Chapter 104 Inquisition
Melissa gestured for everyone to sit down and then Richard signalled for the two wolves to come with him. He wanted to brief them and relieve them of their job. They walked outside after gathering their gears. They waved at Beatrice and the Luna before walking out.
Melissa smiled at them. Richard and Avalors were gone for about four hours. They seemed to have overprepared for the entire thing but it was better to prepare for everything than to be surprised by unforeseen circumstances. During the time they were gone, Melissa and Beatrice decided to make themselves busy by trying to improve the kingdom's finances.
Normally, it wasn't something they bothered about at all, they had officials whose main purpose was to run different simulations so as to stabilise the kingdom's economy but they had absolutely nothing to do.
They packed the series of files on the table and arranged everything. Even though they'd thought it would be easy, as Beatrice had gone to a finance school and Melissa had vast experience with accounting. The sooner they started the sooner they discovered it wasn't something easy, as they were dealing with humongous variables.
The moment they finished arranging, they sat in front of Margeret. Melissa scanned her from head to toe. She seemed to be in her late twenties but Melissa knew she was way older, blue eyes and a fair skin almost porcelain. She didn't have her natural hair on either, she was wearing a wig. She didn't appear like a double agent at all. In fact she appeared naive and young as she grinned, swinging her head around and admiring their room.
"So," Melissa began. "You worked for my parents?" She asked.
"No…" she said and paused to see the reaction of Melissa and Beatrice who were immediately confused. "I worked with your parents, "she said.
Melissa nodded. "How do you know my parents?" She asked.
"Personal and private," she informed them.
Melissa smiled. "No it is not," she said quickly. “I need to know everything," she smiled at her. "Your relationship with them is not my concern, I just need to know if I can trust you."
Margeret echaled. "I only knew your mom for a while," she began. "I was the illegitimate daughter of the Infernal and I got bullied for that as a kid and your mom was my only friend.," she sniffed. "When she got married to Greydon I decided to stop engaging with her frequently. I decided to get a job to keep me busy, something simple and soft. My sister Anabella connected me with a man that worked at infinite zoos. Due to my status as the daughter of the Infernal, I got the job easily and got to be the man's personal assistant," she exhaled and nodded as if she was about to cry.
Melissa spread her tentacles to check her emotions so she knew she wasn't just faking it. One life of trusting a liar is enough. She checked and felt the genuine sadness coming from her, she quickly stopped.
"That was when I found out that in their records there was a substantial amount of funds that comes in and goes missing under silly excuses. It was weird then and I started to just investigate, thinking it was an employee leaching from the country. I started investigating this and that was how I got to find out about the Oracle," she concluded.
Melissa understood that she hid some things but it was okay anyways, she wouldn't spread all her secrets to people she just met. "What exactly is the Oracle and what do they do?" She asked.
"They mostly are into bioengineering of wolves and vampires. They are trying to improve the wolves genetic arrangement. That was what they started it for, I don't know what went wrong along the line but now, all they do is sell bio weapons," she said.
"Who started all this?" Beatrice spoke this time.
"I don't know, I know some of their leaders, but I don't know those that started it in actuality," she said. "But it feels old, really old."
Margeret's emotions didn't fluctuate once throughout the interrogation, she remained happy and compassionate towards her. It was as if she was a mother and was happy to see her again.
"I am sorry, do you know me?" Melissa asked.
"Oh," she smiled wider. "I took you on your first boat cruise," she nodded, fringing her hair. "I don't usually come to the palace but your mom used to bring you down to my place then. You were awfully inquisitive as a kid too."
Melissa was flustered, this woman had known her since she was a baby, she could hardly play the queen card with her. "So, you are not necessarily a part of the oracle, you just try to glean information through infinite zoos?"Beatrice asked.
"Actually I am a full fledged member of the oracle, I got invited by my sister," she said with a smile.
"Arabella is a part of the oracle?" Melissa asked.
"Oh, she is a spy like me, don't worry about it," she said.
Avalors and Richard opened the door and walked in. They'd done everything they could to confirm that they were safe. They bowed to everyone before taking a seat. "What did we miss?"
"Nothing much," Melissa answered.
"Both of you, lest I forget…" Margeret began, facing Richard and Avalors squarely. "... were reckless,"
"Huh?" Richard exclaimed.
"You wouldn't have made it out alive if I hadn't helped you out, you know," she said.
"I don't understand," Richard said.
"Remember when you were stuck in the witch's hexes?" She said. "You were not able to use your darkness abilities," she gestured towards Richard.
"Wait, you mean the day we infiltrated the oracle?"Richard asked.
"Yes, definitely,"she replied.
"You knew about that?" Avalors asked.
"Oh, sweetie, who do you think saved your lives?" She asked.
The room went silent and Melissa exhaled. "I think we need to take this back home," Melissa said. "We need to know everything you know."
"I am afraid, I can't tell you everything I know," Margaret said.
"And why is that?" Beatrice asked "Look, the oracle is dangerous. Your parents spent their entire lifetime fighting them and it only led to their death. Smarter people than you have tried, more powerful people. They all always seem to die. The oracle has a series of contacts. Meeting me here is dangerous enough, if you think I am going to endanger your life by telling you things that will kill you, you can never be more wrong," she informed, drawing the line.
"So you intend for them to keep transporting their bio weapons and using kids for whatever they do?" Melissa replied.
"I will do my best alone, for some reason, I am still alive. I don't intend to drag anyone into this again," she said.
The moment she spoke, a knock landed on the door and Melissa's danger awareness flared up.