Hell's Consort

Cederic rang for servants in his chamber for Luna's preparation for the blood Moon Banquet.

He lets 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 create havoc.

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

They to dust 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 also covered the imperfections and the fresh tiny bruises in her face and body from the fight with the 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 she would scream if she another impersonal hand touch 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, interrogated and tortured by his soldiers for their motives.

"I'll take over for now," Cederic ordered the servants as he came in and 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 breathed 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 drew a comb and gently brushed it through her silver hair until it gleamed beneath the lamplight.

She closed her eyes and give herself to the long gliding strokes of the brush, to embrace the way it made her feel as if every inch of her muscles relax into slumber.

It feels weird for a military general to offer, but she can't refuse him when he's fascinated by the colour of her hair.

Honestly, this was better than the tongue-lashing he originally planned in the beginning.

Luna didn't want to be punished.

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

She also decided to quench her curiosity while he's 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 sarcasm touch. "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 do a successful ritual to get rid of the curse."

"I came in this Kingdom not knowing that I'll 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 could 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, and I wanted 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 would teach you the basics of black magic, and he's an ancient and grumpy warlock, by the way, you wish you'd die 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 could open them since Lilith disappeared. I'm excited to see what you have to offer to make the rituals work if you have successfully opened 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 managed to be the High Priestess, that is."

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

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

Luna gave her a guarded look and decided to tell Cederic. "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'll heal fast 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 vampire female. 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 already 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 doesn't exist, Cederic. We are no different from you. We kill people who stumbled across our territory, too, so that no one would 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 you prisoner anymore, Cederic. I'm not obliged to answer such ridiculous questions."

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

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

The only thing that kept it from being completely indecent was the sheer material draped in multiple layers over all her delicate areas.

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 want to be High Priestess despite the risk?"

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

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 sounds 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 on the Blood Moon Banquet has come.