I'm slightly earlier than usual and that's thanks to everyone who reviewed and encouraged me to update soon. Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and followed, it meant so much that people are enjoying this story. So please enjoy and review.
"What the hell is this?" I demanded, shoving the letter away from me like it would burn me.
"It's a letter from the Queen, Rose." Master Gregori told me.
"How did she find me? I thought you said this place was safe. You promised me. You promised." I yelled at him.
"What are you talking about? " He yelled back. "This isn't about you, Rose. This is about all of us. The whole complex. This is a royal decree."
"What?" I gasped, snatching the letter up again. I quickly scanned through the contents, my breathing slowing as I realized there was no mention of me, but speeding up again as I read the last few lines.
"They want us to come back to Court. Why? For what reason?" I asked.
"They don't want us to come back, they are ordering us to come back, otherwise they will take action." He said bitterly. "Typical royals, they think we can just leave our lives behind to serve them. Not this time."
Normally I would speak up at any criticism of Lissa, but I was so shocked by the contents that all I could do was gape at him and the letter in turn.
"Read it to me, Rose." Master Gregori asked. "I'll see if I can find a loophole."
I nodded my agreement, and started reading.
"To the occupants of this complex,
This is a decree from Her Royal Highness Queen Vasilisa Dragomir, ordering the removal of all residents in this complex, for transferal to Court. Intelligence collected by guardians has shown this to be a Dhampir place of residence, with significant training grounds. Strigoi rates around this area are also non-existent, evidently leading to the conclusion that this is a training place for Dhampirs that have chosen to abdicate from the Guardian lifestyle. Within four days, expect a Court representative to visit to solidify numbers expected, gather notes on this organization and negotiate transport and accommodation for the Dhampirs at this residence. Please be assured that this can be an easy transition for us all, however we warn that severe action will be taken if our requests are not complied with. If you have any questions please direct them to the coming Court representative.
Sincerely,
Her Royal Highness Queen Vasilisa Dragomir."
I sat there breathing heavily, as Master Gregori leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, his forehead crunched in concentration.
"What are we going to do?" I asked, breaking the silence.
"I have no fucking clue." Said Master Gregori, in the first outbreak of swearing I had ever heard him use.
"They won't take no for an answer, will they?" I asked.
"No. They won't. Maybe..." He said, rubbing his forehead in thought.
"What?" I asked. "You had an idea."
"I was just thinking that maybe we could leave most people behind here, and just send a few. That might pacify them." He told me, rubbing his head.
"That would never work." I told him immediately. "Firstly it seems like they've got a pretty good handle on our numbers, and secondly no one in the Complex would let a few people sacrifice themselves to the vultures at Court. It's all or nothing."
"You don't think I know that?" Master Gregori cried. Seeing my stricken face, he shook his head. "I'm sorry that was uncalled for. I'm very tense right now. A lot of people depend on the Complex for security. "
"I know. We could…" I said trailing off.
"What? What is it? You look like you've just thought of the start of a very good idea."
"It might be." I said. "What if we just wait until the Court representative comes? As soon as they come in the gates, we catch them, blindfold them, and take them to a storage room, we'll clean out to look like an interrogation room. "I paused, trying to work out the complexities of my plan. "Then we just use brute force. We throw our weight around. Intimidate them. Have marching drills up and down the corridors. Imitate the sounds of someone being questioned or tortured. Make them overhear the plans of an assassination attempt."
"Hold on a second. Where are you going with this? This is sounding increasingly violent." Master Gregori asked.
"Just wait. " I snapped. "We tell them there's no way in hell they're going to drag us back. Rough them up some more, and then dump them outside. They'll be terrified, and go running back to Court, telling tales of the brutal organization that tied them up and brutalized them, and has a massive army. There's no way, they'll want us back after all that." I sat back in my chair, with a smug smile on my face, and waited.
"Rose that is either an absolutely terrible idea, or the most brilliant idea I have ever heard."
"I'm going with brilliant. " I told him.
"Me too." Master Gregori answered, with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "First I think we need to call an assembly, and alert every one of our situation."
"Now?" I asked, surprised.
"Why not? We don't know when they're coming and we need to be prepared. I'll send out the alert over the speaker system."
"Okay." I said hesitantly. "Just let me wake up Ivy first. She'll be terrified at the alarm. "
"Absolutely fine. I'll give you fifteen minutes." Master Gregori told me. I nodded and made to rush out of the room. At the last moment, I turned back and saw Master Gregori sitting there with his head in his hands, shoulders hunched in defeat.
"It'll be okay." I told him. "Everything will be okay."
"I hope so, Rose. I hope so." He told me sadly.
I gave him a sad smile in return, and ran back along the corridor to my room. Once there I slipped out of the sweat pants, and t-shirt I had been sleeping in and changed into some black jeans, and a black collared shirt. I laid out a thick wooly jumper for Ivy, and slowly made my way over to wake her up.
"Ivy, my angel." I told her, softly shaking her shoulder. "You need to wake up." She groaned at me and rolled over, pulling her blanket over her head. "I can still see you sweetheart. You need to get up."
She showed no signs of moving, and so I took action, picking up Ivy in her blanket bundle and plopping her onto my bed. She moaned and tried to shield her eyes from the bright light. I pulled the jumper over her head, and put thick socks on her feet. There was no point in putting on shoes, when I was pretty sure she would not be walking this evening.
"Why Mummy?" She asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"Because in a few minutes, we have to go to a big meeting, and an alarm will go off."
She gave me a grumpy look and was about respond, when a piercing siren broke through the air. Ivy shrieked and burrowed into my shirt and I wrapped my arms around her. After about a minute the alarm stopped, and I picked Ivy up, and walked to the meeting hall. It was a huge room, full of rows of chairs, with a podium up the front, and a small stage behind it. As we walked, others joined us, giving each other confused looks, and muttered expletives at being woken up so late. I kept silent, walking swiftly.
We reached the hall, and I walked straight to the front, giving my friends a quick look that said "I'll explain later", as they tried to wave me over to where they were sitting.
I met Master Gregori at the front of the room, as he scanned over the people entering, ticking off a checklist. Finally the doors closed and everyone was seated.
Master Gregori walked up to the podium, and I sat down on a chair at the front of the room.
"I'm very sorry for the interruption to your night, but recent events have rendered this meeting necessary. I will now read you the letter I have received today. I ask you to remain quiet until we have fully explained the situation." With that Master Gregori read out the letter, everyone gasped and whispered to their neighbors, but mercifully remained relatively quiet. "And with that I hand over to Rose Bell, who will explain what are our actions will be."
I looked up in surprise as I heard my name being mentioned, and gave Master Gregori a mock glare, as he stepped down from the podium. He reached out his arms, and I handed him Ivy. She snuggled into his arms, letting out a sleepy "Gori," her pet name for him. He sat down, and gave me an encouraging smile.
"I was alerted of the situation earlier tonight, and Master Gregori and I have decided we will not be leaving our home. Court cannot take that away from us." People muttered their encouragement and I continued. "So we have decided on a plan to keep Court away, which I hope most will agree with. You are welcome to query about things at the end."
I briefly outlined my idea, giving them the general gist, as well as elaborating on how various people in the Complex would fit into the plan. When I finished there was stunned silence, and then chattering broke out. I tried tapping the desk, but it had no effect. Finally I gave a sharp whistle and brought them back to attention. "Any questions?" I asked.
"Great idea!" Someone shouted.
"But will it work?" Someone else worried.
"Can we wear costumes?" Seth asked. I just rolled my eyes.
"Are we still safe?" A soft-spoken person from the middle asked.
"We don't know." I answered truthfully. "But hopefully this will take care of the majority of our issues."
"One final question." Seth said, standing up. "Who's going to be our main interrogator? They're really going to have sell this, for this plan to work."
The room broke into mutters again, when Master Gregori stood up, Ivy still in his arms.
"I believe we have an answer for that, don't we little lady?" He said, referring to Ivy in his arms. "Who is it?"
"Mummy!" Ivy said in delight. The room broke into coos and hearty cheers.
"Why do I always have to play the bad guy?" I complained.
"It was your idea." Master Gregori told me.
"True." I said, shrugging my shoulders. "I suppose it might be fun. I've always wanted to be a superhero." He shrugged his shoulders in defeat at my playfullness but answered me with a smile.
"Rose Badass Bell. I like it." He told me. I smiled back, and took Ivy, and went to join my friends.
Two days later, and the retrieval mission was currently occurring. I wasn't going on that trip, as Seth had assured me that they could take them in easily without me. I had to prepare to be the commander, not like it was that hard. I think I was developing a power complex. The sighting of people approaching the gate had been half an hour ago, and I was pacing anxiously when Tom, a member of the retrieval mission burst into the room.
"We got them." He told me.
"How many?" I asked.
"One female Moroi, and a male Dhampir. The lady keeps telling us that she's Lady Taurus and we can't do this, she's royal. No shit. The Dhampir's staying silent though."
"I'll start with him first. He sounds more interesting." I told him; slipping on the black leather gloves I'd found to complete my disguise. Well I thought it was a disguise.
Seth told me it was a costume and I suppose to some I might have looked slightly like a female batman. I'd found black leather boots, black leather pants, a tight black shirt, and a black leather jacket. I'd greased my hair back into a sleek ponytail, and applied my make-up perfectly. I looked badass, as many people had told me. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I tried to ignore the nerves that were trying to overcome me. Everything depended on my performance now.
"Okay, so here is what I want you to do." I told Tom. "As soon as we get to the start of corridor start marching. Always address me as Ma'am, and sound terrified of me. When I go in, stand outside the door and whenever anyone comes past, salute them and click your boots together, address them as either Sir or Captain."
Tom nodded eagerly, and we walked together down the corridor, everyone around us pretending to salute us, and bow. Of course several of them also took it as an opportunity to flip us the bird. I flipped them straight back, trying to appear carefree, while my nerves were close to choking me.
We reached the start of the corridor where the pretend interrogation rooms were. Tom started marching sharply, and my boots made clicking noises on the ground. We reached the door, and Tom made a sharp turn.
"He's in here Ma'am." Tom told me, managing to sound suitably subdued.
"Very good, soldier. Remain on alert." I told him sternly, Tom giving me a wide smile in return. I turned to face the door, and kicked it wide open with my boot. Best to make a good first impression. Our captive had his head on the desk as I came in, but his head came up as I entered. I met his familiar eyes and I was suddenly out of air.
"Shit!" I swore.
Sorry for the cliffhanger! :) See if you can guess who it is. I should have a new chapter up soon, so review and it will encourage me to write faster. Thank you for reading and please review!
