Chp 35

I chase him down the stairs, through the second floor hallway. There he takes the lift. I wait until I see the G for Ground floor to fly down the stairs. He arrives first and he darts between the carraiges and dragons and out through the backyard to the garden. I don't stop until he enters the forest. The trees are too close together that I lose sight of him immediately.
I walk back to the house, my throat burning. When I enter the garage the sun behind me sits so high. One second it was dark and now it's so sunny. The heat pours down at me.
I run back to my bedroom and I don't bother asking if anyone saw anything. They didn't. Everyone was asleep. Everyone but me. Why?
Some guards greet me as I pass. It's like they don't even know they've been asleep. They even offer up rare smiles. I can't return them.
The second I'm in my bedroom I look for D'ziko. He's not under the bed. He's not in the closet. He's not even in the bathroom. Fear and worry lurch for me at once. The other pulling me to it. Playing tug of war. I can't let either of them consume me. I have to figure out what's going on here.
I have to find D'ziko.
My shower is relatively short. I dress in my usual steels. My fake sword feels heavier than usual as I flee from my bedroom to the dining hall.
Luleka meets me on the way. I pull her to the corner and whisper, “He was here. He tried to steal my magic.”
“The Essence Thief?”
I nod. “He hypnotised all y'all. No one saw a damn thing. I woke up though. I woke up.”
“Shit,” she says. “I'll go get Mondo, fill him in. We'll probably meet tomorrow, yah?”
“Ja. Today I have a couple of things to do--by the way is yer father still asking for a divorce now that the first wife is…”
“No but…” She hesitates.
“But what?”
“He…” She looks around to make sure no one is eavesdropping. “He was arguing with Aunt Kwezi last night after he bought her home. She appeared to have been attacked.”
“Another friend of mine did say he saw a third creature.”
“Hmm...if it's true that wisa is also airborne then...then we're in trouble.”
“Here comes the other princesses. We shouldn't be seen together. Later.”
Everyone is already at the table and a few royals grant me glares as I take my seat in the dining hall.
I don't care.
My eyes scan the room. Looking for that stance. I must find this Essence Thief. I must bring him to justice. But how does one find a ghost? He's like a shadow. No one saw him. No one has ever seen him. And I have the suspicion that no one will see him until he wants to be seen. Until he's ready to lead Noddon. To steal it from me, like I stole it from D'ziko.
Will the cycle of deceit ever end?
I can end it now. I could stand up, tell these people the truth. Step down and allow D'ziko to lead.
D'ziko.
But if I tell the truth, D'ziko will be dead before I can say Leza's son. I'd make the Essence Thief's job easier. These people will not just listen. Stupid Leza. If she can visit people to tell them I should be moved to the Royal Palace, why isn't she visiting with more important news? Like, for example, her fucking son. Or her murderer. Surely revealing those two things is much more important than her son staying at the royal palace. Damn Leza, where are yer priorities girl?
I stare at her picture. Why isn't my annoyance and anger burning her? Why is she glaring back? Stupid Leza. Save yer son. Do something. Give me a clue. She stops looking at me and her eyes trail to my father. Why does she like doing this. Back and forth her eyes go. What is she saying? Does she want me to oust him from the royal palace? Is it in connection to mama? Is it to do with D'ziko? What is it?
My father finally feels her troubling gaze on him. He squirms. I raise my eyebrows at him. What does Leza want with ya? Have ya done something, Papa?
My father looks just as confused as I am. He shrugs. I don't know.
Perhaps Leza wants him to help me. Maybe Leza wants me to forgive him. Maybe the future of Noddon depends on my father and I (what are the odds?).
We eat mostly in silence. And then one of the royal princes comes barging in. He's fuming. His eyes tear through the faces in the table until he finds mine and sneers.
"I was in the bath," he says between laboured breaths.
I gesture to this half naked body with unnecessary disinterest. He has a white towel wrapped around his slim waist. "I can tell."
He can barely breathe. "I requested a maid to help with my bath."
In my peripheral view I catch my father sneaking out of the breakfast table. Papa first checks to see if anybody is looking at him. They all are focused on Mazwi. Then Papa tiptoes out the room. I want to follow him creep down the hall. I want to see where he's running off to. What is he hiding? Does this have anything to do with Leza's strange stares?
Luleka meets my gaze and I jerk my head toward Papa's retreating figure. She gets up and follows him.
I frown, placing my fork neatly next to my plate. "Are ya hurt?" I ask Mazwi.
He stares at me. His eyes are wide; alarmed. "What?"
"I'm asking because ya have two hands. Wouldn't ya want to do that sort of thing yerself?"
"But it's tradition."
"There's no such tradition."
"I will not allow ya to change that." He fumes now. He's walking toward me. Fast. "Ya've already done as ya please. This is my family's people."
I run my fingers through my hair and smooth it into a bun. Then I push back my chair and stand up. I'm calm on the outside but I'm filled with rage on the inside and I'm afraid it will consume me. I will allow it.
"Are ya mad because no one can help ya shower because ya don't know how to do it yerself or is it because I refuse to let ya rape any more of these girls?"
He looks at me, his eyes are blank, like he doesn't know where he is, who I am, what I mean. "I've never raped anyone."
"Do ya ask them for permission?"
"No. I... they're maids."
I stare at him, stunned. "And their services should be limited to cleaning after yer lazy ass not nursing yer manly needs."
"Ya're being unfair."
"Okay, let's be fair. That's yer daughter right?" I point to a preteen. She's probably twelve but could be mistaken for my age. She's taller than me. Taller than most girls in here. Mazwi lost his wife a year ago. She died of natural causes. I don't even know what that means, especially on Noddon's standard.
"Ja."
"Would ya allow her to give another man the sort of bath ya require?" I feel my pulse at my throat. "Huh?"
"No." He doesn't elaborate.
"No?"
"Ja. No. I mean, she's a Royal."
I tilt my head. "That's not what I'm asking."
"What are ya asking?"
"Let's say she wasn't royal, that she was a commoner, would ya, as her father, who probably loves her more than life itself, allow her to give men...erotic baths?"
"Ya shouldn't ask me that." He struggles for something to say. "Get me a maid. I need my bath."
"That's not going to happen." I ball my fist. I've had it. He's fuming. And so am I. We stare. Hard. "My word is final. If ya, if any of ya ever rape any of these yang girls, ever again, I will personally see to it that ya face execution. I have five thousand wendigos just for this purpose."
He blanches. "Ya can't do that."
"Oh? Just try me! Ya have hands. Most men use them for the kind of bath ya want. Ya do the same."
"Ya...I...father say something."
My heart jumps unsteadily in my chest. If the King goes against me in front of these people. I'll have to kill him. I don't want to kill him. To dethrone him, yes but I'm not brave enough for a kill. I can't graduate from thief to murder.
But I realise as long as I still claim this seat, I'll have to.
We all turn to the King, waiting for him to say something, anything that goes against me. King Father meets my gaze. My hands are twitching.
Our staring contest lasts for a minute but he eventually bites his lip so hard he draws blood and then sighs. His eyes lowering.