facial expression.
"That was excellent thinking my King." Luven concurred. "But what have you planned to do about the prophecy?"
"Did you have a talk with those old fools?" King Meelzib asked him back.
"Yes I did. They said that she a not of age tall blonde girl between the ages of 75 and 85." Luven confirmed.
"I want every girl fitting that description to be hunted down and brought to me. Select a group of skilled warriors to carry out this task and they must do it in secrecy. I refuse to believe that only we know about that stupid prophecy. Enemies working to protect that girl are there."
"As you wish so it shall be my King." Commander Luven said with a grin.
"Excellent..." King Meelzib answered.
****
Emelinia finally arrived home. She had spent hours in the village square waiting for a wagon that could take her to Vanimaq. Her eyes were sore and red from crying. She felt tired and hungry. Every time she thought about Naian, her tears dropped. She hoped that she was never going to have to see his face again.
Emelinia's arrived home but was surprised to see Lakki crying outside on the verandah. She put her bag down and picked him up concerned. Emelinia immediately noticed that he was hungry.
She picked up her bag and entered the house. It was so dark that she couldn't see a thing. Emelinia's eyes glowed purple and her night vision became active. She gasped at the sight before her.
The furniture was turned upside down. The plates in the kitchen lay broken and scattered on the floor. She was appalled to see pieces of broken wine bottles.
"Mama?" She fearfully called out.
Emelinia didn't hear any response from Channy and she felt a rush as her heart started to race in panic. She went to her mother's bedroom and she was horrified to find her brutally beaten and unconscious on the floor.
"Mama!" She screamed.
Emelinia put Lakki down and put her mother in her arms. Her lip was cracked and her face was full of bruises. Channy whimpered and Emelinia burst out crying.
"Mama, I'm here now. Everything is going to be fine." She sobbed.
Emelinia gently put Channy down and cleared the bed. She then struggled to get her off the floor and onto the bed. She covered her and ran back into the bathroom.
She put some water in a dish and she ran back to her mother's room. She started wiping the dry blood off her mother's face and hands.
When she was done, she left a wet cloth on her head and picked up Lakki who was still frantically crying. She put him on her back and went into the kitchen to cook him something to eat.
Emelinia decided to cook him porridge because it was going to get ready faster as compared to everything else. When the porridge was ready, she blew on it as she tenderly fed him. Lakki ate everything impatiently. From the look of things, it was as though he missed two meals.
Emelinia went back to check on her mother and she was fast asleep. She wondered what she was going to do. Her mother did not have a wagon or a horse so taking her to the hospital at that hour wasn't an option.
Emelinia went into her room and to her surprise, it was still neatly kept. She picked a blanket and duvet and went back into her mother's room. She spread the blanket on the floor.
Emelinia gave Lakki a bath and put him onto the blanket. She then slept beside him and covered him with the duvet. Lakki moved closer to her and fell asleep with his thumb in his mouth. Emelinia admired how peaceful he looked as he slept.
She felt no peace at all. Erny had gone too far this time and all she wanted was to make him pay for everything that he had done. Tomorrow was going to be his long awaited day of judgment.