“Say yes,” Susanna pleaded.
The woman in white shook her head while uttering the same two words… Is she crying?
“Dites non,” the woman in white mouthed.
“Yes!” Susanna exclaimed.
“Dites non!” the woman in white repeated.
“Please,” Susanna pleaded.
“Non. Non! NON!” the woman in white pleaded.
“Do this for me!”
“Yes,” Marc whispered.
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
“Wait… she hasn’t asked you!” Susanna said.
Her voice was fast, and higher pitched than normal. A clue to the naked emotions surrounding this revelation. Drusilla found her loophole and would exploit it wholeheartedly… She would claim that she missed that part…
“Say yes,” Susanna pleaded.
The woman in white shook her head while uttering the same two words… Is she crying?
“Dites non,” the woman in white mouthed.
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
In the background, tendrils came out from the mirror surface of the well. They appeared to be fashioned from blood, albeit congealed or, more appropriately, coagulated. They grew longer and thinner before wrapping themselves into a bundle approximating the human form.
To distract him, Drusilla grabbed the chalice and greedily drank the contents within. To further make a spectacle of it, the excess blood ran down her chin onto the fabric, staining it red.
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
Someone stepped out from the shadows. The woman with bare feet, raven black hair, sunburnt skin, and… black eyes…
“What?” Susanna asked.
Once under the harsh light of a torch, he made out her noiseless pleas. The same words repeated over and over: Dites… non?
“Why would you refuse?” Susanna replied.
Until now, it never occurred to him that he could choose. Drusilla was too busy making a mockery of things to even ask for consent… I’m not, that’s what the woman in white is saying over and over…
“Drusilla is the only other person here…” Susanna said.
In the background, tendrils came out from the mirror surface of the well. They appeared to be fashioned from blood, albeit congealed or, more appropriately, coagulated. They grew longer and thinner before wrapping themselves into a bundle approximating the human form.
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
His strength left him, causing his legs to wobble… I feel like I’m dying…
“Hold on!” Susanna urged.
His breathing grew shallow and raspy. Drusilla withdrew her fangs and visually let him drop to the ground… Barón had a similar face… that smug, self-satisfied look.
“An empty victory,” Susanna said. “You’re almost there.”
Drusilla grabbed one of his boots and dragged him, chest facing the floor, towards the pool. Marc took in a lungful of dust, but he was too weak to cough. At the edge of the blood pool, she left him there like discarded trash.
Drusilla sauntered casually to the altar, with a chalice and old codex atop. From Susanna’s vantage point, Marc realised the pages were made from animal skin—
“Only if you consider humans to be animals…” Susanna said.
After slipping to the right page, Drusilla recited something in an archaic form of Latin. The words had a poetic quality to them, but this creature was purposefully breaking the cadence… to make it more horrific?
Someone stepped out from the shadows. The woman with bare feet, raven black hair, sunburnt skin, and… black eyes…
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
While he could not be sure, Marc assumed that Drusilla was goading them both. What she needed was a reason to end their lives… If we ruin her fun, she’ll cut me—
Quick as a viper, Drusilla elongated her fangs and buried them into his neck to pierce the artery. Because of Susanna’s link, the euphoric pleasure he normally experienced did not materialise.
“You were always going to die,” Susanna said.
Still, his eyes dilated, and he sighed contentedly. At first, he felt fine, but a general sense of unease crept in from the back of his mind… Like being offered another piece of chocolate cake after growing sick of it…
“You must be near death,” Susanna continued. “She wants me to think that she’ll drain you dry… but she has her orders…”His strength left him, causing his legs to wobble… I feel like I’m dying…
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
That’s why they were made to walk by that creature, and it further explained why Drusilla was here to perform the ritual.
He doubted Susanna was an angel… who is? However, there was a dark past between the two women, as well as a power imbalance… like a jester taunting the king…
“A shame that a common whore like you polluted his blood,” Drusilla taunted.
No matter how tempted he was to speak up, Marc kept his mouth shut. He had to maintain the illusion of being under her spell. Besides, the imagery Susanna fed him made it easier for him to ignore her.
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
This show of force for Drusilla, was to humiliate Susanna. It dawned on him that there must have been other sites where this ritual could be held. It was only logical, given humanity’s penchant for war, and mother nature’s proclivity for destruction.
This location was chosen specifically to torment Susanna. Drusilla must have been the one who gave the Contessa the task of ending his life. However, she swayed the council to spare him… she must pay the price for failure and insubordination…
“I’d do it again,” Susanna confessed to him.
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
Marc saw himself making love to Susanna, but the imagery was shown from her point of view. The sight of those breasts moving in unison to his trusts had the desired effect.
A rush of blood made his little soldier throb. Drusilla responded in kind, approaching him slowly, as a wolf stalks its prey. She grabbed him by the crotch and fondled him until he was as hard as an anvil.
“He’s not very loyal,” Drusilla huffed. “Shall I take him now?”
“If that is your wish,” Susanna said before bobbing a rigid curtsey.
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
“I’m here for you,” Susanna said.
At that moment, he spotted the predator lurking behind Drusilla’s eyes. He had seen it before in soldiers who were too eager to fight. Those who thirsted for blood and carnage because it made them feel something… She loves to play with her food…
“You don’t know the half of it…” Susanna said. “You need to play her game and appear enraptured by her beauty.”
Disclaimer: This excerpt from Man of War is currently in development. There may be typos, errors, omissions, inconsistencies and so forth.
