The Marchioness Treasure | HIATUS

Chapter 19: The Questions I Seek

With a conviction as firm as her love for Rima and Akila, Marleigh wore her almost red hair in a plait and marched out of her room. For the past three days, she had been cooped in her little cottage room, pondering on what she must do. With little maegic and lots of doubts plaguing her mind, there was only so much she would be able to do. Marleigh realised she had lost her way, her purpose of the trip after coming to the Eidikos village.

"Ranamun is struggling there. That kid too. How could I have been so foolish to forget them?" She questioned herself every night and tried coming up with a solution to save her brother. But she knew, she knew all too well that she was powerless and couldn't convince an aristocrat to let the slaves he paid for go. With nowhere left to go, she decided to confront Kai and learn who he was, who she was and what his purpose was for approaching her.

Marleigh slowly walked towards the cottage where Kai was staying when she saw a lady exit the room. From what she could see, Marleigh realised that she was no ordinary woman. Her presence sent chills down her spine and her poise carried a regality like she had never seen. From the clothes she was wearing, Marleigh guessed the woman to be a noble or even royalty. All of a sudden, the strange lady made eye contact with her and Marleigh noticed her eyes go wide for a split second. But she composed herself and started walking towards Marleigh.

"You must be the Augur." Maegera said, trying to compose her voice without letting it crack, "You should know what your duties and responsibilities are. You cannot waste time frolicking around."

Marleigh felt blood rushing to her head, her anger clearly elevating to an extent she didn't know. "I never asked for any of this. I never wanted any of this. You speak about my duties and responsibilities but never clarify what they are. Am I magically supposed to know everything? You think everyone was privileged enough to learn about maegic and whatnots? We...We were trying to survive."

"It is not a matter of want. It is something you have to do. We all have it tough and we're all trying to survive. You think you are the only one that needs answers? We do too. The only way we can get them is if everyone works together. We won't get them if you don't want them. The only way to survive is to get the answers and you know it." Maegera retaliated back, with a scowl etching on her face. She was tired of hearing people complain without finding a solution. Time is running out. If the first prince is crowned the heir, there might be no redemption left for Athaliah or its people.

"Then tell me. Tell me what is this answer you are seeking. No, wait, let me know the question first. How am I supposed to find answers without the questions?" Marleigh said, her eyes now turning red from anger, "My Lady, you seem like someone of high station. You probably don't know how the people are living in Athaliah. Trying to earn coins, spending them all for one stale bread and trying to keep our children and women safe from winter and predators, it is not an easy feat. It's not like the King-"

Suddenly a hand covered Marleigh's mouth. Scared, she bit the palm with all of her might and elbowed the person behind her in the ribcage. She turned around to see Kai silently screaming in pain, holding his torso and waving his hand around the air.

"Ouch, that hurt. I am sorry you had to see that Your- Mae. This is Maegera, my childhood friend who oversees the tribes residing in Athaliah and provides them with necessary things." He said, trying to subtly place his hand on Marleigh's shoulders to which she flinched and swatted his hands away.

"This is, as you can see, Marleigh the Augur. The chosen one. The one with the blood of the deities and everything." He continued, trying to nod off the whole incident as nonchalant as possible, "You see Mae is on her way out and Marleigh still has to practise a ton of maegic so...I bid thee farewell."

With that, he dragged Marleigh off to his cottage, leaving a very angry and confused Maegera behind. After reaching the cottage, Kai shut the door and turned to face an angry looking Augur. He raised his hands and motioned for her to take a seat.

"I know you have questions Marleigh and it's high time since I started answering them. I apologise for the...things that I've done to you. You can decide to not forgive me, I'll accept that but please we have to work together first." Kai said, his voice sounding a note lower than usual.

Marleigh sensed that he was being genuine but the anger and betrayal she felt for the past few days overtook the greater part of her brain and so she decided that she would wait. She will wait for her emotions to subside until they can have a conversation without bias, wait for her thoughts to go back to normal and her heart to heal.

"That is for me to decide, Kailan. And I will, in my own time and pace. Do not try to play games with me." Marleigh replied, trying to maintain her stoic expression. She could see that Kai was running his hands through his hair. She realised that he would always do that whenever he is nervous.

There are a lot of things Marleigh learnt after coming to the Eidikos village. She started practising maegic, albeit them being simple ones. She also learnt that kind people do exist in this world despite the evil being spread everywhere. But most of all, she was surprised to learn that she had started noticing the little things that Kai did. The way he tilts his head whenever he is in doubt or curious, the way he ruffles his hair and the subtle smile he has on his face whenever Marleigh starts talking about maegic.

Marleigh didn't know what to call this feeling but she does know this is not what normal friendships are like. She wants to know more about him, his habits and his pet peeves and when she finally started placing a name for the feeling- Curiosity and admiration, she found the terrible secret that shattered their relationship into pieces. To be betrayed by someone whom you started trusting was the most painful thing Marleigh ever experienced so she decided to shut off the feelings and get some real answers to a problem greater than humans, feelings and trust.

"So, tell me Marleigh, what are the questions you need answers to?" Asked Kai again, his eyes pleading her to calmly listen to him, not as a Maggi but as Kailan Sezvaki.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?"

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