Excalibur {Complete}

25

It was four days after my apology to Tristan and our make-out session. I caught myself day dreaming about kissing him often because of that and kicked myself for it because usually I was in the middle of training and Jace would smack the back of my head every time. I finally managed to pull myself together enough to get through the rest of the shooting practice and hand to hand fighting with Zak.

At the end of the day, I ate with them at the large dining room table. It was rice, a noodle soup and chicken. Dinner consisted of lots of chicken, mostly because a lot of it was frozen and stayed good for a while. As we ate, the conversation turned to what we were going to do about Alik and Titan. My personal opinion was probably a bit to vulgar to voice, but I couldn't help it.

"Kill him," I answered coldly when the question arose.

Silence met me immediately after and I could feel every pair of eyes upon me by then. I didn't mind though, it was my honest answer for the dilemma. Anything less than that would be unsatisfactory for me. I wanted that bastard dead, diced up into a thousand pieces and unable to make any sort of freaky revival. Hell, I'd burn him to a fucking crisp too just to be sure.

"And how would you go about that?" Ahmeil's voice asked from across the table.

I ignored the condescending tone as best I could, remembering Tristan's words on how he owed her a lot for saving his life. I bit my lip for a moment before I answered, "Actually, it's quite easy. The fucker likes me for some reason, so if I walk around town for a bit, he's sure to show up. Then I'll fry his ass."

"No."

"Tristan!" I turned and glowered, "Why?"

He frowned at me, "Because. I said no. You're not going to go wandering around hoping that he finds you. What if you end up fighting his men instead?"

"I can handle myself."

"I didn't say you couldn't, but that doesn't mean that his men don't have Excalibur as well. How could you possibly stand up to more than just one? It's too dangerous, and I won't lose you. My answer is no, and I'm not changing it."

"I-"

Next to me, Jace reached out and flicked my ear. Giving a small sound of protest, I clasped my hand over my throbbing ear and glared at him, who only returned the look and shook his head.

"If Tristan says no, it means no, Valkyrie. Deal with it."

"Well you're no help."

Jace shrugged as he stabbed at the chicken with his fork, "Since when have I ever been helpful to you?"

"That's mean..." I muttered as I turned and glowered at my food now.

"Why not just go to where he's staying?" Ahmeil suggested as she took a sip of her water.

"Too heavily guarded," Tristan responded evenly.

"Like I said, I'll play decoy and he'll come running. Seriously, why are you not listening to me?"

"Valkyrie, I just said no. It's far too dangerous for you and I'm not putting you in that position," Tristan argued in return.

"Why not?" Ahmeil asked suddenly and I felt a cold shiver down my spine. There she went again. She really didn't like me at all. I frowned a bit, although she was hopefully going to help my case here.

"W-why?" Tristan sounded astonished at the question, "Ahmeil... You can't be serious."

She stared at him with her cold gray eye for a long while before she turned her look toward me, "Just because you're in love with him doesn't make him any less of a tool to use to help achieve a goal."