Daughter of the Devil

Chapter 18

 The first thing I noticed was the blonde hair. The second thing was their posture. Upright. Unyielding. Harsh. The third thing was that only one of them spoke. The tallest one. The leader. By itself it was nothing unusual. But there was something odd about his voice, as though he was hiding something.

"You're to come with us. The Selten General Estates wants to see you." That was the fourth thing. I had just left Solon. Had been with him no longer than ten minutes ago. If they wanted me, he would have told me. We would have walked together. But it could also be that Mara wanted to see me and was trying to act as though it was strictly professional. Though my gut was telling me to run, I didn't have enough proof yet.

Trust your instincts. The familiar phrase seemed to haunt me. Yes, it was strange, and yes, something in me was telling me to run in the opposite direction, but how silly would it be if I ran and there was nothing? Better to not risk it. Not risk it rather than be wrong.

They led me down a long hallway. It wasn't odd. There were too many to count in the old castle and they did seem to be taking me to the meeting place of the SGE, albeit a slightly strange route.

The shortest man turned to the tallest one abruptly. "Now?" he asked in rough Onian, as if he had practiced that word over and over.

And that was my cue.

Within seconds the men were swept off their feet by powerful Airtwister wind. The tallest one was the quickest to react, back up on his feet moments after falling. But I was faster. My fireball latched itself to his face and he buckled as he yelled in agony. One of them threw copper at me that I easily dodged. The three of them were no match for me. It was as if they hadn't expected me to gain so much control over the last year. They were just woefully unprepared.

And then a voice appeared in my left ear.

"Chuck."

Breathe. It was my only thought. Breathe. I was dimly aware of tears falling. Breathe. It wasn't him. Breathe. There was no way it was him. Breathe. Every muscle tensed. Breathe. Did he come because he was sorry? Breathe. Did he come because he knew he was wrong? Breathe. Did he come because he cared? Breathe. He was the only one who called me that. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. Breathe. And trust your instincts. Was it really my father?

It wasn't.

I passed out moments later from a hit to the back of my head.

When I woke up, I was chained with copper under the deck of an already moving boat. There was absolutely nothing I could do to escape. I was too far gone.