Blood Series: Green - Chapter 2

There were very few things in this world that Leigh considered a blessing. One of those things happened to be a selection of books she’d recovered from a home that her omm had owned. The home was currently in her name and was Leigh’s official place of residence when she wasn’t out hunting and killing with her abb. The eastern part of the United Kingdom made a great hideout from the world that she wasn’t fond of.

One day when Leigh was cleaning out the cottage to make room for her things, she found something special, something invaluable. Inside this little cottage was a shelf full of leather bound, hand-sewn books. These sacred items were all that Leigh had left of her omm, and she didn’t want to give them up. She had traveled with these treasures when she came to Colorado to help Haydar in his pursuit against her bent amtys, but she’d kept them hidden, because if Haydar had discovered them, then they too would be taken from her, just like every other artifact that she had recovered of her omm’s.

She pulled one of the books out of its hiding place and ran a hand over the smooth, leather outer cover. Leigh could still even detect the scent of the woman she longed for. Her fingers found the sides of the pages and she flipped the book open. With a glance down, she saw the date, February 2, 1352.

Today was a good day. Leigh and I went in to London, and we used this time alone to hone in on some of the skills she is acquiring. She has the ability of mind control and deception but hasn’t mastered how to use them yet. We found a peasant boy and practiced on him. Sometimes the weak mind of a child is the best tool to use when sharpening one’s skills. I can tell from her demeanor that she is a natural born leader. One day she will be able to take over in Haydar’s stead, and our world will thrive.

Speaking of her baba, his highness Haydar has been in an especially foul mood today. His okht spoiled another one of his attempts to control the Algula. The way Haydar goes on about Ikram confuses me. It is very evident that at one point in their lives they were friends, but now, all she is and all she will ever be is an enemy. Haydar is still sour with me from our last encounter with Ikram. I know he felt he should have killed her when he had the chance to, but she was with child. The Gods above and Mother Nature cannot allow that kind of killing. Infant life, unborn infant life, is holy, and he shall never kill a pregnant Algula. He always forgets that the Gods will punish us if we don’t follow the guidelines they left for us. One day I shall show Leigh those items I have from the start of our reign on Earth, and she will understand.

Though I love Haydar with all my heart and soul, I just pray that he doesn’t bring Leigh down the path of unrighteous behavior in his pursuit for the crown.

This entry weighed heavily on Leigh. She and Haydar had Adara locked somewhere in this facility, and she too was with child. An innocent life was forming in her womb, and she knew Haydar meant to end both heartbeats. She felt deep inside her that Sarah wouldn’t stand for this. Her omm wouldn’t allow Adara to be harmed. It was going to have to be done today; she would kill her abb today and free the soon-to-be Algula Queen.

Leigh’s fingers flipped back and forth through the pages of the diary until the she stopped on the last page. There was a sketch of a woman with a plump, rounded stomach on the paper, and she knew it was her omm. Sarah was pregnant with Derrick. Leigh felt a tiny bit of her heart pull when she thought of her akhs. Derrick had so much to offer, yet not enough intelligence to ever be useful enough to get anything done.

She looked back down at the bump on her omm and closed her eyes, placing her hand on the sketch and focusing on the energy in the room. Sarah had taught her all she needed to know about pregnancy and fertility, how the gods had made it hard for them to bare young because they didn’t want the world overpopulated in a matter of centuries. Leigh thought back to when she’d first learned of the Algula creation. The first Algula creatures were born as half breeds, half god, half Algula. She knew the Gods were powerful, but she couldn’t imagine how the first of her kind had come to be. Had it been born, or brought in out of thin air?

But the lasting effects of that first time would forever haunt each and every Algula as long as they lived, for conceiving and carrying one, let alone multiple children, was hard for their kind, and now, after thinking about all of this, Leigh knew she had only one decision to make. She would not let anything happen to her eben amty’s child, or to Adara.

The knocking on the door brought Leigh out of her train of thought, and her head turned swiftly in the direction of the sound. This had to be someone informing her that she had now been summoned by her abb. Now or never, she thought. She stood up and moved over to the wall where she pulled her sword and knives from the storage rack. Leigh hoped that this would be enough to get the job done. Although now she was suddenly remembering the old adage, “Don’t bring a sword to a gun fight.” How she hoped this wasn’t going to be the case, but she did know otherwise.

Jonothon would have been proud of her, she thought. She hoped. He had died because of her, and her first experiences with grief over someone she’d chosen to love were hard. She should have told him how she felt while he was living, although there were signs that he had known. Leigh couldn’t believe that his death had just taken place a few hours ago. She could smell the blood that had lodged itself between the cracks in the floor, and the fact she wouldn’t be able to have the Raheel ritual performed hurt her dreadfully. She wanted his soul to be at peace and was afraid that would never happen. The image of his death she knew would haunt her all the days of her life.

“I’ll have our revenge, Jonothon. I swear it,” she whispered to the imaginary body lying on her floor.

Leigh took this final moment to grieve for the only man who truly had inspired real love in her heart. She felt her abb was now right; love was the only thing that made her weak. But she never saw her mama as weak, and she knew that Sarah had loved deeply. Maybe she was the only exception.

She stood up and went to the door. She turned the brass handle and opened her room to the hallway. The eyes looking back at her were those of one her abb’s servants. “I can make it on my own.” Her curt tone cut through the air like a knife in butter.

The room where Haydar held Adara would have to be cleared out. She didn’t want a lot of witnesses to her slaying of their king. She began walking down the corridor, her boots echoing with each step she took. This procession down the hallway felt like a production, and she was always one to make a grand entrance.

Jonothon’s original plan had been to kill Haydar in his sleep, and that plan was probably still the best one, except Leigh didn’t know how long Adara would be living. Leigh didn’t have the time to rely on Haydar’s usual habits. There was no telling how Haydar would act today or tomorrow. As long as he was chasing Zayn in some way and not resting, there was nothing she was certain about when it came to Haydar’s behavior.

His chamber was looking back at Leigh, the metal doors blocking all signs of what was transpiring behind them. She sent out a mental command that only the metal doors understood. They began to open and part ways. As she walked inside, she looked at the scene on display before her. The consort of her eben amty was strapped to the wall. Adara’s round stomach pushed outward off of the wall, tears rolling down her innocent face.

Across the room her baba looked pleased, and proud.

“You called me, Abb. What do you need?” Leigh walked over to Adara’s shaking body, and she took a few glances over the woman to assess any injuries Adara might have. She placed her hand on Adara’s swollen stomach and felt the tiny child inside kick. She let her mind release a little of its control, and she registered the signature of a young mind, a young, female mind. This woman was having a girl, and Leigh’s abb meant to kill it.

At the same time, she heard her baba’s thoughts and realized just what he had planned to do with this woman he had restrained on the wall.