Rune and Ruin

10 - Blood Oath

391 B.C.E. - City of Caere, Coast of the Tasurian Peninsula, Spring, Month of Maius

Falx

Jealousy is a wicked whip, made worse by the rumors of how sweetly his female laughed with that silver-tongued cunt, his childhood best friend and cousin. Tems, that fucking ass.

"You can't kill Tems," Quintus mutters as my clawed hand tightens on the lord's throat.

"I can," I say mildly. "I can rip his body into pieces and toss them into the sea. The leviathans will make a meal of him." Tems smirks, despite the lack of air getting to his lungs. He hasn't shifted yet, either. The fool thinks he's immune to a grisly death at my hands, too. "They're saying he was holding her hand for hours," I tell Quintus.

"And you've been balls-deep in her innumerable times, held her all night, and given her a hatchling," Quintus points out.

"Leda changes nothing," I snap at him as I toss Tems away from me. My childhood best friend hits the wall and rolls smoothly to crouch defensively. "Thania is mine. Was always mine. My bound. Sworn to me."

"Leda changes everything, Falx," Tems rumbles in a choked voice, rasping for air. "She was born a full-blooded Tasuri hatchling. Thania gave you a miracle."

"She doesn't understand how rare it is," Quintus adds.

"We are sworn brothers," Tems rasps. "Any bond between you will be felt by us, too. She is tempting us every day."

Fuck. Quintus is one problem, but if Tems insists on falling ass-over-horns for Thania, then I am fucked. I can't handle the rage of my demon. I'll Change.

"I haven't touched a female in years," Quintus reminds me quietly. "Every other female seems filthy to me."

"Thania is afraid of you," I mock him, wanting him to hurt as deeply as I do.

His face darkens. "She's afraid of you, too. We're sworn, Falx. She can grow used to us." He takes a step toward me. I smile, showing him my razor-sharp teeth as they slide forward in my maw.

"Thania and Leda are considered slaves in Rune," Tems points out. Instantly, my berserker rage turns its attention to my childhood best friend.

He raises his hands, "I'm simply pointing out the truth, Falx. Any Acera female we bond with will be a slave by Senate law."

Quintus fades into the shadows, keeping himself clear of this conversation. I can feel his demon watching, waiting, wondering if I will tell Tems the entire truth of our ambitions.

My friend's eyes narrow in suspicion. Lord Tems of Rune is not an idiot. "You know it's true, Falx, so what is the plan? We only have one general who's going for a priestess," Tems says.

"Where is my female?" I ask, instead of ranting about the multitude of vicious threats I want to spew.

"In the temple, with the Arthe acolytes," Tems replies.

"We need the other generals to see those females," I murmur.

"And expect them to tie themselves, in front of the gods no less, to an Acera female that they can't honor as their bound?" Tems asks quietly.

My hands curl into fists, claws clicking at the ends of my fingertips. I stare out at the dark expanse of the sea blankly, my mind racing, thinking, plotting. I wasn't meant to plan and plot. I was created for war.

"In Rune," Tems continues, "an Acera female who is bound to a Tasuri lord is, at best, hidden away in the harem. A stain on the House, on their honor. At worst," his eyes flicker madly, "that female will be killed, slaughtered to keep her from tainting the bloodlines. Even the treasured females die too soon. How will you protect your family from that fate without solidifying the bond between us?"