Chapter Eighty Nine - Investigations Gone Cold

Author's note; Thank you for sticking with this arc so far, it should get more interesting/exciting after this chapter! Hopefully!

Jezmi's Official leave could not last forever and she returned to work with a heavy heart.

Jariden also placed his own mission on hold, having to pour his focus upon the new factory.  He also took the time to visit several elite universities, especially ones whose core focus was art to see if he couldn't obtain a new talent before other companies tried to woo them.  This flight path he could not travel along for long; in the bodies and faces of a select few he would see two haunting blue eyes and a slender, unripe youth with curly blond hair.  It was not good for his temper.  Finally, he gave up this search with just a handful of potential names.  His fiancée also caught the strangeness of his distracted self.

Haellen had convinced him to take a day off of work and to accompany her shopping.  Who knew that she also roped in her older brother who had also fallen into melancholy of late.  What was possibly worse was that the woman had been shopping for three hours and both men were over burdened with packages as were two of their bodyguards.  "Haellen, what sort of 'therapy' is this?" Aldon complained, his cold mask slipping in front of his younger sister.

"Hmm?  Well, after seeing the men in my life so gloomy," Haellen replied without a hint of remorse in her tone.  "I decided to cheer myself up with a little shopping."  The men exchanged glances of condolences.

Her 'therapy' lasted another hour before she was finally sated and had Jariden's driver and her own take her purchases to her condo, then instructed Aldon's driver to take them to Takamichi's, a small bistro that catered for the elite market.  Haellen ordered a Haytanian latte with cream imported from Casta Nova.  Aldon's black coffee was brewed using beans harvested from Piliri 7.  Jariden always felt distinctly out of his element when Haellen dragged him to places like this.  What was wrong with just asking for a standard coffee and who the hell cared where the beans came from?  It was all caffeine, wasn't it?  Fortunately, Takamichi's owner happened to be a customer of his, so when the old man saw him enter with his fiancée and future brother-in-Law, he didn't ask what he wanted, just served him a straight coffee.

"Ah that feels so much better," Haellen claimed with a long sigh as she sipped her latte. Aldon did not say a word and drank his coffee without savouring it's rich flavour.  "Now are either one of you going to share with me what is wrong with you?  Honestly, walking around with a cheap purse from Primarny would be more entertaining than you two recently."

"There's nothing the matter, Haellen," Jariden said, dismissively.  "Work has just been a little more hectic than normal.  We've been working on a new range, but I'm dubious about the design.  I think it is a little too standard for our market and wish to relook at it, my shareholders don't agree.  To them, the delay would cost money.  I took a trip at the wrong time allowing them to get a little too relaxed, it seems."

"Haellen mentioned you were taking a trip outside Imperial space for business purposes.  Did it go well?"  Aldon asked.

"Not satisfactorily," Jariden replied.  "I ran into your ex sister-in-law as well."

"Jezmi?"  Aldon paled somewhat, but covered his surprise with a sip of coffee.  Aldon glanced over at him as if it wasn't weighing upon his mind at all and his words were idle curiosity.  "What was she doing across the border?"

"Searching for leads," Jariden replied vaguely.

Aldon paused for a moment, stirring the dregs of his coffee with a spoon, before toying with it in his hand.  "Did she find anything?" he finally asked.

"Hold on, please," Haellen interrupted.  "What is with this conversation?  And how do you know Jezmi Welhaven?"  She said these last words to her fiancé.

"I was introduced when she stormed into Aldon's office while we were discussing certain things."

"Ugh, sounds like that woman," Haellen said, in distaste.  "Such a brute, no feminine appeal at all.  I cannot see what you saw in her, Aldon."

Jariden glanced at Aldon questioningly.  "I was seeking a political marriage with the Welhaven's.  It did not really need to be Jezmi, simply that she was an outstanding individual and was highly sought after.  In the end, Myha suited me better."  When he mentioned his wife's name, his eyes softened, but there was a note of sadness within them.

"I still think you are wrong there," Haellen sniffed, crossly.  "I would have found you a much more suitable match."

"Let it go, Haellen," her brother warned, his black eyes turning cold.

"Why should I?" Haellen argued, flipping her dark hair over her shoulder.  "Nothing good came from the alliance with the Welhaven's and in the end she couldn't even leave you an heir!"  The cup suddenly shattered in his grip, causing Haellen to become shocked by her brother's manner.

"I will ask you one last time, never speak ill of Myha or my sons again!" His words fell like a comet, before causing a heavy silence.  Jariden hoped that Haellen would not pick up on the secret that spilled from Aldon's lips, as he sensed that the woman would not let it go.

"Sons... what sons... Myha only carried to term the once..." her eyes widened rapidly as the meaning sank in.  "Twins?" She whispered under her breath?  That poor excuse for a woman couldn't even produce offspring properly!  First miscarrying and then hiding twins in her stomach!  Haellen was quick to assume that one alone could not be aborted, otherwise it she doubted they would be even having this conversation.  "And where are these.. children now?"

Aldon remained silent for a time before replying; "There is a possibility that they could have been raised on a pirate."

Haellen suddenly felt the need to eat a gooey chocolate cake and ordered one with a fresh latte.  "Does Jezmi know?"

"She found out recently," Aldon admitted with a sigh as he reached for a napkin to wipe away residue coffee and specks of blood from his hand.

"We can only hope she doesn't find them," Haellen said, coldly.  Although Aldon had been thinking of something similar deep down, it physically hurt when his sister spoke these words aloud.  He felt ashamed.  Was he really going to abandon these two boys that his beloved wife risked her life and reputation for?

Jariden glanced over both of their expressions.  Although Aldon's features were as cold as Haellen at that moment, he noticed the doubt and guilt in his black eyes.  He turned to gaze at similar eyes mounted in a soft, delicate face beneath artistically shaped brows and above a long, slender nose.  They did not make his heart beat nor his blood heat like vivid blue eyes did, he suddenly thought.  "Jezmi already knows which ship they hail from," he threw that fact upon the table and sat back to await their reactions.  Hope warred with fear to the point that Aldon could barely retain his demeanour.

However Haellen continued to disappoint him.  "Chances are that their ship will be destroyed by the military before she claims them," she said, emotionlessly.  Jariden, who had been doubting their engagement for a while now, suddenly felt certain.  It would not continue beyond this point.

"You speak so callously of their lives," Jariden commented and signalled the waiter over so he could pay the bill.

"I may sound harsh," Haellen said, not taking any warning from his tone, "but it was unkind of her to bear them knowing what they and we would suffer from their births.  If  it were to end quickly, it would be better for everyone involved, don't you think?"

Jariden rose from his seat.  "They didn't appear as if they were suffering at all when I saw them," he stated.  "Don't bother to call your driver, I will arrange public transportation for myself."  Finally aware that he was not happy with her, she attempted to protest, but her brother interrupted.

"I will speak to Jezmi," was all he said, Haellen assumed he would talk her out of finding the twins and bringing them into her family, but Jariden noticed a different resolve in his eyes and simply nodded.

"I'll speak with you later, Jariden?"  Haellen softly asked, unsure how to deal with this side of the man who seemed angry with her, as she honestly did not understand why.

"No, I'm afraid there will be no later, Miss Krause," Jariden told her.  Her face lost its colour to the point where she could be mistaken for a Casta Nova native.

"You can't do this to me, Jariden!" Haellen warned.  "If you break off our engagement, I'll see you never do business in elite circles ever again!"  Aldon frowned over his sister's

threat and wilful behaviour.

"If my glasswares remain unsold due to the word of one person," he declared, "Then they simply were not good enough products to begin with.  Good day, Miss Krause."  Jariden did not hang around to be abused by her any longer.

*****

A certain sixteen year old boy was scanning over a small article in the business section of the Imperial news network that caught his eye.  It wasn't that he was interested in anything pertaining to that man or anything, it just was coincidence that he found it, that was all.  Jariden Thaulow of Zaethaern Glasswares had called off his engagement with Miss  Haellen Krause, sister of military politician Aldon Krause due to a conflict of interests.  He tilted his head, his curls falling in front of his eyes.  He wondered what that meant.

"Did you find anything?" Law asked him.  He and Luck had just past their thirteenth birthday, but were yet to begin to bloom into adulthood.  Zee guiltily switched channels to a search engines results and shook his head.

"Are you sure that is the name of a real planet?"  Zee asked.  "I've never heard of it.  Not that that means anything, there are tens of thousands of named worlds in the galaxy. Just that, all the ones you have asked me to look for, come up with zilch."  His hand reached for the gold earring and he subconsciously rubbed it.

Law and Luck exchanged a glance.  There's nothing on the secret network, Luck mentioned through their link.  The boy had hacked into the pirates preferred network, which was under many layers of security and bounced off several satellites, making it hard to trace.

Law sighed.  I asked the Doc too, he was the one who spoke about the planet two weeks ago and now he doesn't recall its existence!

This investigation is not so easy, Luck mused.

"Ah forget about it," Law said to Zee.  "I must have got the name wrong." He gave Zee a soft smile, which Zee returned.  However, why did Zee doubt Law's words?  As his eyes flickered over the windows of information and a certain face came into view, Zee not only forgot about the search, he also forgot his doubts.