General Sterling

Four

Ada

    He wasn't kidding when he said it takes time to finish the paperwork. One of the major generals from the new world came to brief me on what we're going to be doing. Things didn't work out the way I had planned for them to go. I won't be going home anytime soon. Killing the major general in this country and taking his position ensures my stay in Macedonia. Until the prince of the terrain is mated and has an heir, I am required to stay here and take the place his brother held. 

    "You must be Adaliegh Darius," I looked up and quickly jumped up onto my feet. 

    "My king," I gasped taking a knee in front of him with my head bowed low. 

    "Stand girl," he chuckled tapping my head. He's sitting down in my chair by the time I straightened up. The Incubus King. King to both his house and the House of Lamia. "You've done very well for yourself. Your father would be very proud of you. When we met right before you were transported here, I didn't think you'd come this far so quickly," 

    "I am honored that you remember meeting me at all," I smiled. He chuckled tapping his claws on the wooden table. I had heard he was a menacing looking man, but here and now. I can't help but admire how beautiful he is.

    "I'm not here to congratulate you, Major General Darius. Millianne would have loved to come to meet you herself, however, she's not allowed to cross the blood threshold in her condition," he said placing his hand over his belly. 

    "Congratulations, my King," I bowed. Another prince or a princess. He smiled brightly before motioning me to take a seat to his left. 

    "We haven't been able to stretch the new world order this way, Adaliegh. I'm sure you've noticed that in your stay here," he refers to the way women are treated here. "I can smell him on you. Taste the desire for his flesh in your blood. But it's not what you desire in your heart. I feel the conflict inside of you and I have only come across a woman like you one other time. It's strange," 

    "My King," I lowered my head feeling my heart start to beat rapidly in my chest. Embarrassment flushed through me filling my eyes with angry tears. He placed his hand over mine making me look up at him.

    "It's alright," he smiled. "Should you've been born into my clan, you'd never have to be ashamed of who you choose to love, my dear. I am the very first of my kind. My strength didn't always come from a female. In fact, very few females could sate my hunger," 

    "I don't know what to say," I whispered as the tears slid down my face. 

    "Ada, the vampire world is a very dangerous place. You are going to suffer more than you already do. We are at war but that doesn't stop the conflicts within the boundaries of Darkness. You've clawed your way to your position. Now I am here to ask you to claw your way into the heart of this territory," he took a deep breath before sitting back. 

    "What do you need me to do?" I asked without hesitation. He smiled at me as if he were impressed. 

    "Millianne and Armadian weren't kidding to favor you, girl. Let me ask you a question, who are you chasing?" 

    "Excuse me?" I asked confused. 

    "Who's shoes are you looking to fill?" he asked. I understood then. 

    "I- never really had shoes to fill," 

    "Didn't you ever want someone's respect? Your father?"

    "I always had it. From the first time he struck me down and I stood back up. He taught me from his mistakes. Made sure I had the means to survive,"  

    "Did you love your mother?" he asked placing a piece of paper in front of me. 

    "No," I answered truthfully. 

    "Why not?" 

    "Because she was weak. There is no room for weakness in this world. Her weaknesses took the only thing that mattered to me," 

    "You are going to be tested in the morning. In the evening, you will be released. You and the General will be established in the high council of Aleksandar. He shares your unique beliefs of equity. You understand where your place is and you're willing to do whatever it takes to make sure they know you're worth more than the beautiful face they're distracted by," 

    "You want me to work with the General?" I asked. 

    "For the time being," he confirmed. "By the time this is all over, Major General Darius. It will be you who is sitting on the Macedonian high chair. We need someone we can trust and you have proven to be that someone. If you'd like to hear it from the Queen herself-" 

    "I believe you," I reassured him. 

    "Good. About the first lieutenant," 

    "She belongs to me. She knows she has to stay here," 

    "Very well," he bowed his head. "One last thing, my daughter is very possessive of what belongs to her. She's nine. A few nights ago, my son was taken by my brothers and Edwardian ripped the men that were with him to shreds before her mother got there. I'd advise you to not get too attached," 

    "I'm not," I laughed. "He's kind of hard to refuse but he's not exactly my type," 

    "What is your type?" he grinned. I looked away. "You are the ideal woman to procreate with Ada. You have beautiful features, the body many women wish they had. Tell me, a woman as beautiful as you, what kind of women do you prefer?" 

    "Smaller," I admitted. "Curvier. Dark hair, big deceiving eyes, and the kind of mouth that would want to make a man backhand her into the next century," 

    "Sounds like you know this ideal woman," 

    "I knew her. She's dead now. A wolf ripped her throat out,"

    "Was she yours?" 

    "Momentarily," 

    "Sometimes, we don't always get what we want," he stated. "My idea of perfection was submissive. Tall, dark-skinned, doe-eyed beauties. That is until I laid eyes on a little female, golden blonde hair, fair skin, there is not a single being on this earth that can get her to shut up. There's nothing that she wants that she won't take. A suggestion is often more of a threat," 

    "Vampires," I reminded him, making him laugh.  

    "Vampires," he agreed. 

    "I know these things, my King. Until fate comes for me you know where to find me," I bowed. He laughed. 

    "You're easy to talk to. That's rare. Most vampiresses are very hostile," 

    "You're my king. You are mated to my Queen. Even if you weren't, you are the Incubus King and superiority should be respected at all times," 

    "Soldiers are much different from civilians, I guess," he shrugged as he walked over to the door. "You are being granted the liberty to for the lack of a better word, to fix Aleksandar. Whatever it takes. You have the full support of your Queen, your king, and the king to be. Make sure you show them what the daughter of the Bloodhound can do," 

    "Sir, I have two sisters back home," I lowered my tone.

    "The General has a sister himself. In the end, let us hope they understand," with that, he walked out leaving me to my thoughts. 

    The night passed by quietly. Killing the first lieutenant did nothing to make me feel better about my brother's death. Abandoning my home to fill this hole in my has done nothing but remind me that I had been wasting my potential playing the housemaid for my mother and sisters. Knowing that Ash had finally done what I couldn't do only makes my head buzz that much more. 

    Why did he do this to us? Why would he program my instincts to protect her when he knew she would have to be put down eventually when he died? It's like he bought her time. The time that I let go to waste when I left her to the mercy of my little sister. Father rarely did things without thinking of an outcome. 

    A scratching sound outside my door made me stand up. A loud horn rang outside and the door popped open by itself. I rushed to it, pushing it shut. Something on the other side collided with it, hard. I was pushed back a few inches as I tried to keep it close. Screaming is coming from the hallways on the other side.

    The struggle to keep the door became pointless when something groaned behind me. I spun around keeping my body against the door as whatever is on the other side tried to force itself in. A little girl is standing there. She can't be older than four or five. Her long black hair is covering her face. The white nightie is covered in blood, rotten flesh, and dirt. She isn't wearing any shoes. 

    I flinched when she looked up at me raising her little hand towards me. She doesn't have eyes. The skin meant to cover her lower jaw is gone. Her tiny fangs and teeth are on full display. Sadness came over me knowing that this little girl had been someone's baby once. What a terrible fate to end up like this. 

    A gush of wind swirled the entire room before large thick vines broke through the window behind her. I jumped out of the way using my claws to hold myself up on the ceiling. The vines burst through the door impaling the crazed former that had been trying to come in. 

    Before she could try to sense me again, I pulled my sword out and attacked. I dropped to my knees pushing the sword forward. The blade pierced through her little chest. Black rotten ooze dripped out of her when I pulled the blade out. It did nothing to stop her. The vines above me curved. I rolled out of the way as they struck the spot in front of her. 

    "Go for the head," Charlie called out from the doorway. 

    "Move," I shouted as the vines redirected in her direction. 

    I swung my sword upward taking the top of her head off. The vines instantly stopped moving as her little body dropped to the floor. I cut through the vine to get outside and instantly backed into the room as a wooden spike came at me embedding itself on the door frame. 

    I crouched low before sneaking a look past the threshold to see the undead man standing at the end of the hall. Not only are they strong and difficult to kill they wield power. Charlie rushed into the room behind me. She's scared. I can smell it in her blood. 

    "When I say get down. You get down no matter what," I instructed. 

    "Okay," she agreed.  

    Using the heat around me, I gave it structure without setting it on fire and directed the heat at the door. The doorway broke apart taking the undead with it. It caused enough noise to draw the attention of the other formers. I jumped over the mess I made and stood in the center of the hall and whistled as loud as I can. I cut down the undead that were the closest using my bare claws. When the mass of them rushed forward. 

    "Get down," I ordered. Charlie dropped to the floor.

    I rare use this ability. I don't have to use it often because it's a little flashy and over the top. The reason why they call those of my bloodline the Dragon's throne. I pulled all of the heat in the room inside of me. I remember the first time I used it. My father had been frustrated with me because he didn't think I was making progress fast enough. He had beaten me down for the third time that night. He had never used his flames on me but out of anger, he struck me with a small fireball. My body observed it and I shot it back at him through the tips of my fingers. I had been tired and equally as frustrated as he. The heat that had been gathered in my body burned in my chest. Just like it is now. 

    I stood up straight, raising my arms up to opposite sides of the corridor, and as they got close and I released the entirety of my fire. The sound of the fire bursting out me roars. It takes shape of the demon that haunts those of my bloodline. The dragon. 

    The undead all cried out as my flames devoured everything in its path. I pulled it back inside of me and let it rush through my body until it settled down. The horn rang again. Everything is covered in the ashes of what used to be undead. Charlie jumped up looking around a little bewildered. 

    "What was that?" she shouted. I laughed. I stabbed the ends of tips of my fingers and stuck them in her ears to heal them. She shook her head a little and then looked up at me. 

    "Sorry, the sound must have popped the insides of your ears. Are you okay?"

    "Yeah," she nodded. "I knew you were strong, but seriously. That was insane," she jumped up happily. "Master couldn't do that," 

    "He wasn't strong enough to," I smiled at her. "I used it on him one time and I nearly killed him. He was overjoyed with it. I was freaking out and he was praising me for it. Looking back at it, it's funny now," 

    "I-" she stepped back with the cutest smile I have ever seen on her face. "I've never seen you smile like that. You are way too beautiful to be real sometimes you know that?" 

    "Major General?" we looked over at the end of the hall to see the others coming in our direction. Charlie stepped back as they approached me. 

    "General Sterling," I greeted him. He laughed. 

    "It's just one thing after another with you, isn't it?" he asked. 

    "For the most part. I'm not the heiress to the Dragon throne simply because of who my father is," 

    "I'm starting to see that," he nodded. "Get some rest. We leave at nightfall," he walked past me with the others walking past the two of us. 

    The women from before rushed the corridor cleaning up the mess I made. Once in a while, they'd sneak a glance at me before going back to cleaning. The others on this floor can't even look up at me or Charlie. She took down a few undead before getting to me. She must have gotten caught outside of her room. Just for this morning, I let her sleep in my room with me. She curled into my side and slept soundly. For the first since coming here, we both had a peaceful night and it will be the last peaceful night we'd have for years to come.