The nineteen year old only nodded in fear, his voice and ability to speak were completely gone as he was paralyzed with fear. The brunette boy in the woods looked no older than him, but he was an elite, and that was enough to scare the red boy into submission. He didn't even try to fight back, he could only cower as Cade's balled up fist collided with his eye.
"You shouldn't be out by yourself." Dieter said to her, turning to his brother and gesturing to the black eye he was sporting. "Finn went to look for me last night in your part of town and he was attacked by a bandit in the woods."
Violet couldn't help but muttering under her breath. "That wasn't a bandit, and he deserved it."
Had she not been tied up by her violet classmates, she would have fought back and would have given him a black eye herself. Now that it was all over she was only glad that someone heard her and took pity, helping her fight him off and teaching him a lesson for attempting to hurt her. But she wondered who that boy in the forest was. A boy who seemed to know her, or at least hinted that he did. But she didn't recall knowing any brunettes when she was growing up. They all lived in Crown City and would never dream of visiting Porpra. To them, Porpra was what nightmares were made of. They were accustomed to luxury.
"What?" Dieter asked in confusion.
"Nothing." Violet quickly said.
As the last of the Park siblings left the school grounds, Dieter turned to say goodbye to his friend. "I'll come by your house later today to talk to your parents." If Dieter was going to be eighteen and wouldn't need his parents' permission to marry her, Violet would still be seventeen and need her parents to approve. But Violet thought they would gladly sign the permission papers in order to save their daughter. Especially after seeing what the army had done to their son.
She only nodded and watched him walk away with his siblings. She then waited by the entrance a few minutes longer for her sister to emerge from the school.
-
Cade returned home to Crown City by aircraft which only took about a few hours. He had spent the entirety of his night in the woods after walking Violet home and teaching the red boy a lesson he would never forget. He didn't see much, all was quiet in the Raine family home, until sometime during the night when he saw movement in one of the bedrooms. Through the shadows behind the curtain he would see two people talking. But he could not hear what they were saying. It was not important to him. He had only been assigned to see who came and went from the house.
He left early in the morning, long before the town became alive with the bustling of businesses and kids going off to school.
He went straight to the king's throne room to give him a debriefing of the events and what he had observed. He bowed respectfully as he was met with the blue eyed sixteen year old king. The king, of course, already knew of his return, and was already waiting for him. The crown adorning his head seemed big and heavy, yet he still looked graceful and powerful despite his young age. He was never destined to be king, from the moment he was born. He was second in line for the golden throne of Vesperia, behind an older brother named Ares. But tragedy had struck the kingdom, thrusting the youngest son into the spotlight and forcing him to wear the crown that he once thought would never be for him. This was a boy Cade had grown up with, a boy he once knew as being kind and loving, stuck in the shadows, and always pushed off to the side. But now his heart was stone cold and full of hate.
Pain and suffering had done that to him.
"My best friend." The boy king greeted with the tiniest hint of a smile. A smile that Cade remembered well, but didn't see very often anymore. "Have you any information of use for me?"
The young general gave a shake of his head, ready to disappoint the young monarch. "I would have needed more time, your majesty. But I was needed back here to work on some new gadgets that can be of use to our kingdom's military. I saw no one other than the family at that house."
His fist slammed on the table angrily, his mood changing in an instant. "Dammit Cade. They're planning something against me. I just know it. But I think they know we're watching. That's why they're being extra careful. But we have to be quicker and smarter than them if we want to smoke out those filthy violet rats." Still, his outburst did nothing to startle his friend. By now, Cade was used to the king's ever changing moods. One moment he was happy, false smiles everywhere, and the next he was ordering mass executions to showcase his power or making paranoid assumptions that someone was planning to overthrow him. There was usually no in between.
The two glanced towards the door as it was pushed open and another person stepped into the room. He bowed his head to the two of them and apologized for the interruption. "I apologize my king. But I have important news about that family you've been asking us to watch." Cade could feel his heart sink in his chest at the words. He hadn't found anything when he went to Porpra. But even if he had found something, he knew he would never tell the king about him. Violet had been too good to him for him to betray her help like that. Even if it had happened when he was a little boy, he still appreciated it, and he had promised himself he would always help her if the opportunity came up.
But Lieutenant Paisley had no connection to the family. He didn't care about them, and if he had found something, he would not hesitate to tell the king about it.
The blue eyed king raised an eyebrow at him. "Speak."
"Indigo Raine has deserted." He informed, a bit too gleeful about the situation. He knew well what happened when someone deserted and he was excited to see the show. "He did not show up to morning drills and when his superiors went to check the trenches, he was gone. Vanished into thin air. But no one saw him leave the base. No one knows where she is."
"Issue a search warrant and go to their home in the slums of Porpra." He quickly said with a wide grin. He would find any excuse to check their house for any illegal activity. "They must be hiding him somewhere."
"I will go with Paisely, if I may." Cade offered, trying to maintain his calm.
The king nodded in agreement, giving his permission for Cade to go with him. "I put my trust in you, Cade."
Cade responded by giving a bow of his head in turn. "I will not fail you, my king."
The blue eyed boy was pleased by his response. "I know."
-
this chapter is a bit shorter than the others. but i had to cut it off here, otherwise i would have to wait to do the cutoff like five hundred words from this point.
i hope you're all liking the story.
like i said, i know this is a lot of build up instead of the beginning we all remember. but i promise all of this will help the story make more sense in the end. it opens up the other chapters i had written before. i think i might have one or two more chapters to write new before i start posting the other chapters.
thank you all loads for reading and supporting my story. it means a lot to me.
-clary
