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Realms Converge	By : Candice Category: +G through L > Legacy of Kain Views: 3563 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Legacy of Kain, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.Don't get to Nosgoth itself til chap 5

Chapter List
- 36
- 37
- 38
Edits as of 10/2016.
Chapter Thirty-Seven: Aftermath
A/N: blatant Doctor Who reference near the end to the most recent season because Doctor Who Is Awesome and because with Kain's extensive time travelling, he'd bloody well get the humor of it all... sooo I do not own Doctor Who... :-)

*-/*-* Katrina POV *-*-*
Kain led us down to the large room that had once been the ballroom of the mansion. The room had been swiftly renovated over the past half-year to convert the room to suit Kain's desires. When I had glanced in on the workers every now and then, they had seemed to be turning the room into was seemed to almost be a throne room or something else equally regal in design. As we entered the very much crowded room, I corrected the thought.
It was a throne room.
The original white, polished marble tile of the room remained intact and yet each of the wide windows had been sealed away behind equally wide stone pillars. Pillars that would have taken humans years to put into place but had only taken the vampire artisans only months to align. Another two months of almost constant work had led to spiraling vine-like designs and each pillar had been shaped to look like several trees that had grown close together rather that a singular pillar of stone, all carved by deft and skilled claws. Dark, canopy-green draperies were carefully hug about the room and the effect of it all gave the room the illusion that we stood sheltered from the sun within a grove of vine covered trees.
A sweeping, dark red carpet led down the length of the room from the large doors and came to an end on a new, raised platform that was tucked neatly against the far wall. The platform had wide, sweeping steps and was the resting place for two large throne-like chairs. The larger of the thrones, on the left from the angle we were at currently and in the position that made it clear that it was the King's throne, looked to be made of dark stained wood. Even at a distance I could see the gold filigree that lined the edges of the wood in an odd-seeming pattern. Dark red velvet lined the seat itself and acted as padding along the back of the throne. Two humanoid skulls looked to have been carved into the arms of the throne itself and gave the regal design a decidedly dangerous air. The back of the throne had Kain's Symbol carved in sharp relief at the top just inches above where his head would rest when he leaned back.
The smaller throne to the right, what would be to the left of the King's throne when sitting and thus the Queen's throne, was a more delicate affair but no less carefully rendered by the skilled artisan's claws. The stain of the wood was a shade lighter than the larger throne and the filigree looked to be made of a delicate swirl of silver instead of gold. Even the velvet was a lighter shade and instead of skulls, two arching wings were carved into the arms of the smaller throne. While Kain's Symbol was also carved in sharp relief at the top of this throne, my own Symbol was directly beneath his and carved with just as much attention to detail.
Kain's mind brushed over my own, just a hint of dark amusement with no actual words being projected, only the emotion. I realized belatedly that I had come to a surprised halt at the doorway at the sight of the room. He had paused with me and had scanned over the crowd gathered within with a proprietary air. His arm squeezed around my hand where it lay in the crook and I was just barely able to contain my sudden start at the small pressure. I subtlety squared my shoulders and took in a slow, soft breath through my nose. I started to move forward again when he did and I realized he had used my sudden, momentary pause as a way to... well, work the crowd of vampires and humans alike to great effect.
More than one vampire did a funny sort of double take with little rapid blinks of their eyes as we passed them. I realized with a flash of insight that both of our scents were still strong with the residual scent of our... activities as we had not had the time to bathe. Oddly enough, I felt myself... preen subtly at those looks. My vampiric instincts were very much satisfied that... well, that my 'territory' was clearly scent marked for all those who could scent such things. Slow measured strides brought us to the wide steps of the two thrones. Kain moved my hand from the crook of his arm almost gently and he guided me without seeming to towards the more delicate looking throne.
~Sit how you please, my Dear Katrina,~ he purred softly in my mind.
I moved the rest of the distance on my own and lowered myself onto the throne. Now that I was close enough to look it over, I saw that it had a wide seat and that there was easily room for another female to sit beside me on the cushion... or for me to sprawl out across the seat itself like some kind of lazy cat. Which sounded really good right now. I shifted around on the throne as I sat down, honestly still a bit worn from both the earlier corrective punishment and the sex that had unexpectedly followed. I decided to sprawl out over the throne with my upper body leaned towards Kain's own throne. I leaned my elbow against the arm of the throne and idly traced the pad of my finger over the silver filigree that looked like delicate, living vines.
Kain drew the Soul Reaver from his back in a smooth motion as he sat down, a gesture that caught the attention of, and startled more than a few, of those present within the large room. He now had everyone's undivided attention. He leaned the Reaver blade against the right arm of the throne as he sat. There seemed to be a perfectly placed notched hidden within the design of the throne where the blade could rest without risk of it falling over, similar to the notches that he always added to the posts of the beds that we slept in. Vorador and Janos both moved out from the crowd together as if planned. Vorador broke from our Sire's side to stand at Kain's right whilst Janos moved to stand to my left. Both were typical advisory positions; the King's Adviser and the Queen's Adviser respectively. Kain's remaining active Captains, Leon, Emrys and Stefon, each moved up to stand at the front edge of the crowd where they could easily be seen and ready to be called upon if there was a need. Kain's voice echoed in the now silent room.
"Bring forth the prisoner," he ordered in a ringing and deadly tone.
Cillian, bloody, bruised and badly beaten, was dragged front and center from a side entrance. He struggled futily, trapped firmly between two of Vorador's Bride's, Tara and Victoria. It was clear that he had numerous broken bones, of which were clearly being kept in a broken state with the use of several carefully placed bars of metal. He was forced to kneel in front of us at the lowest of the steps that lead up to our thrones. He was then held pinned in place and, despite the unyielding grasp of the two female vampires, he continued to try and pull free from their hands with pain-weakened snarls of noise. Kain's Aura slowly spread outwards to fill the room like a heavy weight. I noticed that more than a few of the vampires within the room tilted their heads in supplication and also backed a half a foot further away from the steps of the throne, as if giving Kain more room to maneuver as he pleased. I myself leaned a little more into the arm of the throne that I was braced against before I could catch myself. I had lowered myself just that little bit to seem less of a threat out of pure instinct. Had we been wolves, I imagined that more than a few of those within the room would have rolled over to expose their bellies due to that angry press of pure Power. Cillian also stilled his struggles, yet rather than bare his throat, he ducked his head and bared his fangs in a weak, defiant, gesture at the press of Kain's Aura.
"Cillian," Vorador's voice filled the room and drew nearly everyone's attention. Kain and I both continued to glower at the male however. "You have been found guilty of the highest of crimes; treason against your Lord King and Lady Queen. Do you have aught to say before your sentence is issued and carried out?"
"I merely endeavored to free my Lord from the wiles of the Slut who dares to sit upon that throne," Cillian snarled out in a weakened, but enraged voice. He spat out a wad of blood in my direction.
My eyes narrowed darkly on his form and I bared my fangs in warning. Vorador's and Janos' Auras both rose up and filled the room alongside Kain's in a near melodic press of power that practically hummed through the air. Several of those within the room hissed softly at his perfidious words. Yet more backed further away from the steps in an unconscious move to escape the deadly force of the three Aura's that now filled the room with wrathful energies. I felt my own Aura rise up slightly in response, that mental winged-beast giving a dangerous rumble at the back of my mind. I narrowed my eyes on the kneeling vampire hatefully and I shifted, started to straighten, in order to snap at the male. Janos let out a low growl before I could do more then twitch and I glanced at my enraged Sire. He took a step forward and his wings flared in warning even as his golden eyes narrowed in anger.
"You will mind how you speak about my Childe..." the blue-skinned Eldar started, only to be cut off as the traitor tried to force himself to his feet once more.
"I have said it before and I will say it again," Cillian roared out as Tara and Victoria forced him back to his knees. "She is not of your get! That bitch is nothing but a whore who has blinded you all! Lord Kain, my King, see the truth of her!"
Kain's hand idly reached out and he brushed his claws through my hair for several moments, a blatant showing of affection and sign that also showed his favor of me. His hand then down to brush over the back of my neck and I felt the slightest, subtle push against my mind to speak as I wished, if I wished. I let out a soft sigh and bared my fangs again in a small threat-yawn as I looked Cillian's broken form over. My human senses were yet buried and leashed firmly beneath the iron grip of my vampiric blood but in this even those subdued senses were in agreement with my vampiric, animalistic, desire; I wanted Cillian dead and silenced forevermore. I wanted him to see him humiliated. I wanted him broken by the knowledge that he had failed to succeed in his traitorous plot. Broken by the knowledge that his attempt had been so pathetically, unspeakably crude that once more he proved not to be worth my time in the slightest.
"Truly? Can you think of nothing but the most droll and dreadfully plain insults?" I murmured in a soft voice that still somehow carried through the room. Seriously, the acoustics of the room were amazing and enhanced even the smallest voice at the back of the room for my own enhanced hearing to pick up. "Simply admit to petty jealousy and willful treachery so that we can all be done listening to your pitiful whining."
Cillian snarled angrily and he glared at me hatefully, "At least if I am to die, I will die knowing that you have been forever denied the skies by Sarafan hands, you little harlot!"
I tilted my head at his words and leaned into Kain's claws. I let out another lazy sounding sigh when I felt the darkly amused press of Kain's mind against my own. From the confused, angry and somewhat pained looks that I could see amongst the crowd in front of us, almost no one outside a select few yet knew the truth of my wings. I caught sight of the two youngsters Kain and I had rescued a while back, Lapis and Lazuli. They were both now fifteen, of age, and could now choose to join the army that Kain was building. They stood in front of their mother near the front edge of the crowd and I took note of the outright killing intent in their eyes are the twins glared at the wounded, faithless vampire. The twins had gotten rather attached to me, even though I did little more then check in on them, just the occasional visit with either Nikolai or Alma at my side.
"You really are an simpleton who knows nothing of me, aren't you?" I said as I looked away from the twins. I sat up a little and leaned forward whilst bracing myself on the arm of the throne. "Firstly, the Sarafan denied me not... one... thing."
"You...?" Cillian's face twisted with confusion.
I watched his face as he swiftly reasoned out what I meant by that comment. He wasn't stupid as far as mental acumen and tactical rational. He would not have become one of Kain's Captain's in the first place if he had been naught but brawn and no brain, but he was one of those people who suffered from a terminal case of 'willful idiocy'.
"You," he shook his head in shock. "You tore off your own wings? What... why?"
A surprised murmur ran through the crowd. Mostly it was the voices of the humans that filled the air but more than a few vampires added their voices to the confusion that thrummed through the room like a wave. I smiled darkly and I leaned back into Kain's idle touch once more.
"Two, and do pay attention you little ignoramus," I purred in a deadly tone, "they grow back."
"You... they...?!" Cillian snarled in rage at the knowledge that his satisfaction at my supposed 'permanent' grounding was to be denied him. "Damned uppity little bitch! I hope they ruined you before the others found you! I hope you were naught but a bleeding, mewling mess upon the ground where you belong you little whore!"
I rolled my eyes at that and let out another bored sigh of sound. I looked at my claws and lightly scrapped them together in a sharpening movement.
"I had already killed one of the Sarafan mercenaries and left a second bleeding out by the time the others arrived to assist me. What does that tell you?" I asked coldly.
I wanted to give off the illusion that I had already managed to free myself in full before 'the cavalry' had arrived. I then sent a testing pulse of thought against Kain's mind. I actually did want to do one thing to the little shit before he was put down; to silence him with my own hands. Kain's mind brushed against my own with an affirmative touch and I stood from my seat in order to stalk toward Cillian.
"I am really tired of hearing your voice, you know that?" I purred out.
"As if a kind-hearted weakling like you knows a thing about torture beyond being beaten yourself, you little tramp," he snarled up at me and he struggled uselessly against the grip of the Bride's who held him pinned down.
"You really don't know anything about me, do you?" I murmured in a low voice that carried over the crowd. The tone of my voice caused more than one individual's scent to spike with startled fear as they backed up to give me more room.
My reputation amongst human and vampire alike was that of a kind hearted, gentle thing whose wildness was reserved only for the battlefield. Many of the humans, and some vampires who did not know any better, actually thought I was Janos' get since he was such a kind hearted vampire himself even on his bad days. Equally so, there were the rumors that had been spread by the now dead Lordling that I was an angel from another world and whoever had me at their side was thus 'blessed' by my presence at their side. Kain and the others had done nothing to dispel either of those rumors outside of our immediate circle of allies and those high enough in rank have a need to know. The mystery I was shrouded in, as far as the general public was concerned, worked to our advantage more oft than naught.
I caught Cillian's jaw in my hand once in front of him and had to briefly pause when my human instincts tried to rear up against the mental bindings that my vampiric nature had wrapped 'round them in protest of what I was about to do. I knew far too much about torture thanks to the lessons that I was forced to both watch and endure myself over the long years and I had long refused to torture someone for Auron. But this was not going to be for Auron, this would be for me. A small measure of vengeance and the silence that I wanted out of the male. I was not going to ask anyone else to do this for me either. I would do this myself... or not at all. I clenched my teeth as my vampiric blood won out and pushed my human nature back down. I squeezed my hand at the base of his jaw abruptly and then gave a quick twist to dislocate the jaw with a painful pop that rang through the room. I held his jaw in such a way that my grasp would prevent his body from healing the damage that I had just caused. I noticed the set of metal rods Tara was using to hold her hair up in a bun and I held out my free hand toward her.
~May I have one of your hair rods Tara? Fair warning; it's going to be ruined,~ I whispered to her.
~Of course, I can make more easily enough my Lady,~ she responded with a respectful mental purr.
She kept a firm grip on Cillian's arm but reached up with one hand to pull free one of the thin metal rods as I had requested. She handed it to me and I carefully, oh so slowly, stabbed the rod through where his jaw would attach to his skull on each side. I wanted to prevent it from healing once I let go of his jaw. I then ensured that the rod would trap his foul tongue by bending the middle part out just enough to press the thick muscle down. He screamed all through the process, but I could barely hear the noise in truth. I became tunnel-focused on getting the rod properly into place and could focus on nothing else or else my human senses started to scramble once more against those mental chains that my vampiric blood had wrapped around them. I abruptly twisted the ends of the rod in such a way that it could not be removed easily and I let his jaw go with a satisfied, growling rumble of noise that echoed in the otherwise deathly silent room. I flicked the blood that had gotten on my fingers back into his face.
"There we go," I said with a smile that I knew didn't reach my eyes and I watched fear flash through his own. "I did warn you against speaking out of turn, did I not?"
I couldn't help the small almost giggle of noise that escaped me. I turned and stalked back up the steps to sprawl once more across my throne like a lazy cat. Kain turned his head to look at me, ignoring the crowd for the moment, and he coiled a few strands of my hair around one finger as he looked back at Cillian's broken form.
"Skillfully done," he said in a lazy tone of voice that was yet tinged with his rage at the male.
"I could do quite a bit more," I said in a lazy tone of my own. "But why bother when there are punishments far greater to be applied in this instance beyond the mere physical?"
"Oh?" Kain let out a querying tone even as he smirked down at me. I could see that Cillian suddenly looked worried behind the agony in his jaw. "Do share your thoughts my Queen."
"I have the unique position of knowing several of the fundamental truths of this world," I said in a clear tone. I slowly sat up and leaned back in the throne to cross my legs, though I kept my gaze locked upon Kain's. "One such truth is something the Ancient Vampires themselves believed in; the Wheel. A cycle of life, or un-life in the case of a vampire, of a true death and then of rebirth. I know for a fact that souls can be reborn to new lives beyond being raised as a vampire. A chance to try again, a chance to atone, a chance to do better. I also know that the soul itself can be... slain if you will. Destroyed and rent asunder, even consumed by other souls. The Soul Reaver that you wield my King? It can consume a soul and deny it that path to rebirth. This is what happened when you slew the thing that had dared to call itself 'the Mayor of Steinchencroe'."
I turned to look at Cillian and raised a brow as I took in his suddenly, far too pale for even a vampire, visage. I rested my chin on the palm of my hand and tapped a claw lightly on my cheek.
"I would never see this one's soul again, let alone his current form," I said with a low and dark growl. I smiled faintly, a cruel quirk of my lips and offered a grim bit of humor. "Though this one might give the Reaver whatever might pass as indigestion for a near-sentient sword."
Kain's lips quirked faintly with dark amusement at my words. That little smirk of his meant that death was fast approaching for someone. Janos suddenly twitched next to me, his wings flared briefly with distress and the movement drew both my attention and Kain's. A pained look had passed across the Ancient's face and he was looking at me with a serious, grim expression upon his usually gentle face.
"My Childe, are you so sure of this?" he asked softly. "To deny someone the chance to traverse the Wheel and start anew..."
"He betrayed me to the Sarafan with the intent of seeing me enslaved," I said with a low snarl of breath as I cut my chosen Sire off whilst I leaned toward him. "Chained and leashed, forced to follow at the heels of my enemy with no thought of my own will and wants. If I choose to follow someone, as I have chosen to follow Kain, that is one thing... for it is by my choice and my will that I follow Kain as my King. But what this little fool wanted from me, was to see me broken. I will not have my very being subsumed by the desires of another due to the actions of a jealous little prick that cannot stand to see a female standing at Kain's side."
Cillian let out a strained and muffled sound of denial even as his scent spiked with flustered rage. The noise drew my attention and I turned to look at him as I leaned back toward Kain. I sprawled out lazily over my throne once more and idly ran the pads of my fingers along the arm of Kain's throne in order to rest my fingers on the top of the skull. I trailed a slow pattern over what I abruptly realized was real bone and wondered which of his... our... enemies now graced his throne as decoration pieces. I spoke in a low tone even as Kain's hand moved to rest idly over my wrist in a subtle move to still my hand and guide my thoughts back to the task at hand. I took in a slow breath of air and hummed to myself thoughtfully.
"This is where you wanted to be, isn't it traitor? Or close to it?" I purred out the question in a deadly tone.
I had caught a subtle note of something in the male's scent that reminded me painfully of the broken males and females that had vied willingly for Auron's attentions. The ones that had been willing to do anything for him, even betray each other to him in order to gain his favor.
"How readily you call me a harlot, a whore, when it is you who want to be mounted like a bitch in heat," I growled out. "How swift you are to beg for Kain to 'see the truth' and yet the only truth to see is that you are, and have been, practically screaming 'Look at me! Notice me!' all this time. How long have you been vying for his attentions, traitor? How long have you looked at me and plotted to do me harm? Your outright jealousy led you to make a fool's mistake and even though you are now paying for your crime, you continue to beg others to see what is not there. A mad, foolhardy bid to push the blame for your own actions onto someone else."
The scent of Cillian's unease, rage, fear and underneath all of that an underlying sense of want filled the air at my words. The truth of my supposition became apparent to all of the vampires within the room. An angry wave of murmuring started to pass through the crowd and some of the vampires amongst those in the room were kind enough to whisper softly to the humans next to them and explain why the tension in the room was suddenly so thick. Kain took a slow, scenting breath through his mouth and nose. He forced the air that out in a rage filled huff of breath to cleanse the scent from his nose. He stood up to approach the wounded traitor, picking up and holding the Reaver tight in his hand. He placed the tip of the blade to Cillian's neck. The male tried to pull away from it and his fear spiked to subsume all other scents. Tara and her sister moved to hold him in place, to hold his head still, as Kain dug the point of the blade in against his throat. I saw Cillian's eyes widen as the Soul Reaver began to glow. A thrummingly, bright glow that started at the eyes of the skull and then traveled along the blade as it started to let out that high, death's keen of noise that it made when it was 'awake'.
"Many a male and female have graced my bed over the years," Kain purred out in a deadly tone as he waved the two females back. He started to circle the male vampire and the point of the Reaver trailed over the male's neck as Kain circled him. "All have had to catch my eye, to be worthy, in some way beyond the mere physical for them to even be honored with a single night in my chambers. You would never have been aught but one of my Captain's and you should have felt satisfied, privileged even, by such a placement. Few have earned that right. My Mate Marked Queen spoke true it seems; jealousy of a placement at my side, such as what she has earned, has led you to make the most foolish of choices. Your Captaincy had been returned to you, your punishment for challenging her, and being beaten soundly in result, had ended. Your actions could have been forgiven over time. She is young, yet stronger than you thought possible when you sought to challenge her status. But instead..."
Kain lashed out with a booted foot and forced Cillian to the ground even as his eyes flashed white. The sounds of bones being crushed, broken, snapped, filled the air along with Cillian's choked screams of agony.
"Instead you committed the worst crime possible; you whored your services out to mine enemies!" Kain roared. "It is not enough that you sought her death, but you went to the Sarafan Lordling himself, every vampires foe, and attempted to give the whelp exactly what he sought! You thought such an action would gain my attentions? My favor?"
Kain lifted Cillian up by his hair. A strained and choked cry of pain escaped the vampire when he was suddenly forced onto his back. Kain moved to stand beside the broken form and lightly pressed the Soul Reaver over his traitorous heart.
"You succeeded in obtaining the first goal at least," Kain said with a low, sub-harmonic growl that echoed through to the bone even where I sat safe upon my throne. "You do have my attention. But as for the last? You have earned naught but my wrath."
I would not know it until my Chosen Sire and Vorador made a comment later that very week, but Kain mirrored an earlier action from when he had initially confronted Cillian. He balanced the Reaver perfectly with his fingers upon the base of the hilt and he pushed slowly downward. He used gravity to force the Reaver down into Cillian's chest and into his heart, his fingers keeping the blade balanced more than anything else. The Soul Reaver itself seemed to revel in the kill and prolonged it as it used its' strange magic to paralyze the vampire it was impaling so that all Cillian could do was let out a constant, soul rending scream as the blade dug deeper still. I found myself wondering briefly how much of Raziel was left within the blade and if he had been aware of what was going on despite the madness that the blade oft seemed to exude. The soul-touch of the blade against my neck when Kain had forced the collar from my throat, had been a near to gentle caress the night I was rescued. Perhaps it was not true madness that the sword exuded? I pushed the thought aside for later when there was an audible, crackling-pop of noise from the Reaver. Cillian's screams ceased and silence abruptly filled the room.
The traitor was dead.
Kain pulled the Reaver free from the corpse and moved back to his throne. He reclined in the large seat and leaned the bloodied Reaver against his leg as he looked over the silent crowd. No one dared to make a sound or move, not even I. We waited with baited breath for him to speak.
"Let this be a warning to you all," he finally rumbled out in a deadly tone. "Do not betray me or my chosen. Especially not to my enemies in a foolish bid for my favor. I will ensure that you suffer the same fate if you do."
He waved a hand dismissively at Tara and Victoria.
"Get that eye-sore of a corpse out of here," he ordered.
"At once my Lord," the pair said together. They picked up the body and carried it from the large room swiftly.
Janos' mind brushed against my own with a wordless, worried pulse of thought. I answered with my own press of energy and passed on a sense of 'I'm alright' to him even as I let out a soft almost soundless sigh. Kain's hand brushed over the back my neck in a brief caress before he leaned forward.
"Alma," he growled out. "Forward with you woman."
Alma stepped out from the crowd where she had been hidden from my sight. She knelt upon the ground in front of us with both of her hands spread wide, her claws pointed downward and her throat tilted to the side in obvious submission. Kain eyed her in silence for several long moments before he spoke.
"You know your failure," he said in a tone that was almost mild. A stark contrast to his earlier rage.
"I do my Lord," Alma said in a soft voice that still somehow carried throughout the room. "My task was to be my Lady's right hand. Her sword and her shield, if there was a need. I failed to prevent the capture of her person. Failed to halt Cillian's betrayal. I submit myself to your will and judgement, my Lord and Lady."
"Even though you failed," Kan started with a low rumble and he let his chin come to rest against his fist, "you returned to face our judgement. You have submitted yourself for said judgement without complaint, without once begging for mercy. You acknowledge and accept whatever will be your fate with honor. Commendable."
She bowed her head further and said nothing.
"I told you that your punishment would be thus; that any harm that had been inflicted by Sarafan hands to my Queen would be visited upon your own flesh threefold, did I not?" Kain asked and he tapped a claw lightly against his cheek.
"You did my Lord," Alma responded softly and she glanced up at him. "And I accept whatever punishment you have devised for me."
"Good. You are to spend the next twelve hours hung by the skin and muscle of your back by eighteen hooks," Kain ordered in a cold voice. "Over that time you will be struck by twenty high level lightning spells for varying lengths of time for each strike. Once your punishment is completed you will submit yourself to Katrina. You are to obey her every whim and submit to her every desire, be it your pain or pleasure. You will belong to her completely until such time as she releases you and that will not be for at least a century. Am I understood woman?"
"As you will my Lord, so shall it be," Alma acknowledged with another low bow of her head.
"Vorador. See to her punishment. Now," Kain ordered with a wave of his hand.
"Very well," Vorador moved over to Alma and pulled her up by her arm.
Alma followed the tug willingly and with her head held high as she was led from the room by her Lord Husband. I contained the subconscious twitch that my body wanted to give, grateful for one instant that I did not currently have my wings for they would have given away my shock. Kain had said nothing of breaking her jaw as he had mentioned to me earlier when he had been devising her punishment, he was making an allowance for her of all things by binding her to my service, but he had also issued a subtle warning to me in that order. I was not to offer her release from her newly ordered servitude until at least one hundred years had passed with her bound to my will. I sent out a brief mental touch to his mind to wordlessly acknowledge the hidden order in his announcement and his mind brushed mine in a dark caress that warned against forgetfulness else I would again face his corrective hand. I had to contain a shudder at the wordless warning. I never wanted to face such a painfully embarrassing correction again, nor did I wish to potentially experience such a thing in front of my Chosen Clan.
~At least a century,~ I murmured softly to him over the Whisper. ~I won't forget.~
~Good mine own,~ he responded. ~Good.~
From there, those within the room were called forth to reaffirm their oaths to Kain and to swear new oaths to me as his Queen. Eventually the twins stepped forward, noble born as they were, to swear their arms and service to Kain's growing army. I felt a small frown of worry curl my lips downwards as I looked the two, still gangly looking, youngsters over. Both were skilled archers and horseback riders, for their age at least. Every time I visited their domicile, they were eager to show me how much they had improved between visits. I was partial to them, though I had tried not to show it. I tried to check in on all the youngsters that we had rescued equally in an effort to not show favor. But... I enjoyed their eager to please company like that of a proud, older sibling or relative.
Kain had told me once that he knew just by the soft looks on my face as to when I had gone to visit the pair. My 'Jewels' as he dubbed them at one point, to my complete amusement. He'd sighed at the crude fit of humor that had affected me as I had bitten my tongue to stifle my laughter the first time he'd called them that. He had given me one of his rare smirks that didn't mean death for an enemy or desire. Just the faintest sign of near contentment. A smile that was just for me. A few times he had even joined me to visit the twins, despite his muttered wondering of 'how could I possibly enjoy visiting the kill stealing brats'. The nickname he had given them had stuck though and the pair had fairly preened when I had first called them 'my Jewels'. The thought of them joining the army at so young an age... I sat up slowly and leaned toward them.
"If this is your decision, I will not fault you for it as you are now of age," I said softly. "But you are noble born and can have a far different life than that of a life spent upon the battlefield. Are you sure?"
The pair shared a look from where they knelt in front of us and then looked up to meet my eyes boldly. Glittering blue jewels, the color of the stone for which the twins had been named for, stared at me with a fierce will.
"My Lady," Lazuli started in her softer tone that belied the steel inside her just as mine did for me. "You saved our lives twice over, you and our Lord. Our lives are yours to do with as it pleases you."
"Our souls are yours," Lapis said firmly and Lazuli nodded her agreement to his words. "If you wish us to remain clad in cloth and speak in honeyed voices to spread word of your might, my Lord and your mercy, my Lady, to act as ambassadors in your name, we will do so."
"If you wish us to fight and die at your side on the field of battle, to slay your enemies and be your shields, we will do so," Lazuli said firmly.
"Our lives our yours 'til the day we die and if you wish it, then to un-life and even beyond that; for every turn of the Wheel you spoke of. For every rebirth that we might yet be blessed with," they said together and I felt a strange thrum fill the air.
"Oh my word," Janos breathed softly beside me and he eyed at the pair with wide eyes.
Kain and I both turned to look at Janos and his mind brushed against ours in a joint Whisper of communication.
~Accept it, both of you,~ he said in a mental voice that was both firm and awe filled. ~I have not borne witness to a Soul Oath since the days my brethren owned the skies. I had not thought it possible to still be done since our God went silent and yet... you can feel it, can you not? The thrum of magic around them? Accept it.~
We both turned to look at the twins with thoughtful expressions before I looked back at Janos.
~'Soul Oath'? What do you mean Sire?~ I asked.
~They are willingly binding themselves to your service for as long as their souls exist,~ he Whispered to us. ~This is a rare and most precious gift. If they die, their souls will remain near to you so that they can be reborn close to you and once more enter your service when they are next old enough to assist you, in whatever way you may choose for them. You will know them always by their eyes if you accept their Oath. Even were both parents to have, let us say, brown eyes or green eyes or even perhaps hazel eyes, they would be reborn with the same color eyes that they have right now. If they were to become vampires, then their eyes would never gain a golden hue. The magic of the Oath would mark them as completely as a Master's Mark. More so, in truth. A Master-Marked Human is freed from their duties upon their death. This is a gift that cannot be asked for, can never asked for. It must be given freely and meant to the very depths of one's soul or else the magic of the Oath will not take.~
I shared another look with Kain as I felt a strong surge of surprise. He raised a brow at me, also surprised by the Eldar's words, and we both turned to look at the twins as one.
"You would make such an unprecedented Oath to us, my Jewels?" I asked softly. "You would bind yourselves to us so completely as that?"
"Yes," they said as one. There was no hesitation in their voices, no sense that they would back down and retract their offer. The tang of magic in the air grew stronger, like the taste of ozone just before the storm.
"Then..." I smiled gently at them and Kain spoke with me.
"We accept your Oath," we said.
The taste of ozone faded and I raised a brow as the twins eyes seemed to flash for a brief second. I felt almost as if I had suddenly been caught off guard by someone taking a photo of me with the camera's flash having been left on. I blinked a few times as the sensation faded and then turned to look at Kain with a tilt of my head.
"With their skills, they would do best to join Emrys' growing cavalry," I advised with a thoughtful hum. "We do not have that many archers who can also ride horseback and they have the potential to do well in such a position."
"They do indeed," he purred in response. "You did well to cultivate these two as you have."
I turned back to the twins, inwardly preening at the praise, and spoke firmly, "Report to Captain Emrys on the morrow, my Jewels. Grow in strength and skill and do me proud."
"Yes my Lady," the twins said. They bowed their heads and moved back towards their mother. The older woman looked equal parts proud and worried for her progeny as she placed her hands upon their shoulders.
The rest of the night was then spent mingling with the crowd once the Oath-taking was finished. Kain kept me on his arm throughout the night and I got to know the current faces, and scents, of the human nobles who had sworn themselves to our cause. It was easy enough to maintain a sense of polite aloofness as we milled amongst the crowd. At one point, Kain's Captain's approached and I found myself drawn into a conversation with Leon regarding what tactics were involved around the differences between archery when one was on a mount versus archery when one was on foot. Vorador joined us at some point in the conversation, having returned from... setting up... Alma's punishment.
"What could really be effective for vampiric archers or even mounted human archers would be a compound bow, the pulley system does allow for a greater dra..." I fell silent and face-palmed at the raised brows I was suddenly getting from the males around me. "You don't have compound bows... why am I...? Never mind..."
"Katrina," Kain's eyes had narrowed thoughtfully on me and I frowned up at him and bristled slightly at his tone. "If this is something that can aid us..."
"I really don't like the thought of introducing weapon concepts from my home-world to this one Kain," I murmured to him softly. "This world not only has magic, but a super-predator in the form of the vampire species. We really do not need new and more inventive ways to kill each other being introduced amongst the populace."
"Is there really so much danger in a simple pulley system?" Vorador asked thoughtfully as he sipped at his drink.
I frowned and realized that he was already thinking of how to build and use such a system. It was useless now to try to keep that idea buried. Vorador had sunk his fangs into an idea and if anyone would be able to build a weapon around concept alone, it would be him.
"Greater draw strength. The arrows travel further, faster and with more power behind them without having to have as much upper body strength as a composite bow; a long or short bow," I clarified and then let out a huff of breath. "I used to work at a shop that sold swords and blades, but there were a few archer buffs that showed up to talk to the owner on occasion, one was a friend of his that owned an archery range. That pair would argue a lot over the merits of a composite bow versus a compound bow, so I learned a bit just by listening in... can't use a bow myself, might look into it later, but I always liked blades myself so never really focused overmuch on their conversations or asked them much."
Kain tilted his head slightly and then shared a look with Vorador. Vorador nodded his head in response to the silent question before he looked back at me.
"Can you sketch a diagram from what you can recall of such a weapon?" he asked and I sighed.
"Oh... very well," I frowned up at Kain. "Don't ask me about any other weapons from my world though Kain. Please?"
"You do realize that I will learn much on my own when we go to your world in order for us to put Auron down?" Kain pointed out darkly and he trailed a claw along the line of my jaw.
"And hopefully you'll see why I want to keep silent about such things," I responded softly. "The humans of my world are far, far too proficient at killing each other Kain. I do not want things to become... difficult... here because the wrong kind of weapon was introduced."
"Very well, I will not ask further and I will judge for myself upon our arrival then," Kain said and he dropped his hand from my chin. "Keep that knowledge to yourself for now, my Little One."
"Thank you," I murmured softly.
He nodded his head and the conversation then drifted to more philosophical matters as Janos wandered over to join us. That conversation was truly really fun, especially when I asked them 'Who really wrote Beethoven's Fifth symphony?' and promptly introduced them to what my college courses had labeled as 'The bootstrap theory'. I grabbed up a goblet as a serving girl passed us and sipped at the heady blood wine that was being handed out for the vampires in the crowd and I explained the theory to them. I paused to take in the scent of the wine after a few measured swallows, trying to figure out what type of alcohol had been mixed in with the blood and herb mixture. I frowned and had to fight a blush as in taking in that scent, I also noticed the stronger scents of more than one amorous couple. Individuals that had ducked into the darkened corners of the room to... I turned to focus on my Adopted Sire as he spoke and ignored Kain's mental brush of amusement as he plucked up a replacement goblet for himself.
"Yet... the music had to have been written by someone in the first place," Janos said with a frown and he sipped at his own goblet thoughtfully. "There had to be an original Beethoven."
"Then you're looking at an infinite number of alternate, branching timelines as our hypothetical time traveler goes back, and then goes back... and then goes back yet again," I said with a small smile.
"It could be more of a circular route," Vorador hummed softly. "Like leaving a note for yourself in perpetuity, a small loop in time."
"But that doesn't explain where the music came from," Emrys pipped up from next to his brother, Leon, who had started nodding his head in agreement with his red-headed brother. Stefon had long ago abandoned the current conversation for far safer waters, which involved wooing one of the serving maids whilst leaning against a stone column in a fetching manner. "A circle simply is. Where did the note, the music I mean, come from in that case?"
"Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey... stuff," I said with a soft snicker of breath that caused the others to raise a brow at me. I waved a hand and chuckled. "Ah... it's just... the concepts of Logic and Time Travel really don't seem to get along well, do they? I wonder; is it any surprise that Moebius was mad as a hatter? Would any Time Guardian be just as insane even without the corruption that was the result of Ariel's death?"
Kain let out a laugh at my words and he shook his head. He gave a small tug to my arm to pull me away from the group around us and back toward our thrones.
"Enough philosophy regarding time travelers," he said with a chuckle. "While it is amusing to think of Moebius as doomed to madness regardless of his previous betrayals, I have more immediate concerns in mind."
Vorador let out a bark of laughter at that and he turned to continue the discussion with the other three that remained next to him. I let out a meep of sound when Kain sat down upon his throne and pulled me onto his lap for a crushing kiss. I moaned into the kiss and returned it for several long minutes. I pulled back with a heavy gasp for air as I remembered where we were. I blinked rapidly and shook my head at the light-headed sensation that ran through me. The blood wine I had consumed had been... rather a bit stronger than what I was used to. Kain pulled me flush against him and nipped along my neck sensually and I shuddered. I then grumbled and hissed faintly as I glanced around the room with a blush.
"Kain... blast it all... the crowd..." I let out a soft grunt of noise when his tongue lapped over his Mark upon my neck and then hissed at him again as I tried to squirm free. My voice lowered to a bare whisper of noise and I spoke with a hint of fond exasperation in my voice. "Horny bastard. Not here!"
"Oh?" he murmured against my neck in a lust filled purr and he rocked up against me. "You do not want to 'anoint' me upon my new throne, mine Little Queen?"
I squirmed in his grasp and managed to latch a fang through his ear in a more than nipping bite and let out a soft snarl of noise. He let out a low growl of warning at the bite and grabbed a handful of my hair firmly in his hand.
~Either get us to our room, you horny bastard, or let me go!~ I managed to Whisper tightly to his mind. ~I'll not do a thing with a crowd around us!~
He let out a low, thrumming laugh at my shy unease and a moment later teleportation magics coiled around us as he transported us to our room. Wild, yet pleased, snarls escaped us both as we each vied for control over the other.
Sleep was overrated anyway...

Thank you again everyone
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