Bound By Blood (39 page)

             
“This is why you wanted to make me stronger
,
”
s
he
exclaimed,
“
w
hy you thought it important enough to lay your claim of protection over me
.
”
I am more important than I realized
.

             
“You’re catching on.” He smiled proudly
.
“
And why your father
attempted to lay c
laim over you himself.”

             
How did he know about that?
Was surprise showing in her face? She quickly removed any sort of expression.
The memory of that night sickened her. She refused to speak of it or even respond to what he said.

             
“So why not just take the T
hrone
,
then? Truce or not, just take it back.” Her father would kill her if he could hear her now.

             
He stood u
p and faced the tapestry. “The T
hrone has rules and those rules are ordained by
E
vil
itself
. To take it you need a sacrifice of the one who sits upon it, blood, willing or by force.”
             
Her face went pale
and she swallowed hard
.

             
“Either
Dĩas
willingly gives it back
,
offering a small amount of his blood
,
or I will have to kill him.”

             
Samanthŕa
knew
Dĩas
would not give up the T
hrone willingly. “Are you going to kill my father?”

             
Daŕ
ēus
shook his head. “I am trying to find a way around that.
Dĩas
turned against me long ago and is owed nothing more than death for his choices
,
but there is still some good left in him. As long as that exists then I cannot look upon him as an enemy. I cannot kill him. He has not renounced my blood
,
nor has he claimed Evil as his own. He has not pledged himself to the Dark Matter. Understand?”

             
Samanthŕa’s
eyes drifted to the fire.
Daŕ
ēus
was starting to sound wise now and that troubled her. If he was nothing more than an egotist
ical G
iant, she could despise him. It took a very strong and wise man to overlook his reasons for hating someone in order to see what good the man had left in him. Maybe she was wrong about him. Maybe
St
a
phãyn
was right.
St
a
phãyn.
Her thoughts swirled now as her heart sank.
Daŕ
ēus
sensed her sadness.

             
“I apologize. I am sure this is a bit much for you to swallow concerning
Dĩas
.” He tested her.
             

             
“No
,
”
s
he admitted
,
“My
thoughts were on someone else.”
She tried to change the subject. “Who were the ones I s
aw
leave? Did they know we were here? I could get into a lot of trouble you know
,
if
Dĩas found
out.”

             
“I promised my protection
,
”
h
e said
coldly. His tone bothered her.
“They are ones who doubt
Dĩas and
this truce. They will remain nameless as they are under my protection, just as you are.”

             
“But you said you would keep no secrets from me.” She reflected. Had she caught him in a lie?

             
“Once I know who has your loyalties
,
I will not. Are you loyal to the bloodlines or are you loyal to
Dĩas
? You have to prove yourself to me
,
just as I must prove myself to you
,
Priestess. Until then you shall not know their names.”

             
“I shouldn’t have to prove myself to anyone
,
”
s
he said sharply. “If you’re so powerful, look into my heart. Know what I am, who I
am,
and who I am loyal to.”

             
“I have
,
”
h
e told her. “The question is, do
you
know? You have a nasty little habit of battling your true nature, conflicting with what you truly are. Your heart would bond to me in an instant
,
but that muddled mind of yours rebels and gets us into all sorts of trouble.”

             
She felt her anger rise. How could she admire him when moments like this reminded her of how horrid he was?

             
“Do not become so angry. Divert your thoughts and ask me something
, a
nything you want to know. Let me prove myself to you.” Was he baiting her, mocking her, what?

             
Without thinking, her mind jumped subjects. She blurted out the question without even giving it thought. Her thoughts these nights were in so many places at once. “In ancient times, what would we do to half breeds?”

             
He nearly spit out his brandy. “
What
?” He choked, raised a
brow,
and looked at her as if she was finally off her rocker.

             
“In ancient times,” she groaned
in
agitat
ion
, “if
,
say
,
my father had relations with a
Phãegen woman
and they had a child, what would be done to that child? Would we destroy the child because it was not of pure blood? What are the old ways concerning this?”

             
Daŕ
ēus growled
low. “Are we evil? No, we are not. If the child’s heart was pure, we would never destroy it.
Why
are you even asking such things?”

             
“
You said ask something, anything and
I was just curious
,
”
s
he told him
,
feeling her stomach give
way
slightly. She sat down and took a deep breath
,
hoping he could not sense her illness. “Do you know who my Awakener is?” She didn’t even know why she blurted that
one
out
either,
especially to him. She wanted to change the subject in order to protect St
a
phãyn
, though,
and in truth her sisters’
assertion
s bothered her.

             
Again, he nearly lost
his brandy. A brow rose inquisitively over his penetrating eye. “I thought you wanted no part of your Awakening?”

             
“I don’t,” she answered with haste, pulling her long hair to one side of her neck so that it didn’t feel so heavy on her. The entire subject made her
sear
with discomfort. She wished there was a window open. She looked around the room in search of one. Something stained glass and gothic caught her attention from across the room. She jolted up and headed towards it. “I simply wish to know who I must avoid now that you have cursed me to suffer the first signs of it.”

             
“Ah
, I see
.
”
H
e stood up and followed her after she began to struggle with the latch. He leaned in so that his chest was pressed against her upper back.
The
t
hrill
of
his
energy shot up and down her body in
merciless waves.

             
“
How
would you be able to avoid him if you cannot even unlock a latch?
” He la
ugh
ed
as the window swung open and cold air
r
ushed against her face.
She took big deep breaths
,
wishing the heat, his
energy,
and her sickness away.

             
“I am not amused
,
”
s
he finally said. “Still, I am curious about some things since Dĩas has failed to teach me the truths of a Vii.” After she took enough air, she darted from underneath him and returned to her chair. She did not wish to be cornered
,
especially by him and
especially
now.

             
“Such as?” He seemed very
entertained
with her as he went to pour another brandy.

             
“Will you be honest with me?” She finally removed her fur cloak
, having
forg
otten
that she had it on and that maybe
i
t was conflicting with her desire to
feel
cool
.

             
“I have already promised you that, I believe right before you fled the supper table last eve, remember?”

             
She ignored him and the memory he attempted to
in
voke. “What would happen if my Awakener was dead or if I died, what would happen to
him
?”

             
Her question truly caught him off guard. He pivoted around quickly and just stood there for a moment. His eyes were clearly studying her again. “Are you thinking of taking your own life or the life of your
A
wakener in order to avoid your
own
Awakening?”

             
She nearly choked on her own air. “Of course not
!
”
S
he scolded him for even thinking such things of her. “I was merely wondering
;
that is all. This is what my mind does when I have nothing else to do.” She gave the excuse which was not far from the truth. She did pon
der the oddest things at times
,
though her question pertained to St
a
phãyn
;
but it was dangerous to let him know that.

             
“Clearly,” he growled a bit. “Then let us give you something to do, shall we?
”
H
e held out his arm to her. “I have a magic room
prepared
that has been waiting for its Priestess.”

             
“You’re not going to answer my questions?” She crossed her arms as if taking a stand not to move until he did.

             
He took a deep breath. “
If A Vii does not Awaken then she faces madness
,
but in the case that her Awakener cannot fulfill his duties because of death or whatever else, I could easily step in and release her. It would be difficult for her and the experience would not be as spiritual. Aside from that,
she would be left to suffer an
emptiness that only her Awakener could fill, not I. If the
situation was
reversed and an Awakener lost his Vii
, he
to
o
would su
ffer emptiness
, a
loneliness
that would probably curse him with an irreversible madness over time,
if
he did not turn Evil altogether.”

             
“So madness, indescribable pain, death or turning Evil…this is what they have to look forward to?” She could barely speak the words.
Her spirit mourned for St
a
phãyn and possibly herself, if she had the common sense to link the two.

             
“This is what you
would
have to look forward to as well.
” His words seemed to shock her if not boldly force her to accept reality.
“I promised never to lie to you
;
remember?”

             
Quickly she stood up and ran to him. Her tone was desperate. “I could curse one of my bloodline to suffer in this way?”
Facing ones own truth could be brutal.