XXXI | Wife with a Mission

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Aliya was allowed entrance into Belcourt after a thorough search of her person and her carriage by the two Soldiers outside the first gate. Ever since she had exited Belcourt, she had to go through the same process.

She did not come for Delaney for she was certain she would not be allowed to see her sister who was still in the Manor. On the other hand, as an alum, she could visit The Court of Flowers and the Village.

Finding no need to grace her previous court with her presence, Aliya went straight to the Village where the first part of her mission was to start. Heading straight to the tea house, Aliya asked Keisha, a woman with short, red hair, and a server in the tea house she was most familiar with, to send a message to Fatima. Keisha took her note and had it delivered by another service woman, and engaged Aliya in a conversation about her new life outside Belcourt.

"I heard, my lady, that you married a doctor," Keisha said in a teasing tone. "How is it to have a man beside you at all times?"

"It is a very good feeling, Keisha, but I do admit I quite miss the moments when I do not have to wake up with anyone," she said to avoid stirring any feeling of envy. The least these women needed is to feel envious for it might start something that would only cause Aliya a problem in the future. There was a proper way to make these women demand a change in Belcourt and envy ought not to be the fuel for that. "And there is nothing better than Belcourt tea," she added.

"We take pride in our tea," said Keisha. "By the by, my lady, do tell me more about your husband."

Aliya sighed, seeing the dreamy look in the woman's face. Keisha was the same age as she and she was amongst Aliya's first friends when she arrived in Belcourt.

"Well..." she started to say, but Fatima suddenly burst through the doors, breathless, followed closely by Carrie. "Perhaps we can talk some other time, Keisha."

"Of course, my lady. It was very nice chatting with you," said the woman, turning away to prepare tea for Fatima and Carrie.

"Where is Shay?" she asked her two former servants after a long and strong embrace.

"She has been assigned to cook at the Library today," said Fatima, her tone not in the least concerned about Shay. "How is he?" the woman asked in a whisper, eyes brimming with tears.

"He is enjoying the quiet life in Herst," Aliya said with a smile. "My mother-in-law enjoys his company. He plays by the beach every day and intends to learn how to swim. Oliver says he will teach him, but I doubt he will ever have the time, therefore I am guessing Ellise, my sister-in-law, will do the task. She also plans to teach him how to ride a horse. He and Dorothy miss you all."

"He looks for me?" Fatima asked, looking around.

"Yes, but he understands why you cannot be together for now," Aliya said, reaching for Fatima's hand. "I am sorry, Fatima. I cannot do much, but I am hoping that the time will come when I can pay for your dowries without raising suspicion—"

"Fret not, my lady," Fatima interjected. "It is enough that you are giving him a good life. Please extend my gratitude to the St. Vincents."

"I will," said Aliya.

"Do you need anything?" Carrie asked. "We know we cannot do anything, but I have to ask. You are alone out there, my lady."

"I am not alone, Carrie. I have Oliver and his family." She nonchalantly looked around and waited for Keisha to serve them their tea, and waited some more before she said, "I may need your help about something."

Fatima and Carrie nodded with enthusiasm and Aliya had to chuckle. "Has life in Belcourt been utterly boring that you are both so eager to hear my request?"

"Yes!" Fatima replied at the same time Carrie drawled, "Very."

Aliya cleared her throat and looked around the tea house once again. There were a few women in different cloaks, but none that could hear them if they talked low enough. "Perhaps I will tell you later," she said in a teasing tone and both women groaned. "First, tell me what has been boring in Belcourt."

"Oh, I do not know—" Carrie started but then stopped. "Oh, there has been a very peculiar incident last week," she said, "Although I might tell you later—"

"Carrie," Aliya said, voice filled with warning.

The woman chuckled. "Very well," she said, "A woman fainted outside Belcourt gates."

Aliya frowned. "Why?"

"We do not know, but the story says that when she came about, she cannot remember anything."

"She lost her memory?"

Fatima and Carrie nodded and leaned over the table. "The High Court is deciding if they should let her stay. She is a woman, not a child. I do not know about Belcourt's full history, but I do not recall any incident where we took in a full-grown woman."

"Is no one looking for her?"

"Well," Carrie said, leaning even closer to whisper, "before she fainted, she was shouting that someone was hunting her and she is in danger."

Aliya slowly nodded, her brows furrowed. "The story is indeed interesting."

"She is being kept in the Library," said Carrie, "which is why I am eagerly waiting for Shay's return. She may share more news about the woman."

"I hope that the three of you will be very careful. You cannot be found involved in another trouble, most particularly Shay."

The two women laughed at the mention of their previous cook.

Aliya waited for a few more ladies to walk out of the tea house before she murmured under her breath, "I need a favor from you."

Fatima and Carrie nodded, the laughter in their eyes gone, replaced by eagerness.

"It may be a very dangerous one."

Their nodding intensified. "We will do anything for you, my lady," Carrie said.

"Listen very closely..." Aliya started.

*****

Aliya traveled back to Coulway deep in thought, her mind fretful but also confident that Fatim and Carrie can easily do the favor she asked of them.

On the other hand, she could feel a pang in her chest.

For one, she passed by the Manor earlier and longed for her sister.

Second, she felt utterly guilty that she asked two women she left trapped in Belcourt to risk their good standing for her selfish reasons.

If she could do it another way, she would, but even Fatima and Carrie told her that her plan was the best thus far.

When she arrived in the villa, she looked for her husband and found him in his study frowning down on a book while holding a scalpel and another dead animal on the table. She ignored the animal and went straight to her corner. "I rather like my corner in Strait," she said. "That one at least has a view."

"I am a view," he murmured under his breath as he continued to frown at a page. "How was your trip?" he asked.

She sighed. "I only hope we succeed." When he did not reply, she narrowed her eyes. "Are you quite busy? Is that more important than my mission?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I am learning how to detach organs. In fact, I am about to start dissecting—"

Not intending to let him go further with the horrid details, Aliya interjected and asked, "Why?"

"I intend to do the same to Prince Emory," her husband said, stealing her a look.

Aliya laughed out loud. "Surely, Ollie, you cannot still be cross about that one detail."

"You said you were in love with your first flower. I believed I am a man of good rational thoughts, but I found I am not after all. I want to skin a bloody prince as we speak."

Her shoulders were shaking with mirth. "I did love him—I thought I did—and I would not discount what I thought in the past simply because I feel differently now."

"Still, I preferred it when your first flower was unnamed and dead in my head."

"You are being absurd," she said, jumping to her feet. "Very well, if you do not wish to discuss my mission, I will retire to our bedchamber."

"I will see you for supper," he said, returning to his task. "I am about to pull out intestines."

Aliya stopped at the doorway, leaning on the frame, to say, "And then I will undress and order for a bath," she teased in a seductive tone, a silent chuckle shaking her shoulders when she saw him stiffen. "And I will change into the white lace chemise you gave me—" she jumped into the corridor when he suddenly whirled around. The scalpel cluttered on the table as he advanced toward her, his eyes narrowed to slits, his mouth curling into a wicked grin.

"Go on, darling," he said, stalking her down the corridor. "Take my mind off the intestines."

Aliya's heart ecstatically raced in her chest as she rushed to their bedchamber. "Then I will go to the kitchen," she said in between laughter.

"And what will you be doing in the kitchen?" he asked, his voice dark. A delicious shiver ran through her as she remembered that one night in the pantry.

Aliya bit her lip, her feet taking her faster to her destination. "I will steal my favorite blueberry jam—" she yelped in surprise when her husband hauled her over his shoulder in one swift motion. "Ollie! Where are we going?" she hissed as her husband carried her downstairs.

He did not reply and Aliya gasped in protest when he entered the kitchen, surprising the cook and two servants.

He put Aliya down before he turned to the pantry, opened the door, and grabbed a jar.

Aliya covered her face with her hands in embarrassment as her husband hauled her back over his shoulder with the blueberry jam in hand.

She slapped his posterior. "You are insane!"

"I am efficient," he said, taking the flight back upstairs.

In their bedchamber, he threw her on the bed and grinned. Opening the bottle, she wiggled his brows at her, eliciting a round of chuckles. "Now, darling, what did you want to discuss about your mission?"

Aliya's eyes darted to the open jar. She swallowed as he dipped his finger inside and brought it to his mouth. "Ollie, you were just touching a dead animal!"

"No, I was not. I was just about to start when you arrived. What did you want to discuss about your mission?" he repeated.

"Are the Royals used to staying up late?" she asked, moistening her lips as he dipped his finger back into the jar and approached the bed.

"Darling, you are talking to someone who can drink all day—used to drink all day, that is," he said, climbing on the bed and kneeling beside her. "Of course, the Royals can stay up past the wee hours."

He teased her with his jam-covered finger, hovering it over her lips before snatching it back to suck into his mouth. He chuckled when she scowled at him. He licked his lips and smacked his mouth, tasting the jam.

"Then we need to send them a note that they can start keeping watch outside Belcourt starting tomorrow night."

He nodded, positioning himself over her, trapping her between his legs. "Now, what was that other plan of yours?" he asked.

"Cover you with blueberry jam," she said in silent laughter.

He frowned at her, feigning confusion. "That is not how I remember it. I believe it starts with a bath, followed by my favorite chemise and the garter. And then the jam."

Aliya reached for the condiment and he allowed her, grinning at her mischievously as she dipped her finger into the jar. She spread the sauce on his lips and raised from the bed to kiss his mouth clean.

"No, no," her husband said when she reached for the jar again. "Bath, chemise, garter, and then jam."

"Ollie..." she started, but he silenced her with a kiss before jumping off the bed. "I have very specific fantasies, darling," he told her as he rang for the maid.

Her lips pursed when he replaced the lid of the jam and placed it on the table beside the bed.

"Fret not," he said, pulling from the cushions. "I will share the bath with you."

Later, after a long, warm bath, Aliya dressed in her chemise and garters.

And the jam followed as promised.

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