Chapter Two

LUCY

It was the flowers, I always thought, that kept me sane. When I tended to my flowers, they never talked back, never told me I didn’t understand as my mum did, never yanked up their roots, and stalked away in a huff.

I would prune away the wild parts, those sudden growth sprigs that thought they could go their own way until the plant was shaped as I intended for it to be shaped.

After tendering my flowers, I took my sword and headed to the field to practice. I did so every morning while others were still asleep. I preferred to train on my own, it was less distracting. I was still training when Nathan came at me from behind. I jolted and almost hurt him before I quickly regained myself.

“NATHAN! You almost got yourself killed again! Stop coming at me like that, you startled me” I yelled, he laughed and took my sword away from me. returning it to its sheath.

“what are you doing so early in the morning?” he asked as we both sat on the floor

“Practicing of course” I scoffed at him,

“You seem to take this attack more seriously than the rest of us. Anyways, I don’t think you will be joining us on that day, so I guess you can stop training now and get some rest” he said

“What do you mean? Who told you that?” I asked amidst anger, I knew it was Maverick's idea to lay me off. Nathan refused to say anything so I asked again.

"What makes you think I won't be joining you guys on that day?" I was curious, I wondered why Maverick would want to prevent me from joining others, we have been planning this for months and it was a perfect time to even the score.

"I heard Maverick talking to my father last night about laying you off. Hey, he mustn't know I told you this"

"I knew it. Maverick keeps getting on my nerves as each day passes by. No one is going to stop me, not even Maverick nor your father" I said while getting up from the ground, I was angry and wanted to go confront Maverick for trying to lay me off but I remembered what Nathan said about not telling anyone, with the anger I walked away leaving Nathan there on the field.

Still furious, I stormed into the hut only to find my mother sobbing, she quickly dried her tears when she saw me.

“Hey, Lu,” she said, faking a smile “you are up early, where have you been?” she asked

“Mother, what happened? Why are you crying? I asked, I sat beside her and held her hand

“Crying” she scoffed “I wasn’t crying, honey, something got into my eyes, that's all" she added. I knew she wasn't saying the truth, I knew her too well and could tell when she was telling a lie.

"I'm no longer a child mother, please talk to me," I said.

"I miss him so much," she said as she burst into tears, I had never seen my mother cry this way in a long time except during the demise of my father.

I remember how she cried for weeks, she refused to eat or drink anything. As a little girl I never understood fully what was happening, all I knew was that my mother was wallowing in pain until I was finally told of my father's death.

I held my mother as she sobbed in my arms, I missed my father too, I missed the time we spent together.

"That is where we are from” he once told me while pointing to a city as we stood at the hilltop. “That used to be our home, but not anymore”

"Why? What changed? Why can't we go back home? I don't like it here” I complained

"We can't go back honey, they don't need us there anymore," he said

I stood at the hilltop now and all I could think of was ways to make them pay for what they did to my family. Watching my mother cry today gave me more than enough reason to slay every single member of that pack but my mother wanted otherwise. She wanted me to stay away from that pack, she was scared of losing me and I understood her plight but I wasn't going to let that stop me from getting my revenge.

"I want you to stay away from there, I don't want to lose you like I did your father," she said holding my hands

"Nothing is going to happen, mother, you worry too much. I'm going to revenge for my father's death, I know that's what he has always wanted-"

"That's not what he wanted" she cuts in, tears flowing from her eyes to her cheek, "he wants you to be happy, find love, get married, and have beautiful children" she added, I broke free from her and got up from the bed.

"I can never be happy until they pay back for what they did to you and father," I said before storming out of the hut.

I was still lost in thought and didn't know when Nathan joined me at the hilltop, he called my name but I didn't respond. He nudged me and I was brought back to reality.

"Penny for your thought, miss," he said

I shrugged off his comments and continued staring at the city in front of me. If only I could gain access to the pack, it would be easy to get to the palace and get my revenge executed.

"Lucy, what are you thinking of?" he asked curiously

"Do you know how I can get access to the pack? I heard you have someone inside that gives you information"

"No, No, No. Lucy, that's risky. Do you know what you are asking me for? You could get killed if you are found" he said.

He was right, if anything goes wrong and I'm found, I'll be dead.

"I won't be there for long I promise, I just want to see what it looks like. I'm not going to cause you any trouble " I said pleadingly

"Fine, but promise me you won't do anything stupid," he said

"I promise, I cross my heart," I said excitedly, "can we go now?"

"You are unbelievable, I can't believe I'm agreeing to this madness. Let's go now, we need to be back before dusk. We don't want to get into trouble with my father" he said, leaving me behind. I stood there watching him as he went while I chuckled.

"Finally changed your mind?" He said after realizing I was lagging. I quickly joined him and we made our way to the pack.

It was more beautiful than I imagined it to be, it was well-decorated probably because of the coronation at hand. Everyone seemed to be busy, all hands were on deck in preparation for the coronation, I was in awe.

"So this used to be my home," I thought as we walked around with our faces covered.

We wandered about for a while, I took note of where the palace was and counted the number of guards securing the entrance and within the pack. We finally decided it was time to leave, it was dark already and soon the gates would be shut. We approached the gate when a husky voice stopped us saying,

"Stop It right there intruders"

I felt a cold chill run down my spine, we have been caught and It was all my fault, this was the end of the road for both of us. I slowly turned to see who it was as I bit my lips, standing there was someone I never expected to meet, someone I thought was dead long ago.