Forbidden |18+

XXXI: Bloodlines

XXXI: Bloodlines

"O-Odette," my voice catches in my throat, my heart skipping several beats. As I take a step back, Odette raises her hands, shaking her head as she then draws a finger and places it against her lips.

Odette closes her eyes, and I know she must be listening, for when she opens them, she walks toward me and motions to my bathroom. I say nothing, though the uncertainty I hold is quite clear as she shuts the bathroom door behind the two of us. Our hearing might be impeccable, though there are certain sounds that can distort, especially from a distance.

Reaching her arm inside the shower, she turns the water on, before she steps back and looks at me. With a slight nod of her head, she breathes out slowly, "I am certainly relieved to see that you are well and alive."

"Morðingi..." my voice is barely above a whisper, the sound of the water pelting off the tiles in the shower caused a shiver to run down my spine.

Odette glances away for a moment, admitting, "I can't really say that I'm sorry I lied about that," when she brings her gaze back to me, she smiles briefly, "however, for what it's worth, I'm pleased with the circumstances that have brought us to this moment."

Furrowing my brows in utter confusion, I question, "What do you mean?"

Odette lifts an arm and motions with her hand to the floor. Slowly, the two of us sit on the large bathmat across from one another. Odette brings a closed fist to her lips and clears her throat. When she lowers her hand, she explains, "Yes, I am a Morðingi, which made it extremely easy for me to play off as a Wanderer, a Nomad, however, me being here with the Blóð family coven, was not by mere happenstance."

I knew it...

...ever since it became known to me that Odette is an assassin for the royal bloodline, I really could not grasp my head around why Odette is here. Not until now, I just hope that she really will be entirely open and honest with me.

"Odette..." my voice trails off, watching as her features shift slightly, "...you are supposed to carry out and uphold the Covenant-Pack Treaty, and see through that all punishments dealt out by the King and Queen are seen through." After I pause once more, it's only to stare at her with affirmation as I finally ask the one questioning that's burning deep inside of me.

"Why did you give me a Blood Oath?" I shake my head as I still can't figure it out. I lift my hands and motion, "Why did you go against everything that you are by blood to the royal Hárauður bloodline? If anything, you are the last person that should have ever broken the first layer of my punishment and spoken to me under þögn."

Odette keeps very calm, her features hardly shifting at anything I'm reiterating. In fact, she tilts her head to the side and tells me, "There is a lot that you don't know, Wren. I might be an assassin for the royal bloodline, however, my purpose and bloodline itself date back further than the current reigning rulers...King Seskel and Queen Arabella Hárauður. You see..."

Odette thinks about it hard for a moment, almost as if she's trying to make sure I understand everything the first time around. She goes on to explain, "I am not just a decedent of the Morðingi bloodline, I am the Morðingi bloodline."

"What?" I furrow my brows in confusion, the air suddenly feeling very thick as silence settles between us briefly...all but for the water continuing to drown out the background.

"King Vladimir Hárauður was my dearest friend. It was almost inevitable, that I would be the very first he swayed to make the same deal that he did with the Devil," Odette tells me this and my heart drops to the pit of my stomach. My breathing becomes uneven as she continues to explain, "The Devil believed that the King should have the most elite of bodyguards, thus...how my bloodline trait came to be."