Blood Oath (O/O CLOSED)

I flinched backwards, instinctively raising my arms. In that moment, I fully expected him to hit me, to wound me.

“I—You told me not to hesitate—“ I stammered, absolute terror drenching my voice.

“By resorting to that sort of foul play?” I hissed, trying to control my anger. In that way, he was right. I told him not to hesitate, but I didn’t recall telling him to use such means. I should have been more careful.

My hands shook violently as I shrank back, sheer terror flooding my entirety. “I—I’m sorry—Your Highness. My—My father taught me self-defence—I reacted on instinct—“

My voice was weak, betraying my turbulent emotions. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to—“

I knew what was supposed to happen now, and it filled me with dread. My eyes darted towards the corner of the armoury, to where the whips were hung up on wooden pegs. “Please—Your Majesty—Do it quickly—“

I let myself fall back on the floor, running a hand through my hair as he stammered, terror slipping through his voice. I followed his gaze to the armory and almost felt my anger dispel.

“I’m not going to whip you,” I managed to say through a sigh. “Why does your mind always think about the terrible consequences? Unless you commit a grave crime, I’m not going to kick you out of the Academy or whip you!”

Oh, thank the stars..

My arms fell from where they’d been held out in front of my face, shoulders sagging in sheer relief.

Unless you commit a grave crime…

Suddenly, my blood turned to icy slush in my veins. If I was to be found out—If my secret was exposed—He would be the one to end my life. Either him or his father.

But I managed to clear my expression, swallowing thickly. “I’m sorry,”

I sighed, picking myself off of the floor. Key, upon my order, brought my shirt over to me.

“As much as it damages my pride,” I sighed heavily. “You did what you could to survive. I can’t condone that. So good job, I suppose.”

Utter confusion flitted across my features, but I wasn’t about to complain, so I gave a quick, nervous nod and took what I could get.

“I’ll try not to do it again..” I swallowed a second time.

“Please don’t,” I said heavily, trying to lighten up the atmosphere I dampened through the anger I lost control of. “I don’t know about you, but I’d like to have kids one day.”

I almost choked on my own spit and broke into a loud, hacking cough.

“Y-Yes, sorry—Um—“

I raised an eyebrow, shaking my head.

“I would train you more, but I need to practice with Key,” I said, raising my eyebrows. “You can do whatever you want.”

I nodded hastily at his subtle dismissal and slipped away, out the door, up the stairs, and into the fresh afternoon air. My blood roared in my ears, a side effect of the turmoil of emotions tangled within me; residual fear, relief, flusteredness, and more that I couldn't seem to decode. But all the way back to my dormitory, one image, one sensation, was burned into the forefront of my mind.

For a moment, I'd been on top of the Prince, straddling his waist while he lay there, bare-chested. Mere seconds later, he'd been pinning me to the ground, hands firm and unyielding against my body. I shivered, pressing the heel of my palm to the skin above my pounding heart.

What was happening to me?

I don’t know how long Key and I practiced together, but by the time we were done, it was practically dark outside, I was soaking from the sweat and exhausted beyond words.

I was furious. Furious at myself for losing my cool—for being unable to master this one simple technique. Why did it always explode? We’d tried increasing the intensity. We tried decreasing it. It didn’t work.

Soon enough, I found myself lying on the now cold floor, breathing heavily. Key shifted around me, pulling me towards him, on his paws, and covered me with his wings.

”Sleep,” he was the one ordering me this time. ”I’ll keep you protected from the cold. Sleep.”

I didn’t even argue. The soft skin of my partner and his warm wings both lulled me to sleep before I even knew it.

Exhausted from the long day, I plopped myself down on my bed, slipping my sweat-drenched shirt over my head. I tossed it into the laundry basket on the other side of my room and lifted my legs onto the mattress, reaching for the end of my binder. It dropped to the floor, and I exhaled a sigh of relief. Finally, freedom from the constricting, painful thing. The cool air slipped over my bare skin, and despite the risk, I lay there in my underclothes after removing the rest of my uniform and the cumbersome shin guards.

After almost half an hour of dangerous relaxation, I let out a satisfied sigh, enjoying how light my body felt. I breezed around the bedchamber, throwing on a pair of loose, comfortable nightclothes—when suddenly, a realization struck me.

Colton. It had been hours since our interesting training session, yet he still hadn't returned to the dormitory…. My heart squeezed. I doublechecked that he wasn't in his room after ensuring that the coast was clear, hugging my arms around my unbound chest. As I'd suspected, he was nowhere to be seen.

Another few hours passed….. and still no sight of him. By now, I was wracked with concern, unable to figure out what had happened or where he'd gone. Midnight had come and gone… and it was long past curfew. Where on Earth could he be? Some sort of princely duties?

Finally, worry gnawing at me, I caved in. I put on my binder once more, slipped a pair of boots over my aching feet, and snuck from the dormitory.

All the way through the school, I was utterly paranoid, jumping at every tiny noise, skimming around the occasional guard. But overall, the dim halls were silent, empty. A thrill raced through me as I ran out onto the grounds, careful to stay in the shadows. If I was caught…….. the consequences were unimaginable. So why was I doing this?

On my way down, I had resolved to check the last place I had seen the Prince; the armoury. And when I arrived, the sight of Colton, curled up in the embrace of his bondmate, brought an enormous smile to my lips. He looked so peaceful in sleep….. There was no trace of the frosty, disciplined royal on his face. Before I could stop myself, I placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently awake.

The second I felt someone’s hold on me, I snapped my eyes open, vision blurry from sleep but my mind alert. I lunged, grabbing whoever that touched me, twisting his arm and slamming him to the ground, a growl escaping from my mouth.

I parted my lips to mock the intruder when my vision cleared and I realized who it was.

Elliot.

“What,” I hissed out, my voice raspy from sleep. “Are you doing?”

A soft cry of shock and pain parted my lips as I was slammed roughly to the ground. I rolled away the moment the grip on my arm slackened, my head spinning for the millionth time that day.

"C-Colton?" I stammered dazedly, caught entirely off guard. "It–It's almost one in the morning. You hadn't shown up to our dorm, so…"

Sighing heavily, I fell back on the floor, Key jumping up to prevent my head from hitting the concrete.

“So you decided to search for me,” I finished his sentence, covering my eyes. “Are you an idiot? You’re way past your curfew. You could have been caught. Why didn’t you just leave it be and gone back to sleep?”

I seated myself on the ground in front of him, crosslegged.

“Would you rather if I’d have left you head to be found by the morning patrol? School rules are strict, they don’t bend much, even for Princes,” I answered slowly, tactfully sidestepping his question.

“Yes,” I responded, my voice low. “You should have. In case you’ve forgotten, Junior, I’ve got Key with me. I can break the rules and never get caught.”

Standing up, I motioned for Key to shrink himself and stay in my hair. Deciding I couldn’t stay angry at him for doing something like this, I reached out to ruffle his hair.

“No matter what happens,” I started in a heavy voice. “You will never come back for me. You will never risk getting caught because you’re worried for me. What you need to focus on is the Blood Oath, and nothing less.”

I winced noticeably at the force of his words, but relaxed when his fingers slipped through my unruly curls.

“You’re hardly being a good role model,” I joked, trying to lighten the mood by referring to his first statement. “But I suppose I understand…. With all due respect, though, you can hardly sneak away from trouble while asleep..”

I smirked at his statement.

“Who said I was a good role model? Elliot, I do things I’m not supposed to be doing, which is why you shouldn’t do what I do,” rolling my eyes, I snorted. I was tired, so that let a little bit of an unknown personality of mine out. “Lesson time. A creature, once it spends time with a person, can sense his or her aura. He didn’t sense any danger when you approached me. But he keeps me out of trouble other times because we both know we’ll be in trouble if we’re caught.”

I blinked, surprised by how open he was being, most likely due to sleepiness or exhaustion. Grateful for the dim light and knowing it had probably hidden the emotion from view, I decided to take a small risk and leaned forward, propping my chin up in my hands.

“Interesting… I’ll file that away for later use,” I joked lightly, scrunching my nose up the slightest bit.

(Posted prematurely)

I chuckled, shaking my head at his statement.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” I murmured before Key hissed, pulling at my ear. I furrowed my eyebrows.

”Someone’s coming! Stop your gay flirting and get out of here!”

I decided to ignore half of his statement and focused on the other half. Snatching Elliot’s arm, I pulled him behind a rack full of equipment, my hand on his mouth, preventing him from making a sound.

“Don’t move,” I whispered. “Patrol soldiers.”

My knees nearly gave out.

Oh my god….

I was practically pressed against Colton after being pulled behind a rack of equipment—which would have been suggestive in itself had he known my actual identity—and his hand was clamped tightly over my mouth.

Dazedly wondering whether or not he would notice if I kissed his palm, I went completely still, caught between falling against him and freezing in fear due to what was happening behind us.

”They’re gone,” after five unbearable minutes, Key finally spoke in my head. ”We should go back to the dorm.”

“No shit…” I muttered out loud without thinking, shaking my head. I dropped my hand from Elliot’s mouth, muttering an apology. He had fallen still against me during those five minutes, and I briefly wondered if it was because our position was a bit… weird for two guys to be in.

Then I shook my head. He simply didn’t want to get caught.

“We should go,” I said as I stood up. “Before they come back.”

I clamped my own hand over my mouth before a gasp could escape it, taking a small step back from Colton. After five excruciating, torturously pleasurable minutes of being held tightly against his chest, I needed space in order to breathe, to clear my muddled head.

“I—yeah,” I finally forced out, immensely grateful for the cover of darkness.

Running my fingers through my hair, and bothering Key in the process, I walked out of the armory slowly, grabbing Elliot’s sleeve in the process so I could guide him.

We sneaked around quietly, missing soldiers, and within a few minutes, we were safely in our dorms. Heaving a sigh, I turned to look at him.

“This doesn’t excuse you from lessons,” I told him blankly. “Get some sleep. Rest. Don’t miss classes.”

“Well, obviously.”

Successfully calmed by now, I gave a loose shrug, dragging a hand through my hair. “Goodnight, Colton. And Key.”

“Goodnight, Elliot,” I responded softly for both Key and I before making my way towards my room.

When I laid back down, there was one thought running through my mind.

When he was pressed against me earlier, his body felt small. Just like earlier, he was incredibly light.

Shaking my head, I erased the thoughts from my mind and went back to sleep with Key curled up on my hand.

[TIME SKIP]

The dormitory was empty by the time I pushed open the door, moisture still clinging to my skin from the brief shower I had taken. My training session with Colton had been less exerting than yesterday’s, most likely due to both our residual tiredness from the night before.

Speaking of which….

I hadn’t been able to take my mind off how his arm had felt around my, how his heart had beat, string and sure, through the fabric of his shirt. That was how touch-starved I was masquerading as a boy in a strictly gendered school—I was fulfilling the stereotype of the teenage girl with hopeless fantasies about the handsome prince.

I’d resolved to slap or pinch myself every time I thought of what had happened… I felt pathetic enough as it was after fainting in front of a member of the royal family, and this was the last thing I needed with three days to go until the Oath. I needed a distraction… and fast.

By chance, my eye caught in the antique music player in the corner. What if…. A sharp pang of longing speared me through the heart. How long had it been since I’d last danced freely in solitude with this much space and free time? Much, much too long. What with my studies and training, not to mention the very limited amount of time I’d been left alone in the dormitory, there simply hadn’t been time. But there was now….

A few minutes later, I was setting my smooth silver ball on the coffee table and putting on a lively, spurring piece played by an orchestra that had become my favourite over the years. I moved to the largest empty space I could find, and began to move.

And, God, I felt so free. Going against Colton’s rules, I had shed my weighted shin guards, which left me light and breezy, suddenly full on energy. I leapt and twirled along with the music, my heart soaring, an exhilarated smile dominating my expression. Arials and jetes, smooth rolls off of furniture, crisp turns—I did it all, flying on the wings of joy and improvisation. I was so lost in the choreography that I didn’t hear the door open, didn’t notice someone else’s presence in the room.