Chapter 17
(Catarina)
I step into a room and Mika sits at a marble desk. He looks very serious. I am scared. "Catarina Lombardi, we have not forgotten the wrong you have committed. You have trespassed against us and you aided Darren in his escape from punishment. That is a very serious charge. You have disrespected us."
"I did not wish to disrespect any of you. I was simply being loyal to a friend."
"Do you apologize?"
I shake my head. He smirks.
"You are one stubborn young lady Catarina. That just might be your downfall one day."
I do not reply.
"Though you have done wrong, you also have proven yourself time and time again to all of us. You are respected by many. You have proven that you are indeed loyal, honest, trustworthy, smart, kind, and courageous. We value all of these qualities in a vampire. Despite you stubbornness and foolish behaviour we have decided against the death penalty."
"What is my punishment?"
"The rules say that is for the Princes to decide and finally we have made our choice."
I stand tall and look him in the eyes bravely. "What is it?"
He smiles. "Even in the face of uncertainty you still stand tall. You are a true vampire Cat."
"Thank you."
He nods. "Your punishment was for us to decide so we sentenced you to nothing at all."
"What?" I ask shocked.
"It says we had to decide how to punish you and we are punishing you with nothing. You have already faced much hardship. It was enough for you. Should you ever do anything like this again I assure you we will not be so kind."
"Thank you sire," I bow.
"Now, for your reward..."
"Reward?"
He nods. "You assisted Darren with warning us and you fought side by side with us against the vampaneze bravely. I realize that much of the focus is on Darren but you were also a big part of this. If you ask Darren, he will tell you so himself. I believe his exact words were "I couldn't have done any of this without her." So for your reward we took an even longer time to come to a decision."
"What did you decide?"
"We decided to offer you Gavner's spot as a vampire general."
"A what?" I gasp.
He grins. "There was only one female general in all of vampire history. It is not something we take lightly."
"What do I have to do?"
"You will have more responsibility but you will not be exempt from punishment. We expect your behavior to be a lot better than it is Catarina. Normally you would have to do the trials but technically the rules say 'full blood vampires' and considering that you are not one you will not have to participate. You will have to blood with stone like Darren and then it will be final."
I cannot believe this. It is shocking.
"You will be the youngest General ever Catarina."
"Wow..."
"Do you accept?"
I nod.