The Pure Ones

Chapter Nineteen

Ezra paused licking his paws, his suspicion instinctively heightened.

Zina sat in disbelief as frustrated tears formed in her eyes, she expected it but was still floored by her casual omission from the scheme of things. She clenched her fists with anger before she asked out loud,

"What about me?!"

Nigel was shocked, he glanced briefly at Eva before he responded. "You are free to assist on any mission of your choosing."

"I want my own mission!" she banged her fists on the table. The tension in the room immediately shot through the roof, Nigel was greatly irritated by her tone, light in the room started to dim and his eyes burned fiercely with anger, Eva called out to him before things could escalate.

She assumed her usual position on the elevated throne, Tristesse was cradled in her lap and Eva gently rocked the little girl to sleep.

"I hear you, Zina. You are an important part of this, do not ever forget that" Eva said to her in a soothing voice that heavily contrasted her terrifying form.

Zina's cheeks heated with pride, getting praise from the woman she respected and admired the most in the world filled her with immense joy.

"Tell me, how do you think you can help?" Eva asked.

Zina thought intensely about her answer, to prove her capabilities, she had to take on a task of great significance. She hesitated before she got on her feet and said out loud,

"I know about Alistair, if he is not on our side then he is against us. Let me take care of him."

The already high tension reached a new peak, Nigel furiously cut in,

"Alistair is a delicate matter! None of you are to speak on it!"

"And why is that? Since you seem to know so much more than the rest of us" Ezra hissed back, testing his luck.

Nigel retaliated by throwing a fork at him, Ezra shrieked before leaping into Saffron's arms. Eva started to chuckle, they all turned to look at her.

"I hate to see my children fighting, but I have to admit, it is quite entertaining" she laughed; a blue grin appeared in the cloud of black.

"Alistair is a spawn of that wretched Adelina, so he is definitely against us. But his powers could prove useful to us" she made a loud exaggerated 'hmm' sound like she was thinking before she continued.

"Alright then!" she clapped her hands together, "You find Alistair wherever he is, and you bring him to me. You can rough him up as much as you want, but do not kill him."

Zina placed a hand on her chest and swore to carry out her mission without fail. The blacksmith left the dining room with her head high as she suited up in her fighting clothes and armed herself with her finest weapons. Knowing what they all knew about Alistair, she knew that he could not have faced any real threats, so he would be very easy to deal with. But secretly, she hoped for a challenge, one that would take great effort so that she could impress Eva and possibly up her standing in the Onyx Order. 

ALISTAIR'S POV 

We had been traveling for a full day through vast grasslands, there were no trees in sight for nearly a mile. So far, the journey had been relatively quiet. Gappy had been pestering Penelope and I, trying to get a reaction. Penelope occasionally entertained his jokes and gags, but I on the other hand just wanted to reach Clearshear as soon as possible.

Gappy described Clearshear as a small town very heavy on trade. People from different lands and cultural backgrounds would all meet to exchange a variety of things that ranged from exotic foods, rare animals, clothes, jewelries and any valuables; If it was worth anything to you, then there was someone somewhere in the world who would want it.