Page 69 of When Night Falls
Rivian leads me off path a bit as we weave between a group of trees until we reach an opening. His hand is on the small of my back to guide me, the gesture provides comfort and security all while lighting my skin on fire.
The open space before us stretches out to what looks like miles before it backs up to the cliffs, giving me a new view to the beauty of Hollows Trace. That’s when I hear the gentle trickling of water running in the distance. Shadow Creek.
I look out to my left and see the stream running along the banks and between the mass of trees. I could easily fall asleep out here. The tranquility is unmatched.
"This is all yours?" I ask in amazement, feeling the full effect of how magical it looks when the moon shines in the cloudy, starlit sky.
"Soon, it will be allours." Rivian's words provide hope along with a foreign feeling of belonging. Yet, I know not to be too trusting of his word just yet, seeing as we are barely starting to get along and I have been lied to before.
"What happens when you all die? Is there an heir or another family to take over?" I opt to change the subject, not wanting to get too attached to the idea that he would be willing to share his kingdom with me.
"Ah, kids. This is where it gets tricky, little one. Vampires can only procreate with a human. But more specifically, only a male Nocturnes and female Outsider,” he explains as he steers us back to the path we were on and moves us toward the main castle again.
"Okay, so how does that work?"
"Well, you see when a man inserts himself-"
"No, no. Not like that." I hold my hands up at him, begging for him to stop. I may not be as experienced as he is, but I do not need a crash course on sex.
"I know. I was only kidding." He removes his hand from my back and I shiver at how cold it suddenly feels. "It works a little differently depending on who is involved. In our case, a Royal being involved, if we were to want children you would need to get pregnant during the blood bind. This would ensure the child will carry our true royal blood. Otherwise, they are of half royal blood.” I can see something desolate creep into his eyes as he talks to me, but he doesn’t let it fester before he continues. “But this means that the female isn’t allowed to transition until after birth. Then when the child turns eighteen, they have the option to turn.”
It takes me a minute to process everything he just said. So many new things to learn about this world filter through me daily. I can only hope I won’t need to know any of this soon.
“Can you tell me about the blood bind?” There are those two big scary words again; I've been waiting for the chance to finally ask him about what that means.
Rivian and I get back to the main part of the compound, the castle coming into view. I stop my steps and turn to look at him as I wait for his answer.
The wind breezes between us as thunder rolls in the sky. I wrap my arms around myself to fight the chill, but it doesn't help.
Rivian removes his suit jacket and tosses it gently over my shoulders. I look up at him, giving him a silentthank you,feeling something connect between us as we look at each other.
"There's two parts. One part takes place during the wedding ceremony. After the kiss and the final vows, both parties spill their blood into a chalice. For non-royal marriage, only the couple will drink from the chalice. For royal weddings, every member of the society will drink from it." Rivian speaks with conviction.
I look away for a minute, feeling the heat of what he just said saturate me with consternation. Just when I thought that maybe things would feel less out of pocket, disbelief floods me at the truth of what is to become of my wedding night.
"Does that scare you?" he asks with genuine concern lacing his tone.
"No." I shake my head, not knowing if I'm lying to myself or not. "Seems a little cultish but it doesn't scare me."
"The point of that is to create a bind of power and unity within the kingdom. With my royal blood diluted with your human blood, it provides enough strength to allow Nocturnes to keep their abilities controlled and strong, and it also curbs their hunger easier, so as not to accidentally feed too much on someone enough to kill them."
"Okay, so what's the second part?" I don't want to waste any time beating around the bush, something foreboding tells me the first part is the less scary of the two.
"The second part takes place during consummation," he says.
"You mean during sex?"
"Yes, Lucynda." The grin that curls on his lips makes me feel so many different things. Is it a nefarious grin? Is he happy he'll get to take my virginity? Or is he smiling at me because I said the wordsex?
"How does the blood bind line up with us consummating the marriage?" I pull his jacket tighter around my arms, hearing a bird caw in the background, the wind continues to dance around us.
"We are to feed from each other." His voice holds an ominous tone, blending in with the whispers of the wind.
"Wait, like . . . you drink from me and I-"
"Yes. You will need to consume my blood just the same."
Rivian looks down at me, his eyes fierce with the glow of the charming green that they are. But when he sees my reaction, my sudden labored breathing and the war thundering in my head—likely also reading my mind and sensing my heart rate—I can see the darkness take over his emerald-colored irises and my skin breaks like gooseflesh.