Bound By Blood (12 page)

             
“Good idea.”
Dezarãe
winked.
"But won't our father sense that?"

             
"He will believe
us to be sickened by the storm's energy," since Vii's were sensitive to such things, "And our doings to be
no more than spells to heal the pain. And he will find no threat if it is done within his
realm
. No reason to suspect us leaving. If anything, perhaps he will be less suspecting and suspicious
."
Samanthŕa
moved her
four-
poster
bed with a wave of her hand. Marching forward, she checked
the
ornate
tapestry behind it.
No one ever expected anything to be underneath or behind the bed, since it was big
enough to sleep seven. The sides were layered with thick burgund
y curtains to offer privacy,
warmth
, and concealment
.

             
The tapestry
Samanthŕa peeked behind, had
the
image of a pale, dark haired woman, entangled in a vine of bleeding roses
.
It was a clever way of
hid
ing
a secret entrance
Samanthŕa created not long ago with the help of her mother's power
.
It was a means of escape if Dĩas ever meant to enter her chamber uninvited . . . if not some other meaning to do her harm.
             
             

             
Since its creation,
Samanthŕa
used the tunnels often to spy on
Dĩas
and the Elders. They also
proved
useful when she needed to sneak away
, as was the case
tonight.
Dĩas
had
imbu
ed the secret passageways
with some sort of
enchantment
so that no one
w
ould use them, particularly
Samanthŕa
.
However,
Chymeŕah
gave her daughter a spell so that the
enchantment
had no effect on her
and anyone in her company
.
And since Dĩas had done the enchantments long before even his mind could remember, he never thought to check them, or suspect their use.

             
Once again, thank yo
u
,
mother
.
Samanthŕa
smiled
to herself
just as s
he wrapped her cloak tight
and started to
enter
. . .
but
a
nother
arctic
sensation of
wariness
made her
pause
.
She
snapped herself around
,
hearing
Dezarãe
’s voice change
to something dark . . . something grim
.

             
"
Something’s
been unleashed
--”
Dezarãe’s
eyes became
sallow
while the tone of her bray was somewhat
appalling
.
“
It’s
awakened from its
cursed
sleep. From a distant
realm
it travels to
us now . . .
on
e” --she began to spin around the room like a mad woman
-- “
two
-- I
feel many, but not certain o
f
the number of
them
. . .
I see eyes,
summo
ning me…
beckoning
….
I--
"
Dezarãe froze abruptly
.

             
Samanthŕa grabbed and
shook
her,
yanking
her back
to her senses.
Anxiety
swallowed her up for
a
moment.

             
"
Be
still
your visions
,
s
ister
, e
specially when the moment of your
A
wakening is so near!"
Samanthŕa
worried
that
Dezarãe
was connecting to something that would change her life completely
. It
was possibl
y
the one who would
A
waken her
, d
rawing him to her like air to flame
. Or
it
could have been the enchantment of something even more
dangerous
,
especially when a storm like this one threatened the
real
. Who knew
whether
this was
Dezarãe’s
A
wakener or the hand that wielded the storm? Anything could be me
ddl
ing with her
--
and since she was
speak
ing of cursed sleep, Samanthŕa wasn’t taking any chances

             
"
What
…
what happened
?"
Her sister
staggered and fell on
to
the bed.
H
er
eyes returned to their normal color
.
Visions sometimes made
her
black out. They sometimes took her body over, possessing her
,
controlling
her.

             
"You were speaking strangely
,
”
Samanthŕa
warned
.
"About those eyes again. Something is coming, has awakened and so on
.
"
Dezarãe
was always speaking of eyes
, but not the same
ones that
haunted
Samanthŕa's
dreams. The
eyes, which haunted Dezarãe’s,
were green. A strange pair haunted each of her six sisters. This
dreaming of eyes
was common
for
most
A
wakening
Vii
s
, even if Samanthŕa's didn't promise such a successful conclusion
.
“
Tonight
is not a good time for visions
.”

             
With those words, a
dispirit
ing coldness
passed through the room and up their
backs
.
It seemed to be the repetitive flavor of the night.
It lingered for a moment
against their flesh
,
so
Samanthŕa
waved, giving energy to the fire.
It burst from the embers inside the hearth until dying down to a much heartier glow.
"Too many
foreboding
chills.
" And she had, had her fill. "
I don’t know about you but I could use a different sign of sorts.”
She knew
this one
was
confirming
Dezarãe’s
vision.
Again, nothing to celebrate, as far as she was concerned.
             

             
"You should not have stopped me. It
’
s time we made sense of the dreams we share. I
want
my Awakening
,
Samanthŕa
.
I do not fear it as you do."
Dezarãe
, frowning with unhappiness,
touched her cheek softly.
             

             
Samanthŕa
pulled and
turned away
sharply
.

             
No one understood
why
Samanthŕa
wished to avoid something so mystical and natural. To
Dezarãe
and the others it was only
Samanthŕa’s
pride. They knew nothing of the prophecies that
Dĩas
and
Samanthŕa
feared
.
Samanthŕa
wanted
it this way. She did not
want
her sisters fearing their
A
wakenings
or
worrying for her. Her reasons were her own.
This
was one bond they did not share, thankfully
, and s
he was
determined
to make sure of it. She even worked hard to hide the sickness that
Dĩas’
potion caused her
,
and the
pain, which
grew worse with each dose.

             
She also
tried to find ways to prevent this impending doom from befalling her sister
s
in case she failed
at
preven
ting the Awakening
.
She
had
consulted the Oracles and the
Vestibule
of
Scrolls
many times in the upper
realm
s. Like
clockwork,
she reread her sisters’ scrolls--written prophecies concerning their lives--
searching for any secret that m
ight
hint
of
any harmful
doom
concerning them after their time of
A
wakening. The only thing she traced was her own cursed
fate, which
would affect her sisters in its closing stages.
It all seemed like one big frightening domino
e
ffect beginning with Samanthŕa
.
Therefore, the beginning must never be allowed to begin . . .

             
“
Bring him to me
,
Goddess. Bring me
my
A
wakener. I am ready
and so weary of waiting.” Dezarãe
sighed and swooned, clutching and holding herself
while staring into the fire burning f
everishly and even more so from her emotion and words
.
             

             
Quickly Samanthŕa
waved a hand
of magic and silent spell
t
o block any prying ears. If Dĩas knew Dezarãe
was trying to call forth her Awakener then she would be gone by dawn
for sure
.

             
“
Enough Dezarãe.
Who
’
s to say the vision
was a
part of your
A
wakening
?
With
this storm,
who
can tell?
Pra
ctice some restraint until the
realm
s have calmed, shall we?
”
Samanthŕa was nervously blunt.

             
“You practice rest
raint enough for all of us.”
Dezarãe sounded
edgy now.

             
“What
?” Samanthŕa turned, brow raised.

             
“Oh please
,
s
ister, we all know you are against your own Awakening
,
which is why we refuse to allow you to coun
se
l us concerning ours
,
” Dezarãe confessed
without tact
.

             
Samanthŕa
played the tune they expected of her as she proceeded to mix candor with
lies
.
"Anyone having power over you can only mean your doom." Samanthŕa acted
as if it were a matter of nothing more than pride
.
It was better than having
Dezarãe’s
sharp instin
cts hone in on her true reasons
.
She moved back towards the balcony windows
,
staring out beyond the castle into the terrain of night.