12 Ripple

"Then everything got black. The next thing I knew I woke up in here with all you," said Rue before her jaws unhinged to allow the meat thigh hot with steam rising to move inside her mouth. Her left cheek swelled to a lump the size of half her head before her lips pressed shut and she started to chew.

Her long wavy hair was wrapped into a large loose bun at the top of her head that shook from her slightest movement. She wore a long-sleeved dress with her legs hidden under the sheet. The bed she laid on was so high the individuals in the room had chosen to remain standing.

The room was spacious and had tall glass windows to one side of the wall to let in the sunlight. A servant stood behind the table beside Rue's bed lifting the last silver cloche from a tray. There were five trays covered with fruits, meats, and bread.

The Meras that stood on the other side of her bed leaned back after she stopped talking. They were so engaged with her words they had unconsciously leaned in. There was the head nurse, three older members of the Zunbera-xefi, and Cronan her father. Compared to him the others looked like middle-aged Meras reaching him at his shoulders.

Further away by the tall wooden door stood silently three guards with spears and swords.

"By the almighty spirits," mumbled one of the elders.

"Those bloody Werewolves," growled Cronan. "For their sake, you weren't badly hurt"--he hit his fist into the palm of his other hand and the metal cloches rattled-- "or I would have annihilated every single one of them--not one would have been left to see the daylight."

Those words got Rue to imagine her father rushing through a town filled with Werewolves armed with a sword as he left a trail of blood and death behind him. It brought a smirk to her face. She loved the attention she was getting.

"Thankfully there were no serious effects from the Jedposa," commented the head nurse in a dragged-out monotone. "You will be free to leave our care today. But just in case, you are advised to use a walking cane for three days."

"That's all I needed to hear. Please leave, I need to speak to my daughter alone."

"Yes milord," -- "Of course your highness," they said with bows before they along with the servant left through the door.

Rue's brows knitted together in annoyance at the three guards still standing at the door after the others had left.

"That means you too-get out," she ordered with her cheeks stuffed to the brim and a bread loaf in one hand.

They bowed and moved to begin walking.

"Bloody no!" blurted Cronan with the wave of his hand. "Your royal guards are to go nowhere without you clear in their sights," he added in a loud and serious manner that echoed from the high empty ceiling.

Their feet stopped and they turned to face the room once more like statues.

Rue's left eye twitched before she let out a puff. She made her last swallow, crossed her arms under her chest, and turned her head away to focus on the metal tray on the table on the opposite side. She no longer had an appetite.

His voice softened, "From this day they are to resume their duties of protecting you. Never again shall the daughter of mine, the only thing I hold dear in this world, be seen outside those royal walls past noon and unsupervised."

Rue could not see her father's eyes staring deep into hers. This was a punishment she thought.

He leaned forward, folded his hands to rest beside her and he hung his head towards the sheet. Three long black braids hung from his head and reached down to his waist. He was without his scarf and crown, and his long golden colored tunic could not hide his thick muscular build underneath.

They stayed in their positions and spoke not a word. The dreaded silence continued until dimness from a cloud blocked out the sun and cast a shadow over everything.

He made a heavy sigh before he spoke low to the sheet, "So you can do telekinesis. How many of those beasties did you take down again, two?"

Rue leaned up fast and turned to her father with a bright smile. "Four," she blurted before leaning back against the backrest to look to the ceiling in wonder.

She had figured it out. The Werewolf that got decapitated was her doing. It was a spark of her telekinesis ability. When her hand reached to protect her face right before it bit into her head, a powerful force she created pushed its head away ripping it from its body. It must have landed several feet away and that's why it wasn't near her.

There was also the one she stabbed with the silver dagger before it slipped from her hands to get lodged in its head. She was able to do that because she had forced its mouth shut.

Also when she pushed back the two that ran towards her on all fours so that one landed in the furnace of a burning building and then tore down the front of a building to fall on top of the other one.

"They called me Werewolf slayer. It felt amazing."

His head lifted to reveal no more signs of anger. "Four all on your own? I've taken down more than fifty in my lifetime. Don't tell anyone I said this" --he smiled at her and whispered-- "but I am so proud of you. Red the Werewolf slayer just like her dad."

Rue's brows raised as she glimpsed back at the guards listening to everything they said. "I think you should tell that to them."

He rested one hand on her shoulder and laughed as he said, "With those corpses, I've already arranged for amendments to your coronet by the artem order. That should get you to start wearing it more often."

"Really? Dad that's amazing!" exclaimed Rue taking her mind away from the guards. Just the thought of walking with a coronet that finally stroke fear and demanded respect by all who set their eyes on it made her fill up with confidence. But that wasn't the only reason she disliked wearing it.

Her mind went back to the story her father told her years ago, about a Royal Mera whose mighty coronet got stuck to a low-hanging chandelier before it ripped the scalp from their head as the servant carriers rushed with their highness fastened to the sedan chair.

That thought wiped the smile from Rue's face. At least not to pin it down she thought. Yes, that was it, since pins kept it in one place for long periods to prevent it from slipping off the head. But she didn't mind that especially since her skin was already ruined with a scar and felt her hair was her last attractive feature. That was also a reason her hair was so long and well looked after.

The other reason was so that it could hide her back whenever she came out of the bath. Rue was a bit paranoid at times and always felt someone may be watching her even as she bathed. She couldn't risk others finding out about her scar and she developed the skill of putting on her underclothes with her hair hung down her back.

The two continued to talk enthusiastically and her father eventually sat on the edge of her bed as they did.

As if the realization that she did Telekinesis had just hit her, it got her to conclude that the Zunbera-xefi was indeed the order for her. Maybe she felt bored all those times during training and making crafts because she couldn't see how it affected anything. But there was a will of fire that ignited within her when she saw a Werewolf. It was a passion and determination she had never felt for anything before.

She went on about how she froze when confronted by the Pyraus-dragona type creature but she never froze when confronted with Werewolves. It was as if that newly found passion was for destroying those mutts and that was the reason for her sudden spark in telekinesis.

Rue questioned her father about this and he confirmed it to be so. "That's the true calling of a Werewolf slayer," he told her.

He began to retell the story of how he became Chief but from a different angle Rue had not heard before. It all went back to a Werewolf attack years ago after the one that caused Rue's scar. It was that dreadful day when the Zunbera-xefis and the Fronteras worked together to wipe out the beasts during a similar attack, only to the terrifying event of his wife's death.

It was that added pain and hatred that awakened his telekinesis. It was a power he had never felt before. He found the strength to annihilate about twenty of those Werewolves on his own by ripping jaws apart, and even went face on with the head of the pack. That was a Werewolf with three large tails and was three times larger than the average mutt.

After that day the then-current Chief, a wrinkled and poor-sighted Mera, gladly resigned his position and passed it on to him. Though he gained something that day, he lost something he would never get back, his wife. He could not risk losing her too. A reason he decided to become Chief was so that he could offer her life and protection he could not without that status.

The story ended with him reminding Rue in a very hard tone to never disobey his orders. "Never should you go past those walls at noon and your guards are to follow you wherever you go!" he ordered so strongly it got her eyes watery.

Rue understood and causing her father more pain was the last thing she wanted. "Yes it will never happen again," she sobbed.

His sorrowful eyes and dampened spirit made him turn to the windows to stare lost at them. Rue decided to change the topic as she disliked when her father got too serious with her or when he got too sad.

She wiped her eyes and asked, "How did they escape on those highly intelligent species? Was that some sort of alliance--why don't we have alliances with other Domains?"

"We are assassins," he told her before he turned to face her again. "We do not mingle with other Domains, it makes our work much harder than needs be. We the Meras are who Kingdoms call upon to purge forces that threaten the Balance. Forming alliances would reveal our secrets," he puffed before he shot up to his feet.

Rue began to regret bringing up the topic as rage began to crowd his neck with veins and his voice got louder.

"Just look what happened with the Werewolves. They used to be our neighbors and now somehow they got possession of Jedposa. There was once a time when no other Domain knew there existed a poison capable of killing us, much less how to make it!

"Yeah, okay I get it--" Rue tried to end the conversation but he persisted.

His hands came together and his fingers caged the air between them like he had just grabbed hold onto an invisible neck and was ready to squeeze it. He gnashed his teeth and said, "They've already spread so many of our secrets and tactics--why do you think we're forced to hide our tails in battle?

Rue leaned forward and rested her chin onto the palm of one of her hands as she watched her father yell to the windows. She knew by now that it was best not to interrupt and at least pretend to be listening.

"There was once a time when even a highly intelligent creature never thought once to attack our tails. We had metal darts at the end we would use to end a fight within less than a second…"

The knock from the other side of the door managed to break through his voice. Rue leaned up and the guards moved to both sides of the door with their swords and spears on the defense.

"Let them in," he said as he turned from the windows to face the door.

"I beg your pardon your highness, but do remember your meeting at noon," said the voice from the person Rue had not bothered to look at.

By the slight orange in the rays through the window, she knew noon was coming and that he had to leave her.

"Yes, I will need only but a minute."

The door shut before he turned to face Rue again.

"What's the meeting about?" she asked pretending to be interested in Politics.

"The Pyraus-dragona. A ripple has started and a big wave is about to hit," he whispered with a smirk and it got her eyes to go wide.

"Please get some rest your lively presence will be needed tomorrow," he told her. He patted her on the head before he headed off and through the door. The sight of the guards at her door who must follow her everywhere from that day dispelled any thoughts of leaving to go about her business.

She dropped her back against the backrest. Her eyes moved to look at the wooden walking cane leaned up against the side of the table. Since she woke up she had not tried to walk but she didn't feel to try with her mood.

As she stared at the high ceiling, she began to think about the next day. She knew a grand funeral would be held for the fallen. She wandered about the warrior who held her hand but got maimed by the Werewolf. He did not die in vain she thought, as she now had telekinesis. She decided she hated Werewolves even more and swore if she ever saw the sight of one of them she would not hesitate to kill it.