Chapter 12 - High Priestess (edited)

Cederic rang for servants to come into his chamber to help with Luna's preparation for the Blood Moon Banquet.

He let himself out for a while to give her some privacy.

He was urgently called by his second-in-command to personally meet the guests for the celebration and take the dangers out early before these uninvited rogue vampires, hunters, and other supernatural creatures created havoc.

The servants had unpacked their rattling collection of vials, pots, and bottles.

They dusted her cheekbones with genuine gold, shaped the pronounced Cupid's bow at the top of her upper lip, and drew kohl around her large eyes.

Luna hoped that the make-up would also cover up the imperfections and the fresh bruises on her face and body from the fight with the were-leopard.

They poured lavender and jasmine scents all over her body.

She would do well to remember that they were doing this to make her more desirable to the vampires' pleasure.

Her nerves were strung so tight she feared that she would scream if another impersonal hand touched her body.

There was another knock on the door.

Great.

Cederic had come back from killing potential enemies' hearts with a wooden stake at the castle's gate.

Some might be in the dungeon right now to be interrogated and tortured by his soldiers for their motives.

"I'll take over now," Cederic ordered the servants as he came in. He clapped loudly as if willing them to hurry up.

The servants murmured as they wrapped up with the finishing touches and hastily got out of Cederic's bed chambers.

The door clicked and Cederic ushered her to sit back down.

"I'll comb your hair, Lady Luna."

"Wait—"

"It is my utmost pleasure." He drew in a breath at the crown of her head as if he was sniffing her hair.

Luna could see his grey eyes gleaming as their gazes met in the mirror.

She had no choice but to lean back on her chair and pray that he wouldn't set her hair on fire.

Luna had lost count of the strokes as Cederic gently drew a comb through her silver hair until it gleamed beneath the lamplight.

She closed her eyes and gave her attention to the long gliding strokes of the brush, to embrace the way it made her feel as every inch of her muscles relaxed into slumber.

It felt weird for a military general to offer  to comb her hair, but she couldn't refuse him when he was so fascinated by the colour of her hair.

Honestly, this was better than enduring the tongue-lashing he originally told Vali he'd give her.

Luna didn't want to be punished.

It was better to indulge him while he was not overstepping the boundaries.

She, also, decided to quench her curiosity while he was in this kind of mood.

"I want to be a High Priestess, Cederic."

"Seriously, wench. Do you have a death wish?" The words were spoken with great caution and more than a touch of sarcasm. "Becoming a High Priestess is like a delayed Death sentence. You have to break the Vampire King's curse in a year, or you die. A High Priestess is trained to perform black magic and if she does not fulfil the conditions..."

Cederic was silent for a long time before continuing, "Dark Priestesses are extremely dangerous and could easily be corrupted by dark creatures, especially demons. They are killed if they can't perform a successful ritual to get rid of the curse."

"I came into this Kingdom not knowing that I'd be kidnapped to be part of a Harem for perverted Vampires." Luna shrugged. "I'm a risk-taker. I'll face this challenge head-on. If I die, I die. There's nothing I can do about it."

"Do you think it'll be that easy? Are you out of your damn mind?" Cederic tugged the glass stopper from a costly vial of myrrh and dabbed the musky scent behind her ears and in the hollow of her throat. "There has been no High Priestesses in this Kingdom for millennia because it is impossible."

Gritting her teeth in irritation, she sank her nails into the armchair. "I only have one wish. And that is to get out of this godforsaken place. I want it granted by the King by any means possible. Being a harem girl in this Kingdom is not my end-game. Not in this lifetime, Cederic."

Cederic's lips curved upward. "Look at you, preparing to break the Vampire King's curse to have your wish granted when you haven't even taken the tests yet.First, you have to touch the Staff of Delphi and get its approval, open the Ancient Witchcraft Ritual Book of Hecate with your blood and help the Vampire King control his urges with your spells."

"A High Priest will teach you the basics of black magic. He's an ancient and grumpy warlock, by the way, and you'll wish you'd died on the spot the moment you meet him."

Cedric smirked. "And the Advanced ones? You'll practice them alone. I don't even know what's written in the Book of Hecate because no one has been able to open them since Lilith disappeared. I'm excited to see what you have to offer to make the rituals work if you can successfully open the book. The sacrifices you'd make... Would it be a noble-born Vampire's beating heart? A wicked faerie's wretched soul? A human child? I'm looking forward to it if you can manage to become the High Priestess, that is."

"You might try to dishearten me, but I'm still not afraid," Luna said. "I've decided to go through with it at the Blood Moon Ceremony."

"Do you not value your life?" he asked angrily. "How old are you?"

Luna gave him a guarded look and decided to tell Cederic the truth. "I've been alive in a place where time does not exist. "

"You are an immortal?" Cederic's nose wrinkled in confusion. "But you bleed."

"But I heal faster than a normal human," she countered.

"You are good at fighting," Cederic murmured, his hand absentmindedly caressing her bare neck and shoulders.

He jerked his hand back when he became aware of what he was doing. "Are you a demi-god then?"

Luna shook her head.

"You are taller than a female vampire. You beat the wereleopard with your own hands. Stronger. Beautiful. But you look and feel human. " Cederic observed, surveying her suspiciously.

His eyes widened when he had finally put two and two together. "Are you an Amazon?"

Luna's smile spread to her eyes, lighting up their depths for the first time.

Cederic paused, dazzled by the promise of beauty that sparkled in her shadowed eyes. "I thought Amazons did not exist. Nobody has seen one yet."

"People assume that Amazons don't exist, Cederic. We are no different from you. We kill people who stumbled across our territory so that no one will live to tell anyone about it."

Cederic's mouth opened in an enraged circle as if he had been deceived, or worse, betrayed. "Then what are you doing in our land? Are you a spy? An assassin? Why are you here? What is your motive?"

"I am not your prisoner anymore, Cederic. I'm not obligated to answer such ridiculous questions."

Luna stood up regally from her chair as if she had been a practiced Consort for a long time and faced Cederic, the emerald green and peacock blue of what was considered to be her skirts rippling around her ankles.

The gossamer silk of the skirts Cederic told her to wear for the occasion was so fine it might have been woven from silkworms and spiderwebs.

The sheer fabric wrapped in numerous layers over all of her delicate parts was the only thing that saved it from being obscene.

They stood face to face in companionable quiet for a few minutes, listening to the echoes of high spirits that drifted up from the hall below.

Cederic asked quietly. "Do you really want to be High Priestess despite the risk?"

Biting her bottom lip between her teeth, her curiosity was piqued. "Yes."

"Then, I'll help you in any way I can." Cederic grinned from ear-to-ear like a Cheshire cat. "I swear it on my dead vampire mother's grave.

Luna's enthusiasm evaporated, her eyes narrowing in mistrust.

Vampires are cunning creatures of the night.

"So, what do I have to do in exchange for your help?"

"I'll collect your debt when the time comes."

Well, that sounded ominous.

Sensing a presence behind them, she turned to find Vali's shadow darkening the arched doorways.

The Head Eunuch inclined his gleaming head toward the corridor, indicating the Vampire King's summons to the Blood Moon Banquet had come.