Jacob took his daughter in his arms, and followed closely by Joel, they left, taking all of the villagers with them. Jacob had some big choices to make...
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Casey rested her head on the windowsill and sighed. Her mother had died years before that fateful day, so her father hired Joel to watch over her. Well, as time went on, Joel became more and more handsome and Casey became more and more interested in him. Joel was now part of the League that traveled country to country, looking for help. She missed him alot when he was gone, and she hardly got to talk to him when he got back. Now she was trapped and he would probably leave before she got a chance to say goodbye- or hello, for that matter.
Soon the maids arrived and got her ready for that evening, fixing her hair, getting her dressed and doing her makeup- Casey felt like a princess again. When she was a child, and when she was still rich, she had this kind of treatment every day.
Once she was ready, they escorted her down to the dining hall. She was seated at the foot of the table, opposite Hemmer.
“Good evening miss.” Hemmer said, signaling to his servants. One of them rushed and chained Casey’s foot to the leg of the chair- she gasped and glared at Hemmer.
“Is this how you treat your guests…?” she shot at him. He seemed unfazed.
“You are Miss Casey, are you not?” Hemmer said, ignoring her question and looking into his wine glass like it was the most interesting thing on earth.
“Yes. Casey Fletcher.” She said, feeling very proud of her name. Hemmer laughed.
“Oh thats right! You are that fool Jacob Fletcher’s daughter!” Hemmer said, placing his glass on the table.
“Yeah, well for twenty years ‘that fool’ has done more for this country and many others than you could do in your whole lifetime. ‘That fool’ has outsmarted you and Barnett a hundred times or more. Think twice before you speak of ‘that fool’ again.” She hissed.
Hemmer looked taken aback, but did not hesitate to reply.
“Have you ever thought about whose fault it was that made your father give up the country? I was there when he signed over his life. Why? Because you were threatened. He would let them kill him, but to protect you, he plunged his whole country into poverty. It was you that did this, not I.” He said smugly. Casey stared him straight in the eye- was it really her fault? She remembered Dimitri and what had happened to him, and Frankie, and Aaron and Tyler… she caused them their pain.
She glared in silence into the unwavering gaze of Hemmer until a single tear rolled down her face.
“Oh, my dear, don’t feel bad- you can fix it...” He said quietly, getting up and waking over to her, “I know what you are feeling: guilt. Your friends went through horrid torture, and you think that you saved them by letting them escape. Casey child- you only made things harder. Tell me where your friends are. You do want what is best for them, if you tell me where they are, they can come and stay in the castle with you. Wouldn’t that be better?” he said, lifting her face towards him, as she had looked away.
“That depends- where will they stay? The dungeon?” She said through angry tears. Hemmer looked amused.
“They, and you, are thieves and convicts. In all reality, you should be in the dungeon- but I can be a merciful man.” He said, making her look him in the eye with a gentle hand under her chin.
“What’s the catch?” She said quietly.
“We want the men, between ages 19 and, eh, perhaps 35, to join the army. They can stay here with you, but they must go to war when we say.”
She thought of what that meant- Ricky. Ricky and all of the boys in the League would be in danger in war, but on the other hand, she remembered what she felt about it being just her and Ricky and all of the wealth and luxury. This was a tough decision- but, despite her selfish fantasy and wants, she knew what to say.
“Never. I will never tell you. They are safer this way than going to war.” She said strongly. Hemmer released her chin.
“Very unwise. Come now. Take her to her room. She is done here.” He growled at his servants, who responded quickly out of fear. They pulled her along and shoved her in her room, locking the door behind them. She stood there and sighed. She had failed to free herself, but her colony was safe still, and that is all that mattered.
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