Bound By Blood (8 page)

             
"Oh? And why is that?"

             
"
It seems Evil is as confused as we are.
"

             
Now that was interesting. Usually, they would be boasting especially if they were preventing such a powerful night and it's rituals from taking place.

             
"Yes, and they too are being slaughtered by the dozens, and cannot leave their dens without fear. Seems no one is safe this night. And since we both seem to share a common enemy, the Elders of Evil
have even been invited to the meeting in the Higher
Realm
.”

             
She knew it had to be serious if Evil
’s Elders
and those of the
many
Light
s
were laying down their arms to meet together on neutral terms.
Her curiosity raked her brain with interest. That is, until the meaning of what he had said earlier hit a sensitive note again.

             
“Still
,
f
ather, calling off the festival
,
at least for us? This
decree
will not fa
re
well with the
Lycãons
. They already have a problem with your leadership. If you deny them their High Priestess or even
fellowship
of the bloodlines on such an important night, well
,
you could be asking for war.”

             
“
T
he Elders and anyone of great power
will not
be here
,
Samanthŕa
,
to watch over you and the others.
And t
he Elders of the
Lycãons
were
invited to the meeting
as well,
but they refused.
They are as stubborn as you are and seem to think Beal-Tene needs to go on as planned.
They have sent your mother
,
of all nightmares
,
in their place.
"

             
"
I cannot blame them. Attacks from Evil have weakened us. We need the power of this night to strengthen." She b it her bottom lip. Her heart bled her emotion. "
At least allow me to go then . . .
for I hold important title. Let me go
in good faith. The
Vlachŕa
of the Lycãon
will
give me safe passage and
--"

             
"
No
.
I trust no one with your welfare.
With Evil
’s spawn
attacking as they have been, it would be madness to send you out into that kind of danger.
Just because our enemies are victim, does not mean I trust their cursed bloodlines. While their Elders are at our meeting, their spawn will no doubt hunt . . . even if they too are hunted.
The
families who are loyal to me
will
remain under the
local
protection of their
Realm
s. This isn’t open for debate. I have spoken
and it will be as I deem fit.”
He returned to his throne. He sat in the same position
,
with his chin in his hand.
But he
did not
dismiss her.

             
She tried again.
A foolish attempt, but she had to. If he locked her up, despite what was going on ou
tside, the Vlachŕa would swear he did so in order to spite them.
“
f
ather, t
he
Lycãons
think you have poisoned the bloodlines and they do not trust the
Strygĩ Elders
either. The last straw was when you separated me from my mother
, w
hen you sent her away and took her rights as Elder.
If the twelve sacred families are divided, then Evil will easily destroy us. And the Lycãon are so very close to renouncing--
"

             
"
Yes, yes, yes. We all know
what
the Vlachŕa think. I have no mind to care right now."

             
"Keeping p
eace is precious,
f
ather."

             
"Bloody Hadãe, Samanth
ŕa, they
were
invited to this meeting. It's not that we locked them
out completely
. They even realize the dangers afoot this night. Do you think them so dense that not even
they
have
not
recognized this storm as an unseen threat and sign?"

             
"Yes, but they also see the importance of carrying forth the rituals. They . . . " she needed a better way of explaining. " By denying the other families the right to go to the Lycãon
realm
is one thing, but then making things worse by denying me passage . . . well, it will
t
hrow salt on
r
aw wounds
.
"

             
"Have you not heard me? I said they were invited to the Higher
Realm
s. It is not as though we built a bloody wall and locked them out."

             
"Yes, but no offense, if the message came from you, then they would not trust it since they have none in you.
You would have had a better chance if you would have told
me
to invite them to this meeting
,
”
s
he said.

             
"Well there was no time." He spoke impatiently.

             
Clenching her fists, remembering her place,
“I assume I will be going
if you will not allow me to attend Beal-TENE, then
. . . .
”

             
“You
will not
be permitted to be there
,
either.
”

             
“I am High Priestess!”
S
he
remind
ed
him
of this fact
while
groaning in
annoya
nce
.
Anger saturated her eyes, even though usually she was a champion at camouflaging her emotions.
It was her duty to be at such meetings.
This
was just another way for him to control
her and
keep her in the dark
-- t
o keep her caged.

             
“
Samanthŕa
,
you
must
have patience. We must deal with one thing at a time. We have your Awakening to avoid first and foremost
,
which is
why
I separated you from your sisters
and
your mother
.
Remember?
Or have you forgotten the doom that l
ies
ahead for you if the Awakening is allowed to take its course? The same fate you will then curse your sisters to b
ear!
” He shook his head
with such aggravation
and huffed
with frustration
, then repeated only what she already knew
.
“When one Vii puts off
the scent that will attr
act the mate
who is destined to perform the ritual of her release
and
A
wakening
, she can easily trigger it to happen to another Vii.
"

             
"I know. I know. Yet I have no idea what this has to do with the bloody meeting."

             
"
I must protect you and I must keep Evil from sensing you are still a Vii, or placing you near others who might consider you a weak target simply so they can take your essence and claim your title.
Or
those like your mother, who would attempt to provoke the Awakening in you."

             
So were his reasons for keeping her caged . . .

             
"We are under the curse of dark times and much is at stake."

             
"I know what is at stake." She groaned, knowing their bloodlines suffered,
Realm
s were at war, and Evil were gaining in numbers, among countless other things..

             
"
Yes, but what you
do not
know, I
am
considering sending
Dezarãe to
your mother
,
to live
,
at this point. Let her have at least one of you to corrupt.
Besides,
I cannot
take any chances of your sister
invoking the Awakening within
you
. Especially
not
with all the measures we have taken to prevent it.”

             
She turned away for a moment and flicked a bit of wax on a candelabrum
so that she looked preoccupied
and unbothered
. Her heart broke with
the ache and
fear of
losing Dezarãe but she could not show emotion and remind him
of how strongly she felt towards
her. If he was reminded
,
then he would swear that the bonds between them were
too
strong
and
that
would give him even more reason to send her away.
T
hen
,
there would be no doubt in his mind that Dezarãe would trigger her Awakening
.
It was bad enough that she lost her other sisters, but
Dezarãe
also?

             
Samanthŕa would
rather die
at this point
.
But
what choice did she have if Dĩas
decided to take her sister
away? He controlled their bloodlines and had even more power than she did as High Priestess.
And as High Priestess, s
he
took a blood oath to serve
her father
and
his
throne, just as s
he
swore to
serve both her family and the rest of the bloodlines
.
And after all . . . High Priestess or not . . . she was still just a Vii.
If only she had been born a warrior . . .
             

             
Males had no need of
A
wakening. They were what they were destined to be at birth. Once they entered manhood, they
and their beasts
became powerful warriors. They fed without killing,
if
they kept to the old ways. If not
,
then they were evil and not someone of the family. She
, however,
was a Vii and
did not have need to feed as a
Strygĩ
did.
A Vii was a female who was
inexperrectus
- one who had not yet
A
wakened.

             
If she
were
allowed to
Awaken,
she would be able to merge with her beast and
the
element she shared soul with. She would be able to mist longer distances and manipulate the energies for much longer periods of time. She would be an immortal wh
o
lived for an eternity
,
not for
just six hundred or so years.
Without
her
A
wakening
,
she would need to be bathed in the eternal fires of the Great Goddess, undergo ritual
s, to become rejuvenated.
Those fires would keep her young if she ever had need of them.

             
That’s what
Vampyŕe
meant, o
ne who
was born from and
fed from the Goddess’ fire or pyre
.
As Vii, the simple flame of a candle could satisfy her
,
but as a
fully-fledged
Strygĩ, she
would need the fire of essence--blood--
a
force
of life
to do so.