"Judas Ceaser," Those two words cause me to snap and by the time her opal eyes finish blinking I've pinned her to the floor, my crossbow is jammed across her temple as red dances on the corners of my vision. It takes more willpower than I wanted to get my emotions under control. Any sympathy or even semi-positive thoughts about her gone in milliseconds.
"How do you know that name?!" I hiss, jamming the crossbow deeper into her temple before even letting her speak.
Even with her death a twitch away, she smirks. She has me wrapped around her pretty fucking finger, and she knows it.
"I have my sources, it's very hard to just wipe away a bloodline, let alone completely shove it under the rug." She answers my question matter of factly. I answer her cold logic with a snarl more beast than human.
"I've sacrificed too much, too many to get caught before it even began. I WILL finish my mission, even if it means jamming an arrow through your head. What's one more act of treason at this point?" I whisper, almost choking on the sins I committed. All of my rage, sorrow, and pain punctuated every word.
Her eyes soften upon witnessing this, while my gaze hardens, my finger slightly pulling the trigger, just enough to not jam an arrow into her fucking royal face.
"I have an offer, a business proposition if you must." Even with her words perfectly pronounced and a poker face that can rival most politicians, I see the fear swirling in her eyes and the sweat pooling on her brow.
I'm winning.
"I'm listening," I reply, my shaking hand still ever so slightly on the trigger.
"Your identity will be disclosed to no one, but you have to let me help you." Desperation and hope fill her features.
"Help me? With what exactly?" I scoff but lessen pressure on the trigger.
"I know what your bloodline's job was, Judas. This isn't a monarchy anymore, it's a dictatorship. I want no more than you to see this society burn." The pure venom in her voice told me she meant every word of it.
"And?"
"I don't want to live my life away as a royal whore" She spits out.
"So you'll rather be mine?" I retort. A blush is my only response.
"Fine. Only if you give yourself to me. Your body, your heart, your blood, your soul." I continue.
She hesitantly nods.
I get off her, holstering my handbow before taking out Ardor, cutting a deep slash onto my palm, before offering the bloodsoaked blade to her.
"Prove your devotion, Jacqueline, let your blood become mine and my blood yours," I tell her, starting the chant of the outlawed blood pact. She shakily gets to one knee, grabbing Ardor and surprising me once more.
"I, Jacqueline Beluria offer this blood pact in order to forfeit my body, blood, and soul to my new master, Judas Ceaser" She whispers to the gods above, an improbable stroke of thunder across the clear night answering her offering as she digs the dagger into her arm, cutting deep into the muscle. She offers her bleeding palm to her as we simultaneously bite our tongues hard enough to draw blood.
I grasp her bleeding hand with my own, our blood seeping into one another.
"I, Judas Ceaser accept your body, blood, and soul Jacqueline Beluria, as I now pronounce you my property." I finish the chant, another strike of thunder accepting the pact as I pull her body towards me, my mouth engulfing hers as our bleeding tongues unite. A blinding red light engulfs us. By the time we have our vision back, a crimson chain slithers from my now healed palm, reaching to the crimson collar now around Jacqueline's neck, connecting to it and officially announcing the bloodpact. With a snap of my fingers, I dismiss the chain and study my new slave's features. Jacqueline's heavy pants fill the silence between us, she knows what she's done.
"You're dismissed, go back inside the carriage and come find me at the earliest notice. You know how to find me." Unable to resist my command, her opal eyes gain a brief twinge of red as she obeys, leaving me alone.
I fall to the floor, the sheer implications of my impulsivity finally catching up to me.
"What the fuck did I just do?" I murmr.