Omniscient
As Ahsha sat waiting for her mates to be led in she scanned the room. Her mom and dad sat next to each other with Nuri as well.
On the opposite side of the room for the first time this week Imam was here. The pair's eyes met, and he set her his signature smirk before nodding his head.
Ahsha smiled back before looking at Marie. She didn't get to dwell on that for too long due to the doors opening. Malik, Pablo, and Ares stood locking eyes with their mate before heading to their seats.
"Good morning," They said in unison. "Where did we leave off yesterday?" Adrian asked. "Ahsha was pregnant when she found out that we kidnapped Pablo, and I took over Malik's body," Ares said. "How did she find out about Pablo?" Andy asked me.
"I threatened to kill myself if my guards didn't tell me what was going on," I said casually stunning the sea of on-lookers. "What?" Someone called out. Ahsha chuckled.
"My guards were two of Malik and Ares's closest and most trusted guards. They knew what was going on. They hinted at but I was tired of pussyfooting around the subject. I grabbed a kitchen knife held it to my throat and threatened to end it all before they told me Malik and Ares had locked Pablo away in the tombs." She explained. "How did you find out about what happened to Malik?" Jacob asked.
"Malik told me," Ahsha said.
Ares looked at me confused. "How?" He questioned. "With Oshun's help," Malik answered. "After that, it was basically like living in a war zone with Ares." She said shrugging.
"So, what exactly did you want to gain out of imprisoning Pablo and Malik? I assume you had good reason to go through all of that." Harrison said.
"I wanted Ahsha," Ares said pointedly. "You already had her," Isaac said causing Ares to shake his head.
"Do you know what it's like to always have to share, but not only share but to receive the smallest portion? Every single time. I had never been given the space to have something for myself." Ares spoke.
"I mean I can understand that but if we're being technical you don't have her to yourself now," Jacob said.
"That's true. But it's different now. Before I didn't think she saw me, not as a separate being from Malik. I felt like she only interacted with me when I forced her to. I couldn't see past my own issues to notice that she was paying attention. She had been trying to tell me that from the beginning. She saw me. She wanted me. I couldn't see that because my mind wouldn't let me believe that she could ever want me like I wanted her. All I saw was how much attention she gave Malik and later on Pablo. I wanted that. I couldn't see that when we were together she gave me just as much attention." He said looking up at Ahsha.
"What changed?" Dalia asked. "Towards the end before everything blew up. She showed me that she knew things about me that I never really said out loud. She just naturally picked up on by just being with me." He sighed feeling a familiar knot in his chest as he thought about how awful he was to her.
"After that all I felt was regret. So as an act of waving the white flag, I allowed her to visit with Malik for a time." He said.
"And Pablo?" Adrian asked. "No," he said. "I couldn't do it. I couldn't let him near her, not after what he tried to do." He added.
"The attempted banishment," Dalia said. "Yes, my reasoning was that he'd try and poison her feelings toward me. I was just starting to repair our relationship I couldn't let him come between that." Ares spoke.
"So, what ended the fighting for good?" Andy asked looking at me.
"He told me what Pablo tried to do. How Malik and Imam stopped him. That day I saw Ares for exactly who he was. A very hurt, angry, and neglected man. His parents treated him like a monster. His brothers treated him like a weapon. You all viewed him as a terror, so that's what he gave you." Ahsha spoke with an air of anger in her words.
It was clear to all that watched her she felt protective over her mate and his mistreatment.
"Do you hold any resentment towards your other mates for their treatment of Ares?" Dalia asked.
"I did." She said. Malik and Pablo looked at her no emotion showing on their face, but she could feel it. They were hurt at her admission.
"I held a level of resentment towards them all. To Ares for everything he did. To Pablo for what he tried to do. To Malik for not warning me about all the drama I was walking into." She said feeling the sorrow and regret course through her.
"However, I understand that they were led to believe that they could get away with their behaviors. Because I mean honestly who was going to tell the future kings what they could and could not do? From my understanding, they've never truly had to answer to someone who they not only love but who is equal if not stronger than them. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong." She said looking at them.
"They loved their mom, but she had no power. They respected their dad, but they were still stronger than him, the same with their brothers. So, whose left?" She asked the audience.
"Imam." Someone called out. "He's only recently returned. Before that, he wasn't here." She countered.
"So when I enter their life there was pushback because I'm challenging them. I questioned them and as I learned they each had their own reactions to being questioned. Ares's first instinct is intimidation and force. Malik would try to reason with me but if I didn't agree with his reason he too leaned into intimidation. Because of our situation, Pablo had no choice but to be flexible, and that's carried over." She said the last part with a big smile.
"As I said yesterday, they are not the men you all know them as. None of you have ever truly seen their personality. None of you really know them. They barely know their own personalities outside of sharing a body." She spoke before another smile graced her face.
"And as someone who is also having to learn things about herself as I go I'm able to show a little grace and patience to them." She added. The three of them looked at her completely smitten. Adrian glanced at his brothers as they saw the look on the three men's faces. They all shared a contained smile at the sight.
"Thank you for that. I think we sometimes forget that we all need a little patience with each other." Andy said.
"Where did—oh yes what happened after the imprisonment ?" Taj asked. "I escaped," Pablo said with a shrug.
"And then he had us run off the road," Ares said.
"Shit," Jacob muttered. "You bunch are so extreme in your actions." He added.
"Right," Ahsha laughed drawing out laughter around the room. "Let's start with the escape," Isaac said.
"My— Mira, Gino and Franco Pereira, and Olivia Lavallette broke into the tombs to help me escape," Pablo said.
Chatter filled the room at his words. "What was your plan?" Jacob asked Pablo. "Kill Malik and Ares, get my mate back, and be king." Pablo listed off.
"And you just thought no one would try and stop you?" Andy asked. He shrugged.
"I didn't care. I was pissed. I had been starved for months, nearly burnt alive, and I had been without my mate for the entirety of her pregnancy." He explained.
"Olivia— that's why she ran you off the road. Did you tell her to run—,"
"I would never. I didn't know until she was being carried into the home we were living in." He explained. "Wow," Adrian said.
"I don't understand why you three held so much hatred for each other, especially to have shared a body," Andy asked.
"Hearing about all of this in the last 2 days can make it seem like we were constantly at each other's throats. When we weren't. Malik said.
"There were a lot of times where we acted simply as brothers," Pablo said.
"As it was broken down to me. It was the blind leading the blind." Ares said.
"You all heard earlier this week about our parents. you heard about our grandmother. You heard about our home life and growing up. That was our normal." He added.
"I'm not sure any of you remember but on the very first day we started this hearing Queen Ahsha said:
You only know these people as public figures. You see only what they want you to see. I know them as the backstabbing, lying, imposters they are. I've sat with these people in private and heard what they really think. I've seen some of the awful things these people have done, and you'd be surprised.
"She wasn't lying we grew up surrounded by the chaos and having to constantly be on guard even with family," Malik said.
"From a very early age, we were fed the line that Ares was dangerous. He needed to be controlled. He's a monster. It was constant." Malik said.
"And for far longer than we should have we believed it. So much so that we started to instill that same logic into our mate. But she was the only one who sincerely saw Ares. She's the reason he's sitting here today, the reason we're all able to sit here together and not be at each other's throats." Pablo said.
Whispers and hushed gossip filled the room at the men's admission. "So, you kidnapped Ahsha, then what?" Adrian asked. "Ahsha met Mira," Pablo said.
All eyes went to Ahsha. "Ahsha?" Isaac called out to his sister. "At our first meeting, she told me, her reasoning behind her actions." Ahsha finally spoke.
"Which was?" "Jealousy. She was jealous that Imam didn't love her. She was jealous that she wasn't the woman who held his heart. She was jealous that he couldn't just get over his true mate." Ahsha said.
"Who is his true mate?" Andy asked. "I'm not going to reveal that. If she wants to share then she can." She said.
"But what you should know is that she rejected him. That rejection set in motion me, being mated to Imam's grandsons." Ahsha explained.
"Wow," Harrison said. "What about Isaac is there a reason he's mated to Veronica and Camryn?" Adrian asked.
She glanced at her brother making a face. "Yes." She said. Isaac looked at her annoyed. "What?" He questioned.
"Do you know what the reason is?" Adrian asked. "Yes." She said. "Unbelievable," Isaac said.
"You're supposed to figure it out on your own. Same way I did." She said.
"But we're getting off track," Ahsha said shaking her head. "You meet Mira she tells you her plan and you tell Pablo?" Adrian asked.
"This was during that curfew thing right?" Harrison said. The three kings nodded their heads.
"It was Ahsha's idea. She wanted to protect as many people as she could." Malik said.
"Anyways after Mira told me her life story I tried to tell Pablo, but she used her power to keep me from doing so. So, I had to call on Oshun to get the word to Pablo." Ahsha explained.
"And once Oshun told me I set up a meeting with Ares to tell him what Ahsha had discovered," Pablo said.
Ahsha looked at Ares who was staring at the floor. "Ares." She called. His eyes rose to meet hers.
"What happened when you met with Pablo?" She asked softly. He cleared his throat.
"At first I declined. Unless he was going to let you go, he and I had no reason to talk." He said.
"But Malik and my grandfather convinced me to go. And that's where I found out everything." He continued.
Ares all the anger and hurt hit him again as he explained what happened. "I—," He paused unable to continue.
"We found out that it was our grandmother behind everything. She wanted power and the only way to get that power was to trade one of her grandsons. That just happened to be Ares. However, she did try and correct her mistake which is how Pablo, Ares, and I ended up in one body. All of the things you heard over the last 2 days have been the result of mainly one woman." Malik said.
"The banishment she was trying to do was to correct her mistake so she could keep her powers. And we kind of realized that. So the three of us came up with a plan to right some of the wrongs that happened." He continued. The three kings saw it in her eyes first before they felt it. Sadness.
Malik couldn't look at Ahsha as he continued. "Ares agreed to die so that fate would give him his body back. But we needed Mira to believe it so we didn't tell Ahsha. We set up a final showdown so to speak wh—wher—," He stuttered as an ache went through his chest.
"We joined back into one body and let Mira think she 'killed' Ares, but for Ahsha it was all real. She watched as yet another mate of hers died." Pablo finished.
"Habibata?" Malik called. Ahsha's eyes had taken on a faint golden hue. "While watching what I thought was Ares's death, my water broke." She said softly.
Quiet gasps and shocked faces consumed everyone. "The Pereira brothers were there and at first, they did help me, but Pablo was in full blood lust and the only thing he wanted was me. So, they panicked and left me in the street. It took a minute before I found a kind family who helped me and my baby." She explained.
"The son of that family did end up ratting me out thought, but I don't hold it against him. He was scared. Anyway, I was found the next morning and for the next few days, I was in mourning. When I lost Pablo I—," She said.
"You locked yourself in your room. You hardly ate at all." Isaac answered. "Yes and I couldn't behave like that because I had a kid now, but I was barely a person those first few days." She said.
"We are sorry for how went about—," Ahsha shook her head stopping Pablo. "I understand why you did it. My reaction had to be real for Mira to believe it, but it was still very sad." She said.
"Do you need a minute?" Dalia asked her. "No, I'm okay. Let's continue." Ahsha said.
"So, they told you that Ares was coming back, and clearly he did, then what?" Taj asked.
"Ahsha died," Pablo said. Ahsha looked at the three of them as sadness seeped into their bond.
She looked at her brother seeing him look away from her. She grabbed his hand bringing his attention to her. Ahsha's face softens seeing her brother's teary eyes.
"I'm fine." He whispered. For Isaac, although it was only for a few minutes he remembered that ache in his chest at the thought of having lost his sister.
"I had another encounter with Mira and I just—," Ahsha paused trying to find the words.
"Talking to her and seeing how she had no remorse for anything. She didn't care that Ares was gone. She didn't care that Malik, Pablo, and I lost someone. She just kept saying it was for the greater good. I was so fed up and I needed a minute to myself, so I took my son and left." She said.
"Left? Where did you go? Malik and Pablo just let you go?" Andy asked surprised.
"I got two new guards who helped me by taking me to a hotel. As for Malik and Pablo, no they didn't just let me go, but they didn't come barging in trying to take me back. They did ask me to come back, and I explained that I needed some time. What didn't know was that the reason I was feeling like that was because my ancestors were calling me." Ahsha said.
"Woah," Harrison said. "I stayed at the hotel for maybe a week when I developed a 'fever' that wouldn't go away. I was sweating and yet I was freezing cold. I honestly thought that maybe it was the flu, but I got scared." Ahsha's voice dropped.
"I'm not an easy person to deal with when I'm sick. I never have been, but this wasn't that. I knew I was supposed to do something that night, what it was specifically I had no clue, and because of that, I called Malik. I told Malik where I was and that I need him to come get our son." She said.
"She sounded so weak on the phone." Malik's voice cut in. "She started pouring out her heart and it sounded like she was saying her goodbye to me. I thought she was going—," Malik paused leaning forward and staring at the ground.
"The line went quiet for a moment and then she called out for her dad. Then she started talking to someone. I couldn't really hear the other person, but she wasn't talking to me, and I need her to stay on the phone." He said fidgeting with his fingers.
"I started calling her name, begging her to just wait for me to get there. She cut me off to tell me how much she loved the three of us and that we'd see each other again. Then the line went dead silent all I heard was the sound of the ocean." Malik said wiping his face.
Ahsha scanned the room surprised at all the tear-filled eyes staring back at her. "You were on the phone with her when she died." A woman said before weeping.
Pain. Physical pain is what Ahsha felt at the sight of her mates hurting. The ache started in her chest and fanned out. "I'm sorry." She said softly.
"Had I known that was going to happen I would've prepared you or at the very least hung up before you had to hear that." She spoke.
"Don't apologize. It had to happen. We understand." Pablo said with a weak smile. He was the only one who could look at her.
"Let's take a break," Ahsha requested softly.
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