Damsel

The Mind of a Clover

Soleil de Blaise

Leland Hester.

Leland Hester.

He was handsome enough. Gold hair, intense blue eyes, an ideal figure for a Family Member, not too slender or muscled, resting somewhere in the middle, and the perfect, angled features of his face belonged in tall tales of daring princes rescuing beautiful princesses. He had power too, something she had always found appealing in a mate –necessary even. Before this moment –before sitting here right now, watching him pretend to be so indifferent, she had thought that maybe, just maybe her father was right in seeking the Shadow Shifter as her companion. Everyone knew it; not even Clover, an advocate against pop culture could ignore the tabloids surrounding this damsel of Shadows, but sitting a pace away, Clover understood why the rumors existed. The chemistry radiated off him in waves and even though no one else noticed it, not many members had the gift of sight, Clover couldn't miss the distinct smell of an imprint. Besides, she wanted love, and as corny as it was, this Leland Hester didn't fit the bill. Besides, what kind of prince watches the princess in the villains clutches and does nothing...

...no prince she wanted, anyways.

A long 'zing' as Clover pulled her dagger over a stone. She didn't know what it was about that sound but Clover had always been partial to metal grinding against equal strength. That was the reason she continued sharpening her blades. Not because they needed sharpening, the two pristine daggers, which the Grey Lady infused with a charm, forged of her own energy, won by Clover after defeating one of the Lady's most fearsome 'pets', the steel never dulled, chipped or bent and as far as she knew the only thing capable of damaging her daggers where one another.

The Shadow Shifter knew all this, though with his offhand coolness, Clover nearly missed it. How did he manage it, she wondered. How did he deal with the disobeying of the Masters?

Three years ago, Clover let Riptide talk her into stealing a cherished goblet from Septimo um D'acque; and the high lord of water hadn't been thrilled. Lucky for her, Septimo had seen the crime as a child's mistake and instead of disemboweling and mounting their bodies on stakes –a form of death the master had always been partial to – he had called a congregated with the Council of Nine, who decided on a harsh but fitting punishment. Then they sent the hounds. A large sum of money went to any Hero or Villain capable of the pair's safe capture. It only took her father three days to find and force the two to beg and earn Septimo's forgiveness –and those three days had been the worst of Clover's life. For seventy –two hours, every shadow in the dark, or whisper in night was the fabled Septimo, the Serpent, come to drown the life from her. They fought at least a dozen Heroes and Villains in those terrifying days, although some good had come when they meet the twins –doubling their numbers before the Council got ahold of them in Merrion Square. Still, Clover had paid in scars, forty down her chest and back. The worst scar of all and reason Clover resented Riptide more and more with every passing day, was her punishment for his stupid, silly idea to steal from a master. Doing odd mission and quests for the Council of Nine was the councils very own form of servitude for past transgressions and Clover hated it with all her might.

So in a way, Clover felt for the Shadow Shifter and the predicament in which he now found himself. The Council of Nine could be the cruelest of enemies, especially when breaking a Sacred Rule. Problem was, only two people had ever broken a Sacred Rule.

One of them was the Shadow Shifter.

Leland Hester, she corrected. That was the name his Family Member's called him, the others like him. That name was never to leave that circle. It was never to be found by them –by the people who do not live with the magic, who cannot see it as the nine families do. For learning even one name, just one surname belonging to a Villain of Hero, meant undoing us all. That was something Clover was certain the Council of Nine would fight vigorously to protect, yet here she stood, doing there bidding, defending the very human that had nearly ousted them all. Something strange was brewing and Clover didn't like it one bit.