Lady Mutiny

Nine

She wished Wil had extended the same courtesy.

He, and everyone else within the Guild, seemed to watch her with a keener eye since news of Lilia's death spread like wildfire weeks ago. With the Second now deceased, the position was officially open and needed to be filled as soon as possible, otherwise, it would be seen as a sign of weakness within the Guild itself.

There were some who believed it should be Cassandra vying for the seat to continue her sister's legacy, but more than a few already swore their allegiance to Wil as if the seat should automatically belong to him as Baz's current Third.

Cass was already tired of the politics, but it didn't stop Wil or Baz from trying to get an answer from her.

Baz at least had the decency to leave her letters - notes - officially inquiring as to her position on the matter.

Wil, on the other hand, enjoyed being a pain in the ass about it.

She heard him when he entered the training room and did everything in her power to ignore his presence completely as she continued to beat the training dummy into submission. But still, he stood along the wall by the door - she felt his eyes on her without even having to turn her head. He stared as though he was calculating each move she made, assessing her state of mind from each punch she threw- she could just picture the smirk on his face as he watched her, which made her increase her efforts with her fists as she continued to ignore him as she pummeled the padding before her.

"You're hitting with your top knuckles too much," Wil finally shouted as he began his slow approach towards her, hands in his pockets as if he was in any position to have a casual conversation with her.

The only verbal acknowledgment she gave him was a low growl from deep in her throat, and as if his presence was motivation enough, Cassandra increased her punch speed. She attacked the training dummy before her with double the effort, ignoring Wil's advice and advancement, continuing to punch as she had been, even if she knew her skin was splitting underneath her hand wraps.

"And your footwork is completely off-balance," he taunted as he stopped a mere step away from where she sparred.

To show him just how off-balance her footwork may have been, Cass swung her leg around in a roundhouse kick that did, indeed, knock the dummy down to the ground with a thud that resounded off of the training room's walls.

He remained where he stood, an unimpressed smirk on his face, and Cass barely glanced at him before she began walking to the nearest wall where a pitcher of water waited for her like an oasis in the desert.

"You're getting sloppy," Wil chastised as he followed her, and she finally turned to face him with genuine disgust in her eyes.

"What do you want?" Cass snapped after she finished her mouthful of satisfying water.

That grin on Wil's face... Cass glared at him harder. He continued to ignore her distaste.

"Unlike you, some of us actually give a damn about this Guild and its forward progression, so while you've been down here crying about a past you cannot change, the rest of us have been preparing to elect in a new Second."

"Baz didn't say anything..."

"Would you have listened if he did?" Wil accused. "He probably figured you'd knock him on his ass like that dummy over there. Lucky for you, I'm not the one fucking you, so I don't feel the need to give two shits about your emotional state."

Cass didn't deign to give him a response.

Content with her reaction, he dared to press forward "Rumor is, the replacement of the Guild's Second isn't the only thing you've left hanging-"

She spun to face him. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, c'mon Cass... do you really think word of Baz's proposal was going to remain locked behind your bedroom door?"

She could only glare at Wil as he stood there, arrogant and knowing, with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

What he said was not untrue, but she would not give him the benefit of knowing that.

Another reason Cassandra had been avoiding Baz was because she didn't have an answer for him.

True, she had told him she would have an answer for him by the time he returned from his mission, but with everything else in her world crashing down around her, the last thing Cass could focus on was getting married. Even if there was a part of her who wanted it desperately. But Baz would understand - he would have to. She knew he would.

"Wake up, Cortova." Wil was in front of her now, snapping his fingers before her face, distracting her from her thought process. "It's time to get your shit together."

"What does it matter to you anyway?" she snarled.

"Probably more than you realize," he said softly, his eyes remaining on her. "Is this what Lilia would have wanted you to do?"

"Leave my sister out of this!" she snapped. "If I didn't know any better, you should be the one celebrating my deliberate disinterest."

"It's no fun if you're going to so willingly give in!" Wil countered, and for a moment Cass could have sworn he almost looked disappointed in her. It was gone a moment later as he ran a hand over his stubbled jaw. "I couldn't care less what you do with yourself, Cortova, but just remember - you're still a member of this damn Guild, and when it goes to hell, you're going to go down with it."

Cass scoffed. "Is that a threat or a promise?"

"It will be whatever you want it to be if you give a damn enough to see it through."

He looked her over once more, and there was something in his glance that made Cassandra oddly uneasy. It wasn't similar to the look he had given her when he had her pinned during her Trial- she never wanted him to look at her like that again- but it was more intimate than she ever would have preferred.

She was about to threaten him with the removal of his balls over it as well, but before she could open her mouth to elicit the threat, he turned on his heel and removed himself from the training hall without a glance behind him, leaving Cass again in her solace.