Just before daybreak Saavi, Jonas and Kaze were able to reach the Vlacca estate. In the darkness of the night, Kaze prepared himself to seek in, and find Mika before anyone inside would be the wiser.However, when he was about to leave Saavi stopped him.
"What? What"s wrong?"
"Young miss sent another message." Saavi held up the wrist.
"Play it." Kaze and Jonas gathered around her as she read the message out loud.
Finished reading, Saavi pa.s.sed the wristband to Kaze and Jonas, so they can see it for themselves.
"What is her plan?" Kaze was confused by Mika"s orders.
"It doesn"t matter, we just need to do what she says."
"En."
"You guys are joking, right?" Jonas looked at the two, who were preparing to enter the Vlacca clan.
Having read the message himself, Jonas felt like things were getting further away from what he thought they would be.
"No." Both Saavi and Kaze answered the same way, for once.
"If we go in there, as Mikaela said we might lose our lives! I refuse to go along with this plan of hers."
"Fine, stay here." Kaze threw Jonas his gear and pack the rest of his items onto his motocyk.
"We leave in an hour, making up your mind. You either come with us and follow Miss Mikaela"s plans, or you take yourself back to the Udava clan." Kaze left Jonas to make his choice.
At the Amara household, another person was reading a similar message that was sent her way.
"d.a.m.n you, Delju!" Lyra cursed as she read the sequence of events that happened to her daughter over in the Steppes.
Going to her desk, Lyra looked for her writing tools and her id stamp. Sittin down, Lyra began to write a kidnapping report when Pia talked in.
"Lady Lyra, you called for me?"
"Pia! I need you to run to the governor"s office and put in this report of a kidnapping." Lyra pointed at the report she is writing.
"Kidnapping! Lady Lyra, who-... not young miss!"
"Yes, we need to get this report filed before the afternoon."
"...but mistress, shouldn"t we notice Lord Mano about this?"
"No. He"ll just try to cover it up. Besides he already left for the Udava clan a week ago."
"But Lady Lyra if we do this it will be made public!" Pia knew the rules in the higher clans, they didn"t want any family issues being known to the outside.
"I know, that"s what I want." Thinking of first Lady Jaelah"s attacks on her daughter and now Lady Delju"s, she had the mind to save herself the ha.s.sle and just kill them both.
"...but young miss" reputation.."
"My daughter"s reputation can make a comeback, but Lady Delju mustn"t. Now go! I don"t stop for anything!"
"Yes, Lady Lyra." Pia clutched the letter to her chest and left the Amara household before sunrise.
At the governor"s office, Pia was the first person to arrive. As she held Lyra"s stamp in her hands, the governor personally came out to see her.
"What seems to be the problem?" He looked Pia up and down.
"My mistress wants to file a report." Pia placed the report in the governor"s hand.
"About a servant?" Believing Pia was handing in a report about a household servant for her mistress, like all of the madam"s of the prominent clans often do, his interest was immediately lost.
"No. Of kidnapping." When the words left Pia"s mouth, the governor was so stunned the report slipped from his hands and fell to the floor.
"Kidnapping!?"
"Yes."
Realizing he drop the report, he bent down to pick it up. Hold it softly in his hands, the governor dust of the paper and read the whole report from start to finish and then once more.
"Does the madam understand what will happen if this report is filed? I will have to notify the enforcers to investigate the situation, and all parties will be bought in for questioning.
"She understands."
"Fine, consider this report filed." Governor let his a.s.sistant take the report and enter it into the courts" system logs.
Soon word will spread of Mikaela"s kidnapping.
____
Mika awoke to the sounds of pans banging and men chattering.
"Mikaela, someone is approaching the tent." Yumsa"s warning drove the last of sleepiness from her mind.
"Got it." Retracting her defense enchantments, and arranging her clothes; Mika was ready and waiting for whoever steps through the tent"s doors.
"Miss Mikaela?" Braeden called out to Mika from ten feet away.
He didn"t know how he was supposed to wake the girl up without entering the tent. This was the best he could come up with, besides he wasn"t her who rudely enters anyone"s tent.
"Yes?"
Happy to hear she was already up, Braeden came a little closer to the flaps of the tent.
"Commander Ailwin would like to see you in his tent."
"Okay, tell him I"ll be there soon." Checking the time on her wristband, she prayed her mother and Saavi received her messages in time.
Ten minutes later, Mika left her tent and made her way to Ailwin"s.
Inside the tent, Ailwin sat at the edge of his bed reading from his tablet when Mika was escorted in be a soldier.
"Thank you, you may leave." Left alone by themselves, Ailwin wanted to discuss the trade they made last night.
"As we discuss yesterday-"
"Food... I need breakfast before we discuss anything further." Walking to his table at the side, she sat down and waited.
Shock at being interrupted, Ailwin"s eyes left his tablet to look at Mika. "Food? You are waiting for ME to serve YOU breakfast?"
"You can"t? Tsk...and you call yourself a prince." Mika looked at Ailwin in disappointment.
"A prince is supposed to serve people, why don"t I know about this...?"
"If a prince is not here to serve the people, then what are they here for?... For decoration?" Mika leaned back in her seat and folded her arms across her chest.
His right eye was twitching, something his immoral family has not been able to do, this girl has done it fourth times already!
"Fine, this prince will get your food..." Ailwin stood up and made his way to the tent"s door to order his guards to bring some food.
"Was that so hard...if you were going to do it anyway, why objection in the first place?" Mika muttered underneath her breath.
Though she said it quietly enough, Ailwin"s hearing has always been good, and he heard every word.
"Miss Mikaela seems to want to criticize this royal son?" Ailwin turned to face Mika"s smug face.
From the time I"ve met this girl, I haven"t been able to win an argument against her. If I can take this girl down a peg, then I"ll happily make use of my status to wipe that smug expression from her face, Ailwin thought.
"Me? No...,"
"Goo-"
"...but if you do something worth criticizing, I"ll be sure to tell you." The rest of Ailwin"s words got stuck in his throat, as he couldn"t believe this brat has the audacity to something this to his face.
"You!...*sigh* Do you know who you are speaking to?" Ailwin was actually afraid now if this girl were to act this way around the other members of his family she"ll be dead...and her death wouldn"t be a quick one.
"Yes. Prince Ailwin Daero Qinvyre, fifth prince of Kaia Kingdom. Son of the current king of Kaia and his third wife, birth on the night of the Dragon Star. Commander of the Shadow Wolves army, an army he built himself from the ground up. And the only prince who lives away from the imperial city and family. Who separate himself from all thing concerning the royal family and their disputes...." Mika went on the state all the information she found on Ailwin from their first meeting.
Ailwin thought this girl was like all the other young misses of the n.o.ble families, spoiled, pretentious, and ignorant of everything around them. Yet, this girl...his friend was right, she"s different.
"So Prince Ailwin, don"t worry I won"t speak like this to the rest of your family," Until I"m strong enough to repay the blood debt they own my family, "...I speak to you like this because I consider our meetings fated, and you...a friend."