Cipher Code {complete}

Chapter Forty: They Sing, Write And Dance. •EDITED•

Dawn let her father use his power to guide her into the chair in front of him, not that she could have resisted if she wanted to. "What does my expendability mean for you?"

"You grew outside the shield with those," as usual, he waited a moment, pausing simply for the sake of suspense, "naturalists."

"Elton is not a savage, if that is what you are implying." People that lived inside the shields always used that word, naturalist, like a shield is what determines whether someone was human or not.

"But he married one." Her father replied, and seeing her confusion he pointed to the North Pole. "One of them, the Genet."

"He married?"

"You didn't know?"

"No," Dawn mumbled and sank into her chair. She, Corey and Elton were a trio, with Elton being the oldest. He was more of an elder brother than a close friend. If she didn't know that meant that he had hidden it from her.

"Anyway, let's say that his wife was royalty, just like he was before he left East." Her father continued, his voice steady. He didn't sound eager to get to the point.

"But she left her people too, right? For him? For love?"

"Whatever her reason, she is considered a traitor," he said, tapping his long, bony fingers against the arm of his throne. "This invasion was solely to get her back and punish her for crimes against her people."

"Until you saw it as an opportunity to increase your range of authority," Dawn realized with a frown.

"The Genet have been living under us for generations and yet they are more powerful, do you know why?"

"I still don't know why you haven't killed me yet." she snapped. "How do you expect me to know anything else?"

"True," he stroked his chin, "and that is why I prefer Corey. He is such a fast learner."

"To bad he isn't here." Dawn hissed at her father, discontent growing in her heart. What does this old man want?

"Anyway," the Lord of the Order ignored her and continued the conversation, "he would have said, 'Because of the fog.' And that would be true. The Genet can only act when they are in the fog and they are powerless without it."

"How do you know so much about the fog?" Finally, she asked.

"I have lived for centuries, and I study, just as Elton studies. In fact, he knows more about this than me." he relied honestly.

"Then where is he?"

Her father said nothing.

"Where is Elton Yong?" she asked again, her tone hardened.

"Not anywhere that you and I can see him. He is either hiding somewhere or he is dead."

"But you said that he was giving you trouble."

"A man doesn't need to be alive to give me trouble." Her father sighed. "This war can end before it starts, and the only people who can end it are the Yongs. Have you ever heard the prophecy of the three families?"

"No." Dawn answered with a scowl.

"I thought as much," the giant of a man chuckled. "Too busy to decipher the Book of Revelation?"

"How-?"

He's in my mind, she flinched at the thought.