Chapter 151
“Regarding Lina’s situation, I was not sure it was that bad and I know that is irresponsible of me,” the king confessed.
“No one is blaming you, dear. I asked the other alphas to keep their children on a short leash ever when it got bad, but I guess the damage had already been done. She’s been growing more and more distant with the pack since then and only staying in contact with one free spirit,” the Queen said.
“You’re talking about that girl, Honour,” the King surmised. Queen Martha nodded in reply. It wasn’t enough to get their daughter to regain her confidence and pride in the family she was born in, but there were only a handful of things they could do.
“I could help train her. It couldn’t hurt to teach her to use that speed to her advantage. She might just be able to use that speed of hers to achieve...”
“That is not something you will be able to do for a while, dearie,” Frank interrupted Katie. It was the first time he was speaking since the start of the meeting and Cole finally got the chance to take in his appearance. He’d seen him before but hadn’t got the chance to talk to him that time.
“Are you...”
“Ugh, Frank Silver, yes it’s me. The glamorous Cupid Shooter strikes faster than the eye can follow. Is that the introduction everyone’s been looking for?” the man groaned.
“Yes, Frank. That is the introduction we’ve all been looking for,” the Queen smiled.
.....
“Right. Anyway, I was telling the princess here that she will be training under me for the rest of her stay here until I deem her capable of protecting herself from that archer,” he said.
“I am perfectly capable of handling Jeremy,” Katie replied, anger laced within her face.
“No, you aren’t. That boy has been taking it far too easy on you and you haven’t even noticed it yet. I got all the information from the person who told you how to wield a bow. You are capable of catching four arrows fired at you in quick succession. I witnessed that boy fire six arrows at your back. If you weren’t a Chase hunter, I would say you made a foolish move to keep running in my direction,” Frank lectured.
Cole tensed at this revelation, “Wait, what...”
“Calm down, Cole. The girl wouldn’t have done something like that without knowing of my presence or at least sense it like the Chase hunters all seem to do. Gives them an advantage in the battlefield that we can’t all rely on. I won’t have you run around with a target on your back that you can’t evade,” the man finished his speech...
Katie was glad she’d been defended even though she hadn’t been sure of her senses at the moment she was going to be shot. ‘We’ll talk about this later,’ Cole’s voice came through the mind link, trumping all her hopes of coming out of it unscathed. “What exactly are you doing in Sirius Frank?” the king asked the man.
“I was sent here to keep an eye on the princess while the situation of the rogues was being investigated. The Thunderclap decided he had nothing he could teach after having heard her break the sound barrier once. I was advised to further her training in archery and teach her how to take advantage of her strength gift. I can’t believe the power of a Mighty Warrior is being redirected into helping one person achieve more power. There are so many other people I could be helping right now,” the man complained.
“I don’t need training. You can just skip on to the next town,” Katie said, trying her best to keep an indifferent tone, “Just who has ever heard of the hunter being trained by another hunter?”
“Ah, is someone embarrassed because she’s not as powerful as she thought she was?” Frank started.
“No... Yes... Fine, you can train me. I know I’m not nearly strong enough to bring that wolf to its knees just yet,” Katie gave up the fight against the pink-clad man.
“You know you’re not alone,” Cole reminded her.
“Yeah, I know that...”
..........
When the meeting was done and they were done eating, Katie and Cole bid the king and Queen farewell. Frank established that her after class sessions were to be taken up by her training and he promised a gruesome training regimen. She didn’t really mind considering she was used to pushing herself to the limit. As they were getting out of the office, Katie’s senses flared up just in time to see the King’s ‘brother’ at the door.
She had her suspicions about the man, but there was never any real reason for her to make any investigation on him. And so, she greeted him and passed by him without another world. The office was silent for a bit while the Chosen got out of earshot.
“What were you able to find out?” the king asked him.
“Well, the hunters were cagey on their information, but they revealed enough to let us know that Sirius is safe for now. The rogues are converging within Lycaon and I don’t know why yet. I have suspicions, but nothing definite,” Sean reported, taking a seat beside the Mighty Warrior, “Morning, Silver.”
“I am much more interested in the enthusiasm with which the young ones treat me. You’re all boring,” the hunter groaned.
“Yeah, the young ones... Just keep your hands off ours,” the queen warned, “Sean, what about your other source? Have you been able to contact them to find out what they have to say about this whole situation?”
“No, I haven’t been able to reach that one in a while and it’s getting me on edge. You’ll be the first one to know when I get to know,” the royal replied, “The rogues that came from Brigadia are travelling fast. One might say that they have a target in mind. The hunters that are tailing them can tell that there is somewhere they are going. There is still a lot of ground to cover, so they can’t tell where it is that they are going.”
“Well, is the capital of Lycaon still part of their potential destinations?” Davin asked.
“Yes, the capital is still part of their destinations. However, the hunters have that place heavily guarded. Would the rogues really be that suicidal?” Sean asked him.
“I wouldn’t put it past them. They gathered a large number to retrieve a spy and lost many in numbers at the hands of the hunters there. If they are travelling as fast as you say and they have a very specific mission in mind, they might just invade the capital,” he said.
“That would be suicide. Two Mighty warriors are near the capital. They would lay waste to them if they dared to make a move that dumb,” Frank informed them.
The king furrowed his brows in thought, “I have a very bad feeling about this.” Ever since Katie had been attacked, nothing seemed to be going right. There was so much unease amongst those that were in power, “What do the Hunters have to say about one of their own shooting my daughter?”
This question was directed towards Frank Silver. He’d expected the king to eventually say something on the subject, but had hoped he wouldn’t be the one to provide that answer, “There have been reports of hunters working undercover as rogue hunters beside the rogue king. None of them know of the man’s appearance or his whereabouts. He’s a very slippery fellow...”
“I asked about Katie being shot by another hunter. The arrows were laced with wolfsbane and nearly killed her. I need an explanation for that,” the King cut him off. Martha rubbed circles in her husband’s back to calm him as this was neither the time nor the place for him to get angry. Not to mention the person he was directing his anger at. Frank had the power to bring down the werewolves in that room without breaking a sweat and they all knew it.
“That is what I was getting at... I know what the boy did was stupid, but the hunters refuse to accept him as a traitor. Doing that is going against Prometheus himself. You’re an eyewitness to his strength Prometheus gift. For now, I would like to think that he was only protecting his cover. Now that I think of it, he did give the princess a message in the forest although she was too angry to decipher it,” the man said.
“Are you saying Katie left something out in her narration?” the king’s anger seemed to vanish at the accusation.
“I’m only saying what happened. Before the boy ran from me, he shot a message arrow at the ground before the princess and there was a note inside it. It didn’t admit his intentions although it did confirm that he was watching her,” Frank confirmed.
“What did the note say?” the Queen asked him.
“It said, ‘Cole’s mark should look good on you. Can’t wait to see it.’ I don’t know what that was supposed to mean, but it definitely had the princess tearing up the paper. Does she know him or something?” the man asked.
“Well, I don’t know if the two were once friends. I do know that Jeremiah and his family came from Brigadia after he gave up on trying to be a hunter only to have him continue his training in the capital. Do you think the message had some hidden meaning?” the Queen spoke this time. She’d been the one who’d tended to the family when their child had risked his life to save Sean a long time ago. The royal was cruel enough to humour the boy’s heroic nature and only got surprised when he held up a good fight.
Not long after the incident, he’d then got his gift and intensified his training in the capital while his family was granted nobility under the kingdom of Sirius for his heroic actions.
“I would like to think there was meaning in what he said,” Frank replied, trying to drown information from his brain even though he came up with nothing.