There was nothing to do but wait and see what would happen next. Either they would let her learn how to fight with the rest of the warriors, or they would stunt her growth and throw her into some safe female role within the academy. She knew that they wouldn’t turf her out on the streets or try to send her back home. After all, she was the first female with the warrior mark. They would want to protect that. That had to mean something special to them, even if they held her back from fighting. They had too much pride and loyalty for their warriors to ever contemplate throwing one out on the streets.
She was concerned now which path her life would take. Forward or backward?
Especially now. Since receiving the mark and coming to this academy, everything had fit into place. It felt right. Sure, it had been scary and it still was, but she wanted this. She wanted this more than anything else in her whole life. She had a purpose. She was scared to her very core that they were in there, discussing how best to take it all away from her. She’d had a lot of time on her hands over the last couple of days to think all this through clearly and she knew what she wanted. Deep down in her heart she could feel it. She was ready for this.
All she could do now was hope and pray that they wouldn’t take it all away from her. There was nothing more she could do. Once the Warrior had made up his mind, there would be no going back. No matter how much she wanted prove herself. This was it.
Abruptly, the door swung open again and Kayleigh leaned forward to pop her head out. Ash couldn’t read anything at all from her face or the look in her eyes; she was a blank canvas.
Great.
“Will you come back in, please?”
Aisline got up from the chair and took a deep, centring breath. Whatever was going to happen next was going to be life changing.
Was it going to be for the better or for the worse?
“Take a seat.” Kelton said, not taking his eyes off of his laptop, tapping away on the keys with a ferocious intensity. Aisline sat back down on the chair on the opposite side of the desk and waited with edgy impatience.
Luckily, she didn’t have to wait too long to find out her fate.
“You’re going to train.”
Aisline stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief. She didn’t think in a million years that Kayleigh would have been able to talk him around. Believing that they would let her into combat was a shot in the dark. She’d been much more ready to fight her corner when she was told that she was being taken out of the possibility of an active role. She was in total shock. Sitting there with her mouth hanging wide open, she looked from Warrior Kelton to Kayleigh, who she now noticed was wearing a triumphant grin as she stood behind Kelton’s shoulder where he couldn’t see her beaming, were waiting to see what she had to say. She was speechless.
“You must understand that this is not something that we have ever done before. You are the first female warrior of our race. Females have never been on the front line of our fight before. We don’t know what you will be capable of, but we think that it would be a shame for you, and for us, to waste this opportunity.”
You could have heard a pin drop in the room as Aisline sat in stunned shock, nodding along with whatever Kelton said as he explained what was going to happen from here on out. She was ready to agree to any terms that he dared to lay down for her. Anything so that she could pursue this new dream of hers.
“You will train with the rest of the recruits. They haven’t got any advantage over you as of yet, except all of those years of preparation.” he raised a sarcastic eyebrow, but Ash didn’t care in the slightest what advantage the others had over her. She’d catch up to be their equal, hopefully better. “I don’t mean that to sound harsh, but those boys have known from birth that they would grow to be warriors. You have had a mere few days to adjust.
“Their training schedule was interrupted by the death of our leader, so things have been a little up in the air at the academy.” Kelton was quiet for a moment as he lost his train of thought. Bartholomew. There was so much to do. So much to find out. His death must be avenged.
Shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts and bring himself back to the present, he continued, “Tomorrow, training will resume as planned. And you will be involved fully in that training. Kayleigh?” He turned to look at his mate and she nodded at him, her face now serious, and the victorious grin long gone.
“Aisline, anything you need, anything you want to know, you go to Kayleigh. She will be your personal mentor. And if you can’t find Kayleigh, you come and find me.”
“Ash, if you’ll come with me now, we have much to prepare.” Kayleigh started out of the room, not looking back, confident that the new warrior would be following behind her.
And she did. But she paused at the door to turn back to look at Master Warrior Kelton.
“Thank you. I just needed to say that. Thank you for having faith in me.” and she meant that with every fibre of her being. He could have so easily taken it all away from her in the blink of an eye, but he’d given her a chance. A chance to prove herself. It went without saying that she would not let him down.
“I have faith in you, and I have faith in the choice of the warriors mark.” He said in a soft tone as the door gently clicked closed behind her.
Aisline hurried to catch up with Kayleigh as she strode back towards her bedroom.
“As we said, this will be your room for the rest of your time at this academy. At least you don’t have to worry about packing all your things up again, which is a bonus. It’ll save us some time because we have so much to do. And it is yours to do with what you wish. Within reason, of course. We try to discourage the boys from plastering their rooms with FHM centrefolds, and we have to ask the same of you.”
Aisline grinned impishly, “There won’t be an FHM centrefold in sight. I can promise you that.”
“Funny.” Kayleigh rolled her eyes and couldn’t help but laugh.
Kayleigh knew this room well. It had been hers when she had first moved into the Sons, before she had officially moved in with Kelton. Not that any of the students knew that they shared a bed. Well, most of them had probably already guessed it, but no one had ever been rude enough to call them out on it.
“We will need to take you to the laundry area to get you kitted out as best we can. You will need full combat gear, training gear and some casual things. Anything that we can’t find down there, we’ll have to send out for.”
Aisline was trying her hardest to concentrate, but the excitement was getting the best of her and she couldn’t help but dance a little jig around the room.
“Thank you, Kayleigh, if it wasn’t for you…” she trailed off as emotion thickened her throat.
“No need to thank me. Once Kelton has made up his mind, there’s no changing it. I just voiced what he was already thinking. He believes strongly in the choice of the warrior mark, and he knows that it has chosen right in you. And we know that even though your family aren’t descendants of our deceased leader and that no one of your blood line has ever been chosen to bear the mark of the warrior. So, Kelton believes that there must be something extraordinarily special about you. He trusts in the mark, and he trusts in you.”
They stood there in the empty hallway, the laundry room long forgotten, as Kayleigh gave this impassioned speech. Aisline had no words. She was utterly speechless.
“Wow.” was all she could mutter.
“Come on, honey,” Kayleigh chuckled, “Let’s get you started.” Smiling gently at her again, she put a friendly arm around her shoulder to pull her forward.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why did Warrior Kelton chose you in particular to look after me? He said something in the beginning. I did wonder why you were trying to choose someone else.” Ash asked.
“Well, I guess that was my own insecurities coming through. I thought you would be best having a warrior for a mentor. After all, I’m not a fighter. But, I’m happy to help out the best I can, and
I know that we can muddle through this together.”
Aisline smiled, “I’m pleased with the choice. But, was it just because you were the first person I met? Don’t get me wrong, I’m thrilled that you got the job as my mentor. I think it’s amazing. But, he did mention something about us having things in common. What did he mean by that?”
They were both quiet again as they stood still and Aisline had feared that she had asked the wrong question. She should had just been happy that she had Kayleigh to turn to and left it at that. Curiosity killed the cat and all that.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” Ash whispered and put her head down, afraid that she had offended her new found friend.
“No, no. I can understand why you asked. It’s just that it is very personal, and something that is extremely difficult for me to talk about.” Kayleigh said, her brow furrowing.
“That’s okay. Forget I asked. It doesn’t matter. Honestly it doesn’t.” Aisline didn’t want to cause this woman any emotional pain by making her speak of something that was obviously so difficult for her. After all, she was hoping that Kayleigh could be the person that she turned to in her time at the academy for guidance and advice. She didn’t want the fact that she had opened up her big mouth and asked an awkward question about something that was clearly so personally challenging that she had burnt her bridges and pushed her away. Kayleigh could be more than just a mentor to her She could be a good friend to her.
“No, Aisline. It’s fine. Honestly. I just haven’t spoken of this much, and only to a couple of people before you. Kelton and Bartholomew knew. Nobody else knows and no one must find out.” She glanced nervously around them, as if to make sure there was no one else listening.
This was starting to sound a little ominous.
“I wouldn’t breathe a word to anyone. You can trust me. I wouldn’t tell a soul. You don‘t have to tell me though. I understand.”
In a way, she didn’t want to hear about it now. Before, when she had asked, she thought that maybe it would be some simple story, like about living in a school of warriors and coping with being surrounded by them 24/7. But now? Now she feared what she was going to hear.
“Come, let’s go and talk.” Kayleigh said as she steered her back towards Aisline’s room. “We need somewhere quiet and private.”
Once they got back inside and the door was firmly shut behind them, Aisline quickly sat down on one of the sofas.
“Kelton must trust you a lot, or else he wouldn’t have mentioned it. It is obvious that you would wonder what he meant by it.”
Moving to kneel in front of Ash, “I must have your word. On your honour as a warrior, that you will never ever repeat what I am about to say to you. Lives will be at risk if you do. Mainly mine. You must give me your word, now.”
Kayleigh grasped hold of her hands and looked deeply into her eyes, asking for loyalty and understanding.
“I promise, on my life. And you have my word as a warrior of this race.”
Kayleigh nodded and turned slightly, sighing loudly. Standing to take a couple of paces to sit down on the opposite sofa, she sat down heavily back down on the plush, ivory sofa, sinking into its softness. Looking over at Aisline, she indicated that she should get a drink now if she needed one.
Ash grabbed a can of Pepsi and waited quietly, only the bubbles popping in the can could be heard.
“Aisline. I’m not what you think I am.”
Well, that wasn’t what she was expecting to hear. It didn’t make any sense. Aisline looked at her questioningly.
With an emotionless look in her eye, Kayleigh leaned forward.
“I am Lamia Mortuorum.”
Chapter Sixteen.
“Eh? What do you mean? I don’t understand?”
Kayleigh could have smiled at the obvious confusion on Aisline’s face if the situation hadn’t of been so serious. That was the last thing she had expected her to say, obviously.
She was risking a hell of a lot telling this girl the truth about herself. They had only known her for a very short length of time. But, there was something about her that both she and Kelton trusted instinctively. She would not betray their confidence. And sharing her own horrific story with her may help her to put her own adjustments into perspective. There are always worse cases out there than your own.
“Aisline, I am Lamia Mortuorum. I was made this way.”
Aisline looked dumb struck. How could this be? Kayleigh must be joking. Although why she would joke about something quite as sick as this, Aisline had no idea. She didn’t look like one of those evil creatures, not in the least. She looked the same as everyone here. There was nothing that screamed ’monster’ about her. Typically, the Mortuorum only had one set of fangs in place of their canines. The Lamia Matris have two sets, the canine pair being slightly larger and longer than the secondary incisors. She truly didn’t understand what she was being told here. How could this be?
“Let me explain it all to you, from the beginning.” Kayleigh took a deep breath to gather her courage.
“I was human. I was married to a wonderful man and had three amazing children with him. My life was perfect. It was everything I had ever wanted. We were happy. I was happy with my life. And then, one night, everything changed.”
Kayleigh took a deep breath. This was more difficult for her to think about and talk about than she imagined it would be. Articulating the nightmare she had lived through? Not easy. She hoped that she could remain detached and keep the emotion out of her voice, but she knew now that she had started, that wouldn’t happen.
This was her life they were talking about. The end of her life.
Her previous life was something that she refused to think about for the most part. It was too painful to think about all that she had lost during her transformation. She was happy here in her new existence here. She was happy with her relationship with Kelton. Thinking of her past and everything that she had lost was extremely painful for her. It brought all the wounds back raw.
“I was just coming home from Christmas shopping one day. The car was piled high with a ridiculous amount of gifts for all my family. I still remember smiling to myself, thinking of my sons beaming faces when they opened up all of the presents that I’d bought for them. They were an adorable, spoiled pair and their excitement was becoming unbearable as Christmas was drawing near. I know that you celebrate Christmas time, but it is nothing compared to how the humans do it. It’s a really huge thing, and everybody goes all out, food, presents, decorations, trees, the whole shebang. Religion has very little to do with the holiday spirit these days, I must say. It’s all a commercial buzz. Anyway, I was running through lists in my mind of all the things I had yet to do, like buying the turkey, wrapping the presents, making the stuffing, all the usual things. And that was when the car came out of nowhere and rammed into mine, sending me spinning off of the road.”
Aisline gasped. She had not expected anything like this at all and she sat, rapt, waiting to hear the full horror of the story that was this woman’s life.
“Unfortunately, my death had been planned. It wasn’t some random, untimely accident. The other car belonged to someone whom I had considered to be a very close friend. Which was an immense shock when I found out, I can tell you. I thought she was someone I could turn to. Someone I could trust. Obviously, she wasn’t what she had appeared to be. All she wanted was to get me out of the way so she could get her claws into my husband, Michael.”
Pausing to wipe a rogue tear from the corner of her eye, Kayleigh straightened up a little in her chair and tried her damnedest to put on a brave face. She’d lived through it and come out the other side. Tears of self-pity would do neither of them any good now.
“What would have been the worst night of anyone’s life just got even worse. My injuries didn’t kill me, but the smell of blood lured one of the Lamia Mortuorum to where I was and, well, I don’t need to put in words to you what happened next. It’s clear really,” she spread her hands, “
They changed me. They tried to add me to their ranks.” Her voice was very bitter, but that was more than understandable after everything that she had been through.
“I still don’t really know what happened next. That bit is still a blur for me to be honest. I just remember the change being very painful. It was all very confusing. It’s nothing I could ever explain to anybody in words. It was just a blur of red hot pain.
“We know that there are plenty of times that the Mortuorum go out and change a random human just for fun, and then they leave them to their own devices to wreak havoc in our city, and that might have been what happened to me. We just don’t know. They might have left me or they may have been disturbed and frightened away,”
“Anyway, that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that Kelton was out on duty that night. And he was the one who found me.”
Aisline let out an involuntary gasp and Kayleigh gave her a wry smile.
“Yes, exactly. I was extremely lucky that he didn’t just kill me on sight. Something stopped him, thank goodness. He still can’t say why he didn’t slaughter me on sight.” Kayleigh chuckled lightly. The sound was a little off, but this was not surprising given the intensity of the conversation at hand. What was abundantly clear though, was that she had come to worship Kelton.
“Oh, Kayleigh.” Aisline was on the verge of tears herself. This was one of the most harrowing tales she had ever heard, made all the worse that it was true. “I’m so sorry that this happened to you.”
“It worked out for the most part. Kelton understood that I was confused about what had happened and what I had become. He took the time to teach me the right way. Which wasn’t easy, believe me. It wasn’t easy at all. Far from it. The pain was unbelievable. The bloodlust in the beginning was totally out of control and I didn’t think that I would ever be able to conquer it. It was all I could think about. It controlled everything about me. There was nothing left but the bloodlust.
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