A Life In Blood (Chronicles of The Order Book 1) Read online

  Strangely, when we got to Corvi’s door, Lev told me to wait. She knocked once, then slipped inside surreptitiously, as if trying to stop me from seeing something. Another strange thing was Corvi’s mental state. As I used our psychic link to see if everything was okay, I felt her state of mind, and she was...well, hard to read. Her thoughts and emotions were all over the place, a tangled knot of confused feelings that, as far as I could tell, she hadn’t gone through before.

  She was nervous. Very much so, which was unusual. But there was also a sense of...it seemed like a sense of excitement, but I couldn’t be sure.

  Finally the door was opened to me again, and Lev beckoned me in.

  I stopped short at the scene before me. Aside from a small table lamp in the far left corner, the main source of light was from a multitude of red candles, spaced across Corvi’s dresser and chest of drawers. Her bed had been pushed as far to the left as space would allow, and in its place a square black cloth had been laid on the floor. Two more red candles stood in pewter candle holders either side of the cloth, and a pewter chalice sat in the middle of it.

  The whole scene was stunning in its beauty and serenity, but then a sound to my left caused me to turn...and my breath caught in my throat.

  Corvina stood before me, wearing a beautiful dress of ivory silk, with small details picked out in gold thread. Her hair was loose and slightly curled, and her raven hair-clip was back in its role as a brooch, sitting above her left breast. Her dress seemed to shimmer in the flickering light of the candles, and Corvi’s shy smile almost stopped my heart.

  “Corvi, you...just...wow,” was all I could manage, and Lev nodded sagely.

  “That’s what I said, just with less swearing.”

  Corvi cleared her throat, and I could still sense her emotional turmoil, coupled with her joy at having me back safely.

  “I know this is confusing for you, my love, and I am sorry for springing it on you so suddenly, but...apparently, there are rules to follow with these sorts of things, and it was important that I get this right. For you.”

  She gestured to the cloth spread out on the floor, and I walked to it and kneeled down, taking my sword from my belt. Before I had chance to set it down, Lev appeared at my side, hands outstretched expectantly, and I passed it to her. She set it down on the bed, then moved over to Corvi’s chest of drawers, as Corvi kneeled down opposite me.

  Lev came back with a small pewter jug, and poured a small amount of water into the chalice, and something suddenly hit me.

  Lev was fulfilling the role of a Vithen sha’hassa, a term which combined the concepts of witness and second, but meant far more than either term alone. It was a position of great honour, and there were only a handful of rituals that used one.

  Even fewer were appropriate to the context of that particular setting.

  My mouth went dry as I realised what might be happening, but I kept quiet. If it was what I suspected, then to talk out of turn would be both disrespectful and insulting.

  “Deimos Black,” Corvi began, her soft voice trembling slightly, “for some time now, your love and your blood have sustained me. We have stood together through many trials, and we have shared much together - our minds, our thoughts, our blood and our bodies.

  “But now I would ask to share one other thing - our lives. With you I am complete, and with you I find my peace. I ask this of you, and you alone, and I ask it only once - Deimos Black, will you stand beside me, for the rest of your days, no longer as lover or subordinate, but as my equal, my rock, my guide...my husband?”

  I could hardly breathe. The first serious, truly devoted relationship I’d had, possibly in my entire life, and she was asking me to marry her.

  By the rules of the ritual, the question could only be asked twice in total, once by each party. Refusal had to be done with due grief, and there was a lengthy wait before the other party could ask - something like fifty-three years, I believe, although why that specific number I hadn’t been able to find out.

  Not that I intended to invoke that part of the ritual.

  I cleared my throat a couple of times, and even then it was only when Lev handed me a small glass of the water from the jug that I was able to reply.

  That water, I knew, was ritually consecrated specifically for this purpose, and the consecration lasted for seven days. Which meant that she had been thinking of this for at least that long.

  “Corvina Delacore,” I said with appropriate formality, recalling the proper answer for the proposal. “In this, as in so many other things, we are of one mind. With you I am complete, and with you I find my purpose. I swear to you, and you alone, and I swear it only once - Corvina Delacore, I shall stand beside you for the rest of my days, and you shall be my equal, my shelter, my queen...my wife.”

  Neither of us could suppress the smile that that single word caused, and I think I saw tears in her eyes at that.

  Corvina gestured to Lev, who had taken a knife from a small box on the chest of drawers, and this was one part of the ritual that Corvi must have been dreading - I knew that the blade was silver, the pain it would cause a vampire symbolic of the pain she would inevitably suffer upon my death, and to remind her of the vow she must take. Upon the short blade was inscribed the words Ifallien ten’ath, surossa tien benahn - ‘by pain’s decree, all oaths are set.’

  Lev kneeled to the side of us, and Corvi kept her eyes focussed on mine as she extended her arm. Lev made the ritual cut across Corvi’s arm, a slow carve across her forearm which must have been agony. I did for her what she had once done for me, using our link to help dull the pain, but even that couldn’t stop her whimpering slightly.

  Finally, the drawn-out wounding was completed, and Corvi held the cut over the chalice, several drops of her blood falling to mingle with the water before her regenerative ability began to heal the wound.

  I held my arm out in the same fashion, waiting while Lev performed the same cut on me. It was, as I expected, excruciating, but it was a small price to pay for what it bought.

  As soon as the cut was finished, I copied Corvi by holding the wound over the chalice, allowing my blood to mix with hers in the water. That part over, Corvi, as the one who proposed, took hold of the chalice first.

  “Ifal’khiyadh akash suronn, dethae fe’lan nerad,” she intoned, and drank from the chalice.

  As Corvi had told me herself, she never learned vampiric, and her awkwardness and mispronunciation of those few words showed that she had learned them only recently. There were some words one could say in English, but like most translations from vampiric they lacked the same impact and meaning. That phrase roughly meant ‘by blood we are sworn, only by death denied.’ However, like so much in that bizarre language, there was a certain...potency, which just didn’t come across when translated.

  Corvi passed the chalice to me, and I repeated the same words, and as was expected of me I finished all of the mixture that was left. Although diluted by the small amount of water, I could still taste the coppery tang of the blood, the delicate hint of spice that seemed to permeate everything about Corvi.

  I placed the chalice back on the cloth, shuddering as once again I felt the surge of ancient memories and feelings, albeit to a much lesser extent than the first time.

  “Ifal’khiyadh tual baethann,” Levaertes announced with due solemnity, “leanos nera duoniae.”

  ‘By blood you are betrothed, let none deny your union.’

  With the necessary ritual complete and the words spoken, a more familiar custom was performed - the placing of a ring on the finger of the proposed. Lev replaced the knife in its case and passed a small black box to Corvi, who took the ring from it and set the box aside. She took my right hand in her left, her fingers trembl
ing slightly, and slid the band over my ring finger. How she’d known the exact size to get, I don’t know, but that thought never occurred to me when I saw the ring itself. It was a simple black band, made with the same techniques as my sword, but in the centre was a small ruby. Either side of the gem, inlaid in gold, were the vampiric glyphs for ‘Black’ and ‘Raven’, a visual reminder that we were soon to be one and the same.

  After placing the ring, she pulled me close and kissed me longingly, and I could feel the tears trickle down her face as she wept with joy.

  She’d never been married before, to anyone, let alone to a mortal, and yet that was now going to change.

  However, despite the happiness of the occasion, one thing worried me - Irenae. With Corvina set to take my name, Irenae would be the last surviving Delacore, something I knew would not sit well with her. Given her already-significant hatred for me, I was mildly afraid at what she would do.

  My best guess would not even come close.

  CHAPTER 12

  By love wrought, by pain decreed

  The three of us spent some time together, sharing one of Corvi’s oldest bottles of some form of lighter fluid and talking about a variety of things. Corvi couldn’t stop grinning, especially when she looked at me. Neither could I, quite frankly, although I also spent a lot of time blushing uncontrollably.

  “I hope you realise, D,” Lev said to me, from her position on the floor, “that ritual does have an attached time limit.”

  I nodded, shifting on the chaise-longe to get more comfortable. For once, Corvi was sat on the left side of the seat, with her legs outstretched along it. I was laid next to her, my head resting against her chest while she idly toyed with my hair.

  “Yeah, I remember,” I answered, smiling again. “The wedding has to happen within forty-two days - something about the symbolism of the blood, or something like that.”

  Lev crossed her legs, resting her back against the bed, and smirked at us both.

  “Something tells me, however, your dearest isn’t content to wait that long.”

  Corvi giggled softly, and I could feel her silky hair shifting as she shook her head.

  “Not a chance,” she answered, and I could almost hear her smile. “It’s taken me a thousand years to find a man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and I don’t intend to wait any longer.” She sipped her drink for a moment, and the enjoyment I sensed coming down our link suggested she was stalling purely for the drama.

  “I’ve already made arrangements,” she finished, then kissed the top of my head. “I do hope you aren’t busy next week, my love.”

  I probably should’ve been more shocked than I was. I think at that point, I had already made up my mind that Corvi was the woman I wanted to be with for the rest of my life.

  What did happen, however, was that I suddenly found it very hard to breathe.

  “I-...I’m sure I can arrange something, Sythan’en,” I told her, my cheeks heating severely.

  Lev just nodded, but I could tell she was concerned.

  “And will your sister be attending?”

  The question was asked without inflection, with Lev trying to remain a neutral party, but her actions in the corridor showed that she was adamant in making sure I had a pleasant, worry-free wedding. Her role as Corvi’s Vithen sha’hassa implied she was becoming equally concerned about Corvi’s well-being, too.

  My fiancé sighed, and I could feel her happiness sour slightly at the mention of Irenae.

  “No, she won’t,” Corvi said after a moment. “It is painfully clear that she is intent on harming Deimos, possibly to a fatal degree. She either doesn’t care about how I feel, or doesn’t believe it. Either way, her presence will make the day less than pleasant, for all involved. I’ve organised some work for her out of town, for the duration.”

  “So who are you going to choose as your Vithenai?”

  The Vithenai was essentially the next step up from the role Lev had already played, being...well, the nearest approximation would be a Maid of Honour, but again, it encompassed more than that in terms of meaning - partly because it covered the male duty too.

  I jut didn’t get why Lev was asking that question.

  “Exactly how much do you know about this ritual, Lev?” I asked her, frowning in thought.

  “Not a lot,” she said with a shrug. “I read up enough to know what I was doing, but I got bored after that.”

  I chuckled at that. It was just like her to lose interest right at the important part.

  “The betrothal and the marriage are linked rituals, Lev. That’s why there’s the time limit, and why those involved in one are always involved with the other.”

  Lev blinked at me for a few moments.

  “Oh,” was about all she managed. I think she was slightly overwhelmed when she realised the honour that had been given to her.

  She asked about who I’d choose as mine, and I thought for a while about that. Sadly, I didn’t really know anyone at the base well enough to ask them to stand beside me at my wedding, since I was pulled from my Omega Company unit pretty early on. Eventually, however, I settled on Kalin, since I knew he was a man I could trust, and he had previously stated his respect for my dedication to Corvi.

  The conversation continued, and music was brought up. We talked about likes and dislikes for a while - Lev actually liked a broad variety of modern genres, including rap, R&B, rock, pop, metal...pretty much anything, it seemed. If it sounded good, she listened. After that, she made a surprising confession.

  “I was actually in a band, you know,” she told us proudly. “We even had a few songs out, released an album.”

  I raised my eyebrows at her. I honestly couldn’t believe that.

  “Seriously? What style?”

  “Rock-pop, sort of thing.” She sipped her drink for a moment. “You must have heard of us. Snow White’s Underdogs?”

  I shook my head.

  “Son of a bitch. So you haven’t heard Cinderella Was A Fraud? Sorry Daddy, I Married A Lawyer? I Was Burned At The Stake (But I’m Alright Now)?”

  I suppressed my laughter, because she seemed genuinely proud of the song titles, but they did make me want laugh like an idiot. Instead I shook my head again, and she swore viciously.

  “Fucker! I was sure you would’ve heard those!”

  Corvi, in her wisdom, decided to change the subject.

  “Did you know my sister could sing?” Lev looked at her in confusion. I tried to, but couldn’t with breaking my neck. “My younger sister, I mean. Serina. We used to call her The Siren, because her singing voice was hauntingly beautiful.”

  Both Lev and I knew that this was a rare moment, for Corvi to talk about her two deceased sisters. Out of respect, we kept quiet and let her talk.

  “At family events, it would be a sort of party piece for her to sing, while I played the harp. This must have been when I was...oh, about twelve or thirteen, I think. Serina would have been about ten, and she had the loveliest singing voice. She could have been famous for it, one day, I’m sure.”

  There was a moment of silence, until Lev spoke up again.

  “What about your other sister? Did she have any talents?”

  Corvi nodded.

  “Yes, Rissa was a poet. She would always write little poems for members of the family on their birthdays, or to celebrate some significant event. When Irri was engaged, we had a plan - that Rissa would write a song for the wedding, which I would compose the music for, and then we would perform it at the wedding with Serina singing it. As you might guess, that...didn’t happen.”

  We spent a moment in silence after that - I think for Lev and I, we were showing respect for C
orvi’s loss.

  “To the Delacores,” I said, raising my glass, and I could sense how much the toast meant to her.

  Lev echoed the toast, and as we all drank I could feel Corvi’s mood return. As she set her glass down, she actually seemed slightly happier than before.

  “Anyway, Lev dear, it’s a tad late and I have to drag my fiancé to bed,” Corvi announced, and I sat up to allow her to move.

  “What, you mean I can’t join you?” Lev asked, adopting a look of mock pain.

  “No you can’t, you pervert. Deimos is mine, and I don’t share.”

  “Typical,” Lev grumbled, pushing herself to her feet. “I do all the hard work, and I don’t get any of the fun stuff.” She laughed at the end, and gave Corvi a hug.

  “Have a nice night, you two. And congratulations, you both totally deserve this.”

  “Thanks Lev,” I told her, as she gave me a hug as well. Suddenly she slapped my arm, an action which I’m sure nearly earned her a slap in return.

  “Hey, I completely forgot to tell you, the estates team have green-lit your little project in Upper Heyford, they want you to go up there for a couple of days and help get it underway.”

  “Excellent, tell them I’ll be up tomorrow.” I thought for a moment, and then added; “But explain to them that I’m getting married next week, and they can just get along without me for the duration.”

  “Of course. And if I drop your future wife’s name, they won’t even bitch - within earshot, anyway.”

  Corvi was too busy giggling again to acknowledge the statement, so I told Lev it was a sound plan and bid her farewell.

  I spent the next few days in Upper Heyford, helping to prepare my own little base of operations. I was interested in getting the landing strip and ATC tower back up and running, making my base into a potential landing site for VIPs and the like, but the Estates team were more interested in getting basic living arrangements sorted for myself and any staff I chose to employ. As I mentioned before, Sentinels were essentially left to their own devices once they’d been set up in a base of their own, apart from the occasional missions we were sent on by our superiors. To that end we were allowed to hire our own staff for whatever purposes they were required - I knew Kalin actually ran a nightclub as his base, so he’d needed staff to serve drinks, door staff and all the other usual staff that go with a fully-functional nightclub. My staff was mostly going to be armed security personnel, it seemed, along with maybe an aide or PA.