Priestess Of The Land

In a red room decorated with gold ornaments, the open windows let in the breeze which alleviated the awkward atmosphere. Over fifteen men were surrounded a roundtable served with various dishes as one very attractive lady walked around filling cups with sweet wine.

"Prime Minister Ra...no Minister Ra? You have not even fully recovered yet, why do you want to bring us here time an time again? If it was not because of how well designed these rooms were for private meetings, I would rather not be seen anywhere with you," grumbled out one of the ministers.

"Tsk!" exclaimed Ra in annoyance," Now you don't want to be seen with me, just last week who was it that brought over half a dozen rare vases to my residence? And you! Who helped you get to that position you are in right now? Bunch of hypocrites!" Ra pointed out blindly to the men as they lowered their heads, even though they knew he could not see them.

"That was because you had something to offer, but now what do you have? You're no longer a prime minister, your daughter's marriage was annulled.....and you're blind," yelled one bold minister.

Ra Ashir was surprisingly not upset at his remarks, and just calmly sipped on the wine which was helping him cope with the endless pain from his eyes. Since that day, although the doctors said his eyes were simply blind and that there shouldn't be any pain, his eyes would sometimes bleed out of nowhere. No one had any explanation for that, the sooner he could track down the priestess, the sooner he could act out on his plan.

"You're right, I have nothing to offer, but I also have nothing to lose now. As you may all know, the emperor is planning on crowning an heir soon, and there will be a big shift of powers in the court. Those cozy seats you're occupying can be taken away from you in the blink of an eye. So, if you want to keep them, I suggest you work with me...If not, you can head out," Ra finished saying.

Who would leave now? Of course, they knew about their imminent fall, their lifeline had always been Ra, and since he had a way now, they might as well stick with him. Therefore, no one left, indicating their stance on the matter.

"Good, then let's begin," Ra said, then gulped down his remaining wine.

His plan was your typical 'get close to the heir so they could have a secured spot when the time came for the new emperor to rule'. However, Ra was a wicked man, to better his chances, he planned to kill off the potential heirs one by one, under the guise of helping one. Of course, which prince would not want their rival's death for the throne, so his actions would be welcome and even be categorized as loyalty.

"We can't kill all of them, it would be suspicious if we were to leave only one, the people would definitely complain," said one thoughtful minister.

"Of course not, I plan to leave four of them alive," Ra answered.

"Good, good, we should start with the third prince, he's the weakest of them all, hahaha," said another minister as he laughed.

Ra flinched upon his suggestion.

"Idiot!" he yelled, startling the bunch of men.

The ministers were confused about his response, did he not want to kill the third prince? Ah, they understood, would he be used as a scapegoat?

Ra Ashir could not see them, but he knew those guys, and he knew they were thinking wrongly.

"Bunch of wastrels! You think the third prince is that easy to kill? Him being a cripple is just a front! A front I tell you!" he screamed at them.

"A front? Are you saying the third prince is not a cripple?" that same bold minister asked mockingly.

"How about I let you find out for yourself, go and bother him. Anyways, he will be one of the contenders for the throne, except it is not easy to get in contact with him."

"Isn't your daughter married to him, get her to do it. Shouldn't she listen since she's coo-coo in the head anyways," said a minister.

Seti who was listening silently on the side flashed a glare at the man, however, it only lasted a second so no one noticed. She made sure to remember that minister's face, how dare he insult her mistress like that?

Ra Ashir shook his head at the suggestion.

"She will be used, and she will get us a meeting with the third prince. She doesn't have have a choice, because just before coming today, I had received some interesting news," Ra said smirking to himself.

Those cousins had finally returned to the Sun Land, and although they were disappointed at their uncle's demotion, it did not mean that he was not still an influential figure so they had happily relayed everything they saw to Ra about Tria.

This information is what Ra will use to blackmail Tria into making Crei meet with them. From there, as powerful as he is, it shouldn't be a problem to kill the other princes without suspicion.

Ra was grinning to himself, proud of his perfect plan, and could not wait to start. However, the pain in his eyes reminded him of his handicap and inwardly rushed his minions to find the priestess as soon as possible.