Bound By Blood (10 page)

             
Only a few steps ahead,
it occurred to her that t
he hallway was empty. Nothing moved
within its sleek narrowness
.
Not even a breeze lingered, ruffling up the glowing crystals or heavy tapestries
that kept it from sounding to
o
h
o
llow
.

             
Where
i
s everyone?
She
thought
as she
turned to go the other direction
.

             
No sooner had she cleared the corner
,
she slammed into a very large chest. It knocked her off her balance a bit
,
causing her to
stumble backwards. A strong
and familiar
arm caught her so she didn’t completely
plummet
or hit her head

             
“
Careful
, my
clumsy and very
silly Vii. We don’t want to bump that head again
,
now do we?” She heard her brother
, St
a
phãyn
,
laugh
ing
at her. She looked up to find him dressed in his best garments
--
l
eather pants, high boots and clean
gathered
shirt
. As usual,
his dark
features
were
alluring.
His black hair was tied to the nape of his neck
with a thin bit of leather
and his penetrating eyes seemed ready to catch any prey. Despite him nearly knocking her off
her feet though, she
was not
prey. And only
he
would dare call the High Priestess ‘silly’ anyway. No one else would be so foolish.

             
Jerking her arm away from him, s
he brushed off her dress
,
a
t the same time
scold
ing
herself
underneath her breath
for being so clumsy. She didn’t
need
to
give St
a
phãyn
anything to tease her about
,
including the whole ‘bumping her head’ thing. She did seem to make an awful habit of that, just not by choice.

             
Her senses perked
up,
as she smelt mead on his breath.
Her nose crinkled slightly at the smell.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?”
s
he
asked.
“I would have thought you’d be with the
Phãegens
right now
,
knowing how you prefer mortal company over ours.” She tried to rub in
something he made no point to hide
.
St
a
phãyn
rarely stayed with his own kind. He distanced himself from
the
family more and more each night. The only link which remained
,
was with
Samanthŕa
and at times she felt him distancing himself from her
as well
. This caused sadness to enter her
heart;
for he was one of
the
few
brothers,
she still trusted or felt deep affection for.

             
"Who says I am in a hurry?" He grinned.

             
“Oh
,
that’s right. You’re a
s grounded to this place as I
.
I am sure
Dĩas
has written it in stone somewhere.
Thou shall not leave thy
realm
.
” She
sarcastically
mocked
their
father
.

             
St
a
phãyn
laughed,
lean
ing
against the wall. “Silly Vii
.
” He rolled his eyes at her
,
knowing she hated his little nickname. “
Why would
I
listen
to
Dĩas
? Maybe I would if I were sober
;
then again, probably
not
.” He pulled out a
golden
flask from his waist.
It had his name engraved on it along with
symbols of power that
Samanthŕa placed
there long ago to keep anyone from slipping any poison inside. When he drank, he ended up in the strangest
of
places. She did not want him losing his wits and falling in harm
’
s way
.

             
He opened it leisurely and took a drink
, winking boldly at her with mischief dancing in the dark glow of his eyes
.
“Would you like some?”

             
"You know better."
Samanthŕa frowned and hissed softly at the thought of it.

             
"Suit yourself." He raised the flask as if toasting her decision, and then took the bitter brew to his lips.

             
St
a
phãyn
took to drinking when Evil murdered his mother.
Drinking
was not a weakness that their kind was victim to
,
yet he was dedicat
ed to trying. It seemed that,
spending all his time
with the
Phãegens
,
and constantly clashing with their father
,
Dĩas
,
were his
only
habits
anymore
.

             
"So you are braving this strange storm then? You are leaving our
realm
?" She poked him for truth. "You will defy--"

             
“I’ll tell you what
" He cut her off. "
You
, silly Vii, do your Priestess duty and
listen to dear ol’
Pa
vŕa
,” the Phãegen word for father.

             
She took the flask abruptly from his hand and smel
t
it.
She wanted to know how strong his brew was.
It was
pure,
harsh
Vlachŕa
Liquor
, completely undiluted
.
It was so potent, it could eat through
stone.
Phãegens
couldn’t even drink it without having their insides dissolved and the only reason her kind could was because they had the ability to heal themselves.
She hated to see the drink
abused. It was only created to be dr
u
nk in small amounts--
to induce visions or open the mind. When their kind abused it though, they did things
that
they would not normally do
--
such as Dĩas attempting to lay claim over her
or forcing her to dwell in his sleeping and private chambers
.
Disgusted by such thoughts, s
he threw it back at him
,
causing him to express even more amusement.

             
"Yes, silly Vii, I am about to carry out the very thing I planned to do the moment I awoke this night. Neither storm nor roar of Dĩas shall stop me.” He winked again.

             
“Which is?”
s
he questioned him coldly.

             
"Must you truly ask?" He toyed with her as always. "Am I so unpredictable?"

             
“
No, you,
unfortunately
, are not. Even a fool would know y
ou’re going into the
village to keep company with Phãegens
,
just as I assumed before
. There is no need to act as though you
are
not.
” By his expression she could tell
that,
she
’d
guessed righ
t
,
not that
she
had
doubted herself
.

             
"Do you object?"

             
“
Yes . . . and not because I fear Dĩas' anger towards you, or that you are trying to self destruct. I am more concerned with what is happening out there.
Not with everything that’s going on
,
St
a
phãyn
.
” She crossed her arms and gave him a b
a
ld look of disappointment.

             
"Oh my silly Vii, if all of the worlds are coming to its end, there is nothing you nor I can do about it. All we can do is face that end in the company we favor the most." It was clear by his over exaggerations and twisting expressions that he wasn't take any of this seriously.
             

             
“
You never cease to amaze me
, choosing to be with mortals in times of threat
.
”
As much as she loved him, she felt a bit insulted that he cared nothing for her welfare. "I realize you would see our father and the rest of our bloodlines turn to dust . . . but me as well, Stephãyn? Would you see my end as well?"

             
“
Are y
ou any different
than me
,
my silly little Vii?” He tucked his flask back in
to
his waist
band
,
chuckling
lightly at her.
"You know I speak the truth before you really dive you’re your adorable dramatics and deny anything. Why, as Priestess, you
almost
spend as much time as I do
with the
Phãegens
in their villages
. Maybe not in times of danger
,
but how long would it be
before you do
?
"
He often made her
wonder about that and she could read those thoughts simmering in his mind now.
             

             
“I
am
different
,
St
a
phãyn
. I know
what
I
am, I know
what
they
are,
and
I know I can do them more good as High Priestess
that I would as a drinking mate
.
Sometimes I think you would renounce who you are and become mortal if you could.” She scolded him
from habit
.
“Would you
prefer
to live only 600 or so years and t
hen die
?
Would you prefer to live each night with only the strength of one of them? Would you prefer to be a
Moppãe,
helple
ss towards the evils of
TEŔAH
. . . unable to exist and survive without the help of our
kind?
Just renounce your bloodline if that’s the case
and save us all the trouble of watching you self destruct.”
Her tone reeked of cynicism.

             
He spr
a
ng
away from
the wall
,
smiling
. He never seemed to stop
being entertained by
her
,
especially when he was drinking
.
He made no secret of this.

             
"Well?" She prepared for his uncaring reply.

             
At first
,
it appeared that he
would
offer her nothing for once,
as he
started
back
on his
way,
but
when he turned around one last time to face her, walking backwards
, he proved different
.