THE REIGN OF WOMEN

S1 EP6: Pray to the Faith

502 AD, Nightfall, Eternos

  In the early morning, Sümbüla would enter the Servant Quarters to find and take Ayda. If Sümbüla was to take the blame for her, he required to know why Ayda did what she did.

Hovering above Ayda's bed, Sümbüla glared at her. Almost as if Ayda felt the deadly stare, she awoke in a panic. Sümbüla silenced Ayda by raising his finger to his lips and eventually signaled to her to follow him.

Passing Sapphira's bed, Sümbüla found it empty. The previous night, it had taken Sümbüla a long time to have Sapphira return to her bed. She did not bother sneaking in as she did before, it did not matter to her anymore.

Sümbüla's first instinct was to launch a slap across Ayda's face, one she did not see coming. He was enraged, rightfully so.

Holding onto her burning cheek, Ayda stared at Sümbüla, appalled by his sudden hostility. "The Stableboy is dead."

She could not believe it. The Stableboy—Sapphira's secret lover? It was not possible. She was unclear how this involved her as she did not know him.

"Who did you tell, and why?" At the time, she was uncertain, but slowly she began adding the pieces together, however difficult it seemed to acknowledge.

Falling to her knees, Ayda grabs hold of Sümbüla's Kaftan and kisses it, "I beg of you, Sümbüla! Do not tell Sapphira."

She could not bear being blamed for the death of a loved one. She could not bear being confronted by Sapphira. She feared her and what she was capable of. She had no Noble power, but she had an unstable mindset, one that would bite back. "What happened?"

"She is my friend I cannot bear to lose her." She truly could not. She had grown up with her, she was like a sister to her. Marcella and Simon had raised Ayda as their own, and now she betrayed her sister.

"Shut up, girl." Sümbüla snapped angrily. He did not need to hear her beg, he needed the truth—all of it.

"Overseer Considia came to me. She warned me I was in her Majesty, the Queen's sight. She wanted to hurt me because she could not hurt Sapphira." She had been tricked. Yet Sümbüla could only blame Ayda for her foolishness to trust such nonsense.

Ayda had a choice, yet she chose the wrong one. She had caused Sapphira much pain without a grasp of the situation at hand. She feared what Sapphira would do to her if she found out. "Overseer Considia promised to protect me if I tell her all I know about Sapphira."

"I did not think the boy would hang himself." What else did she think would happen to the boy when the secret of an ongoing affair with a slave girl surfaced? She was no longer in Katalie. There was law and order.

"He did not, you foolish girl. He was murdered."

"You saw her with the boy, I followed you." There was no need to lie. Sümbüla had followed Ayda when she discovered the affair. If it were not for her, he would not know. Her biggest mistake was following her friend in the first place.

If Ayda had left Sapphira to her affairs, she would have no leverage on her—nothing to tell Overseer Considia. Her life would not have been threatened. "She played you."

"I promise, I did not know she would do this." Sümbüla had seen this many times before.

Overseer Considia was born at the Palace in 478 AD, she had earned her authority simply by being the illegitimate daughter of Directress Nunzia. She knew nothing of hard work.