Chapter 18 – Lost Mother
Julius’s funeral must have been the second biggest after His Majesty’s own. There were a lot of people from the rich nobles in their gold-trimmed carriages to royals huddled closely by guards. But none of them wept. They gave a nod at the corpse, turned back, and left. A few tried to wipe an imaginary tear, but when no one was convinced by the drama they left soon. The ones who mingled enough until the corpse was buried were the Edhall family, Julius’s debt owners, and one or two royals who had close connections with him.
The old bastard didn’t have any family, not even a nephew or a niece, so Andria was forced to sit near the corpse and pretend to mourn for her husband. She did a good job at it.
When everyone’s attention was away, Gray managed to sneak near her and squeeze her ass. “Keep doing it for a few more hours.”
She blushed. “Right. After that can we-”
“We’ll see about that,” since no one was looking Gray gave her butt a light spank and sneaked out of the room quicker than he arrived. When he escaped through the kitchen door he caught the poster plastered on the wall.
FIND IMMEDIATELY!
Sia Brewer, the servant and maid at Lord Julius’s household, is to be found immediately for the murder of her master. Anyone who has information will present it immediately to the authorities or Lady Andria herself. Gold will be rewarded based on your information.
Gray looked at the poster for a while. He had never thought Lyla would turn against her own daughter. It sounded almost impossible. It was just one week ago the mother and daughter stood in the kitchen cutting and chopping vegetables.
I want you and Sia to live a better life, Lyla said.
“You are her mother,” Gray’s fingers brushed the poster.
But Sia being the murderer was the perfect puzzle piece for the authorities. On the eve of 12th day of Dwarves Month, Lyla had heard her daughter scream in the kitchen. When she had run to the kitchen with just her bedclothes she had found her master naked and murdered.
Lady Andria, who had seen a sudden change in her husband’s behavior had felt disgusted about it. They’ve had constant fights, and when he tried to make love to her she had refused countless times. But he was persistent on the night before 12th so Andria wasn’t surprised when she was woken up early morning by her maid to tell her about Julius abusing Sia, their servant girl.
Gray, the servant boy of Lord Julius, was punished the day before for stealing gold from his master, and while he spent a sleepless night in the basement he heard sounds of a girl screaming, shortly followed by his master talking dirty to the poor girl. He had screamed begging for help, but when Lyla had opened the basement door and he had rushed out, the deed had already happened.
Three witnesses, three similar stories. All of which framed Sia as the murderer. But she wasn’t just a murderer. She was abused by her master and therefore a victim rather than a murderer. But the authorities didn’t want to taint Julius’s name, so the news went out differently.
Sia..Sia…Gray opened the kitchen door and stepped in. If only you just listened to me.
“Gray?”
He startled. He turned to see Lyla. She was wearing her chemise, and judging by the basin she was starting to get ready for a bath.
“They are burying Lord Julius at sundown,” she explained. “We all need to be there. So I was planning on a quick wash.”
“Did everything go alright?” he asked. Lyla was taken by the authorities in the morning for questioning. They had taken Andria the day before, and Gray’s own turn would come tomorrow
“They only asked the same questions,” Andria said, hugging herself. “And Lady Andria’s plan was working. She had paid a few higher officers to keep silent. That’s helping us a lot.”
“Good,” he looked at the basin. “Let me know when you are finished, I’ll need to wash myself too before we leave.”
“I’ll wash you up,” she said. “Strip and come here.”
She turned, and Gray averted her eyes from the way the cloth stuck to her ass. Sia had insulted him when he had looked. Now she wasn’t there. So there was no point in denying Gray liked her butt. So Gray turned again and took a good look at it.
Then he started to strip.
I can’t believe I’m doing this.
Lyla once bathed him when he was thirteen. Not because he was a kid, but because he got into a fight and badly bruised himself. When she did that she was just wearing her chemise, and when she pressed onto him from the back he felt a giddy pleasure with the touch of her nipples.
But now he was eighteen. But when he stripped and walked to her he found he had no way to cover up his erection. Lyla gave a quick glance at his erection, then moved her eyes back to the bath.
Their so-called washroom was just only five feet wide and five feet long, only covered by a little curtain. So the insides were cramped, and Gray liked it.
He almost shivered when the first bucket of cold water hit him. But then he felt Lyla’s warm fingers rubbing his back.
Her touch feels so good.
“You must be wondering why I did that,” she said. Her voice was close to his ear. He even felt her breath. They hadn’t spoken about Sia’s framing ever since Lyla sprouted out that lie.
“I wanted to have a nice long conversation after all of this was over,” Gray said.
“Gray, when I was coming home from the market that day, I met Sia.”
Gray shivered. He turned back, suddenly forgetting everything about her touch. “What?”
“She looked really horrid. Even her face looked like she saw a ghost. She came and begged me to let her leave the house. I thought she was lying, so I told her to bear it up and walk back with me. And then she insulted me straight to my face. She insulted both me and you. She said how everyone betrayed her, and how she hates everything. Her voice was getting too loud, and lucky for me we were in an alleyway. So I slapped her, and told her to stop being whiny.”
“Then she told me about that power of yours. I didn’t believe a word, but before I could question anything she ran away. She said she never planned to come back. And she said she met someone on her way who could help her. That’s all she said. I thought it was just a fancy theatric of her. But when I came home-”
“You saw everything one by one,” Gray said. “I did everything for you and Sia. I just wish she understood that.”
“But you enjoyed it too,” Lyla’s voice was numb. “I know you did Gray. You are a boy after all.”
Gray didn’t respond. He was busy thinking about who Sia escaped with. Who could convince her on the way so quickly?
“I thought a lot about her that night. A part of me wanted to run and save her, but another part of me hated her.”
Just like me, Gray thought.
“The authorities said they’ll be pulling down the notices soon, so Sia will be safe. Even if she is captured, they’ll bring her back to us. And then…”
Two birds in one stone. That was the plan of Lyla. Even when they capture Sia, Andria will be able to bribe them and set her free. And then Gray will have his sweet revenge.
“Without Sia I’ll be alone,” Lyla’s hand moved to his chest. “So I’ll need someone to accompany me.”
Gray was wandering in his thoughts so deeply he didn’t realize what she meant until she touched his nipples.
“Uh…Lyla?”
“Gray,” her voice came as a whisper. “I want a child.”