Bound By Blood (48 page)

             
They were the same words he
had
said to her in her dreams.  Without hesitation
, her mind and body did what
he commanded of them. She fell into a deep, restful sleep of solace, having argued and begged him
for
no more.
             

             
Goddess, thank you
,
was her last clear thought
.
Thank you
.

~
Chapter 15
~

The Truce

***

Take
thy
quill and tip it with blood.

Accept thy fate or live with none.

Reap thy dreams in a garden of soot.

Sign your misery on the scrolls of truce.

***

             
I
t was hard for
Daŕ
ēus
to leave
Samanthŕa
,
knowing her hungry eyes beckoned him to ease her.
It was hard for him to tear his wrist away
when a thirst could easily trigger madness
.
His blood was potent but he didn’t want her doing anything she would later regret. He didn’t want her to hate him or blame him for being true to her nature. He left her for a few hours so she could regain more of her strength
. . . the only thing he could do that wouldn't end in her anger and his regret
.
             

             
Once he left however
, he found himself face to face with
Dezarãe
,
who
explained she'd felt
slightly guilty about the way she spoke to
Samanthŕa
earlier
;
her thoughts were loud enough for anyone to read.
The chamber door clicked shut and the two stood uncomfortably within the twilight of the hallway.
Daŕ
ēus
stopped her from going inside
even though she tried quite a bit
.
Samanthŕa
would be
volatile
now since he refused his wrist to her
and he wanted her to stay in the spell of sleep he placed her under
.
He needed her to remain undisturbed. Whether Dezarãe realized it or not, he was doing her a favor.

             
Besides, his Priestess
was
s
o panic
k
ed
concerning her Awakening anyway, and that in itself put her in an unpredictable mood
, which unnerved him since she refused him her mind. How she had learned that trick so quickly was beyond him but he planned on seeing his way through it, undoing it as only he could
.

             
"I just
need
to speak to her." Dezarãe twisted the edges of her skirts until the wrinkle was permanently embedded there.

             
Daŕ
ēus held firm. Samanth
ŕa
didn’t need any
thing
more upsetting her
. She'd seen to that herself with all the self-made
inner battles
which guiltlessly
waging
war
against her
own
mind.

             
"Please," Dezarãe pouted.

             
“Leave her to rest.
" It was time to be blunt. "
Your words took
their
toll on her. Enough has been said, too much in fact.” He did not yell or even growl. His energy
,
however,
encouraged
her
to
feel worse than she already did
and he did so intentionally
.
“Shouldn’t you be preparing for tonight’s ball?” He nearly bit his tongue in half speaking the words

             
"I started to," Dezarãe twisted her skirts again and bit her lip.

             
"Well perhaps you should go finish and keep your mind occupied." The ball was a joke and the very idea of it temped his temper to break their chains.
The
stance
he
took
on
for
Samanthŕa was simply a farce. It was true he had to abide by the old ways and their laws
,
but he didn’t trust Dĩas or the bloodlines that renounced Evil
.
He had his guard up concerning all of that but there was no need for the Priestess to know. It was
his
burden and to
be honest, he hoped that Dĩas
would keep to his promise and end this madness concerning her Awakening since Daŕ
ēus was bound by powers
and could not. It seemed Samanthŕa had curses she needed to break
herself
but they weren’t what she thought they were
,
and they involved more than just her sisters.

             
“
Do you think Dǒntáe will be well enough to go tonight?”
Dezarãe
asked,
meekly.
“We
weren’t exactly sure
what
was going on with the
Theŕéans
since no
one
is
confirming anything.
”

             
Daŕ
ēus shook
his head
.
“I am not sure. Maybe Kaléé is the one you should see concerning that. I have been preoccupied since they returned the warriors to the hospice
she and
your mother set up for them.” The last he
’d
heard, nothing but gibberish came from the survivors who fled the
realm
s
once the mysterious
black mist attacked
it
. The warriors had already been drawn
out to battle and
fight
with
black
nameless
shadows deep in the jungles. They called for help but whatever power wielded
it
blocked their attempts
,
the same way it blocked Samanthŕa’s and the others on the night of Beal-Tene.

             
Dezarãe’s
expression crumbled.
Daŕ
ēus
was a bit confused. Why the sudden concern for
one
Theŕéan
?
The Vii's thoughts became a tornado of confusion. He couldn't even read them without feeling muddled himself.
“I am sorry
,
Dezarãe
. Were you close to him?”

             
“Yes, well, that’s not why I am asking.” She struggled for words.
"I . . . well . . . I--"
             

             
“
W
hy
are you asking?”
Daŕ
ēus’ head
tilted.
He
studied her.

             
Dezarãe
took a deep breath, many in fact.
“
I cannot keep it to myself any longer and you may be the only one who can help."

             
"What is it?" Now he was worried.

             
"
My sister is going to kill herself in order to avoid her
A
wakening. If you think she will stop the herbs and rituals after last night’s scare then
you
are wrong.
I know her
.
And I don’t care if the name of her Awakener is announced this night, she will still be stubborn,
and refuse him.
Again,
I know her.
If we had
Dǒntáe there
,
then maybe he could do something about it. Trigger something inside her that she will be unable to fight.
Maybe you could catch her in a brief moment when her battle stance is not so strong. Maybe--
”

             
“
I'm sorry, but
w
hat
would
Dǒntáe be
able to do about it? What exactly would he trigger?”

             
“
Her
A
wakening
,”
Dezarãe whispered
.

             
Daŕ
ēus nearly felt his eyes roll into the back of his head. How easily they were back to that again.

             
“Isn’t there som
ething you can do? You
are
the F
ather of the Blood. You have claim over her. Doesn’t that mean you have power as well? Can’t you stop her from acting so foolish?
She has this pride
,
you see
and well, it will be her end. Or maybe it will be enough to just have Dǒntáe there.” Her eyes squinted for she was thinking so hard.
             

             
“And how would he do that?”
Daŕ
ēus raised
a
vill
ai
n
ou
s
brow. The conversation was making him irritable. His patience was wearing thin.
He knew the sisters thought that Dǒntáe was Samanthŕa’s Awak
ener
,
as he
’d
overheard their
conversation
before. His Brothers had also confided in him concerning things the sisters confessed while
entwined in
the folds of
their
passion
for them
.
But was it Daŕ
ēus's
place to correct them?
No for they had confessed or spoken nothing to him.
Not until they said it
to
him,
not until they spoke the words to his face would it be his business,
he thought.
After all, with everything else going on, how did their assumptions and silly wonderings affect him? More important things to worry about, like getting his Priestess on track and destroying their enemies.
So
now, in
his own way, he was setting up his own trap.
After all, now Dezarãe was giving him no choice but to confront this head on.

             
Dezarãe rolled
her eyes. “I would think the Father of the Blood would know these things.
"

             
"
These
things?"

             
"
Dǒntáe
is
Samanthŕa’s
A
wakener. We have known it for a long time now. I admit that her dreams threw me off. The color of the eyes,
that was like
your eyes
,
when
Dǒntáe
has golden eyes
.
” She was rambling
, spewing forth her tornado thoughts
. “
But
when
Samanthŕa
told us she was simply a tool you were reaching out to, to free yourself and the
B
rothers, well that explained everything.
Everything c
oncerning my sister has always been different.”
S
he
laughed. “While we are dreaming of our
A
wakeners, she is dreaming of secrets and mischief.
I mean
it’s
obvious that my other sisters are wrong and
it’s
not
St
a
phãyn,
at
least I hope not.
”

             
Daŕ
ēus was
near explosion now. His anger, which he
’d
held in before, hearing them cackle over
Samanthŕa
and
her condition, could no longer be
res
t
r
ained.
Dezarãe just kindly opened the door to let it free.
“Do you even
know
why she is trying to prevent her
A
wakening? Have you even given it serious thought?”