The Queen Imperial

Chapter 37

Niyagra.

She had no idea how she even got there and why, all she knew was she got into the car and made the driver go all the way to village without even thinking why she did that. There she was, doing things no one asked her to but a part of her really wanted to know. After hearing the rich kids' side of the story of the Niyagra people, her curiosity started to get the best out of her. All of a sudden she wanted to know more, she wanted to see just how broken these people were and Aiden was going to be her perfect excuse, plus she was kind of worried about him too.

Ever since she visited Asher, she just couldn't shake off the feeling that he was probably up to no good again. Maybe it was yet another strategy of the royal family to get the people of Niyagra to bow to them and so the king always sent Aiden every year. She just needed more reasons to convince herself that it was useless even trying to want to get to know him in the first place.

The loud moos from the cows she could barely even see distracted her thoughts. She took a deeper breath as she stepped away from her car.

"Be careful Miss vutron," the court lady behind her made sure to say just as she walked hurriedly after her. Anne-Marie wasn't sure she had anything to be scared of especially when Niyagra was almost similar to her old neighborhood in crystal lake. When it came to poor areas, she knew she could blend in pretty well. At least the roads were tarred.

The village wasn't as horrible as everyone pictured it to be. She could see people peep through their houses to steal glances at her as she made her way down the almost empty street with half burned houses. Seven years was a long time but you could still see the ruins and burned roofs caused by the fire.

She could see how the kids that used to be playing before her car drove in, started to seek shelter immediately like they were trying to hide from her. Not that she could blame them though, with all they had been through, they had every right to be scared of strangers. She was so sure that the elders in the village must have told them how the rest of the world had turned their backs on them. They didn't look like they were exactly familiar with visitors coming to see them.

It was her first time being there but she could feel it, the emptiness and sadness that was laced in the air every time she took a breath. She could feel the pains of the people and hear their yells as their skin burnt to ashes every time she looked at a house and saw the burned marks on it. she could literally hear as they cried and begged for mercy while bullets were shot into their skulls, she had goosebumps just thinking about it. Seven years might have been a long time, but everything about the village she was looking at, showed her just how hard it was going to be for anyone to heal from what they went through.

Her teacher was right anyway.

The people of Niyagra were quite resourceful when it came to taking care of their village and ensuring their survival. For people who didn't have much, for people who didn't rely on the government for anything, they sure did a good job at providing for themselves. Anne-Marie was sure she had driven past a huge farm land on her way, that had to be where they harvested all the food they ate, there was a river too and fishermen trying to fish and with the way she could hear the animals make all sorts of noises, she was sure there had to be an animal farm somewhere. Yes, nature was on their side and they knew how well to take advantage of the resources they were given. They had everything they ever needed. No wonder they didn't need the outside world for nothing.

She could hear the sweet sound of amazing grace, sung by the choir as she approached the huge halfway burned church even closer. According to one of the royal guards when she called earlier, that was where he was, Aiden.

The closer she got to the church, the more she could see. Elijah was the first person she took notice of, together with the other bodyguard beside him, a few feet in front of the church and as she got even closer, she got to see him too, standing there on his own, right in front of the church with his hands folded behind him. It was the first time, the first time she had ever seen him in a suit, a black one and he also had a black pair of glasses on and just kept his gaze straight on the church's building with a straight look on his face.