Adrianna walked inside Niiya's house with her head held high, with confidence. She was certain that there were enemies around her, but she was also sure that they wouldn't do a thing to her for now.

As the royal couple made their way through the crowd and reached inside the house, they found Niiya sitting with his mother. She was sitting in a corner accepting condolences from the guests while Niiya was sitting quietly beside her, holding her hands. Pryce was also there. She was taking care of the guests. Adrianna was a little surprised to watch her being so friendly. When Niiya looked up, his eyes met with that of Adrianna's. He looked away from her. Adrianna understood that after all, his father shot himself because of her. She felt guilty. Her chin dropped to her chest and her posture slumped. She bit her lip and in order to avoid Niiya, she tried to take a detour, but Dmitri stopped her.

​​

"Give your message to him," he said plainly. "This is not your fault."

Adrianna curled her hands inwards. "Yes," she replied with her chin quivering. The three of them reached Niiya and his mother. His mother looked so grief-stricken that Adrianna didn't have the heart to say anything. Somehow she found her voice and said in a cracking voice, "I am sorry for your loss."

Niiya's mother shook her head. She looked directly into Adrianna's eyes. "Sit here Adrianna," she requested, politely patting the vacant seat next to her on the sofa. Niiya was surprised but remained quiet. Adrianna sat near her and Dmitri left her to go and stand near Haldir. She could feel Pryce's eyes boring through her.

Haldir hadn't gone anywhere near them. It was just a day back when Inyanga was here trying to break the seals of the General, Niiya and Dr. Tanaka and today there was a prayer meeting. He took a deep breath. The turn of events was so fast that it was really astonishing. But like the perfect bodyguard of his Queen, he crossed his hands across his chest and kept a watchful eye on all those who were present there.

Mrs. Tanaka's eyes were red and swollen due to crying a lot. Then in a very low and soft voice she said, "I have no idea when did my husband turn so vicious. All I knew was that he was the Council Head and he had given up that position for Niiya. But there is something that I wanted to tell you. It was a secret that I chanced upon when he was talking to one of the people who had visited our house as his patient."

Adrianna's eyes became wide. More secrets. More heartburn. She wondered if her chalice of tensions was ever going to get full. It was as if the tensions and mysteries kept pouring in and it never overflowed. There was always space left for more to come. "What is it?" she asked.

Mrs. Tanaka exhaled a tired breath and then flitted her gaze around. "Let's go into my room."

"Sure," said Adrianna.

She got up from there as quietly as possible leaving Niiya to attend to the guests and walked to her room. Though Niiya wanted to protest at her mother's actions, he just sighed and pursed his lips. Pryce came and placed her hand on his shoulder, lightly pressing it.

Adrianna followed Mrs. Tanaka into her bedroom. Once inside, she closed the door and sat on her bed. There she could safely talk to Adrianna. What she didn't know was that Adrianna had created a shield of air around the room so that none of the talk could be heard outside.

Mrs. Tanaka started to speak. "He met with a man two weeks back. The man came as a patient but something was very odd about him. Doctor gave papers, you know those medical reports to that man. I don't know what were those medical reports about at that time but when yesterday Dr. Tanaka revealed that you were pregnant and that there are more who know about it, I kind of added up the things."

Adrianna's head reeled. She wasn't prepared for this information. This was pretty unexpected and her posture stiffened. Her cheeks flushed red. She had kept her pregnancy a secret from everyone, then how did her enemies even come to know about it? Did that mean that they would again strike her? How did the doctor know about her pregnancy? She smacked her head when she remembered that she was the one who suggested going to the human realm to confirm about her pregnancy. Getting her medical reports from there wouldn't have been a problem for Dr. Tanaka. He was a well known medical practitioner of the town.

"What else do you know?" Adrianna croaked.

Mrs. Tanaka could understand her condition. She placed her hand on hers and said, "I am so sorry about all this. Although I do mourn my husband's loss, I am truly worried about your state." She caressed Adrianna's hand and continued, "My husband went away after that for two days out of town and when he came back, he wasn't the same. He talked very less. He seemed to stutter a lot and he spoke very carefully as if measuring each and every word. He was in some sort of dilemma always. I even told him if he would go and show it to another doctor, but he opposed my idea." Her eyes became wet with tears. "He was such a nice man." The tears came out and she sobbed.

Adrianna put her hand on her shoulders to comfort her.

Mrs. Tanaka spoke after a short pause. "I don't know- I really don't know what possessed him? Why did he become so power hungry? That day when Inyanga wanted to get into his cell, he vehemently refused her saying that there were hundreds of seals in his mind that she would never be able to open. I am so scared of him, for him that I pitied him also. He was suffering. And then- and then he shot himself. He didn't even give me a proper chance to talk him out of it."

She looked up at Adrianna with eyes that were full of guilt and remorse. "I think he had met some dark forces that bound him with promises which he couldn't dare to reveal. And that is why he suffered so much."

Adrianna removed her hands from her shoulders feeling numb. Dark forces? What did that mean? Everything was hazy. "Do you know anything about the dark forces?" she asked.

Mrs. Tanaka shook her head. "He never said a word about it."

Adrianna knew what to do next. She had to get Dr. Tanaka's head to Inyanga. Somehow, Ziu wasn't as important to her now. If those forces did not attack her then, then it was apparent that they were waiting for the right time to strike her. She shuddered. Were they waiting for her to deliver her child? Or were they planning to kill her before she delivered. Suddenly she realized that she shouldn't have come there. She felt that she should get out of Niiya's house as soon as possible when the door opened with a thud.