@madamexguillotine @disgruntledcupid
Godric was staring down at Roxy, standing still a few feet away while Carter slowly pulled himself together crumpled in the debris of the table he’d landed on. The Cipriani Ballroom was outfitted for a banquet that may never come to pass.
“Good,” the vampire purred. “Take that blade. And--”
Godric’s attention snapped upwards to the doors now flying open. He knew that voice.
“Armand,” he cooed gently as the Chevalier stepped in, Aurelie behind him. His hand was already on the pommel of his blade. That made Godric straighten, his hand doing the same.
“There is no more talking, Sire,” Russo said gruffly, his blade drawing itself with a slow scrape of steel. His expression was a steely mask. He saw the scene lying out before him and knew already what had happened. It made him shudder. “Lord Godric, I challenge you to a Monomancy. You and I, a duel of blades. No disciplines of the blood. Skill and strength alone.”
Godric’s eyes narrowed to slits, the authoritative tone in Russo’s voice grating against his pride. Russo stood rigid, despite the second chill moving down his back. “...The stakes will be seventy years of torpor. I will go quietly if I am bested, and you will do the same.”
Godric remained still and silent for a few long, agonizing seconds. “...Do not interfere,” he murmured to the girl at his ankles.
“Do you accept?” Russo snapped.
And then the vampire lord turned to him completely, his shoulders squared, his hand on his blade. “...After all I have done for you, Armand? You slight me like this? ...For them? They are specks of dust on the span of your existence, Armand. They should be nothing to you.”
Godric stiffened, his eyes narrowing.
And then his blade slid out of his sheath. “...If I must teach you a lesson, childe, I must.”