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.SeventeenDawn of the Day of ReckoningBoth of us were stunned into inaction for a moment, then Armanita lifted her arms and started towards me.The attack in the Manor was still fresh in my mind.Instinctively, I raised my hands in defense.My shoulder protested, and then the decision was taken out of my hands.I sounded just like a propane barbeque starting up.Whoosh! I was engulfed in a Healing Fire.My vision had the blue crystal haze, but this wasn’t as much of a drain as was the Hand of Light.My wings unfurled of their own volition and spread wide as the blue light danced through my flesh and into my blood.I glowed.Claudius took a half-step back.He stared at me for a moment, slight shock registering in his eyes.Yeah, he hadn’t seen this before, well, not on this scale.Hell, I was impressed with myself.He lowered himself down into reverence.Armanita stopped her rush and stood there with a hand raised to her mouth.Tears glistened in her eyes.Her hand reached out toward me for a moment, then she rushed at me and crushed me in an embrace.The blue light of the Hand spread to her.“Sigmund…” Her breathy whisper skimmed my collarbone.I shivered and not in a good way.I pushed my way out of her clinch, using my wings to break her hold when my arms weren’t strong enough.The Healing Light faded, and I staggered sideways.There always is a trade-off for instantaneous healing.I would have fallen, but she caught me and dragged me tight to her.I felt her breasts flatten against me as she was hanging on so tightly.Claudius made a slight, coughing sound.There was another tightening of her arms, and then she gently lowered me to my knees.Armanita stroked the side of my face and urged my chin up to meet her gaze.“How could I have missed this? You have my eyes.”No.Oh, no.Nonononono.This was not happening.I pulled my head free.“What are you talking about?”Armanita sat back on her heels and then brushed a tear from her eye.The pause was so pregnant, it could have given birth.I felt physically fine, almost pain-free but weak.Claudius pressed a mug in my hand.I glanced up at him, and sure enough, there was a little bit of blood hanging to the corner of his lip.She sniffed delicately.“It is so sad that you are an orphan, Sigmund.”What? I’m not…Claudius smoothly covered for me.“That is why Marcus claimed him, Councilor.”Oh, yeah.I forgot Marcus had told her that so she wouldn’t start sniffing around my family.Armanita gave me a sweet, disarming smile that just sent all the warning bells off in my head.The hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end.“My boy.Sigmund and I had a daughter.I am a Red from a respectable House; even if it were not forbidden for us to marry, my lineage is as strong as his House.He married a Blue wife as chosen by the High Council, but she was barren.I had hoped that our daughter would be a Blue, even a low-spectrum Blue would be welcome, but my Red Blood Line was too strong.Our little girl was born a Red.Legally, Bertha was Empress, and she was able to force me to foster our baby out to the Nation.”There was a bite of spitefulness in her voice as she recalled the unspoken horror and trauma of that time.“Just because Bertha’s womb was barren and she couldn’t have children of her own, she took mine away from us.It was within her right to claim the baby as hers.Our little girl was a Princess.Sigmund acknowledged her as his own.There was no need to strip her of her titles and position.”A glimmer of tears caught in Armanita’s long lashes.“She wasn’t even a year old when I lost my child.Her name was Lenore.Does that sound familiar to you? Lenore?” She reached out and grabbed my forearm.I struggled back to my feet, willing my wings away.“Yeah, from Edgar Allen Poe! Get off me.”“You must have heard of her.That is the only way you could be from the House of Von Drachenfeld, Sigmund.”“My name is not Sigmund.” Well, it was, but I never claimed it.I backed away from her.“Claudius, do something before I hurt her.”“High Councilor, Xavier has House work to do before the Introduction this evening.Surely, we can all sit and discuss these revelations at a later date.When we have the time to do a genealogical search.” Claudius easily slipped between us and gestured at the bed and the backpack holding the tools which were going to be used very soon in my new trade as First for the House of Assassins.“Work? Oh, yes, the House.You can do it, Lord Claudius.” Armanita was quick to try to palm off my first assignment when it was convenient for her.He shook his head.“No, I cannot.This is Xavier’s first assignment with his new ranking.He must complete it within the regular parameters, otherwise the Ranking System will be dissolved and it will be a challenge free-for-all.You know what that was like the only time it ever happened, High Councilor?”Armanita stopped moving “New ranking? He was ranked Second behind you.”“The House issued a full test.Xavier challenged and defeated me.”“He is First of Assassins? You have served that position for more than two hundred years.Why wasn’t I informed of this?” There was the pissed-off cheerleader I loathed and despised.She crossed her arms under her breasts and huffed.It made her boobs heave in an impressive display, but it like waving a red flag before a color-blind bull.It did nothing for little, gay me.Besides, I was horrified that she might be my grandmother, so many greats removed, over a four-hundred-year span of human generations.“This can’t happen.He is our Lord Emperor.As First of Assassins, he is exposed to more danger…”Claudius shoved me towards the door, slipping me the backpack.I spied kitty Shade pick the envelope up off the bed with her teeth and drop off the far side.She padded toward the door, all the while hugging the wall to be as inconspicuous as possible.“You know that the House of Assassins is an entity unto itself.The High Council sits above it, but the Councilors have never dictated down to it.It is through his own efforts that Xavier is now First.”“Claudius, issue a challenge; as one of the Elder High Councilors, I order you to.” Apparently, Armanita was more interested in pursuing our possible relationship than having the First Assassin, no matter who that might be, fulfill his mission.Father shook his head.“You know as well as I that any attempts to regain lost rank can only be made after one calendar year.I cannot challenge Xavier, and I will not.”I found my Docs and stealthily snagged them off the floor and waved at Shade to make her escape.Claudius saw our strategic retreat and kept Armanita busy.I opened the door.Shade snaked through, and I followed hot on her little kitty tail.Can I talk to you now, or are you going to snap my head off again?Sorry, I’m sorta stressed out right now.Just think of it, you’re related to that nightmare.She stabbed me through the hand, and she stabbed Marcus
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