Bound By Blood (53 page)

             
"
No, I haven’t.
This
seemed more urgent to me
,
”
h
e confessed, tossing the scrolls down.
“I would think
this
would
be enough to
please you
for now
.”

             
“Oh it does
.
”
S
he was distancing herself. It was as if they were right back to square zero and in truth, they were. Nothing had changed except she
’d
almost played the fool
;
she would never do
that
again. “But St
a
phãyn…”

             
“Tell me where he is then. I will protect him. Problem solved.” He cut her off.

             
“
No
,” she said as she started to leave the gardens
,
but he cut her off under a large trellis of stone.

             
“Let me feed you then. You look weak.” He started to offer her his wrist but she slapped it away.

             
“No,
never again
. I shall take no more blood from you. I will prevent my Awakening the same way I started to in the beginning. I have to get it under control.” She jerked herself free.

             
“You will poison yourself again?”
H
e demanded to know but she avoided the question.

             
“Daŕ
ēus, leave these things to me. There are more important matters at hand, for instance the messenger and this new information. What shall we do with it? Announce it?”
s
he pondered out loud.

             
“Have you considered simply Awakening?” He raised a cool expression.

             
“Are we back to that again? Did you not hear me? There are more important matters at hand.” She was agitated.

             
“Samanthŕa, think on this. Maybe the reason Evil has gained such a footing is because the balance of power is off. You are not complete u
nless you Awaken. If you are not complete then your powers as High Priestess are immature and lacking their full strength. Maybe they need to deal with you, the real you, which they have no expectation of seeing. Sometimes being unpredictable is our best of weapons.”

             
“Am I hurting you by not being complete? I mean
--
am I holding your strength back?” She shook her head. “No, I will not accept that. Even if it were true, I would not jeopardize my sisters
’
lives. I will have to find out the truth of this curse before I can even consider…” She was rambling. She started to walk away again but he refused to let her. Her body
fell against a concrete pillar, his body used as a means to keep her there.

             
“You are not thinking straight. Let me replenish you.” He demanded
her comfort
as the shadows burrowed around them. His power submerged her into his wanted intent
,
but to his surprise, she fought him. He under estimated her strength a
nd
she once again slipped away.

             
“Fetch my mother
,
will you
,
and let her and Kaléé know of these things. I must prepare myself.” She said
this and
started to flee.

             
“Prepare yourself for what?”

             
“For Dĩas,” she replied
, "they are waiting for me, remember? It's time t
o see what they are up to next.
"
He opened his mouth to reply, but
she vanished.

~
Chapter 1
7
~

The Wrath of the Priestess

***

Never under estimate the wrath of she
,

Provoked by the fool who in the end shall scream.

And so doth the bodies of all her scorned enemies
,

Fall
and bleed
in bloody masses, upon heaven
’
s
thirsty
floor.

***

             
Re
f
ormed Evil
and those who accompanied them
were seated
in Dĩas’
s
Great Hall. The Elders of the twelve families
and clans
, including the
Vlachŕa of the
Lycãons, entered not long after. Da
ŕ
ēus had already arrived,
determined to discover what
this was about.
Samanthŕa
and Chymeŕah stood
with him.

             
The messenger, a small seedy looking familiar, crippled
by the weight of
staff and robe, bowed before Dĩas and Aréel, begging for forgiveness. “They did not honor the ritual of things. Instead of giving me a message and
time they would meet with you,
they
simply followed me here.” His voice was slithering and pathetic.
Samanthŕa was sure he was a pet of Aréel’s
,
for her bloodline would never deal with such a thing.

             
Dĩas appearing to have a new iciness drift across
him waved it
away.
"Be gone thing. Your purpose has been served."

             
Slowly, balancing itself with its staff, it wobbled away.

             
“
I am here
,
so let
’
s get on with it
,
shall we?” Samanthŕa was harsh and bold
,
with little patience concerning
the likes of this
and them.

             
“Give us a minute.” Aréel hissed. Her disposition of sorrow seemed lost
during
the four
nights that
passed since her fragile
false
attempt
at
making amends
occurred
. She, Dĩas and the others hovered together at the
far end
of a long table, whispering.
His throne sat covered with a blanket near the back of the room. It had been moved
,
for whatever reason
, the Priestess did not know.
.

             
By the look on
Dais's
face,
he wasn’t too pleased when he saw his daughter with the Father of the Blood.
As he peeked and peered over the shoulders of his company
, i
t
seemed as though
nothing had changed concerning him. Samanthŕa
started to wonder if the
b
all
had
ever even happened
.
Judging by the atmosphere and visage
s
of those
here
now, one was left to wonder
.
His castle was darker, gloomier. The servants looked distressed and the few Lampiŕs they saw
,
appeared to be
downright
morbid.
There were
more
Veŕatüs,
Mãrquis
ŕas, and V
ãlãhs moving about though, snarling,
and lurking
their presences about more so
than any
one
else.
The stones seemed to breathe an eerie frigidness . . . something Samanthŕa hated because it sunk to her very bones.

             
“Let’s get on with this.” Chymeŕah hissed.
Her long dark nails tapped against the sleek surface of the table.
"You called us here, did you not? Therefore you should be more prepared!"

             
Finally Dĩas, Aréel and the others
who had renounced Evil
returned to their seats
.

             
Aréel’s face was gleaming with uncomfortable delight. “Very well then, we shall begin.
"

             
"
Ab
out bloody time." Kaléé snarled. A giant wolf, Rameŕas, stood brazenly beside her, ready to attack if need be.

             
"We
have called you here
,
Samanthŕa
,
concerning your title of High Priestess. You are no longer required to hold such powers as we have found you have committed treason against your father’s rule.”

             
“
What
?
”
Samanthŕa
near
ly fell out of her chair. Daŕ
ēus
’
s
fist slammed against the table.

             
"What's the meaning of this?" He growled.

             
Aréel
rushed to finish. “
Have you not hid
den
from us the whereabouts of your once brother St
a
phãyn, aiding him in his attempt to destroy the families?
”

             
“What is this madness you speak?” Daŕ
ēus demanded to know.

             
“Ah yes, the Father of the Blood is clueless again. See, we told you we could tamper with your thoughts and memories
,
and this is just another example. You do not even know what your Priestess does behind your back.” Aréel looked at Samanthŕa. “Did you not meet with St
a
phãyn and his wench, giving them path and direction to the
realm
of NORSŔAH where you claimed
he would be safe? And then by doing so, aided him and our enemy in destroying
us
,
which led to the attempted demise of the Theŕéans?” 

             
“Enough!” Darius's anger reached a high
. “
She met with him, this is no secret
,
but she did not aid in any attack. Furt
hermore, it has yet to be proven that the NORSŔAH, Ph
ãegens or St
a
phãyn w
ere
behind any such attack.
”

             
Samanthŕa
shook her head and looked at the table.
So this was their plan
,
and such a typical plan it was. Evil loved to manipulate,
twist,
and warp the truth to suit their agenda.
These sanies filth w
ere
not reformed. They were simply a disease, sent here to spre
a
d their Dark Matter. The real question was, how could her father be allowing it?

             
“We have all the proof that we need.” Aréel spat
at the floor.

             
“Then present it
,
” Kaléé ordered.

             
“For
those who are loyal to the Goddess’
s
bloodlines, we have and will. But
your
loyalty, the loyalty of the Lycãon
and
of Daŕ
ēus
and
the Priestess
are
under question. We will be getting to that
,
however.”

             
“How dare you speak of the Goddess!” Kaléé raised her staff but just as she
did,
Dĩas warned
:

             
“This meeting has been invoked as Neutral. Your powers were bound before you entered through those doors. Strike us and I warn
:
your power shall then turn on you
.
You
will be cursed
.” His eyes were fixed and daring.