Waltzing With Fate

Betray Me

I knock on the door to my uncle's office and a few moments later he opens it.
"Uncle, we need to talk," I say with a serious tone to my voice.
"Alright, let's head to my office." We follow him back down the hallway that we came down earlier and we go into his office.
"It's about Aldric." My uncle's face hardens as I say Aldric's name.
"What about him?"
"He admitted to us that he is here on a mission from Hanna and her crew of misfits. He told us that he is here to infiltrate your ranks and gather information."
"Matteo, is all of this true?"
"Yes, sir, Leigh is telling you the truth. I was in the conference room with them both as this conversation was happening."
"How did he get to them?"
"Uncle, he went with me when I left the second time thinking that I was making the right decision, when I wasn't."
"Okay, and dear don't feel bad about what you did. People make mistakes and you fixed yours by being back here with those that you truly belong with."
"Yes, uncle," I murmur and he pulls me into an embrace.
"I will need some help with Aldric. If you are interested in learning more about what you will be taking over in your future you can join me. I extend the offer to you also, Matteo. My niece will need someone to help her run this place when I step down and I believe that you are just the person to help her."
"I will join you, sir." Matteo says while he waits for me to answer.
"I will be down there in ten minutes, uncle."
"I hope you both change out of your training clothes into something that is more suited for the occasion. Did you guys decide on if you are going to take my offer?"
"Yes, we did," I answer as Matteo looks at me for what to say. "We decided that we will work together as a team for you." My uncle smiles at my response.
"Good. Don't worry about your class any more. I will notify them at dinner that the plans have changed. You both will be training in my upstairs training room. Leigh, do you remember where that is?"
"I remember where it is."
"Good, I will see you both there after dinner. Also I heard that Matteo is in need of a new wardrobe before dinner, and Leigh, I believe that you could use clothing that suits you better than the things in your closet, so I called in my tailor and stylist. You both will be meeting with her after we handle the situation that Aldric has put us all in."
"Thank you uncle."
"You're welcome, I hope that you will find something suitable for dinner as well as for the gala that is happening on Saturday. I have people that I would like you both to meet, and I would like you both to stand out among the crowd."
"Yes sir," Matteo answers as we both walk to the door. We leave my uncle's office and we head straight to our rooms to get ready for what is to come.
"Matteo, I need you to know that it is going to get very brutal. My uncle is ruthless and this may be something that you can't handle."
"Leigh I have seen more than anyone will ever know that I have seen, so I think I will be fine."
"Okay, I am just preparing you for what is ahead of us."
"I know, I just want you to know that I will be fine."
"Okay," I tell him when we finally get back to our rooms. I open the door and head to my closet. I grab a pair of black ripped jeans, a tighter black shirt, and a pair of combat boots. I quickly put them on and I walk out of my closet. I knock on the door between our rooms and Matteo opens it. He is wearing roughly the same thing as I am.
"Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah I just have to grab my knives."
"That's what I was forgetting." I run over to my nightstand and I grab my knives out of the drawer. I put one of my knives in my boots and I take the holster that goes on my thigh and I place my other knife inside of it. I jog back to the door between our rooms and walk into Matteo's room. Matteo is grabbing his knives from the same spot that I had grabbed mine from. He put one in his boot and he put the other on the inside of his leather jacket.
"Let's go." I say as I walk out of the door to his room. I take him down to the elevator and I press my thumb to the scanner. The scanner turns green and the number of floors on the screen in the elevator increases. I press the button that says dungeons and the elevator sinks slowly to the level that the dungeon is on. We finally get to the dark and musty level of the compound where the dungeons are and we step out into the corridor. I lead Matteo through the block of cells. People yell at me as I walk through. They yearn for water, and they scold me for putting them there. I get to the door at the end of the hall and I use my thumbprint to open it. I see Aldric handcuffed to a metal chair. I look over at my uncle and he is standing there waiting for us to get completely into the cell.
"Hello, Aldric," my uncle says in an even tone.
"Hello, sir, may I ask why I am handcuffed to a metal chair in the same place that you tortured me the first time?"
"Aldric, I thought that I could trust you."
"You can sir."
"I can't Aldric, because I gave you one mission and you flipped sides on me. I told you to find my niece and bring her back to me, and instead you joined Hanna and her band of misfits. That doesn't sound like a soldier that I can trust does it?"
"Sir, I didn't betray you. I was trying to earn the trust of Hanna and her friends in order to betray them."
"I didn't ask you to do that, Aldric. I never would have asked you to do that."
"I was just trying to be helpful sir."
"Your help was not needed, and that is why you are here, in this chair, awaiting what is going to happen next."
"Leigh, darling, should I remind him of what happens when you withhold information from me?" Aldric's eyes go as wide as saucers and the fear that he is trying so hard to conceal shows itself.
"Sir, please don't do that again. I can't go through that again."
"Aldric, what have I told you about saying that you can't do something that I say?" My uncle says as he punches Aldric, adding to the bruises that Matteo and I had left earlier. My uncle notices these bruises and he smiles. "I see that Matteo and Leigh have already gotten to you," he says with a smirk on his face. Tears spill out of Aldric's eyes, and I know the memories that he is dredging up. He is thinking about his sister and his parents. He is thinking about the last time that he was in this chair. I shudder. Matteo grabs my hand and squeezes it. He lets go of my hand right before my uncle turns around to face us.
"Leigh, it's your choice, you can either torture and kill him, kill him, or leave him down here to rot for the rest of his weary days."
"I think I will leave him bloody and let him rot down here for the rest of his life."
"That wasn't one of my options, Leigh."
"It may not have been one of your options, but I believe it's even worse." My uncle ponders what I said for a moment. He returns my statement with a smirk and a nod of agreement. 
"Leave him bloody, Leigh, show no mercy my darling niece."