"Z… Zoe, sir."
"Will you come back tomorrow also?" Levi's confidence seemed to have grown a little now Paris and I had gone. Though we were walking away I could still hear clearly when he added,
"Or perhaps you would allow me to call upon you? We could take a walk together?"
"I would like that," Zoe's voice was quiet and nervous.
"Then I shall come tonight at dusk. Where is your villa?"
Paris and I waited for her at the entrance to the customs house.
"You do know he is one of these Hebrews that Pharaoh is so against," he whispered to me.
"The merchant's son?" It had not occurred to me to consider his religious ideas.
"And the merchant. I'm not sure it is wise for Zoe to meet with this boy."
"Prince Paris!" I said, aghast. "We are exiled from our home, considered fugitives, even criminals by the Mycenaean's who sacked our city and killed our family," I babbled as though he did not know these things. "And I am a…Vampyr," this last word was whispered so only he could hear, "Do you really think we should judge others?" I added.
Paris looked shocked and mortified at my rebuke. He hung his head like a small boy.
"No…no I am just worried that it may cause trouble, and she might get hurt."
"In what way? They may not have been brought up to believe in the same gods but… well, you know what the gods really are. What does it matter which ones they follow? Levi and Zoe like each other."
"I could see that. I… I just meant that… I have heard that Pharaoh is considering banishing the Hebrew, sending them to another land."
"Because of these ‘plagues'" I guffawed. "Plagues they may be, but they are no more sent by a god than by Pharaoh himself.
"Perhaps, but many here believe they are."
I sighed.
"I have seen the Hebrew flee in my dreams," I admitted. "Perhaps we should warn her."
Paris nodded solemnly.
Of course, she would have none of it. Zoe had been my companion for two years. She trusted my visions, yet she was blinded to this one, just as all young women are blinded by love.
*
The day seemed endless. I was hungry and had decided sufficient time had passed since my last hunt so that no one might suspect anything. I had long since learned to read my prey, to understand their bodies, feel when the heart is at the point of no return. My cousin Apollo had taught me how to take what I needed from humans without killing, and that evening I planned on heading to the fields west of the city, in search of a lonely shepherd that no-one would miss for a day or two. He would return to his home once the effects of the venom wore off, weakened, but with no memory of what had occurred.
I sat in the safety of the shade inside the door to our villa, waiting for the day to pass as the sun made its way across the sky. A shadow fell across the dusty path and I looked up, expecting a sudden cloud to have formed. Instead, I saw a black chink in the sun, like a sliver had been cut away. I shaded my eyes and looked right into the burning ball above. I had heard of such a phenomenon on other worlds, but I had never seen it until then.
"It's happening," Zoe said as she hurried from the road and down the short path to our villa. "Meses said it would come today," she sat down on the stone floor next to me.
"How did he know? Even I did not foresee it." I asked with a shake of my head.
"He said Yahweh told him so. Levi sent me home to tell you and Paris to go inside until it passes."
"Who is Yahweh?" I asked.
"The chief god."
I tried not to worry about who Yahweh might actually be.
"It is harmless," I replied. "It is just an eclipse. It is the shadow of the moon as she passes in front of the sun. It will be over quickly."
"Levi said this will last for days, and the darkness will make the plants and animals die."
"Hmmm." I was most dubious.
There was a scuff behind us. I glanced around to see Paris standing there, his eyes shaded from the glare, staring up at the ever-growing bite in the side of the sun.
"It's as Meses said," Zoe told him. She had been stepping out with Levi for several weeks by then. Each time we cautioned her against the dangers of spending time with a Hebrew, she grew more determined to see the boy. What's more, she was clearly beginning to believe in the teachings of his faith. Our concern was not for anything but her safety with Pharaoh so against the faith.
"But you know what the gods are Zoe," Paris pleaded, trying hard not to sound offensive toward me. He need not have worried on that account. I knew all too well myself.
"I do know what your gods are," she replied with a sigh. That was when I knew she had converted for good. We were no longer her gods too.
"But this god, this is different," she continued. "This god is not from another world, he is the true creator of this world."
I loved Zoe as a sister, but I could not see how she could believe such things. Surely this new god was just another Vampyr, preaching for his own gain. My hunger was quashed beneath the concern for my friend, and we stood there, waiting, watching the sky.
*
It did not last days as Meses had preached, but it did last long enough for that day to draw to a close. And when the moon covered the sun completely the world was plunged into cold blackness. Zoe jumped to her feet and hurried inside, hiding in her bedchamber like a frightened cat. Dogs barked, cats screeched and cattle stomped their hooves. People shut their doors and hid away. But Paris and I remained there, staring up at the black disk that covered the sun.
Paris was cold. I could feel him shivering at my side. I desperately wanted him to wrap his arms around me and draw me close. Neither of us moved.
Just as I began to believe the moon was never going to shift, and Meses was right, a bright burst of light cut through the blackness. Then the light grew, brighter and wider until the sun began to reveal himself again, and the moon edged away.
I thought of my cousins, Apollo and Artemis: the sun and moon twins so alike that my father had named them The Bookends. They had been with me in Troy. We had said good-bye as the ground shook beneath us, and the city crumbled and fell. I had watched them sail out into the Aegean Sea. I pictured the round silver eyes of Artemis, shining like coins in the moonlight, and wondered where they were at that moment. I closed my eyes and saw them upon a high mountaintop, looking up at the same eclipse through the open roof of a beautiful temple.
Paris seemed to feel my melancholy, for he moved closer. I reached up a hand to his face. He leaned into me until I could feel his breath upon my lips.
"Princess Cassandra?"
My heart leapt in my chest. I pressed my hand to my throat as if to stop it jumping out of my mouth.
"Lord Zeus!" Paris gasped, stepping quickly away from me as though he had been doing something wrong.
A lean man in the uniform of a King's Guard was running towards us. The eclipse was almost over but the sun was so low by then that a strange violet light was cast over the entire city. The man stumbled over a rock that marked the edge of the road.
"Ouch!"
I moved to assist him as he stubbed his toe, but Paris put a hand upon my shoulder to prevent me.
"Princess Cassandra?" he called again.
"That is right," I replied, glancing sideways at Paris. His face looked pale and his jaw was tight. "May I help you with something?" I offered.
The man came to a stop before us, dropped a deep bow and drew a sharp breath.
"Pharaoh requires your assistance."
"Pharaoh, why?" Paris blurted.
"I cannot say, sir. I was only told to fetch the princess."
"Very well, we shall come presently," Paris offered.
"Not you sir. The invitation was clear. Princess Cassandra is required to attend the king tonight, alone."
Paris gritted his teeth and a small vein in the side of his neck pulsed. He folded his arms across his chest and stepped out to block the guard from getting any closer to me
. The guard was a big man, but Paris was bigger, in height, if not in quite in bulk. The guard stepped back.
"It is all right. I will go. I am sure I will come to no harm," I said, though my heart was pounding and my chest tight. I had not found it easy to be alone with men since the rape. But I could not let this guard or even Paris see that I was afraid.
Paris looked at me intensely for a moment before conceding.
"Very well, but if you are not back by…"
"I will bring her back safely just as soon as Pharaoh is done."
"Done what exactly?" Paris asked. I was thinking the same thing myself, but I knew I would only find out once I was in the king's presence.
"I have not been told the particulars, but she is safe I am certain."
The prince's expression showed such fear and concern that I almost believed he loved me.
*
Ramses looked up at me. In the flickering torchlight, his eyes were bright as amber and his gaze sharp as an arrow tip. He was standing with his hands clasped behind his back and his chest puffed out. Outside in the palace courtyard, Parameses was pacing about mumbling under his breath. My sharp hearing could just about make out his words.
"Then I will lead them out to the desert and as far away as we can get from this oppressive regime…"
I raised an eyebrow at the king and sighed. I was still young, very young for my kind. Yet in human terms, I had lived for more than three of his lifetimes. But as he had already reminded me twice during the conversation: he was Pharaoh, and he knew everything. He was well aware of my longevity, and much of the trauma I had endured before even setting foot in his world. What I was certain he did not know was how terrified I was to be alone with him in that room, or why. I was not about to let him work it out either. I stood straight and serene, as a cool minded goddess should and drew a measured breath.
"I will not. I am sorry for your troubles. But I cannot assist you in this. It is a human matter, an Egyptian matter. I am in no position to take sides." I sounded far more confident than I expected. I relaxed a little. That was a mistake. Ramses read my relief as a weakness. He knew instantly that I was scared of him.
"Oh, you will my dear. Your little friend is one of them now, so I have been told."
I realized I was holding my breath. I tried to breathe in and out again slowly, but the hunger was returning and my head was light.
"You will tell my son that this ‘god' of his is a Vampyr, a predator praying upon the souls and bodies of the gullible."
"I cannot expose my people that way. You put all of my kind at risk. I will not help you. I am sorry but I cannot." I was astounded at how calm I sounded when my blood was pounding so hard in my veins from want to replenishment.
Ramses leaned in close to me. I could smell the olive oil on his skin and the perfume in his hair. I stepped back. This was the second mistake. He narrowed his eyes and stepped in even closer. I edged away again but found my back was flat against the wall.
"You will tell him you have had a vision that his god will lead him into a trap, and then kill them all. Or I shall have Zoe and her lover taken to the Great Northern Temple and sacrificed."
I forced the fear back down my throat. I knew full well he could do it.
"Human sacrifice is not part of your faith," I said a little too slowly.
"Ha! It is if I say it is necessary; if it is required by Ra to appease this heretical insult."
His chin brushed against my breasts as he spoke. His eyes peered up directly into mine. I didn't mean to let him into my mind, but I could not fight it. The memory of Paris lying in the ruins of our burning city flashed through my thoughts. His back sliced open and his life ebbing away. A slow grin spread over Ramses lips.
"Paris, ha! Brother and sister you certainly are not!" The lotus oil in the king's hair made him smell sweet and feminine, yet his demeanour was quite the opposite. "I will take your human lover and tortured him before you. I will slice open that wound on his back and flay him until his senses are gone and he bleeds to death in your arms."
I glowered at the hate in the king's eyes. I could not understand why he loathed these Hebrews so much. It was as though this were personal. Perhaps it was. Perhaps he felt betrayed by his son or threatened by his own commoner ancestry. After all this new faith came directly from the old royal line. Yet Ramses was formidable, strong, the great pharaoh. I could not make him out.
At that moment Parameses strode into the room.
"I know what you want Father. You want to kill us all. Well, do your best."
I frowned at the preacher. He was going to run, so why challenge his father now?
"The princess here is a seer. She has had a vision of your false god. Go on Cassandra, tell him."
I could have quelled my hunger, sunk my teeth deep into Ramses throat and drained the life from him. I could have killed him so fast that his son would not have noticed until it was done. Yet I just stood there, staring at them both. I sighed. Despite my better judgment I did as I was told.
"Your god is a…demon." I could not bring myself to say our name. Ramses scowled at me, his eyes darkening like the desert in rain. I swallowed and continued. "He is a false god, come to draw you away from here. He will lead you to your deaths. If you stop now, you can still be saved." I did my best to sound as though I meant every word. A smirk crept over the Pharaoh's face, and I knew he was satisfied with my answer.
I could see the anger bubble inside the prince. It rose through his gut, his chest, and finally burst from his mouth like a scolding geyser.
"You lie. You lie for him. I know what you are. I know you are the true demon. You are one of the dark ones. You roam at night and drain the lifeblood from the innocent."
I stepped back in horror. Is this what we were to become? Fallen from venerated gods and reduced to back street demons, hated and feared for centuries to come. An image flashed through my mind. I saw my cousins, lost and alone, driven to desperation, hiding in the alleyways of some glittering glass city many years on.
"Yes. Yes, you see I know what you are," Parameses spat in my face. The vision faded and I wanted to run. I turned to go, but Ramses put himself in my path.
"She is a god. She can rip you limb from limb in a heartbeat you ungrateful little shit!" He barked at the prince.
"And yet she won't. She is not so hateful as you, father. This story of yours will not deter me. We will not be suppressed any longer…"
"You will not escape with your lives Parameses, my guards will take you down. Each and everyone of your men will fall, and only the women and children will be left to tell the tail. Now get out of my palace!"
I edged a little nearer to the door. I could hear a guard waiting at the other side of the drape, but I knew I was stronger and faster.
"Nine plagues have come, Father. Each as I predicted, and still you will not accept that it is my faith that is true. We are the chosen ones, to lead this world away from your false gods to the true way."
Ramses face was turning from red to purple.
"Get out, get out of my land, and take all your traitorous followers with you, or I shall have you all killed in your beds, children and all."
It seemed neither of them knew quite how to deal with the situation, they were both too bitter.
Parameses leered down at his father,
"It is your men that will fall. The last plague will come. Every firstborn son in this city will die for your cause."
Ramses had taken enough. He shoved his son through the door and into the arms of the guard.
"Throw him out, and never let him in my sight again."
Parameses did not struggle.
"Oh I promise you that when this is done you shall never have to lay eyes upon me or my people again," he called as he allowed himself to be lead down the corridor and pushed out into the courtyard. I watched as the gates closed with a crash behind him.
"Good," was the only further utterance Rameses made on the matter.
; He stared after his son, his red hair flapping about around his head in the evening breeze. I was unsure if I was safe to leave, but then he looked at me as though he had quite forgotten I was there.
"Lord Osiris, you're still here?"
"I… thank you," I mumbled and hurried towards the gate. The moment I was outside I ran home.
I have never been certain, not even today so many centuries later, whether my presence had any true effect upon the actions of Ramses and his son. Whatever my part, it is a story that changed the fortunes of not only one country but of the world, for millennia.
*
The city became eerily quiet over the following days. So peaceful was it that everyone was on edge, even the Hebrews. Everywhere I went people seemed to be watching each other with caution.
At home, I had lied about my meeting with Pharaoh, for I did not know how to tell my friends that we were once again facing violence and destruction. I had made up some nonsense about treating the Pharaoh for a mild health disorder with a little of my blood.
Of course, this would be impossible without turning him, but Zoe was so preoccupied with being in love that she did not press me on the matter, indeed she spent so much time with Levi that I barely saw her. Paris, on the other hand, could not be escaped. He knew I was keeping something from him but each time he asked I grew more awkward and evasive, so much so that he seemed to have given up trying to speak with me on any matter.
One evening about four or five days after the palace visit I was sitting by the fire in our villa. Paris was seated at my side, staring into the flames. Outside a cold wind blustered around the city as though winter were setting in. The air had never recovered since the ice storm. The wind howled down the chimney, causing smoke to billow into the room, and threatening to put out the fire. I drew a long breath and convinced myself that I was brave. I moved my chair closer to Paris and reached for his hand. He looked up at me startled.
"Forgive me, I whispered as though someone else would hear, though we were quite alone in the house that night, for it was the serving girl's day off and Zoe was with Levi.
The Dark Evolution Chronicles Page 3