Change of Plans--A Heart no Kuni no Alice FanFiction

Chapter 07: Questions, Retaliation, Bonding

“I would like you to answer all of the questions I ask,” Blood said, his voice authoritative and commanding.  “And I’d prefer that you give me more than monosyllabic answers.”  I nodded to show I understood, keeping myself professional and businesslike.  “Excellent.  Now, question one--what is your full name?”

I blinked.  “Why do you want my full name?  Planning to jinx me or some--”  Blood raised an eyebrow, an unamused look on his face.  I rolled my eyes, irritated.  “Just trying to lighten the mood, geez...”  I sighed in annoyance.  “My name is Veronica Branwen O’Dell.”  Despite my best efforts, a note of pride crept into my voice.  I was proud of my name--Branwen was my grandmother’s name and Veronica means  “to bear victoriously.”

Blood’s smile was small.  “Strong names for a small girl like you.”  It took all my concentration not to glare at him for insulting me.  I was tall for my age, and a lot stronger than I looked.  “How old are you?”

Speaking of my age...I hope this guy isn’t a mind reader.  “Nineteen this past September,” I responded.  I remembered with a pang that the week after my birthday was when Don had disappeared.  Not wanting to show my discomfort I clenched my fist under the table, my nails digging into the palms of my hands.  “I’m two years older than Alice.”

“How long have you known each other?”

“Seven years.”

“And how long have you actually considered her your friend?”

I gave him an odd look, my fists slowly opening and relaxing.  “If you’re implying that I’m too prickly to make friends easily,” I said dryly, “I’m not always like this.”  A smirk grew on my face.  “Only around people I don’t trust at all--not to call anyone out, but...”  I let my sentence dangle, pointedly raising my eyebrows at him.  Alice sighed heavily, but I got a small chuckle out of Elliot that startled me a little bit.

Unamused, Blood pressed on.  “Almost twenty...surely you must be engaged by now.”  The smirk I had on earlier grew bigger and I snorted derisively.  “Ah, apparently not.  I suppose any sensible man would be a bit frightened of a gun-toting female.  You would probably kill them on your wedding night if you got the chance to.”

Geez...getting invasive, aren’t we?  “Why the interest in my love life?  You aren’t planning to marry me off while I’m here are you?”  I smiled sweetly.  “Because it wouldn’t just be my fiancee I murdered if that were the case--and I wouldn’t wait for the wedding night to do it.”  There was a chilly silence around the table.  Alice had buried her face in her hands and Elliot looked a tiny bit uncomfortable.  He scooted his chair a little further away from me, thinking I wouldn’t notice.

“You don’t trust men very much, do you?” Blood mused, more to himself than to me.  “That or you just have issues trusting anyone aside from your friends or family.  Speaking of family,” he said, leaning forward as an idea struck him, “what’s your family like?  Do you have any other siblings back in your world?”

The question was innocent enough, but what it was asking hit me like a gunshot to the chest.  My fists clenched up again and I felt my spine going rigid despite myself.  “My family is small.  I have an older brother--Donovan Hiraeth O’Dell.”  Alice noticed my change in mood and glanced at me worriedly.  “He turned 21 four months ago.”  My tone was short and cold.  I was trying to make it clear that this was not an open-discussion topic.

But Blood, being Blood, either didn’t notice or he noticed and purposefully ignored it.  I’m going with the second one.  “You don’t seem eager to talk about your family, or your brother,” he murmured silkily.  “I take it you two didn’t exactly get along.”