Beyond The Fangs

Chapter 7

IZEL

"Where were you?" The Roi growled at me. "You are supposed to make your way to me if anything happens, do you not know that?"

Of course I knew that, but he was at the bottom of the list when it came to the people I would risk my life for.

"You are my Vanquisher," he stated, and I fought a sneer. I wasn't some object that he could just claim. "If you keep behaving like this then—"

Hope lit within me and I bit my tongue to stop myself from smiling. If I kept behaving like this... would he have no choice but to assign me elsewhere? 

"—I'll have no choice but to increase your hours." He finished.

"What?!" That was the opposite of what I wanted.

"I'm not fond of having you around either, but my protection comes first. It's me before everybody else."

You self-centred son of a—

"Do you understand that?" He demanded.

"And why is it that you come first?" I asked in as formal a manner as I could manage.

"Because I am the Roi," he said pompously, lifting his hands and closing his eyes as if absorbing energy. 

It was an effort not to roll my eyes. He didn't deserve any of my respect or reverence. Not when his belly was proof of his gluttony. When his ignorance was evidence of his disregard for the villages. When his want for several guards was evidence of his laziness. 

"I manage and maintain peace within all the different villages," he finished.

"There's nothing left of most of the villages anyway," I mumbled.

"What was that?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing," I said grinning, "continue."

"You must put me first before anything and everything, understood?"

A muscle ticked in my jaw. The Roi thought he was above everybody else. All he cared about was himself and his protection. He never once truly interacted with his people, in Lilliville or the other villages. He never once looked for a solution for the vampire attacks. He never once gave a suggestion towards solving or winning the war. He never once visited the injured or sick, and neither did he once care about the people. He just roamed the Fortress all day and every day. 

I would never put his life first. Never.  But I still said, "Understood."

"Good, you may leave."

As was the custom, I lowered my head and tapped my heart three times before leaving his presence. I then ran out of the Fortress and rushed to the Tactics Room, where a meeting that I was already late for was taking place. They were discussing the ambush that took place less than a couple of hours ago. The Hunter Vanquishers had turned around and headed back to the village immediately after hearing about the attack, but by the time they arrived, it was already over.

I made it to the Tactics Room just as the summaries were being delivered.

"We lost 47 people out there," said Smith, our Commander Vanquisher. "19 were Vanquishers, the rest..."

He didn't have to finish, we lost a lot of innocent lives today at the hands of those heartless vampires. There had been 25 of them, 25 vampires that came and ambushed us, 25 vampires that took out 47 of our people. Among the innocents lost, 12 of them had been children, and it would have been 13 if the Masked Slayer hadn't brought Raya back, which, even if it pains me to admit, I was glad he did.