Lovers' Oath Ch. 03

With that Kiel left the room, followed by Rohan a few moments later, leaving Rayn alone in the room to process all that just happened. Only one thing was clear in her mind, she wasn't going anywhere any time soon. And despite the circumstances, it made her feel extremely good.

*****

The minutes slowly ticked by, leaving Rayn to grow more impatient. She was now pacing around the circular room, circling the only metal chair in the middle of the room. At first she had wondered, now she understood why this room was called white room. The room was built with some sort of metal alloy, white in color. There was no one source of light in here. As she had looked around for the past two or so hours, it seemed that the surface of every wall and the ceiling in this room gave off the light. She was intrigued at the thought. She didn't know of any substance that fit this description. There were things that gave off light and heat, but usually they were not this strong. For the umpteenth time in the last two hours, she stopped and glared up at the camera that followed her every movement. She just couldn't understand why she was here.

As Rohan had brought her here, blind folded, he hadn't uttered a single word about where this place was or why she was here. On her non ceasing questioning, he had simply and somewhat grumpily replied that it wasn't his place to talk about it. Now, once she had a little time to think, she felt the grumpiness could have been the result of her hitting him when he wouldn't take the blindfold off. Well, hitting him and breaking his nose. But, surprisingly, he hadn't even uttered an "Uff" when she did it. 'May be I should have hit him harder,' she thought to herself. Rohan had only taken off her blindfold once she was in the room and seated on the single chair, and then without so much as a backward glance, he had left the room, locking the metal door behind him. Once her eyes adjusted to the light in the room, she had started to see and observe. The very first thing she noted was the sleekly designed chair. It gave off a sense of 'no-nonsense'. 'Must be Kiel's choice,' she had mused. Then her eyes settled on the built- in metal restraints on the chair's armrests. There were a pair on each armrest, one fastened at the wrist covering up to the palm and another right below the elbow. Although they were not in use right now, she still pulled away her hands from the restraints and kept them firmly on her lap. As curiosity flared in her mind, she leaned forward and looked down at the legs of the chair. Sure enough, similar restraining measures were also built there. This observation, instead of assuaging her curiosity, took it up one notch. Now she had to know what was the purpose of this room.

As she stood up, a slight whirring noise caught her ears. Looking up, she saw the camera following her movements. Just to test her theory, she stepped a little to the left, and watched the cam adjust its positioning accordingly. A mischievous idea came to her. She started to pace around haphazardly, making it hard for the cam to follow. As she continued to play, a clicking sound caught her ears. Looking back at the cam, she saw it freeze for a second, then it folded itself in half and retracted into the wall. As the camera completely vanished, a sound coming from above her head got her to tilt her head back and see what it was. Once the sound stopped, she realized it was due to the lowering of a 270 degree camera that monitored everything in that room without moving. She growled at it playfully, 'Spoil sports! Won't even let me play.' she muttered. Since then, for the past 2 hours, she had paced round the room, first methodically, then lazily, and now angrily. All the nooks and crevices of the room she had memorized to a fault. She had tried the door to find it shut. She had tried to sit and calm down, but the metal was simply annoying her.

She put her back towards the door and glared at the opposite wall. 'You'd think someone would have come in and answered a few questions by now.' she muttered to herself. Then, hearing the door open she turned to see Kiel enter the room, silently shutting the door behind him. As she surveyed him critically, trying to decide how best to punish him for making her wait, she realized that he was very tense. That distracted her thoughts. Although he never revealed any expression, she thought she could detect a hint of tiredness in his eyes. Her heart melted. As she searched for words, he initiated the conversation, in that calm, infuriatingly emotionless voice of his,

"Hello."

She raised one eyebrow. That's what he says after making her wait for two boring hours? Her temper flared again. She growled out,

"Hello? Hello? That's what you say after making me wait two bloody hours in this stupid crappy room?" she stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"What would you like me to say?" Kiel replied, again in that controlled tone. She cocked her head, considering whether to hit him, so that he'd at least make an uncontrolled sound or to continue the conversation. She decided on the latter.

"How about some explanations? Like what the hell is this place, and why am I here?" She demanded, watching his face intently. He took a few paces towards her, his eyes locked onto hers as if searching for their own answers. She felt a little nervous, but stood her ground. Not wanting to seem a coward in front of Kiel, she stared at him right back. Coming to a halt about 3 steps away from her, he gently ordered,

"Sit."

As she looked at him with defiance, he sighed almost imperceptibly. Then he repeated,

"Sit down, please. Then we can discuss why you are here."

At that, she stepped back and dropped herself into the chair, folding her hands on her lap. Once she was settled down, he slowly paced in front of her as he started with the explanation,

"This place, is the headquarters of an organization called La Lumière - the light..."

"Never heard of it." she blurted out, frowning. At this interruption, he stopped pacing and stood facing her, pinning her in place with his piercing gaze, then he slowly continued,

"When I speak, I prefer not to be interrupted." As he continued to gaze at her, she flushed a little, then, a little hesitantly she mouthed the word 'sorry'.

"I didn't hear you." he coldly responded. She glared up at him, then stiffly relied,

"I said I'm sorry. Won't happen again."

At her stubborn reply, Kiel nodded once, then resumed his pacing and the explanation,

"La Lumière is a secret organization. Apart from its employees and its enemies, not many have heard of it. The secret is carefully guarded. Our enemies are ones you have already fought - the demons. We were impressed at your success on that night and think you could be a powerful warrior to aid us in the ongoing war between us and the demons. Since you are untrained, you'll start training today. You have another briefing with Kendra within the hour. Then you will see Rohan, he will be you tactical trainer. Sam and Preeyal shall help you with controlling your magic, if you have any, and your beasts. From tomorrow, you will start training with me for hand-to-hand combat and a few other things. Any questions?" As he stopped talking, Rayn realized she was staring at him open mouthed. She hastily closed her mouth. As her brain processed the information, she blinked slowly, totally confused.

"What war are you talking about? There's been no war on Cardaera for the past millennium." she inquired.

Kiel simply stated, apparently unaffected by her incredulous tone,

"There's been a cold war going on between the demons and the OuterWorld for the past millennium. The open war before that was only dissolved in public eye, so it can be continued under cover. Kendra will give you the details."

With that Kiel turned and proceeded towards the door, stopping only when she called from behind,

"And you want me to fight for you, for your side?"

"Yes." He calmly replied, without looking at her.

"What if I don't?" she asked in a cold voice, feeling the hurt in her chest at his detached behavior. Was this the only reason he wanted her around?

He slowly turned his head, locking his eyes with hers once again. As she waited for his reply, searching his eyes intently for any emotions, he simply, yet confidently replied,

"You will. You just don't know it yet."And with that, he left the room, leaving Rayn alone to make the decision that would affect her life for good.

~oOo~