Her Heart, His obsession

88. Young Hateful Hearts

Zachary was in his newly allocated chambers in the leadership division. He was getting changed and putting on his black and red army Tuxedo which was the compulsary clothing he had to put on for the victory feast which master had arranged for the army personnel for their glorious display against the western territory.

Zachary was looking at the mirror trying to fix the uniform he hated so much. He couldnt undertand why he was obliged to attend the event in the first place. Failure to attend had consequences for him even though he was now a junior commander. If he was to attend the event late or failed to show up, Sean and Xavier as the senior commanders of his division were going to give him hell. He sighed. Nothing was worth angering those horrific superiors of the leadership disvision even though it would have given him great satisfaction to get on Sean's nerves and embaress him as he called it by not following the rules.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. He reluctantly walked to open the door. Since his chambers were in the accomodation unit of the leadership division, any visitors he was going to receive were going to be commanders. He opened the door and raised his eyebrows and spoke " What? Xanthos. What are you doing here. I thought you were going to be joining Zelina by now in her chambers before the feast. You have your Tuxedo on and all ready to go I see. Couldnt you wait to see me at the victory feast to have a conversation?"

Xanthos ignored his question and walked in as though he owned the place. He walked to one of the sofas and sat down. he then gestured to the sofa facing him and spoke " Sit Zachary. We need to talk. Do you have any whiskey. If its from Tennessee, even better."

Zachary grabbed two bottles from his drinks cupboard and threw one at Xanthos. He then walked to the sofa Xanthos had pointed at, sat down and spoke " So, it would be a long talk. Huh."

Xanthos smirked "Why. Do you hate keeping your old friends company so much. I havent talked to you in a while. If I didnt know you any better, I would have thought, you were avoiding me or is it a girl who has occupied you so much these days? Either way, I am not happy at all about you ignoring Rowlen, Blake and Ludwiq alongside me. You may not like the girls in my gang. I mean I dont blame you. Bethany literally undresses you with those obsessed pairs of eyes of hers every time you walk by. Larrisa and Roxana are also hard to get along with. But still, there is no excuse for you keeping your distance so much. Why didnt you show up when I summoned you after the war was over a couple of hours ago? we went for some drinks?"

Zachary shrugged "What is your point Xanthos? Whats with the questions? Have I ever made a move against your gang? Have I disrespected you or anyone else who is on your side?"

Xanthos said "Its just a warning old friend. We are the top nobles of Arkansas. We need to share our contacts and powers. I dont know why you are suddenly holding back now that ....... Lady Diodora has shown interest in you. Dont you see? Amongst all of us, you are the closest to master's family right now. You could do anything you wanted. I want you to keep your close relations with all of us so you know when we may need favours, at least one palace member would be on our side. Tonight at the feast, I would like you to intoduce us to Lady Diodora. Like I said, its all about favours. If you share your contacts and new authorities, you will find that others will do the same and return the favour."

Zachary couldnt help but laugh bitterly "Is this what this is about? You are annoyed that when lady Diodora took me to her table, I did not get her to invite you over? Are you worried I am ditching your gang by not replying to your summon call just this once? is that it? Well sorry to break it to you but you are mistaken."

Xanthos nodded "I hope for your sake that is true. I am a man who always keeps his word. I take revenge mercilessly but reward loyalty of those around me as well. You see, that traitor Sabrina who you are now in charge of in absence of Octavian is going to be interrogated by my brother tonight after the victory feast. I know you are responsible for her getting through the gruelling regime of her conversion program but my brother and of course your brother call the shots in our division. I know you dont want anyone else involved with her since Sabrina is Zelina's best friend. If it was me, I would torment her day and night regardless of what Zelina thinks. But obviously you care. So I am willing to do a deal. i would help you convince Xavier to leave Sabrina completely under your supervision and let you do her interrogation but you must introduce me and my gang to Diodora. What do you say."