ALEX POV

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The rain splattered against my face; running and tangling with the blood and sweat. The mixture making its way into my eyes causing them to burn and sting. It was only an annoyance at this point. I had learned how to ignore the elements a long time ago. There is absolutely no time to wipe your eyes during a fight.

Wham! A blow from the hilt of Ontari's sword slams into my temple. The force of the impact forces me to my knees. Apparently there's no time to even think about wiping your eyes. Ontari gets another lucky break as she unloads a kick into my abdomen. I roll one or two times before coming to a stop.

At this point I'm thoroughly pissed off. I allowed Ontari of all people to best me. Not once but twice. It was when she stomped my head into the mud that I finally allowed myself to sub come to my primal instincts. When I was in this zone, I only had one thought, and it was to kill.

Little did she know that I anticipated that she would pull me up by my hair. As she gripped my hair that was now wet and covered with mud, I started to unleash my plan. I barely even felt the pain as she ripped my head to the sky. She stood next to me as I heard her knife become unsheathed. I felt the sharp edge of her blade press against my throat, another reminder that I needed to move faster.

I slammed my hand into the soft tissue behind her knee as hard as I could. As she dropped to her knee, I quickly grabbed her wrist that was wielding the knife, turning it far past where it is supposed to turn. As she screamed from the pain, I jabbed my elbow into her her ribs, which quickly took the breath from her lungs.

From this point on I knew that I would easily win the fight. I landed another blow to her face, sending Ontari to the ground as her dark blood shot up into my face. I pinned her arms to the ground with my legs as I unloaded punch after punch to her face.

At this point nothing could stop me. I lived for this thrill. The way her flesh bent from my fist, the sound of pain she made, the way her blood splashed against my face. There only thing in the world that I wanted to do was reach for my knife and end her life.

But I knew that would make the Queen very upset with me, and I wouldn't allow myself to upset her again. Not after last time, I thought to myself as I shuttered. I hit Ontari one more time and then pushed myself off of her.

I wiped the blood, sweat, and rain mixture from my eyes as I turned to see the group of young warriors watching our battle. I sneered at them all.

"Who's next." I growled, hungry for another opportunity to cause pain. But, unfortunately, another voice chimed in before my next opponent could reveal them self.

"Alex, the queen has requested you meet her in the throne room." A deep voice grunted. I turned to see who had dare spoke to me while I was in such a mood to kill. My anger heightened more as I saw who it was standing there. He stood there standing like he had no care in the world. Like he was better than me. He always thought he was better than me.

"Roan..." I whispered to myself, "What mommy couldn't find a servant to fetch me so she sent her dog."

"I heard that, Alex." Roan responded. "And I don't think that mommy," He paused, placing emphasis on the word, "would appreciate your attitude to the prince."

"Oh I'm sure, just like she appreciated you when she banished you from your own clan." I quipped back at him. Roan rolled his eyes, very obviously through with our little squabble. But, I was to angry to let it just go. I had allowed Ontari to almost win and I was going to take this anger out on him.

"You might be the Queen's blood, but lets remember who her pride and joy is." I egged him on.

"If you want to play that game, let's remember who brought the Queen her pride and joy." He roared back at me.

"What's that supposed to mean." His lies ignited another fire in my heart. It was common knowledge that I was given to the Queen to be taken as a slave. Given by my own family. Betrayed by my own family is more like it.

It just so happened to be that I was born as a twin. My "family" decided that they only needed one daughter to carry on the family legacy. They chose to keep my sister, and send me away, punishing me to a life of slavery.

It was only luck that I was discovered to be what is called a natblida in my native language. It means night blood. Why am I called a night blood? Well that's easy, my blood is as black as night itself. This blood means that I have the birthright to fight to become the Commander someday.

Ontari is a night blood, too, which is one of the reasons I hate her. She also has the birthright to fight for the throne. She has the chance to take that away from me. She has a chance to take away my revenge.

You see, my sister, just so happens to be a night blood as well. It's believed to be that we both are because we shared the same blood in the womb. And because the lucky brat was kept by our family, her blood was discovered by the Flame keeper. She fought in a conclave and won. My twin sister is the commander. And when I get the chance, I'll see to it that she doesn't have a drop of that damn night blood left in her as I sit in her throne. I just can't wait for my chance.

But for now, I have to stay hidden in Azgeda. The Queen was not supposed to keep Ontari or I. We were supposed to compete in the conclave against Lexa. But, the Queen has kept us in secret and has been training us to become the best warriors, so that one of us may lead under her hand.

"Alex!" Roan yelled, regaining my attention, "You better get inside before the queen becomes angry."

I nodded at him, to lost in my own thoughts to argue some more. I made my trek up to the castle slowly through the rain. I loved feeling the rain on my skin. It helped melt my anger away. I stopped at the entrance of the castle, a large door with golden handles, and just lifted my face to the sky. I allowed the rain to clear my face of the battle that I was just in. I took a deep breath, wiped my face, and opened the door. The only thing I could do was pray that the Queen did not take a disliking to something I had done.