Secrets Intertwined

II

There it was. 

Folding his hands behind his back, Elijah continued sauntering around the table, "As you both know, there is still a steady pace in the disappearance of young people. We are trying to do all we can to solve this and prevent it from happening and the sum you used to give, greatly aided us. We know that the money is an option payment, but all the other Communities all pay their dues."

Logan, red in the face, jumped up from his seat, fast and hard enough to send it toppling over and crashing to the floor.

"How fucking dare you!" He spat at Elijah, "We and every other fucking Community pay you that money in return for your protection! You promised us protection and-"

Jackson placed a hand on Logan's shoulder, interrupting his rant. 

Ever the calm, rational Leader, Jackson turned to Elijah and the other Councilmen, laying his calloused hands atop the table and calmly spoke to them.

"What Logan was trying to say is that the large sum of money we paid you, was in exchange for protection against whoever sick person is kidnapping all these kids. You were meant to protect us, protect my sister, Aislyn, but you didn't do your job. Instead, that money goes towards paying someone to look for her because obviously, you haven't done that.... we don't owe you anything. We owe it to Aislyn to try and fix your mistake."

Jackson, despite his calm exterior, had to restrain himself from shaking against the raw emotions that ran through him like a tidal wave. 

The reason they didn't have enough money wasn't just because they were paying for someone to look for Aislyn, but because after her disappearance, they couldn't trust anyone. 

Neighbouring Communities, after decades of amicable trade and business, became suspects, cutting off a huge chunk of money. Now, the only money that he received as Leader was though the yearly tax sum and the rare exchange with other Communities when the need arose. Every business-related earning was put back into the Community and every spare coin Jackson made for himself was put towards finding Aislyn.

Yet, even in the face of all of this, Elijah and his council still had the nerve to ask for more. More than they had.

It made Jackson sick to the stomach. Drinking from gold chalices and walking along their marble floors when at home, he didn't have enough money to buy a decent pair of trousers.

Elijah held up his hands, showing his palms, "We understand that the loss of your sister caused great distress in your Community and between yourself and the other Leaders but rest assured, we continue to actively search for all the unfortunate souls that have been wrongly taken from us. You two are Leaders and therefore you must think of the greater good; your generous donations have secured the safety of countless other communities... Speaking of Leaders, where is Tamani?"

Muttering through his teeth, Logan replied, "He is unavailable at the moment."

Elijah nodded and lowered himself into his seat.

"As fortune would have it," he said, "we seemed to have found a solution that would solve both of our problems."

Jackson and Logan both turned to look at each other, not understanding what he meant.

Elijah turned to a bell that hung from the ceiling, next to his seat and rang it.

Nothing happened.

After a second ring without a reply, the councilmen began murmuring to one another, brows furrowed.

Elijah sighed and raised his voice to shout, "Anne, send the girl in."

No reply.

"Anne-"

"The bitch is so old, I think you need to sound a little bit louder than that," sounded a voice from the far wall of the room.

All heads whipped around to where the voice sounded from but could see nothing but shadows.
All of a sudden, one of the curtains draping over a window flew back, drowning the room in sunlight. The men hissed and threw up their arms to cover their eyes. Once their eyes adjusted enough to see properly, everyone was staring at a sight; Aislyn, with her ever-present contempt face, lounged in a window seat at the back of the room, grinning at Elijah, who had stood from his seat to face her fully.

With a barely noticeable tilt of her chin, her eyes darted to the two young men.

"Jackson. Logan."

Jackson narrowed his eyes and took a step forward. "Who are you?"

The girl delayed in replying to him, settling for brushing off invisible specks of dust from her lap. 

The doors suddenly swung open with a bang and the two guards who had been stationed outside the door earlier, burst into the room. One was missing half of his moustache, the other's hairline had receded quite significantly in a matter of  minutes. Not to mention they were both missing their trousers and shoes.

"What is this?" Growled Elijah, standing from his seat.

Both the guards ignored him and ran towards the girl.

The one with the missing moustache grabbed her arms, only to recoil when she slapped him across the face.

"Don't touch what you cant afforded," purred Aislyn straightening her rumpled sleeve.

"President Elijah, she took my- she took my weapon and Az-"

"Enough," bellowed Elijah, "Do you really think it is appropriate to barge in here- into a private meeting- in your current state of undress and accuse a guest of mine of stealing?"

"We apologise," answered the other guard, "but –"

"I don't care for your excuses, leave now and I might consider allowing you to keep your jobs. I can handle it from here."

The two guards, more aware than ever of their current look, pulled down their jackets in an attempt to salvage some dignity and shuffled out of the room.

"I'm sorry but I'm lost," said Jackson, looking exactly that, "what is going on here?"

After a few tense moments, she looked up, feigning hurt and threw a hand over her chest, fake gasping, "Do you really not recognise me, brother?"

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