Page 25 of Chosen (The Registry #2)

Chapter

Nineteen

DRAKEN

“ A re you absolutely certain?” I ask, even though I’m staring at the evidence myself.

“Yes, My Lord,” Physician Gwyen nods solemnly.

I ran the test twice. The first results were inconclusive, and I suspect there may have been some issues with the workers in the lab, so I had it run again and this time I sent off the bloodwork to the hospital in region 5 because I have some trusted colleagues who work there.

That’s why it took a little longer than expected.

“On top of these findings, you believe that the previous results were tampered with in the lab?”

“Unfortunately, My Lord. I do believe so.”

I hang my head, frustrated that the results were what I suspected from the beginning. I had hoped to be proven wrong but that isn’t the case.

“Thank you. Please get back to the infirmary for now and report anything you find suspicious in the coming days.”

“Yes, My Lord.” He bows his head and places his hand over his head before backing out of my office.

I look down at the report that had been transmitted to my e-device. Not only had Lawreynce not died from an aneurysm as the former head Physician had stated but he’d been poisoned. Apparently he’d been administered enough to kill several large beasts.

That explained the scent I’d smelled on him when I’d examined his body. There was also a reason why that smell was familiar. It had been the same scent that had been in my food.

Someone in the kitchen had laced my food with this stuff and I’d been ingesting. I tap the screen on the e-device to give me more information on this drug.

It was called bellum, a cross pollination of several plants that creates a purple flower which would be harmless for the most part but when dried out and crushed into a fine powder or made into a liquid, it could cause irritability, headaches, and paranoia in small doses. In large doses it was poisonous.

Clearly he’d been administered a powerful dose. Perhaps it was hindsight that the chef who happened to be in charge of my meals had been dismissed and had been thrown in one of the holding cells.

I could no longer ignore that the fact that I was in the middle of a coup. And the mastermind behind it was none other than my cousin.

From the time I’d come to live at the fortress, he would speak of nothing else except one day taking over his father’s position as Sector Leader. He’d had so many grand ideas about how he would make our sector better and that he planned to weed out the corruption.

I’d always promised to support him.

But we were both young and foolish.

When my Uncle found me and summoned me to live at the fortress, I thought it was because he’d felt some familial tie toward me but instead he’d wanted an attack dog.

He’d heard about the undefeated ‘beast’ he’d fought in the pits. Discovering that the fighter was his brother’s son, probably made him think I’d be easier to control.

Instead of treating me like a cherished family member, I became his main Enforcer, sent to attack and kill anyone who he deemed unworthy of living. I became his sword, striking down anyone in the blink of an eye.

My Uncle was a petty man who took offense over the slightest offense. No one under his reign was safe. Servants, dignitaries…his own son.

Braeden had been the only bright spot at the time. We’d grown close to each other, commiserating after one of his father’s beatings.

Braeden would get beat for not being strong enough, for being an embarrassment because he didn’t have the ability to shift. And I would be beaten for being stupid or for getting ahead of myself.

And both of us took it for reasons of our own. Me mainly to protect Braeden from his father’s wrath. Once my Uncle had beaten my cousin so badly, I thought he’d kill him. When I intervened, he took it as a challenge and had two other Enforcers hold me down and beat me until I passed out.

I woke up with claw marks on my chest and a scar just below my jawline. It’s the reason I grew my beard in.

There came a point where both Braeden and I had reached our breaking point.

Braeden had pointed out that the reason my uncle needed me by his side was because he was no longer powerful enough to hold his position.

Part of me didn’t want to challenge my uncle because despite how he’d treated me, he was still family.

But then Braeden told me that my uncle had planned to bring in several breeders with the goal of getting a new heir.

Once he had one, he intended to kill Braeden.

My cousin was my only ally so I couldn’t allow that to happen. I reminded him that the last time my uncle believed that I would challenge him he got the other Enforcers involved.

Braeden had come up with a plan to get witnesses to ensure a fair challenge.

Looking back, I wonder if I had been manipulated all this time into doing my cousin’s bidding.

What I found more disturbing was that over the last several months, he’d slowly replaced some of the key staff members without me realizing.

Another thing I’d discovered just this morning, somehow my instruction to lock Jamie’s file had been overridden. Only the system technicians had the ability to hack into the system to override my command.

There would only be one person who would dare go behind my back to do something like that.

Now that my cousin knew about Jamie’s status, I knew he would somehow use it against me. Maybe tell me that I need another breeder. Or worse yet, call for her execution.

Whatever he had up his sleeve, I had to keep her safe.

I’m thankful I at least had the foresight to bring Ayla in.

I’d known her in my days fighting in the pit.

She was what people would call a hybrid.

She carried superious blood but not enough to be classified as one.

She had been assigned as an aide to one of the wealthy elites.

It turns out the one she was assigned to enjoyed making bets in the pit.

He thought it was amusing to see Ayla fight because of her hybrid status.

It turns out she was one of the fiercest fighters in the ring, defeating male and female opponents alike.

We never got to fight because she was in a different weight class than me but I’d gotten to know her because she would always give me helpful information about my upcoming opponents because her Master had insider information.

I don’t know if I could call her a friend but I’d grown to respect her. When I was summoned by my uncle, I promised that I would see that she was given a safer assignment.

Shortly after I became the Sector Leader, I was finally able to fulfill that promise but by then she’d already been reassigned because her Master had lost all his wealth gambling and could no longer afford all his servants.

I saw that she was given an attendants position and I figured she’d be safe.

But after the incident with those two maids and finding out some of the staff was literally trying to cause harm to anyone seen as loyal to me, I had to bring in someone whom not only I could trust but someone who would protect Jamie without being too obvious.

For the past several days I’ve been going through staff files and highlighting the ones I believe are loyal to me and flagging the ones who are loyal to my cousin.

The only thing about his plan is that there’s no way he can defeat me in a challenge, unless less he had something up his sleeve. He had to have some other kind of plan. But what.

I knew if it came down to it, I could trust Ayla to get Jamie out of the fortress but then what?

For the past three years as Sector Leader, I’d been fighting to prove I was worthy and capable of running my sector, but all along my cousin had been sabotaging me. My efforts for making improvements had all been met with some kind of obstruction.

But now I was no longer just fighting for myself, I was fighting for Jamie. I had to keep her safe and that meant reaching out for help.

I press the communication button screen and type in the code contact to reach Sector 2.

I would normally go through my communications director to make an intersectoral call but I had yet to determine who’s side he is own.

I wait for the signal to go through and am greeted by the Communication director of Sector 2.

A holographic image pops up when a connection is made. “Greetings from Sector 2. Sector Leader Draken,” to what do I owe the honor of this call. He doesn’t hide the surprise from his voice, but he immediately bows his head out of respect for my title.

“I offer my apologies for the time difference, I must speak to the Sector Leader. It is an emergency.”

“I will see if I can reach him. His last message to me was to not be disturbed but I believe he will make an exception for you, Sector Leader.”

The screen goes black as I wait for a response.

Anxiety grips my heart. What if he doesn’t wish to take my call?

Or worse yet, if he does come on, maybe he’ll gloat and tell me that I wasn’t foolish for taking his offer to give him the extra time.

Had I just left Jamie in Sector 2 I might have been able to work with him to figure her situation out.

But in my arrogance, I believed I could handle it on my own.

Now I fear, the control was quickly slipping from my hands.

Several minutes later, a holographic image appears and it’s Sector Leader Magnus. I’ve only ever seen him in his full uniform and he’s always been well put together. But now, his hair is in disarray and he’s in robe that’s not pulled tight enough to cover his bare chest.

“Sector Leader Draken, Greetings. I trust you’ve taken into account the time difference in our Sectors.”

This wasn’t getting off to a good start. I want to disconnect the call but I can’t allow my pride to get in the way of receiving the help I need not only for me but for Jamie as well.