ARCHIE

My lord! My lord!” Tory ran into my chambers, screaming. She was a parasite who had sold herself to my parents. When they died, I inherited her. I released her a long time ago, but she begged to stay. She had been Lilian’s handmaid when she was alive. Now, she was the chief maid my household.

    “What is it, Tory?”

    “A few members of the sect council are here. The 1^st healer is with them. What do I do?”

    “Have them wait in the waiting room. I would be there in a minute,” I replied.  

     I quickly changed into a more presentable outfit, and walk down to the waiting room. Five members of the sect council sat in my waiting room just as Tory had said. I did not know why they were here, but I was certain it wasn’t for anything good. I took the farthest seat away from them and plastered a neutral expression on my face.    

    “How may I help you?” I asked.

    Megan sighed. “Shouldn’t you invite us in, 10^th healer?”

She was right. I should. But I only invited welcomed guests into my home and these people weren’t welcomed. Instead of giving her a response, I ordered for some tea to be served. It wasn’t lost on me that they hadn’t been offered any, and I had taken at least 30 minutes before coming out. Tory was the best. The tea was served quickly and the tension in the room dissipated a little.

    “Two royals died under your care Archie, what do you have to say about it?” Megan asked, finally breaking the silence in the room. She completely ignored the cup of tea that was placed before her while her companions helped themselves to their cups as she spoke.

   What kind of answer is she expecting from me? I have turned over my prescriptions and drug samples to her already. I have also been to 4 different panel investigations led by her and answered all their questions. What else did she want from me?

    “I have cooperated with the ongoing investigation, you know that very well. Why are you here?”  

    “It has been confirmed that the cause of death of your patients is poisoning. What I want to know is why you did it,”

    I looked over at her companions to gauge their reaction. They had none. They just silently continued sipping their tea. So they were all in on this madness. At first, it was negligence. Now they had upgraded my charges to murder.

    “Are you accusing me of murdering my patients? I asked in disbelief.

    Her accusation took me off guard, and I panicked. Naturally, she noticed.

    She chuckled at my reaction and took a sip of her tea. I watched as she gulped down the content of her cup very slowly with a satisfied smile on her face.

    “Bring him in!”  She ordered.

     A man was dragged in by her guards, and a trail of blood followed behind them. His cloth was torn and completely drenched with blood. The exposed part of his flesh was covered with deep and painful-looking cuts. He had obviously been tortured.

    I sprang up immediately, enraged. “What nonsense is this? Megan, explain yourself?”

    “He is a member of your staff. He claims that on multiple occasions he received orders from you to purchase type A poison. Coincidentally, it is the same type of poison found in your patient’s source. Interesting isn’t it?”

    I shook my head in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening to me. This woman was sitting so confidently on my couch, accusing me of murdering my patients. By law, the punishment for the offence was death. As healers, we are obligated to give life, not take. Even if I wasn’t killed, my reputation would be ruined.

    Walking over to the wounded man, I pulled up his chin. He was indeed a staff of mine, my doorman for ten years. How had she gotten him to tell such a blatant lie? Slowly, I walk back to my seat.

    “I’m innocent of this accusations, Megan, and you know it. I would prove my innocence to the general council.” I said, breaking the silence in the room.

    She chuckled. “Don’t be an idiot. If I wanted to summon you to the council, I would not be in your house. Believe it or not, am here to help you.”

    She ordered a refill of her cup of tea and quietly watched me. I knew she was stalling so her last statement could sink in. This wasn’t about my innocence, she knew I was. This was all a game, a game she was more than ready to play. She has already gone as far as manufacturing a witness. If we went to council, she would do whatever needed to be done to prove her claims. Finding a witness was just the beginning.

    I turned over to her companion. They too had requested a refill of tea their cup of tea and were drinking nonchalantly amidst all of this. None of them had said a word the entire time.

   Did she bring them here just to infuriate me?

I was losing control of the situation. What did she mean by ‘she wants to help me’? Can I even trust her?

   “Megan you…”

   “Archie!”

Slowly, I turned to the source of the sound. It was Eve. My mind had been in such turmoil, I hadn’t even recognised her voice. She stood by the doorway dressed in her usual outfit, T-shirt and pants.

    “What is going on?” she asked

No one replied.

After quietly observing the scene for a few seconds, she walked over and leaned on my chair with a neutral expression on her face.

    It was completely rude of her to intrude on our conversation, especially when she knew exactly who the guests were, but I was grateful for it. I had been 5 seconds away from accepting defeat. Megan certainly wanted something from me. This was all just a trap to force me into playing along.

     “1^st Healer,” Eve said, breaking the silence. She bowed slightly, paying her respects. “Did I interrupt anything?”

    A murderous look appeared on Megan’s face. She knew she had almost had me. She reached down to adjust her dress completely ignoring Eve, then rose to her feet. With slow strides, she walked to the door, paused for a second at the doorway and turned back to me.

    “I will defend myself in council,” I said, quickly interrupting her before she spoke. If Eve hadn’t shown up, only the gods knew what I could have agreed to. I wasn’t about to give her another chance to play any more mind games with me.

    She smiled. “Don’t insult my help Archie, I’ll see you around.”

With that closing remark, she left with her sidekicks following right behind her.

* * *

    I stared out my window replaying the events of the day in my mind as I lay on my bed. As soon as Megan left, Eve had retired to her room without uttering a word. Her silence was very much appreciated. I hadn’t been in the right frame of mind to speak to anyone, but right now, I was tired of hosting this pity party in my mind.    

     I walked to her door and knocked twice before entering. She lay on her bed, seemingly engrossed in the book she held in her hands.

    “How was your day today?” I asked.

    “Not bad,” she replied

    I leaned against the door frame, fidgeting with my fingers.    

    “Are you going to keep standing there?” she asked after I had stood by the doorway for a couple of seconds.

    I walked into the room and sat by the reading table bedside her bed.

    “Aren’t you going to ask about what happened today?” I asked.

    “Are you asking if I want to know why a half-dead man was lying on the floor of the waiting room this morning? Do you even want to talk about it?”

    I did. I just didn’t know where to start. A lot had happened already.

    “I’m been accused of murder,” I replied, and narrated the entire incident that had occurred. She listened to my story with a very sceptical expression on her face.

    “Why do you have that expression on your face?

    “I haven’t said a word,” she replied defensively

    “You don’t need to. Your expression speaks volumes.”

    “I’m trying to think objectively.”

    Was she being serious right now? What kind of man did she think I was?

I sighed sadly, robbed my palms over my thighs, and

stood up to leave.

    “If you say you had nothing to do with it, I would believe you.”

    “I had nothing to do with it,” I replied vehemently. “I can’t believe you would even entertain the thought that I was capable of such a thing.” I felt so heartbroken.

    She smiled. “I wouldn’t care even if you said you did. It makes no difference to me.”

    I returned to my chambers more depressed than I was when I left, even though I left to find some encouragement. Her last words kept replaying in my mind far into the night.

    Did she not really care if I went about murdering people? What kind of man would that make me and what kind of person those this make her? More importantly, what kind of man does she think I am?

She must have witnessed way too many deaths to be this insensitive about this whole situation. If she didn’t believe I was innocent, I had no hope at the council.