Era of Wrath (Chrim Chronicles #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Loreen Fortier

"Never thought I'd say this, but I'm happy to you sit in that chair."

The leader's chair. A tall imposing piece made of black leather, it'd make anyone else who sat in it look small as a mouse, but Krol was one of those who made others look, and feel, small. For as long as I could remember, it'd been his place. Head of the Reverie, leader of Chrim's Supernaturals, keeper of all our order and peace. Though he had always ruled with an iron fist, a zero tolerance policy resulting in death by torture if you broke the law, it'd worked. It had kept us afloat, hidden, and steady.

A grimace crossed his slightly aged face, an emotion outside his control. It struck me as odd because Krol never showed any hint to his emotions. He had always appeared as no more than our cold authority. "Sit down, Loreen. We have matters to discuss."

"Of course." I ran over to the wooden chair across his desk and sat up straight. "Why did you call me? Is it... because I sided with the Moreaus? You need to understand..."

"No, that is not why I called you."

"Oh, good. Because..."

"Loreen, I do not need your explanation as to why you joined the Moreaus. I am very well capable of drawing the conclusion of the reason being that it was necessary against your battle against Farren." Krol clasped his hands and frowned. "Now, if you will allow me to speak."

I nodded and shrugged. "Of course. Yes. Sorry."

"Seeing as Farren and Torill have massacred my council, I am in need of new members to join the Ordinance." As he waited for a reply, my mouth dropped open. "Would you accept an apprenticeship to a position?"

I swallowed. Leading Chrim wasn't something that'd ever crossed my mind, or could see myself doing. That nibble of power was more up Farren's alley, all I wanted was the simpler things in life. Watching my favorite shows with a glass of chardonnay without having to worry about wars and funerals. "I... I'm not sure I would be fit to lead Chrim, sir."

"Do you think I am fit to lead Chrim?"

I nodded. "Of course. The moment you were gone this whole town turned to a shithole."

"So, you trust my insight and decisions?"

Again, I nodded. "More than anyone else's."

He drummed his fingers on his cheek. "So, if I decide that you are, in fact, very much fit to join the council, you would trust that?"

"I..." I looked down and shrugged. "I suppose."

"Good, it's settled then," he said with a smile. "The most important part about leading is making important decisions. Therefore, your apprenticeship will begin with that."

I frowned. Here I was dreaming of travelling Europe, and now I suddenly found myself in the Ordinance, back to the hell of Chrim and far away from escaping it all. "What decision will that be?'

A hint of malice and chaos flashed across his face. "The fate of our new prisoners." He leaned back with a smirk. "On one hand, we have Neviana who threatened our town. On the other hand we have Farren, who led an uprising and massacred the Ordinance."

"Right, we need revenge," I said.

"No, Loreen. I am not interested in revenge. Holding grudges will do no more than send your manic mind on a frenzy, blind and stunted. All I want is order. That's all I've ever wanted. Not revenge, not murder for the sake of it. Everything I do is to establish laws and order." He took a long breath. "However, obviously we will look stupid if there are no consequences. Your first big decision is to decide which one of them lives, and which one dies."

My eyes grew big. "Christ, Krol..." I shook my head and laughed. "I mean... can't we just kill them both? They both deserve it."

"If we kill all the evil, we will be the only ones left. The only ones left to blame. What will make that of us, Loreen?"

I looked down with a frown as I thought about his words, then looked up. "The evil ones?"

Krol gave me a nod. "Correct. We are order. It's everything the Ordinance stands for. We can't enforce order when we are deemed evil, therefore we need one of them to fill that position. Choose, Loreen, which one dies and which one lives?"

I threw my head back and rubbed my eyes. "This is impossible." I sat upright and held out both my hands, indicating Farren and Neviana to each. "I mean, Farren wants me dead, whereas Neviana will just humiliate and torture me forever if she gets her wish. Then again, Neviana is the unpredictable one and she might just turn on me at any second and decide she does want me dead. So, at least Farren is predictable... in, you know, wanting me dead."

He tilted his head. "Clock is ticking, Loreen. No one ever said making decisions is easy. But, I like that you're not making rash decisions. Very good. But, if you will please make that decision already, I have better things to do."

"Yeah. Okay. I..." I paused and frowned. "Neviana never really did anything to you personally. Don't you want to kill Farren for what she did to you?"

"Revenge solves nothing, we already went over that," he said in a bored tone. It was obvious he was running out of patience, making me even more anxious than I already was. "Do not ever linger in the past, Loreen, it'll just suck you into insanity. And, insanity is chaos, the very opposite of order. We do not want that, now do we?" He paused, and continued once I'd nodded. "Don't decide based on your grudges and personal anger, decide based on logics."

"Right, logics, alright." I rose to my feet and began to pace the room. "Um... I think we can control Neviana better, she's not a raging lunatic like Farren is and, most importantly, that girl does not want to get her hands dirty whereas Farren likes chopping off heads." I stopped abruptly and stared at the floor. "But, this also means that Neviana is the calculating one, she'll do anything to get a hold of the strings and make us her puppets, which is as toxic as Farren's fury – if not more. They are one and all equally horrible." I shook my head. "Goddamn, Krol, this is impossible."

"No one ever said making decisions is an easy task," he said with a grunt. "Do it, Loreen, choose one."

"Farren... I know what expect, you know?" I shrugged. "Even if it's chopping off heads, I know she's up to no good. But there's Neviana, and cruel and calculating as she may be, she will not attack and without having an army of goons obeying her she's left powerless."

"Is she?" Krol asked amused. "I mean, she's a witch who holds the power of magic and witchcraft. I wouldn't say that's powerless."

I nodded slowly. "You have a point. But Neviana is just a child, there's still a chance we can change her ways."

"Is there?" This time, he seemed even more amused. It was as if were mocking me in the process of giving me the most tormenting choice ever. "I don't know, Loreen, sometimes one is just born evil. It's not always nurture, it's sometimes nature."

I slammed my hand against my forehead. "Goddamnit, you're confusing me."

Slumping back into the chair, I stared silently in front of me while going over everything in my head. Somewhere deep inside I still held love for Farren, we had grown up together and treaded the ways of magic and witchcraft together, not to mention our job as executioners torturing prisoners to death. Despite not being besties, we had been through a lot together.

It was a cruel choice to be given. But in the end, the question boiled down to whomever I feared most, and which one of them was the most lethal one with the highest chance of putting Chrim in danger. Also, as Krol had stated, logics. Whose death would be of higher value? The death that would set a prime example, and benefit Chrim most, as the most logical one.

And I knew just exactly who that was.