"Still nothing?" Keevah asked, frustration written all over his face.
"Nothing other than that which we already know." A girl replied.
"Keep looking. I want results when I return from the court." He ordered and walked out.
There was a lot of loose ends he needed to sort before Aveedah returns, he wondered how she was doing today. She seemed upset yesterday after he had confirmed Irina's lies to her, he on the other hand was not so surprised, he always knew Velaine is not trustworthy. There were so many questions about him that did not fit until Aveedah had informed him that he is an ungifted and everything got resolved at once, another occurrence that did not sit well with him.
It felt like he was throwing a bone to the dog to keep it away from the lamb.
"My lord." A guard bowed.
He merely nodded as he entered the courtroom.
The court members grumbling as they stood to greet him.
Grumble as they may, they could not do otherwise, the queen had left him in charge.
"Present the scrolls." He said and immediately, the chief messenger collected the piled up scrolls from the prime minister.
He sort them out in two places and presented it to him.
"Your highness, these are from other fire kingdoms and these are reports of affairs within the kingdom." He Informed presenting the platter he was referring to as he spoke.
Keevah nodded and began with addressing the internal reports.
One by one, he assessed every report, chastised who needs to be chastised and commended who deserves it.
"Send one thousand soldiers to the border of the fire nation and one thousand more to that of Vedarah."
"Minister, two more barns should be constructed in different locations and filled to the brim."
"Secure the market place. Monitor every transaction. Cut down the price of food to half the normal price increase the wages by five silvers but the tax remains the same. "
"Spread the word."
We know not how long the war will take. Her highness advices that every family should spend wisely."
"As for every knight of Vedarah, they should be given four times their wages, a bag of rice, five rolls of silk and five ounces of beef each."
"My lord, I have an objection." The minister of finance interrupted.
"We have more than five thousand knights here in the capital, roughly three thousand distributed to the other cities and about one thousand five hundred at the borders. My lord, to provide all these knights with all that was listed, I am concerned we may have to delve into the kingdom's fixed treasury."
Keevah smiled before he said.
"That will not happen. The funding for expenses that has to do with preparation for the war will be provided by the joint treasury. Minister of finance, you will meet with other ministers of the same department of other fire kingdoms and execute her highness's orders."
The minister bowed and went back to his seat. He was obviously sulking, everybody was due to the amount of work to be done.
Keevah shrugged and rolled out another scroll.
If sulking is their way of enduring, then they could sulk all they wanted.
War times are never to be enjoyed.
***************
"Are we not safe enough yet?" Aveedah asked, irritated at both her helplessness and ignorance.
"Shadow hunters as you know are objects of black magic that arise from elements of nature. The longest a person can pull the trick is for two days which is why it is wiser to wait it out than fight that which you can not eliminate. In this case, those were created with your essence in other words, your touch, your direct contact with nature springs them to life." He explained, barely glancing at her as he maneuvered his way through the thick forest.
"So I would be this miserable for two days?" She asked, disbelief in her voice.
"Maybe you can change the way you see it. It is said, if you can not avoid it, enjoy it." He replied, making a point of tossing her a bit, enjoying her frustration.
Aveedah hissed and elbowed his abdomen as hard as she could lying in his arms. If anything, he smiled wider annoying her even more.
"If you do not like being in a liar's arms, we will be with the others soon enough and before then, I hope you can endure my infuriating self." Accusations stood out in his voice and his eyes shone with disappointment. He was looking straight at her , forcing her to do the same. She is not the liar neither the traitor so why is he chastising her and her cowering.
"I can not go back empty handed." She suddenly said, almost yelling.
"What?" He asked, slightly dazed.
"I had fussed so much about wanting to hunt, I can not go back with nothing." She explained.
"They can not chastise you, your safety comes before your pride, Queen Aveedah." He informed rolling his eyes.
"It is not their judgement I fear, it is my conscience I wish to satisfy. You had said it yourself. If one wished to do good, he should take it all the way for a half done good teases the heart of a beneficiary."
How did he forget?
He had named her after all.
Aveeridah, worlds shield.
She who was born to protect her people.
"Will you do as I say then?" He asked. His voice was softer than he had intended and his eyes were almost pleading her to believe him and his heart, his heart was swelling with admiration for the woman in his arms. She was hunting for her servants and not for the purpose of leisure but simply to ease them.
He did not wait for her reply before he carefully began to drop her.
"Stand on my toes." He whispered into her ears.
She did as she was told, knowing she did not have much of a choice. If she humoured herself and argued with him, the deer they both had their eyes on will flee.
The position was uncomfortable and scandalous if anyone saw.
There was nothing separating their bodies except for the garment they both had on.
His head was on the crook of her neck and anytime he spoke, she could feel his hot breath on the skin on her neck but the tingles they sent ran down to her toes.
Carefully, he pulled out his bow and collected the quiver she had been holding.
It had just one arrow remaining.
He removed it and dropped the quiver, careful not to alert the feeding deer.
He took her hand and together, they set the arrow in the bow and aimed at the unsuspecting deer.
The world may have stood still for the duo as they observed the deer, listening to each other's laboured breath adapt, till it regained it's original pace forming a rhythm they both were unaware of.
Every move they made was in sync, their minds forming a telepathic connection, so when she sought to aim at it's heart, he knew and when he thought to shoot, she did.
They watched the arrow hit the intended target and the deer fell lifeless, blood slowly trickling from where the arrow had embedded itself.
However, none of them moved from where they stood unable to break the trance they were in.
Aveedah blinked once, then again then rapidly all in an effort to regain herself.
She thought to clear her throat so she could alert him but she heard his voice, dazed and husky.
"What did I lie about?"
She wanted to yell the answer in his face but the situation they were in would not permit such and neither was her mouth cooperating.
"Confirm from me that which you doubt, my mind is in such a state that it is unable to forge stories." He professed, his voice sounding drunk and his blue eyes now almost grey.
She could tell he was being entirely truthful. His tone lacked the defense it always had, his heart was racing, his breath was short, laboured and hot, the hands he had around hers were trembling slightly and for the first time and probably the last, his mind was not doing the thinking, his heart was.