I am Reborn through Revenge

Care for a drink

***Anon's POV***

It was a good thing I met the Widow. She told me what I never knew. But what I still found very difficult to understand was why Brady never told me this. I mean if he knows about this, why didn’t he say it? What was he hiding? I just needed to find him and perhaps find out from him before I make hasty conclusions, I thought.

It seemed like there was something that I was forgetting.

Oh, my head!

Yes! My head was no longer pounding. I was surprised that it had come to an abrupt stop and I didn't even take any herbs for it. To be sure, I touched my head to check if it was still clanging or hammering like before but I didn’t notice anything. It was as if it never happened in the first place.

It dawned on me that I had made a mistake. I should have looked for Brady in the brewery house instead of going to his family's home. He had more than once said something about staying in the brewery house and to be honest, I didn’t know why I didn’t remember that.

Was it that I wasn’t thinking straight or thinking right when my head was hurting me? Well, it doesn’t matter now, I thought. I needed to find him. This time, at least, I had a little clue where I thought he would be. I made a walk to the brewery and as you should know, the royal brewery belonged to the King and them. It was where all the drinks made for the royal families are made in large quantities. Though I was not vast in the knowledge of alcohol but rumors had it that the liquors from the royal brewing house were one of the strongest and the highest quality in Zahrin. I don’t know if that was among the good rumors people peddle about us just to give unmerited credit to the royal family but I had to agree with the rumors to an extent because Brady can’t be acting that. . .stupid unless of course, he was always under some sort of influence of strong ale. What a non-boring sort of stunted imp Brad was. (laughs).

When I got to the brewing house, I took in as many details as I could compound. Here was among the few places in the palace where there was less or no security. Maybe it might be because they think thieves don’t steal drinks, I foolishly thought.

Now, I was in front of the brewing house. It was a large faded brown coloured one-storey building erected with bricks and woods. I couldn’t count how many windows I saw but the doors were fewer. It had a larger door at the main entrance which was also made with logs of unidentifiable species—thanks to the faded brown colour all over it. As I said, there were no guards outside but I wasn’t sure of the inside. When I was approaching the main entrance, I saw Brady coming outside from the inside.

He was wearing an apron hanging from his neck to his waist over what seemed to be a crisp black shirt. His hair was looking like a plastered wall, maybe wet I guess. I whistled but it seemed like he wasn’t even closely paying attention. I knew of nothing that closely describes how carried away he looked. I whistled again and again but he was still walking away farther from my right side. It was a good thing nobody noticed who I was so I decided to use it to my advantage.

“Brady!” I yelled out in a loud wail.

He turned around immediately and regarded me. I furrowed my eyes quickly around to know how many people saw when I yelled, but it seemed like I was lucky, nobody looked. I wasn’t that type of public person so I would have felt utterly disconcerted if people had stared.

Smiling, he came close. “Your highness!” he bowed. While his head was still lowered, he raised his eyes to look at me, revealing lines on his forehead. My eyes caught his and I could sense a cheeky smile perfectly hidden on his face.

“Bra…dy!” I drawled as in B…RA…DY. He couldn’t control his laugh and as I had expected, he busted out laughing. “You are a ridiculous chimp, Brad.”

“How are you doing my Prince?” he asked, ignoring my insult.

“I'm sure I am doing a whole lot better than you, Brad.”

He laughed again. Popping up his cute chin, narrowing his eyes in a dim.

“I think you want us to talk?”

“Of course.”

“Then I guess here wouldn’t be the best place for it.”

“Sure. Where should we go?” I asked.

“Uh! I think we should move to the canteen side of the brewery. There is less chance of seeing clusters of people around.”

“Brady. Did you soak or wash your hair inside a bowl of decayed alcohol or what?” I asked him, holding my nose with my hand.

He smiled. “Why did you ask?”

“Your hair looks like Zyrex, the wine tapper.”

He giggled. I was sure he understood what I meant. Zyrex was a popular legendary character in Zahrin. He was said to be the best wine tapper widely known across kingdoms. The establishment of the brewery was credited to the legacy he had left behind.

“But you have never seen him before or have you sir?” he asked me through a narrowed gaze.

“Of course,” I told him. “I met him a few days ago.”

He laughed again. Then, I followed him to the canteen, and as he said, there were few people there. I thought that the canteen would be inside the brewing house but no, it was outside. We followed the back of the building and avoided as much stare as possible from people. We went to a far corner and relaxed. To be honest, I really loved the canteen. I never knew that such a place existed in Zahrin. It was made with short walls, short enough to see whatever was happening outside without getting to stand up from a chair.

“Care for a drink, sir?” Brady asked.

A drink? I wasn’t even sure if I have eaten. But yes, I have always wanted to taste the drink made in the brewery directly before it gets to the market. People say that before it gets to the market, it must have been diluted many times making it lose its original and natural taste. So yes, a taste of a direct brew would truly be satisfying, I thought.

“A cup will do.” I winked at him.

He zoomed off. Then the next time I saw him, he was carrying a jug and two cups propped against each other and his apron; he took it off. He dropped the jug at the middle of the table and he then separated the two cups, kept one to my side and the other one to his. He then poured wine from the jug into my cup. He filled it to the brim and then his.

“Thank you, Brad. It smells nice,” I said, jamming my cup with his. “So let’s get down to business. Were you able to get the information that I seek?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. He looked above his shoulders and then shifted his chair closer. “According to my source, the girl Valerie is an orphan.”

“Orphan?”

He took a sip. “Yes. She’s an orphan and she was raised in more than three foster homes before she came to the palace. My source couldn’t exactly trace back to her roots. It was really difficult.”

“Are you saying she is a ghost?” I asked him. The drink still smelled nice and fresh but I had already lost the appetite to drink it.

“Not exactly what I mean sir.”

“Then what exactly do you mean?” I asked, placing my two hands at the edge of the table.

“She is not a ghost and she does have a root. But you should remember that time wasn’t exactly on my side. You needed an answer as soon as possible and we got you as much information as we can get in the slimmest amount of time.”

“Oh!” my brows raised instinctively.

I almost forgot that he had just one day to make all these findings. To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I would have done it better.

“Besides, if you poke around too much, someone might find out that some random person is digging on a palace maid. It doesn’t sound so well. Someone might ask questions which may raise specks of dust.” His lower tooth pressed on his upper lips.

“But are you sure your source is eh-m…”

“He is a professional your Highness. He knows what he is doing.” He interrupted.

A professional? But how did Brady knew a professional who could discreetly get a job done? Not just any type of job but seeking out secret information about people without letting them know about it in a short period. Oh, and this made me remember my encounter with the Widow. Brady could be more than what I see, I thought. I wasn’t sure if it was the right time to ask him about what he knows about what the Widow had told me. And I don’t even know why I was thinking this way. I mean suspecting Brady of anything, that was new.

“But apart from this girl coming from foster care, is there no additional information I would need to know about her?” I asked, narrowing my eyes as though it was hit by bright sunlight.

“Of course, there is,” he said and nodded his head.

“Then what are you waiting for?” I asked, raising my shoulders then removing my hands from the table where I had kept them. “Kick me in the tooth.”

He cleared his throat. “He said her full name is Andranikus Valerie Alexo. I was told that she uh—uh she was the only daughter and son the man had. They lived outside the capital on the coastal plains of Zahrin and I think the man that adopted her is very rich. I don’t know if that’s where she was raised but. . .that’s where she stayed before coming to the capital.”

If she was from a rich home, why would she want to serve as a palace maid? Unless she does have an agenda. . . or maybe there was another reason which I couldn't figure out.

“Interesting,” I said.

“Yeah. Did it help?”

“I don’t know but I think I have something I could use to confront her.”

“You want to confront her?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“How do you intend to do it?”

“Leave that to me. I know how to go about it.” Brady glanced at me, and his eyes glittered darkly. He looked seemingly disappointed. I don’t know why there was that look, maybe because we never kept things away from each other.

I ignored him. I poured the liquor into my cup. The urge to suddenly taste the wine came. I filled my cup to the brim and I chugged it down at once.

“I have to go now Brad,” I told him. “And Brad, this wine tastes so good. Don’t come to my room without getting me a cup of this next time.”

He smiled. “I will keep that in mind, sir.”

I stood up, looked at my left and then right and I noticed that nobody was watching. I walked away. It was time for me to meet Valerie, I thought. I think the reason I made all those investigations about her was that I wanted to know what I was up against. And now that I knew, I think I know what to do.