章 2: Ulterior motives

Lithe still wore last night's make-up that had been done by Estella who was gifted at making the dead look alive for their funeral.

The only thing Lithe had changed from last night were his clothes.

Gone was the expensive skin tight black dominatrix dress that Estella lent him which he exchanged for his usual uniform.

A conservative navy blue tailored suit, complete with a matching vest and white shirt.

In her eyes Lithe, who hardly ever left the house to go out for fun in the sun, was no different from a house vampire.

Instead of blood he sucked the energy out of her with his fastidious refusal to take risks and the need to always do things the right way and stick to the rules.

From what Estella observed things were about to change around here.

If that handsome Zen had anything to do with it, she was ready to see this ship sail.

As usual Lithe was oblivious, it was too bad Lithe got to him first.

The mysterious Zen was definitely her type, she loved flirting with danger.

Estella felt that Lithe took his job a little too seriously and was always encouraging him to loosen up and go to parties with her.

Lithe usually declined so imagine her surprise when he came pleading with her last night for Estella to take him to the POSH BAR, an exclusive, invitation only club.

She should have known Lithe had ulterior motives when he batted those baby blues eyes at her, which made it hard for her to resist his cuteness.

Always pessimistic, he begged Estella to give him a makeover so that if things should go wrong he would be unrecognizable.

Since Lithe's reputation in this aristocratic society meant everything to him.

So much for the vote of confidence, Lithe thought to himself.

Everyone had a right to get a little emotional but why did his character have to get called into question.

As the Chief Advisor of the tribe it would have been Lithe assuming responsibility and going to prison.

If Zen Starke had died from a mix of a drug overdose and a concussion from the head injury inflicted by Brian.

No matter where he was employed every time something went wrong they always tried to make Lithe a scapegoat.

Lithe thought the Maximillian Tribe would have been different since they treated him like family.

He wasn't even aware how anxious he was until Lithe noticed that he was wringing the life out of the bag that contained the smelling salts.

Still having something to squeeze since he couldn't squeeze the throats of the detractors in the Maximillian Tribe was soothing on the inside.

It wouldn't do to fall out with the Maximillian's over this incident, they were his current boss and the source of his livelihood.

Lithe realized the conversation was deteriorating fast, he had to step in and say something to get the atmosphere back to a more positive state.

"Grandma Mila! I did my research… I didn't just go into this farce blindly. Zen Starke might look a little rough around the edges but all those who hired him previously said that he is honorable. Once he accepts a mission he won't stop until it's completed. He can be bought at any price. Just as long as we offer the right compensation, we won't have to worry about him slaughtering us in our sleep."

"That's smart," agreed Grandpa James a little too enthusiastically.

Mila shot her husband a look as if to say whose side are you on but James just ignored her.

James lifted his head to meet Lithe's gaze his once thick brunette hair was thinning to a dull gray.

Unlike his wife James did not let fashion consume his every waking moment.

He wanted to keep the dignified look that came with retirement and refuse to dye his hair or wear a toupee to please aristocratic fashion dictates.

Brian's father, Ben who had been somewhat reserved spoke, "this is getting out of hand. I can already sense the humiliation and anger radiating from the Starke."

His statement just made everyone in the room even more tense.

Lithe objected, "for crying out loud. Like I said before, this member of the Starke tribe is a reasonable man. Once he calms down I explain to him that I merely slipped more than the usual amount of crushed pills in his cocktail."

"You put in more than enough to take out an elephant," cried Christina.

"I had no choice," argued Lithe, "tales of his remarkable feats have already been deemed legendary at such a young age. Do you think an ordinary dosage would have worked on a man many claimed to be faster than a speeding bullet. He would have been sleeping it off peacefully not nursing a concussion if Brian had not interfered and made things worse. Now I'm the one who will have to explain why his head is wrapped in bandages."

James frowned, "Lithe, I know how meticulous you can be with your plans. Being an outsider and having only lived with us for less than a year, it would be remiss of me not to mention the Starke's are a splinter of the main faction of the Wulfhart Tribe."

Breaths could be heard indrawing around the room and it was Brian who broke the silence.

"Grandpa James, stop trying to pretty the ugly truth. The Wulfhart Tribe, though still a member of aristocratic society, is not to be taken lightly. Everyone knows they bend rules and work outside the laws of the Allerdyce Continent. The Starke tribe is so terrible that not even their own main family wants to be affiliated with them. They are nothing but blackheart thieves and murderers, the lowest of scum and if news gets out that we have aligned ourselves with these disgraceful lawbreakers our reputations nor just our pocketbooks will be ruined. Do you get it now Lithe?"

Grandpa James snapped, "that's enough. Not another word out of your mouth Brian."

Brian wasn't lying but there was no need to make the situation seem worse than it was just to rattle the cool as cucumber Lithe and get under his skin.

There was a storm brewing between Brian and Lithe for sometime now and no one in the family wanted to get caught up in the aftermath.