Pride x Familiar (67 page)

(Simone)

School Week Five.

Monday evening.

I stood before my mother’s desk in her private
study.

I stood at attention like one of her new
recruits.

I hated the way she made me feel.

I hated having to
report
to her as though
I was one of her subordinates.

She made me wait while she finished up the work
on the multitude of holo-screens facing her.

After ten minutes standing rigidly in her study,
I felt my resentment grow to a peak.

At that moment, my mother cleared away the
screens and swiveled in her leather chair to face me.

“At ease, Simone.”

I clenched my jaw, and fell into a more relaxed
posture.

Gods, I hated her for treating me this way, but
I kept my eyes focused on a point above and behind her. And I kept
my face a picture of composure.

“Simone, look at me.”

I lowered my gaze onto her face.

She was studying me with unnerving interest.

Half a minute may have gone by before she broke
the silence between us.

“Troublesome. Such a troublesome child.”

I bit down on a retort.

She pressed back into her chair, folded her
arms, and continued to study me.

“I warned you. I warned you not to become
involved with him.”

I swallowed and bundled up my resolve. “Mother,
why did you lie to me?”

My mother blinked yet remained silent.

I leaned forward slightly and repeated my
question. “Why did you lie to me?”

“Regarding what?”

“You told me Celica Desanto had infiltrated
Crimson Crescent under your orders. That was a lie.”

“I did not expect you to learn the truth.”

I touched my sternum. “I lied to Caelum because
you lied to me. Do you think he’ll trust anything I say now?”

“It hardly matters now.”

I leaned forward sharply. “It matters to
me—”

“Watch your tone with me, young lady.”

I swallowed and clenched my jaw for a moment.
“You used me.”

My mother humphed and rolled her eyes. “Used
you? Hardly. I wanted you to stay clear of him and you betrayed my
trust in you.”

I inhaled slowly but chose to hold my
silence.

My mother tapped her desk with a manicured nail.
“You went along with Severin Kell’s foolish idea of protecting
Galatea Academy from Crimson Crescent. You came into contact with
Desanto, and you initiated a chain of events that spiraled into the
present situation. Even after I told you the truth behind his
lineage, you still persisted in seeing him. I told you all that to
keep you away from him, not the other way around.”

“You told me he was descended from an Original
Twelve bloodline. You didn’t tell me much of anything else. And now
I know that you lied to me as well.”

“Nonetheless, I told you to stop associating
with him.”

“I was doing so on Arisa Imreh’s behalf.”

“So you disobeyed your mother to fulfill some
other woman’s request?”

I hesitated, then swallowed tightly. “I’m
sorry…Mother.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“But Caelum and I attend the same academy. How
could we not run into each other?”

“That’s no excuse. Why did you disobey me? And
give me an honest answer, Simone Alucard Raynar.”

“Because…because I couldn’t forget him. And
because you promised him to me. Because I believed he was mine, and
I still want him to be mine.” I gave her a firm look. “Wasn’t it
your intention to bond him to me, to have my blood Awaken him as a
Familiar? Isn’t that what you told me a year ago?”

“The situation changed. I told you that. Our
Primatriarch gave us a clear directive. The Seeress warned Serenity
of a dire outcome should we bond him to our Pride.”

“I didn’t break the directive. He was not
Awakened by my blood.”

“No, he wasn’t. But his fate and yours became
entwined, even after the Seeress sent you
personal
instructions not to persist.”

“I choose my own fate.”

My mother’s expression hardened. I thought she
would shout at me, but then I saw anguish in her eyes. “Simone, you
may be troublesome but you are my precious daughter. You and Silia
are the most important people in my life.”

“I—I know that.”

“That being said, there are times you really
test me.”

“How? What is so wrong with what I did? Why is
everyone so against my contact with Caelum? What is this dire
outcome you speak of?”

Selena Alucard stood up slowly from her chair.
She leaned forward, her palms on the edge of her desk. “Simone, if
what the Seeress saw—if what all the Seeresses are seeing—there are
troubling times ahead.”

“You mean a war? A second War of Supremacy?”

“Perhaps. Rumblings of discontent are everywhere
in the colonized systems. And there are outside forces at play,
disturbing the peace.”

“You mean Crimson Crescent?”

“No. Crescent may be the least of our
worries.”

Her words left me confounded.

Was there another threat to the Prides? Another
threat besides Crimson Crescent?

I inhaled deeply before asking, “What does that
have to do with me? What does it have to do with Caelum and I? Will
you please tell me what’s going on?”

“I can’t give you an answer…because I don’t have
one. I was warned to keep you away from Caelum. They were adamant
about it. I should have listened to them and transferred you out of
Galatea Academy. I should have sent you to the farthest of Pharos’s
Islands. That would have solved
all
our problems.”

“Again, you’re not telling me anything that
answers my questions.” I straightened my back. “If you can’t give
me an answer, then I’ll find it elsewhere.”

I turned on my heels and began striding out of
her study.

“Simone—stop right there.”

My feet betrayed my resolve. I stood before the
closed door, and listened to my mother.

“You want an answer. Very well. Then there’s
only one person that can give you that answer.”

I half turned and looked at her over my left
shoulder.

For the first time, I noticed my mother looked
older and wearier than I remembered her since our last encounter
two weeks ago. With her rank and position she was hardly home, so
it wasn’t uncommon for days or weeks to go by without any direct
contact between us.

For that matter, I was hard pressed to remember
when I last saw my elder sister, Silia.

My mother looked exhausted as she sat back in
her chair. The trouble with Crimson Crescent and the aftermath of
their incursion had taken its toll on her.

She sounded beyond weary to me. “Simone, perhaps
it’s time you had an audience with our Seeress.” She looked me in
the eyes and added, “In fact, I called you here because I received
a request from her.”

I turned round fully and faced her. “The
Seeress?”

“Yes. She wants to see you.”

I swallowed anxiously, then asked, “When?”

My mother took a deep breath. “Tonight. I will
have a car waiting for you in two hours. You’ll need to pack
quickly. You’ll need enough clothes for a few days. On second
thought, pack for a few weeks.”

“A—a few weeks?”

“Yes, you’ll be going off-colony.”

I raised my eyebrows at her, wondering if I’d
heard her right. “I’m leaving Pharos…for a few weeks?”

My mother sighed heavily. “Seeress Arcana lives
on a starship. Her vessel docked an hour ago. I received her
message not long after. It seems the Seeress has come here
specifically for you.”

My stomach tightened uncomfortably. “Then if
she’s here, why am I going off-colony?”

“It seems, she wants to learn more about you.
She wants to spend time with you.” My mother stared up at the
ceiling. “Arcana is…a strange creature…like all the Seeress’s tend
to be.”

“What about school?”

“I’ll deal with the school.” She gave me a stern
look. “You want answers, well this is your chance. Or was
everything you said just for show?”

I took a couple of deep breaths, then gave her a
single nod. “No. I want to know what’s going on.”

“Then hurry up and get packing. I’ll have a
couple of the maids help you out.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Get going, Simone.”

I bowed to her quickly. “Yes, Mother.”

I left her study quickly, and after closing the
door behind me I hurried to my room on the third floor.

I would need to hurry, but even before I arrived
at my rooms I had decided on what to pack.

A few days away from school hardly mattered.

But a few weeks away was another matter
altogether.

Nonetheless, I truly wished to learn the reasons
why my Pride had wanted to keep me away from Caelum.

I wanted to learn why almost as much as I wanted
to see him.

I walked into my bedroom and approached the
tallboy chest standing against a wall. Opening the bottom drawer, I
fumbled around the back and pulled out the little jewelry box I hid
under the clothes. From inside, I carefully lifted out the locket
with the silver chain.

I thumbed the latch, and it opened with a soft
click, revealing a printed photo inside.

A young boy and a young girl faced the camera,
their shoulders lightly touching.

One smiling and one looking unabashedly
embarrassed.

A memento from my eleventh birthday party.

For a little while I studied Caelum’s blushing
face, and then gently closed the locket.

I chose to bring it along with me.

#

(Selena)

The holovid representations of seven
Primatriarchs stood before the desk in my study.

Seven unhappy faces.

Serenity Alucard Raynar was not present. She had
sent word she was attending to an important matter.

I knew very well what that matter entailed.

Standing directly before me was Xanthia
Augustine Avenir. She was the first to speak.

She brushed back an errant lock of blonde hair.
The woman was young, perhaps younger than Serenity, and she fit the
bill of an ice queen to the tee.

Very beautiful.

Very cold.

With clear aquamarine eyes.

Xanthia smiled thinly. “We’ve come to an
agreement. Serenity Alucard has been granted provisional
guardianship over Caelum Desanto afil Raynar.”

I kept my expression neutral.

So Caelum Desanto’s affiliation was only
temporarily changed. Whether it was permanently instated would
depend on the outcome of Serenity’s foray into danger. But for now,
the Lanfears no longer held the leash on him. I refrained from
glancing at Yolanda Imreh, but in my peripheral vision I glimpsed
the woman stiffen ever so slightly. The holovid representations
captured even the slightest shift in body stance and the minutest
of facial nuances.

I swallowed discretely. “Things did not go to
plan.”

“No,” Xanthia agreed while holding onto that
thin smile. “They did not. Habitat One suffered extensive damage.
The casualty count was quite high. The cost of rebuilding will be
too. And the populace is demonstrating severe unrest and lack of
confidence in the Pharos leadership. However, the objective we
failed to meet five years ago has been met. The Warlord Ravana has
been retrieved from the Vault.”

“But the Black Camellia is gone, and so is
Celica Desanto.”

Xanthia stiffened, as did many of the women
standing before me. “Yes, that is most unfortunate. The plan to
recapture that demon failed. Celica Desanto is still loose. And now
we can consider her
armed
and
extremely
dangerous.”

I swallowed tightly. “We did not anticipate
Caelum Desanto’s interference. The Avienda’s Meister had all but
secured Celica Desanto when Caelum interceded. Although his manner
of involvement was outside of the realm we anticipated, nonetheless
the fault lies with me. The plan was mine after all.”

I started to rise, fully intending to apologize
in the time honored tradition.

Perhaps it would make no difference.

Perhaps it would.

Nonetheless, I was prepared to lower myself to
my hands and knees and express my apology to the seven
Primatriarchs.

Then my eyes caught sight of something
unexpected.

Xanthia had raised a single hand, forestalling
me.

She shook her head. “No. If you apologize, then
so should I.

“Lady Augustine…?”

“None of us expected Desanto to be led to the
Vault where he would acquire the Ravana. However, we cannot
discount the fact he did come to his sister’s aid.”

“Yes, that is true. However—”

Xanthia shook her head again, a little more
gently. “The blame lies with me. As head of the Primatriarch
Council, I approved this plan. I made the students of that Academy
unwitting pawns. I even ordered the suppression of the Student
Council’s attempt to protect their school. I assume responsibility
for this failure.”

I blinked slowly at the woman who held the
center seat of the Primatriarch Council. Because there were an even
number of Prides, the center seat was worth two votes. Xanthia had
held that seat of authority for five years now. She was the
youngest Primatriarch in Pharos’s history.

Her smile faded away. “To put it simply, this
debacle is my fault.”

Her admission derailed my thoughts for a
heartbeat.

Why was she letting me off the hook?

I swallowed quickly and protested. “Lady
Augustine, my people were entrusted with preparing the trap for
Celica Desanto, but our shortsightedness left the door wide open
for them to come and go as the pleased. Crimson Crescent blindsided
us. Not only did we fail to incorporate Caelum Desanto adequately
in the situational analysis, but we ignored the possibility Crimson
Crescent would use trans-space to emerge within the habitat. After
all, the navigational calculations are beyond what our starships
can perform.”