Responsibility Ch. 24

In Rahela's little hands, there was a thin scroll. Once The Emperor had Verala stand before the Empress, she spoke aloud, as breathy as she often was, as darling as she often was.

"My bodyguard isn't truly useless. He's found something for me. A witness' testimony." The Empress flipped the scroll open and held the text before everyone's eyes.

A testimony, indeed. A man claimed he'd been hired to act as a third party, a go-between, a middle-man. With the instructions and extra money from the Chachuk family, he'd gone and hired two assassins long ago. It was even noted that the assassins were a couple of male lovers. These assassins were meant to kill Rahela back when she was still a princess, only a recently betrothed maiden under the Emperor's eyes.

The signature had a bloody hand-print carefully pressed in, now dry and dark of course, but it was still plain.

Verala paled. Everyone saw it, but she didn't quite lose her calm composure. She only remained silent.

Rahela spoke on as she rolled the scroll back into its thin shape. "Those assassins that had tried to kill me, His Majesty had brought them to this castle some time ago. He's a clever and thoughtful man. I understand how useful they could be. We might confess to everyone that he have them. How else can His Majesty speak of his accomplishment?" She carefully slid half of the scroll into a pouch of hers. "Those assassins have no reason to lie to us. When they were asked if this testimony was true, they confirmed it."

Verala's lips parted and her pretty eyes were quite startled.

"I could give you your life," Rahela said with her oh so tiny, oh so light voice. "All you'd need to do is serve as another informant. Give me any more plots and schemes buzzing around in that wasp's nest, and I know there must be more. Had you assumed my lack of immediate knowledge on this Empire would have me weakened?" At this point, Rahela's smile faded and her eyes sharpened. "I might not have known at first, but eventually I realized the Chachuk family and the Markov family have some marriages between them in older branches. They might openly behave as if they've turned cold, but rumors don't die. The families are truly close. If one succeeds the other benefits."

That might've been what snapped the main line in Verala's brain. She fell down to her knees, put one hand on her lips and the other at her belly, and started breathing loudly and heavily, almost gasping.

"If the Markov family had succeeded in framing me for poisoning the Empress Dowager," Rahela said, "then both the Markovs and the Chachuks would've benefited. The Markovs would've likely not killed the Empress Dowager, only let her suffer enough to have me executed, and once she was healthy she'd have kept her Markov favorite, and that would have given the Chachuks a speedier route to offer one of their maidens to His Majesty. A word from her favorite could've had the Empress Dowager sending all the Chachuk maidens to His Majesty for approval."

Irakly laughed into his fist, but he hushed himself very quickly. He wanted Rahela to say everything that needed to be said.

"If you, Miss Verala, had succeeded in seducing His Majesty, and in deceiving him, I could be deposed or executed. That would leave an opening for you, and a chance for you to forcibly restore grace and honor to the Markov family. Honestly, this was much more blatant than you might've assumed. It wasn't difficult for Ammas to find the link between the Chachuk family and the assassins that moved against me. All he needed was time and patience, something that, concerning you, my beautiful little favorite, has slowly drained out of me."

Verala wasn't breathing as loudly as before, but she was trembling.

"Now then," Rahela said, "should you refuse to tell me everything you know of your family's plans, even those that don't affect me, I'll have you killed. At this moment." She nodded towards Ammas, who was already pulling his sword out from its sheath. "But you should know that your family's fate is already complete. Most of them will be killed. Peitlada will be given to someone else. Your family will lose all standing and the Markov family won't be able to save them. When both hands are crushed, one can't heal the other."

Quiet.

Then Verala looked up at the Empress. Her face was darkened by a blush but also shimmering with a few tears.

And she said ...

"Put me to death."

A pause.

Rahela looked over to the Emperor and asked, "Your Majesty, what should I do with this unruly maiden?"

Irakly thought he could feel the sparkles in his own eyes. That's how light and bright he felt. "Say what will be done, and I'll see to it that it will indeed be done."

Rahela nodded and gave her words very concisely.

"You, Miss Verala, will be made the new Baroness of Peitlada while most members of your family will either be killed or disgraced. You'll be kept as my little stray lace, my tucked away button. At the very least, you'll serve as a reminder that I have more control over the court than some people would like to assume. I won't be destroyed easily."

Verala's head lowered again. Her hands went to her eyes.

She was weeping.

***