Chapter 26

My Mother had gone to make more plans with them the next day. I'm really hoping she wasn't going to kill them. I hadn't met benders who weren't trying to kill us since I was six.

"Well, what happened?" I asked her when she got home.

"We're helping." I tried to contain my excitement. Yes, a revolution! I'm leading a revolution! I'm going to set slaves free, I'm going to put an end to the executions!

"There were some conditions." My Mother said.

"Well, what were they?" I asked her.

"In order to avoid their army, we're going to challenge them for their council spots. By their own laws they must fight us alone." I nodded eagerly. "Since it would be just us challenging them, it will be just us fighting."

… Us? Fighting against the Council of Ten?

"Mother, this must be a mistake. They're the best benders in the nation. How are we supposed to beat them?" I asked.

"I was a better bender than any of them. I assume I have trained you well enough to hold your own in a fight."

"Yes, but Mother, there's ten of them! We don't know how well they work together."

"Yes, this is true. We each get five, this shouldn't be too hard. There are only a few years left before the council spots are inherited by the eldest child; this is the best time to strike. The Council is at its weakest; the old men won't stand a chance."

"But Mother, what about my father?" I asked quietly.

"That," She smiled, "Was my condition. I get to kill him."

"Mother, are you sure? I don't have any feelings towards my father. Maybe I should…"

"No. That bastard is going to get what's coming for him. I'm going to kill him." I nodded.

"Before we can fight, we must first challenge them officially." She snorted, as if she thought it was ridiculous.

"And how do we do that?"

"We write a letter." I broke out into fits of laughter. I must have looked like a crackling hyena, but it was just too funny.

"A l-letter? Mother! That's so s-stupid!" I howled. She smiled fondly, and nodded.

"It is, but since there is no chance I'm walking into the homeland without getting killed, we'll just have to settle with a letter." My Mother headed off to her room and returned with two scrolls of parchment.

"I'd like to write a personal letter to Solon." She spoke of my father. "You write the challenge to the Council. Just keep it short and simple. The shorter and blunter, the better."

"Okay…" I said, and I grabbed a quill. In between training and running, my Mother taught me a few things nobles in my homeland should know. Calligraphy was one of them.

Dear The Council of Ten,

We challenge you, all of you.

Sincerely, The other half of the Maddox family

Pretty, right? I showed it to my Mother, who approved my letter. She said she would send it with Maia and Colton. I asked her to show me her letter. She shrugged and said, "Why not? The Council will see it anyway."

The letter wasn't written in Calligraphy, it was written in her own personal hand writing.

Dear my loving husband,

I would just like to say that despite your best efforts, I am still alive. You might have guessed this, considering every gladiator you have sent after me has never reported back.

I would also like to report to you how well your daughter is doing. She is still alive and well and her power grows more and more each day. She is very much ready to fight the Council and help our people, because you don't seem to be doing so.

Sincerely, Your loving wife.

"I love how you threw your marriage in his face." I smiled. She rolled up the scroll and left the room. I sat there wondering, was she really ready to kill her husband?

Months later we hadn't heard from Colton or Maia. I was starting to get worried about them. Had the council killed them on spot?

I shook it off and tried to enjoy my first Christmas celebration. I had never really celebrated the holidays before, every day just sort of blended in with the next. I never thought Christmas would be so cramped. Charlie, my Mother, and I decorated the house while drinking eggnog and listening to Christmas carols. Then when Charlie had a Christmas party, the whole wolf pack was invited.

I liked the wolves, I really did, but they were just so huge. They took up the whole freaking house filling it with heat, giving our heating unit a break.

I decided that Christmas was awesome. The downside? Too many cookies, not enough exercise. Just kidding, the downside was that Edward, Bella, Nessie, and Jake were all there, giving me glares. Nessie was just plain avoiding me, as if I was going to kill her if she got too close. She hid behind Jacob, who shook every time I walked past.

"Hey, Cassie, can you get some more eggnog?" Charlie asked me, interrupting my glare down with Bella. I wasn't really mad at her, but she was glaring at me so I was going to glare right on back.

"Sure thing, Dad." I said. Bella growled. I raised an eyebrow at her and left to get the eggnog. I handed it to Charlie and ran into Bella when I turned around.

"Oh, hey." I said, trying to step around her. She got in my way again.

"Okay, this isn't going to work out. I thought we were trying to avoid each other." I said. She growled and grabbed me by the collar. I smacked her hand away, receiving a bruise in the process. She smirked.

"May I speak with you outside?" She asked. I shrugged, but stole a glance at her little family. They watched us warily, Nessie struggling to stop us from leaving their sight.

"Sure." She followed me out of the back door.

"I can't believe you!" She shouted when we arrived in the backyard. I put my cold hands into my pockets, waiting for her to elaborate. "How dare you call Charlie your dad? He's my dad, not yours! Give me one good reason to keep you alive. I've never felt so betrayed in my life!" I laughed. I laughed freaking hard. She waited a few moments for me to stop.

"Betrayed?" I laughed. "You think I've betrayed you? That's rich! You wouldn't know what betrayal is if it kicked you in the head!" She shrieked, obviously mad.

"No, Cassie, you don't know what betrayal is, not in the slightest." I was filled with fiery anger. I took deep breaths, trying to calm myself. I was seeing red. If I was a werewolf, I would have phased already.

"Bella, don't you ever tell me I don't know what it's like to be betrayed." I would have growled if I was something that was capable of it.

"Good, then I won't have to tell you how I feel right now." She turned on her heal to leave, but I wasn't done with her.

"Bella, what were you doing when you were five?" I asked. She stopped to listen. "Were you learning the alphabet? You know what I was learning about? I was learning how to set people on fire. I mastered fire, water, and blood bending at the age of six."

"My father is on a council. We call it the Council of Ten. The nobles run my homeland. Do you know what he did to me when he found out I wanted to learn how to fire bend that early? He burnt me, because I was reaching out for help. That's where I got this scar." I held up my left hand. Bella gaped at me

"My father thought I was too powerful. He thought some greater power had sent me to lead the revolution against the Council of Ten." I recalled.

"You know what he did to his own daughter? He sentenced me to death." I gave her a moment to let it sink in. "Has your father ever tried to kill you when you were six? That's betrayal, Bella." I smiled.

"My Mother had to save me. I was on the death podium when she swooped in and killed the executers. She handed me a glider, and we flew away from the scene. My father was enraged. He sent gladiators after us. What were you doing when you were seven, Bella? Learning how to dance? I was learning how to kill without regret."

"Betrayal." I snorted. "Please, Bella, tell me how you were betrayed."

"Oh, um…" She heaved a sigh. "I'm sorry, that was out of line."

"No, go ahead! Tell me how I betrayed you! Don't forgive me because I told you my life story. I'm still the same person! Let me know, Bella, I'd really like to hear it!"

"No- I'm… bye." And she headed inside, leaving me with my past. Yeah, my life sucked.

Okay, who expected that? Show of hands.

Okay, so I decided to update even because I really wanted this chapter up.

So, what do you think of Cassie's past?