Blood started to torrent from his neck, left jugular and carotid both cleanly sliced through. The knife was finally released from his fingers, its fall to the floor muffled in the growing pool of blood.
Athan gave a satisfied nod, quickly taking some steps forward. His left arm hooked under Farin’s right, keeping him from falling to the floor as his consciousness faded. The vampire’s free hand moved up, shoving the sentry’s lulling head back, exposing the gash. Athan’s lips quickly landed upon the ebbing flow of blood, and he drank with languid pleasure.
Corina turned away completely, unable to watch. Whether she hated Farin or not, seeing Athan feed from the dying man gave her no joy at all. A sickness welled up in her stomach at the spectacle. She closed her eyes and clasped her hands to her chest, silently praying to be removed from the event. She’d never watched Athan or Keiran feed directly from someone, and she hoped it was a sight she would never witness again.
When Athan had his fill, he let go of Farin, allowing his body to collapse downward, covering most of the blood that had spilled on the floor.
The vampire took a step backward, wiping a hand across his mouth before he turned to face the woman. “Corina, look at me.”
She didn’t want to see any of the spectacle, but his voice was commanding. There were some deep rooted responses to Athan she had no power over. She turned to face him and opened her eyes, fixing upon him to keep from looking at Farin’s body. Her hands went icy, and her body trembled. Even in the dim light of the kitchen’s still growing fire, the fact her complexion had gone to a waxy pallor was obvious.
Athan didn’t concern himself much with that, however. He knew well enough most normal humans didn’t have the stomach to witness such things without negative reactions. Still, there was something nearing interest, if not concern, for how Corina would be changed by the event.
“I saved your life, and he earned everything that just befell him. You can understand that, yes?” he asked.
Justified execution or not, Corina was still profoundly disturbed. Her fear toward Athan abated just a little, though, as something in his tone told her he wasn’t going to harm her.
She gave the slightest of nods before casting her gaze toward a dark corner of the room. “You spared me from being murdered, and I am not ungrateful.”
Athan took a step closer to her, his eyes narrowing. He needed to control her reaction to some degree. “Keiran still needs you, therefore, I still need you. I didn’t save you out of some sentimental link I have.”
“I didn’t suppose you would,” she whispered, still averting her gaze. Though she’d been in love with Athan ages back, those feelings had long ago died with the staunch realization he was evil.
He picked up on something from her and took yet another step forward. “Look at me, Corina. You need to understand once and for all the reality of not just what I am but of what your precious Keiran is, as well.”
She did as ordered, lifting her head a bit and staring right at him. Athan’s face was smeared with Farin’s blood, and the front of his black shirt shined with wetness. While she knew Keiran had fed in a similar primal manner, for the first time her mind clearly envisioned him looking like Athan. Tears burned in her eyes at the thought, but instead of changing her view on Keiran, it reignited her resentment of Athan for turning him into what he was.
The vampire gave a nod and knew the old woman wasn’t in danger of developing any misplaced sentiments for him. There was something interesting drifting around in the depths of Corina’s mind, however. “You have a question unrelated to this?”
Corina knew it wasn’t the right venue to go walking back into the past, but since Keiran’s birth, she’d not had a moment alone with the vampire. “Was our child a boy or a girl? I never even knew.”
Something changed in Athan’s stance. While he didn’t carry many real concerns or feelings for others, there was something instinctual deep within him regarding his own offspring. His voice took on an awkward edge, and his eyes drifted toward the ceiling. “Female, and like all of my female children, she did not survive more than a few minutes after birth.”
A tear broke loose and ran down her cheek, but through her emotions she still sensed Athan’s change in mood. “You only impregnated me to allow me to be Keiran’s nurse, didn’t you? You somehow knew the queen wouldn’t survive.”
“Yes,” he said flatly, still not looking at her. “I knew she would die, and you were fertile at the right time and healthy. Nothing more, nothing less. Even if our child had lived, you were strong enough to raise two children.”
It had been a long time since Corina had dropped the delusion that Athan ever really cared for her on any level. She’d merely been a pawn to him, but at least she had one more small piece to the puzzle.
There was another question seething, though, one she decided to risk asking. “And what of the princess you took from here?”
Instantly, Athan locked eyes with the old woman and gave a slight shake of his head. As quickly as the door had opened for her to speak freely with him, it slammed shut again. Despite his ability to control his outward expression of emotion, something moved behind his eyes that seemed agonizingly painful.
His jaw set, and his posture straightened. “No, we have spoken enough.”
Corina wanted to press for more, but she knew him well enough to understand it would be fruitless. With a small nod to indicate her surrender on the subject, she looked away. “So be it.”
Athan turned around toward Farin’s body, the door to the kitchen swinging open on its own. The vampire liquefied his form and fell to the floor, flowing underneath the dead sentry. Slowly, Farin’s body started to slide along the floor and out of the kitchen. The stone floor was left clean in his wake, the blood seeming to evaporate away. He was dragged all the way out of the castle, and Farin’s final resting place would never be found.
Alone, Corina hung her head and moved over to pick up the knife that had been left behind. She stared at it for a long while, the blood having been lifted from the weapon just as it had been from the floor. She was left conflicted by the entire event and could only pray Thana and Keiran would return safely. There was no way for her to know what they were going through.
***
After being removed from the ship, Thana had been placed on a wagon and driven up to the Grand Palace. Though the building had looked immense from the ship, it became even more impressive as it grew closer.
Danier had a brief discussion in Sadori with the palace guards once they reached the gilded entry gates. Thana tuned it out, studying the building before them. It was one of the most beautiful things she’d ever seen.
Once past the gates, they were ushered into a blue-tiled courtyard. Thana was ordered off of the wagon, and she followed Danier up a wide stairway toward a set of ornately carved doors that opened before them.
The general spoke at length with a man dressed in bright red-and gold-colored robes. Eventually, the stranger approached Thana and studied her for several minutes. He spoke to her, but all she could do in response was shrug to indicate she didn’t understand a word of it.
The man seemed appeased and walked away with Danier, leaving Thana standing alone in the palace’s foyer. The smooth, white walls were a far cry from the rough stone interior of the castle back home. There were assorted tile mosaics breaking up the expanse, the ceiling far above a fresco of some strange battle between unfamiliar gods. She realized the Sadori emperor’s wealth was beyond her wildest comprehension, and she felt overwhelmed.
Her study of the room ended, however, as a group of twelve women entered, coming down a grand, spiraling staircase against the back wall. They ranged in age from their sixties to the youngest who appeared only a few years older than Thana. All of them were beautiful, wearing exotic colored silk dresses, their hair entwined with jeweled ornaments.
They surrounded her, all scrutinizing. There was a hushed conversation amongst all of them. The eldest one finally signaled
the others to fall silent, and Thana met her gaze.
“I am Sarit, Asashi of the Onawa tribe,” the old woman said. “The general tells us you are Aroothi, bearing the mark of the dragon.”
To Thana’s surprise, the woman spoke in Tordanian, or at least, a dialect close enough to it that she understood.
“My name is Thana Leoram.” She reached down and placed her hand over her stomach where the mark had shown up after her capture. “The dragon showed up here.”
The woman gave a nod and said something in Sadori to the other women that sparked them all into conversation again for a few seconds.
She looked at Thana, giving a smile. “May we see?”
Opting to cooperate, Thana reached down and pulled up the robe she’d been given to wear after the initial incident of her work dress being cut away. The loose-fitting leggings she wore beneath it hung low enough on her hips to expose the area in question.
The woman gave an approving nod before reaching out with her hand, revealing a disk like the one used on her before. Thana allowed the woman to press it to her skin momentarily before pulling it away and disclosing the small dragon emblem blanched out on her skin.
All the women pressed in to get a look at the mark, breaking out into conversation, this time with a more reverent tone. Many of them even reached out to touch the mark as it slowly faded back away.
Once it was no longer visible, the spokeswoman for the lot of them offered a wide smile and stepped forward to embrace Thana unexpectedly. Thana allowed it, though she was obviously caught off guard and managed through it rather awkwardly.
“You are Aroothi, it is true,” Sarit said before moving away and motioning for Thana to follow her back up the staircase.
They moved into an upper room where a large bathing pool filled much of the space. Thana was instructed by Sarit to bathe. Not having washed since before she’d left the castle, Thana wasn’t about to refuse the offer.
The water was pleasantly warm, and the perfumed soaps offered to her were like nothing she’d ever used before.
When she was done, the other women presented her with a purple silk dress with matching leggings. Both embroidered with gold thread as ornate and beautiful as what they wore. She dressed, finding it comfortable. She was also given a set of slippers to wear that matched.
Thana was then ushered over to sit, and the women set upon her again, styling her hair like theirs. Afterward, they applied makeup to her, something Thana had never had the luxury of wearing. When it was all done, Sarit led Thana to a mirrored wall, allowing her to see what she looked like.
Her lips parted in shock, seeing how much she now looked like all the other women present. The expertly applied makeup accentuated her features in a way that made her look unlike she ever had. Thana had never felt as beautiful as she did in that moment. She pulled herself back from the mirror to clear her mind and get back to figuring out her situation.
“Why are you doing all of this for me?” Thana asked, turning to face Sarit.
“Because you are one of us, or at least, you will be with the emperor’s final approval. We are all asashis,” she replied, motioning to the others who had gathered around.
Thana gave a shake of her head. “I don’t know what that word means.”
Sarit smiled and gave a small laugh, saying something to the other women causing them to make sympathetic sounds.
“Tribal Asashis,” Sarit said, turning back to Thana. “The women in charge of representing each of their bloodlines within the government. The closest word you have, I think, is queen.”
Thana quirked a brow and scanned the faces of all the women present. “You are all involved in the ruling of the country?”
Sarit beamed with pride. “Indeed we are. Nothing the emperor proposes is enacted unless we agree to it, seeing that it is in the best interest of each of our tribes.”
Clearly, their form of rule was much different from the simple monarchy she was familiar with in Tordania. The idea that this group of women possessed that sort of power appealed to her. They seemed to live in luxury she’d never been able to imagine, and something pulled within her to stay.
Then again, there was a chance this was all just for show, and it wasn’t actually as ideal as presented to her. Thana realized she needed to not get carried away by it all. The fact was, she’d been brought here against her will, and the man she loved was nowhere near.
Sarit noticed Thana’s returned hesitance and spoke again. “There are no other Aroothi women left. You are the springhead for that bloodline to be renewed, and by default, you are the asashi of the Aroothi tribe. You must understand what a glorious honor this is.”
Thana forced a smile and gave a nod, skepticism being buried deep. “Yes, it is a far cry from the life I was living.”
The woman seemed appeased by that and placed her right hand onto Thana’s shoulder, an ornate bracer encircling her wrist and forearm. “Come, you are ready to meet our emperor for his approval.”
Thana moved along, this time only escorted by Sarit. They passed through a series of hallways until they arrived at the throne room. Like the rest of the building, the walls were of the same white plaster. At the far end of the room, a gilded throne was flanked on either side by six guards.
The emperor rose up from his seat when Thana was led before him, a wide and sincere smile breaking across his aged features. He moved quickly to her, placing his hands on her shoulders and giving her a warm greeting, though the words were lost on Thana.
She offered a faint smile back, the excitement from the old man endearing on some level.
While he was a bit taller than she was, it wasn’t by much. Beneath his brightly colored robes, his body seemed fairly rounded from his life of leisure. His weathered skin gave testimony to a youth spent outdoors under the blazing sun, hard at work. The long hair he sported was braided down his back, much as Danier’s was kept. The years had turned nearly half of it white, the black standing out in sharp contrast to it. Dark, smiling eyes met hers.
Thana offered up a meek hello, unsure what to do.
“They have told me you only speak Tordanian, yes?” he asked, his voice heavy with the same, thick accent she’d heard from both Danier and Sarit.
“Aye, Your Eminence,” she offered back, noticing Danier was present.
He stood to the left of the last guard. The general looked rather self-satisfied for the time being, and she opted to ignore him.
“I am Emperor Betram. General Danier tells me the Tordanians named you Thana,” he said.
“Thana Leoram, yes.”
“It is a rare honor to realize the continued existence of a tribe believed extinct,” the emperor said back, moving to retake his seat on the throne. “The general has done a great service to our Gods in returning you to your homeland. The last Aroothi Asashi died some years ago. She remained here after the rest of her tribe was killed, but sadly, she was beyond her childbearing years.”
Thana gave a small shrug, recalling Danier’s claim of her supposed tribe moving across the river into Tordania. “She didn’t cross into Tordania with the rest of her tribe?”
The emperor shook his head, glancing at Sarit. “No, asashis remain here from the time they are chosen until their death. They remain in the Grand Palace, so they may participate in the governing of the empire.”
“I see,” she replied quietly, clasping her hands before her. Thana wasn’t sure what else there was to say to that.
Betram said something to Sarit in Sadori, and the older woman bowed before turning and leaving the room.
When she was gone, he spoke to Thana again. “You seem in good health. Have you had children before?”
Her eyes went wide, and she shook her head. “No, I haven’t yet married.”
He gave a slow nod, followed by a shake of his head. “I forget how Tordanians like to keep their women confined to one man, to only bear his children. You won’t suffer that lack of freedom here. Our women choose freely who they wi
sh to have father their children. Your descendents will be as varied as you desire.”
More culture shock hit her upon hearing this. Clearly, they put much more importance on maternal lineages than Tordanians did. Part of her couldn’t help but think she would be shopped around and bred like a prized cow. The notion of being with men she had no relationship with terrified her.
Still a virgin, the only man she’d imagined sleeping with at that point had been Keiran. Even being part of the conversation made something in her feel disloyal.
The emperor saw her change in posture and stood up again. “Different from where you have been forced to live, I know. Danier said you were a slave to the Tordanian King. I want you to understand you are much more free here, much more valued.”
She offered a small nod, dropping her gaze to the floor. “It seems to be quite a luxurious lifestyle the asashis enjoy.”
“And one of power as well,” Betram added. “They are vital to the government. Granted, you do not yet have a people to represent, but as your children grow, so will your tribe once more. You will be no less important than the rest of them. Do not be intimidated by the influence you will enjoy.”
Thana started to respond, but Sarit returned, carrying a silver box in her hands. She walked past Thana and straight to the emperor before kneeling down. He gave her a nod of gratitude and reached out, his arthritic hands undoing the clasp to the box before swinging the top open. Inside rested a bracer similar to the one Sarit wore.
He lifted it from the velvet-lined case and walked over toward Thana. “I wish to give you this gift.”
Thana looked at the bracer he held. It was silver, the surface of it embossed with intertwining floral designs. The edges of it were decorated with alternating rubies and sapphires. There was a large blue stone in the center of it, carved intricately into the shape of the dragon she’d seen on her stomach.
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