Facing Fear
POV: Alexandra
Dorothea, Zeb and Vanessa came to me with a ring to wear for my personal force field. I was informed that the family reunion had happened. They importantly told me that Blake had set a trap to find out the identity of one of the prominent families that was behind The Order. Apparently, the two factions in The Order personally were gunning for me for another reason beyond the fact that I was raised in the Human realm. They wanted both thrones from the Royal Family, these two families had lofty goals to bring their families power and with it discrimination. It was something I would fight to my death for and in essence with my surviving this assassin, it would help to keep at least one of those families out of power. We couldn’t be sure who these families were but we knew they were in contention for the Queen’s throne so that put at least nine other women on the suspect list. I could safely eliminate Jess’ family since they were a lycan family. This would leave the Maignys, Baltilliards, Delnaro, Antons, Uradines, Kastilidans, Ligidews and Renitas. I only knew the Ladies Baltilliard and Delnaro but neither struck me as coming from either families, even so I didn’t want to eliminate them because I really didn’t know them well. As for the Maignys, I wouldn’t put it past Melody to take me out to get the throne but I didn’t know about her family. I had only ever met her father and he wasn’t really a very pleasant fellow, very snobby but was he willing to kill me to gain power. My disadvantage was essentially being an outsider in Vellum.
I turned to Jess who was next to me on the walk over to Vanessa’s cottage, “I figure there are about eight families who suspects as the people who are after me. Is there anyone you can think of that we can eliminate?” Derek spoke up behind us, “You can eliminate the Antons and Uradines, those are prominent lycan families. I know there are two women who have crushes on Blake too. That would be Lady Renita and Lady Delnaro so I think you should consider them strong suspects.” I didn’t like thinking that Lady Delnaro could have been after my life, she was a sweet young lady but I couldn’t argue with what Derek was saying. I nodded at him, “So those two would be strong contenders to be one family after me.” Derek spoke, “I’m buddies with Meldon but I really wouldn’t put it past the Maignys to have you on a hit list. Meldon isn’t interested in power, he’s interested in women especially Lady Baltilliard. As for the other woman with eyes on the throne seriously, I would say it is Lady Kastilidan. She’s friends with Melody but she has always huge crush on Lucien.” I sighed, “Okay so that is four which is better than eight. I guess I will have to keep my guard up around those ladies then.” I would like to make a point to meet each lady at the presentation ceremony in a few days.
We finally reached the front of Vanessa’s cottage. Derek grabbed my arm, “I probably should have asked this but did you make sure to take the potion before we came.” I nodded at him then pulled out the other vial, “I have the antidote right here as well.” He puffed some air out, “So you have no fear now?” I nodded at him and he pulled out a knife and shoved it towards my face, I didn’t flinch and what’s more Sebastian was still dormant inside my shadow. He nodded and put his knife in the sheath behind his back, “Sorry, I just wanted to test if it truly worked.” I shrugged, “Why wouldn’t it? It came from a god.” I knocked on Vanessa’s door and Dorothea answered, “Ready?” I nodded at her and she came out of the cottage followed by her sister and niece. Vanessa pulled me into a hug, “I worry for you kid. Please be careful today.” I hugged her back, “I will. I have everyone here, the soldiers and the spies as well.” Dorothea opened a portal behind us, “We best get going so that we can set up before the assassin arrives."
We all emerged from the portal in front of Dorothea’s cottage where the soldiers and spies were waiting for us. Dorothea directed the best spots to hide within the forest so that the assassin wouldn’t notice them. Dorothea and I put on our rings to protect us from projectile weapons. She pulled a bucket of water and a stone basin from her cottage. She poured the water into the basin which had runes all around the rim. She looked at me, “Might as well have you take a proficiency test while we wait. That’s why we’re fake here.” I nodded at her, “Okay, I was curious anyhow. Let’s do this.” She grabbed my hand and squeezed, “Okay then, you’ll hover your hands over the basin and say ‘aqua pluvia’” I raised my hands to the basin and said, “Aqua pluvia.” A single drop of water rose from the basin and stretched into a glow in front of Dorothea’s face. She shook her head, “You are not much proficient in water magic, just 45%. I suspected as much since you are so proficient in fire magic. These are opposite elements so whoever is proficient at fire won’t be proficient at water.” It made sense but I was kinda looking forward to learning potions from her, “So I can’t make potions, right?” She shook her head, “No, you can. They just won’t be very effective, just like I can make a protection spell but it wouldn’t keep long.” It wasn’t much but it was something, at least I could play around with creating potions even if they weren’t very effective.
I smiled at her, “Thank you for clarifying for me. I can’t wait to learn from you.” I heard a chuckle coming from the shadows, “I’m afraid that you won’t have the chance to learn, my lady.” A tall man stepped out of the shadows; he had the same body type as Derek. You could only see his eyes and they were very blue. He looked over at Dorothea, “Dorothea, unfortunately for you. Your days of meddling in the affairs of The Order are over.” She smiled at him, “Oh? I really don’t think so.” He pulled a knife and threw it at her but it bounced out of the air and she laughed, “It’s awfully convenient to have a sister who is an earth magic user and a niece who is a genius at magical tools.” He narrowed his eyes at her, “No matter, I can kill you several ways.” He started to move towards her but I shielded her behind me, “I can’t let you do that.” He shook his head, “No offense, my lady, but you are not strong enough to fight me off.” I started to take the vial out of my pocket but I dropped it on the ground. As I reached down to grab it, he tossed me aside, “I will deal with you after I take care of my first task.” Luckily, he didn’t step on the vial as he went forward. Dorothea started to back away from him towards the shadows where Derek was hiding, “You don’t want to kill me hunky. We’ve been great friends in the past.” He sighed, “Sorry, Dorothea, I owe so much to my master for rescuing me. I cannot go back on my orders, they are absolute.” I crawled quietly towards the vial but apparently it wasn’t quiet enough because I felt cold metal against my neck, “You really shouldn’t try to rescue her. Her death is inevitable and your capture would be better if I didn’t have maim you. Make no mistake, I will harm you if you get in the way.”
Suddenly a dagger came flying out of the shadows and knocked the sword out of the assassin’s hand. He smirked, “That’s cute, your lover’s spies are out there trailing you. They still aren’t enough to stop me, my lady. I will complete my tasks.” He turned to go pick up his sword and I took opportunity to grab the vial and downed it’s contents. I didn’t feel any fear at that point and I had wondered how long the effects would wear off from my initial potion. I wondered if it was because he wasn’t threatening me directly. I would have to test this theory and quickly. Luckily Dorothea disappeared into the shadows as he was picking up his sword. From what I could see from his face, he was angry that I had distracted him from his task. He pulled the sword to my throat and I felt the fear rise up within me. Suddenly the wisp came out of my shadow and quickly formed into a very large dog. He was larger than the assassin who had rounded to try to wound Bash but the dog would not allow it. He quickly knocked the sword out of the man’s hands then had him pinned. He was getting ready to rip at his throat when I shouted, “Sisto!” Sebastian pulled up from his throat and stared down at the man but still growled at him.
All the parties that were waiting in the shadows emerged from the forest. The soldiers came forward with the magical shackles and they placed them on him. Dorothea opened the magical portal and we all walked through to the basement of Blackwood Manor. The man named Zero spoke, “This isn’t the Citadel." I shook my head, "No, I requested that you stay here in a cell we had made for you. I wanted to talk to you about your master.” He shook his head, “You will never get that information out of me.” I sighed, “I understand that you are loyal and that your master rescued you so you feel you owe him but how many people are you supposed to kill to repay the perceived kindness they showed you. Do you not understand that you are being manipulated?” He narrowed his eyes at me, “They didn’t make me do this, I volunteered.” I patted him on the arm, “If you say so. Here’s your cell.” The soldiers ushered him into the room and I followed. I pulled the mask off his face. I stared into the handsome face of the man who had been trying to capture me only a few minutes before. Suddenly on the other side of the door, I could hear a gasp and the sound of someone fainting.
