The Rules of Blood

Volume Two ; Chapter 97 (313) - Awkward Interruptions

After the exchange with Lord Ali, they kept walking until nightfall.

Once the sun dipped over the horizon, Blanc, Sera, and Velakia decided that it would be wise to rest for the night, as most had been awake for a few days by now.

All but Sera, who took a quick nap whenever she got the chance.

But before anything else, they set up camp in a place near the main road where Blanc prepared a quick dinner for everyone.

“My dear,” spoke Velakia while they ate, “Why does Lord Ali look so… weird?”

“You mean his mouth?” Blanc chuckled, “It takes a while before you get used to it, but I know what you mean.”

“Ah, yes,” Sera laughed, remembering a story, “A few years ago, Lord Xeladar and Ali stopped at our mansion in passing. When Blanc first saw him, he yelled, fainted, woke up in a few seconds, then proceeded to cry for the rest of the night.”

Velakia began laughing at the story, “But they were such good friends now.”

“That was a decade ago,” Blanc sighed, angry with his older sister. “We’ve met a few more times afterwards, and our friendship deepened after I apologized to him and his Blood.”

“But why is his mouth like that?” Velakia asked again, still giggling to herself.

“It’s because of the True Vita his father chose for himself, the Crocotta True Vita,” Blanc began, “A giant wolf-like creature said to live at the far peaks of the Surem Mountains. One of its characteristics is its wide mouth that is said to be able to swallow everything, and despite being compared to a wolf, it has hooves instead of claws, which it uses to climb to high places, where it will use its wind magic or maw to hurl the prey off the edge of the mountains and feasting on what remains of the poor beast splattered across the rocks.”

“Exactly,” Sera nodded, joining in on the explanation, “And the congenital trait Ali and his siblings received from Lord Xeladar was the wide mouth of the Crocotta. But let me tell you that mouth of theirs is a blessing in a creepy disguise, a defensive weapon.”

“Yeah,” Blanc sighed, “He once showed me how he bit through two inches of armor as one bites through bread. So if he did that to armor, imagine what it can do to a nearby person if he feels in danger.”

“That somehow makes him even creepier,” Velakia muttered, “But I can see why anyone would choose such a True Vita.”

“Despite their twisted sense of justice, Blood Xeladar is quite righteous and friendly, especially with their allies,” Blanc concluded with a nod, “And Ali is the best example of all their Blood represents, after all, it is not a coincidence he is the future heir of Blood Xeladar.”

Velakia, satisfied with the answers Blanc and Sera provided her with, began telling the story to Tahreni and Lendros, not missing a single detail of what the two siblings said, including Blanc’s first meeting with Ali.

Blanc was already quite comfortable with understanding the basics of Iskahese, despite not really attempting to learn or speak it.

It was just a fun thing to hear what Lendros and Tahreni thought.

But laughter does not require a translation. And it embarrassed him to no end to see the two of them laugh their asses off at his expense.

Still, it was an enjoyable evening.

And not long after they’ve finished dinner, they’ve decided to retreat for the night.

Lendros and Tahreni went to their own tents.

Sera received Velakia’s tent, while she and Blanc agreed to sleep together in his own.

Or at least that was the plan they told everyone else, as usual.

Not long after they headed inside the tent, using a filled water skin and a few clean pieces of good quality cloth, they began wiping each other’s bodies of sweat and dirt.

“Careful with your hand and where it travels to,” Velakia muttered, “It would be a pity to break a poorly placed finger.”

Blanc chuckled, moving the wet piece of cloth across Velakia’s naked back, full of Marks, “It will be a bad day the day you really do what you keep threatening me with.”

After he spoke, he watered the piece of cloth again, and slowly, from the top of her shoulder, moved downward, past her collarbone, towards her chest.

He moved closer with his entire body, slowly kissing Velakia’s right side of the neck as he cleaned around her chest, then down across her abdomen.

Velakia slowly raised her head, closing her eyes gently as she allowed Blanc to continue.

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“So you see,” Blanc whispered, “My fingers are still whole.”

Velakia turned around, facing Blanc and all the visible Marks and scars on his chest.

She knew every single one of them, and also their story. But the man who wore them like armor was more fascinating to her.

“If you speak more, I may have to really break one,” Velakia placed her arms around his neck.

Blanc threw the cloth on the ground, picking Velakia from the ground into his arms.

She coiled her legs around his waist, looking each other in the eyes.

Blanc pushed down on the bed nearby and started kissing her.

But Velakia did not relent either.

With a swift movement, she and Blanc exchanged spots. And before he knew it, he found himself with his back against the bed while she sat on top of him, looking victorious.

“Another win for me,” she muttered, patting her shoulder.

“Fine,” Blanc sighed, “You won, you move then.”

But not long after they started, someone left one of their tents and approached theirs silently.

The problem was that both Blanc and Velakia were focused on other, more… important matters, not focusing on their surroundings.

But neither were they hidden under the covers.

So it was quite the shock for every person involved when Sera entered the tent.

“Blanc, sorry,” Sera muttered before moving the cloth off the entrance, “Are you asle-”

Blanc and Velakia froze as if they were frightened deer, their wide eyes meeting Sera’s.

But Sera did not know where to look or how to act.

“So-sorry,” she stuttered, “I’ll be back, uh, in the morning, yes.”

She turned to leave, giving Velakia and Blanc enough time to get out of each other, quickly moving under the covers of the bed.

“Wait, Se- sister,” Blanc muttered, half embarrassed, half panicked, “Did something happen?”

“N-no,” Sera stood with her back towards them, “I just wanted to return the golden bracelet that you gave me.”

“You know you can turn now, right?” Blanc sighed.

Before turning, Sera moved her head slightly to the right, checking with the corner of her eye to see if Blanc was telling the truth or not.

Once she saw he did, she slowly turned.

“I feel awful,” she sighed, letting her vision turn downward towards the ground, “Sorry, you two.”

“It’s fine,” Velakia chuckled, holding the cover above her chest, “It was bound to happen someday. We might have gotten too comfortable.”

“No, it was Blanc’s tent,” Sera shook her head, “I should’ve considered the possibility.”

“Calm down, sister,” Blanc sighed, “It’s not like it’s a secret, but I still do not understand why you felt the need to bring it back to me now when you could’ve given it back in the morning, or better yet, take it for yourself as I hoped you would.”

“No, little brother,” Sera shook her head, pulling off the bracelet from her wrist, “It was given to you. We are safe now, so take it back.”

“But it looks better on you than it did on me,” Blanc tried to convince her to keep it, but failed as Sera walked towards the bed and placed it at the edge of the bed.

“It’s yours,” she muttered, looking into his eyes, her earlier embarrassment gone.

Blanc tightened his jaw but forfeited. “Very well.”

“Well then, continue what you were doing.” Sera turned on her heel, “I will see you both in the morning. Good night.”

And without waiting for a reply from either of them, she left the tent.

Velakia began giggling, “That scared me.”

“I want to die,” Blanc muttered, placing his forearm over his eyes, “That’s a contender for the most embarrassing moment of my life.”

Velakia took his hand off his eye, placing it between her thighs, “Let me help you take your mind off of it, then.”

She locked lips with him. Then again.

Afterward, she moved lower, kissing his neck. Then his abdomen.

Then lower.

And lower.

Two hours later, after they both helped each other forget, they cuddled until Velakia fell asleep.

Once she did, Blanc got up from the bed, walking towards his backpack where the letters the Daughter gave to him in secret were.

They were letters Celine and Miyanna wrote for him.

Many things were written there.

How they were, how their pregnancies were advancing, what they were doing, and how much they missed him.

Then, they wrote their thoughts on the matter with Velakia, and surprisingly, it was better than expected. Celine was, as he predicted, asking for Velakia to return with him, and how much she wanted to have a taste of her.

But Miyanna was conflicted between telling him stories, how much she missed him, or threatening both his manhood and his life. It made him chuckle reading these letters again and again.

But once he felt his heart full of joy because of the three of them, both Velakia and his wives, he placed the letters back inside his backpack near where the leaf and the other letter that was there.

It was a letter from Lucien. A short one, without pleasantries or useless banter.

One that made him more confused than anything.

One that he took out and read again.

[Good job getting the princess pregnant.

With this, you have really outdone yourself, Son-in-Law.

The boat is at the predetermined place.

Get back as soon as you can, for there is much to talk about.

-Signed by Lucien of Blood Maroux, Patriarch of Blood Maroux.]

Is Velakia really pregnant? he kept asking himself since he first read the letter.

But there were no signs of sickness, nor any changes to her chest. Was there some sort of confusion? Would Velakia withhold such information from him?

Why would Lucien mention that, but not Celine and Miyanna?

But he shook his head before his joy was replaced by doubt. It was pointless to worry about such an uncertain thing. So he sighed, placing the letter back where he had taken it from, went back into the bed, kissed Velakia on her lips as she slept, and closed his eyes.