Unknown island off the coast of Greece, 1222BC
Crimson eyes watched her every movement as she exited her sanctuary. Another set narrowed hatefully. She looked around before walking over to her brother, the giant of an immortal man flashing a grin towards her. "Lysandra," he greeted warmly.
A small smile tipped her lips as she sat down beside him. "May we talk? We need to discuss something urgently." She asked quietly and he nodded. "Is everything alright?" He asked quietly and she shook her head, glancing around to see if they were somewhat alone, or rather as alone as they could be. "Athenodora wants me to leave." She murmured lightly, a mere breath of air that no one but he could hear.
Arcadius frowned. "Leave? But you longed to be with him for years." He trailed off and Lysandra nodded. "Yes. I did. I still do. You have no idea how much I desire him, but she does too, and she was here before I. It would be improper and disrespectful."
He scoffed, turning fully to face her. "Do you even hear yourself? He chose you, Lysandra. You, not her. If he had wanted her even after you helped him, we wouldn't be here. We simply wouldn't, and now because of some petty feelings she has, you're going to abandon your own feelings? As simply as that? I don't believe you."
Darkness fell over them, someone's shadow blocking the sunlight. She turned and laid eyes upon the one man who was at the heart of the struggle at bay. He stared down at her, holding a hand out. "Would you like to hunt? It would be just us, no one else." He stated.
Arcadius spoke before she did. "Of course she would." He answered smoothly. He looked at his sire. "I wish to converse with you when you return," he stated and the blonde haired immortal nodded, a pleased tilt of his lips appearing when Lysandra gently placed her hand in his. "You have your wish," he acknowledged, his eyes remaining on Lysandra as she stood beside him. "We will return before dawn."
It was a surreal experience; waves crashed over her head, plunging her back into the black waters, everything amazingly clear to her new eyes. She could see every single creature that called the waters their home, every single droplet in the ocean. It was amazing. Her eyes widened in wonder as the coral seemed to dance with the current, everything seeming alive even if it wasn't.
Cool crisp night air wafted around her as she pulled herself from the waves that ferociously crashed behind them. Caius was already waiting on the beach of the nearby island, all traces of blood washed from his body. He watched as she came closer, her eyes wide with excitement. "That was amazing," she let out in a soft exhale and he smirked. "Everything is amazing as a vampire," he corrected and she nodded with a small smile. "It truly is."
Her eyes drifted around the deserted beach. It wasn't even an island, just a lone stretch of sand that was above sea level. She frowned gently. "What are we doing here? Shouldn't we be returning?" She asked lightly.
He hummed. "We should, but I want to talk before we return." He revealed, taking steps closer to her. She frowned. "What about?" She pressed and he hummed under his breath once more. "About you. You are acting most strangely, Lysandra. Every time I attempt to converse with you, you almost shy away from me. A stark contrast to the human girl who wasn't afraid of anything, and the young woman who embraced me without a second thought seven weeks ago, or the woman who on her deathbed said she loved me. What is plaguing you?" He clipped briskly.
If she had been human still, her heart would have been exploding in her chest. How did he know? Did he know what Athenodora had said? Was he about to shatter her heart into smithereens, unable to be fixed in eternity? She swallowed, looking at her hands. "You intimidate me," she whispered.
His answer was sharp and fast. "Good." He began to walk around her. "I want people to feel like that. I am dangerous. I could rip you limb from limb. I could have drained your body of its blood when I changed you. I could have left you to drown in those waters when you leapt from the cliff with your brother. I am a cruel, sadistic man who delights in the pain of others. I slaughter innocents without mercy." He snarled as he walked around her.
She looked at him as he stopped in front of her. "Why haven't you killed me then?" She asked quietly and he smirked. "I haven't killed you yet because I have plans for you, Lysandra," he whispered her name in her ear, making her shiver lightly. He trailed a finger around the bite mark on the column of her throat. "I will claim you as my mate, Lysandra. I will stake a claim, an ancient one that it predates even the Gods, over you and your body. You will become mine. That was why I changed you, Lysandra. Watching you become a woman only solidified that need to have you, and when that filthy beast tried to steal you from me, I wanted to rip his skin from his limbs and feed it to him while he screamed for mercy, something I would not give him nor the rest of his filthy kind." He hissed.
Lysandra shuddered; there was something so animalistic in the way he spoke about her, and something so intoxicating about how he spoke of the horrific acts he had committed. It appealed to the darkest part inside her, the part the feasted too on the blood of innocents. Her eyes drifted shut and then fluttered open. "But Athenodora," she whispered, eyes focussing on his now charcoal black eyes that were alight with power and a carnal hunger that made her stomach tighten. She swallowed back venom. "She wishes for you to make her as your mate, not I."
He scoffed. "I will do no such thing. Athenodora should learn her place. It is I who decides who I claim, not her, not even you. Women are submissive to a male vampire, and that is how it will remain. When I claim you, you will beg for release, and if you have pleased me, I will grant you it. You will remain loyal to me, you will do as I demand of you, and in turn, you will have all you could ever require. I will destroy cities for you, exterminate the beasts for you, treat you as an equal. I will defend and worship you, bestow pleasures that you could only dream of," he whispered, his mouth at her ear as he whispered all the sinful things he was going to do. She shuddered again, feeling his arm snake around her waist from behind and pull her back to his front.
She inhaled sharply as a hand clutched at her throat from the front, effectively pinning her against him. The tip of his nose drifted against her jawline as he hummed. "I will do this, all of this, Lysandra. I will claim you in the most forbidden act between man and woman, and no one will come between it, not even her." He whispered, his lips brushing against her earlobe. Her eyes widened. "B-But I haven't done anything like that before," she whispered, recalling the horror stories that she had heard as a child in the villages about how such an act was unbearable, especially for the woman. Men were cruel, she had heard, stealing the pain and pleasure of their partners for themselves, the women wailing as such horrific pain swept through their bodies as men laughed.
A snarl slipped from his lips. "Good," he hissed. "It hurts..." She whimpered and he scoffed. "Human men have no patience," he retorted. "They get too caught up in the act, limited by their own stamina and time. Vampires are the opposite, Lysandra. We have eternity, they have half a century. We have a thousand times that and more. I am not the most patient man, but I waited for you. I can allow myself moments to accommodate you." He murmured.
Lysandra shook in his grasp, a feeling of submissiveness washing over her as his hand tightened both around her waist and her throat. "I do not understand these strange feelings that overcome me when you are near," she whispered, confusion glazing over her features. He chuckled, the sound a cruel, sadistically mirthful tone. "It is your own inner beast sensing when to give in. You resist it because you do not understand it. You were made to be submissive to me, Lysandra. Your body senses that. You are still a child into this life. When you age as an immortal, you will embrace it, and you will fall into step at my side, just like Arcadius's mate will when he claims her in the foreseeable future. Vulnerability is a weakness in our world, Lysandra. You are vulnerable. There are many others like me out there who would be less than kind to you. The Romanian Coven would seek to acquire you as a bedwarmer for their masters, a gift, one they would thoroughly use, I assure you."
Horror lanced through her. "Can they do that to someone who has been mated?" She asked quaveringly and he scoffed, the sound bitter. "They would try, but not without ensuing a challenge. They are an appalling coven, a mockery, a disgrace." He hissed.
She quivered and nodded. "I was going to leave." She revealed and his hand tightened in anger. "You will not!" He all but roared in her ear and she squeezed her eyes shut before she reopened them. "I was going to," she repeated gently, placing a hand over the ones that covered her waist and throat. She leant her head back onto his shoulder. "I was told to reject your advances. I was told you would kill me. I do not know what to believe. You want me to remain, but she wants me to go... I am confused. You say you wish to claim me, but you haven't. You say you wish me to be yours, but you haven't told me before now. I do not know what to think," she confessed solemnly.
Caius was silent before he spoke, releasing her as he did so. "I will deal with Athenodora when we return. I will converse with Arcadius. He may be able to offer his assistance on such a matter." He drawled lightly, looking at the timid blonde in front of him. He smirked widely, the sight intimidating her somewhat. "And then, my dear Lysandra, nothing will come between us again."
