Blood Warrior (10 page)

He raised an eyebrow and one side of his mouth pulled up ever so slightly. “No, why would you think that?” I shrugged and he continued, “They will bring in a Searcher to distinguish your races, and then, seeing as how you are minors, they will probably place you in one of the schools. We haven’t seen a Warrior in ages, though, I’m not sure what they’ll do about you.”

Oh, wonderful. “Great, so, no pressure then,” I replied.

He picked up on my sarcasm. “I doubt they’ll execute you,” he said dryly.

I feigned a sigh of relief, though some of it didn’t have to be faked. “Well, now that that’s settled, shall we?”

Kayden led us across the town, or city, with Jackson, Nelly and I trailing behind him. I leaned over to Nelly, panic shooting through me as a thought came to mind. “What will they do if they find out what you are?” I whispered.

She looked over at me as though she had been worrying about this too. “They’d kill me,” she answered. When I almost choked on my saliva, she added, “Really, I’m more worried about what they’ll do with you. I think I can control what I let their Searcher see in me.

I’m pretty good. I should be able to keep the Lamia part hidden from the Search.” I gave a slow nod and steeled myself for what was ahead. “Let’s hope so,” I whispered.

A look passed between us that we needed no words to interpret. I wasn’t worried about myself; I could handle whatever they threw at me. But Nelly, well, Nelly I’d kill for. She knew this too.

She nodded. “Let’s hope so.”

Chapter 20

We passed what seemed like thousands of more of the same structures and flowers I had seen near the gates. I tried to allow myself to enjoy some of the beauty, but it was hard when I was so nervous about this stupid meeting. The place seemed to take on an ominous feel as we walked toward our fates. More people were out this morning, heading to whatever it was that they did with their days. A few stopped and stared like last night, but for the most part, they seemed to just be hurrying toward their destinations.

Finally, we reached a building that stood out from all the others. It kind of reminded me of a courthouse, only it looked way too rich to be a courthouse. Enormous statues of robed people lined the stone steps leading up to the building. There was a large mural painted over the tall silver trimmed doors of a sun. I reached up and touched my shoulder. The mural looked almost exactly like the sun at the top of my tattoo.

Kayden led us into the building, and if I thought our apartment building was opulent, I clearly had no idea what that word meant. Unlike the apartment, everything here was decorated in silver, and somehow, it managed to look even classier than the gold décor had.

The foyer was enormous, with a high ceiling that was made of all glass, sending the sun in and illuminating the room in an almost heavenly light. Two sets of curved staircases led up to a long balcony with ivory railings. I couldn’t help but stare wide-eyed all around me. Once again, I wondered what the hell we were walking into.

We headed up one of the staircases and I ran my hand over the ivory railing, its surface silky smooth. We took a left and followed the hallway down to where a bright red door sat at the end of it. All of the other doors were silver; I silently hoped we weren’t headed to that red one.

To my relief, we stopped at a silver door with another sun carved into it. Kayden punched in a code on the doors electronic lock and ushered us inside. It was just a plain room,-

if you could call something that extravagant plain- with rows of chairs separated by an ivory railing where five more chairs sat on a raised platform behind a long table.

Kayden directed us to sit down in the first row of chairs and we did as we were instructed. Nelly leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Just let me do the talking, okay?” I just nodded. Normally I would have made a joke about that B-movie-line, but at the moment, my stomach seemed too tangled up in knots to attempt comedy.

Kayden took up a position by the wall and I noticed that he wasn’t the only one doing so. Other men, including Scar,- I guess his name was Gavin but Scar seemed like a better fit- were lining the walls too. All of them, with the exception of Kayden, were wearing the same black outfits from last night and I noticed a tiny silver sun embroidered on the shirt’s right shoulder that I hadn’t seen before. None of them looked at us; they just stared straight ahead, stone faced.

I was sitting in between Jackson and Nelly, and Jackson reached over and clutched my hand in his. I gave him what I hoped was a reassuring smile and squeezed his hand.

A quick glance at a clock hanging on the wall told me that it was five minutes till ten. I hoped this meeting was scheduled on the hour because I was starting to sweat.

Exactly five minutes later, a door behind the platform in front of us opened up and five people filed in. Three were women and two were men. They were wearing long silver robes and walked with an air of royalty. Sparing no glances for us, they took their seats and adjusted their robes accordingly. Not surprisingly, I had to suppress the urge to laugh.

The woman in the middle chair cleared her throat and gave me and my companions a once over. I tried not to shift in my seat. I didn’t want to let these people see me squirm.

The middle woman had a sharp nose and beady blue eyes accompanied by pale blond hair that was pulled tightly up into a bun. She reminded me of my English teacher. When she spoke, her sharp tone reminded me of my teacher too.

“State your names,” she said, looking at the three of us.

Nelly spoke first. “Nelliana Montgomery.”

Then, Jackson. “Jackson Kane.”

I cleared my throat. “Alexa Montgomery.”

The woman looked completely disinterested, as if she had only asked our names as some sort of formality. “And your races,” she continued.

A lump formed in my throat and I had to swallow twice before I could speak.

Luckily, Nelly had gone first.

“Searcher,” she stated.

“Wolf Son,” said Jackson.

The woman’s eyes fell on me and I felt my heart beat pick up in pace. Summoning up my courage, I was glad when my voice sounded clear and strong.

“Warrior,” I said.

The woman looked like she had been ready to move on to the next line of questions, but upon hearing my answer, she stopped and fixed that sharp gaze on me.

“I beg your pardon.” Her words were clipped.

Again, I cleared my throat and enunciated. “Warrior.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Miss…Montgomery,” I was right; she hadn’t been paying attention to our names. “I would advise you to take my questions seriously. We will not stand for insult in our own house.”

I was still forming a response when someone spoke up for me. It was
not
someone I would have expected.

“She bears the marks, your majesty,” Gavin replied, respectfully.

Her eyes snapped back to me and she waited expectantly. I nodded my head in confirmation. She sat back in her chair. “Would you be so kind as to show us, Miss Montgomery?”

I stood up slowly and reached down, pulling my right sleeve up as high as it would go and tucking it under my armpit, revealing the silver design on my arm. I heard a collective gasp and looked up to see all of the Council members were leaning forward in their chairs.

None of them spoke for several moments and I was tempted to sit back down.

The middle woman regained her voice first. “Approach, please, so that we may take a closer look.” Her voice was still sharp, but there was an uncertainty to it now. I suppressed a smile.

I “approached” the platform and stood before the five Council members, meeting their eyes and nodding to each one of them. I hoped I looked respectful. They leaned forward even more and I worried that one of them might tumble out of their chair.

One of them mumbled “impossible”, and I almost laughed. Maybe I should consider changing my name to Ms. Impossible. It would certainly be fitting. Then again, so would freak.

The woman stood and came to a stop directly in front of me. I worked to hold her gaze. To say she was intimidating would be an understatement. She looked down at my arm and her blue eyes widened in wonder. Reaching up slowly, she asked, “May I?” I’m not sure why, but with her so close to me, it suddenly hit me that this was someone I should show respect to. That’s not to say that I liked her; it’s just that everything had changed recently, and if I was going to have to live in this new world I’d found myself in, I could at least respect their customs. This was not normal for me. I usually hated authority figures, but things change when your life is on the line.

Still, my words surprised me. “Certainly… your majesty.”

She looked up at me then and I saw a smile behind her eyes, though her mouth didn’t so much as twitch. She ran her fingers lightly over my wrist and then trailed them up my arm, stopping at the sun on my shoulder. “Soll Lilliums,” she whispered. “I haven’t seen these in a very, very long time.” She spoke so only I could hear her. “How long have you had this?” I spoke in a hushed tone. “They just appeared. After I…”

She nodded, and again spoke only to me. “After you freed them. May I Search you?”

I hesitated, remembering the vulnerable feeling I’d had after Akira had Searched me, but I had a feeling this woman could do as she wanted, and was only asking out of courtesy.

I nodded.

She stepped back a few inches and released a heavy breath. Then, she held out her hands, palms up. I reached up and placed my hands in hers. She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed. Just like last time, I felt a tingling sensation where she was touching me and that unmistakable feeling of someone reaching deep into my soul. My mind instantly felt muddled and I had a hard time focusing on anything but her face.

I was feeling a little light-headed by the time she released me a few moments later. Her eyes popped open and now the uncertainty that was there before was replaced with a shocked acceptance.

“How can this be?” she mumbled.

“I don’t know. I didn’t even know there were such things as Warriors until a couple of days ago,” I said in a low voice.

She considered this. “And what has brought you to us, young Warrior?” I felt an unexpected pride well up in me at her words and decided I would think about it later. “The Lamias found us… they took my Mother, but my sister and I managed to escape. We’ve come because we have nowhere else to go that is safe.” She stared into my eyes so long that I almost dropped my gaze. At last, she nodded, as if coming to some sort of decision. “We will be happy to accommodate you, young Warrior,” she whispered. Louder, she said, “You may return to your seat.” When I was seated, the other Council members leaned together and started speaking in hushed tones. It was obvious who they were talking about because they kept shooting confused looks my way. The woman’s eyes never left me, and finally, she held up a hand so that the others would stop their questioning.

“Alright,” she said, once again taking on that sharp tone. “A Searcher, a Wolf Son and a Warrior,” she announced. I suppressed a laugh, I almost expected her to say “walked into a bar.” “I assume you would like to continue your schooling?” she continued.

Nelly, Jackson and I exchanged glances, then, we all nodded.

She looked like she was pleased with this. “Good, Nelliana and Jackson, you will be attending the school that caters to your races. Alexa… seeing as how you are the only one of your kind, you have a choice as to where you attend.”

Nelly shifted beside me. I didn’t have to look at her to know what she wanted. “I would like to go to school with Nelly, if that’s okay.”

The woman shook her head. “I’m afraid that would be of no benefit for you.” I had to work to keep my aggravation off my face. I thought she said I’d get to choose. I should have known better. “What would you suggest, your majesty,” I gritted out.

She ignored my tone. “I would suggest that you attend the Brocken school, it would help you to hone your skills.”

I thought about this for a second. “Okay, I’ll go-“

“Of course,” she continued, cutting me off. I clenched my fists. “You will have to get accepted into the school in order to attend.”

“Okay,” I said, slowly. “I have to take some kind of test or something?” She shrugged. The gesture looked funny on her. “Of sorts.” I narrowed my eyes, forgetting my earlier pledge to show respect.

She continued as if she didn’t notice my gaze. “If you wish to attend the school with our warriors, you must fight for entry.”

I spoke the first words that came to mind; my Mother’s words. “I only fight when I have to.”

Again, she shrugged. “Well, you can always take up a trade… or live off of Nelliana. Everything comes with a price, young Warrior, and those who make it through the Brocken school are paid
very
well. The men you see standing in this room will testify to that. The decision is yours.”

What was she suggesting? Being paid for fighting? I wasn’t sure, but I had a feeling that whatever it was, it was one of the reasons my Mother had kept us away from this place. I looked down at my arm and ran a finger over the lily on my wrist. My Mother hadn’t wanted this for me, but did I want it? After all, I’d admitted that I enjoyed fighting. It was what I was made for; one of the only things that I was great at.

I looked back up, meeting her gaze. I’d made my decision. I could only hope it was the right one. “Fine. I’ll fight.”

She smiled; no doubt she’d known what I was going to say. “Good. Very good. We shall ready the arena. You will take your test tonight.”

Chapter 21

We were heading back to our apartment buildings, with Kayden as our escort once again.

“What the hell?” I exclaimed, earning a few disapproving glances from passing people.

“It could be worse,” Jackson said.

“It’s easy for you to say that, you don’t have to beat anyone up to go to your school,” I snapped.

“I know,” he said. “But I don’t know why you’re so worried, you’re an awesome fighter. You kicked Riley’s ass easy enough.”

“Riley hasn’t been training to fight his whole life like these people have. It’s not the same thing.”