Chapter 17
1052 Words
The room was plain apart from a single long table that had seven chairs in total sitting around it. Sky sat across from Mr Akuma, who sat alone. There was a guard that stood behind Mr Akuma, one I had never seen before.
I sat down next to Sky and Erik sat on my other side.
Mr Akuma smiled at me as I settled into my seat.
‘ Thank you for meeting us here,’ Sky said.
‘No problem. I understand you have your hands full,’ smirked Mr Akuma, glancing at me again.
A low growl came from Skylar, it relaxed me knowing Sky was sitting beside me.
‘We need to understand how you came by Cordelia,’ Erik continued.
‘She wandered into my region when she was about five years old, covered in ash.’
‘What happened to her parents?’
‘My guards investigated but found nothing. To this day, I don’t know where she came from.’
It's not surprising that he was lying. No one would willingly admit to murdering a royal family. It was very hard not to burst out and accuse him of exactly what I know he did to my parents. I wanted justice for their deaths and that would only happen with the death of Mr Akuma.
‘Then what happened?’
‘I took her in and put her to work as a maid when she was old enough.’
‘According to reports, you used her for other things.’
‘Other things?’
‘Yes, we have informants that have told us she was more than a maid,’ Erik said.
‘Our informants told us that she was a blood slave, which you know is illegal,’ Sky advised.
‘I would never. The very thought of that makes me sick.’
Make him sick? It didn’t make him sick when he was feeding from me all those days. It was years I was stuck there, letting him do whatever he wanted because I never had a say.
‘Cordelia has also stated that this is true and when we first saw her, she had bite marks and her eyes were red.’
‘I still deny these claims.’
‘Regardless, the evidence is mounting against you now.’
‘What? Some marks on a maid’s neck and her word against mine?’
‘Careful what you say, Akuma,’ growled Sky.
‘Ahh yes. My apologies, sire, I see that you have taken a fancy to her.’
‘I would tread lightly, Mr Akuma.’
‘What is there to tread carefully about? He is the king; he can claim as many as he wants.’
‘She is more than a servant and you know it.’
‘I have no idea what you mean.’
‘Our sources say that you killed her family to obtain a type of ownership of her.’
‘If you had proof of these claims, this wouldn’t be just a meeting, I would be in chains awaiting execution. Now, if you will excuse me, something important has come up. I need to get back to my region.’
The meeting ended as Mr Akuma made up an excuse to leave early. I could tell Skylar was close to losing it with him and I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t trying harder to get a confession out of Mr Akuma.
‘We will set another day to meet then.’
‘Yes. We shall.’
Mr Akuma got to his feet and left the room.
‘He’s lying,’ I said, turning to Sky.
‘I know he is.’
‘Then why aren’t you stopping him?’
‘He looks after a major region, we need to have proof of what he did otherwise they’ll come after me.’
‘Lia, he is still king. He has to follow the proper channels or he’ll face repercussions from the council.’
Feeling frustrated, I got to my feet and headed for the door. Pausing, I look back, ‘I understand, but it doesn’t mean it is any less frustrating.’
Heading towards the bathroom, my phone started vibrating. It was a call from Aura, I realised as I pulled it out of the pocket in my dress.
‘Hello,’ I answered.
‘Hey! Sorry it took me so long to reply, my house doesn’t have the best reception.’
‘That’s alright.’
‘What have you been up to?’
‘So much has been going on I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all.’
‘Oof, I know how that feels! I think we need a girl’s night out.’
‘Girls night out?’
‘Yes! Where it’s just you and me. No boys.’
‘That sounds amazing! We’ll organise it soon.’
Let me know when and we will put together a plan.’
‘Okay, I’ll talk to you later.’
Ending the phone call, I placed it back in my pocket and headed towards the bathroom.
As I rounded the corner, someone grabbed my arm by pulling it behind my back, the other went to hold the hand around my throat. I was pulled backwards against a warm body.
‘You seem to have done well for yourself here. Making the king fall victim to your ways,’ his voice whispered in my ear.
‘I didn’t force him to do anything,’ I wheezed out.
‘Of course you did. Now you’re trying to convince him I did all these evil things to you.’
His hand tightened around my throat.
‘I will not stand by as you try to sabotage everything I have worked for.’
‘You…killed…parents.’
‘Even if I did, you have no proof. I made sure of that. Don’t even think you’re safe. I still have plans for you and when the time comes, you had better believe you’ll be wishing you were dead.’
I was thrown forward, landing heavily against the wall, coughing and wheezing. Mr Akuma’s message started ringing around my head. It wasn’t a message as much as a threat I felt. My heart was racing as his footsteps faded down the hallway.
‘You okay?’ Sky asked, coming up behind me.
I nodded, not trusting my voice to sound normal. Mr Akuma wasn’t messing around when it came to what he did in the past, but I really wanted justice for my parents and I wouldn’t stop until I got it.
- Writer
