Thread: Blood and Betrothal 2.0 (Leatrix Sage X Octopus Prince)

What a time to have a wedding. The human world was just on the precipice of discovering all of the things that went bump in the night thanks to an insurgence of Unseelie Fae trying to strong arm other supernatural organizations out of their lovely city, and of all the things she ought to be worrying about then, with her Coven, her witches, her territories and reputation, Malandra De Coursav was getting married. This had its purpose in the war to come, but it was funny, wasnt it? The idea of having an elaborately orchestrated ceremony to show off the joined power of the largest coven on the west coast and the most powerful vampires in the country had been the last agreement she thought shed make to save her skin, but here she was. Unfortunately, just signing a paper was not how things were done during these affairs- both vampires and witches had their traditions, and Malandra, being the heir to a demonic general beyond being a powerful witch, had standards to uphold if she was going to bind her very soul to a sentient leech. That was the name of the game at this point really, sacrifices had to be made and Malandra knew well enough as a leader, as loosely as she wore that term these days, she had to be the one to lay the most on the line if she wanted anyone in her coven to be prepared to shed blood for their cause. That in its own right was still beyond their knowledge she hadnt really told anyone how bad it was getting out there, so rumors were flying about abducted witches, about enthralled humans, about the hunt that the Unseelie Court had set upon the city to claim the domain for their own. She liked to let her ladies do their own business for the most part, so pulling ranks had been... an unorthadox affair, to say the least. While she was still getting everyone on the same page about how they'd deal with this irritating fae scourge, she held her tongue on the details, of witches bodies with their organs carved out and their tongues branded with old celtic runes, of fae finding little groups of her witches in seedy clubs or apartment buildings and creating powerful warding barriers with their blood. The fae were quite frankly, getting on her last nerve-- she enjoyed a good blood bath like any demon ought to, but those were her girls. This kind of violence even in all the violence she'd known and caused in her life was unprecedented. It was odd, really the ancient fae courts tended to keep their grapples beyond the veil. She didnt pretend to know why their insurgence upon the more terrestrial supernaturals of the world had come with an overwhelming vengeance, but she was damn sure shed find out along the way, and make it very clear, with her vampiric partner in tow, that the humans of the tall spiraling cities of steel and iron, the societies humans had built with all of their lights and cameras and military gusto, were the hunting grounds of her kin, not the damn dusty fae courts. Their time had long since passed, people werent wandering into the woods enchanted by singing voices or billowing spectres any longer-- itd be nice, really, if fae in general would just shrivel up and die now that theyd been reduced to fan fare at best. All they were good for at this point was decorative art on tarot cards as far as she was concerned-- they werent even considered frightening by humans anymore, made up with soft faces and pretty wings, holding orbs and sitting on mushroom heads. Fucking chumps, thats all they were now. Vampires and witch craft at least still had some bite in the modern age. Well Vampires were on the downward as well, really. Perhaps the vampire she was meant to wed would remind her why vampires were truly terrifying creatures of old-- that would be an exciting affair, especially at the wedding reception. Malandra had a feeling that things wouldnt go well. She wasnt worried about getting on with her new spouse, this was a business matter and sure, shed be happy to humor some sex occasionally, but they were doing this to bolster each others forces and forge an unyielding loyalty, not to hold hands and be best friends. And yet, still. The fae were crafty, and she had a feeling that all of these traditions that were, ultimately, important, would also come to bite them in the ass when they were in the midst of forging their everlasting bond. It was a catch twenty two-- expose themselves to show truthful, binding loyalty to their mutual cause, or make some sort of non binding verbal agreement that couldnt be trusted at arms length to avoid the fae managing an attack on them. When Malandra had been informed through a proxy that her future partner wanted to have the ceremony, it told her two things that the vampire was gutsy, and that this might just work. Malandra regarded herself in the mirror for the last time as some of her witches flitted around her making sure her garment and the ornamentation with it was perfect, her dress a deep black that glinted a deep red when it hit the light, pouring out from her hourglass waist like a bell and falling over itself in an elegant train at the back. She was quite pleased with the bustier aspect of the dress, full, plump breasts perked and swelling over an ornately beaded, heart shaped bust, and just for the sake of being tempting if nothing else, her throat was lined with an intricate chain of red rubies, cut like droplets. She thought it poetic, if not a bit mocking, like drops of blood were hanging from around her throat to coax her new companion with the notion of partaking. She had never been bitten by a vampire before, even though shed killed plenty in her day with her demonic origins, she was curious what it might be like-- if it would give a vampire a boost of unique power of if theyd combust into flames like a roman candle. Over all she was lovely, even though she had gone all out for her wedding day, her lineage capable of stealing the finest features from her ancestors so that each generation was more beautiful than the last, her body a rubenesque fullness with dips and curves in all the most pleasing places, her eyes a brilliant, tawny gold lined by dark eyelashes, her face heart shaped and sweetly structured with a small nose and full, plump lips. From her head came a frankly unnatural loveliness. Deep red hair that fell into winding, wide ringlets spilling all the way down to her backside had at least for that day been braided and twisted up into a magnificent up do, some of the curls hanging free for the sake of a more whimsical, elegant look. Her veil, black chiffon, hung both behind her and over her face from a tiara of matching red gemstones, and beneath it all, just in case, she had lingerie shed crafted herself out of black lace, as well as a very deadly, iron bladed knife strapped to her thigh. Fae still hadnt figured out how to deal with iron, poor, simple, old fashioned fools. At least vampires for all their old ways had learned how to adapt, to fit in and make themselves useful in the world. It was her genuine hope that with this union, she, her spouse, vampires and witches together could crush the fae court into what humans thought it was these days, nothing but a myth, a fairy tale with nothing behind it but old dead dreams. There was a low drone from the unholy place where they would wed letting her know it was time to walk the walk after all the talking theyd done to get this contract on the road, so she blew her witches a kiss, most of them teary eyed and proud as they saw her out of the room, making her way to the arching doors on tall heels and with calm, deadly steps. Thered be some words said, some promises made, a soul contract that would drag her into a very long life with the vampire she was meant to wed, and perhaps, thered even be a kiss, but what she was looking forward to most was what might come after, the blood that might be shed and the chance to see just what vampires could do when they had witches at their aid instead of at their throats. After all, vampires and witches especially in this area had been warring for territory and power for nearly a century. If not for the fae kicking the door in on their usual 9 to 5 battling, this agreement wouldve been laughed and thrown to the wind never to be considered again. But these were pressing times. Vampires were being drained of their power and ancient knowledge, witches were being hunted and slaughtered, used in ritual and possessed by thralls. All of that couldn't be tolerated any longer on either side.The enemy of her enemy, was a friend. Or rather, a wife.