𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐃│✔

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟖

"Now that everyone is here," he starts before taking a swift gaze around the room to make sure that everyone is indeed there,"let's start with today's meeting."

"First point of discussion," Adonis adds with mild amusement, but I don't miss the slow pace at which he pronounces the words and the reluctance at which he looks up to the rest of us. He knows that this will be a mess.

Just as I thought, not even a second passes before, a row of hands rises, each face more determined to have a turn to speak than the last. Heavens, this will be long. The first gentleman who wins the war of 'who gets to speak first' ends up being the Minister Accalia.

"I think I speak for everyone in the room when want to ask Her Grace what the hell happened back there?!"

"Whatever do you mean?" I fake ignorance. My eyelashes batting innocently against my cheekbones when I look at everyone with doe-eyes and a confused expression. I want to hear him say it. I had to kill an entire camp of lives in order to save their beloved warriors. Even though most of the rebels I killed had done wrong or had malice intended, it doesn't take away the fact that I caused a bloodbath. The least they can do is have the guts to speak the words, when I was the executer.

"Why did you to kill the entire camp?!" Yet, again, another Minister is the one seething, fumes blowing out his ears to accompany the infuriated face. So, giving the Generals the benefit of the doubt, I wait expectantly - with no avail. Although they may not be saying anything against me, these men, who know the explicit reasoning for my actions, neither do they defend me. Not that that is what I expect of them either, I'm not that hopeful.

I chuckle coldly, my soft voice resonating through the blank gazes and clammy hands. Now they decide to feel pity for these people. Years of history of neglect and banishing the poor and unwilling to the Land of Desertus to make them shut up wasn't enough, no of course not. Even when they exiled reacted, and started a mutiny at out borders, and took the lives of hardworking farmers. No one dared to care. Only now, when their social construct is threatened, do their minds think further than the depths of their wallets. And now, I have to be the black sheep to carry the weight of their shallow consciousness.

I'm not surprised, nor am I disappointed.

If anything I'm annoyed, and perhaps even...hungry, even though I ate not long ago.

"You send me there to gain information. I got you the most useful witness you can get. You ordered me to keep your soldiers safe. I eliminated any elements causing threats to them. Simple, is it not?"

"But why killing everybody?" General Sebastian's benign voice reaches me, and my smirk vanished to earnestness.

"What else should I have done?" I raise my voice. Now they want me to take on responsibility. Now that the work is done, and damage is caused.

Pathetic.

Each and everyone one of them.

"Only eliminate those who were about to execute your warriors who couldn't even keep themselves undercover for an hour? Only kill the hand that was about to execute Eliza and bring everyone back without information? We all know what would've happened if I didn't end every possible threat. They would've send word to the rest of them, found out that we're on their tail and change their course of action. But, please, do tell me. What it is I should've done."

As I suspected, no one answers.

It's always like this. With too much ease, these people judge and talk greatly about subjects they know nothing about, while others do the job for them, and then receive recognition for it. Crossing my arms, I keep my back straight and chin held high in pride as I look around the room.

"Since no one has any objectives, I suggest we move on to the next subject of the day, unless you all enjoy to remain seated here for another hour?"

I meet the eye of the King, and nod at him to incline that he should move on to the next topic now that there's the opportunity. Who knows how long these brazen men will remain quiet for.

"Now that that's taken care of," he starts looking at the bastard dubiously, "Would the 1st in command like to share what the interrogation brought up?" The words he uses contain certainty and authority, yet the tone at which he addresses him with has so much care in it, that one would think the almighty King fears his underling.

Odd.

"Nothing much, unfortunately." the man says absentmindedly, licking his lips before continuing. "By the time he was ready to talk he lacked the teeth to do so coherently." The elated smile making those sitting next to me shiver, but I only roll my eyes at his pleasure of torturing others. I don't pay head to his sadistic ways, it would just be more inviting of him to keep those thoughts to himself. They only make him look more crazy than he already seems to be.

"But," Liam speaks up next to him in much more confidence than the King, "he did say something about a ring they're currently roaming the lands to find. Although I'm not sure what he means by that."

"Prehaps they want to form an alliance," Minister Gladius guesses after letting the words sink in.

"You think?"

"The only mortals desperate enough to do that would be the humans."

Murmurs fill the room, and the space between me and Damian, who joined the meeting as the General of Eliza and Adrien's division, tenses with palpable doubts and hidden knowledge. Both of us hesitating on whether or not it's a good time to add to the reasons of suspecting House of Eos.

"True that, but haven't you looked at the path their taking? The closest way to reach the House of Eos is by taking over the shore and go there by ship, yet they continue to go deeper into our mainland."

"They're searching for the Fallen Artifices?" The bastard's sudden interruption makes me look up at him, only to find him already smirking in my direction, as if to ways 'I win.'

"What?" General Edmund blurts out, copying everyone's perplexed faces. The itching feeling crawling up my claws craving to rip his throat out in annoyance set aside, when I reluctantly realise that his words make more sense than I'd like to give them credit fore."It makes sense," I follow up, pushing my pride aside for now, "The only thing I can think of, if we follow their route, is that they're searching for our House's Fallen Artifices. We have the ring don't we?" I ask him, to which he nods silently. There was only a short chapter about them written in my history books, and the teacher barely took the time to explain what they're about. But, I've read enough about them in the 'Fall of the Fille Céleste', to know that we're doomed if that's really what they're aiming to posses.