Chapter Three

Ras Zemede was in his office thinking about what to do with Wolde Samuel. He, obviously, can't kill him or else, Ras Michael will declare war against him and Ras Zemede knows that he can't will because Ras Michael has more power than he does even if he gather a lot of allies around the country.

He has been thinking about that for five days and still is thinking about it. That's until someone knocked on his office door.

"Come in." he responded with a calm voice but inside, he was having a hard time.

His right hand aka his most trusted man Habte Mariam walked in with a smile on his face. Ras Zemede just followed his movements with his eyes without saying anything.

"My lord" Habte Mariam bowed slightly showing respect. "We have some good news."

"You may sit down." Ras Zemede said. "What is the good news while we are in a crisis of having Michael's son?" He asked with confusion and a little bit of anger in his voice.

"You see my lord; we are on advantage not in crisis. We have Michael's son so that we can use him as a threat of taking Michael down." Habte Mariam answered with so much confidence in this voice.

Ras Zemede seems to be in deep thought. "Yes. That is a very good idea but…" Just when Ras Zemede said 'but', Habte Mariam's face fell. "That will only give us time before the war. And also if we tell Ras Yesuf and Ras Teshome about it, they will want us to do the same thing that you just told me. Also, this may not buy us time. Micheal will attack us at any time to take his son back. So I am not taking risks."

Habte Mariam seems to be defeated. That's until an idea popped into his head. "My lord what if we give Wolde Samuel any position in the village and use him to get some information about his father since he is not saying anything."

"If he is not saying anything in the questioning, what is going to do us good? Rather than getting information out of him, he will spy on us and give information about US to HIS father."

"No no no my lord, that is not what I meant. Yes, we can get information out of him at least a little since your daughter has been away. Also, we can prepare a trap for Michael." Just then Ras Zemede got interested in what Habte Mariam was talking about.

"Ok. Tomorrow, gather all the higher officials in the council room and we will plan everything."

***

For the first time in five days, she got out of the house. She quickly stretched her stiff limbs and sighed in happiness. Taking a deep breath, she decided to walk around the village. It is her hobby to walk around her village because it helps her to think things through. She liked to watch children playing, adults goofing around, teenagers trying things that they had to learn from each other, and so on.

'It feels so good to be out of the house. I mean father knows that I can't stay in one place for long let alone be in a closed place for five days. FIVE DAYS!

It's my fault though. I shouldn't have let him in.

But he was hurt! I couldn't leave him like that!

At least I should have ordered two guards to guard the door for safety. How stupid was I?

Yeah, you were so stupid.' She had been arguing with herself constantly for the past five days non-stop.

She had a grimacing look on her but she hadn't known that until she saw herself on the reflection of a lake she would sometimes visit when she is in deep deep thought.

"What are you thinking?" said a voice.

She quickly composed her facial expression and turned her face toward him. He walked up to her and sat down on the ground next to her.

"Tsege, I know that something is wrong. I mean… your father wouldn't put you in a lockdown right?" he asked in confusion hoping she will tell him what is going on.

Since Ras Zemede told everyone who knew about the situation not to say a word about it especially to Emanuel so he won't find out anything even if he tried to convince some people to tell him.

"Nothing. Nothing is happening." She said and tried to smile up at him which she did without him noticing her inner conflicts.

"Alright. I will wait until you are ready to tell me but know that you can tell me anything and I will listen to everything."

"Yes, I know Emanuel." She answered. She doesn't want to tell him for some unknown reason. She can't tell what the reason is.

"So how were your days in the house? Knowing you I bet you had a very hard time dealing with it."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What is that supposed to mean?" She asked ready to punch his arm but she didn't show it. Instead, she has a very calm look.

Completely understanding her intentions, Emanuel continued to talk about how she can't sit for five minutes in one place like she has a needle on her butt.

Right there and then Emanuel got up from his seat and run away from her. She grabbed a stick that fall from the trees and started chasing him.

This seems to be their thing. Always tease each other while will lead to play hid and seek.

Emanuel wants to know what is going on so badly. He wants to know what made her father tell his people not to say anything about it, especially for Emanuel.

'It's probably nothing. Maybe Tsege did something that upset her father so bad to the point she was on a lockdown.'

"Got you!" out of nowhere, Tsege jumped from a tree and landed in front of him which caught him off guard. "You can run but you can't hide." She said with a playfulness-filled voice.

Emanuel made a fake scared face and said "Oh please forgive me. Please spare me. Have mercy on me." With the back of his hand on his forehead and a high-pitched voice, he could master.

'This idiot' Tsege thought to herself. 'I am so lucky to have him as my fiancé'

She pointed the stick on his neck and said "How dare you tease your fiancé like that?" bearly holding her laughter at bay.

"Oh my lord. Today is going to be the last day of my life. I am going to get killed by my own fiancé! And she will be known as 'the person who killed her fiancé for the rest of her live'."

They were fooling around until they both heard a crack. "Tsege stay behind me."

Although she can fight, she chose to listen to him because that will probably distract him and will get injured.