Royal Flower

Chapter Fourteen

Four middle aged adults were gathered at a square table, drinking refreshing water while discussing what was on their minds. Some of them rested their chins on their left hands, revealing their Red Phoenix tattoos.

Derek, a man with brown hair and broad shoulders, finally spoke up. "Bryan, you were the one who gathered all of us together, and yet you have nothing to say?"

Bryan looked up from his cup of water, as if thinking as to how to phrase his words. "Are you satisfied with Reese's leadership?"

"What?" Derek was a little taken aback. "Why would you ask that?"

Bryan glanced at his wife, Tania, who explained, "Bryan spoke with me last night, and we both feel that Reese hasn't done much since we made him the leader."

Lorraine, the last adult at the table, nodded in agreement. "I didn't want to say anything but I'm glad someone else agrees with me. The boy is Raymond's son, though."

"And Raymond was our good friend," Derek finished.

When they made Reese leader they were all thinking the same thing, Like father like son.

As Raymond's son, it had been instinct to turn to Reese after Raymond died, but now it was becoming a little obvious that Raymond's four friends were a little more than just Reese's advisers.

"Basil, Flora, and Amaryllis are dead," Tania commented. "Basil cost us Raymond, but no one was hurt when Flora and Amaryllis died."

Lorraine grumbled, filing her left fingernails. "Only seven more to go."

Bryan sighed. "Reese has befriended the assassin, then?"

"It seems so," Derek said longingly. "I'm starting to regret encouraging Reese to find the Nissisa assassin. The assassin is doing all of the work for us. If he ends up killing all the royals we will have no one left to kill."

Lorraine extended her hand to look at her nails. "I want to kill some royals too. That's why I joined Raymond. We were going to kill the royals, not some assassin."

Bryan sighed, "Reese has asked the assassin because he knows the other members are not capable of killing, though."

Derek gestured mindlessly with his hand. "At the time when Flora was alive, yes. As Raymond's friends, though, we've been training the other members. The four of us are definitely capable of killing an Azalea. The other members are getting close."

"Perhaps we should ask Reese to consider breaking it off with the Nissisa assassin," Tania suggested.

"I disagree," a small voice suddenly spoke.

The four adults turned to see a young boy at the door. He could have passed as an eleven year old, but the age requirement for the Red Phoenix tattoo was thirteen years. The boy had his hands in his pockets. The black lines outlining the red phoenix emitted small red rashes around the area, as though the tattoo was fairly recent.

"Zane," Bryan said in surprise. "What are you doing here? This is a private meeting."

"I couldn't help but overhear. I'm sorry, Father. If it was private, though, shouldn't you have closed the door?" Zane gestured.

Bryan's eyes blinked, slightly annoyed. "We wanted the fresh air."

Derek laughed, then stared seriously at Bryan and Tania. "You should teach your son not to meddle with things he doesn't understand."

Tania snapped, "Don't talk about my son like that. He is a Red Phoenix member, like us." The four adults didn't notice, but Zane flinched slightly. Tania then smiled sweetly at her son. "Zane, dear, did you want to say something?"