A Warriors Heart: The Lady Of Death

Chapter 10

The days all seemed to blend into each other while they waited for news; cleo kept busy so as to not dwell on things too much, including the heat she kept feeling flow through her tattoo.

At sunrise Cleo would get up and go on her now daily run from the base to the harbour and back then do two hundred push-ups, two hundred pullups and two hundred sit-ups then she would practice her climbing skills utilising the trees and buildings on the base.

she would then practice her martial arts and end her daily training with sword practice, at sunset she would visit the twins, tell them she loved them and pray, she would then return to base.

There would be a tray on the veranda with a snack that Mae had started to leave for her every evening, probably because she had noticed cleo skipping meals.

Cleo would eat the rice balls and enjoy the jasmine green tea she had prepared then take a shower, when she returned to the veranda a bottle of her favourite Japanese sake would have taken the place of the tray.

cleo would drink the entire bottle while gazing at the moon; once the bottle was empty she would make her nightly vow to that moon.

"I will not rest until I avenge them"

Instead of going to the room that she shared with Jax she would curl up in the twins room holding onto their clothes and cry until she either fell asleep or dawn came , depending on which occurred first.

cleo had lost all track of time; her sole thought was taking the life of Lord James. Summer changed to autumn and before she knew it the first snow of winter was covering the ground.

cleo had started to lose her faith in the masters when suddenly during her training she heard the sound of horses approaching the base.

she immediately stopped training and walked to the main gates and sure enough there were the masters coming up the road.

Master Saizo gave cleo a smile as they approached; they dismounted and left their horses with the stable hand.

Master Toshi placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke with a soft voice.

"We have him"

Feeling a fire build within her soul she followed the Masters into the main hall.

All the officers and soldiers had gathered for what they were now calling the war council.

Master Toshi rolled out a map and was about to speak when Lord Wilson entered the hall.

"James is marching towards the city; I have made my guard available to you"

"Milord you would aid us in a battle against your own blood?"

Charlie looked surprised at the words that escaped his own mouth.

"James disgraced himself; he committed the most heinous, unforgivable crime out of his own selfishness. That man is no brother of mine, now what's the plan? I calculate that we have one week maximum before he arrives"

Lord Wilson was usually so cheerful and laid back that the venom in his voice made a shiver travel down cleos spine.

The plan took form; with the aid of Lord Wilson their numbers increased they now had one thousand soldiers all ready for battle; however Lord James had a significantly larger force including a group of elite swordsmen as his personal guard.

"We will be outnumbered two to one but I know that we will win this battle. That man may have two thousand soldiers, he may have an elite guard but we have something he doesn't, something more powerful. We have family, we have love and we have honour. We are a pack and that man tried to destroy us by taking our cubs, so as a pack let us show him what a family is made of. We will avenge our cubs and bring them peace"