36. Birthmark

The room was silent like a tomb as they watched the woman on the screen raise her bloodied swords high in the air and the crowd went wild. "Fucking hell, she made it," Juma said rubbing his hand over his face.

"You can say that again," Musila said his eyes still locked on the screen.

"Did you suspect she would actually have a chance at the fucking crown when you thought of your plan?" Leshinka asked, his never-ending smile no longer in place, Adrian who was looking at the screen shocked beyond words. She had made it to the grand finale without any help. She had done it on her own and the pride he felt at that very moment was nothing that he could ever describe. This was the first time in centuries that an African from the Africa continent had a straight shot to be queen. She had basically made history after Angela making it to the top three years ago. Juma raised his whiskey glass still watching as Eva ran into the arena and Shirleen threw away her swords to swing her in her arms joyfully even if she was injured. "Just for that win I wouldn't have any problem with her joining us as the heir," he said impressed.

"Do you know what this means for us?" Musila said his grin widening.

"They all know she is the phoenix heir without even taking of the mask. We will be acknowledged even if she loses the last tournament with the queen," Leshinka said excitedly, "They all saw her save Eva from her family without a second thought they will automatically respect her and be afraid of her at the same time." All Adrian did was pick his glass of whiskey from the table and raise it high in salute of the only woman who had been able to tame and control him at the same time and laughed long and hard.

"Before I forget Angela will be throwing her a party to introduce her to our circles and the elites. She will be sending an invitation to all your houses whether she wins the queen's seat or not. I fully expect all your attendance," Adrian said as an afterthought as he stood and exited the room.

"This girl is really interesting," Musila said softly to the other occupants of the room. "I didn't expect to respect her without even meeting her. Angela chose very well."

"So did Adrian," Juma said contemplatively resting back in his seat.

Shirleen smiled placing her phone back on the table and walked to the bathroom taking off her clothes. She had bruises and bandages covering most of her body but none of that really mattered. All that mattered to her at that very moment was that Adrian was beyond proud of her. By the tone of his voice he had not expected her to get to where she was but now that she had he was so very proud and could not wait for her to get home. By the innuendo in his voice what he really wanted was her back in his bed a situation she was looking forward to. Her body hummed with anticipation. She had been away from home for at least six months and she missed him beyond imagination. All she could think about was going back home, back to him, the man who had shown her a whole new world and encouraged her not to be an observer but a participant. She also had another motivation of wanting to go back home as soon as possible and that was she wanted to locate her mother's grave and for the first-time since she died place flowers on the said grave. She wanted to properly grieve but she was also aware that Angela would never give her that information not even under threat of death. This left her with one option and that is use her own strength to locate it on her own without alerting Angela. The thought of finding the grave drove her to want to become queen just to get the power and the resources she may need. What she had realised in the few months she had been away and she had time to think about the situation they were all in was her father had made a very big mistake that had led to the breaking of two women who had been pulled in by his lies leading to the death of her mother. Her childish mind had put all the blame on the woman she had not known and tried to absolve the man she had loved and had raised her but she could no longer do it. She could no longer look away from her father's participation in her mother's death. The realisation had left her confused and wondering what she should do. She breathed in heavily and turned to look at the full-length mirror at her back watching in fascination as a black tattoo appeared covering the expanse of her back due to the heat emanating from the hot shower she had switched on. According to her mother, she had been surprised at first to discover such a huge birthmark spanning her back as a child. It had at first concerned her mother since it only appeared when her body temperature spiked up but disappeared when her body temperature lowered to normal. The doctor had assured Shirley that it was a normal birthmark and had no implications to her health. Her mother had at times joked that there was no way she could be lost with such a mark on her back. Growing up the mark had grown with her and now it looked simply beautiful. She still couldn't believe such a birthmark existed with such details but due to her shielded lifestyle she could not find more about it. Shirleen sighed and stepped beneath the hot shower and stood waiting for the sharp pain that assailed her as the hot water slid down her body touching her wounds.