†††
“GIVE me the report again.”
“Yes, Your Majesty. Anita Alaban and Prince Raheem were found dead in the dungeon.”
“And it wasn’t suicide?”
“No, Your Majesty. We suspect the killer was someone outside the palace staff, but we’ve been unable to find any clues. They died with expressions of terror like they’d seen some sort of monster. There are some amongst the knights who believe Anita Alaban and Prince Raheem actually killed former Princess Consort Shahrnaz, and her ghost returned to curse and kill them.”
It was only natural that a rumor like that would spread since few people knew Shahrnaz was still alive, especially when you considered Anita’s and Raheem’s expressions were so horrifying they caused the knights to turn away. And they were no strangers to seeing dead bodies.
“It is a serious failure that your prisoners were killed while in custody,” I said.
“Yes, Your Majesty. My sincerest apologies.”
“In order to prevent any further chaos and, more importantly, to protect the dignity of the royal family, we will publicly announce they were executed. It is clear from the investigations that the two were corrupt, after all. Make it appear we held a trial.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
✦ ✦ ✦
†††
“MISS AISHA of House Alaban was meant to be extradited to her own country where she would be put to trial, but her whereabouts are currently unknown.”
The issues surrounding Ismail had been resolved, and Shaghad was meant to return to Rienbul the next day when Evan called me to the royal palace and updated me on what happened to Aisha.
“Did House Alaban act before that could happen?” I asked.
“There is that suspicion, but it seems not,” said Evan. “I think this is one of those situations where only the gods know what really happened.”
“You make it sound like she was spirited away,” I said.
“That’s how unexplainable a lot of this is.”
“I see.”
Though, I knew Aisha was in Astra. She began working for Rick because of the depths of hatred inside her. I imagined she was currently being trained as a honey trap assassin, which she showed promise in.
Very soon, Rick would arrange for a corpse that was made to look like her, and she would be dead to the world at large. At that point, she would have completely become a person in the dark side of society.
“There has also been a report that Anita Alaban and Prince Raheem were executed,” continued Evan. “Up until the end, they insisted everything their children did had nothing to do with them, but they found plenty of evidence that showed they were engaged in selling weapons to foreign countries as well as embezzling funds. There was even evidence they tried to have Shaghad assassinated. There was so much evidence they couldn’t possibly talk their way out of it.”
So, did that mean Rienbul stamped out any annoying seeds of discord within the country? Astra actually owed Rienbul since this gave the country the opportunity to admonish all the young, low-ranking noblemen and women who sided with Aisha and Ismail.
Their parents, too, were made painfully aware of the importance of gathering intel and evaluating a situation. They likely wouldn’t make the same mistake again. If they did, the entire family would be ended.
Basically, everything was neatly wrapped up.
“This whole thing doesn’t leave a good taste in your mouth, but this is how struggles for the throne are,” said Evan. “The only thing awaiting the loser is death.”
Only a few months ago, the royal consort of Astra and her son, Heinrich, were crushed in a struggle for the throne and disappeared themselves. This wasn’t impersonal for him.
“People always have a choice: to die pure within beautiful lies or live soaked in blood within the grime. You and Shaghad simply made your decisions for your own goals and ideals,” I said.
“I know.”
Even so, there seemed to be emotions inside Evan that he couldn’t fully reconcile with. He looked like he was trying to force them down along with a drink of his bitter tea.
Living as a royal must be incredibly difficult.
“I’m going home,” I said. “I’ll be there to see Shaghad off tomorrow.”
“All right.”
Ismail Alaban knew his parents’ love was false, yet could do nothing but cling to it. Aisha Alaban turned away from the true nature of her parents, seeing only a pretty lie she wanted to believe. Their parents tossed them aside when they didn’t need them anymore, and, in the end, those parents were tossed aside by the kingdom when it didn’t need them.
“Those who abandon others are, in turn, abandoned,” I murmured. “Maybe that’s what people call karma.”