Naian hid behind a tree as he watched Emelinia look for him. She was at it again with her impossible cravings. When she went back to normal two months ago, he thought that it was going to be smooth sailing for the next months.
Oh how wrong he was.
Because of her burnt hand, Emelinia whined all night and forced Naian to stay awake. She sent him to get her water, juice, milk, grapes and meat. Failure to bring these meant that she would either cry for one hour straight or basically just beat him up.
He felt so tired that he couldn't go to the shop in the morning. He was just about to leave when Emelinia started to call out his name. She kept yelling that she wanted butter and cheese.
Naian had already gotten her over 5kg of cheese and 1kg butter. He was astonished that she managed to eat it all in an hour. He remembered how difficult it was for him to find the cheese. Every store in Gemhules ran out of cheese. He had to go to Vanimaq. The thought of him having to go back there was dreadful.
He peeped at her and saw how frustrated she looked. He silently hoped that she would just go back into the house so that he could run away. It was times like this that he thought about just sending her to her mother until she gave birth.
Jayniss and Lara saw Naian and giggled when they realized what was happening. Jayniss winked at Naian and she went to the gate. Emelinia looked over at Jayniss and she was happy to see her there. She waved back at Lara who was merrily waving at her.
"Hi Emelinia, you seem tensed." Jayniss said to Emelinia.
"I can't find Naian anywhere. He is supposed to get me cheese." Emelinia complained.
"I saw him head down the road not so long ago." Jayniss lied with a wide smile.
"Without his horse?" Emelinia pointed at Naian's brown stallion peacefully grazing in the yard.
"Yes he walked." Jayniss answered cheerfully and Naian sighed in relief.
Emelinia frowned and held her waist. "What I'm I to do now? I really want to eat cheese."
"We have tones of cheese in our kitchen." Jayniss said to her and Emelinia's eyes brightened. "Lara, please escort Emelinia to the kitchen." Jayniss said to Lara and she nodded her head with a smile.
Naian came out of hiding when he saw Emelinia leave. Upon making eye contact with Jayniss the both of them cracked up laughing. "Thank you so much Jayniss." Naian said to her.
"So you were going to stay there until she went back into the house?" Jayniss teased him.
"I was going to stay there for as long as it was going to take. In fact why don't you just keep her at your house forever or at least until I have two nights of uninterrupted sleep?" Naian chuckled.
"So that she can beat on us and drown us in her never ending cravings? Hell no she is your problem. I don't have a sister in law yet for me to be subjected to such torture." Jayniss laughed.
"No arguments there. Well I must be heading to the carpentry now." Naian wiped his tears of laughter. "I will have to walk so it's best I leave now." Naian smiled at Jayniss.
"Don't worry about that. Our butler is heading to the market. He can give you a ride." Jayniss offered.
"Thank you."
****
Sharaina woke up and turned over to her back. To her relief it didn't hurt. She slowly got out of bed and stood at the mirror. She examined her back and saw that it was a lot better. It didn't even hurt when she stretched herself. Her hand was bandaged up and it didn't hurt either. It only hurt when she moved her fingers. Luckily for her, it was her left hand.
She quickly took a shower and dressed up. She thought about what happened with Lalina. She remembered how the both of them chatted for a while before she finally left her to rest. Sharaina was glad that Lalina decided to let Naraygeous go. She deserved to be happy and not obsess over a man.
Sharaina walked to the training grounds. She puzzled to see no sign of King Meelzib. She sat under a tree and waited for him. She didn't mind waiting for him. A maid approached her with a plate of food and water. Sharaina took it and thanked her. She forked up her breakfast as she thought about The Wave technique.
She was going to have to rely on her red sword today and it made her nervous. Ever since she found out the truth about it, she had been very hesitant in exploring just what it could do. She felt safer with her blue sword. She stopped eating when the scary thought of her going berserk during her training crossed her mind.
No. She thought to herself. She wasn't going to allow herself to get emotional. As long as she kept calm, she wouldn't have anything to worry about.
Lalina was walking down a hallway when she caught sight of Sharaina. She looked through the window and smiled at her. She thought of going to greet her but then decided that she was going to see her later. She had a new objective of the day. She planned on tracking down her sister. The only lead she had was Commander Sevilon's office and that's where she was headed.
****
Emelinia happily walked back to the house with a basket full of cheese. She sat on the couch and placed the basket on her lap. She wasted no time in eating the cheese greedily like an animal. Emana saw this and she raised her eyebrow in disgust. She sat down and picked a newspaper on the table.
Akirexer rushed down the stairs looking beautiful in her maroon dress. Her black heels echoed across the room as she wore her earrings. Emelinia stopped eating and looked at her from head to toe with a mouth full of cheese. Emana took one look at Akirexer and faced away uninterested. Emelinia swallowed the cheese and asked;
"Where are you going mama?"
"Today is Alainara's dance competition. I'm going to her school to support her." Akirexer explained and fixed her hair one last time.
Emelinia frowned. "But why didn't you tell me this mama? I would have come with you." Emelinia whined.
Akirexer chuckled. "It's alright dear. These things take all afternoon. You will not be able to sit on a bench all afternoon."
"Okay if you say so." Emelinia sank into her seat.
"I will be back before dinner so don't bother cooking." Akirexer said.
There was total silence in the room after Akirexer left. Emelinia remained with two pieces of cheese in her basket. She was about to eat them when she heard a knock on the door. She looked over at Emana hoping that she would get up and check but she just turned another page. Emelinia held her belly and got up. She slowly walked to the door. Whoever was knocking seemed so impatient. Each loud knock irritated Emelinia.
Emelinia flung the door open and was puzzled to see two military men at the door with handcuffs. "Are you Emelinia Naian?" One asked her.
"Yes I am." Emelinia nervously answered, bewildered.
"You are under arrest for the hibernation of Tamithra." He answered.
"What?" Emelinia gasped
Emana put the paper down and rushed to the door. "Wait a minute, you can't arrest her." She said to the men.
An arrest warrant was forced in her face. "Yes we can." He said. He turned to Emelinia. "You have the right to remain silent. Everything you say will and can be used against you in the court of law."
One of the men roughly turned Emelinia and put the cuffs on her. This angered Emana and she hit him on his head. "What kind of a man handles a pregnant woman like that?" She sternly scolded him. "In as much as you are here to arrest her, there's no need for you to be so rough with her."
"Ma'am now we will have to arrest you too for assaulting an officer." The man responded and his friend put cuffs on Emana's hands.
****
Emana and Emelinia were thrown into a holding cell. They found three women in there. The three women angrily looked at them and Emelinia felt afraid. Emana on the other hand glared back at them. One approached them and she towered over Emana. Emelinia held Emana's hand.
"I love your hair." She said and touched Emana's hair.
"Touch me again and I guarantee you that you will not be able to use that hand for a long time." Emana threatened and the woman burst out laughing.
She placed her hand on Emana's cheek. "Tough words coming from a grandma." She teased.
Emana grabbed her hand and twisted it hard until it broke. She got on top of the woman and started hitting her with her shoe. The other two women charged at her but she slapped them before they could make any contact with her. Emelinia took refuge in a corner and watched everything in shock.
"Haven't you ever heard of the saying don't judge a book by its cover you stupid bitch? I may look like your average grandma but back in my day I was a force to reckon with in the ring. I was a famous wrestler and I beat up stupid girls such as you." Emana got up and tucked her hair behind her ear. She pointed her shoe at the two terrified women in the corner. "If any of you dare to come near me and my granddaughter, I will put you into hibernation before the guards get to me."
The guards heard the noise and they came running. They were irritated to find Emana glaring at the woman crying in pain on the floor. They looked at the frightened two that took refuge in the corner across. Emelinia walked away from her corner and she looked at Emana with wide eyes. The guards took Emelinia and Emana out of the cell and put them in an empty one.
****
Lalina was able to track Emelinia all the way to Gemhules. She had forcefully asked Sevilon's secretary to give her the list of all the people that went to his office on that fateful day. To her relief there were only five people on the list and Emelinia was the only female one. Her address was written beside her name.
She knocked on the door and when no one answered, she was puzzled. She looked around for anyone and she spotted a servant coming out of the mansion across the street. She watched him go back to a tree he was trimming. Lalina walked over to the mansion and cleared her throat. The servant fell off his ladder in shock when he set his eyes on Lalina.
He bowed down. "How may I assist you Lady Lalina?" He asked.
"I am looking for Emelinia. Do you happen to know where she could have gone?" Lalina asked him.
"She was arrested an hour ago. I don't know why." He explained. "I just witnessed everything from afar."
"I see," Lalina looked back at the house. "Thank you." She said and walked into a portal.
Lalina stepped in front of the police station. The guards got up and bowed to her. Lalina ignored them and went straight to the chief captain. "You have a prisoner in here that I wish to see." She boldly said to him without greeting him first.
"Who do you wish to see?" He asked with a bow.
"Emelinia Naian. Bring her out." Lalina commanded.
Emelinia walked nervously in her cuffs. She was shocked to see Lalina staring at her. "Release her." Lalina commanded.
"Please forgive us but we cannot do that. She is a potential suspect of putting a woman into hibernation."
"How much is her bail?" Lalina asked.
"Her bail is 50 000 pearls." He answered.
Lalina took out her cheque book and wrote on it. She then handed it to the chief captain. He then ordered an officer to uncuff Emelinia. Emelinia was shocked by everything. Lalina was the last person she ever thought would come to her rescue. She wondered how she even discovered that they were related.
'Did Holan finally tell her about me?' She pondered.
"Come on let's go." Lalina said to Emelinia.
"I cannot come with you. My grand ma is still locked up. She got locked up with me. I will stay here with her until my husband comes to bail her out."
Lalina looked at the chief captain again. "How much is the bail?"
"It is only 1000 pearls." He answered with a bow.
Lalina took out a bundle of 1000 pearls out of her purse and threw it on the table. "Release her." She commanded. She turned to Emelinia. "I need to talk to you, in private."