Lovers' Oath Ch. 04

This took Rayn by surprise. She almost expected talks of rewards and glory to gain. But Kendra had hit the bull's eye with the family talk. Was that from the background check they ran on me? She wondered silently. Then she realized that she didn't care. For some reason, all that Kendra told her made sense. Coming to a decision, she looked up,

"So when do I take the Oath?"

Kendra smiled at her question. She was a little surprised, but this wasn't entirely unexpected. Cocking her head to a side, she asked,

"Do you understand our purpose?"

"Yes."

"Do you swear to be loyal to the purpose and this organization?"

"Yes, I do." After a little hesitation, she added, "So there isn't some kind of Oath taking ceremony or anything?"

Without answering her question, Kendra simply shook her head and continued, "Do you, Rayn Slader, swear to protect the secret and the execution of the purpose as long as you are alive?"

"I do." As the words left her lips, she felt a warmth flood through her mind and body. Her vision blurred for a second. Her skin felt sensitive, almost too sensitive. She could feel each fiber of the long gown she was wearing. Her fingers closed around the arm rests of the metal chair. Then, as soon as the feeling had come, it was gone, leaving her somewhat disoriented. She took a deep breath, steadying herself.

"Wh...what was that?"

"Oh... Only the magic in your blood and your beasts responding to the magical bond you just entered. That's all." The warm smile was back on Kendra's mouth.

"Ah. Yes, I see." Rayn replied sarcastically. Then collecting herself, she said, "So that's it? The Oath taken? When do I start training?"

"I can see what Rohan meant by the cat in you." Kendra stated with a laugh, "You start training today. Rohan will give you an overview of the whole facility. He will also train you in tactics and weaponry. Sam and Preeyal will help you with the mastering of your beasts. Oh, and Kiel himself will be training you on some other matters. He will explain them himself. Have a good day Rayn." as she noticed a peculiar expression on Rayn's face, she raised an eyebrow, "Anything wrong?"

Standing up, Rayn shook her head, "Well, just that Kiel and explanations... They don't fit together in a sentence."

"Rayn," Kendra's voice took on a reproving tone despite the slight amusement in her eyes, "As a trainee, you are a level one operative, and Kiel is the Chief of Operations. You shouldn't be saying those things about your superior."

At that statement, Rayn made a face, but noting Kendra's manner, she nodded, "Alright, I won't... say... those things." Kendra could almost hear the part Rayn kept unsaid, 'I can still think them.'

"Good day, Rayn. Rohan see me later." and with that, Kendra's attention was back on the monitor on her desk.

Coming out of the office, as they went down the stairs, something occurred to Rayn,

"Umm, Rohan, what is the status of Kendra in La Lumière?"

"Well, she is the chief strategist. She and Kiel are the decision makers. Kiel has the power to override her, though."

"Oh..."

"She is also the mother of La Lumière." Rohan very casually stated.

"Oh?" Rayn was a little taken aback. If she is the founder of La Lumière, how old does that make her?

"Yes. She and her mate founded La Lumière. He died 400 years later. He had led this organization ever since it's conception. After his death, Kiel was the chosen one to be the leader."

"Why didn't she head La Lumière?" she asked.

Shrugging, Rohan answered "She felt that she is fit to be where she is, and not as the leader."

"Oh." Rayn didn't know what else to say. She almost felt sad for Kendra. "It must have been hard to go on without her beloved at her side." she muttered.

As they entered the corridor to the main hall again, Rohan quietly murmured, "You have no idea." and then both fell silent, deeply immersed in their own thoughts.

Entering the main hall, Rayn's eyes slowly wandered around, surveying the openings of other corridors and the video feeds and monitors with curious looking graphs and readings set along the walls. As her mind wondered where those other corridors led to, Rohan's voice brought her attention back to him. Waving his hand at one of the corridors, he quietly said,

"That way is the trainee quarters. All new recruits are supposed to be in their rooms when they are not training. Due to some special circumstances, we have decided that you'd be staying at the Den, with us." at Rayn's continued questioning stare, he smiled, "We have never before had a potential Alpha as a trainee. As those new recruits are mostly werewolves or werecats, your staying there may not be wise." pointing to a corridor behind them, "Those last two corridors, lead to holding cells and the interrogation chamber. Passage is only on Authorization from either Kiel, Kendra or me. " Pointing to the corridors leading away from the opposite wall, he continued,"The one on the right most corner, that leads to the briefing rooms, debriefing rooms, systems and surveillance, and the Council Hall. Council Hall is where most of the strategic planning is discussed and meetings with the Elders are held. Passage to Systems and Surveillance is only open to level 5 operatives and Kiel, Kendra and me. Before you ask, level 5 is the upper most level. The second corridor leads to mission prep and conveyance exit," Pointing to the left most corridor, he drew up a mischievous smile on his face and said, "and that, my dear Ray, that you take whenever you wanna see me, or, perhaps, see our armory."

"You are in-charge of the Armory?" She raised an eyebrow. Rohan's exaggerated bow was the confirmatory reply. "I never would have imagined."

"Why not?" It seemed Rohan was a little miffed. She shrugged,

"You just never seemed like the guy to handle weapons." Noting the "I-am-so-pissed-that-I-don't-Wanna-talk-to-you" look on Rohan's face, she very innocently stared at him, and casually said, "you always seemed like the guy who can tear through the enemy ranks bare handed." and smiled.

Rohan dropping his gaze to the mischievous girl smiling up at him tried to figure out if she was just pulling his leg. Since her twinkling eyes didn't give away anything, he grunted, "You are just trying to pull my leg." then remembering something his face brightened up. Pulling her by her hands towards the Armory, he said, "C'mon, I want to show you something. You will like them."

"Wow, slow down Ro. What is it?"

"You'll see when we get there." he tugged on her arm a little impatiently.

As he came to a stop at the corridor entry to look at something a guy had brought over to him, her eyes, as if attracted by someone calling her name, traveled to the still dark Main Control. As she stared, wishing with all her heart that she could see what Kiel was doing there, as if on cue, the glass became transparent. Startled at her wish coming true, she blinked. Then it came to her. The glass hadn't become transparent. It was still dark and yet, she could still see inside. And right now, she was staring straight at a standing still Kiel. And his own eyes were fixed on her. Her eyes were captivated by the intensity of his eyes. Something stirred inside her. An urge to go to him, to touch him. To feel if he felt as hard as he looked. Responding to the urge, unaware of what she was doing, she took a step in the general direction towards him.

"Hey, Ray, where are you going?" even as Rohan's hand took hold of her shoulder, she didn't hear him.

Taking a farmer hold of her upper arm, Rohan shook her, "Rayn, what is it? Hello?"

"Huh?" she blinked, his voice ultimately penetrating through the haze in her head."What?" she blankly asked.

"Where were you going?" he frowned, she didn't look good.

"Umm... I'm not sure. To the Armory, right?" Still a bit disoriented, she asked, unsure of herself. Then remembering Kiel, she looked up at his office. The glass was impenetrable again. She shook her head. "Umm, Ro, you didn't tell me where that corridor leads to?" she said, pointing to the only remaining one.

"That one goes to the elevator that takes you up to the various levels. Currently you don't have access to them. As you move up the ladder, you gain access. Are you okay?" He seemed a little concerned.

Her attention once more back on Kiel's office, she somewhat distractedly replied to Rohan,

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." Then, as if a chain was released, her attention was once more in her control. Still a little confused by these events, she shook herself mentally. Turning to Rohan, she gave him a bright smile and urged him on, "well wolf-boy, weren't you going to show me something in that armory of yours?"

Still eying her curiously, he said, "Yeah, well, your attention was elsewhere. Let's go?" he offered her his elbow in an elegant, gentlemanly fashion.

Chuckling she took the offered hand, letting him lead her to their destination.

*****

After about 20 minutes in the Armory, Rayn felt as if her smile was going to be the only expression she would manage to have for sometime. Saying that the armory was impressive would be an understatement. Any and all kinds of weapons imaginable were there. And apparently, all were designed by Rohan himself. And she had yet to see almost two-thirds of the collection.

"Umm... Do you even need all these or are many of them just for the purpose of collecting?" she asked, her eyes riveted onto the fine piece of art in the form of a wonderfully carved gun. The metal used for the gun was pitch black in color, and there were intricately woven yet simple looking designs on the handle, lending the gun a calm, cold beauty. She reached her fingers to touch it, as if to feel whether it really felt as cold yet yielding as it looked. As her fingers closed around the gun, she could almost hear the mental click with which the gun fitted in her palm. Picking up the gun from its cushioned holder, she slowly traced its muzzle with her fingers. Then, turning abruptly, she pointed and fired at one of the practice targets that ran all along the length, completely covering the opposite wall. The bullet hit the bull's eye with pin point precision, effectively putting a smile of satisfaction on Rayn's face. Turning to Rohan, she widely grinned,

"This is awesome." her excitement drew a smug smile on Rohan's face.

"Still want to know whether they're just needed or up for grabs, do you?" as if reading the thoughts running behind her sparkling eyes, he shook his head, reaching for the gun to take it back from her,

"No, Ray. Being a trainee, you only get a gun for practice, that too, only on authorization from your trainer."

"Umm, aren't you my trainer?" she wiggled her brows suggestively.

"For tactical, yes. But Kiel is your mentor. So, you need authorization from him." He could barely suppress his laugh as she made a face, and with a sigh returned the gun to its place.

"So apart from drool worthy fire power, what else have you got?" as a reply, he gestured with one hand towards the door at the other end,

"This way please."

As the door to the next room opened, she gasped. This room, on one side contained a large area equipped with ancient and modern tools to practice using swords and daggers. But the more impressive things were on the other side. There, panel after panel on the wall showed off Daggers and swords and knives and also, some innovative combinations of rods and blades and chains. As she slowly proceeded through the room, her eyes riveted on the beauties, three particular pieces caught her eyes. Almost mesmerized by them, she went towards that panel, unaware of the queer look with which Rohan was observing her.

Two of them were beautiful, curved daggers. The handles were slightly carved, making it easier for the holder to grasp the hilt firmly, and the dagger would snugly fit into that grasp. The blade of the dagger started from the rear part of the hilt, making a flipped-C curve that started from the back the fist, then coming to the front and straightening off, resembling the tip of a sword. Almost as if invited to do so, Rayn took up the daggers with her hands. As her fingers closed around the hilts of each, the rear parts of the hilts, from where the blades had started, elongated slowly, revealing a pair of gleaming, straight blades that only stopped an inch or two short of reaching her elbows. This way, she realized, the wielder would not have to shift his grasp for attacking from separate angles. Even as that realisation set in, she wondered from where that second set of blades had come since she had not seen a retractable part in the hilt. An unreal blue gleam on the blades captured her eyes, betraying their magical nature to her. As the carvings on both of the blades caught her eyes, she raised one of her arms to her eyes, trying to decipher the meaning of the alien words on them.

"Ow!"

"What happened?" Rohan was instantly at her side, reaching for the arm she was holding the dagger she was observing.

"I... I cut myself on the dagger." She answered with some embarrassment, then added hastily, "It's nothing. Just a scratch. There was only a drop or two of blood. It will be alright before you know it." as she felt the wounds closing, she showed it to Rohan, "See?"

He nodded, his brows still drawn in reproof,"Yeah, alright. Just be careful while handling these. There are some with poisoned tips. While they are not fatal to werewolves, they would make you quite sick."

"Mmhm." she hummed in reply, her eyes once again on the dagger. Then she almost dropped both of them. She blinked and looked again, was it just her imagination or did the letters of the writings just gleam red for an instant? Looking from one dagger to the other, she frowned. She could have sworn that the curious looking symbols had changed... Or rather, rearranged themselves.

"Umm, Ro?" she muttered, still unsure of what she was seeing.

"Yeah?" he looked up from the short sword he was examining for balance. As he saw her continuing to frown down at the daggers, he closed the little distance, and looked down at them. "What is it Ray? Something wrong?"

"Er... No." she wasn't sure what she had seen. Looking up at him, she repeated more confidently. "Nah. I thought I saw an irregularity in one of them. But it's just the light playing tricks, I guess. These two babies are as perfect as ever." she smiled brightly, mimicking the one on Rohan's face.

"Yup. These are the beauties of the whole collection, actually. Handcrafted by the greatest forger on Cardaera. Made for and wielded by the most ferocious of our warriors ever. She was amazing."

"Was?"

"Yeah. At the Last Battle, the one we fought before the War going covert, we lost her. We had won that one, and the victory was due to her sacrifice." Stopping after saying this much, he stared unseeingly at the daggers still held in her hand, his fingers automatically going to trace the blades, almost caressing them.

"Sacrifice? What sacrifice did she make? And, why?" Rayn's questions were wondering and confused at the same time.

"She sacrificed... Something precious. And the answer to the why part is not mine to give. That is something only she could have explained." Looking into her eyes, he gave a sad smile. "Not all questions can be answered, sugar. As Kendra said, we are still trying to find out the whole truth ourselves."

Nodding, she looked down. Then realizing that Rohan was holding out his hands for the daggers, she pouted, placing them in his hand a little unwillingly,

"So I can't even carry a dagger or two either?"

"Nope. All weapons are only issued on authorization from Kiel until you are at least level 3. That is when you are considered to become a team leader and are allowed to carry one weapon on request citing suitable reasons, but that too has to have clearance from Kiel or Kendra, or under emergency circumstances, under clearance from me. But even then you won't get to keep such battle pieces. They are only issued for field actions where heavy hostility is anticipated." He smiled at her pout. "So, want to start training with me?"

That instantly got her attention and excitement. "Yeah. What are you training me in?"

"Well, training with me won't be in sessions. You've already seen the weapons we use. I'll be simply instructing you on the pros and con's of each and basically which to use in what situation. In order to do that you need to study some of the recordings of previous field jobs." At this point Rayn's eyes turned to his with an incredulous look,

"Field jobs? Wouldn't attack be a better choice of word?"

"It would have been if all we did was attack." he shook his head, "Many times, we don't attack, rather we even sabotage their plans of attacks, or, simply defend their target without revealing ourselves to them. So, we call it 'field job'. It also affords us some discreetness. Being discreet about the identity of our employees and allies often comes handy." Seeing Rayn's nod of understanding, he continued,

"You will, from now on assist me on the tactical team on all our future missions. Tactical includes not only directing the teams and communicating to them, but also, it partially, yet significantly depends on the leader of the tactical team the smooth progress of all operations. It is your judgment of the situation and it's assessment that bears the responsibility of switching plans, making changes in the plans, and even aborting the mission. Although the plans and profiles are prepared in advance, things may turn out differently in the field, and that is when it comes to the expertise of the Tactical Team and the Team Leader to proceed with the mission and succeed. From the preparation phase till the team or teams return to base, you have to be in touch with them. You also oversee the process of assigning weapons and other tech support and issuing them." with a grin on his face, he wiggled his brows, "Got it?"

Pushing away from the part of the wall she was leaning against, she answered dryly, "Think so. So when do I start studying the records?"

Curving his index finger, he smiled, "Follow me, Kitty."

*****

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A few hours later, at the Main Control.

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Entering the sleekly designed office, Rohan observed for a little while the still standing form of Kiel in front of the monitor showing the progress of a live mission. He quietly walked to his side and stood watching the progress. After a while he started in a low voice,

"I need to talk to you."

"It has to wait. There's a mission in progress." Kiel stated, his attention totally focused on the screen.

"I know. But this is important Ki."

"Once the team has secured the middle location, we can talk." Kiel's tone went a little towards the steely, cold one he used with others, making Rohan somewhat irritated in turn.

"She picked Eleyna's blades, Kiel. She chose the Bloody Pearls." he growled out, his voice giving away his irritation. As the words escaped his lips, Kiel's head turned sharply towards him, his eyes locking onto Rohan's, as if asking for confirmation. As Rohan nodded once, Kiel's eyes widened a little, almost imperceptibly. Then his eyes slowly traveled to the one way window and stared at the casually sprawled form of Rayn on the sofa in Rohan's office, her attention on the monitor. As if on cue, just as his eyes regarded her thoughtfully, she raised her eyes up at his office and stared right back. Unless he was sure that the glass window was still dark, he would have suspected that she was actually staring at him.

Instinctively, taking a step away from the window, he brought his attention back to the screen. He knew Rohan was thinking the same thing as he. And he himself almost prayed it was true. But still,