Bound By Blood (11 page)

             
“Now there’s an idea
,
my silly little Vii.
"

             
"What is?"

             
"The very thing you suggest, of course.
Why don’t you run up to your little magic room and find such a spell for me
.
S
omething
that would
invoke
a renunciation of power, eh?
"

             
"You jest." He could not be serious!

             
"Why, i
magine Dias then
!
”
H
e threw his head back
in hilarity
as aggravation flood
ed
her eyes. Before her temper could react,
though,
he
misted and
was gone.

             
The halls were once again empty.

             
Samanthŕa
swallowed her
acrimony
and forgot about
St
a
phãyn
’s typical nonsense when she
felt the storm pick up power
inside
the
realm
. Its hand was pulling against her
,
but she did not understand how or why. Her curiosity
was
p
iqu
ed. A chill ran down her spine a
nd
the silence of the halls
truly
began to
disturb
her.

             
Another sign
--
her mind spun with
the
dilemma.
Too many things were out of balance at once
.
Something was not right
,
but what?

~
ChapteR
3
~

Visions Be Still
,
Sister

***

Hush now
,

Here comes the dawn of night.

Yes
,
I know the voices are calling.

But these visions you must fight.

Hush now
,

Quiet embers and falling snow.

Give your mind
only
to me.

I am all that you need to know.

Hush now
,

As the
se
things you see may fester
,

Rotting you gently away into a prophecy of sleep.

Hush Now,

Be still your vision
,
my
sweet
sister.

For
my spirit
cradles you against the deep.

***

             
“
Y
ou’re going where?”
Dezarãe
, eyes forever wide,
acted as though she
couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Sa
manthŕa
had returned to her chamber
,
explaining everything she
had
found out from
Dĩas
. In the end,
Samanthŕa
was
ever so predictable--
she wasn’t going to let that stop her
and
she was leaving
regardless
.
             

             
“I have already contacted some of the other families in my mind.
”
Samanthŕa
explained.
To speak by way of telepathy took little to no effort at all
, even for a Vii and especially for a High Priestess
. “Not
one
br
other or sister is going to let neither the orders
of their Elder
n
or
Dĩas
,
stop them. So
why
should we? ”
Why should I?
Samanthŕa
gathered up her
black
cloak.

             
She said nothing
of Stephãyn
. She knew it would cause
Dezarãe
to worry. She loved him as much as
Dezarãe
did
,
but
Stephãyn
had started to withdraw himself from his little Dezzy
like he did everyone else
,
and that
alone, she knew
was
torment enough
for her sister to bear
.

             
"Feel free to stay or go. I leave it up to you." Samanthŕa couldn't order anyone to keep to the
realm
if she refused to do so.

             
“I am with
you
sister
;
however, have you
forgotten Monéaklá
?
She
is a problem.
"

             
That was a problem.
"What do you suggest?"

             
"
Maybe we should bring her in on our scheme
,”
Dezarãe
said
.
“It’s better than having her rat us out.”
Without blinking, s
he
caused
her
olive
cloak to
appear in
he
r hands by snapping her fingers.
             

             
“
Not
even if
E
vil threatened to take all of my lives would I invite her. Let her sit here in this castle with her twisted
& demented
twin
.
For you know that
if we bring her, she will sooner or later get bored and then
snitch on
us for fun. As s
oon as she finds out there are no
warrior
s
there foolish
or drunk
enough to fall for her
false
charms
,
she will become spiteful and try to wreck our evening
in whatever way she can
. It happens
every
time
,
”
Samanthŕa,
reminde
d
her
while she
went
to the balcony.

             
She
noticed
the swirling and exploding colors and power of the storm
. Every time she looked at it, she felt slightly drunk. Her mind swam with questions. She thought
constantly about her
dream and its message
.
Her mind kept
returning
to it
.
If only she had time to ponder its meaning more deeply
--
but she didn’t. Time was growing short.

             
The
Phãegens
had started to light the rest of the
Drągýn’s
tail
despite what Nature’s fury was doing around them
.
No
Phãegen
or bloodline in their right mind was going to heed
Dĩas’
warning
,
so why should she?
Despite all previous reasons, the
one that
drove her to attend
the rituals tonight long
before all trouble
erupted
came to mind.

             
Be
al-Tene
was
too
important
;
it was
the
time of rebirth
,
renewal,
and fertility.
With her own bloodlines going extinct, Goddess knows they could use some fertility. They had seen hardly any conceptions for nearly a century and despite what Dĩas claimed, their people were being destroyed
by
Evil. Samanthŕa had no proof of it but she could feel it.

             
"Perhaps I'll turn her to stone," Samanthŕa liked that idea, "If only for a few hours.
By the time she recovers
, we will have returned."

             
“Then she will seek out the missing hours and why she was done so. No, no. We need something much more subtle." Dezarãe placed her finger to her lip, clearly thinking. "L
et me send
Sameŕald
to see where
Monéaklá
is off to
then
.
She just arrived with the others and
they
are already misting before the entrance. If they go snooping, it will not look so suspicious.” Dezarãe poured another goblet of wine. “
Besides,
I haven’t been able to track her imprint since you left for the Great Hall. If
she
has snuck off to the festival herself
that
could be very bad for us. We will need another plan if that’s the case.”
Dezarãe
had a point
.
             

             
Samanthŕa
began to pace while she waited.
But in
her
own
mind, s
he needed no
other
plan if that
was
the case. If
Monéaklá
were
there then she would simply create an illusion of a man to lead her away
,
lead
Monéaklá
right into an enemy's
ditch if she had to.

             
Silence broken,
Dezarãe reported what Same
ŕald relayed to her.
“Alright
:
Sameŕald
and the other sisters are going to meet us downstairs
in the Library
. It seems
Monéaklá has
latched herself to some mystery fool and is preparing some sort of feast for him in the
Dining Hall.
She isn’t even concerned with us
.
”

             
“
No
, t
ell them to meet us at the stables.
"

             
"We are traveling by horse?"

             
"
Yes
.
"

             
"What an odd and very Phãegen thing to do." Dezarãe crinkled her nose.

             
"Not just Phãegens. Our warriors enjoy riding, yes?"

             
"Not to use one's gifts when they have it is . . . well its sacrilege."

             
"
We cannot
use
magic to mist to the festival
,
s
ister
.
We will have to travel the same way the
Phãegens
do
--by foot or by beast
. Dĩas
will be able to sense our imprint
immediately if
we use power
to exit our
realm
,
since his pow
er is plugged into all within
.
"

             
"
Depressing but very clever,
s
ister." Dezarãe praised. "And Monéaklá?"

             
"
Tell each sister to create an illusion of
herself
and place it in her chamber. We will send word
to
our dear Monéaklá
that we are sick from the power of this storm. Make her believe we are under some sort of
extrasensory
attack.
That should make her happy enough to stay away from our rooms.
”