We need a few things for the ritual. I send Rio to find the maids. Kari goes with him. Good idea. No telling how long it'll take him to get back if I send him to look for a girl alone.
The room has a large round wooden table. Saki takes the ritual book and carefully copies the diagram from it onto the table using chalk. It looks like a six pointed star with the points connected by curvy lines.
The others come back with Tara and Jane. I list off the things we need and the maids run off. Each one of us reads through the ritual twice to make sure we understand what we need to do. We cross-check our understanding with each other to make sure we'll get it right. This is especially important for Nix, because some things will be difficult to do without sight. Penny's taken him under her wing. It's cute how she's started mothering him over the last few days. Not sure exactly what’s going on there but Nix is clearly oblivious.
The maids return with what I asked for. Six cups, six silver spoons, one large silver bowl, and a sharp knife. They also bring some towels and some bandages. They drop off our items and then leave us alone.
I feel bad about kicking them out, but also feel that secrecy is important. We suspect that we have enemies here but don't know who they are or how they collect information. Best to be on the safe side. Safer for them as well.
We each take a cup and stand at one corner of the star. I place the bowl on the blank space in the center of the table. I look around, meeting each person's eyes. No one looks away. They seem ready. Hard to believe we're just a bunch of kids who would never have imagined doing something crazy like this a couple of months ago.
I pick up the knife in my right hand and look at the bright blade. It's polished steel and looks razor sharp. Holding my left arm over the cup, I press the knife to my forearm and make a shallow cut about 3 inches long. Blood immediately starts flowing, dripping into the cup. It only takes about half a minute until the cup is about half full. At my signal, Rio steps up and briskly bandages my arm.
Wiping off the knife, I step to my right, anti-clockwise around the circle, to the next person. Nix holds out his right hand and I guide his forearm over the cup. I make the incision and we all watch as he bleeds into his cup. When it's half full, Rio steps up and bandages his arm as well.
It's hard to describe in words what I'm feeling. The smell and sight of the blood awakens some primal urge in me. I want to taste it, to drink it, to bathe in it. I shudder to think what sort of crazy emotions are flashing across my face as I struggle to control this strange lust.
Next is Kari, then Saki, then Penelope, and finally Rio. Girls cut on the left arm, boys on the right. With every cut my blood lust becomes deeper and harder to control. By the time we're done I'm breathing heavily and my hands are shaking uncontrollably.
I'm finally back at my place in the circle. We each have half a cup of our own blood in front of us.
I nod and we all reach down to pick up our silver spoon. Dipping them into our bowls, we fill each spoon with blood. Kari guides Nix' hand to make sure his full spoon is hovering in the right place.
At my signal, we each simultaneously drip this blood onto the corner of the star in front of us. Instantly, I feel a surge of power pulse through the room. In complete disregard of how much the spoons actually hold, blood flows along the lines of the diagram until every line is full and pulsing with our mixed blood energies.
Setting aside my spoon, I pick up my cup of blood and the others do the same. Reaching to the center of the table, we all simultaneously pour our blood into the bowl.
Another pulse of power, accompanied by a blood red flash of light. Streamers of mist flow over the rim of the bowl and across the table.
Without leaving his place, Rio picks up the book and holds it in front of me. Being careful not to make any mistakes, I read the incantation given there. Once again, a now-familiar pulse of magical energy.
Rio pulls the book away, and I steel myself. I'm about to perform the action which I know will be the most difficult of all for me. I reach out and pick up the bowl, bringing it to my lips. Desperately clamping down on my raging bloodlust, I take but a single sip from the bowl.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
With trembling hands I turn to my right and pass the bowl to Nix. He takes a sip and passes it to Kari. She takes a sip and passes it to Saki. She takes a sip and passes it to Penny. She sips, passes the bowl to Rio.
My greedy lustful eyes follow the bowl around the circle until finally, after taking his sip, Rio hands the bowl back to me. I bring the bowl back to my lips and guzzle the remaining blood before setting the bowl back in the center of the table.
A surge of strength such as I have never felt before in my life passes through my body. Once again, Rio holds the book out in front of me and I read the final incantation to complete the ritual.
I expect another surge of power. But nothing like the pulse that hits us then, knocking us back away from the table and into the chairs behind us. Kari is thrown so hard her chair flips over and she faceplants onto the floor behind it. I'm simultaneously invigorated and exhausted.
We all sit there silently for a moment, stunned. Finally, Kari gets up, picks up her chair and sits down with us. She looks around and asks, "Is it lunchtime yet?"
Six cups, six silver spoons, one large silver bowl, and a sharp knife. What a strange request. Something strange is clearly going on here. Not a surprise.
We deliver the requested items and get dismissed. It’s not even the middle of the day. We haven’t even cleaned the rooms yet. So it’s off to work. It goes quickly since we both can focus on it. Part of me is sad that they don’t really trust us while another part of me is happy that they trust us as much as they do.
I’m not making sense, I know. What I mean to say is that I want to be closer to them. To be a part of their family rather than just a servant. It’s not my place to want anything but we can’t help how we feel.
We finish our normal work early. Jane looks at me, “Tara, they’re going to be hungry but we don’t know when they’ll finish what they’re doing. Maybe we should do something different for lunch?”
“How about sandwiches? I can get a cart, prepare cold meats and cheeses in the kitchen and bring it back here covered. It’ll keep until whenever and we can just wheel it in as soon as they call.”
“Great idea. You take care of that while I get a cart for drinks. What about bread?”
“And cookies. You get the cookies, I’ll get some baskets of bread.”
We take comfort in these mundane tasks. We arrive back outside the common room door just as it hits.
Then it’s over. I slump against the wall. Jane ends up on her knees. We’re both gasping and wheezing like we just ran a fast mile. My nose is bleeding. Jane’s face is covered with tears.
I grab two cloth napkins off my cart and stumble over to her. We both wipe our faces as we begin to recover and stand up. Jane reaches out and takes me in a fierce hug. “Pray that they’re okay,” she whispers in my ear.
We break apart as we hear people thundering down the hallway. “You there!” A voice shouts. I turn to see a trio of guards flanking a Court Mage. “Did you feel that? Where did it come from?”
Jane thinks quickly, “Y-yes,” she stutters. “It knocked us down.”
“It came from that way,” I chime in, pointing down one of the cross corridors toward an uninhabited section. “Pushed us right across the hallway and knocked us down.”
The group doesn’t say anything else, just keeps running the direction I pointed out to them. I give a sigh of relief.
Just as the door behind us opens. Thankfully it’s Sir Nix and he can’t see our disheveled state. “Um. Hi,” he says. He’s always so hesitant to ask us for anything. Such a cutie! “Is it lunch time yet?”
Jane takes the lead as I take the handle of my cart, “We have everything needed for sandwiches right here.”
“Oooh! That sounds good,” he turns back into the room. “Hey guys, they’ve got food here already. Sandwiches.”
“Woohoo!” We hear Lady Kari cry out. We roll in swiftly and get things set up in record time. They’re all famished for some reason. Everyone except Lady Addie. She’s sitting quietly at the head of the table staring at the floor.
The table’s a mess. It looks like a child’s art project gone wild. We scrub it clean quickly while collecting up the cups and spoons. After that it’s just a normal day.
I’d wonder what they were doing, but it’s not my place.
The Binding is finished. I expected to feel scared, but instead I feel loved. Like a child might feel, surrounded by a caring family.
My memory of the ceremony is strange. Like strobes of light through a kaleidoscope. Only some scenes sticking in my mind.
The cut hurts. I've never been injured in my entire sheltered life so it's quite a shock.
The blood tastes sweet. Not at all like I expected. Refreshing.
My cut heals up immediately after I drink the blood. Strange.
Everybody hugs me. That's a bit scary. My birth family are not huggers. It feels nice.
We all have a meal together.
I check my Blessing before going to sleep. There’s a new role: Mistress of the Aedificium (Family Boon). I wonder what that means?