Page 31 of Fixation of the Mind

The only truly modern feature was the single white wall with a large, solid pane of glass bolted over it. A small basket with expo markers and erasers was off to the side of the wall-length whiteboard.

Motioning for me to sit, he briskly made his way around the desk and sat down. “As you could tell from the overview I gave you, we will start with Foedus' history. Having this knowledge of the organization will be vital in surviving as a council chair.”

Pulling out my chair, I cocked my head and lifted one brow as I asked, “Council chair?”

He waited for me to sit down, elbows on the desk with his chin on his folded hands. “Once you pass the test, they’re going to announce the Rose family's resurrection at the naming ceremony, with you as the sole head. This means that you will have a seat in the council as one of the seven founding families.”

With my mouth opening and closing like a fish, I didn't know what to say. That was way too much responsibility! What backwards ass system would let someone brand new have a major decision-maker seat?!

“That makes no sense, Rion!” My fingers curled around the bottom of the skirt I was wearing, needing something to do. “Plus, none of this matters if I don’t pass the test.” I tried to sound dismissive, to not care, but my heart was nearly pounding out of my chest.

Rion’s eyes flashed an electric green before they narrowed, his hands clenching. In a careful tone, he said, “You will pass.”

Despite his insistence, doubt clouded my mind. How the hell did they think a few months of training would be enough?! Did they think I had natural Jason Bourne instincts? I was just a normal orphan girl. The guys had been training for this for half of their lives!

So lost in my thoughts, I didn't notice Rion had left his seat until he pried my hands off my skirt. “You will pass, this I promise you.” He knelt next to me, looking up at me in earnest, and the weight of his presence felt like a bullet had shot through the glass between us. It was only a small hole so far, but the cracks would quickly spread.

I took a few breaths, and he squeezed my hands before getting up and letting go. A shadow passed over his face as he turned and went back to his seat. “We will do anything to achieve that because the alternative is unacceptable.”

“Yeah…” I gave a nervous chuckle. “I don't want to die either.”

He grabbed a book and flipped it open, skimming the pages with ease. “They won't kill you. You're the last of the Rose line, and the rules and traditions of Foedus are very strict about that kind of thing.” His eyes flicked to mine underneath his lashes. “If you don’t pass, they’ll just use you as a broodmare to create the next candidate.”

I froze, horror filling my body. They would keep me alive just to birth another heir for the Rose family? My hands shook in my lap so hard I clutched them together. My instincts told me to get up, to run out of this house and go as far as I could go, but knowing what I knew now, I was certain they would eventually catch me and drag me back.

Rion was right. They wouldn't let me go so easily. I thought back to the faces of the council members. Not a single one of them had looked at me with true sincerity. I could see the wheels in their minds working behind their smiles, sneers, and dismissive looks. Their hungry claws wanted to sink into my flesh, to keep me in my place. I wouldn’t put it past that bunch to lock me up and have some handpicked stud rape me until I was with child. That fate would be worse than death.

I took a deep breath, pushing down the anxiety and doubt, and released it like I was letting all the worries go. I couldn’t let that happen to me. I was going to fight this with all my might. I could only push forward.

Looking up, I saw Rion waiting for me with a ghost of a smirk. He must have seen something on my face that made him happy because he nodded, and we got to work. “If you’ll turn to page three, we’ll start from the beginning.”

With renewed excitement, I opened the book I’d previously dreaded and devoured the knowledge.

“Foedus was made by seven families in total—Ambros, Rose, Ricci, Feng, Montagu, Tutu, and Maxima. Each family has historical family ties to royal lines, but they chose to stay in the background, amassing impressive wealth instead of fighting over the crown. At some points in history, these families were enemies to one another, but over time, as wars were fought and won, they came together to create Foedus.”

Rion was now standing in front of the glass wall, writing down all of the names. “The word Foedus means ‘the covenant’ in Latin. A lot of words we use are in Latin. For example, externus means outsider, and messores, which our school is named after, means reapers.”

Reapers, well that seemed fitting. It was the school that trained killers went to.

“Each family is in charge of the region they come from. The Ricci family takes care of most of the European nations south of the north Atlantic Ocean. The Ambros and Rose families both came from England, so they took care of the United Kingdom as well as the Scandinavian countries. There was a lot of fighting between them over the territory lines, so the Rose family decided to financially back the exploration and start of North America, claiming that as their new territory. The Feng family has all of Asia, the Montagu family has New Zealand and Australia, the Tutus control Africa, and the Maximas are responsible for South America. This is how they’re able to cover the world.”

All that information was enough to make my head spin. It made sense, but it was surreal to talk about the Rose family, which was supposedly my family, while having zero connection to it. It was like reading facts out for a book rather than exploring my own family’s past. I was just an observer, not a real part of all this craziness. Those people had left me in the woods to die versus raising me. How important could lineage really be to them?

“Foedus has always had a tight financial grip on the world, but there have been variables that got in their way of total domination. For example, the Constitution. They tried to burn the document, only to learn they’d grabbed one of the fakes instead.” He wrote on the board, “Lincoln assassination,” and I laughed.

“Are you saying that Foedus was in charge of the Lincoln assassination?”

He stopped writing and turned around, cocking his eyebrow. “Are you saying you think that idiot actor not only had the know-how, but also the access, to be able to kill the President of the United States in a public place without extensive help?”

The inflection in his voice told me how ridiculous he thought that was, but I couldn't help but be a little devil's advocate. “A skilled liar is a handy tool.” Eyeing him up and down, I hoped he understood my meaning.

His face fell completely. “Sure, but not everyone will fall for the lies. Mathematically, he was more likely to shoot a fly than the president if we didn't help him, making the path easier for him to tread.” He turned back around as he mumbled, “As well as making him the scapegoat.”

“What?! If he was our man, why didn't we get him out or something?”

Rion scoffed, still writing on the board. “We are not the police or the military. Foedus is not a ‘no man left behind’ kind of organization. Anyone outside of the major families is expendable. End of story. They’re just tools to use when we need them as we need them.”

He turned and capped the marker. “Do you ever wonder why this school was founded?”

---