"What do you mean?" Haidee asked as she glanced at Aidan who seemed to be in deep thought. "Lord Peyton, it's a pleasure to finally be able to meet you," Aidan said as he bowed. Haidee and Jevon followed Aidan's actions, not having a clue as to who the stranger above them was.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Aidan," Lord Peyton said as he glanced at Aidan's companions, grimacing at the sight of Haidee. "I can not begin to comprehend why you would want to bring a girl to the battlefield, Aidan. She's only going to bring you down one day... You'll see," Lord Peyton said as he tapped the banister.

Just when Haidee was about to say something, she was interrupted by Aidan. "Judging from the number of guards at the entrance, I'm sure he's here somewhere within this building. I'm assuming that I was invited here because he wanted to see me?" Aidan asked as he pointedly looked at the guards who were retreating back to their hiding spots.

"What makes you think I'm not the one who invited you here?" Lord Peyton asked. "I don't think a noble man would wait near the entrance for someone who has a lower social status than him unless the order was from someone with a higher social status than him or it simply means that he was desperate enough to lower his pride and wait, which I don't think is the case since you don't look desperate to me," Aidan said, crossing his arms and tapping his foot against the wooden floor.

Aidan had seen Lord Peyton before, though it was only from a distance, when he first joined the Special Force. This was the first time they were meeting face to face. He had heard from the other members that Lord Peyton was the messenger for the leader, who had never shown his face to anyone other than Lord Peyton himself.

Aidan was wondering when Lord Peyton would show them the way to the room their leader was currently in. Since he started working for the Special Force in order to protect his village, he has yet to meet their leader. Considering how many people he had to kill for them, it was about time he found out who was the master controlling them like "puppets".

As grateful as Aidan was that they helped to protect his village, he wasn't pleased that he had to take the lives of others without knowing the main reasons behind it, just because he was ordered to do so by the very people who protected his village from those who meant harm.

Aidan saw Lord Peyton turning around as someone exited from the room across him. Both of them exchanged a couple of words before the stranger left through the window. "Doesn't anyone here exit properly?" Jevon asked to which no one answered.

Lord Peyton beckoned them to come up and Aidan was the first one to climb up the wooden stairs which creaked with each step they took. Jevon was frightened by the rickety stairs as he had the feeling they were going to collapse any second.

Jevon's shoes were attracted to the stairs as they began sticking to them, making it even more difficult for him to lift his feet up the stairs. He felt like an unknown force was pulling him down with growing force. All he wanted to do was run back home and hide under the blankets.

Jevon was scared of the dark and eerie places as they always made him think of all the ghost stories he had been used to hearing since he was young. His friends loved to tease him as they thought that his reactions were hilarious and couldn't help themselves.

At the thought of his village and his home, Jevon mustered up the courage to move forward. Fortunately, the stairs didn't give way as all three of them safely made it to the second floor.

"Follow me," Lord Peyton said as he made his way towards the room across of him. Knocking on the door thrice, he opened the door without waiting for a reply. Aidan looked around the room, searching for the man who was supposedly their leader.

The room seemed just as broken down and old as the building with holes and cracks in the walls. There was a translucent black curtain covering half the room. Aidan could make out a figure of a man sitting on a chair behind the curtain but couldn't make out his exact features as the curtain blocked his view of him.

"They are here," Lord Peyton said as he stepped aside to give Aidan and his companions sufficient space. Not knowing what to do, Jevon and Haidee stared at each other blankly before glancing at Aidan who seemed to be staring at the curtain. That was when they noticed the presence of another man.

"Peyton, ask the girl to step forward," Aidan heard him speak and immediately stood in front of Haidee protectively, booking Peyton's view of Haidee. "You heard him, Aidan. Move," Lord Peyton said, glaring at Aidan.

"What's wrong with you Aidan?" Haidee asked. Why wouldn't Aidan let her see him? Haidee wondered. He was the one who asked Jevon and Haidee to follow him here to meet someone but since the moment they had arrived here, Aidan was acting suspiciously.

It didn't seem like Aidan was going to answer any of her questions right now. Might as well take the risk and find out what's happening, Haidee thought as she pushed Aidan aside, and stepped forward only to hear him say, "Not this one. I meant the other one."

"She is the only girl here," Lord Peyton said as he stared at Haidee. "Then whose blood is it that I smell?" He asked to which Haidee turned to look at the cut on Aidan's hand and the floor which was stained by a few drops of blood.

"Oh, it's Aidan's. So you want to see Aidan, not Haidee?" Lord Peyton asked but there was no reply from him. Taking that as a yes, Aidan walked towards Haidee and leaned forward "It's better not to get involved with him. Let me deal with this," he said.

"Is it because I'm a girl? Did his words get to you or did you knock your head against the wall earlier?" Haidee asked as she glared at Lord Peyton who simply shrugged. "We'll talk about this later, Haidee. So please, keep your mouth shut," Aidan said, staring straight into Haidee's eyes.

Haidee still had a lot more to say but she didn't want others to listen in on their private conversation so she decided to keep quiet. Nodding her head slightly, she stepped aside as Aidan stepped forward.

Just as Aidan lifted the curtain slightly, he felt someone grab his hand and pull him forward, causing him to stumble over and land on his knees in front of the leader. Aidan looked up curiously, only to be disappointed to see him wearing a hood over his face such that only his mouth could be seen. He should have known that the leader wouldn't trust him that easily.

The leader raised his hand and patted Aidan's head, causing him to grimace. How dare he treated me like a little kid, Aidan thought to himself as he gritted his teeth. The leader's hand grabbed on to Aidan's hair band, which held his hair in place, and took it off of him, causing his hair to fall in waves to his shoulders.

"You look prettier with your hair down," he said, smiling at him. Aidan slapped his hand away and tried to stand up, only for his hand to be forcefully grabbed once again.

"I have a new mission for you. Convince the leaders of lunar kingdom to support us. They have the most powerful warriors, which I believe you already know, and we need more allies to replace the ones we have lost. I'm hoping you will bring me good news and don't even think about coming back till you do unless you would like to see a pile of bodies awaiting you..." He said, smirking.

Aidan shuddered at the very thought. Maybe he shouldn't have accepted his invitation after all. He was hoping he could find out more about the war so that he could protect his village but now, there is a chance that he might have placed his village in even more danger.

No one who had travelled to Lunar kingdom and came out alive... Not a single one... They had the most powerful warriors but they refused to get involved with the war. They protected their kingdom from anyone who had the intention to bring harm to their people but did not have a big enough heart to help people who are not their own.

Has the leader gotten tired of him already that he's sending him on a journey to his death? Is he going to die without being able to find out who his father was or how his mother died? "Are you... Are you trying to get rid of-" Aidan was saying when he felt someone licking his wound causing Aidan to wince. "Mm... Your blood tastes so sweet," he heard the leader say.

"Stop it!" Aidan shouted as he tried to escape from his hold. "I didn't think the leader would be so... So..." Aidan began to say but stopped once he felt his hand being released. He glanced at the leader, confused, but the leader was no longer sitting on the chair.

Aidan felt a presence by his side and before he could turn around, the leader whispered something to him, causing him to pale and raise a hand to cover his rapidly beating heart. Who is he? And how does he know about it? Is that why he wants to get rid of me?

... ... ...

Haidee glanced at Jevon, and then at Lord Peyton who seemed to be in deep thought. When she heard Aidan scream, every cell in her body was telling her to go help Aidan but for some reason, Jevon and Lord Peyton held her back.

Jevon wasn't acting like his usual self and his eyes seemed to be cloudy as if someone was possessing him. Haidee rushed to Aidan the moment she saw him coming out. He seemed to be busy trying to tie his hair. When did the band come off? She wondered. "What happened? Are you ok? What did he say to you?" Haidee bombarded him with questions.

Haidee frowned the moment she saw Aidan's pale face. She turned to Jevon for help, only to see him standing there staring blankly at the walls. Sighing, she turned back to Aidan and was surprised to see him back to normal.

"You may take your leave now," lord Peyton said, gesturing towards the door. Where was the leader? And why did he only want to see Aidan? Haidee wondered as they left the building.

"What was wrong with you Jevon? Why weren't you doing anything to help Aidan?" Haidee screamed at Jevon. "I don't know... The moment I stared into Lord Peyton's eyes, it was as if someone was controlling me. My hands moved of its own accord and weren't listening to me at all!" Jevon exclaimed as he shivered at the very thought of it.

Was I possessed by a ghost? What if it came back to take revenge on me? Jevon started panicking. "Calm down, Jevon. There are no such things as ghosts. You were probably day dreaming or something," Haidee said as she placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

"And Aidan, you have a lot of explaining to do," Haidee said, crossing her arms. "I'll explain what happened on our way back to the village. Give me some time to think about certain things," Aidan said.

Was his secret discovered by someone whose face he didn't even know? Aidan wondered as he thought about what happened earlier. It was about time he paid a visit to the house he used to live in. Avoiding the past, wasn't going to help him anytime in the future.

"You might have fooled everyone into thinking you are a guy.... But you can't fool me." The sentence kept replaying in his mind over and over again.

How did he know I was a girl? Only my dead family members were aware of my gender. The girl part of me died along with them a long time ago. Aidan thought as he made his way back to the village. His mind coming up with all kinds of possible situations through which the leader could have found out he was a girl.

~~~~~~

In case some of you are wondering, this is NOT lgbt and the girl mentioned in the previous chapter is only a supporting role who will be helping the main character in her own way. There is a reason why I introduced her in the first chapter which you'll find out later.

This is a historical book so the story is not predictable and contains a lot of plot twists. I'm still introducing the characters so the story is still progressing slowly.

You'll find out who the other guy is in the next few chapters and I hope you'll grow to like him as much as I do😀

Thanks for reading and commenting 😊