With Sin, Condemn You

"It's about time you two showed up," Brian sneered when Valora and I entered the main hall. Along with my guards, some of the other Sinne Krigare occupied the room, including Cinzia, Jinx, Renato, and Oberon. Other demons I had never seen before were also being included in the meeting. They regarded me respectfully for a few seconds, then returned to their business. I even recognized some of the warriors who had tried to ambush us on our trip for the timore blood. Must be the work of the Sinne Krigare.

I opened my mouth to stab Brian with a snippy retort, but was beat to the cut by Valora. "Quiet dog boy or I'll make you my personal servant." Her face was twisted into an almost insane smile as her eyes locked with Brian's.

Brian seemed unaffected as he stared at the demon who had challenged him. His glare faltered, however, when Valora added her pearly whites to the smirk. Finally, Brian huffed, crossed his arms, and turned away from her, his pride obviously damaged.

Zacky, who was positioned near the puppy with his tail between his legs, snickered and muttered, "Burn." Surprisingly, Brian didn't even glare at Zacky; he just ignored him.

Matt cleared his throat from his place in the center of the room, calling us all to attention. "That's all for the entertainment portion of the meeting," he said, sending an amused smirk to Brian. "Now down to business."

"Did I miss something?" I whispered to Valora, beginning to feel nervous. If I did miss something important, what kind of a queen does that make me?

Valora, calm as ever, muttered, "I'm not sure, your highness."

"Alden's forces are getting stronger everyday," Matt continued, cutting through any chatter that had began again. "By the looks of things, we're going to have a war on our hands. Alden no doubt knows about our resistance and will do anything to put it down. And I do mean anything." Nervous yammering around the hall ensued again.

Matt cast a quick glance my way, causing me to shift nervously and gulp. That must mean he'd go so far as to kill me if worse came to worst for him. Not only me, but anyone else who stood in his way as well. My heart was pounding in my chest. All these demons could be in grave danger and it's all because of me.

Once everyone returned their attention to Matt, his voice boomed through the hall again. "As you have probably seen, our numbers are no match for Alden's forces. We would be obliterated at best in our current state. So we need to get a bigger...I guess now we can call it an army. The reason I have called you all here is to tell you to recruit like crazy. If you know anyone that even hinted at hating Alden, find them. Also, Johnny has scouted the realm for tribes who might seem interested. I've made a list of these and will start assigning groups to bring them here."

I felt a hand grasp my and jumped. I heard a familiar chuckle and immediately calmed down. "It's just me," Jimmy murmured.

I felt Valora obscurely shift her gaze to the two of us. In my peripheral vision I saw her smile a little as well. A tiny blush reddened my cheeks. "A bit of a public place for this isn't it?" I hissed at him.

Before Jimmy could reply, Matt forced everyone's attention back to him. "Now, if there are any questions, feel free to speak up."

Waves of conversation refilled the small crowd gathered in the mansion's main hall. After a few minutes, Renato stepped forward from his position next to Oberon. His deep voice filled the hall, rivaling Matt's in volume and authority. "As you know, the Sinne Krigare have mind control abilities. Do we have permission to use them if need be?"

Matt pondered this for a second then nodded. "Yes, you have permission but only if they try to fight. If they say they want no part in this squabble, I don't want them forced into it. We're trying to establish some kind of order here and we don't need everyone thinking we'll abuse our powers to force demons to do what we want them to. So, if they get violent and won't leave you alone, I say go for it. But I'll leave that part of the decision ultimately to the leaders of the groups I mentioned earlier."

Renato nodded once, then took his place beside Oberon again. When no one stepped forward for a few minutes, Matt ended the meeting. I watched everyone file out of the main hall, emptying it again except for me, my guards, and Valora. Jimmy had moved back to talk to Johnny during the chaos of everyone leaving.

"I must be going your highness," Valora informed me, bowing slightly. "I need to enlighten the rest of the Sinne Krigare of what went on in this meeting. If you wish to talk or need me, you know where to find me." She bowed to me one last time before heading back to her tribe.

Once she was gone, Matt came over and stood in front of me. His face showed the normal confidence, but a hint of worry and distress resided there as well. I wondered why. Everything seemed to be going fairly well for us so far.

"Alex, we need to have a meeting of our own." He then turned to the others. "That goes for you four as well. So let's go." The others groaned and muttered curses before we all followed Matt.