Falling For My Father's Right Hand Man

Chapter Two

Jade

The evening was exactly what every other evening was, quiet indoors and active outside.

Every evening, we all, including the staff, are expected to come out and immerse ourselves with the gift of the moon goddess–night.

My father believed in the sacred nature of the night. As much as it brought danger sometimes, he believed that it was the most peaceful part of the day. It was when people reflected about the achievement of the day and know if there can be adjustments or not.

He observed it so much that people started to think that he had a kind of sorcery that drew in power from the darkness. As a result of this, some requested to partake in this ritual of ‘night self meditation’.

I thought about this moment for a while. This was the perfect time to leave. Once I've announced my presence–as he doesn't like any absence –I’ll quietly leave.

This meditation exercise lasts for not less than 15 minutes. If I am fortunate enough, I'll sneak out 3 minutes after I've announced my presence, then pick up my not-so-many stuff and make my way through the first gate, possibly in 6 minutes, then the second, if no one catches me, 3 minutes. To run as far as possible will definitely take more than 3 minutes but it's worth the shot.

I didn't know how to get to the city. In fact, I've never even been there before. I wondered if I wasn't risking too much.

Tung! Tung! Tung! The bell rang, interrupting my thoughts. It was time. Everyone was gathered already. Although we were outside, there were high walls around us.

My father had built our house with twice the security that was normal as a result of an incident that happened 21 years ago. My parents told me I had a brother. We were twins. The night we were born, there was a full moon. A moon so full you'd think is day.

Our home was welcomed to all who needed us. We didn't bother locking the gates at night, my father was the Alpha, who dared?

On that night, nobody aside from the members of the household knew my mother was in labor. For the first time, the gate was locked. When my mum had successfully delivered us, we were presented to my father. My father wouldn't let us out of his sight for one bit. He was a pictorial illustration of a proud father.

But something had led him out briefly. It was a phone call. Someone had called him. We were laid outside on what could be called a pouch. He believed we were safe. Besides, the gates were locked.

His council of wolves had called concerning a meeting earlier scheduled that night. But he had gone to cancel and also break the news of our birth.

When he returned, we were nowhere to be found. At first he had thought it was probably the midwives that had taken us.

After he asked, nobody claimed to have taken us. Everyone was alerted, nothing. But they eventually found me though, but not my brother. Till date, dad still looked for him. We were identical.

After that day, dad felt one gate wasn't enough and he had doubled it. Which only makes it harder for me to put my plan in action.

“Jade! Jade!” It was my sister.

I went to her. My father was engrossed in his dumb meditation. My sister kept urging me. When I got there, she asked that I sit with her. As much as she was a lot of things, she loved being around me.

Every session of these meditation exercises, we would sit together, a little far away from my father and gossip. Sometimes we would fall asleep. We barely ever meditated.

I'll miss her when I'm gone.

As much as I didn't want to do that, I did. If I had left now, it would be more suspicious.

The gates creaked open, and a group of men came in. At first I couldn't make them out, but then I did. They were the members of the council. They only came unannounced when something important was up.

I watched them walk over to us. My dad hasn't moved yet. He still had his two eyes closed, legs wrapped over each and his palms together like he was praying. If you didn't know him, you'd think he was a priest. The difference was he wasn't exactly on white.

When they got where we were, they whispered something to the guards standing about. The guards in turn whispered to my dad's chief of army, then the chief of army bent over to my dad and spoke in his ear. His eyes immediately flickered open. He stood up and went over to them.

They left the spot we were and headed to a private chamber, out of earshot.

I don't know exactly what led my legs, but I stood up to follow them. My sister dragged me down.

“Are you insane?” she asked.

“What? Don't you want to know too? You know he'll never speak a word about it after”

“But…but if we are caught?”

“He's definitely not going to kill us. What is more relieving than that?”

My sister was skeptical. I knew she wanted to know as much as I do. She just wasn't brave enough to actually find out.

I stood again, but this time, she didn't drag me down. She followed me up. The others were still seated. We moved quietly into the house.

The private chamber was a compartment made of curved stone walls thick enough to silence whatever came from it.

As a result of my constant fear of being caught painting by my father, I discovered places he never thought anyone would.

The attic had long been patched up and was never used. I remembered going to visit a friend and she had opened her’s. I began to wonder if we had it.

When I got back home that day, I went to the exact spot she did and I noticed something. The extension of our roof was too big to just be nothing but a roof. I instantly knew we had it. I operated on it when I was home alone and it opened. I began using it as my painting hideouts.

The attic was the only place you could hear everything coming from the chamber below. I wondered whether that was the reason it was hidden away.

I led my sister to the stairs of the attic. I knew I was risking my hideout, but I didn't mind because I knew I would be leaving soon.

As expected, she had a look of shock and fear combined.

We didn't even need to lay on our stomachs to hear them. It was clear as day even while we stood.

“How long have you known this spot?” She asked when we got in.

“Too long”

The expression on her face was satisfactory. I've heard her several times talking about me to my father. She would ask him to ground me or lock me away so I can get over the urge to paint. I've heard a lot from each member of my family about me and about things that didn't concern me.

She was suddenly uneasy.