The Kings Daughter

Fourteen

Aghony

Walking into the mansion after a night out looking for lesser, I expect to be able to go take a shower and to relax. But that isn't what I am getting. Not only are Quinn and Vishous mad at me but so is everyone else. I know to expect a visit to Wraths office. I know to expect some kind of punishment. But what I got information wise on the training center for the Lessers, should more than make up for it. I now have confirmation that the center I staked out tonight is the one we are looking for. I have voice recordings of what was said inside that building tonight. I have the proof we need.

But I am pulled from my thoughts when I walk through the door and immediately feel a slap on my face. What the hell? I look down and see that it is my mother. Why would she slap me? What could she be mad at me about?

"What did you do?" She demands.

The Brothers stop and watch from behind her.

"How stupid are you? Do you have a death wish?" She screams at me. "I thought you knew better than this. What is wrong with you?"

"What are you talking about?" I ask. I honestly don't know what she is mad about.

"Leaving Vishous and Quinn to look for you. To go against orders and go off half cocked and alone. To put yourself in harms way." She says.

"I needed to get proof that this was the place we are looking for. I now have that proof." I tell her. "I did what I knew had to be done."

She slaps me again. This time I expect it. But it still stings. I don't know how she found out about it but I can guess. Vishous likes to tell my parents when I get out of line in the field. He did that a lot when I first started the training program. He told my father every little thing I did wrong or when I pulled pranks on the instructors. That was when my father started attending classes to keep me in line. I don't want to have to fight beside my father. I don't want to have to have his back if something goes wrong. I don't want to have to worry about his safety. I don't want to have to worry about my mother losing one of us in the fight if we are in it together. Just the thought makes my skin crawl.

"I don't care what you were doing or what you got out of it. You were told no. You were in the field with two others and the three of you were to work together. I cant believe that you would just go against their orders like that." She says. "If Wrath doesn't pull you from rotation, I sure as hell will."

Those words make my heart stop. I cant stop fighting. I don't want to stop fighting. I cant. It is all I have ever wanted to do. I have always wanted to fight with the Brothers. I have always wanted to be a Brother. I have always wanted to be a strong fighter. I cant be taken off of rotation. I cant be pulled from the fight. I want to be a part of the training centers take down.

"Aghony, Wrath wants you in his office now. Vishous and Quinn as well." Beth says from the top of the staircase.

Its now or never. I walk slowly up the stairs and feel my heart racing the closer I get to the top. I take a few deep breaths and out of the corner of my eye, I see Beth standing there with Lyric. Lyric looks confused and something else. I cant quite place my finger on. If I had more time, I would try and figure it out. But its best not to keep the King waiting. I leave Lyric and walk to the office. I knock and enter with Vishous and Quinn behind me. Once inside I see Wrath and George behind his desk.

"Want to tell me what the hell happened out there?" He demands.

"I suggested that we check out the near by building that could have been the Lesser recruitment center. We weren't finding Lessers and there was no use just walking around hoping for a fight when we could gather intel on them." I say.

"To which both Quinn and I said lets not. I was working on gathering information. Granted it was taking a while, but I was getting information. I was working on it. He went against what I said and went to the center anyways without telling us. We looked for him for two hours before he poofed it back to our sides." Vishous tells him.

I am lucky Wrath is wearing his glasses. I am sure that he is glaring at me. I don't want that full impact. I don't want to see his eyes when he is irritated.

"It wasn't two hours and besides, I got the proof we needed." I tell them.

"What proof?" Wrath asks.

I pull out my phone and pull up the voice recording of the conversation I got from the building.

"This is our recruitment or training center. Here you will learn how to use your new strength and who and what we are looking for."

"Just what is it we are doing?"

"Protecting the human race. You see our enemies are vampires. The ones we need to take out first are called the Brotherhood. They hunt us to kill us so they can have free reign over killing the humans of Caldwell."

"Oh, I wont let that happen. I am a cop. I will not let this happen."

"Good, I am glad. I want you to learn how this all works. I want to eventually have you working as our strategic planner for our attacks."

"Of course."

The room is silent when the conversation ends. No one says anything. I can feel my heart beating and am getting nervous. What is going to be said? Will I get praise for getting the proof? Will I be punished for this? I don't know what to expect here. I have always been a good fighter. I always listen to Quinn when he tells me something. But tonight, I went against that. I went against an actual Brother to do what I wanted to do.

"This is the proof we needed." Wrath says. "I thank you for getting it. But now we need to discuss your punishment for going against Vishous and Quinn."

"I will take whatever you dish out, as long as I can still fight along side the Brotherhood." I tell him.

"I think you should offer a Rythe." Wrath tells me.

My heart drops. I have never offered a Rythe. I have never watned to. I don't know what will happen. I do know that Rythes are bad. They are meant to hurt you. They are a means of getting retaliation for a wrong doing to someone else. In my case, two other people.

"I so offer it." I tell them.

"Choose your weapon." Wrath says.

"Our daggers." Both Quinn and Vishous say.

This is going to hurt.

"Get fed and ready. We will do this tomorrow night." Wrath tells me.

What have I gotten myself into"