Blood and Needles

by Billy Lyon

  One day, a year into our marriage, Khaled rushed into my sitting room. “Amirah! I have such wonderful news!”

  I greeted him with a kiss. “Then hurry and tell me what it is, before you burst!”

  “Your father just informed me that he has finally decided to move forward with an alliance between us and our friends from The East!”

  “Oh, Khaled. I’m so happy for you.” This was something he had been working towards for quite some time, and I was excited for him.

  “Think of how much stronger the Kingdom will be!” He said. “There’s even more good news. Soon an entourage from The East will arrive, and they will be staying with us for quite some time. Many of the friends I made when I was there will be here. Isn’t it exciting?”

  I agreed that it was. “We will have to make them feel as welcome here as they did you when you were there,” I told him. He rushed from the room to make preparations, happier than I had ever seen him.

  Not long after, the Asians arrived. An ecstatic Khaled burst into our bedroom, where I had just begun to make my preparations for the day. “They’re here!” he exclaimed, and dragged me out of bed. “Hurry up. I can’t wait for you to meet my friends,” he said, and rushed out of the room. I shook off my sleepiness and rose to meet the day.

  Later, I walked to the main entrance. Standing beside Khaled was a short, pale man. His head was clean shaven except for a black ponytail hanging from the back of his head to the middle of his shoulders. A sickly wisp of beard clung to the bottom of his chin.

  I disliked this stranger from the first moment I laid eyes on him. This was unusual for me, because I took great pride in my open-mindedness towards other cultures. I told myself it was stupid to judge someone without even having spoken to them, but the quiet voice that warned me simply would not go away.

  “Amirah, I would like you to meet my good friend Yi.”

  I bowed, and the stranger responded in kind as he took my outstretched hand. “It’s a great honor for me to meet the wife of such a great man as Khaled.”

  “I’m very pleased to meet you,” I said, but shivered at his touch.

  12

  A feeling of sadness came over Steven as Anna Marie reached this point in her story. Somehow he knew that things were about to take a much darker turn.

  “At first, the changes in Khaled were only superficial, and I attributed them to the long hours he had spent with our guests working on the treaty. Each night he came to bed later and later, but I paid little attention. It was only natural for him to be overworked for a while and not have as much time for me as usual.

  One night, however, Khaled didn’t come to bed at all, and I knew something was wrong. It simply wasn’t like him to disappear for an entire night, so I forced myself to stay awake until he returned.

  When he finally did, it was shortly after dawn. His appearance was haggard, and it was clear that he hadn’t been working. His clothes were rumpled, their wrinkles matched only by deep ones carved into the sides of his mouth and eyes that hadn’t been there a month ago. His eyes drooped, his lips were dotted with chalky white stains, and his normally alert expression had become a droopy, drowsy stare. He had also lost a significant amount of weight since the Asians had arrived, at least thirty pounds.

  Khaled stopped short as he walked to our sleeping quarters, shocked and annoyed to find me awake and waiting.

  “Where were you? I’ve been worried to death!” I moved close to him and almost choked on the sickly-sweet odor that blanketed his clothes and body. “What’s that smell?”

  “It’s just some incense Yi likes to burn while we work,” Khaled said indifferently. “It stinks, doesn’t it?”

  I grew angry for the first time. Khaled was lying to me, and I didn’t appreciate it. “What was this work that kept you from our bed until dawn?”

  “Leave me alone,” he mumbled drowsily. “I’m sleepy…”

  I wasn’t about to let him slink off and sleep the day away without getting at least some kind of an honest answer. I needed to know the truth, regardless of how much it might hurt. “Khaled, are you having an affair with one of those foreign women?”

  I didn’t know what kind of response to expect, but it wasn’t the hysterical laughter that followed. Khaled cackled as if my question was the funniest joke he’d ever heard. Eventually he stopped and turned to me with a smirk.

  “Yes, my dear, I’ll admit it,” Khaled said sarcastically. “You’ve discovered my secret. I am in love with one of them, and her name is Lady Morphia.” He quickly turned angry. “Leave me be, woman. I have a date with a dream.” Then he collapsed into a chair and fell asleep. Try as I might I couldn’t rouse him even a little bit.

  That night I followed him to the visitors’ quarters where the Asians had been living for the past six weeks. Eerie echoes bounced off the stone walls as I crept deeper and deeper into the lower regions of the palace.

  I walked carefully up to the doorway and peered inside.

  Khaled lay on a red velvet sofa. Directly across from him was his friend Yi, who reclined on one almost identical. They were taking turns smoking a long black ivory. The room reeked of the nasty stench I had smelled earlier that morning. I ignored the stink and listened in.

  “You don’t think your wife has discovered our plan, do you?” Yi asked, concern thick in his voice.

  “Don’t worry,” Khaled replied. “Since her latest miscarriage the only thing Amirah worries about is running around playing the part of the perfect little princess.”

  Khaled’s words were a thousand knives, each one shoved into my gut. Did he really feel this way? Had our love only been a lie? I wanted to run away as fast as I could, but forced myself to stay, in order to learn about the plan Yi had mentioned.

  “Yes,” Yi laughed. “Your wife does seem to be preoccupied with the social graces. What about the old man? Do you think he suspects?”

  Khaled took a deep drag off the pipe. When he spoke again, his words were accented by puffs of smoke. “Of course not. He believes anything I tell him. Once our treaty goes into effect our army will be reduced so quickly and thoroughly that your own soldiers will have little difficulty conquering this miserable plot of sand.”

  “And once the coup is complete,” Yi said, taking the pipe, “The king will be removed the throne will be yours, along with all the Morphia you desire, provided you save enough to sell to your citizens.” He picked up a small bell and rang it. Two young women entered, disrobed, and knelt before the two men.

  As the women serviced them, I turned and ran to the one person who could help. I ran to my Father. My innocence fled with me, and with every step the carefree young woman I had been vanished a little bit more.

  I burst into Father’s room. He was fast asleep but the sound of my sobs woke him almost at once.

  “Amirah! Dear one, whatever is the matter?”

  The story of what I had seen and heard poured from my mouth like so much vomit. Father listened carefully without interrupting, gently stroking my hair as I spoke. This gesture had given me comfort since I was a little girl, and now was no exception.

  I expected Father to be furious at the plot being fashioned against him but his response was filled with the wisdom and compassion so characteristic of him. “I have heard of this Morphia,” he said, “and how it turns good men and women into slaves. I never believed, however, that we would see such poison in our own land.”

  He saw the despair in my face and took my hand. “Fear not, Amirah. The courage you have shown this evening will do much to undo the treachery this man Yi has planned. Our first step, however, must be to win back our good Khaled. When he is free of the evil that haunts him I know he will return to the man we both love.”

  The sincerity in his eyes gave me an enormous sense of hope. Father never failed at anything, so I simply took it for granted that things would happen just as he said. But I was young, and had no experience of evil’s insidious power.

  I rose to thank Father with
a kiss. Before my lips could touch his cheek, however a burst of air passed by my face as an arrow pierced his heart. As his lifeless body fell back onto the bed, I turned. The person who had shot the arrow was my husband Khaled.

  “You bastard,” I shouted. “He loved you like his own!” There was a brief glimmer of remorse in Khaled’s eyes, and he started to speak, but was interrupted by another, more sinister voice.

  “So sad,” Yi said. “But we have little time for sentiment. Khaled, run and make sure no one heard anything.” I vowed silently before all the Gods that I would kill him along with each one of his countrymen in the most terrible method my mind could fashion. Yi turned towards me. “Amirah, if you remain silent, I see no reason why there should be any further bloodshed.”

  Khaled rose to leave, but I moved between him and the door. “Khaled, consider what you’re doing.” I pointed at Yi. “Do you really think you can believe this yellow dog? Once he has what he wants you’ll become as useless to him as Father, and will meet the same end. Fight with me! Sound the battle cry and we will defeat this treachery together. In the name of the love that we share I beg you, Khaled, do not give in to this evil!” Our eyes met and for a moment he was the courageous husband I loved, but then my hopes were destroyed by a single round of applause.

  Yi slowly clapped his hands. “Excellent, Amirah. Such stirring words! Perhaps I should install you as my puppet leader instead of Khaled.” He turned toward Khaled. “Your husband will do nothing so foolish as what you ask of him. If he does, his true love, his Lady Morphia, will leave him forever. You wouldn’t want that to happen, would you, Khaled?” Any remaining courage inside Khaled disappeared as soon as Yi mentioned the word Morphia. All my love for him went with it. “Do you?” Yi asked again.

  Khaled avoided my eyes. “No.”

  “Then go and do as I say!”

  Khaled scurried from the room and Yi laughed again. “Young love torn asunder. Such a pity. I’m sorry I had to force my hand, but you left me no choice.” He moved closer until his face was only inches from my own. “It would be a shame if you were to lose both of the men in your life.”

  I spit in his face, fully expecting him to kill me, but I didn’t care. It was apparent to me, if not Khaled, that Yi intended to kill us both once his plans had succeeded. But his only response was to remove a piece of cloth from a pocket and use it to wipe his face.

  Just then Father’s manservant Haisam entered the room. When he saw Yi, his eyes became ablaze with caution.

  “Everything’s fine, Haisam,” I said. “Our meeting with the foreign delegation ran later than expected. Father is in the other room taking a break and Khaled left to walk the Basenji. You may leave us.”

  “As you wish,” Haisam said, and left.

  Yi smiled. “That was very good, Amirah. Your ability to think on your feet has just saved your life and that of your husband.”

  “For my own life I care nothing. But you are right in that I very much want Khaled to live,” I lied. A few minutes later, Khaled entered breathlessly.

  “Is everything okay? I just passed Haisam.”

  “Everything is wonderful. Your lovely wife told him that you were walking the dog and that the old man was in the other room.”

  Khaled’s face turned white. “But we have a cat, not a dog.” Before either of them could react, members of the Palace Guard stormed into the room with their weapons drawn. Quickly I crossed to them while offering silent thanks to the Gods. I had placed all my hope in Haisam, trusting that he would realize something was wrong when I mentioned our Basenji, a hound, when in reality we owned a Mau, a cat.

  “Treachery!” I cried. “They have murdered the Pharaoh!” It took only seconds for the captain of the Guard to react and even less time for Yi’s corpse to fall at my feet. Khaled rushed to my side. “Amirah. Your story of the basenji was genius! I’m so proud of you.” He tried to embrace me, but I slapped him hard across the face. The strength of the blow took him to his knees.

  I looked at the Captain. “Here is the one who shot the arrow that took my Father. Kill him.” The last thing I heard from Khaled was an astonished scream as he died. I walked out of the room with my head held high, feeling absolutely no regret.

  13

  Once outside Father’s room I ordered the Captain to throw the remaining Asians into the prison that lay deep underneath the main floor of the palace. They would remain there until I could fully develop the plan that was beginning to form in my mind. I also commanded my father’s body to be taken to the royal priests and prepared for burial. Khaled and Yi’s bodies would also be put away, but for entirely different purposes.

  Because so much would be required of me in the next few days I decided the best thing to do would be to get some sleep, so I went back to my chambers and got into bed. My body was exhausted to the point of passing out, but my mind simply refused to shut down. The sight of the arrow tearing through Father’s chest and the dull, hollow stare that took the place of the light in his eyes had become stuck in my mind’s eye and refused to go away.

  I lay in bed tossing and turning until the black light outside my window was gradually replaced by softer orange and yellow tones. When bright sunshine streamed through my open window I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to sleep any time soon so I got out of bed, put on my clothes, and went to visit Father. Soon his body would be preserved according to our tradition, but I wanted to see him once more before it was.

  “Father. Dear Father!” I wailed as I stood in front of his cold, naked body. “I loved you so much. I still do. I’m sorry that I destroyed everything by bringing Khaled into our lives.”

  “You forget that it was I who brought him to us.” At the sound of the familiar voice I turned and forced back a scream. Had the events of last night driven me mad?

  “Hello, Amirah.” A shimmering golden aura surrounded Father’s transparent body. “Why do you look so surprised, Dear One?” he laughed. “Did you think the tales of the afterlife you were taught as a girl were mere fables?”

  “No, Father, but you must admit that it’s one thing to be taught about spirits and quite another to meet one face to face.”

  “That may be true, but there is still no need to doubt what you can clearly see with your own eyes. When such a strong bond exists between two living persons as the one we shared, it is oftentimes possible for such a meeting as this to occur, if only briefly.”

  “Does this mean that you can’t stay?”

  “No Amirah, I cannot, although there is nothing that I would not give in order to be able to remain here with you.”

  “Then why come at all?” I asked selfishly.

  “I have been granted this one opportunity to return to earth in order to give you a warning. Soon a dark choice will be presented to you, Amirah, and the decision you make will have everlasting consequences upon your immortal soul. Many temptations and pleasures will be offered to you, but accepting them will mean the passage of many thousands of years before you will know true love once more. Choose carefully, dear one, whether the rewards you will receive will be worth the price you are forced to pay.”

  Before I could ask even one of the myriad of questions racing through my mind, Father’s image began to fade. “Goodbye, Amirah,” he said, and I was left alone.

  I said one final goodbye before leaving the burial chambers and walking to the visitor’s wing where I had discovered Khaled’s treachery. I told myself that the reason I was returning was to search for additional clues that might further implicate the Asians, but the real reason was my desire to find out more about the substance Khaled had called morphia. Was it really possible that a mere powder could be powerful enough to transform my husband from a brave leader into a cowardly traitor?

  I crossed the threshold into the room and I walked to the plain wooden table sitting beside the sofa and opened one of its drawers. Inside was the same black pipe Khaled had used to smoke the drug, and beside it was a small, crimson bag made of silk
and filled with a considerable amount of morphia.

  My heart quickened at the sight of it. I wanted to feel the pleasure the drug offered more than anything else on earth, and I wouldn’t stop until I had. I hurriedly removed the items from the drawer and tucked them inside my dress. This act of concealment made me feel dirty and sinful. It was something I had never felt before, but excited me, nonetheless.

  My next destination was the dungeons. I walked inside and saw the foreign prisoners huddled together in small groups, praying to their heathen gods for deliverance. Only one of them stood alone, a woman named Melei. She would turn out to be as instrumental to my birth into the vampire world as my mother was to that of humans.

  Later on I would learn that she was much older than I in human years, but on that day she looked much younger and was easily the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She was thin to the point of being waif-like, yet her body was accented by firm breasts that poked through the fabric of her plain white gown. Her eyes were such a deep shade of brown that they almost matched the hue of the long, black hair piled high on top of her head.

  She stared at me from the moment I entered the room. I motioned for her to come forward. Once she got as close as the bars would allow she stopped and stared into my eyes. I immediately became aroused and felt a familiar ache rise between my legs. I desperately hoped that she and I would become lovers in the near future.

  She smiled at me seductively, which aroused me even more, but her uninvited familiarity made me angry. I turned away from her without saying a word and went in search of the nearest guard. I gave him orders to separate her from the other prisoners and have her brought to my quarters the next evening.