Chapter 12 One: Kyla's Visit

"I want to see the suspect," Kyla said to the guards.

"I'm sorry ma'am, but the suspect is not allowed to be seen until the day of her trial," one of the guards said.

"I'm Kyla, the protector of the golden rings," Kyla said furiously and agitatedly. She pursed her lips and looked away for a bit, "Now, may I come in to see the suspect?"

"Following the protocols of Kadi, you would not be allowed in here. But thank you for proper introductions, and my apologies, ma'am," the same guard said, opening the sally port and bowing his head in acknowledgment. Kyla walked in; her heeled shoes responding to every step she took. The guard at the door of Zidudi's detention center let her in without asking a question.

Zidudi sat on the floor as there was no other place to sit. It was a small empty room reserved for lawbreakers. There was neither a bed nor a mattress, nor a place to sit. Kyla walked into the room with that constant gaze of contempt she had for Zidudi. She looked at her all over and decided not to walk any further into the room. Zidudi stood up, her expression filled with fright and remorse for an action not committed. She pleaded with Kyla, holding her arms, and Kyla shook her off in disgust.

"Please, help beg pardon," Zidudi pleaded, "I committed no crime."

Kyla was unmoved by her pleading, "I can't beg pardon. I'll turn myself in." Zidudi cried. She knew what was going to come next: she would be eliminated. She didn't cry because she was going to die, she cried because she had put a little boy's life in danger to save hers. Her children, too, were on the verge of destruction and backlashing from the community.

Kyla watched her cry and was just a little touched by that. She would have told her about the Kadi chronicles, but that would be a dangerous mistake to make. She wanted to console her, to embrace her, but she was dirty. Zidudi had been and rolled in filthy places to prove her innocence, her loyalty, and her honesty to the gods and man. "You cry so bitterly, why?" Kyla said almost mockingly.

"I will be killed in what… Three days? My children are not due for initiation, and my husband will work for the Kadi," Zidudi cried.

"There's nothing wrong with your husband working for Kadi," Kyla said, unconcerned. Zidudi looked at her in fury but remembered that she could do nothing to her. "Do you think that I stole the chronicle?" Zidudi said mildly.

"Kadi must have done lots of analysis, and the whole community was searched before a conclusion was made."

"So, you think I did it." Kyla shook her head but was reserved about whether she agreed. "If they haven't found it, then it means that someone in Gashi might be a mole. They have to check themselves well."

"Are you suggesting that Kadi is lying? Or, Hadi or Gaga Kadi is a mole?" Kyla asked with so much annoyance, grimacing.

"I'm not saying that, but it's a point. Someone can't just walk into Liou without anyone in Gashi seeing," she said furiously. "I was framed by Hadi… Baat, the bastard!"

Kyla frowned at Zidudi for making such a derogatory statement about Hadi. She wasn't moved by Zidudi's consideration of being framed.

"Why did you frown? Look, I get that you're trying to find your son and all, but I meant it. He's a bastard!" Zidudi said, this time avoiding eye contact with Kyla. Kyla didn't have much to say. She visited Zidudi as the last honor she could render before her elimination. "Baat said he was with the chronicle of messages, didn't he?" Zidudi asked.

"Yes, he did," Kyla said, switching her eyes from side to side.

"He wasn't with it, was he?"

"No, he wasn't," Kyla replied quickly, then dilated her eyes a little in surprise, "How do you know that he wasn't with the chronicle of messages?"

"It was obvious," Zidudi said, running her hand on her skin-cut hair. "Kadi didn't send men to search for the chronicles of messages."

Kyla pursed her lips in suspicion and gave a slight nod to what Zidudi said.

…

People were gathered around Hadi and the rest of the royals. They waited outside for the outcome if Hadi was found guilty of stealing the chronicles. Kadi Kyxhitu and Gaga Kadi Kyxhitu, along with a few other guards, walked into Baat's house for a thorough search. That would not have been possible if Baat hadn't insisted that their houses be searched too. The people shouted intensely. The place was hot. Hadi knew that they would not find anything in his house. He pretended as if he wanted to walk out for some air. Meanwhile, he had asked Ido to wait for him behind his house where nobody would see them.

Ido stood diligently, and he seemed like he was ready to do anything Hadi would tell him at that moment. "My greetings, Hadi," Ido said, bowing down to Hadi when he saw him. There was a short silence that lingered: Hadi was making sure nobody was around to hear whatever he was about to tell Ido.

"Your house is still under screening, sir," Ido said.

"Did you ask me a question?"

Ido saw the bitter expression on Hadi's face and was a little frightened. "No, sir. Sorry, Hadi."

Hadi turned around again to confirm whether anybody was looking at them.

"I have a task for you," Hadi began, "But first, did you keep the book well?"

"Yes, sir. In the cubicle, buried beneath the corpse of your late wife as you said." Hadi gave Ido a resounding slap with extreme fury.

"You dare not talk about her body like that," Hadi said angrily, "Nobody must know about the body either." Ido nodded.

Hadi moved closer to Ido. "You must eliminate the little boy today."

"Who, sir?"

"The boy who showed up at Gashi with claims of seeing my guard walk into Liou."

Ido nodded in agreement to what Hadi said. A few moments later, Kadi and Gaga Kyxhitu declared that Hadi was innocent, and the suspect would still be detained.

…

"Hadi had never liked me," Zidudi said. "He told me to have sex with him some time ago – then I didn't have a job – I didn't agree.

"He offered me this job because I had previously worked for him spying on the Daso people. That was the time the Kimga chain went missing, and the best experience of my life. He told me to tell people that I worked in a school if I was asked. I told people that he was happy.

"Then he got the Hadi position. I was very happy for him, quite frankly, but I already knew who he was. He didn't like to be with a woman. He had fucked lots of girls – always lured them in with his muscles. You know, he doesn't have good looks," Zidudi said with a chuckle escaping her throat.

"I couldn't be with a man like that. I had to get married to my husband then. He promised me the world if I married him, but I told him we could still work together, be friends, spend time with each other, and any other thing he wanted, except a romantic relationship. I thought he was cool with that, until recently.

"The best thing is that," Zidudi said, looking at Kyla, "I now know his strengths and his weaknesses."

Kyla wondered what that last information was about; she decided not to think so much about it. Loud footstamps began approaching Zidudi's room.

"Ma'am, some children are waiting for you outside. They said they have something important to tell you," a guard said, standing at the door, and talking to Kyla. Kyla picked up her handbag, greeted Zidudi goodbye, and walked out quickly. She reached the sally port to behold Sarusa and Galaazhi.

"What is it?" Kyla questioned.

"Hannah's been taken away by the dark side," Sarusa whispered.

Kyla wondered what she was talking about for some time before an immediate dawn of realization.