"Your highness, such important decision should be up to your ever capable hands." Kebarah replied stiffly.
Aveedah smiled wickedly.
This means absolute surrender. Their petitions have just gone up in flames.
"Eric, make sure he is protected even from himself." She ordered, her cold gaze on the people before her.
"Your majesty, you promised you would never abandon me." He yelled freeing himself from the guards grip.
"You knew you were going to be ousted, you told me you would help me out." He screamed, approaching her in hurried strides. The guards managed to hold him down before he could approach her but he had succeeded in causing the turmoil he had aimed at.
The place was a ruckus as dignified personalities threw all etiquettes away and screamed at each other and a perplexed Aveedah could hardly hear anything.
'How did the tables turn so fast?'
'I need to counter this, I need to win today.'
She turned to Kebarah and the sly smile on his and Solomon's face was a slap on her cheek.
They had been acting all along.
She had been fooled.
As she turned to Velaine, he caught her eyes and somehow, she knew what he was saying.
'How good are you in chess?'
'Can you turn defeat to victory?
"Silence." She called, her voice cold and angry.
The place was quieter but there were some rebellious voices.
"Silence." Kebarah yelled and they all obeyed making Aveedah even more furious.
She could feel Keevah's support from where he stood but this is not a place for him to interfere.
Eric looked like he would burst from anger as he held the prime minister in a kneeling position.
"Aveedah, you owe everybody an explanation. What is your prime minister talking about?" He asked, clear mockery in his voice.
Aveedah rested her back on her chair and called Keevah close to her. She whispered to him and he smiled before he teleported in front of all of them making them gasp at the disrespect.
"Interim King Kebarah, you seem to be forgetting you are but my subject, I could have your head for your disrespect but I choose not to, so is the benevolence I have shown each one of you here."
"You have the audacity to stand before me and speak before I permit you?"
"You have the audacity to question me based on something as irrelevant as words from his mouth?" She asked, no longer hiding her anger.
She had been foolish for even trying to persuade them.
If people had a sense of loyalty, then they would have never thought of even thinking of anything bad against me. My father had done a lot for them, some are presently on their seat because of him and now they are trying to backstab me?
And I am playing petty tricks to gain their approval?
To earn respect you have to see in yourself what you want others to see in you.
"I, Queen Aveedah Moorah Aarah of Vedarah asks the help of an irrelevant old fool to gain my rightful possession?"
Aveedah laughed softly and gently stood up from her seat, gracefully stepping down the podium.
"If I want to get rid of you, do you not think you have made it easier for me by being in my kingdom, my palace, my hall and eating my food, or better still why allow blood stain my abode?
The hall was now quiet as they watched her carefully approach the now trembling prime minister.
She now looked like her father in an uncanny way and anybody who knew Moorah knew looking like him was not a good thing.
She stopped about two inches from him, she could see the fear in his eyes but there was also the resolve she wanted to banish.
She allowed her eyes to scan the room, to make sure she had every of their attention. When she was satisfied, she nodded to Eric who hesitantly released him from his grip before she landed a literally hot slap on the prime minister's unsuspecting cheek.
The shock and pain must have made him irrational as he tried to argue and she landed another slap on the same cheek making him fall to his knees.
Her palm was laced with fire and it was leaving burn marks on his cheek.
"I could slap you to death or better still slap your daughter and wife to death, It would cost me nothing."
At the mention of his daughter, she saw his eyes widen and she knew she almost had him.
"It was foolish of me to think you should be treated like a human, I will pay homage to our ancestors if that is the language you will understand." She had barely closed her mouth when Keevah walked in with some papers, behind him was the prime minister's wife and daughter led by two guards.
The woman looked at her panicking husband, tears in her eyes.
The daughter was rather aloof to the happenings and had only reacted when she saw her father kneeling on the floor, unshed tears in his eyes.
Keevah distributed the papers he had brought to every ruler in the room except Velaine and Kebarah. Immediately each ruler begins to read the content, they desperately hid the papers from prying eyes.
If anybody sees this...
"Since my father's passing, I have not properly mourned him, neither have any of you allowed me to. Request after request. Security, food, water, trading, conflicts all I have taken care of and you have the audacity to say I need more training. You try to stab your benefactor in the back?"she asked looking at them all.
"Your lives and your kingdoms is in my palm and if I decide to turn against any of you, if I decide to use your weaknesses, if I decide to reveal secrets my father had helped you all bury, if I decide to withdraw my support, do you think you will stand?
"I crown kings, nobody crowns me. I make the decision and would only consult those I want to when I want to, Vedarah is my kingdom and if you think you can handle the consequences, try going against me.'
"Prime Minister." She called now looking at the trembling man
"You will confess your crimes and expose your accomplices here and now." She ordered and when he did not look up, she raised his chin and slapped him again much to everybody's horror."
Nobody dared to even breathe loud enough for her to hear. They were not in anyway ready to take the consequences.
When she asked again and he only cried in response, she raised her hand to slap him again when his daughter pulled from her mother's protective arms and rushed to kneel in front of her.
"Your highness please show mercy, he will confess but please show mercy."
Kebarah finally got over himself and also chipped in.
"I beg you your highness, please find it in your benovolent heart to show mercy."
She stopped and glanced at him before she replied.
"Interim King Kebarah, you should have said that while I was being understanding and you may have forgotten but you would not be here if you were not my uncle. After all, you are just holding Neil's position for him and you will return it when I deem right."
Kebarah stood still unable to digest what she had just said.
'Did she just mention Neil?'
'Had he been with her all those while?'
As if answering his questions, Keevah gave him the last paper he was holding.
His hand trembled as he recognized the drawing on it.
He looked at Solomon who returned his gaze with a questioning one.
'Had they not gotten rid of Neil?'
He looked at his daughter who averted her gaze making him raise an eyebrow in understanding.
They will talk about it after all of this.
Aveedah looked at the daughter and slowly moved back giving the father and daughter space.
She may be angry but she wasn't a monster.
"Before I return to my seat, I want to hear what I asked or else the next slap will come with a ball of fire and it will not be on your face." She threatened, her eyes on his daughter.
He gfollowed her gaze and he trembled on realizing what she meant. He could barely swallow the lump in his throat due to the immense pain he felt.
His little daughter.
Would he make her go through so much for his selfish desires?
If he does not confess, Aveedah will kill his whole family right before his eyes but if he does, Kebarah will kill him.
It is a choice between himself and the most Important people in his life.
Velaine watched the prime minister with keen eyes as the Aveedah walked back to her seat.
She won.