Blood Warrior by H. D. Gordon

directly in front of me. I worked to hold her gaze. To say she was intimidating would be an understatement. She looked down at my arm and her blue eyes widened in wonder. Reaching up slowly, she asked, “May I?” I’m not sure why, but with her so close to me, it suddenly hit me that this was someone I should show respect to. That’s not to say that I liked her; it’s just that everything had changed recently, and if I was going to have to live in this new world I’d found myself in, I could at least respect their customs. This was not normal for me. I usually hated authority figures, but things change when your life is on the line.
    Still, my words surprised me. “Certainly… your majesty.”
    She looked up at me then and I saw a smile behind her eyes, though her mouth didn’t so much as twitch. She ran her fingers lightly over my wrist and then trailed them up my arm, stopping at the sun on my shoulder. “Soll Lilliums,” she whispered. “I haven’t seen these in a very, very long time.” She spoke so only I could hear her. “How long have you had this?” I spoke in a hushed tone. “They just appeared. After I…”
    She nodded, and again spoke only to me. “After you freed them. May I Search you?”
    I hesitated, remembering the vulnerable feeling I’d had after Akira had Searched me, but I had a feeling this woman could do as she wanted, and was only asking out of courtesy.
    I nodded.
    She stepped back a few inches and released a heavy breath. Then, she held out her hands, palms up. I reached up and placed my hands in hers. She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed. Just like last time, I felt a tingling sensation where she was touching me and that unmistakable feeling of someone reaching deep into my soul. My mind instantly felt muddled and I had a hard time focusing on anything but her face.
    I was feeling a little light-headed by the time she released me a few moments later. Her eyes popped open and now the uncertainty that was there before was replaced with a shocked acceptance.
    “How can this be?” she mumbled.
    “I don’t know. I didn’t even know there were such things as Warriors until a couple of days ago,” I said in a low voice.
    She considered this. “And what has brought you to us, young Warrior?” I felt an unexpected pride well up in me at her words and decided I would think about it later. “The Lamias found us… they took my Mother, but my sister and I managed to escape. We’ve come because we have nowhere else to go that is safe.” She stared into my eyes so long that I almost dropped my gaze. At last, she nodded, as if coming to some sort of decision. “We will be happy to accommodate you, young Warrior,” she whispered. Louder, she said, “You may return to your seat.” When I was seated, the other Council members leaned together and started speaking in hushed tones. It was obvious who they were talking about because they kept shooting confused looks my way. The woman’s eyes never left me, and finally, she held up a hand so that the others would stop their questioning.
    “Alright,” she said, once again taking on that sharp tone. “A Searcher, a Wolf Son and a Warrior,” she announced. I suppressed a laugh, I almost expected her to say “walked into a bar.” “I assume you would like to continue your schooling?” she continued.
    Nelly, Jackson and I exchanged glances, then, we all nodded.
    She looked like she was pleased with this. “Good, Nelliana and Jackson, you will be attending the school that caters to your races. Alexa… seeing as how you are the only one of your kind, you have a choice as to where you attend.”
    Nelly shifted beside me. I didn’t have to look at her to know what she wanted. “I would like to go to school with Nelly, if that’s okay.”
    The woman shook her head. “I’m afraid that would be of no benefit for you.” I had to work to keep my aggravation off my face. I thought she said I’d get to choose. I should have known