Interrogation

"Who are you?" Richard's loud voice boomed in the hall, his eyes flashing with anger. He was still annoyed at Yoddal's rude reaction when he came in.

"I am Yodd-" She was about to mention her name when Richard cut her off, again. "Who do you think you are? To look at me like that? I am the King. You might be a witch but I am still the King of this Kingdom. You have absolutely no right to be..."

"Hey, what is your problem?" Yoddal asked him. "I already said I'm sorry, what else do you want? Want me to fall down and lick the ground of your foot?" Yoddal was irked by what Richard said. He was lucky enough to have received an apology in the first place, yet he has the guts to complain. Does he have an idea on who she was? Oh, right! He does not and should not. Not until she is done with what she came here for.

Everyone was shocked at Yoddal's behaviour including Richard himself. Yoddal turned to look at Steve and smiled sweetly, "Make sure you eat your food. You'll heal faster."

She moved forward to King Richard, bowed to him, bowed to General Livius also. She then walked towards the door to leave but Livius called her back, "Yoddal, "

She halted and slowly turned back. "Yes, General." She said after turning to look at him.

Steve stared at her incredibly as she glared at Richard with no fear in her eyes.

"We need to discuss some certain things with you." Livius said as Richard was too busy being angry to talk to her.

Yoddal looked at Livius and a little bit of hesitancy could be seen in her eyes. 'Do they know of my secret?' She thought and she swallowed. She turned her head to look at Steve and then back at Livius.

...

Yoddal had her head down as she was being interrogated by both the King and General in the King's chamber. She wondered what it was they wanted to talk to her about for her to be in the King's chamber and she was a little nervous.

Richard was now calmer and was able to control his anger. "Who are you?"

Yoddal tried to not sigh in exasperation. " I am Yoddal, the new maid from Nirias. You would have known if you had listen to me then." She muttered the last part under her breath.

Livius was curious as to why she was no longer there. Nirias was a very good and strong Kingdom, well, except that the King of Nirias was cold and does not interact with other Kingdoms but everyone knows better than to mess with them. This was probably the reason their own King, Richard, stopped interacting with other Kingdoms. He copied the King of Nirias in order to get respect, attention and honour from the other Kingdoms and it did. It made the sadistic King Fithon to notice them but not in a good way. He concluded that they were proud and intended to bring their shoulders down by taking over their Kingdom.

"Why are you not there any longer?" Richard asked as if reading into Livius' mind. "I left willing." She said without hesitating.

This made Livius more curious. "Why?" He inquired again.

Yoddal's lips turned upwards in an excited smile, "I am here in search of my love."

"Your love?" General Livius was surprised at her reason. "Yes."

"I came here to- uhmm- uh-visit m-my-mother's younger sister's elder daughter and I saw him." She stuttered out.

"Do they give you such leave in Nirias?" King Richard thought out loud. They do not give such to the workers in their own palace so he was quite surprised. 'Should we start giving the workers here such leave too?' He thought.

Yoddal nodded her head hesitantly, as if not sure of what she was saying. "So then why are you here?" General Livius asked her. If truly she came here to be with her beloved, why was she in the palace and not doing what she really came to do in Yoniez?

"That is because..."

She suddenly stopped talking and looked at the two men with squinted eyes.

"Why do you ask?" And then she gasped. "Do you intend to send me away so as to not be with him?"

Both Richard and Livius were surprised. What on earth is going on in this girl's mind for her to come to such a conclusion?!

"No but we might if you refuse to give us an answer." Richard said to her with threat evident in his voice. The tone he used got Livius a little scared for the girl but she was rather unfazed about it.

She cleared her throat, "Uh Uhmm- Well, I am here because the person I am in love with is..."

"Your Majesty, it's Soldier Steve ." The guard said after opening the door.

King Richard and General Livius' attention turned to the guard. Yoddal's gaze on the guard was sharp as she listened attentively to the guard that she recognised to be one of the two guards guarding Steve's room.

"What happened to him?" She asked before any of the men could get it out of their man.

"We suddenly heard a loud thud from inside the room and upon entering, we met him on the floor with dark blood coming from his mouth."

They were all shocked at the report given to them by the guard. Yoddal immediately ran out of the room, bumping into the guard on her way out.

King Richard and General Livius were were further shocked at Yoddal's reaction upon hearing the report. Even the guard was shocked. He did not expect the new maid girl to react like that. What was wrong with her?

After a few more seconds, General Livius got over it and immediately shouted at the guard to go after her.

The guard obeyed without question and General Livius also followed. King Richard was finally able to get over his rude shock and also followed behind them immediately.

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A/N: There is a slight change in the book. Steve is no longer a guard but now a Soldier, a distinct difference between both profession.