The Vampires' Birthright (17 page)

The next four months were largely (thankfully!) uneventful. I doubt anyone wants to read about my daily routine of waking up and eating, then meditating and practicing what Kazikli had taught me, helping wash up around the village, meditating and practicing some more, eating and then going to bed. Oh wait, you just did. There you go, four months in a single sentence. I know I sound ungrateful about it, but believe me, that was probably my favorite time. I worried occasionally what my friends thought. Were they worried that I was dead? What had Xuanxang told them about the occurrence outside the palace? By and large though, simple living has enough to keep you busy and the rest of the time I took my training seriously.

The tender care I received from the females was incomparable to anything I’ve known. Ranging from kindergarten age to old women who could barely get around, their kindness was profoundly humbling. And the fact there were women here at all, considering traditional Buddhism’s male monastic traditions, was a marvel in itself.

While the men were kinder souls than I was used to dealing with, the women were simply amazing. The bitterness I felt for losing my life’s dreams and being forced to bear a child to feed a vampire elitist society melted into an appreciation for my life as a woman in its simplest terms. I was about to become a mother. The miracle that no man could ever understand was upon me, and I didn’t have the crazy hustle and bustle of modern society to spoil any of it for me.

Alaia had been steadily growing within me, and my swollen belly made it difficult to get around by March. Keep in mind, these kids grow fast and a full pregnancy lasts only five to six months. Meanwhile, Suddhodana had introduced me to one of his favored servants, named Yangani, who spoke several languages fluently, including English. I was overjoyed that at least one villager besides Suddhodana could carry on a conversation with me, and that Kazikli was wrong! Yangani shared many things I’m eternally grateful for, including helping me learn new ways of meditating and how to focus on the energy manipulation Kazikli showed me on the night he left. She taught me how that tied in with some of their own ancient teachings on Chakra.

Learning to look backwards with her and seeing how much we used to understand that has been forgotten, mis-taught, or suppressed awoke within me a hunger of my own. The universe hasn’t revealed its secrets to me, or anything so bold. I think if anything, by removing all of the distractions of the modern age I have come to see that there are so many wondrous mysteries around in every moment. The hermit’s path made sense to me for the first time in my life. I intend to correspond with Yangani on a monthly basis, since her younger sister lives near Kathmandu and is willing to take my letters to her.

So, why the month of May to resume this narrative? Because of two factors, and both are related. The most important one is that I was ready to give birth at any time. Perhaps because of that fact, my vampire friends returned to my life.

I had no doubt Kazikli would reveal my location to them after a period of secrecy perhaps available to only Gustav and Xuanxang. By then, those three fully believed Huangtian Dadi betrayed me, and Ralu was behind the assassination attempt that last day at the palace.

I can assure you of this information’s accuracy, since it came to me from Suddhodana directly. I have since learned that Xuanxang turned Suddhodana after he cursed the Hindu gods Rama and Krishna for taking his son―the rightful heir to his throne―by inflicting the boy with too great of a conscience to bear. Had his son not defected from the path inspired by these deities, there would be no Buddha. Siddharta Guetama would have followed his father’s steps, and the course of Eastern religious thought as well as vampire genealogies would be forever changed from what they became.

But that’s a subject for another time.

Chanson was the first to visit me. I initially mistook her presence in my hut as Yangani, thinking she was up much earlier than usual.

“Who’s there?” I whispered into the darkness, as the shadowed shape moved from my hut’s doorway to my bedside.

Less than a day before Alaia’s birth, I wasn’t agile enough to defend myself from any intruders. The male guards outside my door were all I had for protection.

“Yangani? Reveal yourself now or I’ll scream!”

Praying fervently that one of Ralu’s assassins hadn’t finally found me, I rose up in my bed and tried to clear my mind as Kazikli had taught me, finding it much more difficult to do under pressure.

“Txema, it’s me, Chanson,” said the dim figure, as she picked up a candle from a table near the doorway. A spark lit it, and cast enough light to illuminate her smiling face.

“Oh my God, it
is
you!” I squealed, incredibly excited to see her. Four months of forced distractions to not think about her or the others crumbled, and I felt such intense joy. “You’ve finally come!” Okay, maybe I did miss the modern world and my friends some.

“Yes, Kazikli finally told us where you’ve been hidden.” She paused to set the candle on a smaller table next to my pillow. “I should’ve known it would be someplace like this, beyond the reach of even prying psychic eyes―including those of us who care deeply for you, cousin. Come.”

She motioned for me to stand, in order to get a good look at me―especially my bulging middle. Her smile grew even brighter, and she wrapped her arms around me in a hug that was much warmer than I expected. Either the heat came from a recent feed or possibly the result of her swift nighttime travel from Xu Zheng Palace or wherever she came from. Slightly disappointed, I briefly entertained the hope of her coolness helping to bring down my body’s feverish temperature.

“It won’t be long, Txema,” she said, her tone bearing the smooth, soothing touch I had long missed hearing. “Before tonight’s moon crosses the Kosi River you will give birth to your baby girl!”

Her beautiful eyes bore the glint of primeval fire. Despite her familial fondness of me and my daughter as her own bloodline, I knew she was excited for the long-term promise that Alaia’s birth and lifeline would mean to the hundreds of vampires who would draw small quantities of her blood from time to time. The same fate awaited me also, and much sooner, since after the birth recovery, I would be the only viable source for that blood. My smile faltered.

Surely, even the vilest vampires in Gustav’s kingdom knew this fact, as well. But, if it kept my daughter untapped until she was old enough to deal safely with the experience, then I’d gladly do it. I believed Chanson would do the same, if she were still human.

“Where are the others?” I tried to cheer myself up with thoughts of friends such as Garvan and Tyreen, and then of Armando and Raquel. “Did you move on from the palace, or are you still there?”

She regarded me with some seriousness for a moment, although her smile only slightly faded.

“We were almost kicked out of the palace after you disappeared,” she said, and her tone betrayed some anger. “Kazikli and Nora were banished, and almost half of the other vampires left with them. They all retired to an ancient fortress in northern India―one that he apparently owns, but had never mentioned to any of us before. Only Gustav knew of it. Tensions remained between our king and Huangtian Dadi, and the rest of the European contingent relocated to this fortress in March. Xuanxang has also joined us, since his Chinese peers accused him of treason for his role in your escape. Only Gustav’s intervention prevented his execution, and he was released from the palace dungeon to Gustav’s custody the very night we traveled to India.”

“Wow,” was all I could say. I guess a lot did happen after I left the ranch. And here I imagined all was well in vampire-land, once the pregnant blood sack was out of the picture.

Chanson eyed me curiously. Her fading smile turned more bemused, as if she picked up enough fragmented images from my head to piece together most of a puzzle.

“So, I guess everyone’s angry with me for leaving without saying goodbye,” I said, when she continued to study me with that queer expression on her face. “You all should know it wasn’t on purpose—”

“It’s not your fault!” she yelled, shaking her head. “None of us are angry with you! If anything, the anger comes from how frail our alliances have become since Ralu’s rise to power. Across the world, we are hearing of factions and wars among other groups either ready to join his growing legions out of fear, or instead, they’re contracting assassins to either kill him or the source of his ire.”

Her lips trembled, and a single blood tear formed in the corner of her right eye. Before it could stain her porcelain face with an uneven stream to her chin, I used the corner of my robe to catch it and wipe her cheek clean. But, unlike Tyreen’s breakdown at the palace at Christmas, Chanson caught herself before she fully gave in to her emotions. Even so, she allowed me to take her in my arms and hold her. Bound by the same bloodline, I truly felt as though we were sisters across time. Whether it was due to Alaia’s development granting me some kind of psychic ability, some projection of Chanson’s power, or even my own developing intuition as a result of the introspection and meditation of the last few months, I knew in that instant she’d never betray either my daughter or me—no matter what became of the unstable political vampire alliances that had already pitted immortal allies against one another.

“Am I wrong to assume that I’m still the source of Ralu’s ire that you mentioned?” I said, once her trembling had ceased. “If so, I must also assume it’s not just me, it’s anyone carrying the birthmark.”

“You are correct,” she said, pulling away to study my face once more. “You’re marked as the very reason a world war among vampires looms on the horizon, and since only a very small number need your blood to maintain their status in the vampire world, the Kingdom of Europe and our smaller allies in North and South America are in danger of extinction. Ralu and his allies, including the Chinese Empire who had once been neutral, would like nothing more than to see us fall.”

“Then, where can Alaia and I go? What place on earth would be safe enough―other than someplace like here, this village?”

“I don’t honestly know,” she said. Her eyes grew sad, sadder than I’ve ever seen them. “As long as Ralu lives, he will want to destroy the only thing that truly stands in his way to full world domination―both vampire and human combined―and the other vampire nations are fools not to see it. Gustav will always be his enemy of course, unless Ralu wins and Gustav and the rest of us become Chupacabras.”

“So, now it’s a race to either kill him or me… and now Alaia,” I said, rehashing the obvious and covering my belly protectively. “You may be in danger, too.”

“No, Txema. Since I’m no longer human, the mark I bear is of no concern to them. Unless Racco can come up with a way to make an infertile vampire a fertile human again, the only threat to Ralu’s full conquest is you. You and Alaia.”

I have to admit, for a moment, my own irritation rose at the mention of her and Racco in the same context as making babies. It brought me right back to that raw emotion I experienced when Kazikli first told me of it back in January. I so badly wanted to grill her about what happened between them, but this wasn’t the right time, especially in light of what we faced together. Hell, at the very root of this crisis was Chanson’s sacrifice to watch over her daughters’ continuation of our sacred bloodline. That would count for very little if that effort died with my daughter and me.

“Perhaps Kazikli can come up with something,” I said, not thinking of how this statement would be received.

“How so?” She sounded suspicious.

“Well, he made himself into a pretty impressive pterodactyl to bring me here and do you know anyone else with a cane that emits purple lightning bolts?” I said, choosing to stay with common knowledge, since these were facts she surely already knew. No sense in bringing up what I’d learned since. “If nothing else, he might know of another hiding place, if it looks like Alaia and I won’t be able to remain here for long.”

Plenty of truth and enough fact avoidance to pass for a crafty politician, or so I hoped.

“Perhaps you’re right about that,” said Chanson, her tone and expression softening.

“I hope so,” I said. “I really do.”

She might get irritated if she ever learns what I withheld from her, but I knew she’d forgive me. Just as I’d forgive her for never mentioning her long ago romance with the man I was on the verge of falling in love with.

I knew it all for only one reason.

In that very moment, I had already forgiven her.