Ryleth’s face darkened when he got his mission. He knew the coven Alexina was talking about. Hell, he expected said coven to integrate with the Bloodrose coven in due time. They would make excellent allies. He took a deep breath to calm himself. He wouldn’t challenge her. Not today. Still, he would find a way to complete the mission without killing the witches. They were too important for his plan. He wanted to turn away and prepare for the mission. Until Alexina added her final demand. Ryleth’s eyes betrayed his disbelief. A blood oath! It was not a thing to take up lightly. In his entire life, Ryleth hadn’t been bound by one. Ever. Now Alexina stood before him with her knife, making the demand.

He took a step to protest. A blood oath would be too much! But then she talked about it being a lesson. He kept believing she was a fool. A delusional fool that thought she actually had made peace with the hunters. After decades of hexing the land and It’s blood she now truly believed they could live without fear? No, he did not trust her leadership. Fledgling tyrants ask to trust them and Ryleth was not about to kneel before someone whose neck was clearly not strong enough for the crown.

So instead of protest, instead of swearing he would never take a blood oath he walked up to Alexina. Without a word he took her blade, slit it effortlessly across his hand and showed her his palm as he recited the words: [b]“By the bond of my blood, I vow to complete  my penance, lest I suffer the Fisher King ’s curse.“[/b] Fresh blood from him, mixed with Angela’s blood, Alexina’s blood and the flaked blood of Goldencrest’s priests dripped across his arm onto the stones beneath him. He gave back Alexina’s knife and turned away from her with disgust. [b]“There you have your oath. I hope you can live with it.”[/b] He said though he wanted to spit it out.

Still he did not feel defeated. With his back at Alexina he kneeled before the corpse of Angela. He used his bloodied shirt as a shroud to cover her face and then picked her. [b]“Now if you would excuse me. I’ve have a duty to fulfill.”[/b]