@daily-writing-challenge Aug 2024, Day 5 - Mistake
It was a mistake but what other choice did she have? Nahi walked down a path through Quel’thalas that she hadn’t been on in a very long time. She checked everything about her again, her hair was styled and as free of glitter as it could ever be. The gown she wore was of good quality but not rich in fabric, shoes… well trainers but hopefully they would not check that. Her jewelry was simple as it usually was but she wore a pendant that had been packed away for a score of years now. Last was her pack, it was filled with papers, legal documents and a peace offering of sorts.
Her once over had kept her mind occupied enough that by the time she reached the door she was able to steel herself and knock, not too loud or soft and easy in tempo. Perfect, and yet she still wanted to leave, to even do this disgusted her.
An older woman opened the door and stopped, “Miss Nahilvi.”
Well at least she was recognized by the help still, “Sealine, it is good to see you.” And she was being truthful, the woman had been her nanny and was the only one she did miss through the years. “May I come in?” She asked with a smile.
“Uhm,” she looked behind her, once Nahi didn’t need a nanny any longer the plump woman was kept on as chatelaine. “Yes?” It was said like she wasn’t sure, and yet she didn't really have a choice.
“It should be okay, or at least they won’t blame you,” Nahilvi strode into her old home, well technically… that would be dealt with. “If you ask them to come to father’s study I would appreciate it.” She didn’t wait for the assent, it really would be much better for Sealine if she was less involved in this.
Nahi placed her bag on the desk and took the ornate chair, idly looking at the bookkeeping that was open and making sure they would see her interest in it. Most of this trip fell on a moment of surprise and how much she would push her will onto those that resided here still. She had avoided the estate since she had taken up residence in Dalaran; there was no reason to come back, and she never wanted to find one, but life was about to become more interesting.
It was her third cousin Tirorastraza, named such because her parents were assholes that thought she should be as honored as one of the dragonkin were, it was a long time ago, they couldn’t have known. The woman was sweet and had about half the intelligence she should have, inbreeding took its toll. Next were Tiroadiria’s brother Hamdil and his wife Banictusia, and then came the the turtle himself, their father Hoovanil, all of them stopped just inside the study door, good, it gave her the advantage of lording over them as her father had so gleefully done most of their lives.
“Nahilvi, we thought you were dead.” Hamdil spoke first with a little hint of that warm bond they had felt growing up together. His wife sneered just a little and took his hand, she had been less than happy about how close Nahi and her cousin had been. She was the jealous sort, not that Nahi was going to marry her cousin, no matter how much their family pushed for it, inbreeding after all.
Hoovanil took longer to respond and cleared his throat, “Young woman, where have you been?” Even now she could see the turtle she always thought of with him, stubborn, wrinkled and more than willing to duck his head into a shell and not listen to what he was being told, that was the reason for the bag of legal documents.
She didn’t stand or go to them for familial greetings, hugs or whatever normal families did, she remained in the head of the family’s seat and began opening her bag. “If you would all take seats we have something to discuss.”
Tiroradoria blustered, “You can’t just come in here like you own the place.” Her brother took her elbow and guided her to a seat while he whispered to her and her face blanched. Oh good, at least one of them remembered who she was, though Nahilvi was much different when she left, maybe she would have had trouble recognizing her authority too in their place.
Hoovanil took a seat and Hamdil’s wife took a place next to him, not unexpected to Nahi; she had made sure she understood the household dynamics before she showed up. This had been in the planning stage for this for a long time, but the world was under attack and she couldn’t wait to put it into action.
It wasn’t until Hamdil found a place that she spoke, using all the performer’s presence she had learned from her mother, then perfected through her own time on the stage. “As you know, since you made it happen, my father has been declared dead. As you also know, the courts refused your petition to do the same for mother and I, mostly because we are not and I made sure they understood that.”
Nahi may have disliked family squabbles but she had been in enough to know how this would have gone had she come back when the keep fell. Well, after the whole mess with the demons on the island was taken care.
“Before you say anything let me start with other legal standings,” she reached into her bag and pulled out the first document. She had them in her bag in order so she could do this exactly as she had rehearsed in her mind, “This is the last filed copy of father’s will that states that mother and I, along with any other children of the marriage were to inherit. Man, he really didn’t want you to get your hands on the estate, did he? Making mother his heir? She might even have kicked you out.”
Bowling on and not letting any of them speak, “These are copies of your requests to have father’s banking turned over to you, something I also blocked.” Legally they had to wait to have her father declared dead so Nahi’s barrister had years to go to the court to show the will and arrange for Nahi to declare her mother incompetent. That one had been difficult, legally and emotionally, then she put a freeze on the accounts so no one could access them without an injunction, or her permission.
Paper after paper was pulled out, court findings, her own research on the family genealogy, the findings of a couple private eyes she had hired to locate any bastards her father may have sired that were older than her mother’s claims, those could have been a problem, will or not. Finally she got down to the actual reason she was here.
“Technically everything is mine, well mother’s, but since I control her estate, mine. These documents have spanned the last five years, so technically I have had the right to come here and make you all leave if I wished, and your paltry sums,” she dramatically pushed the bookkeeping to the edge of the desk, “could never have stopped me.” Money was power and she had access to the money. “I have some other papers here, first is a lease to the estate and the lands surrounding it, they have already been drafted so I can sign them today.”
The gasps of shock were the first real noises her captive audience had made and Hamdil began to speak,”But Nahi…”
Nahi held up her hand, “I don't want to live here and I won’t displace you. It is my understanding that you have children Hamdil, congratulations. Unlike my father I will not lord where you live over you. The lease will continue for twenty years, at which time we can address it again. I will not pay for any upkeep, as stipulated, you must continue to support it as you have. I am leaving the furnishing but there is an accountant coming by to take careful record of what is here compared to the detailed records father took before he followed the Prince and left you in charge.”
All of this had taken a decent chunk out of her, and her mother’s finances which were separated from her father’s at her mother’s wishes, mother had more than he did due to her status and never let him forget that. “I am not signing over the summer house, that will be retained and my mother will be moved in there tomorrow along with her husband and staff.” Even Tirora was smart enough to know what having her mother declared incompetent likely meant. “You will not go there, you will not try and contact her in any way, you will not attempt to barge in with some kind of false legal authority, if you do the lease states I can break it and have you removed.” That stipulation was still fuzzy legally but her father was a bastard that had always held their living here under his thumb so this was better than that for them.
“I will be around but I have other places I also need to be.” Well, for the time being that was a complete fabrication but she hoped… well that would be handled, if not she had options, not ones she liked but they were there. being a kept woman was not so bad afterall, right? “Now, if you want to fight about this,” she looked to Hoovanil and then to Hamdil’s wife, which would be the two to fight what Nahi laid out,
She had been right, they had objections, which she legally brushed aside, everything was hers and all of their issues were nullified by that fact, that and the fact that she would no longer be bullied by her family as she had in her youth. Her father had lorded over her as much as he had the , but he also lavished her with gifts and spoiled her as his only heir, it was no wonder she had been the entitled woman she was for so long,
All of this legal bullshit was necessary for her though, she had known for two years that her mother would need a secure place outside of a city, her escapes recently had proved that. This relocation was not going to be easy on her, and Nahi really couldn’t handle it any longer. She couldn’t keep doing everything and taking all the punishment. Sure Iren and the nurses had it pretty bad as well, but Nahi was the daughter that was forgotten, the one that was blamed for ruining her life, the one she had recently begun to throw curses at and even spit at, because she ‘stole’ all of her things and locked her up. This separation was needed for her mother’s sake too, it was not good to have Nahi there, it just made Acen angrier, even on her more lucid days she had thrown things at her and needed to be restrained from an outright attack.
Finally the entire family signed it, even the jealous Missus Hamdil as Nahi wasn’t leaving her off to try and maneuver around all this. Nahi arranged for the household staff to be paid, they didn’t deserve to be kicked out to save money. She had walked through ‘her’ property for the last time, once her mother no longer was in need of the summer house it would be sold and Nahi would arrange for Hamdil to take the estate. She would keep the money, of course, but she no longer wanted to pay the stupid amount of taxes that she had been paying to keep her name on the place.
A catch up session with Hamdil and some time spent meeting his children were all the niceties she could manage, she wanted to get out of there and drink that bottle of bourbon Talthorn had brought her. Then she would proceed with her mother’s move and try to ensure that if Dalaran truly was destroyed Iren would be taken care of. The house was all he had other than his pay from the hospital, but that would dry up too, as he would be staying with her mother full time.
After that? Well after that Nahi needed to find something to do, and helping a planet that was under attack seemed like a logical place to start. That is if anyone would take her on to help.p, if not… the kept woman options would always be open.