Damon
"Uncle where are we going?" I asked as I walked down the a pathway of the Sadamas center. I wasn't even sure where we were in the center but I knew that we were still under Bone-lasher's field of vision.
"Quiet." My uncle Raphael ordered harshly. I clenched my jaw at his order, burying any further questions before I made him angry.
While I was the heir of the entire DeCharles family, my uncle was still a high ranking splicer in the French army and a powerful splicer in his own right. He held the most influence inside the ffamily bested only by my father as the family head. My own influence, much like my standing in Baset's class, was negligible at best.
My uncle led me down the long lonely hallway, coming to a stop in front of a statue of a previous Shogun. My uncle felt around the base of the statue, obviously looking for something.
"Where is that blasted switch…he said it'd be here…" Uncle muttered as he fumbled around. I heard something click and saw his face light up with triumph. One of the wall panels beside the statue swung open slightly and my uncle quickly walked over and opened the panel fully, revealing a secret tunnel. "Ah! Perfect! Come on Damon."
"Uncle what is going on?!" I demanded. My uncle groaned and leveled me with a glare.
"You are getting on my nerves Damon. Just shut up and follow me. That is all you need to do." He said then walked into the secret tunnel.
'This feels wrong…' I gritted my teeth but followed after my uncle regardless of my feelings.
It had been like this all my life. How I felt or thought didn't matter, all that mattered was I followed the orders of my father or uncle and brought prestige to the DeCharles name. My lack of presence at Andromeda meant that I had failed in my father's eyes. The fact I was here at Evo-cution, working for Chase as a member of his staff was yet another reason to be disappointed in me.
The tunnel door closed behind me and encased everything in darkness. Despite that I could hear mg Uncle's footsteps ahead of me getting closer without slowing down. I took the hint and followed him through the darkness, taking more cautious steps as I tried to navigate the dark corridor.
Obéron said, a wave of his distrust and uncertainty washing over me. I frowned and glanced in the direction of my uncle, despite being unable to see him I could tell how far he was in front of us from the sounds of his foot steps.
"My eyes!" I groaned and covered them.
Once my eyes adjusted to the light I made my way out of the tunnel and found myself standing in the middle of the woods that surrounded the Sadamas center. More importantly I was surrounded by my Uncle and two squads from the French army and a military carriage.
"Damon, you are to follow these soldiers to the harbor. There is a warlord waiting to take all French non-combat personnel off the island." My uncle instructed.
I frowned and eyed all the soldiers. They were all dressed in combat fatigues and had tactical swords strapped to their hips. These men and women were dressed for combat.
"Uncle Raphael, I still have a job to do back at the Sadamas center." I said cautiously. My uncle curled his upper lip in disgust then looked in the direction of the Sadamas center.
"Yes…your Job…that will no longer be your concern." Uncle Cain said.
"I have a contract with Chase, you simply can't say its not longer my concern."
I winced and grabbed my head. Seeing this my uncle frowned and eye'd my hands. He took one step towards me and grabbed my right hand, yanking off the manacite communication ring and enchanted bangle that I had on that hand and look at them.
"Ah…more of Kingston's enchanted items." Uncle said then turned and tossed them deep into the woods.
"Uncle what are…?" I started only to be silenced by a strong backhanded fist to the jaw that made me stumble back several steps.
Obéron growled tried to force himself out of my farm crystal. I managed to maintain enough control to stop this.
"Enough talking Damon! Just shut up and do as you are told!"
Astrid
Ten minutes earlier
"Lady Folders I implore you to hear me out. It's a matter of great importance involving the whole Folder's family."
It took all my mental fortitude to keep my expression blank and not yell at the soldier who'd interrupted my conversation with Sin about security. Sin looked conflicted as he looked between me and the soldier.
"Excuse me Sin." I said in a respectful tone then turned to address the soldier. "What is it soldier?"
I let all the annoyance and distain I felt for being interrupted by the soldier bleed into my voice and shot the soldier my most pissed off glare I could muster. The soldier visibly flinched at my tone, which gave me some satisfaction.
"Lord Pollock sends for you. Said it was of a personal matter." The soldier reported. I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Tell my father that I am working and have no time to entertain the flights of fancy that he calls matters of great importance."
"My lady…I was told to not return without you…this is a order not only from the marquis but also Duke Withers." The soldier added.
I gritted my teeth at that bit of information. My father I could brush off with talks of work but not Duke Withers. He was the right hand of the King and younger brother of the Queen. Disrespecting him could have very bad implications with my family's standing with the royal family. I glanced to Sin letting my reluctance show in my gaze then looked back at the soldier.
"Very well. I will follow you." I responded then looked to Sin. "Please let Chase know I am going to deal with a family problem."
"I will. Hurry back. Don't know how long Chase will keep us on her break." Sin replied. I nodded then turned and motioned for the solider to lead on.
The soldier led me through the Sadamas center, heading towards the front door. Something felt a little wrong about this but I bit down that suspicion until I had more information. Once outside I saw that it was dark out, which surprised me. I hadn't really been paying attention to the time with me keeping busy guarding The arena.
At the bottom of the stairs to the center I saw my father standing beside the Duke. Both men were standing in front of a steed carriage and had controlled expressions on their faces. The soldier led me down to the men then saluted both men and stepped to the side.
"Father…Lord Withers." I said respectfully then curtsied. My father had no reaction but Duke Withers inclined his head to me sharply then turned and opened the carriage door.
"Get in Astrid. We need to talk." My father said, the finality of his tone sounding out of place. I eyed the carriage and frowned.
"Why? Why can't we talk out here?" I asked suspiciously.
"What we need to talk about involves national security. Orders from on high." Duke Withers replied.
"I see…" I said then cautiously climbed into the carriage. My father and the Duke climbed in after me.
The carriage started off the moment the Duke shut the door. I sat in my seat, eyeing the two men with me with equal parts caution and suspicion. The carriage had turned to start a loop around the center which had made me relax a little knowing I was still close to it.
"There has been a shift in the social landscape of England in the last couple months. A shift that finds the Folders family close to being ripped from our place of prominence in the King and Queens court." My father said softly, staring out the window and up at the night sky.
"Is that really possible? The Folders family has served the crown with dedication for hundreds of years. We are the cornerstone of the Royal navy." I replied. Duke Withers sighed and crossed his arms.
"Yes, that would have been true a few months ago but in recent months with the opening of Sho'lajah Artifact Company the king and queen have been besieged by hundreds of enchanted items given to them as gifts. Most notably from Caspian Ascred." Duke Withers said.
"Ascred? Yes…he and his brother were Chase's first customers." I said.
"Indeed…it is thanks to that he was able to give the King, Xanadeu's Edge as a gift for his birthday two weeks ago." Duke Withers sneered. My eyes widened in shock.
"Xanaxeu's Edge?! I hadn't heard that? Why would he give that to the king! Its one of the oldest enchanted items in the kingdom?!" I exclaimed.
Xanadeu's edge was a enchanted English broadsword that been unearthed in a ancient splicer ruin near Essex over four hundred years ago. It has changed hands a lot in that time, having at one time actually belonged to the Withers family before they rose to Duke-hood. As for what the sword actually did nobody alive was sure, the sword's enchantment only worked for select people and those that didn't fit its unknown criteria for activation found themselves inflicted with a curse that decayed their body rapidly.
"They no longer had need of its prestige. That's why. Rumors have it that both Caspian and Hideyoshi Ascred received Shaped evos from Chase Kingston, along with the well known fact that Caspian's son's are Omni-Souled splicers, the Ascred Family has attracted the attention of the king and queen." Duke Withers said.
"They are well on their way to replacing the Folder's family as well as the Withers family as the country's cornerstone." My father said then looked at me coldly. "Which is why I was so desperate to talk to Kingston yesterday. Should our family fail to acquire shaped evos while the Ascred's could it would be the final nail in our family's coffin!"
I gritted my teeth but didn't look away from my father's gaze. I felt guilty for not working better with my father to talk to Chase but at the same time possibly trying that would have made Chase lose trust in me, for some reason that felt worse than upsetting my father.
"So what is your solution to this?" I asked calmly. My father and the Duke shared a look before looking me over. Their eyes landed on my enchanted rings and bangle and their expressions hardened.
"First…are those rings and bracelet enchanted?" My father asked.
"Yes…a simple communication spell and a couple combat oriented ones." I replied without thinking and holding my arm up to show them.
"Hmmm… I hope Raphael DeCharles is smart enough to take his nephew's enchanted items." My father said. I frowned and eyed my father suspiciously.
'Why would Damon's uncle want to take his enchanted items?' I thought then glanced out the window beside me.
I had been so absorbed in the conversation that I hadn't realized that we were now riding towards the harbor. My eyes widened as I suddenly felt a hand grab my wrist and yank my arm backwards. I jerked my head and saw Duke Withers holding my wrist while trying to yank my rings off my wrists.
"Stop it!" I yelled and tried to punch the Duke away but my father grabbed my free hand and restrained me.
"Stop resisting Astrid! This is for your own good!" My father barked. The Duke yanked off one of my defensive enchanted rings and was working on pulling off my manacite communication ring.
"There!" Duke exclaimed then sat back in his seat. My father released me and pointed to my seat. I sat with my back to the window and facing both men.
"WHY DID YOU DO THAT? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" I barked at the two men.
"We can't have you warning Anyone before the operation begins." Duke Withers said then smoothed his suit.
"Operation?" I muttered. My Father took a deep breath before he looked me in the eye.
"We and several concerned Parties from various countries are going to kill Chase Kingston."