Bound By Blood (54 page)

             
Kaléé spit to the floor and chanted in a foreign
tongue only used by
Vlachŕa. She spilled forth
her own bought of
curse
s
.

             
“I said--” Dĩas started to say when Chymeŕah interrupted him.

             
“Be wary
,
Dĩas
,
for what she throws down upon you will not befall you until the meeting is done. Until your binding is relinquished. My sister is wise
,
you see.” She hissed with
satisfying depth.

             
“Bloody Hadãe! Worry not of her chants
,
Dĩas
,
for she is just a
c
rone, a
c
rone who suffers from her
own
curses. Just look at her, old and decaying. The only one of us reflecting such a state.”
Aréel
erupted with amusement.

             
Dĩas roared with laughter
,
but no one else.

             
“Only a fool
underestimates
the power of a Vlachŕa
.” The wolf Rameŕas
's voice
was d
isturbingly low as he placed snout
on Kaléé’s shoulder. Her eyes were turning white while she became possessed with the voice of her hex.

             
“Moving on,” Aréel threw up her hand and tried to appear unconcerned
;
but part of her apparently was. She continued to speak but had to do it over Kaléé’s frighten
ing
whispers. “A truce will be demanded of all of you before you leave
,
especially from the Lycãon who turned their back
s
on the bloodline long ago. As for you
,
Samanthŕa, your title is
r
emanded
,
whether you and yours like it or not. Your guilt has been found. You have no choice.”

             
“
I give you nothing
.” Samanthŕa hissed as Daŕ
ēus
rose
with pride.

             
“We leave.” He looked at all those who came with him. “If you want her title, take it if you can. That will
be
the only way you get it.” He
turned
from his seat along with the others but Aréel threw up a hand to stop him.

             
“We will
not
have to take it.
We are not fools. We know we cannot.
She will
give
it to us willingly.”

             
“And how exactly do you foresee
that happening?” Chymeŕah scoffed.

             
Aréel smiled brightly as she
motioned to
a
Veŕatü
warrior
in the corner
.
His lips were stained black. His he
ad was bald except for the long, forest green
ponytail
extending from the top of his head.
His chest was bare and scar
r
ed as if he had been tormented with lashings. He wore ripped
leather
pants
which had rusted
,
dull daggers clipped up and down his legs
and
to his boots
.
He left the room as Aréel turned
back towards
Samanthŕa
. “To add a little extra something sweet to all of this, I have brought with me the nectar of the fruit, so to speak. To ensure that at least you,
Samanthŕa
,
give up what is no longer yours by treason
.”

             
The Veŕatü began
to drag in a body. It was thrown to the
floor, covered in burlap. Aréel gestured
for the burlap to be removed.

             
Samanthŕa
watched
suspiciously,
as they removed the covering.

             
Underneath was St
a
phãyn
, nearly dead and badly beaten.
Samanthŕa
ran
to his side. She shoved the Veŕatü away
from him. He tried to come back but she hissed. Her eyes
dared
him to try. She fell to the flo
or beside St
a
phãyn.
Tears came to her eyes as she lifted his face into her hands. He was barely conscious.
She could hear Daŕ
ēus, her mother and the Lyc
ãons yelling with heated rage around her but her mind was only on him.

             
“Sill-silly v-vii,” he tried to say as they brought in his woman. She had not been beaten or harmed but she was in chains. Her hair was
tousled
and her dress torn
. She was kept away from St
a
phãyn
and
Samanthŕa
.

             
“What is this?”
Samanthŕa his
sed low at Aréel
.

             
Ariel laughed.
Samanthŕa’s eyes shot towards Dĩas
b
ut he refused to look at his son
. He just sat there staring at the floor.

             
“St
a
phãyn will die if you do not relinquish your title and powers
, Priestess. We shall rip the babes from the whore’s belly. We shall devour them in front of you. We shall claim their power, since he was immortal when he poisoned her with his seed.”

             
“Is this
the law of our people
,
father
,
or have you become Evil yourself?” Samanthŕa yelled at Dĩas but he wouldn’t
even acknowledge her.

             
“He is not of our people.” Aréel
vi
ci
ously
said. “He renounced us and waged war on our kind. Or have you forgotten?”

             
Samanthŕa’s
eyes looked at Darius who was fill
ing
with rage. Her soul reflected hi
s
as if pleading silently for help. The horror and sorrow
in his eyes
drifted and faded though, as they became blackened with hate. His rage, which he had controlled
up until now
was
unleashed.

             
“I warn you now to be wary of your
threats and deeds done!” Daŕ
ēus’ beast rose.
“These
tactics will not force our
hand. The only thing you will gain from this is a war you will
not
survive.
”

             
“Attack any o
n
us Daŕ
ēus and you shall be cursed to the Sleep of the
D
amned again. Oh, we thought of that one especially for you.” Aréel
leer
ed.

             
Daŕ
ēus
argued back and forth with Aréel and Dĩas
, but their voices faded from
Samanthŕa’s
awareness. All her care was for her brother. Gently she ran her fingers th
rough St
a
phãyn
’s hair while her helpless tears fell on his face.
He felt as though he were…dying.
“I told you to run.” She whispered low. She had to speak aloud because he could no longer hear her thoughts. By renouncing his blood, he’d given up his gifts.

             
“Came…” He began to cough up blood. This frightened her.

             
“Hush now.” She wiped the blood from his dirty face. “Don’t speak. Save your strength. Hush.”

             
He wouldn’t listen. “Back . . . to . . . to . . .
he-help
. . .
yo
u . . .
him.
” St
a
phãyn
rai
sed a hand and pointed at Daŕ
ēus.
His mortality was now his death sentence. He could have survived this before
as an immortal
, but now she had little faith that he could.

             
She leaned down and kis
sed him. Bless her sweet St
a
phãyn
. He had not turned his back on his blood. He was coming back. She was choking, she was crying so hard
.
“Your time is not up yet,
my sweet St
a
phãyn
. I
have
your immortality. I kept it safe.” She wiped the hair away from his face. She still cried. “Let me give it to you. Let me give it back to you.”

             
He had to claim the words. He had to invoke the gift. He had to reclaim what he claimed was not his, what he gave away. She could not force it on him.
There was no promise it would work since his three nights had passed
,
but she prayed to the Goddess that he would take that chance.

             
He began to cough up more blood. “No.” He shook his head as his own tears filled his eyes. “Not…not.” He kept fighting to speak but it was so painful. “Woman,” His eyes pointed
Samanthŕa
in the direction of the woman Evil held.

             
Samanthŕa’s
eyes glared at her
and then
turned back to him. “Not the woman I saw you with?”

             
St
a
phãyn
shook his head. A sharp pain drove into his body
, she could feel it
. It became difficult to breathe. “Killed her.” Hi
s teeth started to grind
. “Skin… Skin… Walker.” His body threatened seizures. It tightened up and arched. His muscles clenched as
Samanthŕa
grabbed hold of him.

             
“No. No. No. Hold on, brother. No.” She got on her knees and hovered over him. She even slapped him, ordering him to live. No one noticed because they were screaming and yelling.
Samanthŕa
never noticed their screaming and yelling. “Ask me for it! Ask me for your immortality!”

             
Staphãyn grabbed
her by her bodice and jerked her down to him, his cracking voice close to her ear. With everything he had, he said, “Do not compromise. Not even for your sisters. Do not agree to anything. They want to bind Darius through you. You don’t understand but that’s how they mean to do it. Remember what I told you. Stay by the Father of the Blood and do not trust Dias.
Do not trust Dias
. Underneath the willow, remember the willow?” He spewed more blood and his body let go of hers. It fell and began to jerk.

             
“The willow, yes, I remember! We played there as children,”
Samanthŕa
sobbed. “Who cares about the willow,
St
a
phãyn
? You’re not making sense. Ask me for your immortality. Claim your blood back! The blood our souls are bound to! Claim it, brother, please!”

             
“
Silly Vii, silly.
The willow,
” He started to gag.
“Left some-something for you, the w
illow. Remember why I call you silly Vii?”

             
“
Staphãyn
, we will both go to the Willow. We will both go. Just hold on, my brother, and we will both go. You can take me there if you claim your blood!”
Samanthŕa
begged him. Her tears had turned to blood.

             
He turned
his head away and looked at Dĩas
. He spit bl
ood towards him even though Dĩas
kept his back turned. “Never claim a part of him.”

             
“No,
St
a
phãyn
!
Claim me
. You can claim me! That’s enough! It will be enough!”
Samanthŕa
buried her face in his chest
. She was frantic
.
“If I had only Awakened and were no longer Vii I could give you my blood and change you…if only I…”
S
he was sobbing.