HADEWA CALIPHATE,

NIGERIA.

Aria doesn't know what the Queen's definition of keeping company means, but it definitely was not what she encountered.

She expected to lounge around the Queen's chamber talking about whatnot, along with maybe some of the guests that came to congratulate her about the weddings that took place.

By then. News about Aali's marriage has already circulated and the press, along with the people of Hadewa couldn't be more eager to get a glimpse or a whiff of the new Princess and soon to be Queen. Maya and Muneer's wedding was quickly forgotten, and the matter concerning Maya's possible relation to the case she's accused of long swept under the rug.

The fact that Aria was the one who came to her rescue though was not forgot one bit. In fact, it made the headlines of the news articles published that morning.

'Prince Aali's unknown wife makes an appearance at M2's wedding'

That alone was enough to set up everyone's curiosity at its peak. Aria didn't know about the articles, or the swarm of reporters that camped outside the palace gates—as much as the guards would allow—just to get a glimpse of her.

Relatives of Aali, most of which came from far visited that same day just so they can see the woman their son married. Or, in simple words, they came to evaluate whether she's good enough to be his wife or not. She didn't meet them though, as she expected.

No. the Queen declined any advances to meet the Princess for she had something she wanted the do with the woman first. So, she led her to the front room where she holds her meetings and whatnot. There were a couple of women there already, waiting for the two.

Most, no, all of the women were dressed chicly with none sporting any flaw. Aria didn't need to think hard before she could tell who they were—council members wives. Those people are the biggest thieves in the Palace. She could tell from some of the bribe papers she saw of theirs while she was doing a background check on the palace and the people in it.

Of course, she didn't get the documents easily considering most of them were meant to be destroyed, but she did and she trusts her source. Those same documents are well known of by the Prince, and he planned on using it to eliminate the whole council stuff. When he rules, he refuse to have a group of old, greedy men try to control him over how he should cater for Hadewa.

Can't they see that they have already failed in doing so?

Aria's eyes met some of the women's, and the emotion blatantly reflecting on their faces told her what their thought on her were. These women old enough to be her mother's mates are the ones who had been trying hard to set Aali up with their daughters but, that obviously didn't work.

The bad blood is bound to be there.

Instead of paying heed to them, Aria pulled on her emotionless façade; taking her seat beside the Queen.

After the greetings exchanged—with none directed towards Aria, the Queen spoke. "Ladies, this is Aria, Aali's wife as you know" She turned around to look at her daughter in law, "Aria, these women are the ones that help me deal with the problems that come towards me to help the society at large. I guess, that makes them my council members tundamazansunadanasu"

Her last statement made the women laugh, including Aria who had no idea what she said, but she smiled nonetheless. Still with the said greeting, no one as much as spared the Princess a smile and Aria couldn't be more thankful. After all, she wasn't there to entertain them.

Everyone quickly morphed into business as they got with work. For the first time since Aria met Queen Zarah, a part of her is starting to believe the woman has some compassion in her considering what she does.

She has women amongst the residents of Hadewa come over to tell her what exactly those problems were, and she helps them. Aria examined the Queen carefully, and without a doubt, she could tell that she woman was being sincere about it.

But still something didn't settle right with her about it. It's either the woman genuinely cared, or she's good at faking it.

Way too good.

And the women that came really did have real problems going on with them. The women who are victims of abuse were given a date of hearing with the Judge who would validate the truth of the matter, and then give them their well-deserved right.

The women who came with hunger problems, children problems and whatnot all left the palace with grins on their faces for they had gotten what they wanted.

Aria could tell at first glance that some of the women complaining about not having food were lying, but what she couldn't tell was that whether the Queen knew about it or not that she letting get whatever they want, with little questions asked.

The ones with the most questions were the women that the Queen works with.

One woman in particular got Aria's attention—she came in after one of the fakers left. It didn't take a genius to know that the woman seriously needed help. Aria who had begun to slouch on her chair out of boredom sat up, seeing the woman.Her brows drew in deeply as her lips tugged down into a frown.

The clothes the woman had on were barely worth calling clothes. The tattered hijab which seemingly used to be white now looked borderline brown and did nothing much to cover her skinny body for it held huge patches.

She walked, or more like limped almost lifelessly over to where everyone who comes to ask for a favor, or report something, sits. It was as if a button has been pressed the minute she sat there, for she left out a loud wail that startled most of them there. "Your Grace...." She choked on her sobs, eyes raising up to glance at the Queen before she quickly looked down. "My husband...Mai gidana, was killed brutally"

The Queen's brows furrowed, but she uttered no word. None of the women did.

The woman continued. "Wallahi they are killing off innocent people for no reason, and no one wants to help us. When my only son went to ask for help, he was killed off too" She clenched her eyes shut, the tears not being stopped by that. "Me muka yi muku? Why?!"

Aria's brows drew in. She thought about the women's words. Of course, she had heard about the recent killings in the Caliphate whose culprit is yet to be known. Besides, she witnessed it first-hand the day she went to the mall. The person wasn't killed in front of her, but she saw what it looks like.

Her eyes drifted down to her hand that was covered in blood then. Almost as if she's being caught doing something wrong, she quickly covered the hand with her other hand, eyes glancing back at the women in the front room.

She waited for them to say something; anything to comfort the woman but none of them did—not even the Queen.

The woman amidst her tears looked up again, eyes solely fixated on the Queen. She then clasped her two hands together; "Rankidade. Dan Allah ki temaka mana. Husbands, sons and daughters are being killed. Our loved ones are taken away from us and no one wants to even listen to us" The tears never stopped flowing from her red, hooded eyes.

Aria pitied her more than anyone though she didn't understand some of what she is saying. She gathered it much relates to her worries, and story.

One of the women at helm, seemingly the Queen's right hand women finally parted her lips to speak. "Dogari!" She called out. Not more than a minute later, a guard came in hastily.

"Rankidade" He said, tilting his head down slightly.

The woman stared at the poor woman that is still bawling her eyes out. Not moving her gaze from her, she spoke. "Take this woman away and never let her into the palace again"

"Angama"He wasted not even a second more as he dragged the crying woman out, who kept pleading with the Queen to help her at the very top of her voice.

Aria's face turned red as she swiveled around to glare at the woman who looked like she couldn't care less about what happened.

The woman called one of the maids, "Bring turarenwuta and put it here quickly. The air reeks of her filth. I can't even breathe a decent air anymore"

That was the end of it for Aria who finally spoke, "What was that?" She held her anger down, and did not yell out her words as she intends to do.

The woman ignored her.

Aria stood up from her chair, gaining the attention of all the women in the room except the woman blatantly ignoring her and jotting something down on her paper. The Princess head towards her, and all but snatched the paper away from her. Despite the fact that most of the woman seemed old enough to be her mothers, that woman in particular seemed to be not more thirty-five, making her the youngest, aside from Aria. "MalamaI'm taking to you" She loved using some of the words Salaha taught her in Hausa. But at the moment she was feeling anything but love.

No, she felt his older, more intense brother—anger.

That got the woman to release a long sigh before she flicked her gaze to look at Aria, a bored expression masking her features. "Aya or whatever your name is, I'll suggest you go back to your seat and cut short this charade, we don't tolerate childishness here" She shook her head, "And to think we all thought the Prince at least married a mature woman who knows what she's doing" She not so discreetly added, rolling her eyes.

Aria scoffed in disbelief, eyes turning around to stare at the Queen who shook her head.

"Come back and sit down Aria. Stop this nonsense" Said the Queen, speaking for the first time since that woman came and was dragged out.

Aria held back another scoff, instead opted to massage her temple with her fingers to calm herself before she spoke. She had to remind herself that all of these women are her elders, and so, she has to respect them. That to say does not mean she intends to sit and watch then do stuff like that to people who clearly need help.

How can they treat a human like that? Don't they have any compassion in them?

She counted to three in her mind, and when she's convinced she won't yell at anyone, she spoke. "How could you throw that woman out like that? She clearly needs help" She said through gritted teeth, her words directed towards the woman who gave the order.

"Who are you to decide whether she needs help or not?" The woman asked back, a brow raised.

"Who are you to decide she does not need help or not?" Aria threw back her question; her anger barely being contained in her.

It was the woman's turn to scoff, "Don't tell me you're now acting as the Prince's wife?"

"Am I not?" Aria rose a brow, keeping eye contact with the woman.

"Don't make me laugh" The woman cackled, her laughter echoing in the silent room. "Learn to respect your elders first before anything. A disrespectful child will not be our Queen, never will"

Aria held back the scoff, "Might I remind you that respect is never demanded?" She yet again held back the urge to raise a brow, "I refuse to respect anyone that demands respect, a person that does not respect others, and most definitely not a person that does not give me a hint of respect either. Princess title or not"

The Queen shook her head. She really doesn't want to deal with either of the two women. They are giving her a headache and she would gladly ask them to leave if they don't keep shut and let her bask in the littlest bit of peace she can get.

When the woman's cackle died down, she spoke. "I understand that the title is getting to your head, but within the walls of this room, you are a nobody. You don't a say in what we do, and you don't get a single right to question what we do. If you have a problem with that, you know where the door is, kindly show yourself out" She offered Aria a fake, wide smile.

Aria glanced at every woman in the room, her last gaze being on the Queen. When she looked back at the woman, she spoke her last word in the place. "Gladly" With a onceover thrown at her, she turned around and walked out.

She knew one thing for sure, she can't stand them one bit.

It's official. She hates the Queen's so called 'council'.