❛DEAR GREY STORM

I mark the plan as code red. I repeat code red. As discussed, the plans had more threats in notion and it was impossible to conduct the mission without the notice of the Heartless Queen. *=&^=(%=#=@&=!@=($=!&=!^=$=%.❜

"Who is the Grey Storm?" Naira mumbled perplexed, scanning the message.

"I think it is more important to know why they didn't want you to take notice in their work," he ignored her question, his interest lying in something completely different.

"You know something."

"After hundred and fifty years of securing Nirag's each and every street, do you think it is that easy to steal the gem?"

"You knew," she breathed out, her emotions in a turmoil, dubious to what to portray.

"Do you think anything in Nirag happens without my knowledge?" he continued to grin rigidly.

It was a plan.

"This was the plan, all along," she voiced out her thoughts, glaring at him with disbelief.

"This is quite confidential matter, sweetheart, which is restricted to be addressed in the public," was all he said before speeding into another forest.

⇜⚕⇝

"I was expecting your visit," they heard a low, mature voice call out to them as Ash and Naira walked into the tunnel in the middle of the forest.

"As always, Layal," Ash replied back, his features softening ever so slightly, as a woman in her early forties made her way. Dressed in ethnic red robe, she had a mystified aura swirl around her, her eyes boldly analyzing the pair as she gave them a slight nod of acknowledgement. Naira swam in confusion as she realized who she was. She was Layal, the heir to the clan of the popular fortune tellers. Her entire figure was welcoming, pulling them into her tunnel for her wise readings. 

"I assume we never had an interaction before, Heartless Queen?" she said in a creaky, alluring voice, a conceit smile featuring on her lips.

Naira shook her head in negative, the light of the candles flickering, but she was too absorbed in thoughts to care. Questions lingered in her mind, unanswered questions almost leaping out of her mouth but she bit her tongue to keep in control.

"We found a letter and I want to know whether we will be able to decode the message before any gratuitous tragedy occurs," Ash declared passively, a hint of worry lacing his voice, the first ever Naira had seen.

"Who found the letter?" Layal enquired calmly, no expression other than a peaceful smile on her face.

Ash sighed, for reasons unknown to Naira, before nodding towards Naira.

"Follow me."

Naira followed the Layal further into the tunnel, the light shining brighter as she met with hundreds cases of various bones. They were neatly placed on blue velvet cloth, each case stacked on a shelf on the tunnel wall.

"Pick the first bone that intrigues you."

Naira let her gaze wander through the sea of bones, nothing caught her interest among every bone available on earth. There were short ones, long ones, thin ones, thick ones, carved ones and many more to go. As her gaze flickered, she found one sturdy bone, shaped oddly but was slightly larger than its batch. She rotated to Layal and pointed to the bone.

"Wise choice," Layal commented as she clapped her hands. Naira wondered whether some hidden meaning lay in her words when a man came and took the bone out of its case.

The man walked into the next part of the tunnel, while Layal and Naira trailed behind. Heat hit Naira like a blizzard, sweat formed rapidly on her skin and her lungs panted for air as she eyed the large bonfire before her. The less ventilation available and the heat burning through her skin was enough for Naira to determine that the rumors about the intense method of fortune telling were true indeed.

"The fire is often misinterpreted as destruction, instead it stands for life. A source of energy that is obtained within and beyond. What better way to know your fate than let the primary form of life mark your path with all the obstacles that might lead to your destruction," Layal informed her as the man took out a log of fire from the bonfire and threw Naira's bone.

Crackling of the bone, shadows of the fire danced through the room as Naira watched streams of fire burst out before the man extinguished the fire to reveal a bone, heavy with cracks. Layal led Naira past the bonfire, shutting the door behind them into a place filled with glass breakers of solutions. Different hues of every color were tightly sealed in the containers, lined with the words representing them.

"Green is the color of nature, it is a color of growth, harmony, freshness and fertility. Aqua green, in specific, signifies safety and protection. With a sincere mind to learn if the message will be decoded in time and no thirst for more knowledge, pour the liquid onto your bone," Layal instructed as the man set a plastic bin beneath the bone and held it upright while Layal handed her the the finest hue of forest green liquid. Naira reluctantly took the beaker, titling it so that the water splashed onto the bone, the cracks holding some of the liquid while the majority rested in the bin.

"Carefully, might I add."

Naira bit her lip as she reduced the speed of the liquid, watching as it took its time to slide through the bone and drop onto the bin. When the liquid reached its end, Laya ordered her to stop and took the bone herself. She placed it under a well lit candle and examined it precisely.

"Although there are very little spaces left, majority of the markings have been filled with the liquid indicating that the message will be decoded in time. There will, ofcourse, be obstacles in your way like any other task in life but they will not stand as a hurdle for too long."

Naira nodded in comprehension. If the marking weren't filled completely, she would had to pour a few more liquids on top the bone to predict whether a person or a catastrophe by the nature blocked the route of success.

"Place the bone in a bin."

Naira knew that the liquid was then taken for filtration to prevent any bone pieces from contaminating it and purified thoroughly before being used again. The bone, however, would be stored for the next two weeks, if the person wished to clarify once again and then discarded into the wild.

"Thank you." Naira mumbled, attempting to be polite after Layal delivered their fortune to Ash.

She bid them both goodbye before heading into the other side of the tunnel which Naira never got to visit. She proceeded to the car, parked a little distance ahead of the tunnel, when she heard Ash drawl out hoarsely.

"I have heard that your intelligence outshines your beauty. Let's that theory, shall we? Figure out the answer to your previous question."

Naira shifted on her feet, placing all the pieces of the puzzle together before stating,"Layal predicted that the security of the nation lies in losing something precious. You tightened the security, recruited extra officers and managed to set up advanced CCTV cameras around the entire country a few months ago. Until the gem was lost, you had absolutely no idea what the precious object was. Am I right?"

Ash slid his eyes over her face for a long minute, pushing his hands into his pockets, before admitting,"Better than I hoped. Where do you think you come in?"

"The markings showed that I will help you?" she guessed with a nonchalant shrug.

"Close enough."

He skid past her towards the car, Naira hot on his heels and explained when they were seated,"I came here a month before my birthday to know what the future beholds for the leadership. The results were unclear and with a few more techniques, we were able to figure out that there are lots of obstacles in the way. Layal was able to conclude that there was a person who was blocking my success. Fate had two choices for me, either let both of our choices in the future lead to my demise or my loss of something precious to me for their demise. Water and desire have the same priority, to keep flowing. I did tighten the security, recruit extra officer and set up CCTV cameras to find the man blocking my path but until the loss of the gem, I didn't realise that his demise would cost me more than I imagined."

"You are telling me all this because."

"I chose you as my wife for a reason and I think it's time you act like one."

"Excuse me?"

"As the leader of the country and my wife, you are going to be present in the announcement tomorrow."

"Was I supposed to be aware of this announcement?" she asked him vexed.

"This is a spontaneous decision to address the nation that everything is under control and the rumors regarding the missing of the gem are all false. The entire schedule is not decided but they might add a few lines for you here and there which is why it is important you know the entire truth before blabbering nonsense in front of the nation."

Naira ignored the words nonsense and rolled her eyes. Wouldn't she do a better job if she thought that everything was indeed real so that she was more natural with her speech? She threw the thought out of her head and went along.

"Who's they?"

"My uncles are in a meeting with the generals and they will come up with a brief of tomorrow," he informed her, his cold demeanour returning as he raced them past the forest while Naira sat, processing all the information projected throughout the day. 

⇜⚕⇝

"You mean to say that I will not have to say or do anything?" Naira clarified, the surprise evident in her voice.

The same surprise that flooded through Ash when she maintained her calmness when he informed her about the entire truth of his plans. It wasn't necessary for her to know his plans in the first place but he still had no clue as to why he decided to inform her. Was it her alluring nature or her little stunt in the jungle, he didn't know.

"It did cross our mind to have you explain some of the details, after all, most of the women and children take you as their inspiration but we feel that our point will be stressed if only Ash presents them." His uncle continued to explain her, "Any objections?"

Ash inwardly snorted at that question, as if he would allow any objections to be raised. He trailed his eyes towards her, provocating her to just blurt out her thoughts.

Doing exactly that, she reminded him, "Water only flows when the path is clear, once the dam is built, it will stop."

Ash's jaw clenched and wild, raw wrath coursed through him as he saw her slam the door shut on her way. She was quite daring than anyone he had seen before and maybe that's what got him to tolerate her.

"You've got a feisty one there, son," his uncle chuckled at her behaviour before patting his back.

"So I have heard."

⇜⚕⇝

Naira lazily examined the young teenagers battling against each other, their posture was almost correct and they picked up the styles quite quickly. Another clasp of swords, struck against each other, and the battle was finished. For changing the training program, Naira brought in an ancient form of dueling know as dait. It involved various styles of dueling mixed with proper defense mechanisms to improve strategic planning. Upon her firm commands, the generals and the Army Committee attended the trial training session.

Both the boys shook hands once more before exiting the white dais from either sides. The current practice arena was the biggest one in the entire city with all kinds of equipment to support various training programs. High tall poles supported the dome of the ceiling while several chairs were scattered around the dais. The Council sat on the other side with grim looks of boredom on their faces while Naira sat with the generals.

"Ma'am, the committee is not satisfied with the changes,"the defense general said as he seated after the mini talk with the committee.

"They weren't satisfied when I was declared as the High Patrol Guard either but later changed for the better. They will change their opinion this time too."

The committee was filled with a group of old shags who were orthodox when it came to new techniques and systems. Despite bringing in an ancient form of battling that helped with strategic planning, they weren't ready to accept it but Naira didn't care. She had more power than all of them combined and she was welcome to change anything she wished. According to her, the committee were a bunch of men with oversized ego's that took more time in their pride and status than the safety of the nation. She defied many of their rules during her time as the High Patrol Guard and if they decided to block her path, she would do it again.

Her chain of thoughts halted as they heard the door creak, infuriating Naira at the unknown presence by the door. She had strictly ordered for the guards to not let anyone in for the remainder of the day. One look at the disciplined faces of the committee, she knew who it was. His glorified power and arrogance reflected of the white dias as he walked in, each step was filled with so much strength and power. Upon instinct, everyone in the arena stood up at his presence while Naira closely noted all this movements. His eyes briefly met the other's, giving them a nod of acknowledgment before locking into hers.

His grey eyes held a magnetic pull, even though they were dark with arrogance. Eyes were known as the windows to the souls but that very phrase acted as a misconception when it came to Ash. His eyes were the silence before the storm, battling away every emotion. Naira raised her eyebrow in intrigue as he headed towards her, a smug smirk fixed in place. Unconsciously, she took a stand, crossing her arms, anticipating his next words.

"I see you are taking my words quite seriously."

She smirked, unknown where the conversation was heading before replying, "There wasn't anything that could be taken lightly."

"Although, the committee has a different opinion from yours," he concluded, his smirk raising my notches, a challenging glint passing his eyes daring her to snap back.

Instead, Naira opted to do the exact opposite, "We won't be known as different people if we shared the exact same opinion."

Naira could see he was taken aback by her quiet, calm response rather than her usual, feisty snap,"Show me why this should replace the former fighting techniques."

"Tell me how," Naira countered back, his interest in this raising her inquisitiveness furthermore.

He leaned closer, his breath sharply tracing her features as he summoned, "Call the best trainee you have so far, I'm going to send in five of my skilled soldiers for a mock war."

Mock war was a training examination after each set of skills learned to test the ability of the trainee. This was located in the simulation room, where a mock simulation of a war scene is held. Several soldiers would accompany the trainee into the room, all plugged into the central system by wires. A serum would be injected various times throughout the stimulation to keep them in check. It was a virtual way of conducting a war where the guns would be filled with paint balls, in reality, everything would be a only a virtual game, the entire group perceiving that they were really in a war scenario.

"Why five? Send ten."

"Deal."

⇜⚕⇝

Impress was an understatement at how well Naira's dait technique was working and Ash was enjoying watching the committee stutter to give him reasons as to why they forbid it in the first case.

"Gentlemen, I suppose this was not mentioned to you personally but I expect the same behaviour from you to Naira as you would to me."

"We are on our best behaviour with your wife, Ash," the seniors blabbered with the indignation of being accused.

"Dismiss," Ash barked at them, running a hand through his hair as he headed back to the control room. The past few days had been stressful and his body yearned for something as simple as a warm shower. Being the leader, it was the most basic need but his stress proved it to be a luxury. He strided past empty, black walls, pushing open the door and his gaze landed on Naira snapping at Ian.

"Being Neil's appointed bodyguard doesn't give you the liberty to question me, understand?"

Their equation was always a mystery to Ash, he caught Naira plenty of time yelling or insulting Ian but she would always revert back to him for information.

"I am honoured it gave me the liberty to work with you," Ian responded cheekily which Ash wished to wipe off.

His muscles clenched with possessiveness, almost ordering him to show Ian his place, his arms forming a fist on their own while his feet danced through the room. He halted back when he saw Naira massage her temples, a ghostly smile settling on her lips before she grabbed a sword from the control board behind her and craved a wound on Ian's bicep.

Ian hissed with pain before venting out, "What on Nirag was that? I am just trying to try my luck and you wounded me way too much."

"You better leave before I finish what she commenced," Ash muttered gravelly, indicating his presence to both of them before shoving Ian out of the room.

"You both are a match made in heaven," Ian snorted out before rushing for aid.

"I never took you as a jealous type," he heard Naira mock him as he shut the control room down before any chaos erupts.

"Territorial is the word, sweetheart. After all, you wouldn't want a King without his pride, would you?"

"Maybe I would," Naira pushed his buttons.

"How unfortunate because my mother told me only thing before she died. She asked me to never let anything that's mine go because if so, it would never return back."

⇜⚕⇝

That was not edited at all, it is way late in the night to do that, I will come back to check it. How was that? A major plot twist now that Ash already planned everything out.

How do you like Layal? Unique way of fortune telling right? COMPLETELY my own idea, so tell me how you like it!

Who is excited to see what will happen in the announcement?

This book has been nominated in the Crystal Awards for the best in Mystery/Thriller and Ash and Naira have been nominated for Best BadBoy and Bad Girl (I don't even know why!)

DO take the time to quickly vote for them here:

https://www.wattpad.com/355236018-the-crystal-awards-2016-2017-voting-open-genre-12

https://www.wattpad.com/355330209-the-crystal-awards-2016-2017-voting-open-general

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