The Banished Prince

Chapter 25

Cassia

     Cassia had thrown herself into training. She had spent the last week throwing knives at targets, duelling with her new guard and just plotting against Hunter. The more she focused on ruining Hunter's life, the less she mourned Astra, and she welcomed the new feeling.

     Cassia was with her new guard, Sakura, in the training room - a bare room with nothing, but shelves of weapons and wooden dummies for them to throw knives at. They had set up three targets against a wall and they'd been throwing knives at them. Cassia imagined they were Hunter and she threw knife after knife at them, and each time it pierced the dummies heart.

     "Not bad," Sakura said, shooting her a wicked grin. Her black hair was up in a pony tail and she had dark brown - nearly black eyes. She was the same age as Cassia and Cassia should welcome a new person at her side, but she hated it. She hated how her father had replaced Astra.

     "Thanks," Cassia said, walking towards the target.

     There were three knifes implanted around the target's heart and she yanked them out and held them by their dark hilts. She wheeled around to see Sakura watching her - a curious expression on her face.

     "What was it like to be in love?" Sakura asked. "I've never fallen for anyone. Must have been fun before... well, you know."

     Cassia's expression darkened, but Sakura was unaffected. And Cassia hated that. She missed the way Astra worried about everything she did.

     "It was horrible," Cassia spat. "I'm much happier now that I can kill him for what he did."

     Sakura's eyebrows rose. "It's tragic, isn it? To go from lovers to enemies."

     Cassia's heart lurched forward. It was a strange feeling - one she despised herself for having.

     "We went from enemies to lovers and back to enemies - it's quite fitting." Cassia strolled back to Sakura, wishing she could hold a knife up to her to tell her to stop this. Stop bringing up Hunter in the ways she wanted to forget. "Before when I was with him, I felt like I couldn't breathe. I was suffocating with fear because I didn't trust him and I wish I trusted my gut instincts, but I was an idiot. And now I know to never trust again."

     Sakura nodded as Cassia handed her a knife. She threw it at a target - seeming to feed off Cassia's energy and it sunk into the target's heart.

     "Well, men suck," Sakura said. "We'll ruin them all."

     Sakura shot her a wicked grin and for the first time in days, Cassia smiled.

     They both jolted when the grand doors leading to the training room burst open. They whirled around and Cassia's father appeared, wearing red robes as he glided across the vast room. His feet slapped against the wooden ground and the lights blinked above him, illuminating his dark hair with artificial lights.

     "Hello daughter, Sakura," her father said. He nodded towards them and they slid closer. "I have important news - we found Kain and his followers hideout. And we plan to attack them tonight."

     Cassia's eyes widened. Finally. She desperately wished to slit their throats and finally they had the chance to.

     "The plan is to capture Kain's son," Cassia's father said. "We want to use him as a pawn to lure his father out. He will be our negotiating piece."

     Cassia groaned. "I rather kill him."

     "We will eventually." Her father smirked. "But for now, we must capture him."