Beyond Doubt: Whispers of the Unseen - Chapter 119

Welcome to my seemingly endless journey.
A trip that will take you to places I might have visited many moons ago.
It´s a tale that came back to me when I meditated on one of my past lives. A life I told you about in my unbelievable true story.

As promised in that story I will now share this story with you.

Chapter 119

I'm not entirely sure if, after she didn't show up for dinner yesterday, I'm supposed to continue her treatment. Yet without any notice to the contrary and considering I couldn't think of anything else all morning, I'm on my way to her departure.

As I walk through the maze of corridors, which I'm beginning to know quite well, I think about what Numico told me yesterday. I'm not sure if I should inform Krya. I decide not to do that it might do more harm than good, possibly I could do some hinting here and there. The attendant at her door smiles pleasantly when I appear. He knocks softly and then opens her door without a response from Krya.

When I enter I find her sitting at her paper-filled desk completely dressed in black, something I'm not used to from her.

Normally she covers her body with white or cream, but never with such a heavy color. "Come in," she says softly. Her face lights up a bit when she sees it's me. I see some light moving into the serious dark stare she wore when I walked in.

“Lady what is it, you.” I falter. “It looks like you haven't slept, and your clothes. Excuse me, it's not that you don't like it, but I'm not used to it.”

Her gaze connects with mine; “It doesn't matter Martio. I understand your surprise about the clothes and you are not far wrong when it comes to the night. I spent late at night trying to reach my informants and was awakened early this morning by the first reports."

"It turns out that you have informed me completely correctly. Not that I doubted that, but it is of course possible that you are misinformed or misguided as well. That appears not to be the case. In fact, it seems that my husband used to condone these misconducts."

"Until there was so much resistance from the population, who did not want the blood that was shed on their hands, that at that time he felt obliged to impose a ban on unnecessary violence against non-military personnel."

"I still doubt if he knew the full scope of what was going on back then. But he banned a number of things, such as the ban on the Sharido, certain forms of torture, and the use of children to achieve goals. The latter in the broadest sense of the word. The council agreed to this a few summers ago. But it now appears that this agreement has never been implemented."

"Or maybe that is the wrong choice of words, it has been implemented. Officers were informed of what was discussed and, as you indicated, they were given the so-called free choice to act as they saw fit. As a result, the council stayed out of any discussion about misconduct."

"When I came to know this, I hoped for the loyalty of our officers. I expected them not to carry out these types of unacceptable practices. Several reports followed this morning confirming that this was not the case. That soldiers and especially the Sharido stooped to even greater atrocities than I could imagine."

"All these monstrous deeds, as you know, were kept out of official communication. The reward followed according to merit. And that was what kept these practices going. The army's leaders are convinced that people who have been trampled to death, tortured, and raped are easier to conquer and keep under control than a population that has lost through a fair fight and is not afraid of death."

"I did see that some officers have called this out and requested a stop to the terrible practices that their colleagues are carrying out. But they were a minority, less than twenty percent, and some of them died inexplicably shortly afterward."

"My clothes are therefore once again a reflection of my mood, but my clothes are still on the positive side compared to my mood. I will soon be consulting with several gentlemen who have been advising me on certain matters for some time."

"Nothing like the council, these gentlemen come at my request and receive no compensation for their advice other than their expenses. Most do not yet require reimbursement of expenses. They are only here to try to bring about an improvement in this very conservative empire."

"I feel I can trust them and consider them my inner circle. Can I ask you to attend this meeting today? You can speak if you want, but it is not mandatory. I would highly appreciate it if you would take in the ideas presented. To see to what extent they can be used to put a stop to these things once and for all. And hopefully to get a perspective on a different way forward.”

I couldn't refuse her request, although to be honest I wasn't too curious about what these gentlemen would come up with. It seemed to me that it would provide little news, as we had already examined many options in recent months with full knowledge of the facts. All of which we rejected because implementation would be impossible. Yet I also felt honored and maybe our newly acquired status could remove the im from impossible?

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