Kin of the Damned

Chapter 10: Soldier's Wing

"Good morning, Princess." A voice called out. I groaned as the light shone through my eyelids and I burrowed further into my bedsheets.

I kept trying to block out her voice before remembering that no one should be in here. I shot up and jumped out of bed before grabbing the table lamp on my nightstand, ready to hit the perpetrator over the head.

"Princess, please be careful. I hear humans are very weak and could die just from overworking." Now I was even more upset. I looked more closely at the woman. She was young, early twenties, maybe, but those red eyes told me she was likely older than she seemed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm your maid.  Amara and your friends said it would be too much to have me start work on the first day you arrived."

She didn't seem like she would hurt me, but I decided to be cautious about this. "Bring them here then. As proof." She nodded and left the room.

Ten minutes later, she brought back Amara and Blake.

"Don't worry, Valerie, you can trust Willow." Amara said. Then, I finally lowered the table lamp and set it on the night stand.

"What did you think you could do with that? Such a small, flimsy lamp would never stop a vampire from hurting you." Blake laughed. I gave him a displeased face.

"Anyway, I'll be late to class. I have to stop somewhere"

"Okay, but that means we have to push you even harder today, 'you okay with that?" Amara asked.

"Yea. Also, do you know who's in charge of the soldiers?"

"That would be General Finley Hart, not a guy you want to mess with. His name may sound weak but he is anything but weak." Blake warned. Everyone left for me to get dressed and once I was done, I headed down to the soldier's wing.

I followed the doors with black nameplates lined with gold until I found one that read: 'Finley Hart's Office' in white lettering. I knocked 3 times and waited before a deep voice barked out, "Come in!"

I opened the door to see a scary-looking man with a long scar crossing over one of his eyes. He really was terrifying.  His parents named him horribly.  

"Why have you come down to the soldier's wing, Princess? I would assume that you would be swinging around that little wand of yours again." He didn't look up. I would comment on his behaviour but I was already asking a big favour and I didn't want to ruin my chances.

"Hello, Finley." I saw a vein pop out from his forehead, I must be one of the few people to not refer to him by his title. I was worried but it was nice to get back at him a little.

"You are in charge of the werewolf, right?" He looked up at me this time.

"That I am."

"I would like him to become one of my guards."

"I apologize, Princess, but the werewolf is vital to the protection of the coven." I was scared to keep pushing but I made a promise.

"I am the leader of this coven." I tried to steady my voice. "Without me, there would be no coven, so to protect it, you must give him over." I demanded this time. I looked at his face to see he was fuming. He looked ready to attack me, but even he can't do that. As the Princess, I rank higher.

"Is this about looks? Is the mutt handsome to you, princess? If that is the reason you are acting this way, I can show you some other vampires that you would find much more intriguing."

"Thank you for the offer, Finley, but this is a matter of safety, not looks." He is very handsome, though, I thought. "He would still be able to go on missions, he would just be around me more than with the other vampires. Would you not enjoy a reprieve from the mutt?" I enunciated.

"Very well, if you insist on having him. He must go on his regular missions, though."

"Understood, if you would please take me to him." Talking in such a fancy way was getting tiring, I can't wait to leave.

We walked to a set of doors that read: 'GYM'. Finley opened the door and I was filled with vampires training. They were either fighting or using the equipment. We stepped in, and all eyes turned to us. I started surveying the room for Alexios and found him in the back of the room, he was on a fighting mat and must have been training with another person. He looked at me with the same hard expression as usual, but slightly angrier.

"Lycan, come here! The rest of you, get back to work." Finley boomed, instantly the men had turned back to their work. He is really feared here, I thought.

"Yes, sir?" Alexios asked.  

"You will be the princess's guard from now on."

"Understood, sir."

"Thank you, Finley, we will take our leave." I smiled to the point my cheeks hurt. Aster closing the door to the gym, I rubbed my cheeks to sooth them.

"What a good subordinate you are." I jabbed.

"I don't make a habit of trying to get myself killed. I had no choice but to be respectful."

"Understandable, I thought my head would be gone after how I mouthed off to him. You should have seen his face when I called him Finley, he was bright pink in anger." Suddenly, a burst of laughter came from beside me. It was a loud, booming, and joyous sound. My eyebrows rose to my hairline in surprise before his laughter spread to me. I didn't think it was even possible for him to laugh.

I heard a door open, "Princess, please keep your voice down." An old man chastised.

"Yes, sir." I could barely get out through my laughs. It had been a long time since I laughed so freely. Sadly, it seemed like the reprimand got Alexios back to his serious self.

"He didn't see you, you know," I reassured him.

"It doesn't matter and don't think we're friends now. I'm fine being your ally but I will not be a friend to you." His face hardened.

Why does he have to act like this? I thought. "I never thought we would be." I lied, I was hoping that we might get along but it seems that we never will.

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Hello everyone,

Sorry about the late upload, exams have been keeping me busy.  Do you think Alexios has a deeper reason for why he acts like that towards Valerie?  Did you like this chapter?  If so, please comment, vote and add this story to your lists.

Thanks for reading,

Kaylee :)