Bound By Blood (9 page)

             
She felt him move
behind her . . .
unco
mfortably close
.
Sh
e felt
by instincts,
his hand barely graze the ti
ps of her long hair.

             
His voice beca
me soft. “You have become rebellious
. . .
ever since I allowed you to return to your own chamber
and leave mine
.
"

             
"I . . . I told you . . . I wanted to be around my own things."
She bit back a shiver, a cold disgusted chill caused by what he spoke of.
She threw a door shut on the memories of his words. She
never
wanted to relive such things again.

             
"And still, you make me regret that decision."

             
W
hy
was he bringing
that
up now?
Was he starving for
even
more power over her?
Did he now want
to suffocate her?
Was he aggravated that he had to go over this
. . . a subject which infuriated him completely
. . . her Awakening
? Probably, she imagined, but at this
point,
she didn’t care.

             
Frozen, s
he kept her back towards him. Th
e pit of her stomach felt weak as he lifted a piece of the hair he nearly grazed.

             
"Perhaps I need to reverse my decision and you should return--"

             
“It i
s
not
your decision.
" She
spoke of her previous tantrums concerning the rights of having her own chamber, her own place of privacy, of safety. And, she
cut off any chance of them
sharing
a moment . . . or rather, him thinking he might.
A Vii needed to be fierce, especially when her bloodlines were becoming so corrupt.
"
If you had not tried to lay claim over me, I--”

             
“It was for your own good.” His voice became harsh and cold.
"And not as repulsive as you may think.
"

             
"It is repulsive when you are not my Awakener." She hissed low.

             
"No . . .  but as High Priestess, you should know k
eeping the bloodline pure,
that
is what's most important."
The sound
of
his words became
distant again
,
so she knew he had returned to his throne.
She quietly took a huge sigh of relief.

             
"Claiming me as your own, would not have kept the bloodline pure. Not without invoking the Awakening within me
and worse
." Deep down, Sama
nthŕa knew
that
was the only
thing that
saved her.

             
“I had hoped
I could spare you the suffering of the herbs,
by doing so, and with my own power, with the power of the throne,
prev
ent your . . .
cursed
destiny
.
By having power over you,
I could
. . .
" he
paused, chillingly for what seemed like an eternity
. "
I
admitted
my mistake. Even
I
am prone to making the worst decisions while under the effects of
Lycãon
liquor.”

             
“
Yes, so you have said
many
times
,
”
s
he whispered.

             
“You would not have been punished to stay in my chamber if you would simply follow my rules and stop wandering off
,
”
h
e snapped.
“
And let us
not
forget what you also stopped doing despite my warnings . . .
no excuse for not taking the herbs.” He growled low, changing the subject. He often avoided talking about things that brought him great guilt
.
“You act as though you care
nothing
for the curse.”

             
“I have not forgotten the curse over
my
head
,
father
,
”
s
he admitted, thankful that her sisters did not have to b
ear
such a worry as her. Their
A
wakenings would bring about good prophecies and purposes for them. Hers, though she was unclear as to the details,
would bring
about nothing but dread. The Oracles swore it.

             
“If you have not forgotten
,
then
why
did you not take the potion I made for you last eve?”
H
e
upbraid
ed her. “We agreed
,
did we not? Do the rituals and take the potions and I will allow
Dezarãe
to remain here with you.
I will allow visitation with your other sisters. Do not take the potions and I will cut you off completely from your sisters and send
Dezarãe
away. Did we not agree to
that
?”

             
Samanthŕa
turned to face him. She could not hide her guilt.
Not
this time. “They make me
ill
,
f
ather
.
" Now she knew the true reason for his sending Dezarãe away
or his most important
. "
I wanted to be able to attend the festival and be at my fullest potential. Many depend on this festival. What would they think if their
Priestess
was falling over as if she were dying?
”

             
“What
would
they think?
Who are
they
to think of anything other than what
I
tell them?
” He was cynical
.

             
She knew better than to argue
about
his warped and egotistical opinions
,
so she got back on track.
“I
would not defy you and our agreement without good reason. I would not risk losing my sisters or having the
curse, which
haunts me
,
befall them. You know this
,
father.” Truth
was
she
’d been
dodging that potion for a few weeks now
especially ever since he
’d
attempted to lay claim over her. She was sick of his control and sick of feeling weak.
Even if her mind did not rebel, her will and very nature most certainly would.
But if
he
did not know that, she wouldn’t willingly tell. She accepted the blame for this
one
night
but that is the only blame she would swallow
.
She did not want to lose her sisters
, but her very insides refused to kneel any lower than what she was forced to do already
.

             
"Do I
know
this?"

             
"Yes." She bowed her head, staring low, but not because she was tilting with respect, but because her thoughts raced with the horror of the herbs. T
he potions and rituals felt as though they were slowly killing her
,
even
if she had never experienced life fading from her body before
,
as he
’d
reminded her
often when she
’d
complained in the past
. She couldn’t explain it
,
but she
knew.
So
,
s
he had to take a break. She had to try
to
do so without him knowing
,
because if he knew
, Dĩas
would never allow it, despite the harm it caused her
.
H
e would force his claim over her even if it was in name only
--
or he would do worse. She didn’t want to imagine anything worse.
She barely escaped his chains as it were.

             
“It
’
s better to suffer the potion
now
th
a
n it will be to experience that dying for real
,
trust me,
”
h
e reminded her
,
again
. “If the prophecy hanging over your head is as bad as I think, then dying will be the
least
of your worries. Do not throw out the potion again. Take it or I will force you to take it for your own good.
”
He rose
as his dictating mood turned calm and distant
. “I must go to this meeting. They are calling me.” He walked away from his
blackened slick
throne
,
hearing the voices of the other immortals in his mind
.
He started to mist
when he stopped for a moment and looked at her. His
frosty
eyes were
chilling.

             
“
Samanthŕa
,” he said, “
do not
leave the castle tonight. I know how your curiosity rules you and how famous you are for stumbling onto things. Trust me when I say that this is
not
something you want to stumble upon, especially when its imprint is such a mystery to
the rest of
us. Any dangers that befall you, we may not be able to save you from
,
”
h
e
stressed.

             
“When will you be back?”

             
“It
depends on how long it takes us to get answers.”

             
“Can I reach you if something happens?”

             
“Nay
.
”
H
e frowned. “There shall be no outside interference. The
meeting
realm
has been sealed. Just stay put and nothing will happen. I have strengthened the protective boundaries over our
realm
with my power. Nothing of negativity
can
nor
will
pass.”
He vanished
without giving her the last word
.

             
And
Samanthŕa stood
there
,
alone,
thinking
--
that there was no way in all the worlds she was going to miss the festival. Somehow or another she would find a way to go. It wouldn’t be the first time she
’d
escaped Dĩas
’ cage and snuck away. It wouldn’t be the last if she
were
smart enough not to
be
caught.
He might have been stubbornly ignorant to the reasons why she must go--ones concerning the Lycãons and all those pledged to the Goddess--but she was not. She would not allow her bloodlines to be torn any more asunder than what they already were. She would not consciously help evil tear her many families apart.

             
As for this storm, she had little faith that
Dĩas
and the Elders
would
find the hand behind it. She could
,
though
,
and if the night held any kind of luck at all,
she would
. Then maybe they would think twice about keeping her out of a meeting.
Maybe Dĩas would think twice before sticking her inside a cage.

             
She left the room
focused on her task ahead,
as
the
heavy spell bound
doors magically sealed behind her. Instead of misting back to her room,
though,
she decided the walk would give her time to think.