Shrouded Duplicity: The Dismantling of a Khre’Riov pt.7

[KhreRiovtRex 0]

“N'Vrak wanted a son, so very badly, yet we were having difficulty conceiving at all, due to an injury he had taken years before fighting some Kll’inghannsu. It did na leave him sterile, but he had a much lower,” looking for the words, screwed up her face, “count, than normal. The maenaks told us we would most likely need to go with some form of in vitro fertilization, but N’Vrak would na hear of it, he was very old fashioned, and he wanted us to do things normally. My twin sister however; had just gotten married to my husband's cousin, and they were telling us how they had planned to start a family immediately. Knowing my sister was a geneticist, I knew she would assuredly be with child at the first opportunity, while all this time, N’Vrak and I had been struggling to do so. I, well I grew jealous of their joy and confidence, and decided to take matters into my own hands.”

 

Morgana was doing her best to try to not look stunned; however she was having serious doubts as whether or not she should have added ‘intelligent” in her description of the Khre’Riov’s attributes earlier in light of the recent turn in the conversation. She took a cleansing breath before answering “Au did something desperate?”

 

“I did, and au can na begin to tell au the shame I've borne all these years over this. Yet to this day, only my sister, myself and now au know the truth. She could na tell her husband, she dared na for fear of ruining na only her career, but his as well. And she also respected my hru’fir N’Vrak, and could na bear to crush him with this news. Na, she kept it to herself, but ordered me to stay away, that I was to have na contact with Mieje or her family, or she’d tell everyone; careers be damned. Na even t’Shaeni knew that she was my daughter until right before au put her into stasis to save her life. I’m na sure she was even conscious enough to have understood when I confessed it to her.”

 

“Thirty-some years is a long time to be carrying around such a load, lhhei, but I am confused. I am na sure I quite understand. If she was your daughter, how did she end up with au sister? Au record shows au had a son that died from blood fever?”

 

“Have a seat Daise Maenak, for by the time I finish, au will be drawing up the paperwork to have me put away for sure. I told au that I had become quite jealous, and I soon found myself plotting against my own sister. I planned it all out, as well as several contingencies to cover any thing that would appear out of the ordinary.”

 

“My hru’fir N’Vrak was just about ready to leave for a tour of duty in one of the outer systems, so I made sure that we spent quite a bit of time together, attempting to yet again conceive a child and telling him just how much I loved him, which was very true. There was always hope that it would work, and I would na have to go through with my plan. Yet, I could na potentially end up impregnated, if we hadn’t been together before his being away. The day his ship left, I arranged for one of the geneticist presenting at a premier conference on ch’Rihan to have an accident.”

 

“Au what?!” Morgana interjected, half horrified by what she was hearing. “Why? What type of accident? Au did na have him yy’a did au?”

 

“Na Morgana, nothing like that. I would na have went that far for this. I least, I hope I wouldn’t have. However, he had a bit of a fall down some stairs. He may have been bumped by a man trying to get past him in a hurry with a large package though. The security report was very….vague.”

 

“What if he had broken his neck?!” the maenak blurted out incredulous of what this woman was capable of. “Were au na afraid that au man, would, accidentally mention this to somebody?”

 

“Na, I had that covered as well. “Na, my man was very mnenkha, he’d have na done that. He at one time, was io of my crewmates, we had both served as d’heno together rhae the Javelin for some time. He had to eventually leave the service due to a genetic disease that was destroying his muscles and causing immense pain. From our talks together, I knew his sister was suffering from the same disease, but an earlier stage. I arranged for them both to en-rolled into clinical research studies that my sister was performing to help find a cure, or at least alleviate the pain associated with the disease. Though he was too far advanced with the disease to do much to help him, his sister was able to gain relief from the treatments they were trying. I just let my friend know, that my sister was being denied a chance to speak at this meeting, so he ‘volunteered’ to help me find a way to get her invited. He knew none of the rest of my plans. He handled the matter quietly, his sister was being taken care of and the injured doctor received an anonymous donation to his research. Though, he did pass away shortly after that, he was very proud of himself for his part in helping my sister become more recognized for her work. He felt he owed her that for helping his sister. So au see, the whole matter worked out well for all.”