I don't walk out. As much as this is killing me, I don't walk out. I need to negotiate with Pearl. She is a compassionate creature. If she wanted me dead, I would already be gone.
So she secured the Vinculum from me. She won Round 1. Now for Round 2. Somehow I need to convince her to agree to the "Blood Tell" Oath rather than the "Blood Knives" Oath. I can't do Blood Knives. I will die. I know if she chooses, she can stop it in time before I meet my final death. But unless she plans to follow me around night after night in order to be there if/when I break faith with my oath, she'll miss my failure and I'll die unnoticed without a chance to save myself. I can't bear to die and lose her.
Pearl "has" to agree: I'm not strong enough for Blood Knives. But I can handle Blood Tell. If I break faith, my beloved will know immediately and can punish me as she sees fit. That, I can handle. For her, I can handle anything, except the final death.
Plus, I've been thinking. If I'm very crafty, I can word the Oath in such a way as to leave me room to get just enough of what I need to survive. Say... from my own offspring?
What if I Embrace Peter? I could drink from him whenever I needed vitae without repercussions. I'll keep him quietly tucked away so Vidal won't know I've made a childe, and since I'm already in Vinculum to Pearl, there is no danger of becoming bonded to anyone else anyway. As far as I can tell, there are no negatives to this plan!
I hope I'm still thinking clearly enough to keep myself safe, and Pearl happy. I've become so sick and disoriented, I'm not sure how viable my ideas really are... And I just can't bear to have Pearl angry with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment