43, Farewell

“My Lady,” the prince greeted Tariana. He was standing to the side with a group of his men. 

“Prince Neherim, thank you for letting us ask questions of your prisoner,” Tariana said. 

“Not at all. I’m surprised you came. And that you brought the two young aari with you,” he told her. His eyes darted to Ayya, and she saw worry in them for a moment. She appreciated it, but at the same time didn’t like that he thought her too weak to handle the situation.

“If one of them is to be my successor, they need to be able to handle things like this as well,” Tariana said. “You,” she turned to the man in the chair. “I want to know what you did in my city four years ago.” The man looked up at her and then glanced at Ayya. 

“Don’t tell me I got caught because of her. I flirted with a beautiful woman and that caused my seven-year plan to fall apart?” he groaned. 

“At least it will teach you not to underestimate someone just because they don’t look like a threat,” Tariana said. 

“Yeah, I guess there is always that. So, if I tell you what you want to know, you will make sure I am let go?” he asked of Tariana.

“No. I have no issues with letting prince Neherim do with you as he pleases.”

“Then what is my motivation to tell you anything?” 

“If you do, I will take my bodyguard and the general back with me when I go. If you don’t, they will stay behind and join the prince’s men. I can assure you they will not be as kind to you as you have refused me,” she told him. Ayya knew it was a bluff. For her, it was easy to see through as she knew neither her father nor Tenac were going to take part in a thing like that. But the man in the chair didn’t know that. He looked at both of the riders and he became visibly paler. 

“I-I will speak. Almost seven years ago, my king chose me from amongst his warriors to train to become a spy. He had long wanted to get a spy into the inner circle around the emperor of Ne’xsiss. But all his attempts had failed. I was to play the long game. When my training was done, I moved to Ne’xsiss and took a job working for a trader. The job gave me legitimacy, and it let me travel around, which meant I could collect information for my king,” the man said. Ayya wondered how it felt like to live for so long in a lie. Did this man ever start to believe the false life he created for himself?

“I was sent to Salmis four years ago to try to find out what had happened when you visited Domne. The king wanted to know what state Domne was in. He was hoping if they were weak enough, Ormenic could invade and take the land. That never came to fruition, as I found evidence to show that Domne was still strong,” he then told them.

“And you have been continuing to live this life?” Tariana asked.

“I have. I worked my way up, with a little help from my king and some not so honest means, to where I was wealthy enough to marry a noblewoman and gain a title. By that time, my reputation was so well known as a skilled trader that no one thought of me otherwise,” he confirmed. 

“A good plan, I dare say. You must have passed on countless of secrets during your years of service. Could any of them harm Salmisara? Know that if you lie, I will know,” Tariana asked.

“No. Not even my king dares to go up against you, my Lady,” he told her. Tariana nodded and turned towards Neherim. “Thank you for letting us talk to him. Do as you please with him, I don’t care. Now my party and I will go to have dinner. Will you join us?”

“It would be my pleasure, my Lady,” he told her. As they walked to the dining hall, Tenac walked alongside Ayya.

“You okay?” he asked. 

“I am, and you?” He chuckled at the question.

“I’m fine. But I think I will be happy once this visit is over. It has been a strange two weeks,” he told her.

“I agree. I can’t wait for things to go back to normal,” she agreed.

Early the next morning, just after the sun had risen over the ocean. Ayya again stood beside Tariana on the raised platform on the ocean dock. Neherim was saying his goodbyes to Tariana. He then turned towards Ayya and smiled. 

“Lady Ayya, it has been a joy and an honour to get to know you,” the prince said with a bow. 

“The same, prince Neherim. Please stay safe on your journey,” she told him. 

“As your grace wish, I will do my best,” he agreed as he turned around and walked towards the gangway to his ship. 

“Lady Ayya, it has been a pleasure. I would have been honoured to have you as my mistress,” Pehobo said with a bow. 

“Thank you, Pehobo. Please look after yourself and the prince,” Ayya said. She got a nod from him before he followed the prince onboard the ship. 

“What was that about?” Tenac asked Ayya as they watched the ship sail out from the harbour. 

“Nothing. Finally, this is over and we can relax,” she told him. He looked at her and then nodded. 

“No rest for the wicked,” Tariana said with a smile. “We sail home tomorrow, so we need to get going to make sure we get everything organised for the trip and help the local aari put everything back in order.” Ayya smiled. It would be nice to do some regular work. The day was filled with different tasks and things that needed to be done.

The next morning, it was Ayya that was boarding a ship. The almost three weeks she had been in Archam had been an adventure. She had learned a lot about herself and about other things as well. But she was happy to be heading home. She stood on the deck with Tariana and her father as the ship sailed from the dock. After a while, her father walked off to talk to Tenac.

“You father told me we almost lost you to the prince,” Tariana said as they looked out over the march. 

“It was never even close,” Ayya told her. Tariana smiled. 

“I told him as much. Your mother will as well. I expect he will be a little worried for a while that the prince will come and woo you away,” Tariana said. It was clear she found the idea funny.

“I’m not going anywhere unless it’s on a mission.” 

“I know, and I’m grateful for it. I would hate to see you leave. But don’t forget to be happy and have fun,” Tariana reminded her.

“I won’t. I have fun,” Ayya said.

“I’m happy to hear that. Have you told anyone about Neherim’s proposal?”

“No, I didn’t want to make it awkward for him,” Ayya told her.

“And the fact Mikhalie was head over heels infatuated with him didn’t play a part in it?” Tariana asked. 

“You knew about that?” Tariana laughed at the question.

“Of course I knew. It was hard to miss, and I have been watching both of you. It’s part of your training.”

“It was partly because of that as well. I know Mikhalie liked him and I didn’t want her to feel worse because he had feelings for me,” Ayya admitted.

“Did her feeling have anything to do with you turning down his proposal?”

“No. I like Mikhalie, but if I had genuine feelings for the prince, I don’t think I would have turned him down not to hurt her. I just had no interest in marrying him,” Ayya explained.

“That is a relief. So, did he kiss you?” Tariana asked. Ayya felt herself go bright red. “He did! Was it any good?”

“It was nice,” Ayya mumbled.

“Oh dear. Well, it’s good you turned him down then,” Tariana said. “A kiss should never be nice between lovers. ‘Bad’ is only slightly worse. A kiss to start a proposal should be earth-shattering,” she explained when Ayya looked at her. 

“It certainly wasn’t that,” Ayya told her. She heard footsteps, and they both turned around as Mikhalie came walking. 

“I am really happy to be heading home. Are state visits always this draining?” Mikhalie asked Tariana. 

“Yes, it’s something about them that always brings about drama. Technically, they are missions, so we do get two weeks off when we get home,” she told them.

“But not you,” Ayya said.

“No, not really. As the Lady, you are never off work,” Tariana agreed. “But I try to make sure the two weeks after just contain the bare minimal work load.”

“Do you ever feel that you had to sacrifice too much when you became the Lady?” Mikhalie asked. 

“There were moments when I thought I had taken on too much,” Tariana confessed and Ayya saw a moment of sadness in her eyes. “But, overall, I would do it all over again, given the chance,” she said with a smile.