Chapter 47 - Reeking Remedy

"I have evidence to prove to you now" Julia caught up with Michael in the hallway. She would prefer to talk with him here rather than inside his chamber.

"And that is what?" Michael asked like he was not interested.

"There is a box under her bed. Inside the box is a creature. She called it Wookah" she paused as she noticed Michael was going to interrupt her.

"A large metal box?" Michael illustrated the size of the box by stretching forth his hands.

"You have seen it?" Julia asked eagerly. "Stay away from it. You and the Alpha King are the target" she said with concerns.

"The Alpha King and I are the target?" Michael chuckled. "And you want me to believe that? There is no reason why Martha will want us dead" he flashed his eyebrows at her.

"Yes. That is where the problem is. The Martha in your chamber is not the Martha you knew" Julia was surprised to see Michael laughing at what she just said.

"Julia, we really do think alike except that I am faster than you. All what you are just telling me, I have already find it and I have been cleared" he smiled as he explained to her.

"I once had the impression that she is not the Martha and she had proven me wrong. I have seen the box. There is no creature whatsoever. There is no Wookah" he waved his hands to discard that assertion.

"No, they were both talking to each other" Julia shook her head.

"Then, I think you were also a victim of what happened to me" Michael laughed again.

"I was in her corner and I got these voices mimicking me. I found the box under the bed and everything made me believe the voices were from inside the box but I was wrong" he concluded.

It was better as he had also experienced it, Julia assumed but Michael was still not believing her.

"I saw the creature with my eyes and heard it with my ears" Julia affirmed.

"Is there something else to this? I have confirmed that there is no creature in there" Michael said sternly.

"I knew what I saw. Just open your mind and believe me" Julia said pleadingly.

"It is you that have to believe me" he took Julia's hand roughly and dragged her towards his chamber.

"Are you going to ask her about the box?" Julia asked in confusion.

"Martha is out until sunset. I want to prove what I said to you" he continued dragging her to his chamber.

They came into the chamber immediately and headed to Martha's corner. Julia just kept watching Michael with how certain he seemed to be.

There was no doubt in what she saw. The creature talking with Martha.

Michael knelt down and pulled the box out from underneath the bed.

"Is it this box you are talking about?" Michael sought confirmation.

Julia nodded. Michael placed the box on the bed. He stared at Julia before attempting to open it.

"This used to be her jewelry box" Michael moaned like he wanted Julia to change her mind.

The box was too big for keeping jewelry. Michael was supposed to know that too but since he had decided to blind his sight on any issues about Martha. He didn't notice that.

"Why will a jewelry box be big as this?" Julia tried to get Michael to reason.

"Because the owner has a lot of jewelry to put in there" he replied hastily like Julia was not supposed to ask that kind of question. He must have been thinking it was unnecessary.

"Open it" Julia urged him.

"Of course. I will open it. So that you will know you are wrong" he popped it open before finishing his statement.

It had been a little time since he opened it. Nothing came out of the box. Julia leaned closer to look inside the box. It was empty.

"You see your creature now, right?" Michael criticized as he closed the box and put it back under the bed.

"I think you should stop worrying about Martha" he professed.

"I know what I saw. I saw it" Julia moaned. She felt like crying. Michael wouldn't believe her and that was painful.

"She is not Martha" she hoped he would believe this if he didn't believe about the creature.

"Julia, you are not going to tell me anything about Martha anymore" he asserted and left her right there.

"Wookah or whatever you are called. I will expose you and your master" she vowed.

***************

"This is it" Martha said happily. She showed a vial containing some black substance to Michael.

"That is what?" he wanted to take the vial from her but she resisted.

She looked round the chamber probably to check if there was someone else in there with them.

"We are alone. This chamber and its entirety belong to me" Michael said boastfully to stop her from looking around.

"This should be a secret between us. I won't want anyone else to know about it" she warned and handed him the vial.

"You haven't told me what it is" he asked slowly and examined it. It looked like some potion but it seemed dangerous.

"Have you quickly forgotten?" she asked with surprise.

"What?" Michael was confused. He couldn't remember what she was talking about.

"I thought it is the most important thing to you,isn't it? It seems that girl matters more to you" she was definitely referring to Julia.

Michael quickly picked up from her words.

"So this is what will make the king like me?" he asked smiling.

"Yes. It is a good luck balm. You just have to rub it on your body and your father will want you beside him all the time" she assured him.

Michael removed the cork. A foul stench came from the substance. Michael quickly covered his nose with the vial almost thrown out of his hand.

Martha took the vial from him immediately.

"Why is it smelling so bad?" he asked in disgust.

"Do you care about the smell or what it will do?" Martha retorted angrily. She must have been pissed off by the way Michael almost threw it off.

"What it will do, are you really serious about that?" he has been thinking it was just a casual belief but Martha obviously held the belief strongly

"Do you think I was joking all this time?" she seemed to be more angered by his question.

Michael collected it back from her. He wanted to pour it in his hand but he hesitated. The smell couldn't let him.

"This could be poisonous" he broke out. He thought it would be if it could smell that bad.

"Will I give you something that could hurt you?" Martha snatched the vial from him again. She took a little and rubbed it on her own body.

Michael wondered when she had become fetish like this. She didn't usually like her body getting stained but now she was using a foul smelling substance like this on herself eagerly.

"Let me try it" he said slowly as he retrieved the vial from her. "Should I use it all over my body?" he was very confused.

"Use it after you have taken your bath" she instructed.

That was going to be hard. Putting something smelling bad like this on his body. He needed to confirm some things before he would use it.

"I need to get a sample of it to the physician. He should run some tests and direct me on how to use it" he asserted.

"You are here when I was telling you should be a secret between us,aren't you?" she stretched out her hand to take it from him.

"Okay I understand" he quickly said taking the vial far from her reach.

"I didn't know what happened that made it hard for you to trust me" Martha whined as she walked away from him.

"I promise you I am going to use it" Michael thought she didn't believe he would use it. Though it would be a very tough decision for him with the way it was stinking. He would try and fulfil his promise.

"Good luck potion" he smiled and shook the vial to see if it will change colour but there was no reaction. It was just the dark substance that had been there.

He opened it again. The smell hit his nose once again. He moaned and quickly put back the cork. He looked up and found Martha starting at him.

She must have been watching him since she left his side.

"I promise" he smiled, nodded and waved at her.

Martha was not moved. She kept staring at him and that made him feel awkward. He didn't know what else to say to her.

He finally walked slowly away from her viewpoint. He looked back at her as he shifted. Martha was stuck where she was,staring at him without a smile.

She had really changed from the friendly little Martha she used to be to a hard looking fierce threatening young woman.