The Burning Rose

Chapter 2: Unworthy

"Actually, before that." Summer stammered. "Could we talk about something a little more…open first?"

"Oh." The general replied. "And what is troubling you, Miss Rose?" In response, Summer guided Cinder forward and in front of the general.

"And who do we have here?" Ironwood asked, examining the girl. "I don't recognize her. Is she your student? She's awfully young."

"No. Not quite." Summer said. "I found her in the tundra. She's an orphan. I want to get her some adoption papers, so I can find her a home somewhere outside of the kingdom. She's not the biggest fan of Atlas."

Ironwood looked back down at Cinder, who held his stern gaze. They locked eyes for a second, then Ironwood broke contact to turn his attention back to Summer.

"Yes. Of course." He said, turning and walking to his desk where he began rummaging around in it. Besides her, Summer felt a sigh of relief from Cinder, she didn't like being eyed by the general.

"Okay, here it is." Ironwood pulled out a stack of paper. Summer noticed the bottom looked slightly burned and gave Cinder a disappointing look.

"There are a lot of war orphans right now. I was just talking about an investigation into a child trafficking ring when one of our leads got… taken out of the picture." Ironwood said as he handed Summer the papers. A quick scan of the first page told Summer that this was a confirmation of one's orphan status.

"Just fill them out to the best of your abilities." Ironwood said kindly. "Then you two can stay at the academy for the night and be on your…..way." Summer looked up to see Ironwood looking directly at Cinder's twin blades.

"Where did you get those?!" Ironwood snapped, his tone had done a complete one-eighty in a second. It was now hard and commanding, like the general many in Vale still feared.

"The blades?" Summer asked in confusion. "Cinder had them when I found her. She didn't steal them, if that's what you're thinking. Or… at least not recently. Why?" Ironwood directed his gaze to Summer and she felt its weight. He was not someone she ever wanted to cross.

"Because," he said in a dangerously low tone. "I happen to know the huntsman they belong too. And he was found dead a few days ago. And both swords had been stolen."

Summer felt her stomach drop. She remembered what Cinder had said out in the tundra. "Didn't help the last guy." Back then, she had assumed she had just bested and robbed a huntsman, but had she meant she had actually killed one? No. No, surely Cinder hadn't killed anyone. There was no way. Sure she had the skill to fight a huntsman, but to take out someone so important that it would catch the general's notice? Not possible. They would have to be the best if the best, right?

Suddenly, Summer felt movement close to her and found Cinder hiding behind her. She could see the fear in her eyes as the general stood and walked towards them. "The huntsman in question was a reliable man. Had both a skilled fighter and knowledge in strategy. In a few years, I might have even offered him a position in a new task force I'm planing to start." Ironwood circled them, and Summer found herself struggling to keep herself between him and Cinder.

"He often visited a hotel called The Glass Unicorn. A hotel on the darker side of the law. I'll admit, it's the kind of place I'd love to see shut down, but several rich businessmen protect it from police investigation. So its staff are never checked. As such, it's the perfect place if someone wanted to, let's say, assassinate someone without getting caught." Summer found herself backed against the well, and Ironwood was still bearing down on them. His eyes looked as dead as a grimm. Summer's hand instinctively moved to her swords at her waist. She had never felt so threatened while inside an office, not even when she had accidentally lost all of Beacon's students files.