Jax gave a look around the table, which was quite bare in comparison to how it looked only a few days before. Now there were only 4 people sitting around the long, grand table. January sat across from Z, and on either head of the table, sat King Jax and Celine Hollingsworth. Jan felt spite rising in him. Celine looked slightly uncomfortable to be seated right across from the king, and Jan scorned her for it. Many would kill for such a preference. Jax held preference to Celine, that was evident to everyone but Celine. Jan doubted the king even knew how partial he was to the blonde.
“When you word it that way Z, I’ll tell you straight up.”
“Usually that doesn’t mean giving an introductory sentence to this big news,” Celine stated. Jax gave a curious glance to the girl who had spoken, who looked up in somewhat a sassy yet firm expression, taking an almost daring bite of her bread. She had nerve, but he had tolerance.
“Fair enough.” Jax smiled, “You all are part of The Strategists of His Majesty.”
A relieved sigh came from Celine’s lips, and she crumpled back into her seat, her façade crumbling.
“We should just shorten that to The Strategists,” was Z’s comment. Jan felt his lips tugging upwards for a second, though he fought it down. Emotion is weakness.
“In addition to another girl,” Jax added, almost sheepishly.
“What?” Jan couldn’t help but ask. They had gone through a lot to be where they were, and despite his dislike of Celine, he knew that it wasn’t fair to her either. It wasn’t fair to any of them.
“She’s coming in today-”
“She hasn’t done a survival course, I reckon.”
“Or had to hold a gun against someone else’s temple?” Z added. Jan remembered Z’s reaction to Jax’s words. He had put the gun against his own head, despite Jax’s warning that one of the guns were loaded, and you would have to be prepared to pull the trigger. Z had kept the gun against himself, nonetheless.
“But she’s a girl, and I’ve just about had it with you guys.” January couldn’t help but to glare at Celine. He was trying to help her, and she outright refused it!
“You all will interview her, see how she’s like. But I warn you, she has some impressive credentials on her side.”
“Don’t mind me asking, but why exactly do we need credentials?” Z had once again, struck the most important question. Jax was being secretive, and he looked a bit sheepish.
“I want you guys to help me rebuild NNR. You know that. But I have a feeling that we will be met with some resistance, and some qualifications will be needed.”
“Deep sea diving is a needed qualification?” Celine asked.
“You guys work quite well together when it pertains to drilling me for answers,” the king sighed, realizing his stalling tactic wasn’t working. “That trial was to see what your reaction in an unfavourable situation would be. If you would serve yourself or others; if you would get out by brute strength, or through strategy; if you would break under pressure or bend to the situation.”
Jan crossed his arms and concluded, “So forcing us to shoot each other is your way of seeing if we’ll break?”
Jax groaned and threw his head into his hands.
…
Fey Downcley was her name. She had walked in with a certain air of distinction, as if she knew her place.
“The Strategists?” she asked, looking almost bored, brushing her hair out of her eyes.
Celine, who was seated in directly across from her, gave her a nod, a gentle smile occupying her face. “Yes. I take it your Fey Downcley?”
“Have any other candidates coming in?” Jan felt his eyebrows jump up at her sarcasm. “Yes. I am.”
“So-” Z had begun, but Jan cut in, feeling unsettled by this girl’s presence.
“Jax told us that you have credentials.”
“Yep.”
Jan threw down the file that contained all of Fey’s information. “Explain.”
She looked unfazed and stared Jan down, her lips pulled in a tight-lipped smile. “Your king sent out puzzles to check problem-solving abilities. I passed all of them, so if you wish, you can call me the best problem-solver in NNR.”
“You’re quite cocky.”
“I could say the same for you, January, is it? And don’t worry, I’m not a guy in the guise of a girl.” Celine’s mouth parted slightly, in amazement, Jan guessed. This girl had just turned the tables and was almost grilling them with information that was classified.
“No wonder Jax likes you,” Celine commented.
Fey flashed a grin, leaning back in her chair nonchalantly. “I’m good with extracting information.”
“From what, specifically?” Celine asked, slightly wary but still impressed.
“Devices. Humans.”
“Some would argue they’re the same,” Z replied with.
Fey looked amused, as she fired out a response immediately after. “And I would agree with them.”
Celine cleared her throat, interrupting the two, as she picked out one page from the rest. “Why haven’t you come beforehand? When Jax was sifting through us?”
Something in her face shifted, her dark eyes seemed to become more thoughtful. “Truth is—I might die.”
Jan was perplexed. “What?”
“I’ve been suffering from a disease, which will forever remain unknown, since my birth. As I am sure you all know, since WWIII, the Immortales have taken every piece of information on diseases, how to treat them, and what we can use to help ourselves. One thing is certain, however. I’ll die by the end of it.”
“How can you be so sure?” Z asked, “As you said, you don’t know what it is.”
Fey looked woefully at Z. “You’re hopeful for the life of someone you don’t even know. But it’s definite. The pain reminds me that it’s a sure death. And if not, then I am certain there will be a time that I wish it would kill me.”
“What kind of pain?” Jan couldn’t help but ask, and she looked at him sharply as if she forgot he was there.
“Like your body is ripping apart slowly, all from the inside. That your organs are giving up on you. That you will fall into a fever that you doubt you can overcome. A pain so great, you want to shrivel up and die.”
Z let out a low whistle, which Fey managed a small smile. Celine spoke up, her voice almost awkward. “So why do you want to be here?”
“I’m a dying girl. I just might collapse any second, due to a fit that I might never wake up from. But I’ve accepted that. As a child, I could never fear. I had accepted my own death, and to me, nothing was worse than death. So in a way, nothing touched me. It is fear, and the absence of fear that creates most things. But if I join this I’ll finally feel it. Scared. Afraid that one of my choices—that one of my mistakes—will cost everyone, because on the terms of the universe, the stakes become much higher. My life means nothing when I’m risking all those other ones. A nobody affecting everybody,” she licked her lips thoughtfully, “But it’s not for that power that I want this. I want to do this to bring some meaning into my practically non-existent life. And I have to do it while I still am alive.”
There was silence.
“I think it’s safe to announce that you’re in,” Celine finally said.
“Since when were you the one calling the shots, Hollingsworth?” Jan snidely piped up, causing Celine to swivel in her chair to shoot him an almost intimidating glare.
It was Z’s voice cut in the miniature staring contest that they were having, “Well it doesn’t matter anyway, does it Jan? Majority wins, and me and Hollingsworth, have given our approval. So even if you argue against it—which I have no idea why—it doesn’t change anything.”
Jan knew that Z was trying to be fair, and his smile was light and easy, but Jan still felt mocked and betrayed. By who, he didn’t know, but he still felt very on edge. So Fey’s comment pushed him over the edge.
“Must feel pretty bad to realize how wrong you are, huh? Well Jan, you should get used to it.”
Fey’s mocking, smug look, Celine’s admiring smile, and Z’s neutral expression all were too much. So he spun on his heel, and stormed right out of that room, fuming.
Fourteen
CELINE was done with January. Yes, she got that Fey was pushing him, and yes, she saw where his distrust was coming from. And even she had realized that January’s trust was something you could only acquire, and that was not done through mocking him.
But he had to realize that their numbers were low, much too low for her liking. 3 people would not hold up a project. Fey had impressive credentials, true to Jax’s word. The fact that she did her research, and exceedingly well too, proved just how seriously she took this project. They needed her.
And Celine also had some sort of a feeling that Fey and Jan could balance each other out.
Z looked worried at Jan’s sudden departure, however. “Should I go after him?”
Celine put out a hand, shaking her head subtly at Z. “Let him cool off.”
Fey let out a triumphant smirk. “Well, when do I start?”
…
“Hey, do you mind giving me a rundown on what exactly I missed?” Fey and Celine were seated in the dining room, their voices echoing across the empty room that 3 other people should have occupied, 7 minutes ago.
Celine sent her a surprised glance. “You didn’t seem to mind back there.”
The new girl let out a soft chuckle, “It’s hard to keep a front like that. Though I have a feeling that you have one too-”
“Oh really?” Celine asked, a bit miffed.
“Yes, really. Your posture is quintessential, arms typically loosely folded together, and a neutral expression—you need to work on that last part, by the way. You’re the leader, whether you chose it or not. But that’s beside the point. It would be nice to know why January hates my guts so much. The feeling’s mutual,” she quickly added.
“Let’s just add body language to the list of your specialties.” Celine blew a strand of her loose blonde hair out of her face. “We first had 6 members, though one of us had Scorchen. Then we had 5. Two more joined, and that night, Jax let in one more. Then, as you know, the next day, we found out that Nox was actually a girl in disguise of a guy. Paris Avelapoulos was the one to unveil that. We went through many sorts of discussions and had to open up to a level that I don’t think any of us were comfortable with. Then we had to do underwater diving, to see what our reactions would be in an unfavourable situation,” Celine let out a forced laugh—amused at how they drilled Jax for answers, and terse from exhaustion.
“Meanwhile, Xan, the girl who Jax accepted later on, dropped out, because the friend that she was there for, died. Wes left. And Blare quit after she almost died. Then, yesterday, the remaining 4 of us, received guns. We were to point them at one person, and Jax warned us that one of them was loaded. But we had to keep our gun on the person, that, if we had to, we would shoot at. Paris then shot at Jax, though he amazingly dodged it and got Paris instead. She’s in prison, sentenced for rebellion against the king. You didn’t have to go through all that, so Jan’s pissed that you were just allowed to waltz in. And those are pretty much the reasons why he hates your guts.”
“And not the only reasons, don’t be concerned,” Jan said as he entered silently, pulling out a chair noisily, and sitting down silently, face sullen. Celine thought she saw the surprise on the face of Fey for a second, though the shadow of admiration soon went away.
“Well, aren’t we cheery today?” Z muttered under his breath, eyes widened in annoyance at January’s whiny behaviour. Celine fought back a laugh, though Fey had no such obligations.
“I think you and I will come along just fine, Z,” she said, laughter peeking from between her words.
Just at that moment, Jax decided to walk in. Everyone stood up abruptly, though Jax didn’t even bother to correct them, instead moving to his head chair, a dark eyebrow raised in a perfect, amused arch. “Don’t tell me the king’s late.”
“Everyone else was just early, Your Majesty.” Jax looked unaffected by Z’s comment, sitting down, gesturing for the rest to do that same.
After everyone settled down, Jax finally spoke up again. “You must be Fey Downcley.”
“I would usually offer some snarky comment after that question, but seeing that you kinda have to power to kill me in a second, I’ll can it.”
“Wise choice.” He tapped a pen against the table, face scrunched up in concentration. “I really didn’t think that I would have 4 Strategists, but you get what you get. At least I know that they are of quality.”
“Did you invite us here to muse on the startlingly obvious, or did you actually want to meet for something?” Celine cast a sharp look at Jan, though Jax only chuckled at him.
“I did invite you all for something. Miss Downcley knows what we’re doing, so I’ll skip the brief. As I said at the beginning of this project, if we’re going to do this right, we’ll need a plan, and a leader to execute this plan.”
“You want to crown one of us with this awe-inspiring title,” Z concluded, and once again, everyone ignored his slight dry tone.
“Your observational skills are catching up to Jan’s,” Jax chuckled, “You best watch out, January.”
“Got my eye on him.”
“Only one?” Jan opened his mouth to fire a retort back at Fey’s too innocent wide eyes, and a smirk that didn’t match the look when Celine cut in.
“I know it’s your first day, and impressions are great, but could both of you save the subtle hatred until later?”
“No,” they both replied at the same time, then turned to look at each other in disgust.
“Well, I think it’s rather obvious who’s the leader among us,” Z commented, leaning back in his chair.
The king gave a sly smile, then his eyes focused on hers. Oh god. “Will you take it, Celine?”
It took a second to comprehend, but as soon as it started to register, Celine could feel the effects. A giddy feeling worked up her gut, exploding into something close to relief and joy- bundled up together- all the possible words she could say, getting tangled up in her throat. Until the only word that mattered, came out, in more of a squeak than she would’ve preferred, but Celine didn’t have to look up to see the deep, vivid blue eyes that gave her their silent approval. “Yes.”
Jax leaned back in his chair, balancing on the back two legs, with a look of something that Celine couldn’t place, Fey sat in her precise posture, giving her a smile, which could only be perceived as approval, and Z fired out an immediate, “And your orders are, Captain Hollingsworth?”
The one thing that Celine felt was missing, was January’s cries, protesting against such a possibility. But Jan stayed silent- by no means happy, but again, by no means antagonizing. But Celine didn’t have to be an expert on body language like Fey to see his tightly folded hands, his knuckles white from their restraining grip. He was restraining himself. His jaw was tight, his grey eyes cold, dark, and completely closed off. He was fighting it. He was staying quiet, maybe not for her, but for him.
“Are all days typically this eventful?” Fey asked a still rosy-cheeked Celine.
“Considering that for the past few days, we’ve been tossed underwater, forced to tell people things we never would’ve wanted to say, and press guns against someone else’s temple, this isn’t that bad,” Z informed.
“I’ve missed a lot,” the brunette commentated.
“Yes, you have,” Jan agreed rather darkly from his chair, his face still tight with restraint. Celine almost felt bad. Almost, but the things that Jan had done over the past few days were still enough to rest that guilt she felt churning in the bottom of her gut.
Straightening her posture and regaining her composure, Celine tried for her best authoritative voice- she was after all, just appointed Head Strategist by the king of NNR. “Because we all know that we’re The Strategists, and we even have our Head Strategist position all sorted out, would you mind delving further into wha
t we’re going to do exactly?”
Jax gave a nod to Celine. “I guess by now I owe you all the truth. Before that however, I want to ask Fey to explain to you guys what she thinks is going to happen.”
Fey gave him a quick smile, before looking back at the rest of the Strategists. “Alright, I’ll get in on my share of action, though it may seem dull, compared to all of your brave exploits.” She cast a teasing smirk in Z’s direction, which he returned. “But with the run-down that I’ve gotten, and the general impression that I’m getting, I think that we’re here to re-build the Razed?” Her voice curled up at the end, ending in a question more than the statement, and for a second, Celine saw the scared, sick girl that Fey was underneath all of her precious façade, shine through her eyes.
But when Celine gave Fey a nod, it was gone and something in her voice changed; her dark eyes flashed a bit more dangerously, shone a bit more brightly. “The conditions in those areas are horrible. Rebellions are starting to rise, and they’re gaining popularity, fast. They hate you. You haven’t done anything yet to earn the hate, but King Calix, with all due respect, made no move to improve the disastrous conditions.” Fey stated, sounding sure of herself. A little too sure.
“How do you know?” Z asked, something like suspicion spreading across his face. Celine felt it too; infiltrating public files was entirely different than knowing about the Razed like the way Fey was describing. The way that she was saying it sounded too personal for it to be something she stumbled across. Did that mean that she was part of the rebellion?
Celine stole a glance at January. If she and Z felt it, he most definitely had. He was on guard and would assuredly snatch this up. But what she saw surprised her. He was nodding, more to himself than anyone else. She was just about to ask Jan what the matter was when Fey piped in.
“I was born and raised in Adelaide.”
Celine was proud of how in unison her and Z’s jaws dropped. Adelaide?
The Reformation Page 8