#corrupted file name: morax's priestess

[kentocidal]

the betrothal.

users: rex lapis x fem!reader

warning! this file has been corrupted! do not open! yandere!rex lapis, violence, description of a dead body, death of an unnamed character, power imbalance, age gap, pre-canon, like many years pre-canon, historical inaccuracies, ask to tag.

internal message: so uhhh. yeah this. this is an au i’ve been working on. this is my introduction to it p much. i hope this reaches other freaks like me so i have an excuse to write more yan!zhongli and get into the talks of enabler!xiao

new notifications! @kaedescara @yaekiss (want to get a notification? send me an ask off anon!)

“huh?”

you stood completely rigid in the elaborate dining hall of the large house that was not your own, your father’s hand on the small of your back, keeping you from running.

you turned your head to look up at him, blinking and feeling your chest go tight as he laughed awkwardly at your reaction to his statement. “darling, i’m sure you heard me. this is your betrothed.”

“but… what? i never…” you looked straight ahead again, at the man in front of you who was surrounded by his parents and a handful of guards, a sweet and tender smile on his face as he looked you over like you were furniture and not a person. your father patted your back to try and encourage you to step forward, but you stayed planted firmly in your spot next to him.

“honey, i know you remember me explaining this to you.” your father’s lips were near your ear as he mumbled to you, sighing. “if you didn’t find a husband, i would find one for you. i told you this.”

something inside of you twisted. something deep, carnal, dark. this was wrong.

you had known from the moment you came of age that something… something bigger was meant for you. your archon had called to you from the moment you first learned of him and his existence. his voice traveled through the echoes in the stone forest, telling you exactly where the good footholds were to ensure you wouldn’t fall. he made you feel lucky – it felt like you never tripped over stones or the boards in liyue harbor that other people stumbled over. you always had just the right amount of mora in your coin purse whenever you were hungry or thirsty or saw a brand new yukata in a deep brown and black that fit just right, no alterations needed. you felt blessed, felt that your calling was to be a handmaid to the archon, to his temple, keep yourself holy…

and your father was having none of it.

he had told you for the past six months that you were delusional, that you needed to focus on growing up and marrying off and bearing children to carry on your bloodline. you were the only daughter; your mother never produced a son before she passed. it was up to you, but you were not willing.

you felt your eyes start to well with tears and a scratchy lump settle in the back of your throat as you looked at this man, this stranger in front of you, and bowed slightly to him.

“pleasure to meet you,” came your meek, timid voice, shrouded in anger, panic, betrayal.

your betrothed smiled at your submissive stature, chuckling to himself and reaching to take one of your hands to press a kiss to the back of it. “the pleasure is mine. come, have dinner with us. please. it would make me so happy to feed you.”

and you went, because you had to. and you broke bread with this stranger, with this family that you were becoming forced to be a part of. this marriage would come sooner rather than later, and the idea of giving up your beliefs to make this man happy tore at you.

you could hardly eat the meal prepped for you, though it smelled delicious and looked divine. fresh pheasant and vegetables from a garden outside… you felt like you were going to be sick instead. 

you forced some rice down your throat before standing and saying you had a headache, urging to be escorted home by your father. he did not wish to oblige, but your betrothed – what was his name again? – was kind enough to excuse you both early. it felt like one of the blessings your archon was bestowing upon you. he had to understand that this was not for you.

the walk home was dark and filled with your father speaking down to you about the disgrace you had brought to the family, how it was not in the bloodline to become a priest of any kind. you swallowed, and simply turned down the opposite fork in the road towards one of the statues of your archon, refusing to listen to the shouts of your father who demanded you return to him at once.

you instead slipped underneath the roof of the small lean-to temple, fussing about to get incense lit and leave mora in the plate before taking your place on your knees in front of the statue, hands folded in your lap after smoothing out the fabric there. the heady scent of incense filled your head and soothed your worries almost immediately, a brush of wind guiding stray hairs from your face, almost like a hand brushing them away.

you bit your lip before speaking into the wind, already feeling the lump in your throat start to shift and loosen, a fresh swath of tears pricking the corners of your eyes. “this isn’t what is supposed to happen, is it?”

silence in the wind. it feels still, suddenly. you hiccup.

“i’m supposed to be guided by you, am i not? you have always guided me to do the right thing, always ensured good things happen to me. if this is true… why do i feel so empty? why does this feel wrong?”

a rustle in the trees. you sniffle and shift closer to the base of the statue, tipping your face up to look at the hooded figure sitting far above your head. you wipe at your eyes with the back of your hand. “i just need an answer. please. i don’t… think i ever want to be married. if there’s a way to escape this, something, anything, please… help me.” 

you cried. you felt like you were in mourning. you felt so empty, so alone. for the very first time in your life. you felt like your archon’s eyes were not on you.

you stood up and dropped more mora in the plate, all that you had in your coin purse, more than you remember packing, before slipping off into the night.

you cried yourself to sleep in your childhood home, curled up tightly until the early morning when you rose to hear liyue in a commotion, groups of footsteps outside your door and running along the trails leading towards the harbor. it was unusually busy as you gathered yourself for the day and hurried to follow the crowd.

it seemed to part for you, people looking over their shoulders to find you and immediately bowing out of your way to let you through. you briefly wondered if news of your engagement made its way through the city already, that the girl who was the archon’s most devoted follower was leaving the fold to be married circulated enough to embarrass you, but you soon discovered this was not the case. 

instead, you joined the crowd in the center of the city where the archon himself had descended upon the people, holding a limp body in his arms, a long dragon tail flicking at the sight of you. you swallowed and almost felt a scream bubble up, but nothing came. 

you stared into the yellow eyes of rex lapis and watched the fire melt away into the eyes of a simple man. he dropped the bleeding body from his arms to the boardwalk of the harbor. it landed with a sickening crack, splattering blood and practically bouncing. the head of the man turned in a disgusting way, and you recognized the face of your betrothed immediately.

in a short moment the archon had stepped over the body of the man you had broken bread with and approached you, holding out a blood coated hand.

“there you are.” his voice was deep, booming, raspy. almost inhuman. his tail flicked under his robes and you could tell his hood was concealing horns that wrapped around pointed ears.

“what have you done?” was your initial reaction, one that you regretted immediately, because the face of your archon hardened like the stones he created in his wake.

“i am answering your prayers, precious one. did you not cry for me to help you? did you not beg on your knees to be saved from this responsibility?” rex lapis cast a glance over his shoulder to the body of the man that was still seeping blood into the wood planks of the harbor. “he was nothing. cursed to a life of solitude. i am relieving you. where is my thanks?”

you shook as you stared at his outstretched hand, large and wet with blood and claws long enough to rip your heart out.

you stared hard at him for a moment as the pieces that had been handed to you one by one by him throughout your life snapped neatly into place, and you felt like your very essence was being pulled in towards him as your smaller hand pressed into his.he smiled at you, a slight grin, knowing and wise, and his eyes seemed to crackle with a sickness you would pretend wasn’t there as he pulled you towards his chest. “you were made for me, my gem. only for me.”