The Meridian Gamble (40 page)

As the feast begins, various
soldiers and lieutenants from Pharaoh’s army are seated, along with other men
and women, and I’m not sure who they all are. Perhaps administrators who help him
run the city and control the businesses. The royal servants are brought in
after them, and very little is said. I’m not quite sure what the occasion of
the event is, and as the food is brought in, I notice an odd thing. Only myself
and the prince’s consort are given actual food, along with the royal servants.
Pharaoh and the Queen, the Prince and the rest of the guests are given cups
that are filled with red wine.

The royals stare to their guests
with intense gazes, and certain of the people in the room look to each other in
the same way. And it seems unbelievable, but from the way their eyes lock, I am
almost certain a kind of communication passes between them. The General has
told me that the monsters possess mental powers, but it is an odd thing to see
them being performed, to know that they are perhaps real.

Before I can think on it too much,
slaves are brought out. They are naked, except for blindfolds, and before I can
wonder too long on what their purpose is, the supplicants are made to lie down
on the tables. And I finally realize that they are the real food for the night.

It finally occurs to me that I am
in a room that is full of the vampires.

Everywhere around me, fangs pop out
of mouths, and the guests bury them in the offerings that have been made,
slowly feeding from them. And it is an unnerving spectacle to witness.

A girl is brought before our table,
who is just a bit younger than me. She looks sweet and innocent, with light
brown hair that cascades down her back. And she wears nothing, aside from a few
gold baubles. I feel embarrassed for her, and it saddens me to see her tremble
with fear. I worry about the fate to which she is about to succumb. She doesn’t
deserve this, and it’s the first thing that makes me want to fight against the
monsters, as I should. But I look at my Pharaoh, and I cannot help it. I love
him, and would gladly sacrifice her life for his.

And he plunges his teeth into her
neck.

I look over to Marion, my Queen,
and she is sitting in front of a giant mountain of a man. He is handsome, with
a masculine beard, and fur across his legs, which are spread for her. Marion
bites into his inner thigh, as the prince feeds from his arm. And her feast
seems far more appealing than Pharaoh’s.

My love does not drink much from
the young girl, and her entire demeanor has changed. Her head rolls about as
she luxuriates in pleasure. When he finishes with her, the attendants come to
carry her away, and the girl reaches out, begging for more of his bite.

“Please …”

And Pharaoh smiles in a self-satisfied
way.

A few of the other slaves being fed
on rise up, and likewise are led off. And I find it fascinating that they do
not kill them, almost a relief. And it make me doubt the words of my father.
The General had always said the vampires were monsters who showed no mercy, and
I had always assumed they killed their victims. But perhaps this makes more
sense. Why kill your food, when you can keep it alive and have a constant
source of nourishment? And it is as Pharaoh said, how could one have so many
souls following them around for an eternity?

I look to Pharaoh, who stares
intently at his guests once more. And an angry expression has grown on his
face. I look to those before us and realize that some of his honored
lieutenants are staring toward us, with looks of consternation. And a few of
them are staring at me, in a way that makes me feel something is wrong.

Even worse, my temple begins to
throb. I can feel it now, one of the headaches that Lina would complain of, and
whatever Pharaoh is doing with his minions is affecting me. It’s as if the
strength of their mental conversation is invading my mind.

And then I hear it, a few simple
words.

“You should kill her.”

One of the vampires is saying it to
Pharaoh, in a wordless way that frightens me. I can hear it in my mind, and I
seem to know who says it. It is a man sitting toward the front, with thinning
brown hair and a trim beard. He wears a tunic and skirt of leather that make me
feel he is a part of Pharaoh’s military. And I worry that I might have to use
my fighting skills, that he will attack me at any moment.

As the man glares at me, the fangs
pop out of his mouth.

The pain in my mind becomes too
much, and I let out a small gasp. Pharaoh looks to me with concern.

“Are you all right?”

“They hate me, don’t they?” I say,
quietly.

And he looks at me in surprise, no
doubt wondering how I know.

“No, they don’t. They only need to
get to know you better, as have I.”

“It’s all right. It’s only natural,
because of what I am,” I say. “But, perhaps they’ll like me more when I’ve
helped you to kill the Luminos.”

And there is a sudden silence in
the room, as all of the vampires look my way. Even the Queen stops feeding, and
stares at me with interest. Only the royal servants make noise, and they talk
amongst themselves. But they become quiet, slowly realizing that something is
going on.

“What did you say?”

“They are your enemies, which makes
them mine.”

“Saga, I was not going to ask you
to become a part of this war.”

“Of course I will join your war,
whether or not you transform me. I have made my choice, Pharaoh. I am with you.
What have the Luminos ever offered me beside an eternity of suffering? While
you have shown me nothing but kindness, and the promise of eternal bliss. What
little assistance I can offer is yours.”

I turn to face the crowd.

“I do not ask your people to trust
me. That honor must be earned through the blood of your foes.”

The vampires in attendance look to
one another. And slowly, the man who stared at me with hatred begins to clap
his hands. And he’s joined by the others around him.

And Pharaoh
looks to me and smiles.

My state of pure bliss with Pharaoh
is short-lived. Several nights after the dinner in which I was presented to his
people, it happens. As we lie in his bed, enjoying the aftermath of our
passion, Pharaoh turns to me with a look of concern.

“We have a problem,” he says.

“What is that?”

My first thought is that more
Luminos have found their way into the palace, to come for me.

“You are with child.”

I stare at him in shock. And a wave
of emotions comes over me.

“I should have been more careful
when I knew you were fertile. It is my mistake, but I could not resist.”

“I did not know we could make
babies together.”

“We cannot. Unfortunately, if we do
nothing, the infant will destroy you before it is fully formed. And if we grant
you the transformation, your body will likewise consume the young one that
grows inside of you.”

“Is there no way that the child
could survive? Even at my expense?”

“None. And it is a tragic thing to
watch, one of the many curses of our people, that we cannot reproduce as the
humans do.”

And in an instant, my hopes are
dashed. Though I have only known Pharaoh a short time, the idea of having his
baby thrilled me for a moment. And in this way, he has finally wounded me.

“Was this your clever way of
killing off a Luminos foe?”

“No, Saga. Don’t ever say that. I
was a fool, I should have paid more attention to whether or not you could
conceive. But I was selfish,” he says, with eyes filled with pain. “And now we
must make our decision. It will not be long before this begins to affect you.”

“And how does it work? The
transformation?”

“You will drink of my blood over
several days. The change causes some discomfort in your body, it is too much to
handle all at once, so we spread it out over a bit of time. But when you’ve had
enough of my lifeblood, you will become like me. We will live forever, in
happiness.”

I look in his eyes, which are so
filled with love. And there really is no choice for me at all.

“Do it,” I say.

The fangs pop out of his mouth, and
he bites his own arm. I am concerned, to see the breaks in his flesh. But he
puts his wrist to my mouth and I suck from him. And I was so wrong about
Pharaoh, thinking he would hurt me. It is I who drinks his blood.

It doesn’t taste like much at
first. Maybe a bit salty. But I feel it, burning inside me, and I almost want
to find a way to get it out of my body. But I can’t, it’s too late for that.

Then something changes, and I feel
it, a kind of connection to the world around me. Something comes into the room,
and I can see a white light in the air, I can feel it prickling against my
skin. Pharaoh is saying something, but I can’t really hear.

My body begins to burn, as though I
am baking in Famoush’s oven. The heat that overcomes me is so intense that I
must walk outside into the cool night air, to alleviate the scorching sensation
I feel. I go out onto the terrace that overlooks the city, but it’s not enough
to stand there and have the wall around it constricting me. I must climb on top
of the terrace ledge to get higher, to truly feel the wind against my body. And
the city feels like it’s an extension of me, as if my mind can reach out and
touch it all.

I am aware that Pharaoh has come
out behind me, and that he’s worried. But I don’t care. I feel powerful. And
even though I’m high up and could fall to my death, I want to leap, because I
feel I could fly.

“Saga, get down!” he says. And his
voice is filled with fear.

I ignore him, because I can sense
something, off in the distance. To the east.

“I know where they are,” I say,
smiling. I know where my family is.

But he doesn’t care. He rips me
down from the ledge, and I fall against him, laughing. And the worried look in
his eyes makes me feel warm.

“I’m hungry,” I say.

Pharaoh takes me back into the
chamber, and soon, a young girl enters. Her name is Amisi, and she is very
pretty, with jet-black hair that falls down her back, bright red lips and full
breasts. I have seen her in the halls, and I’m not sure if he realizes this,
but I cannot stand the girl. Like Mar Mar, she is one of Pharaoh’s attendants,
and I know she has ambitions. Somehow, I know she wants to be a part of
Pharaoh’s court, and maybe even aspires to be turned into one of us.

And as she stands in his chamber,
watching me, I know the girl wants to take my place.

“Come to me, Amisi. I have need of
you,” he says.

But before she can come closer, I
lash out, in anger.

“I don’t want that thing here.”

“You need to eat, Saga!”

“Not from her!” I hiss. “She
disgusts me!”

And Amisi looks at me, as though
nervous.

“I said I don’t want her here! Make
her leave now!”

My mind reaches out, and touches
hers. And I don’t know how I do it, but I squeeze it, like a grape. And in a
moment, the girl falls to the floor, writhing pain. She screams, and I step
closer, squeezing harder.

Pharaoh touches my hand, and I can
feel his mind reaching out to hers, blocking me somehow. And the girl pants,
seemingly relieved. He calls out to his guards, who come to take her away.

And he watches me, with a look of
concern.

“You should not be able to do that
just yet.”

But I’m not paying attention. I
watch as the guards lift the wretched Amisi with their strong legs, that appear
beneath the leather skirts that they wear. And I can’t help it, I’m a woman, I’m
fascinated by the men.

Pharaoh watches me, and seems to
understand. He calls out to the guards again. And when one of the men comes
back in the room, he turns to me.

“I think I know what you want,”
Pharaoh says.

The guard stands tall, though not
as tall as Pharaoh, who is a giant of a man. And he waits patiently for his
leader’s command.

“Guard, I need you to serve
Pharaoh. Will you do that?”

“Of course, Pharaoh.”

“Good, come to me.”

He makes the man stand before him,
and Pharaoh forces him to kneel. He pushes his head to the side, and pops out
his teeth. And Pharaoh plunges them into the guard’s neck.

The man is stoic, and doesn’t say a
word, but with my changing senses I can tell that his pulse is racing. My love
pulls his head away, and turns to me.

“Drink,” he says.

And in an instant I’m on him, as if
I am possessed, and some external force has taken over my body. And I enjoy
every second of it, the taste of the man’s flesh against my lips, and the
fluids I drink into my body. But his blood is different from Pharaoh’s. I don’t
feel a transformation overcoming me as I drink it, but rather, the soldier’s
blood seems to sink into a pit in my stomach, which feels like it will never be
filled. And the taste is delicious, like the finest of meats that are seasoned
to perfection, even better than that. I feel like I am tasting the man’s very
essence, and images of his life come into my mind; him playing in the streets
as a child, taking his first lover in a back alley of the city. It is as though
the most beautiful part of him flows into me.

And I am dimly aware of a voice in
my ear. And the feeling of a hand on my shoulder. Quite suddenly, I am pulled
away from the soldier, and thrown to the floor by Pharaoh. I’m stunned, but the
strength of my lover gives me a small thrill.

“No, Saga. No,” he says, scolding
me as though I am a pet. “You must never drink them to the point of death. It
is forbidden. When you drink to the point that you begin to experience their
memories, you know you’ve gone too far. Now get me some water.”

Pharaoh cradles the man gently,
like a child, and in a daze, I do as he says. I pour water into a glass that I
drink from, and bring it to him. And Pharaoh gently puts it to the man’s lips.
But rather than being traumatized, the guard looks to my love with fascination.