My Covert Bodyguard

56: Wreaking Scarlett

"You nervous princess?"

I rolled my eyes as I turned to Niko. He tugged down his black, red-rimmed military blazer, and pinned a graduate star over his left chest. I rolled in my lips as I pulled out a red ribbon and clipped it next to his star. I traced a finger along the loop, such a small symbol that would cause so much anxiety and fear, but also hope.

"I'm only nervous that you'll have clammy hands when you shake General Vaughn's hand."

Niko laughed as he rubbed his palms on his pants. "Now I'm really shaken." He subtly grabbed his gun and put it in his holster, pulling his blazer over it so even I couldn't tell it was there. 

"Where's yours?" Niko asked, noticing my look of approval. 

I gave him a sly smile as I pulled up the skirt of my bright red dress to show a black garter and a gun clipped safely onto it.

Niko let out a low whistle, "impressive."

I hit him on the shoulder with a small laugh. "You know what's more impressive?" I tapped on my knee-high boots, "bullet-proof," a click of my heels, "releases razors at my heels," an impression of the golden buttons, "and ammo."

"Where'd you get those?"

I smiled. "Julianna made them for me."

"Why am I not surprised?"

I smiled and pulled my own blazer on. "Go on and graduate, Niko."

"Go on and start a revolution, Cass."

As we stepped out of the changing rooms behind the stage, Julianna and Trevor were walking towards us. Trevor joined Niko and the graduates, as Julianna and I headed to the rest of the trainees. "Ready for this?" I asked, and she winked her perfectly winged eye at me.

"So ready."

* * * * * *

The Commencement started with the welcoming of General Vaughn and Roselle onto the stage. An uproarious applaud followed, as well as the clearing of Vaughn's throat as he started his speech.

"It is with great pleasure that I welcome these graduates onto the stage today to receive the recognition they so dearly deserve. For some, it has been 4 years of back-breaking training, for others, 18 years of growing among family. As all trainees and officers alike understand, training is where we, the Shadow Legion, deconstruct your every instinct, only to nurture it to serve the Legion. I have no doubt, with my careful supervision, that these graduates will serve the Legion for life, to continue our legacy."

After another round of applause from everyone in the Shadow Legion, Roselle walked to the podium. She wore red heels and a black cocktail dress, but even from this distance I could tell she was wearing a bullet-proof vest under it.

"The mission of the Shadow Legion is and always has been to correct the wrong in our society, no matter how drastic our measures must be. Our founder, Sloane Scarlett, worked with major abolitionist movements to free slaves when she was only 16. Her tactics were often violent, and she gave up her family to continue the cause she believed in. And now, we are built on the legacy of Sloane, who gave up most everything to free thousands of people she didn't even know."

As Roselle paused for the applause and exclamations to die down, her eyes roamed and finally fell on mine. "Though it is difficult to understand at times, our mission is derived from the purest form of altruism. We have enemies from Sloane's time, as well as those more modern. We have more complex issues in the world now, which is a lot less black-and-white than the concept of slavery was for Sloane's generation. But we must continue to be fierce and persistent in our ways, in order to keep making strides at the pace we do now." She maintained her gaze on me for another intense second, and released it to beam at the crowd.