Pride x Familiar (65 page)

But they can also affect whether or not that
child is born a pureblood.

In some cases, when parents of different Prides
come together, the offspring may be born without the Symbiote
inside them, hence a non-pureblood. This is also true when the male
parent is a Regular and not an Aventis. However, when either of the
parents is a Familiar, it is more likely than not the child will
Awaken as a Familiar.

In saying all this, the importance a woman bears
in propagating her Pride by passing the Symbiote along to her
children, has elevated her status in society and shifted the
balance of power.

That shift hasn’t been without some
resentment.

I’d like to say take it like a man and suck it
up.

But every man his pride, and that’s not always
easy to do.

(Caprice)

School Week Four.

A week went by since Crimson Crescent invaded
our academy, and Caelum didn’t return to class.

The school was closed for a week while repairs
were made.

By the time the fourth week came round, the
buildings and facilities were back in order. It’s true what they
say, money can move mountains, but there are some things money
cannot move.

Putting together Galatea Academy in a week was
one thing.

Dealing with the aftermath of Crimson Crescent’s
invasion of the habitat was something else.

The people were reeling from the event. The
situation was made all the worse by the fact it came about a week
before the six year anniversary of the explosion that destroyed the
super-freighter and killed hundreds. They were angry and scared,
and they were demanding answers. They wanted their sense of peace,
tranquility and security restored.

They had lost their faith in the Powers-that-be,
and this time the upper echelons of the Prides ruling hierarchy
were having trouble appeasing them, let alone silencing them.

I read the news articles, and I watched the
holovid reports.

I watched the coverage of the thousands of
mourners who turned out to remember the day six years ago when
Crimson Crescent made itself publicly known.

It was hard to silence people when more than a
hundred people had died in the recent battle between Crescent and
the Prides, with a thousand more injured. Dozens of buildings had
been demolished and part of the mag-lev network was ruined. Streets
had been burned away, forcing people to resort of levitator capable
vehicles in order to travel through a number of areas within the
habitat.

Our training continued.

There was no rest for Team Galatea. Even after
the events of that Monday when Crimson Crescent trespassed onto the
academy, the five of us were back in training the day after. With
the school closed, the Artemis instructors made us suffer through a
four days of Hell in a habitat. However, they took pity on us and
gave us the Sunday off. Hard as it was I welcomed the training. It
kept my mind of Caelum. It kept my mind off a lot of things.

That Sunday I was instructed to Arisa Imreh
Lanfear’s apartment in Island One, Habitat One. It had been a while
since I’d met her in person. It was also the first time being
invited to her home. As expected of the Imreh Family, it was a
palatial affair.

Over tea, biscuits and muffins, I listened to
her and fought down my disbelief and dismay. My emotionless façade
broke apart.

As impossible as it sounded, Caelum’s
affiliation with the Lanfears was being terminated.

The Raynar Pride would take him in and assume
his Guardianship.

I felt as though a part of me had been
irrevocably taken away.

An irreplaceable part.

And I didn’t know how it was possible for this
to happen.

I almost yelled at Arisa. “Caelum is bonded to
you. He’s bonded to the Lanfear Symbiote. He can’t be a
Raynar.”

Arisa maintained her calm. “The bonding is
immaterial. In this case his body was always more receptive to the
Raynar Symbiote than to the Lanfear strain.”

The Lanfear Pride had caved in to pressure from
the Raynar Pride, and there was nothing Arisa could do about
that.

They had lost the vaunted Artifact, the Kaiser’s
Blessing, to the Raynars.

And now they had lost Caelum Desanto, someone
who I learnt was a descendant of the original twelve Familiars that
fought for the Aventis during the War of Supremacy. I learnt from
Arisa the history of the Original Twelve as she knew it, and I
learnt of the Warlords and the part they played in securing victory
for the Aventis.

I learnt the history that wasn’t part of the
school curriculum.

“Why…why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I couldn’t tell you,” she replied. “There was
still a great deal even I didn’t know. The Primatriarchs toyed with
us. They kept us in the dark, as they have kept almost all the
Aventis since the end of the war.”

“Why?”

The beautiful redhead that was my Guardian – my
Handler – shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve petitioned an
audience with our Primatriarch, but so far I’ve had no reply.”

“But she’s your aunt. How can she refuse to see
you? What reason would she have?”

“I don’t know, Caprice.”

She put down the tea cup from which she’d been
drinking onto a porcelain saucer.

I did the same.

Arisa sounded distinctly bitter. “In hindsight,
I believe we were used by the Raynars and Avenirs. The Lanfear
Pride was taken for a ride the moment it agreed to take
guardianship of Caelum Desanto.”

“Why?”

“Again, I don’t know. However, I learnt that a
Seeress contacted the Raynar Primatriarch, advising Serenity
Alucard not to take guardianship of Caelum. Instead, he was to be
offered to another Pride. And thus, the Lanfears took his
guardianship.” She tapped the edge of her cup with a manicured
fingernail. “This happened a day before Constance attacked you on
the way to Caelum’s school.”

“So Prissila Ventiss spoke the truth—the Raynars
were originally going to awaken his abilities as a Familiar.”

“Yes, and then the Seeress convinced them
otherwise.”

“And Prissila Ventiss chose to take matters into
her own hands.”

Arisa nodded. “She complicated the situation,
and then upset everything again with that incident at the amusement
park.”

I frowned slightly. “But now they’re back to
square one. Caelum is under their guardianship.” My eyes widened
sharply. “Prissila—is she going to be Caelum’s Guardian?”

Arisa shook her head. “No, I have no idea who
will be assuming the role of his Guardian.”

I felt a pang of unease in my chest. “Is it
Simone?”

Arisa eyed me carefully. “If not her, would you
rather it be Prissila?”

“No, I would rather it be neither. I don’t want
the Raynars to have him.” I stood up both angry and frustrated.
“You should have fought harder for him.”

“I did fight for him, but this directive came
from my Primatriarch. I can’t say no to her.”

I struggled to control myself. “Prissila had
more courage than you.”

“Prissila Ventiss is a fool. Don’t compare the
two of us. And mind your tone with me.”

I stared at her, then bowed to her. “If you’ll
excuse me. I have places to be.”

“Caprice, sit down. I have more to tell you.
Stop being childish.”

“Childish?” I clenched my hands, feeling my
tendons pop. “They’re taking away the person I care about and
there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Does Caelum feel the same way about you?”

My heart felt like it was abruptly squeezed.
“Does it matter?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

I felt myself glare at her. “I have no need to
answer that question. And besides, how can I find out his feelings
if he’s no longer a Lanfear. He’s not even part of the team. He’s
become an
outsider
.”

Arisa glanced away. “He’s become much more than
that.”

“What?”

“Caprice…sit down.”

I refused to move.

Arisa sighed in defeat in the face of my
stubbornness. “Caprice…there’s something you don’t know. When
Crimson Crescent attacked the academy, Caelum was taken to a
confined area deep under the school grounds. This was done by an
operative working for Crimson Crescent. There, Caelum encountered
an ancient Artifact called the Vault. Crimson Crescent breached
Galatea Academy’s computer network in order to access this
Artifact.”

“You mean the black box in the school’s
network.”

“Yes. The sealed off section contained command
codes that allowed access to the underground network of tunnels
leading to the Vault. Without those codes, Crimson Crescent would
not be able to open the stone chamber that housed the Vault. I
learnt all of this recently, and to be honest it came from an
unlikely source.”

“Which source?”

“Commander Selena Alucard Raynar. Simone’s
mother.”

“Why would she tell you this? Why tell you
now?”

“Professional courtesy. That was her answer when
I asked her the same question.” Arisa looked uncomfortable, as
though struggling to hide a secret. “And she told me about your
mother.”

I swallowed hard. “My mother….”

Arisa nodded. “She told me of your mother’s
defection to Crimson Crescent. She told me it happened when
Crescent came to save Celica Desanto over a year and a half ago.
Nineteen months, to be more exact.”

Arisa picked up her tea cup, but on second
thought she put it back down.

“Your mother left with Celica, and joined
Crimson Crescent. But she left you her Artifact, the Valkyrie
Armor. Your mother was a Lanfear, and so it was sent to my Pride.
She did this without Selena Alucard’s knowledge. She also addressed
me in a letter, asking me to keep the Valkyrie Armor safe for you.
Your mother was certain you would Awaken as a Familiar. For that
reason, my family chose to keep a close eye on you. When it was
clear you would Awaken just like your mother did twenty years ago,
we decided to assume guardianship over you, and we gave you her
Artifact.”

Arisa leaned forward.

“Caprice, we didn’t know your mother had
defected. We assumed she had died upon returning from a mission,
and when Selena Alucard confirmed her death nineteen months ago, we
had no reason to doubt it. After all, Selena was her commanding
officer.”

I struggled with my distrust. “So you weren’t
keeping it a secret from me?”

“No. Selena Alucard revealed the truth to me
now, because there was no point keeping it a secret from us
anymore.”

I stared at her, finding everything I was told
hard to accept. Even when I’d seen the proof in front of my eyes –
the fact that my mother was alive – I was still surrounded by so
many lies and half-truths that I no longer knew what to think.

My trust in people and their words was at an
all-time low.

I wanted to believe Arisa, but it was a struggle
to do so.

I watched her lean back in her chair.

Arisa spoke softly. “Selena also told me about
Celica’s betrayal. This is something you need to know as well. You
need to understand the circumstances behind it, because you will
need to keep a close eye on Caelum.”

“Why?”

“Because even if Caelum is an outsider and not
part of your team, he’s become a person of great interest to the
Prides, and I mean
all
the Prides.”

I leaned forward. “Why?”

“Because Caelum Desanto entered the Vault.”
Arisa tapped her teacup. “He went into the Artifact, and Simone
Alucard pulled him out.”

I had trouble picturing what Arisa was telling
me.

Arisa pressed on, despite seeing my confusion.
“Caprice, the Caelum Desanto that came out of the Vault, is not the
same young man you know. He’s not the Caelum that you care
about.”

I felt my stomach clench painfully. “What—what
do you mean by that? What happened to him?”

Arisa grew quiet and very still for a long, long
moment.

“Caprice, sit down and let me explain….”

#

(Maya)

School Week Five.

Sunday morning.

The training instructors had given us the day
off.

I decided to make use of it.

I arrived at the apartment complex in Island
One, Habitat One an hour before midday.

I rode the lift up to the fortieth floor.

From there it was a short walk down plush
interior corridors to the apartment.

I read the sign beside the door, then depressed
the button for the electronic bell.

Closing my eyes, I used my Fragment to sense the
interior layout of the apartment. I felt someone approach the door
from inside, and it opened a short while later.

They didn’t bother asking who I was since they
could see me through the security holovid.

Jaxon Deneve stared at me with a bemused
expression. He was barefoot, dressed in tracksuit pants and a loose
t-shirt. His long hair was a mess and he looked as though he’d
woken up recently.

He gave me a guarded smile. “What brings you
around?”

“Can we talk?”

“Hmm…that depends.”

“On what?”

“On why you’re here.”

I arched my eyebrows at him. “Deneve, I didn’t
come here to confess to you, so don’t get your hopes up.”

He regarded me silently for a long while.
“Damn.” Then he shrugged and opened the door a fair bit wider.
“Fine, come in.”

I stepped through the doorway. “Sorry for the
intrusion.”

I took off my shoes and placed them beside the
shoe rack near the door.

Jaxon closed the door and locked it behind
me.

I followed him down the wide corridor, and then
into the living area.

To the left lay a spacious kitchen.

A corridor to the right led toward other rooms,
possibly the bedrooms and bathrooms, maybe even a laundry.

Beside Jaxon and I, my Fragment sensed no one
else in the apartment.