Who Am I (3)

"Yes, what you think is correct; I died, so your oath of servitude is over to me." Pausing again, I took a deep breath. "I died… yet I lived a complete life. My memories from before I was sick are gone, the only memories I have were from the life I lived, and I saw how cruel I was to you." I slowed my speech, letting despair enter my voice. "The things I did to you were unforgivable, and I wouldn't blame you if you struck me down right now." I paused, watching her.

The different emotions currently displayed on her face; are rage, disgust, confusion, relief, and expectation. It gave me pause for a moment; all the other emotions I could understand, but expectation? I had an unsettling feeling for some reason, but it quickly disappeared as I grabbed the letter opener from my nightstand.

Steeling my nerves, I continued. "Although I have no memory of what happened the past three months, I will not deny nor defend my actions." With a quick downward slice, I sliced my right palm open and let the blood flow.

Due to the longevity of elves and their magical aptitude, they viewed blood as the river to a person's soul and the conduit to a being's magical ability. So, the blood oath was the highest form of any contract the elves would accept, as it meant undying loyalty to the oath and the person.

"With this." I paused as blood started dripping from my palm. "I swear, Callista, that I will never willingly harm you, and from this day forward, I will do everything within my power to earn your forgiveness. I could never live without you, and if you follow me from now on, it will not be as a servant but as my heart." I finished, not realizing the last part I said and its implications in the future.

Standing there looking at the blood dripping onto the floor, Callista didn't say anything for three minutes before finally looking into my eyes.

The thing about blood oaths was that there were so influential in the eyes of elves, and that went both ways. The one making the blood oath and the one accepting it. What happens if someone denies the blood oath? Well, that was akin to saying you are worthless in their eyes, and they would want nothing to do with you and would instead make a deal with a goblin than deal with you.

Not wanting to move an inch and letting her cerulean eyes pierce my soul, I stood there still as a statue with my palm outstretched, waiting for her answer.

A moment later, Callista slowly reached for the letter opener, and now the moment of truth. Was I about to die again, or was I about to gain a powerful ally?

Grabbing the letter opener and looking deep into my eyes, with a quick movement sliced her left palm and joined her palm with mine.

"I accept your oath." She began. "I also swear, Ciaran Maxamus, that I will do no harm to you and support you to the best of my abilities and help make your dreams come true." She finished keeping her hand intertwined with mine.

I smiled inwardly that she had accepted my blood oath, but I didn't understand her vow. What dream was she talking about? I didn't tell her about any dreams. Also, that look of joy that lasted for a moment did not escape my notice. This brought up another question. She accepted my oath a little too quickly. I was expecting a little pushback or for her to deny me outright.

Confusion filled my head, but I decided to put it in the back of my mind. Step one was complete, but we still had to build a good relationship between the two of us. How to do that? Well, that was easy; training was the best way to get to know each other and form good communication.

Slowly releasing our hands, Callista had a relieved look on her face, and resolve filled her eyes.

"Ok!" I said, relief now filling my voice. "Can you please tell me about my family and situation?"

"Of course, master." she suddenly stopped when I raised my hand.

"You are too important to be just my servant, so from now on, when it is just the two of us alone, drop the master." I stressed and wanted to nip this in the bud as soon as possible. How could we grow if she only saw us as masters and servants?

"Of course." she paused before softly whispering, "Ciaran." With that brief pause, she began telling me as much as possible about House Maxamus.

Most of what she told me was surface knowledge, which I already knew about House Maxamus, thanks to the extensive amount of time I've spent playing the game. As she told me all this, we cleaned up the blood that had spilled from our palms and opened the window, as I didn't want the smell of blood to permeate the room I was in.

Suddenly the door opened, and my body instantly tensed up when I heard a booming voice.

"YOU'RE AWAKE."