For many cycles he’d imagined what being with her would be like. The touch of her skin…the way she smelled…the way she felt. None of it came even remotely close to the reality. He could still smell her on his fingers.
“Have you gone mad?” Mekhi storms into Malich’s office.
“Not since I last checked.”
“I asked you to do one thing Malich, one thing!”
“Am I missing something? Has she fled?”
“No.”
“Complained?”
“No.”
“Then I’m not understanding what the problem is.”
“You cannot be her employer andher lover,” Mekhi argued.
“I don’t plan on it, but it has to be her choice and I cannot push her or she’ll run.”
Mouth agape, Mekhi eyes him incredulously. “And if she doesn’t choose you?”
Malich levels Mekhi with a glare. He never sets out to acquire something he isn’t sure he can have. “Have faith brother.”
Sighing, Mekhi continues his tirade, “Is she worth everythingwe’ve built?”
Malich nods, “And more.”
“Does she know what you’ve done?” Mekhi asks.
“She will when the time is right,” Malich waves him off.
“Cadmi informs me you asked her to graduate our young assassin. Are you sure that’s what you want? Once she finds out…”
“She’ll want blood, yes, but she won’t harm me.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing. You’re playing with fire brother and if I must be the voice of reason than so be it...this is unwise.”
“Your concern is noted.”
Inclining his head to Malich, who returns the gesture, Mekhi excuses himself from the room. Dax enters a moment later and he too has a grave look in his eyes. He’d been eavesdropping on Malich’s conversation with Mekhi. “Let me guess, you disapprove,” Malich sighs.
“Forgive me Majii, but…Arya is a weapon. She’d serve better as a weapon than she would your mistress. Also, dismissing your protective detail and allowing yourself to be vulnerable with her isn’t a very wise thing to do,” he sighs.
“Perhaps.”
“Arokin has arrived, shall I show him in?”
Malich nods and Dax disappears out into the hall. Lifting his fingers to his lips Malich takes in her scent one last time before Arokin sits across from him. They both dismiss their protective detail, opting to speak alone.
“Brother,” Arokin nods.
“Brother,” Malich nods back.
Arokin is an inch shorter with a smaller frame, but still just as powerful as Malich. He has the same dark hair set in short waves atop his head and his eyes are also an icy blue. He’s wearing a fortune in jewels adorning his fingers, a hand stitched sleeveless navy waistcoat with gold embroidery that included the Jarrah house royal crest in front. He wore black breeches, a white tunic, and an overcoat also embroidered with rich golden thread.
Arokin is the only brother out of seven that keeps in touch with him. He must’ve drawn the short end of that stick. Usually when he stops by or graces Malich with his presence its to have someone killed. This time isn’t any different, but the target he wants dead is very high profile. “A target of this magnitude would start a war.”
“Indeed, but a necessary one.”
“I’m not in the business of starting wars Arokin, I end them.”
“You’re a criminal running a criminal organization that we allow to exist because of your particular expertise,” Arokin glares at him, “you do as we permit.”
“That may have been true once upon a time, but I’m my own man these days. Threaten me again and you’ll leave here with fewer limbs than you came with. The family holds no sway here.”
Arokin clapped his hands, amusement in his eyes that quickly vanishes in the blink of an eye. “Do not fuck with me Malich, you won’t like the outcome,” he continues with his threats. “Take the payment before I reconsider.”
Malich slid his eyes to the coin purse before him. It’s just like his family to expect him to compromise his beliefs and fall in line with what they wanted simply because they wish it. Taking their money would go against everything he stood for. Not taking it would certainly mean trouble.
Framed by his older brother Kahlem for the unlawful slaughter of a sacred village, Malich was banished from his kingdom by his father along with Mekhi, his trainer. He was all of fifteen cycles. It was no secret that Malich was his father’s favorite, rumored to inherit the throne once he became of age, but Kahlem had other plans. He plotted to remove Malich from his fathers favor and once it was accomplished, he turned Malich’s family against him. Kahlem was named heir to the Jarrah throne and Malich was forgotten. He and Mekhi became thieves in order to survive and were apprehended trying to steal horses. They were sentenced to work in the Jarrah mines until their bodies gave out and they dropped dead, but after a cycle they escaped.
Rather than theft, they turned to being soldiers of fortune and fled to the Redlands. The Redlands was unruly with no government and no order. It was the perfect place for criminals to hideout; only Malich saw a bigger opportunity. He’d always been ambitious. It was one of the qualities his father admired most about him. He knew if he could bring order to a world that had none, he could control it.
He laid out his plan for Mekhi and together they created the Red Legion. It started out with just the two of them, but quickly grew in numbers. The more the Red Legion grew, the more notoriety they acquired. Soon, every one from the old and new Gods to the Fae knew of the threat the Red Legion posed. Some sought to ally themselves with the Red Legion, but when his family realized exactly who ran this rising threat they saw an opportunity to control it.
At the time, the Jarrah army outnumbered the Red Legion by tens of thousands. Malich and Mekhi had no choice but to submit or watch his family annihilate everything they’ve built. That is no longer the case, but Kahlem, who took over once their father had fallen ill, still hopes to maintain that control.
“Tell Kahlem his charge is rejected. Here we have a code and we honor that code. We do not kill children, depending on the offense we do not kill women, and we do notstart wars,” Malich denied his request.
“You just did,” Arokin tosses the charge on the desk in front of him, “If I were you I’d change my mind. You’re outnumbered, outwitted, and several steps behind should you choose to go this path.”
“I control one of the most dangerous assassin houses within the planes. If my family should be foolish enough to make an attempt on my life, I have two words for you…don’t miss.”
Arokin’s temples flare and he storms out of Malich’s office. Dax enters with questions in his eyes. “Increase security and if there’s an attempt on my life, the next time Arokin shows up, if he’s stupid enough to show his face around here, I want him shackled and thrown in a cell,” Malich ordered.
“Majii?” Dax asks, hoping for answers.
“Just do as you’re told, and when I’m done, I want this sent to Mekhi.”
Malich reached into his desk, grabbed an ink pen and paper, and wrote a message to Mekhi to be delivered immediately. He wanted everyone on alert in case his family attempted to retaliate.
ns 15.158.61.5da2
