"And now Alexander, it's your turn." Once I heard Arianna say those words, I immediately tensed. If anything happened to him...
"I don't see anything that we should discuss." He replied calmly.
"Oh, but I do." She replied, eyeing him intensely.
"Cassandra, you may exit the room." She said. Now, I was more furious than ever. But, I did my best to hide it.
"I'm sorry, but what is that supposed to mean? I'm the last prophetess on earth that can have children and continue our legacy. I thought I was supposed to be a part of The Council, even though I'm too young. I'll have to consider that as an insult."
"No, no. Please, don't think like that. Of course, you are always welcome here and of course there will be always a place for you in The Council. It's just that you will probably have better things to do than stay here and listen to our conversation with Alexander." She smiled sweetly. I wanted to vomit. I knew she was lying. I was a prophetess. She couldn't just deceive me like this.
"Thanks for your consideration, but I would prefer to stay. It would be a great opportunity to see how things work here. Unless there is a problem with that, is there?" I said glaring at her.
"No, no of course not. As you please." I sighed relieved. Now I was determined to make everything to get Alexander out of here, alive. "Mr. Silver, I know you are aware of our decision concerning your existence." Arianna started talking.
"If you are referring to the fact that you had sentenced me to death, before I was even born, yes I'm well aware of it." He replied like nothing serious was happening. I just kept glaring at Arianna. She must have noticed, but she didn't react.
"Yes, about that." She hesitated. Out of the blue, she turned to look at me. I tried to look as hostile as I could. She turned to look at Alexander almost instantly. "We owe you an apology."
"A what?" We both exclaimed.
"We shouldn't count on false and regressive ideas to take that decision. So, I think it is time for us to apologize for our behaviour. We wish you the best for your life and we hope someday you will be able to forgive us." Alexander and I exchanged looks.
"You realize of course that if your efforts to kill me were successful, I wouldn't be here to hear that."
"We do Alexander. And I understand why you are angry with us. It's normal and expected."
"Yeah, whatever." Alexander said trying to hide his annoyance, stood up and left the room.
"Excuse me for a moment." I said standing up and followed Alexander. I found him leaning against the wall a few feet away. "Hey." I said reaching him. "How are you doing?"
"You realize that they were lying."
"Yes, Alexander. I know she was lying."
"They wanted to apologize. Bullshit!"
"Calm down. I promise we will get out of here as soon as possible."
"I hope so." He replied hugging me tightly.
"Cassandra?" I heard Arianna calling me from behind.
"Yes?" I replied.
"Can I have a minute in private?" She asked.
"Of course. But, there is something I need to do first. It want take long, I assure you." I said and disappeared in the hallway, dragging Alexander along with me, without waiting for her approval or reply.
Thankfully, we reached the entrance room where everyone was waiting. They stood up when they saw us.
"What happened?"
"What did they tell you?" They asked.
"It's not the right time for questions. Go to the cars and turn on the engines. If you see any movement against you, leave without hesitation. Don't wait for me." I whispered and turned to leave.
"What are you talking about? Why?" Somebody asked.
"Now." I said before going back to Arianna. If they were smart, they would follow my advice.
"You were honest. It didn't take long." Arianna said when I entered the meeting room.
She was alone. The other members had disappeared. I was wondering whether they really had anything to do with the decisions that were supposedly taken by them or it was just Arianna. I waited her to continue, but instead she was just drinking red wine from a large glass. She seemed to enjoy delaying me. I just wished the others were ok.
"So, what did you exactly want to talk about in private? I have a flight to catch you know and I really don't want to miss it." I lied. She looked at me, a creepy smile appearing on her face.
"You can't lie to me Cassandra. I might be old enough to be unable to see visions, but the instinct that all prophetesses have by birth has not abandoned me yet."
"Well, then I would like to remind you that I'm young enough to see visions and my instinct is much stronger than yours, so the same goes for you."
"I knew you would understand my little lie, but I couldn't just get you thrown out of the room, since you are the last prophetess on earth and our legacy is in the hands of a teenager who happens to be the soulmate of an Original vampire." I was shocked. How many things did this woman know?
"How do you know about that?"
"You have just confirmed it."
"There isn't a point in lying, is there?"
"No, not really." She replied smiling.
"What do you want?"
"Me? Nothing."
"What do you want? You, The Council or somebody else, what the hell do you want?"I yelled. She laughed.
"I just want to see how far are you capable of going to help your friend."
"You won't touch Alexander." I warned her.
"I'm not interested in hurting Alexander anymore. That should be done the moment he was born. We can't change anything now."
"Then?" I insisted annoyed. That woman was driving me crazy.
"I mean your doppelganger friend, Elena isn't it?"
"Are you spying on me???" I yelled.
"Don't yell. And of course I am. Do you think I would leave you do whatever you want? The only thing I care about is you having children and continue our legacy. And it doesn't help to be the soulmate of a vampire, especially an Original one."
"It wasn't my choice! If I had the chance to change this, I would have done it already."
"I know it wasn't your choice, Cassandra. That's why I want to have a deal." She said smiling sweetly, making me want to throw up.
"What kind of a deal?"
"It is easy. You get married and have children. Ignore the vampire. Or if you don't want any of these just have children. In return, no one gets hurt."
"You are threatening to hurt my friends and family?"
"Friends actually. You see there is not much family left to you, since your mother died giving birth to you and your father was murdered. You have only Christa left. And we never touch our people." She said taking another sip of her wine. "Although, just to be clear, Lucia and Laura are not considered part of the family, as they can't see visions and definitely the same goes for Alexander. I don't have to mention Iphigenia, do I?"
"No, you don't." I replied dryly.
"So am I clear?"
"Crystal. But, just to make sure that I'm clear too, I tell you that if anything, anything happens to anyone, be sure that you will regret it." She laughed.
"Don't try to threaten me! You are too young to blackmail me! I'm older than you, I have more experience and definitely more power and influence than you do! So save the threats for someone else!"
"Do you think I'm an idiot? It's pretty obvious that you have a major influence and power, since you are hidden under every rock."
"So, we have established that. You can't blackmail me." A victorious smile appeared on her face.
"Actually, I can." I replied. She seemed amused.
"And how is that going to happen?"
"I'll bargain the only thing you fear the most. If anything whatsoever happens to my loved ones, friends or family, the next minute I'll have someone turn me into vampire or just kill myself which means no descendants which means the end of the prophetess bloodline." Now, her smile had disappeared and all that had left was just a frustrated expression. I smiled thinking she was taken aback for once in her life.
"You wouldn't." She said infuriated, standing up. She was shaking from her anger.
"Try me." I replied calmly smiling.
"You wouldn't." She repeated.
"I have nothing to lose." I said shrugging and turning around to leave.
"Do not mess with me Cassandra. It will not end up well."
"The same goes for you." She looked at me in disbelief. Probably, no one had threatened her before.
"Nice meeting you too, Arianna."
Author's Note: So what do you think about Cassandra's confrontation with Arianna? What do you think she will do with the information she was given?