When Blood Runs Cold - Chapter 234

Upon learning that Ithuriel had the ability to not only sense, but equally manipulate emotions, I was first gobsmacked by the sheer unused potential of his magic. But then shortly after, an idea had come to me.

(A day ago)

“So you are telling me,” I say with a mild disbelief, chewing over the tip of my pen with an aggravated fervour. With only a day until the angels arrive, I have to prepare a speech compelling enough to move crowds, to sway the three thousand year war into peace and unite our people under the banner of amity. To put it lightly, I have my work cut out for me.

“You are saying that you can… influence peoples emotions?”

“And sense them too,” Ithuriel adds as he sits down on one of my couches, tapping his fingers together nervously as he glances warily around the room. Perhaps this place looks like a prison to him. Alas, my study certainly isn’t the most pretty of places by angel standards.

“Fascinating,” I murmur, scribbling down a few notes before glancing back to him. Swivelling myself round, I brace myself on the side of my chair. “Tell me, where have you used these powers before?”

Pursing his lips slightly, Ithuriel’s eyes become downcast, a lingering air of shame welling around his heart. A soft, blue shade streaks over the tips of his long, luscious locks as a potent melancholy begins to beat in the rhythm of his heart.

“I often used it for influencing Serena’s emotions when she was distressed or upset. I would try to calm her down, soothe her- especially before a big event or something like that. Sometimes I… I tried to deter her love for you, thinking that it would just end up hurting her, because I assumed you were dangerous, or would kill her. It was wrong of me, I know. I didn’t… I didn’t mean to do it maliciously or anything,” he adds quietly, bowing his head further. But beneath that dull expression of shame, there is something else that swims in the lines of his face: regret.

Puffing out a breath, I recline back on my seat. In recent days, if not hours, I have learnt that Ithuriel is not such a simple man as I had anticipated: not one that can be judged by wrong doing, or right. His motives are complex, and while he often embarks on something with the right idea and the intention to be protective for the sake of goodness, it often turns out differently. I think he is only just beginning to learn that about himself now. But I cannot hate him for it.

“I understand your intentions were to protect her. I have made many rash decisions throughout my life, some of them involving Serena herself. Many of which I thoroughly regret. But I trust you will let her decide her own fate from now on? Your powers are not ones that can be taken lightly- I trust you understand this now?”

Ithuriel’s silence is more than enough of an answer. Twisting at the waist, I make a couple more notes on parchment, deliberating over the information he has given me. Although I cannot deny my underlying anger at what he had attempted to do, at the lengths he had gone to try to jeopardise her love for me, it would be much more mature of me to simply leave those events to the past. After all, it would be hypocritical to boast of peace and new times with a chip still remaining on my shoulder.

“There is something that I want you to do for me, Ithuriel,” I ask lowly now, glancing swiftly towards the door to ensure it is tightly sealed. Not that it would matter really, I am mostly being over cautious- but it is always good to be assured that you have some notion of privacy when talking over delicate matters.

“Yes?”

“I want you to influence the emotions of the vampires and angels that arrive in my court tomorrow. I would like you to make them feel what I felt- and you too. The power of a mating bond. I shall direct you when the time is right, for introducing such a drastic measure straight away may alarm the masses. Do you think you can do that?”

Pursing his lips, Ithuriel glances back up at me.

“I have never tried using my powers on a mass of people like that, but I am sure I will manage. But… I need to think on this- it’s a huge breach of what I have been taught about my magic. Are you sure you want me to do this?” he queries, obviously apprehensive. Spinning my pen between my fingers, I gaze blindly at the words of my speech that are neatly printed onto the parchment.

“Absolutely.”

(Present time)

Emotions are a powerful thing: invoking the right ones can sway a crowd, and sharing one in particular might just change our world.

For the fear of doing permanent damage with his magic, and how uneasy it made him feel, Ithuriel had explained to me exactly why he strayed away from using such potent magic- its effects are untold. Especially when trying to trigger an emotion the subject has never felt before, there is simply no telling how their body will react with an influx of hormones that have never been exposed to before.

But after some careful consideration, and a few impassioned words from Kal, Ithuriel eventually came round to the idea he now expels before him: to show the people of Faey the feeling of a mating bond. The feeling of pure, indiscriminate love.

“I expect many of you do not fully understand what you are feeling now,” I call out across the crowd, the angels and vampires alike, glazing over the sea of flushed faces as the sounds of pounding hearts wash over the room.

“When I first experienced this emotion, many, many years ago, It confused me. I pushed it aside, abandoned it- that was until I felt it again only a few months ago,” I explain to the breathless crowd, clutching my hand in Serena’s. A little tingle quivers over my skin at her touch, like a jolt of electricity coursing through me. Blissfully, I smile.

“I understand many of you see me as cruel, wicked, a merciless, ruthless tyrant intent on spilling blood to uphold the people of his kingdom and maintain the legacy of the vampires. A month ago, if you had said that about me, you would have been utterly correct,” I say, sighing out a small puff of breath of air. Eyes return to me through the crowd, confused yet equally entranced by this new set of emotions that overwhelm them- emotions that aren’t lust or arousal, but something far greater by comparison. Pure love at its finest.

I doubt that many in the room would have ever experienced this before.  Especially from my kind.  From hard, unfeeling hordes of vampires who are often content to dance through the night and revel and drain the blood of the Folk on a mere whim, this is certainly one hell of a progression for their emotional standing.

“Perhaps there are some of you who have already felt this emotion before,” I say, pacing back across to link arms with Serena, who gives me a cute, nose wrinkling smile. “But for those of you who are unaware, this is the feeling of a bond: a magical link between two people that draws them together, entwine their destinies if you will.”

A few snickers rise from the crowd at this remark- but only a few. I continue.

“Sometimes, only one person will feel this from the start, perhaps both, but once the link has been established, it is irreversible. True love is an overused term that we often associate with the lesser folk who content themselves with riddles and frivolities, but there is simply no other way to describe the feeling. My fate, me, the King of Sezeria, was tied to the Queen of the angels, and my love for her is unwavering. I knew what she was the moment this bond was established, but it was from then I saw and decided that the old ways of our kind are much too unforgiving. It would have been easy to hide this, to run away from my love. But no. I married the Queen of the angels not just because I loved her, but to motivate a change in the history of our kind. No longer will angels and vampires be divided. Under my rule, I will do everything in my power to make it so.”

A snarky voice pushes up from the crowd of vampires: a young woman with streaming golden locks, a white rose pinned to her daringly short satin dress. Ah, I supporter of my brother, I see.

“And what if we don’t want to stay?” she spits bitterly, which earns her a few surprising, but not unwanted, hisses from the crowd. “What if we don’t want to end this war, or live with the angels in some fabricated peace?”