𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥 𖥸 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝘼𝙣𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙡𝙨

06 | Bloodsworn

To say Kyran was nervous would be an understatement.

     She was terrified. Absolutely terrified.

     This was really happening.

     Her palms were sweaty and her eyes flickered up to stare at the time on the wall. Any minute she'd get called down by the Queen and take the blood oath. Any minute she would become a member of the Stetriol Court.

     What an honor. And it had been given to a girl who was nothing more than a wild animal waiting to attack, a mere child who would not hesitate to get down and dirty with the dogs if it meant surviving the harsh lifestyle she had endured since her birth.

     Time couldn't tick any slower.

     From on her lap, Sīdereus was a ball of scales as he flicked his tongue and reared up, seeming content as he occasionally wrapped around her arms. She knew the serpent felt anxious and she couldn't blame him. Not with everything that had happened in this last week. She herself was still in shock.

     He was going to be a part of the family as well apparently - at least that's what Pythios had said. The spymaster seemed to be attached to her spirit animal, despite the snake trying to strike him all the time. It was a defense, she knew. They both had been taught in the streets to never trust strangers, and this man had split them up before trying to earn the trust of a creature who earned the right to distrust. Trust was what had taken his fang.

     The only defense that a venomous snake had was its fangs. And someone had taken one of those fangs from him the day he decided not to allow himself to be pushed around anymore. That experience had traumatized him beyond what any of these people, these royals, could understand. Even Pythios could never feel the pain he had felt when his fang was ripped from his jaws. It was reasonable for him to lash out at any who dared to approach. He had the right to not trust anyone. He had sacrificed so much, almost everything, only to have the trust abused.

     Never again.

     But now, they were placing the very lives they had sworn to cherish into the hands of a royal, the hands of someone descended from a line of those who abused power and looked down upon innocent street kids fighting for their lives every single day.

     She knew the place of being one of the Queen's bloodsworn was dangerous, but for some reason, she was willing to do it. If Kyran was given free meals and a place to stay that wasn't a rustic cell, she was sold. And besides, it was clearly her destiny.

     The raven bound to the man who had called himself her cousin all those years ago had vanished after she made the decision. In this time, with her current state, she began to feel as though the bird was merely a trick of her mind, or an illusion cast by the boy's lynx spirit animal. She was doubting if it even existed, despite her seeing it clear as day. No one else ever saw the raven. Was she going crazy?

     What possible job would they offer her? They already had a second and third in command, a spymaster, and the assassin which was the job belonging to Luca, the youngest court member. She had met the boy when she was making her way to her own room. He had been kind enough to show her around.

     She still couldn't believe it, even as she sat in it now, it was all so unreal to her. She had never had a room. All there had been were the dangerous or unclaimed alleyways, broken mirrors, and blankets made from torn potato sacks that itched and smelled like decay.

     Her own room, a bed and everything. At first she thought they were joking, but the looks on their faces told her everything, and when she went to go see for the first time, she was once again shell-shocked.