Black Thorn

Chapter 1: Tony

Intro's people think intro's and of course the start.......

Liev glared at Tony. It had been 3 months for goodness sake and first visit.

"So you managed to visit, huh ?" Tony looked down embarrassed.

"There were problems", he muttered. I decided not to ask about the problems and just be happy he had actually managed to come. I had been sure he wouldn't be able to, so this was actually good. "Come on, the others would want to meet you too"

"Yeah", he said hesitantly.

We walked down the cemented path, through the halls, to the third floor in the huge elevator [ it was big enough to pass for a room] and into the fifth floor common hall where we hung out when free, which was every evening and night.

Anise was the first one to notice him and she hugged him as she practically squealed"You came"

"Of course", he said looking startled.

"Well, Liev made us believe you won't be coming for at least a year, so this is a surprise" Lance informed him.He raised an eyebrow at me as everybody took turns hugging him.

I shrugged," It takes time to settle in" and walked up to hug him.

Once everybody was done with the greetings and all, Anise and Tony launched into a long catch up talk about us.I had no intention of listening to it so quietly slid into the corridor and back into my room. I did not want to talk to him but I knew that I would have to.I sighed as I sat on my chair, I was not looking forward to this.

Tony had left us three months ago, because he had found his soulmate. It wasn't because he wanted to leave, it was a rule, once you find your soulmate , you cannot be a part of the royal guard anymore. Honestly, I didn't know whether it was his good luck or bad luck. I am not really qualified to speak on the topic. Only he could say that. Although whichever luck it might have been, it was incredibly strong.

 Usually the only chance that the people of the royal guard would find out about their soulmates was when the had to escort the prince to The House Of Roses so that they could find out about his soulmate, and the royal guard only had people who had no other visible way of finding their soulmates.

And a visit there cannot go wasted, if you are lucky, they don't tell you everything about your soulmate so at least your chances of recognizing them are slim. The visit first happens around the time the prince turns 16 and there were still six months to that part.

However, Tony had this friend who had to visit the house and he decided to go with the friend [ I'm not gonna think about his name, cause I don't like him and it would spoil my day] because he  thought it was going to happen eventually so what was the point of waiting for it. So of course he went, managed to find his his soulmate and get kicked out of the guard. 

I practically jumped out of my chair as the door opened and had to calm myself down as Tony entered and sat down on my bed. It was awkward.

 "Hey", he said, trying to break the silence.

"Hi, how are you?", I said trying not to sigh.

 Tony, of course came straight to the point"How did you know that I was coming?".

I smirked,"Unlike someone, Karin had the decency to warn me that, that someone will be coming over.". At least he had the decency to blush, his soulmate of all people had informed me.

"Liev", I frowned at the change in his tone "How is it going for you?".

I sighed, I knew what he was coming at. His leaving had affected me the most. Since he was the eldest and fairly good at what he did, he was the captain, to put it formally and Anise who was smaller than him by a year was the vice-captain. Now that he was gone, Anise was the captain and the position of vice-captain came to me. 

Now, I was fairly good at fighting and weapon usage but not particularly amazing, as far as they knew. My specialty was finding problems. Irreplaceable in a group but not something you mainly look for in a vice-captain. Plus the workload was awfully high and I loved procrastinating, something which I could no longer afford to do. It wasn't that I hadn't tried to do it, it just didn't work.

I would think I would get a break from work at least here but no, it was like some sort of dog that always followed me. And that was without considering the paperwork that came to me as the Goddess of Death and Darkness.

"Fairly good, for someone being worked to death" I said wryly.

 He chuckled , "I figured as much. What do you think of the position, think you can keep doing it for the next decade?"

 I gave him a horrified look at the thought, I hadn't thought about it that way. I was barely making it through each day, a decade was unthinkable .I decided there and then , I could and would run away if it came to that.

"Good lord, no, please, I don't think I would be able to survive that."

 He grinned at me,"Now, now, it isn't that bad"

"It is", I insisted. How dare he underestimate the effort I had put into adjusting my routine and habits.

Then he turned somber,"Liev, that argument we had about you not wanting to become a vice captain?"I winced internally, remembering my tantrum. But it was worth a shot  even if it didn't work.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I wasn't thinking". 

He rolled his eyes,"Glad to see you understand. I did think about it, you know. Sorry to disappoint but I still think you should be the vice-cap."

I groaned, I had been hoping that maybe, just maybe, he might change his  opinion. But of course I couldn't be that lucky.

"Right. Of to more important things now. Is the preparation to the upcoming visit going smoothly?"

"Yes", I promptly replied.

"Are you still going to plant a safety bag?", he asked.

"Yes"

"Why? Its almost as good as a robbery?" He looked puzzled even though I had told him the reason 8 years ago.

"You know it isn't, it's a necessity. Plus the day I don't do it will be the day we need it." And frankly, we'd rather not have that to deal with.

"If you say so, Liev.", he said, looking doubtful.

"I do", I glared.

"Fine then. I should get going. I still have to meet the others", he smiled as he stood up.

"Sure, and come to visit to visit us soon. Before three months if you can and after informing us." I smirked.

"Of course. I wouldn't want you to start guessing again. What with your expect the worst attitude.", he chuckled.

"Bye"

"Bye"