The day of the great treasure hunt finally arrived. The atmosphere was bustling with festivities and fanfare. Beautiful prints of dresses and coats were all about. All the nobles in attendance were dressed to the nines.
This was no surprise, after all, the treasure hunt was a highly anticipated event. The watch field that the event was going to be hosted on was vast. In the middle, there was a wide stage with gravel and asbestos flooring, and at the far end of this stage lay a screen, it was a vision display device connected to its counterpart vision pick up device.
All the guests were being served delicacies of all kinds from steamy rice buns to spicy meat dishes to sugary deserts and many more; food was in abundance.
There were a total of fifteen canopies; Eight canopies were for the normal nobles of humble rankings, four were for the high ranking nobles, two were for the extended family of the royal family and the last canopy hoisted on a grand podium and beautified with regal decorations was the canopy of the King's company.
Everyone looked up at the people sitting there with envy; wow! To sit side by side with the king and dine on the same table.
But one family was not happy to 'enjoy' such a privilege. The Heris Mariale family sat beside the king and he kept on trying to make small talk with them.
As the nostalgia of the festivities gradually subsided, representatives of contending families started to seep into the stage.
There were six contenders in all, they were all from high ranking noble families. This by implication was that, they were not only remarkably powerful but they all had cordial relations.
Awin pouted as he turned away from Dylan Mariale, the man didn't seem to converse with him. "How sad?" He mused.
His eyes wandered through the gathering before him searching for Qaya, she had refused to sit in his company.
When she had made the proposal to join the hunt, he was taken aback and slightly irritated by that request. He wasn't sure why he felt that way but he wanted to immediately refuse her but the cunning part of him wanted to indulge her. After all, her failure offered a very tempting reward.
His eyes stopped their search when Qaya stepped into the stage, a lone contender.
He heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed into his throne but the crowd had an opposite reaction. The sight of Qaya threw them into agitation.
The problem was not that Qaya was a contender but she was a solo contender.
It seemed conceited because while other families presented two, three and some, four people to contest for the treasure hunt, she came alone, almost as if she was making an open declaration that she was better than all of them.
Qaya shrugged, she knew this was the only probable reaction and whilst she understood their point of view, it still irked how everyone or at least almost everyone concluded she was putting up a prideful display, "if I was to do anything like that why would it be through this means?" She whined.
A lanky man with a bubbly aura came up the podium, he was the King's advisor, Betram. His singy singy voice caught everyone's attention as they stopped their small talk to turn to him.
"You're all welcome to this year's great treasure hunt, an event that gives nobles the avenue to not only enjoy themselves but prove their loyalty to their nation. This year's trophy is the golden box, an object that has been deemed as nothing but a legend until our King's great father, Lazarus the courageous found it during an expedition, for its long standing with the royal family, no one has ever known the contents of the box except members of the royal family. I hope this exposition is enough for you all to know the great importance of this trophy"
Everyone nodded in agreement. Qaya could see the contenders bustling and discussing in excitement, she rolled her eyes.
"Today, I will present to you your first riddle;
the box of gold comes from humble beginnings, some might even say it has lowly leanings, like every of its kind, it doesn't stray far from it's home
Like a man will return to the womb in a tomb."
As he finished speaking, the King's advisor went back to his canopy.
The first half of the treasure hunt was about to start everyone was supposed to answer the riddle and get half of the puzzle and return by evening for the second riddle to find the last half of the puzzle and win the trophy. The way the treasure hunt trail was, there was only one acceptable path to tread and it was about 5 miles. There were seven people at designated areas who reported the happenings of the treasure hunt and they were supported by an overhead vision pick up device that was played at the watch field (even though the footage would be two hours behind).
Qaya waited for a while while the others dispersed. Her eyes moved to her family members and she smiled up at them, waving happily.
She turned to leave. She smiled to herself as she heard some teams arguing among themselves, no doubt it was a tiresome riddle but she had an advantage from her time as Qaya Wright, Awin had shown her the box.
Has she walked through the trail, she tried to assess if she could discern the position of the designated reporters because she wanted to do something against the rule, she wanted to go off course and off the trail.
"It's surprising how this riddle is, it's almost unsolvable, you'd have to be excessively knowledgeable or close to the king to understand it. Even I, I'm stuck on certain things" she mused as she bit her nail.
"The golden box was discovered by King Lazarus before he became king, thus it's not the golden box but the person who found it that has 'humble beginnings', the king was buried in his hometown but that's a thirteen day journey at least so i doubt, we are expected to travel that far, this is where the riddle gets tricky"
"What I must do is, make a connection between Lazarus, the box, the womb and a tomb"
Qaya gasped, the solution suddenly dawned on her. She turned around in a frenzy, hoping no one saw her as she sped into the forests, derailing from the stipulated trail.
"It's just a guess but since Lazarus was born of strumpet woman, it's possible the answer to the riddle is in a nearby brothel. After all..."
"...that's the only way he'd return to the womb through his tomb"
***
It was already getting dark and Qaya grew fearful, if a competitor failed to make it in time for the second riddle, it constituted an automatic disqualification. I can't just fail, at least not this early in time.
Her face lit up as she stared at the door of a simple tavern, the walls, though old looking seemed to be properly maintained and one could just sense from the music being okayed inside that the place was extremely lively. Beside the building stood an inconspicuous sign "a good night's sleep INN"
"Inn my foot" Qaya spat as a couple rushed past her almost pushing her to the ground, she turned to look at the drunk frenzied duo as they hurried off.
She looked around as she stepped in. She almost became breathless as her face became pale in a second and flushed the next.
"Is this what brothels look like? To imagine the first one I'll stumble upon is in the countryside." She mused as she brushed past the people indulging themselves.
When she got to a space that was not crowded, she let out a sigh of relief. Now how would she retrieve the first half to the treasure.
She looked around, this time more fervently for anything that could point to the answer and even though she didn't get an answer, she was shocked by what she witnessed.
A young lady in a cloak suspiciously moved towards the male toilet. And Qaya immediately knew to follow her, not because she was some lady depraved with curiosity but she knew that the lady was a member of the competing family.
She had to hide because she wasn't sure what to expect. As the lady entered, there was a gruff man already waiting with a parcel in his hand.
"You're late" he complained
"It's hard trying to traverse this place on foot, and a horse would have caused the designated reporters to spot me"
The man threw her an uninterested look and stretched out his hand demanding something.
"Why are you asking for money?" The girl was now annoyed.
"Should I not?"
"Fine" she abruptly replied and took off her jewelry "even if you pawn in at a low rate shop you'll still get nothing less than 1 Forde, and you know that's a lot"
"Wow I wish all my customers were generous like you, I was expecting a few hundred Ests but all this for a useless box? Good luck" he happily threw the parcel at her and rushed off.
"Wow, here I was expecting some rendezvous in the male lavatory" Qaya announced as she stepped out of her hiding place.
The lady flinched and hid the box behind her.
"Have you been following me this whole time?"
She asked, disgust all over her face.
"I came to this 'inn' excited I was the only one that solved the riddle, how sorely I had to be proven wrong"
"You know of the treacherous beginning of Lazarus the courageous"
Qaya shrugged walking out of the restroom and the 'inn'
"'Treacherous' is just being dramatic" she noted
"It's funny that a man who strove hard to make a name for himself and erase his shameful past would have an even more shameful ending"
"What?" A stunned Qaya queried.
"I see you don't know the full story" the lady chuckled "Lazarus did not care for the title or kingdom, all he wanted to prove was that he could make a great man out of the little society had handed him. Would you imagine that a man who tried so hard to run from his questionable birth will be so enchanted with the likes of harlot? As often as he tried to erase his past he would find himself going back to it, seeking comfort in the bosom of harlots. The queen heard of this, everyone heard of it, the government was in disarray so the queen had to take matters into her hands."
"She had Lazarus favourite courtesan poison him, the poison was so vile that Lazarus became unsightly, he was alive but in horrible pain so the former Queen and his courtesan arranged to lie to the people that Lazarus had been struck with leprosy and could no longer function in his duties, Lazarus never left the brothel, his pasty, sticky skin wouldn't let him and he died there in the brothel. His wife didn't even bother to bury him properly, that was the punishment she gave him for his infidelity"
"Ms Heris-Mariale, this riddle is one of reproach, a reminder to never forget where you stand, to never underestimate yourself no matter how pretty or loved you may seem"
Qaya flinched "is this the message Awin wants to pass across...to me?" She thought to herself but she was determined to put him to shame.
"Thanks for the story but I'll have to take that off your hands"
The lady shoved Qaya away "over my dead body". She didn't even hesitate she rushed away, trying to make it in time for the second riddle.
"'over your dead body'? Isn't that too much for a children's game. So this is it? I didn't even make it to the next day, I'll just lose "
With dropping shoulders, she trudged into the inn for a drink. She'd given up; there was no use trying to make it back in time, it would be too humiliating to return without the box.
She slouched into a seat and a young man walked to her. "Evening my lady, is there anything you'll like to drink" he handed her the menu.
A sad Qaya suddenly burst into laughter "what's with the names of your drinks? Cat's saliva, whispering fire, freezing coals, tired endings, hungry raven..." she stopped reading and looked at the man's face stunned.
She'd figure it out.
"I haven't lost yet"