Chapter 25

Ven yawned as he looked at the time, he could wake up Nikita in five minutes and then get some sleep, it was all a facade, but he had to keep up appearances. The night shift had had its advantages, it had given him time to think over the day’s events. Rendall wasn’t crazy about Vassillissa, that much was obvious. He would try to get Audrey’s opinion of Vassillissa when he had a chance, but so far she had not commented on Vassillissa. Plus, with her pretending to be so infuriating in front of Nikita, it was hard to have a serious conversation with her.

A deeper problem he had come to realize was that Rendall and Audrey were adamant Ravendra had made things better and no one else could lead Nagiri. It seemed like a silly idea to Ven, Ravendra was just a man, he wasn’t omnipotent. That was clearly obvious by the laws he had created in Nagiri, laws Rendall stood by and supported.

After Ravendra was gone, what would the rebels do? Why would anyone listen to what they said? Wouldn’t power just go to whoever could seize it? He needed to talk to Ravi when he had a chance. On a happier note, he had managed to save Natalie, she was going to be joining his squad today, it would be nice to have someone he could talk to.

Ven smiled happily as his phone finally rang an alarm signalling it was now Nikita’s shift. It would be nice to have more people on the team, that way they could divide up these shifts at night thought Ven, as he patted Nikita on the shoulder.

“Time’s up, my turn to sleep,” said Ven as he shook Nikita gently.

“Five more minutes,” protested Nikita.

“I already gave you five minutes extra, now come on, time to take on the new day,” said Ven as he stifled a yawn.

As Nikita untangled herself from the sleeping bag, she looked miserably at Ven with red eyes and bed hair. As she slowly got to her feet and tried to fix her hair, Ven couldn’t help but smile. This was another thing which hadn’t changed in the world, people still didn’t like to wake up early.

“Don’t worry, you can go home and get some sleep once your reliever is here,” said Ven reassuringly.

“Really?!” asked an excited Nikita.

“Yes, now let me sleep until Audrey wakes up, then we can join her for some breakfast,” said Ven as he carefully placed his sword and gun to his side.

“That reminds me, can I have one of your knives?” asked Ven.

“Yeah, sure, why do you need it?” asked Nikita as she passed him one of her throwing knives.

“I don’t like sleeping out here without anything I can use quickly in case something happens,” said Ven as he slid the knife under his pillow.

“I’ll remember to wake you up gently,” said Nikita nervously as she took her position in front of Audrey’s room.

Ven slept poorly that night, he had a dream in which two different Vassillissa’s were fighting for his affection, each claiming she was his real wife while the other one was a fraud. As he stood indecisive about what to do, both got fed up with trying to win him over, turned around and left him. The penetrable silence and darkness after the two left felt like a heavy pressure on his chest, he struggled to breathe and the next moment he was falling as the ground beneath his feet gave way. Ven jerked awake panting as he hit the ground in his dream. Nikita was next to him in a moment, as she tried to calm him down.

“Easy, easy there, you had a bad dream, nothing to hurt you here” said Nikita soothingly as she gently rubbed his back.

“Where am I?” asked Ven through pants.

“We’re in the Palace, in front of Audrey’s room,” said Nikita gently.

“What time is it?” asked Ven as he rubbed his eyes.

“Is everything alright?” asked Audrey as she cracked open the door.

“Bad dream,” said Ven as he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Do you want some time to clear your head?” asked Audrey as she looked at Nikita questioningly.

“No, no, I am fine. I just need some tea to calm my nerves and I should be ok. I am sorry if I woke you up,” said Ven.

“You didn’t wake me up, it’s time for breakfast, and in your case a hot cup of tea!” said Audrey gently.

“Come on Boss, up and at them!” teased Nikita as she started tidying things.

“Leave your sleeping bags in my room, there is more than enough space for them there,” said Audrey.

“Thanks,” said Ven as he stifled a sudden yawn.

“I hope you weren’t lying about me getting a reliever to have the rest of the day off,” said Nikita.

“I wasn’t, but be here at night, I want to get some proper sleep tonight,” said Ven as he crawled out of the sleeping bag, “I am not sure where she will be meeting us though. But we can worry about that after we eat.”

“Yes, thinking on an empty stomach is simply barbaric, follow me to the kitchen,” said Audrey with a smile.

As it turned out a hot meal with tea and coffee was all it took to raise the spirits of Ven and Nikita to challenge the coming the day. They were still tired and red eyed, but it gave them the boost they badly needed.

“I’ll ask William to send Natalie to Lady Lilliana’s ballroom, I think that would be best,” said Ven as he drank another cup of tea.

“Natalie? What’s her gift?” asked Nikita.

“She can disable others gift for a short duration, naturally her gift is called Disable,” said Ven.

“That’s!! That’s just unfair!! How can anyone have a cheat gift like that?!” protested Nikita.

“It’s definitely unfair, but what are you going to do about it? That’s just how things are, some people are born with gifts, some aren’t and out of the gifted some are born with especially unique gifts,” said Ven with a shrug, “Be happy she’s on our side.”

When Natalie arrived to relieve Nikita later in the morning, everyone was still too tired, so there wasn’t any fanfare with her joining. Nikita left happily with a bounce in her step and Natalie took up the place where she had been stationed. On noticing how miserable Ven looked, one of the guards offered he could take a one-hour nap in the guardroom while they handled things here. Ven didn’t need to be asked twice as he immediately took him up on the offer.

On returning from his nap, Ven was filled with a new vigour as he stood on watch with more alertness. He sent a message to Aaron asking if he could pick up Brutus and Agni’s equipment anytime soon but didn’t receive an answer. Thankfully Natalie had come with her own equipment, which was something Ven didn’t have to worry about.

The day went quietly as no one came to visit Lilliana throughout the day, which was something Ven was grateful for. Once the day ended, as the preceding day, he followed Audrey to her room with Natalie in tow. Once there, he thought it was about time for introductions to be made while they waited for Nikita to show up.

“Audrey this is Natalie, Natalie this is Audrey, we are serving as her bodyguard for the foreseeable future,” said Ven.

“Nice to meet you,” said Natalie with a salute.

“Nice to meet you too,” said Audrey with a smile, “I’ll tell one of the maids to bring dinner and some snacks for you and Nikita to have if you get hungry during the night.”

“I didn’t get any such offer last night!” complained Ven.

“I didn’t think of it yesterday,” said Audrey as she scratched her head with a smile.

“Well, enjoy, I guess. Nikita should show up to work with you in a little while. I’ll see you two tomorrow morning,” said Ven as he waved goodbye, “Don’t hesitate to call me if something serious comes up.”

Back at Ven’s mansion he had a surprise waiting for him as Ms. Agathe opened the door and welcomed him and Frank inside. Eric, Brutus and Agni were waiting for him with big smiles on their faces.

“You didn’t tell us you had your own mansion!” exclaimed Agni.

“I didn’t think it was important,” said Ven, “You guys made it here earlier than planned!”

“When I got your message, I guessed you were shorthanded, so I told the kids we had to leave,” said Eric.

“I am glad you came sooner! Being shorthanded isn’t great, it isn’t something we could have kept going for a long period, that’s for sure. I am still waiting for my blacksmith to answer about your equipment, so I am not sure if you two can start working tomorrow,” said Ven.

“I brought my Academy gear with me in case, it’s not as good as what real soldiers use, but it’s better than nothing,” said Brutus.

“Good, use that until I get your armour for you. Eric, I am hoping you can start tomorrow, I would really like to have someone else to handle all these things,” said Ven.

“I can start right now, if you want me to. All I need is a room, a computer and the telephone numbers of everyone on our team, as well as the staff that work for you here,” said Eric.

“There is a computer in the library, use that as your office until we find something else. Frank, work with Eric to figure out everything else he needs. Is there anything else?” asked Ven.

“Well, because we haven’t been instated officially as the members of your team, so until I file the paperwork, we can’t get a room to stay in the UTF lodgings. I was hoping we could crash here with you until then,” said Eric.

“Frank, ask Ms. Agathe to set up three guest rooms, thankfully the place is big enough, perks of being a Knight, I guess. I am going to get some sleep in my room, so unless its urgent, please don’t disturb me and keep it down,” said Ven.

This chapter was a little bit of a pain to write as its a series of small scenes happening in different locations, I could have made them into their own chapters but that would have required adding  alot of filler, and if there is one thing we can all agree on, fillers arent fun to write, read or watch. I do hope you guys liked the final result and the method I chose to go with.

As always, stay safe out there.

Anderoth