by Brian Lumley
‘He stared at his men — glared at them with eyes of flame, lengthened his jaws and yawned at them a little — so that they all drew back a pace… until he grinned a wolfs grin at them, then threw back his great head and laughed until his hair shimmered all down his back!
‘“Ah, but see, I have made a joke,” he said. “For all and all, my lieutenants, thralls, and familiar creatures know that to thieve from me is to bid farewell to all this. My rules are made simple, so that even a dullard may understand them. In my manse in Starside dwell many starveling warriors who have their needs no less than men; from time to time they enjoy the occasional tidbit, and to a monster they are especially fond of tidbits that kick and shriek and spurt red…”
‘And after a pause, turning to my father: “Dry work, this joking,” he said. “Are we perhaps thirsty, Dinu Vadastra?” And he beckoned to his side a junior lieutenant.
‘By then, as might well be imagined, my father was very thirsty. He produced a tray of beaten gold, and three goblets of that same common metal which he filled with white wine from a barrel. This was ever the ritual: that Dinu play the part of one
of Lord Malinari’s food-tasters. For, like all of the Wamphyri but more so than most, The Mind was susceptible to silver in however small a measure — indeed, to granules of silver, to the very dust of silver — and likewise to garlic, whose mere reek was guaranteed to cause nausea and copious vomiting. Thus Dinu would take the first sip, which would provide him with an early opportunity to declare the wine fouled; next the tithesman who, being a vampire, would not only taste any poison but react violently to it; and finally Malinari, first inhaling deeply of the wine’s bouquet through his snout’s fleshy runnels, before gulping it down. For however much he affected lordly airs, and, on occasion, a “flowery” or “delicate” mode of speech, still Lord Malinari’s table manners were dreadful!
‘So on through every barrel, a taste from each; the brandies, too, and even the honey. And while my father was sensible enough to drink but sparingly, still he was staggering a little towards the end. As for the foodstuffs — the wild grain, roots and fruits, animals and such, aye, and bairns, too — they were not tested, though for a fact Malinari lingered a while over a fat boy child whose black eyes smiled at him in all innocence, while the monster’s own crimson orbs flared that much brighter in his face…
‘Then on to the wolf-bitch in her cage: “A prize indeed!” Malinari approved. “I may keep her and her whelps both,” and he made as if to stroke her through the bars. But, growling low in her throat, she snapped at him, and Malinari withdrew his hand with no room to spare, saying, “Or perhaps not. For wolves are plaguy, treacherous beasts at best. But fine strong meat, Dinu Vadastra, I’ll grant you that. And on that same subject, where, pray, are the rest of my animals — the ones who walk upright?”
‘With which the unfortunate ones, all sorted and chained in a row — a man, a girl, a youth, a woman, and so on — were trooped out for Malinari’s inspection. They had been caused to void themselves (for the sake of ‘cleanliness’), then had been washed, groomed, and clad in good fur robes fastened with golden clasps.
And there they paraded, most with bowed heads, but a few of the younger men muttering (however unwisely), and the adult women sobbing, and this or that young girl far too prideful, too aware of her lithe Szgany sensuality, head tilted and dark eyes fluttering, daring to gaze on Malinari and even hoping to impress him. Ah, but The Mind was not easily impressed.
‘He walked the line — or rather flowed along it, with that deceptive grace of the Wamphyri — and his tithesmen with him, senior men to the fore and juniors well to the rear. And whenever Malinari paused to look closer at one of his male acquisitions, then his senior lieutenants would step forward and take hold of the man, forcing wide his jaws so that the Great Vampire could examine his teeth. Then they would unfasten his gold clasp, displaying his naked body, and sometimes Malinari might indicate his approval of a youth’s long limbs and broad shoulders, murmuring, “This one is for the making, I think. In Malstack, my vats stand empty.” Or, “This one is a fighting man, tall and well muscled, aye.” Or again, he might say nothing at all, but simply shake his head. For there was always the provisioning.
‘In a while he came to one of those too-proud girls, who dared to gaze upon him, and paused. Again his senior tithesmen moved forward, one of them reaching for the clasp at the girl’s throat to open her robe. But she was a beauty, and the lieutenant too eager. Noticing this, Lord Malinari caught at his hand and stayed it, then narrowed his eyes in a frown, saying:
‘ “Ah, but see how your blood courses, Stefanu. Why, I can feel it pulsing through your veins like a raging river.’ And so you’re a lustful one, are you? But you know — now that I think of it — I have often wondered why, when I send you out to collect my tithes, I get so few virgins…?”
‘ “Master, I—” said Stefanu, trying to back off. But Malinari held him, saying:
‘Ah, ah, be still!” And he touched the index finger of his free hand to the man’s brow. Stefanu groaned, jerked, began to lift his right hand where it was sheathed in a murderous gauntlet. This was a wholly reflex action, nothing more, but Malinari had seen it. His eyes blazed up at once, like coals under the bellows, and as his jaws elongated and his lips curled back from scythe-like teeth, so Stefanu fell to his knees and begged for mercy.
‘Then for long moments Malinari’s index finger trembled on his lieutenant’s forehead, and his face writhed in a passion as he read the man’s thoughts, at least the ones that were important to him. Until suddenly, straining as if from some enormous effort of will, he snatched back his hand and snarled:
‘ “Oh, you miserable, lecherous man! Consider yourself fortunate, for while I have had your thoughts, I’ve left your mind intact. Not out of any love for you, Stefanu Mindsthrall — ravisher of my women before I’ve so much as seen them — but because I may soon have need of you. And treacherous? Did I not see you raise your hand, your war-gloved hand, against me? Did you dare think to strike me? Perhaps you did! And so for now… begone! Remove! Take yourself from my sight. Get to your flyer and wait for me there, and consider your treacherous ways: what you have done this night, and to whom, and what it would be like to live out the rest of your life floundering and drooling, mindless in a pit of your own wastes — which might yet be your get from all this!”
‘He released Stefanu, and when he had wriggled away, stumbled to his feet and fled, Malinari said to the girl, “My dear, give me your hand.” She obeyed him at once. And using his mentalism he saw what only he could see, then asked her, “Are you truly a virgin?”
‘“Oh yes, my Lord,” she answered. And Malinari nodded and smiled.
‘ “Had you said no,” he told her, “I might have made you a lieutenant’s woman, for your honesty. But I abhor liars however pretty — especially little whores who would attempt my seduction by trying to hide their thoughts from me. Wherefore… no high station for you, young lady, but there are common thralls in my manse who will enjoy instructing you. Or you them, whichever!” And, wrinkling his nose, he shrugged and turned away from her.
‘Malinari’s inspection was over. And now he told Dinu Vadastra, “I am not displeased. Not with you and yours. But you’ve seen how I deal with them who would deny me my due. So now tell me truly: was this the best you could do?”
‘“The Vadastras have never made finer wines or brandies,” my father answered. “As for the foodstuffs, no better flesh may be bred or hunted, no purer honey or sweeter fruits foraged. On my word, my Lord, this is our best.”
‘“And what of the tithe in human flesh?” Malinari glanced at the robed ones in their chains. “Are these also the best you have to offer, or do you hold something in reserve?”
‘“Again I’ve done my best,” Dinu told him. “But certainly I must have a reserve — of good blood, good flesh for breeding — lest the Vadastras falter and become useless to you.”
‘And Malinari
nodded and said, “This was always our understanding, aye. But Dinu, take heed, hard times are coming, and my needs are great. Do you see this dark cloud hanging over us, like a portent of ill-omen? What say you, chief of the Vadastras? It seems to me it bodes not well.”
‘And when my father glanced at the heavens — indeed there was a dark and hovering cloud, which until now had gone mainly unnoticed. It turned slowly in the night-dark skies over Vadastra territory, and within its writhing mass, riding the laden air, darker shapes seemed hidden.
‘So that Dinu’s voice was less certain, small and faltering, as he inquired, ‘“W-w-what does it mean, my Lord?”
‘But The Mind’s “cultured” tones were grown very deep and menacing now, and his scarlet eyes more truly aflame as he answered, “It means that despite our — what, our friendship? — and despite that you have been a true and honest man…”
‘At which point there sounded a small commotion; a fluttering figure appeared at the rim of the tableau, and: “What? A true and honest man, this Dinu Vadastra? This so-called chief?
This great thief? I say wait, give me but a moment to show you that you are wrong, my Lord!” The voice was shrill and female.
‘And Nadia, where she huddled close to me in my father’s caravan, started and gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. For she had recognized the voice: that of her mother, Melana Zetra, who came hurrying now from her hiding place. And:
‘“But what is this?” Malinari arched his eyebrows, and his forehead creased in a frown. “Someone dares to raise her voice, to interfere, and to command Nephran Malinari to wait?”
‘For a moment Dinu Vadastra was stunned; likewise the rest of the clan, including Nadia and myself. But as Melana came in a rush, her hair awry and her face gaunt with fear — the terror of what she was about — it was observed that she wore a robe of offering. And indeed she was offering herself, of her own free will, to Malinari and his tithesmen! Ah, but she was offering a deal more than that.
‘“What?” said Malinari again, in utter amaze, as she threw herself down before him, clawing the earth at his feet. “Is she a mad thing, that she interferes with the tithe?”
‘ “Mad with grief!” Melana cried, tearing her hair, throwing off her robe and kneeling there naked. “Mad with rage, and with outrage. For I have been cheated and used badly. My people, too, and even you, my Lord, cheated! All of us — by this man!” And she pointed a trembling finger at Dinu.
‘It was the beginning of the end. And any observer could be forgiven for thinking that Dinu was himself Wamphyri — the way his eyes popped out like plums in his face, and the way he bared his teeth — as he threw himself upon Melana and bore her down. His knife rose over the tangle they made… until Malinari took it from him, tossed it away, then grabbed Dinu by the scruff of the neck and drew him upright. And:
‘“Speak up!” he commanded Nadia’s mother. “How have I been cheated? Oh, be sure I could learn it my way, but the process is harmful and your chief might easily lose all powers of reason. Moreover, I would like him to hear for himself what may yet harm him even more. So say on, woman: tell me how Dinu Vadastra has betrayed me.” He looked at my father dangling in his grasp, his sandalled feet barely touching the ground, then grunted and thrust him away, sending him sprawling to the earth. Dinu would have attacked Melana again, at once, but a pair of lesser lieutenants were at his side, their gauntlets ready. And so he kept still.
‘Then Melana spoke up, and the complaints she listed were the selfsame grievances that every decent Vadastra man, woman, or child capable of reasoned and intelligent thought had carried in his or her heart for long and long, without ever daring to give them substance. She spoke of the chiefs many prejudices, and of his favourites — such as herself — who remained hidden away, secret and undisclosed to the Great Lord of Vampires, when he sent his tithesmen out of Starside to collect his tribute; and of Dinu’s treachery to his own tribesmen: how, if he were jealous of a man’s prowess, or if he should be bested in some piddling campfire argument, then the better man might expect to find himself listed for the tithe. So that for long and long, no one had dared say Dinu no.
‘Melana went on and on, as if she would never end. For as my father’s odalisque, she had been privy to a great many wicked things in his caravan — all of his conspiracies with his cronies — in the time since her good husband, Banos, had been taken in the tithe. And so she lashed Dinu with her unforgiving tongue, which all the while gathered fire and passion; for Melana knew that, one way or the other, it was all done with now, and so she might as well do her worst.
‘Then, towards the end, she spoke of her man, Banos Zetra; but here she broke down, sobbing her heart out when telling how Banos — a hunter whose contributions to the tithe had been significant — had been carried off to Malstack in Starside simply because Dinu Vadastra had fancied his wife for himself, and for no other reason.
‘“And here I kneel before you,” she finished at last, “the
living proof of all that I have said. But my man is in Starside and there’s no place here for me now, for which reasons I would venture over the barrier mountains with you and yours, into the dark. And what of the ones that Dinu has hidden from you, great Lord? My daughter, whom he saves for his own worthless son. Aye, and that selfsame son, Korath, who skulks like a whipped dog in his father’s caravan there?’ At the last she threw herself flat on the earth, sobbing and clasping Malinari’s feet.
‘And Malinari was silent for a while, as he considered all that he had been told. But meanwhile his men were not idle. Two of them were at the withe door of my father’s caravan; finding it barred from within, they tore it from its hinges. And one of them poked his head in and saw us, calling out: “They are here, my Lord. A youth and a girl, huddled in the dark like mice. The woman spoke the truth.”
‘ “So,” said Malinari, and his voice was doomful quiet now, even as quiet as the strange dark clouds circling overhead. “If she spoke the truth, then someone has lied. Bring these mice to me.”
‘But my father cried out, “My Lord! Have mercy, I beg you! He is my son, and the girl is his woman, and…”
‘ “And… you kept them from me,” said Malinari, silencing him with a glance. “I was not shown them, nor asked if I wanted them. You desired no mercy of me then, only now. Like the child who steals a plum then asks if he may have one. Or in this case two plums… or three, if we include this good brave woman.”
‘He stooped and caught up Melana’s robe, took her shoulder and drew her to her feet. “Cover yourself,” he said. “I believe there may be a position for a hard-working woman — as an overseer of women — in Malstack in Starside. Moreover, I know of a certain thrall called Banos, who has not taken any woman of the manse in all the time he has served me. And Banos has served me well… unlike several I could name.” He gloomed on Dinu Vadastra, then across the clearing to where a certain senior lieutenant sat all morose astride his flyer.
‘And though Melana fastened her warm robe about her, still she shivered. She had felt the weird cold when Malinari touched her, the tendrils of sentient ice that flowed from his fingers. Yet still she was the brave one. “What of my daughter, my Lord? My beloved child, still innocent despite this unworthy Korath’s vile embraces?”
‘Malinari looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “You should be aware,” he said, “of the thin line between bravery and utter folly. I’m not much known for listening to complaints, and even less for granting wishes.” But then he sighed, and said, “First let me see this girl, this—”
‘“Nadia,” Melana told him.
‘“As you will,” Malinari nodded. “This Nadia. And for that matter, this unworthy Korath, too.” And his lieutenants dragged Nadia and myself before him. Thus I came face to face with Lord Nephran Malinari, of the Wamphyri.’
‘ “Are you your father’s son?” he questioned me. ‘ “Eh? Er, pardon?” (For how to answer such a question?) ‘ “Eh? Pardon?” He mimicked me. “Are yo
u a cheat and a liar like your father, Dinu Vadastra?”
‘Well, I wasn’t like my father to that extent. But big and brawny I was, and perhaps a little stupid, too. “I’m no cheat,” I told him. “And no man calls me a liar.”
‘When he moved I did not even see it! But I felt his clout, the thud of his back-hander against the side of my head, making my ears ring and knocking me off my feet. Well, it seemed plain to me that I had offended him. Now it was time to die — but not without a fight. I sprang up — and was at once pinioned by the men who had brought us from the caravan. But struggle as best I might I couldn’t shift them or throw them off. And Malinari, he laughed, saying:
‘ “Hold still and listen. You are big and handsome, and you are strong as a bull shad… and you are mine.’ Unworthy? Well, maybe. We’ll wait and see if blood runs true. But first there’s work for you, a chance to prove yourself, in Starside.”
‘He turned to Nadia. “You’re the image of your mother. But are you as brave? Will you come into Starside, of your own free will, to be a vampire with your father and your mother there?”
‘“I have no other life, Lord,” she answered.
‘“But you will have,” Malinari told her. “For you shall be a stable-maid, tending my flyers in their pens, in Malstack.”
‘Then in a trice, in a flowing motion too fast to follow, he leaned to her neck and bit her! It was the work of a moment, to put his life — or undeath — into her, then into her mother, so that, swooning, they collapsed on the earth. And finally Malinari turned once more to me.
‘Held fast by his men, and stiffened by my terror, I could do nothing but stand stock-still, like a shad in the slaughter-yard, with my eyes half-shuttered.