“You should sit in on the class, you will learn new things,” Salem held the door open for her.
“What time does class start?” she enquired as they walked down the hall.
“Ten minutes, I thought I would give you time to change.”
“Thank you, Principal. I will report my findings to you at dinner.”
Salem watched her climb the stairs to her room, his familiar irritation at Leonid’s lack of empathy for the humans niggled at the back of his head. Old prejudices died hard. Leonid’s family had been slaughtered when he was a young Akrhyn all those years ago. Passing brigands destroying the farmhouse, murdering and torturing his family, atrocities witnessed he would never forget. Leonid himself had been left for dead, but an old Vampyre, desperate for company, had found him and turned him into one of the Made. Salem often wondered if the slaughter of his family or the fact that his death was stolen from him by his maker was the reason Leonid gave humans no thought or consideration.
“Principal?” Salem turned to his Commander of the Elite Guard. “I was looking for Sentinel Tegan, have you seen her?”
“She has gone to change, she takes a class in a few moments,” Salem explained.
“A class?” Bryce looked confused, “She is Elite.”
“Human Studies,” Salem explained.
“Interesting, I thought you were about to tell me it was dance,” Bryce jested quietly, keeping his voice low. Tegan had not been quiet in her protestations about the ball. When she learned that she would be expected to dance, Salem had quickly removed Sloane from the room before his cousin could physically harm him, since he was laughing so much at her outrage.
“We’re trying to coax her into it. I think Jasper has had some success while they patrol – but I fear we may have to hope she picks it up on the night,” Salem shrugged in defeat. “Her mother was the complete opposite,” he looked at Bryce and looked away again in embarrassment.
“Celeste was a beautiful dancer,” Bryce commented softly. He knew how hard it was for Salem to deal with all this again. He was one of the few Elite at the Headquarters who was old enough to remember the scandal when his Principal was younger. Bryce had never asked for the details and had paid no mind to the rumours. If it wasn’t Drakhyn or directly involving his family, he paid it no mind. Court matters and their sometimes dangerous rumours, interested him not. However, it was obvious that the Principal Elder was eager to connect with his daughter and having as Bryce had his own family here at Headquarters, he understood the Principal’s desire. Therefore, Bryce was keen to see the relationship develop.
“I don’t suppose you have come across Martha today?” Salem asked, swiftly changing the subject. The older woman had arrived two days after Leonid had left, she had completely taken over the kitchen and scolded Blythe so thoroughly for her unimaginative and unhealthy menus that Blythe had offered to be demoted and Martha be put in charge in her stead. Tegan had been over the moon to be reunited with her caregiver and insisted she be moved into the family wing, beside Tove. Slowly, the new Holt was making her presence known in the House, gathering her loved ones near her and it didn’t stop there. Tegan had already won over Sloane and her brother, Michael, wasn’t far behind him. Tegan had also made acquaintances with some of the other Sentinels. Few families stayed in Headquarters unless one or more was based there. Some of the Elite Guard had their family there as well as some of the House Sentinels and Tegan was becoming acquainted with them all. Surrounded by Akrhyn, she seemed to be appreciating the contact and interaction.
“No, Principal, although I did see Blythe out in the gardens earlier, I would guess that Martha was in the kitchen,” Bryce commented.
“Of course,” Salem murmured as he made his way to the kitchen, Bryce following behind him. “My whole House is being taken over by Leonid’s females,” Salem muttered as walked along the quiet halls.
“Has there been any word regarding the threat from the Drakhyn?” Bryce asked quietly.
“Nothing. Tove is out searching with the packs that do not conform to the Sentinel way of life,” Salem frowned. “Marcus says she will get answers quicker than he will. The Great Council are looking into it, the Sisters have seen nothing that even hints at what the Drakhyn said.” He ran his hand through his hair with frustration.
“So, we still don’t have any idea who the female is? We don’t know if she is Akrhyn, Lycan or human?” Bryce grumbled, sharing the Principal Elders frustration.
“We know nothing. We can only speculate that the female is here as it was our Headquarters that they surrounded, but…” Salem trailed off.
“But we can’t be sure,” he finished for the Principal. “Do we still assume it is coincidence that Tegan arrived just days before them? She killed those three Drakhyn in the woods, you killed the fourth, who is to say we didn’t miss some?”
“No one,” Salem growled as he entered the kitchen and pulled up short when he saw Martha fully in charge of the kitchen.
“Salem, Commander,” Martha greeted as she oversaw several Sentinels peeling vegetables. “What can I do for you?”
“I was hoping you had word from Tove?” Salem had always found that direct was best with Martha.
“She sent a fire message to Tegan last night, reminding her she needed a dress for Cornelius’s ridiculous ball,” Martha turned to stir a pot on the stove. “She did not mention how her hunt was going, just that she was well and had made contact with more than she hoped.”
“It worries me that Cornelius will not move the date of the ball,” Bryce said as he regarded the room. “He knows of the threat and yet ignores it. I can’t believe the Great Council has not intervened.”
“Cornelius is eccentric, his belief that the ball shows our fellow Akrhyns that there is no threat, has some merit… but,” Salem paused as he was handed a bowl of soup by Martha, “we will be on our guard at all times.”
“The ball is after the date the Drakhyn stated so that is something at least,” Bryce admitted, also accepting soup from the small Akrhyn female. “I still cannot get my head around them united like that, almost disciplined.” The two Sentinels sat at the table accepting the warm bread that one of the House Sentinels placed in front of them.
“If I hadn’t seen it myself, I would never have believed it,” Salem agreed. He got chills thinking about the numbers of Drakhyn outside the other week. He had come across Drakhyn united many times but never in daylight. They had been organised, disciplined even, it was unheard of. Tegan had told them she felt that change was coming, told them that she had already come across Drakhyn hunting in pairs. They hadn’t dismissed her claims, but they hadn’t fully given her the credit she deserved. How times had changed when an eighteen-year-old Elite Sentinel was telling him about the dangers of Drakhyn.Who was the female that they sought? Could it really be Tegan?The overwhelming panic that he felt at the thought of his daughter being hunted by the creatures had made his already restless nights sleepless.
“Eat your soup, Salem,” Martha’s quiet instruction had him looking up at her. “You’ll figure it out, but you need your strength, you’re no good to your Sentinels or these Headquarters if you make yourself ill.” A gentle squeeze of his shoulder had him smiling at the familiar mothering of Martha.
“Yes ma’am,” he started to eat his soup. “It’s been a while since you told me to eat.”