Back to earth wo get a few precisions about two characters who are trying to convince me to let them play an important role in the future.
Enjoy and thanks for your comments.
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Interludes 37 Arabian Demons
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Fluffy was in an unusual inner turmoil.
First she had begun to think of herself as a 'she' which was impossible because her kind didn't have a gender.
But hearing Betty speaking to her as if she were a female had, slowly, gotten to her mind and now she was, most of the time, referring to herself as 'herself'. And to have been thus impressed by a human kid –a mere prey if she looked at what she really was- was disturbing as to her identity.
Second, and it was a direct consequence of her link with the human female, she had begun to look at her actions in the light of the social acceptance they would provoke. In the beginning she had hid her doubts behind the necessity to hide and adapt to her new environment. But now she knew that it was something else: she was now accepting to have moral boundaries. To have ethics!
By all the minions of Hell, Fluffy knew that she had been compromised by her feelings! Who had ever heard from a Demon with feelings? But she couldn't deny that she had these feelings, for Betty who treated her like a friend and a companion and, let's be honest to the end, for the rest of her family.
But in all honesty she couldn't sneer at what she had become. Last night she had been back under the veil and while roaming her territory she had stumbled upon one of her ilk. And the encounter had been extremely satisfying. The bully hadn't even tried to talk first –which was another of the bad human habits she'd collected with Betty- and had tried to rip out her throat.
He had failed because she had calmly stepped aside, grabbed it by his upper elbow with her upper left claw, taken hold of its tail with her left foot and crushed his right kneecap with a very convincing triple Yama zuki –it helped to have four arms in Demon form- learned by looking at Maureen and Betty sparing.
The bully crashed down very effectively and she had no problems at all, once she was sitting over its wings, to get her fingers into his brains by way of its eye sockets. Its agony had been loud and satisfying.
The fight had lasted for very short five seconds and when she had siphoned the bully's life force she had fathomed that she just had eliminated the local overlord.
Who, when she sorted out the memories she had just received hadn't been there by accident but was, in fact, searching for her and had been sent by the Demon who ruled, more or less, over a good third of what could, behind the veil, be called a continent.
She hadn't hesitated and had immediately searched out her defunct opponent's sponsor.
She couldn't let it be because he wouldn't stop to send more of his underlings to get at her and if one of them caught her while sleeping, she was just dead meat.
And by the memories she had just hijacked, she knew where to find the Demon who'd sent her assailant.
And she was in a mood to explain that she was in a bad mood.
Demons were a highly hierarchic non-society where lesser Demons did not gang up against Higher Demons. It had nothing to do with an ethic and everything with selfishness. Because a murdered Demon's life energy always chose only one recipient who, for a quite long time after his kill, was embodied with both his strength and that of the killed Demon. And when in front of sure victories, a Demon never hesitates…
So ganging up had, usually only one result: from all the Demons who had ganged up there was, in the end only one survivor. And being the best didn't guarantee that the life energy would choose you. Not at all.
So it happened that all the lesser Demons who were guarding her enemy's lair did nothing to stop her.
And soon she was facing the ugly slug of a Demon who was the most powerful Demon of her part of the world.
"I got your message…" she said when she arrived.
"It wasn't meant as a message…" came the answer.
"Well, let's say that I got your invitation and I do believe that I didn't like the way it was delivered…"
She could feel the ripple of stunned amazement which crawled through the hiding crowd.
No Demon ever spoke thus to a Higher placed one. One either groveled for its life or attacked to get at the other's throat.
Threatening just never happened.
What for? You had the strength –or believed to have- to rip your opponent's throat or you hadn't. Why threaten?
She could feel that the big ugly drooling slug before her was as amazed as the rest of the hidden crowd.
Her normal movement should have been to hide or, now that she was here, to do what has to be done to get into the slug's nest.
He clearly didn't know what to say…
She decided that it was perhaps the best thing that could have happened because the only normal answer to her threat should have been him attacking her.
Which he could still do if she couldn't convince him that there was no need attacking her.
But she was in no way interested in taking over his little business and the only way to avoid it was to convince the slug that she was not a threat for him.
Not yet at least.
"Listen, Slug, I'm not interested in taking over your job. I'm busy elsewhere and would have no time to manage your operations, so I'm no threat, don't waste time getting at me, you will just give me more good life energy to gobble greedily."
The slug finally came out of his stunned silence.
And his words were not at all what they should have been.
"You worm of a Tikri slug, grovel at my feet or I'll…"
She didn't let him go on and attacked.
I
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It had been quite a fight.
And she had won it only because she had fought like Betty and Maureen had taught her to do it. Otherwise the slug would have crushed her. But he never really got a hold of her. And without a hold all his constricting slug traits were of no use.
This time the fight had lasted what seemed an eternity.
And he had given back as much as she dwelt him in the first place.
Luckily for her when a Demon kills one of his more powerful ilk members he was regenerated at the same time his opponent's life energy was instilled in its new master.
When it was done and she snapped out of her combat trance she had felt the surprise and the fear surrounding her.
"The Slug's place is free for the plucking, folk. Let your ambition be released…"
And all Hells broke lose!
I
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"And who would you be?" asked Betty while looking up at the man who just showed up at the entry of the part of the Palace that was reserved for her family.
It was, of course, guarded and the man had been stopped by the two sentries. Sentries who, even if they were big men looked like teenagers while facing the newcomer.
"My name is MazymKhan Khazegheld and I'm here to see your father…"
She nodded to the guards who went back to their sentry duty.
She walked him toward the garden where her parents were having tea.
"How can you know whose daughter I am with this veil covering but my eyes?"
"No proper behaving Muslim girl would walk outside the women's quarters without being chaperoned by at least a pair of servants. So there is only one explanation to see a pretty girl walking alone: she's Geffraan Khan's step daughter. The daughter of the infamous French conqueror d'Arcy."
"How can you see if I'm pretty with all this canvas covering me up?"
"I do read newspapers and I have seen you and the rest of your family without a veil. I've even seen you rather unveiled if I can allow myself that little pun."
She frowned at him but he could see at her eyes that she was smiling.
"Aren't you the Kazakh who spends his time playing the dimwit to lure his opponents into speaking in front of him?"
"That's me but your father already knows about my secret, so I have no use to go on playing my role here in his apartments. And I must say that it is much more difficult for me to play the dimwit in front of a pretty girl than in front of old men who already consider themselves as so much more intelligent that I am. My malishness doesn't like it at all…"
She shook her head and her eyes were showing him that she was still amused and perhaps even a little interested.
"You've made me two compliments in less than two minutes, Sir. Would you be flirting with me?"
"A Muslim male doesn't do flirting, Miss d'Arcy. A Muslim male goes to the father and trades a marriage or a concubine contract with him. It's a lot easier and it avoids said Muslim male the disappointment to have been rejected."
"Well good luck with daddy if you're here for that…"
"I'm not, yet!" answered MazymKhan. "But that could change if you go on showing me that you are not only pretty but spirited and smart."
"I'm not interested in being your umpteenth wife or concubine, Sir."
"I'm not yet married; you'd be my first wife…"
Her eyes showed him that his words took her by surprise.
"And why is a man like you not yet married? You are a leader of your People, I'm quite sure that there are a lot of fathers who had approached you to arrange a marriage…"
"There were and you're right they were quite numerous but I'm very choosy when it comes to take a woman as my wife." He stopped her next comment with an imperative gesture. "I'm not saying that I'm not gallivanting with women when I have the opportunity to prove to one of them that my stamina is as huge as the rest of my bulk, but marrying is a much more important matter."
Betty snickered at his remark.
"I can only imagine your councilors' demands to have you stop. How could you convince them to give you a breathing room?"
He laughed and she had to admit that it was quite a seducing laugh. Low and powerful and making his whole bulk vibrate and shake.
"Easy, I said that, until twenty five, I would marry only a girl who could prove to me that she is and smarter and stronger… From twenty five on, I will accept either smarter or stronger."
He tapped himself on the chest.
"I'm smart and strong and I really hope that I will be able to find a wife who will at least give me a son who's both strong and smart. And to secure that I need her to be both too."
She looked him up and down.
"What do you mean stronger? I doubt there is a man stronger than you anywhere."
"I doubt it too," said he with a smile which was as arrogant as appealing.
"Would you accept to consider that a woman who's able to beat the crap out of you is stronger than you?"
"There's not a man, nor a woman who's able to beat the crap out of me, as you say…"
"Full of yourself aren't you?"
"Just totally aware of what I am, Miss d'Arcy. And believe I can easily judge the worth of the people surrounding me. And there's not one who'll ever be able to 'beat the crap out of me'…"
She looked him up.
"We'll see, Sir. We'll see."
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"MazymKhan Khazegheld, what a pleasure to meet you again…" said d'Arcy while standing up and holding out his hand. He tilted his head on the side. "But I must admit that I'm surprised, you're part of the Shahibshah's retinue, won't it look bad with your boss and partners?"
"I don't think so," said MazymKhan. "They will all believe it if I pretend having seen you to ask your daughter for a concubine. And they will even understand why you refused…"
"Why only a concubine?" asked Betty while frowning.
"Because of your behavior, Miss d'Arcy," said the Kazakh Chieftain while unfolding a newspaper he had in his pocket. It was an old copy of last summer's "Light and Famous" the newspaper that had specialized in lightstockings of famous people. And on its front-page was a picture of Betty, Lexi and Loudiv while coming out the Spalatro Sea with the sinking sun in their background. It wasn't easy to see it but the three of them were in bathing suits…
"No man of Muslim faith will ever accept to marry you after having seen this. It is just not seemly any more. My Muslim brothers are perhaps perverts in their own right but there is not one of them who, having seen this picture, will not consider it as an invitation to become a lot bolder than normally…"
Jane could see her daughter's eyes losing their normal brightness to become dark and flinty. She immediately took the hint and shot a warning glance at her daughter before speaking out.
"I'm sure you, gentlemen, have more interesting topics to discuss than old copies of L&F. We'll let you at your business. Should you need us we are at the pool."
I
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"Who does he believe he is?" shouted Betty as soon as they were outdoors. "I'll make him pay! That oversized gorilla just called me a wh…"
"He did nothing of the sort," cut in Jane before her daughter could spell out the word she intended. "He just said that in the Muslim culture certain behaviors are automatically seen as outrageous. And he did do us a favor in showing us the picture and explaining to us how it had been taken by the men around here…"
"Who cares?" shouted Betty. "They are nothing but…"
It was Maureen who interrupted her this time.
"We care, love. Because it means that we have to send you back home. Here you are in danger and if anything should happen to you, the perpetrator would probably be absolved by stating out that your own behavior has pushed him into believing you wanted his attentions."
"Let them try," hissed Betty. "We'll see how many survive the attempt."
"One is enough," whispered Jane in a flat voice. "We should have thought before bringing you here. You really are in danger."
Betty who had very rarely seen her mother white faced and afraid stopped being angered and went to take her mom in the arms.
"You really believe it…" whispered she back.
"Of course I believe it, dear, because he came to warn us. He didn't come to anger you but he came to give us the information that this picture has made it till here and beyond. And what's even more important, he told us that some of his so-called Muslim brothers had spoken of doing what he was hinting at."
"They won't have it easy…"
"And still you would be dead," added Maureen. "There is only so much one experienced fighter can do against too many opponents."
"But I…" began Betty before being interrupted by her mother.
"We don't blame you for being yourself, love. We blame ourselves for having been too trusting. We should have studied with more care what it meant to bring you here with us. The Shahinshah's retinue members have nothing in common with the Sultan and his followers. There's a world of tolerance between the both of them. And the Shahinshah is probably, in our world, what you can find at the upper scale of bigotry, misogyny and ruthlessness. He won't hesitate, as he had already shown, to strike at you, us and the kids to harm and knock Geoff off balance."
She looked at Maureen.
"We'll probably have to go with her. They will try to spray the blame over us as well…"
"No doubt to that" agreed Maureen. "And the kids won't be safe either." She looked at Jane and her smile was faint. "It had been a pleasant idea but it was also a bad idea. We can't stay; it is too dangerous, for us and for Geoff…"
"It gave us the opportunity to see Yasmina," pointed Jane out. "At least now we know her and we can, in truth, say that we agree with what is going to happen in the next weeks." She sighed. "I'll see how soon we can get Charles to come and get us," said Jane. "I have talked with him before our departure and he had assured me that in case of necessity he would come and get us out as soon as possible"
"Dot it," agreed Maureen. "And meanwhile I'll take every possible measure to ensure our safety."
I
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"Are there other reasons for your being here than to show us that little 'piece of crap'?"
"There are but I do believe that showing the 'piece of crap' was the most important of the things on my agenda. It had been the Shahinshah himself who had deemed it necessary to let me and a few of our less open-minded followers know about that picture. I did what I had to do to warn you. There will, probably already in the next hours, be attempts to get at your daughter. Some could even be able to pass the security without having even been asked the reason for their presence."
"I won't let them come out unscathed, you'll have my word."
"I didn't doubt for a moment…" said the young man with a smile.
There was a rather long silence before MazymKhan spoke out again.
"I made a few inquiries within my tribes, to get a better understanding of the man who, though being Kazakh will probably stand at the enemy's front to command against us…"
"And I suppose you found nothing?"
"Not at all, not at all," whispered MazymKhan. "I did find a lot of interesting things about him. Written stories about the man, his parents, his exploits when he was young and savage. The whole complete life story…"
"And?"
"I asked a few questions myself and I was very surprised that I was unable to find even the slightest witness to his existence. We Kazakh love to tell stories and even lie a little about them to give them more presence. But in his case there was not a word spoken confirming what the written words were saying…"
"Indeed it isn't always easy to find witnesses. We Kazakhs are nomads and who knows, those who knew him are perhaps just now on the other side of the Hindu Kush?"
"That's a possibility but since I personally knew his father and his mother, nobody has any more the least doubt about his existence… I met them after he went to China to study."
"That's a happy coincidence, isn't it?"
"Indeed it is and one day we'll have to speak about your father who was, if I recall it correctly, more or less a robber and a rapist who died killed by an angry mob who was very eager to put an end to his misdeeds."
"And what about my mother?"
"She died later, in Samarkand where her daughter met a rich merchant who married her. She has three kids, soon to be adults."
"You know everything about me, it seems…"
"I do and if I'm not mistaken, the Shahinshah's in for a very surprising surprise. I'm just very sad that I won't be there to witness said disclosure. I have been called back at home because my tribesmen have chosen not to answer to the Shahinshah's summon. Something to do with them being Sunni and the Shahinshah being Chia. It will probably take my personal involvement to get them en route. Won't be easy thus. I will probably be absent for the next six months… I really hope nothing happens while I'm not here to help my master."
"Only God knows…"
"Indeed, only God knows," said MazymKhan while standing up. This time he spoke up and could very easily be heard. "I'm very sad that you didn't accept my offer to take your daughter as my concubine, it would have been the best solution for everybody. I pray you to give me leave, Sir."
"I'm sorry but I have other plans for my daughter, and, of course, you're free to leave. Thank you for your offer."
MazymKhan bowed, turned around and went out of the reception room.
I
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"You've come to insult me?"
The voice came from overhead and had been barely audible. He stopped and leaned against a palm tree as if he had just decided to listen to the night.
"I came to warn you… I would never insult a woman I admire…"
"You don't know me…"
"Your newspaper do write a lot about you and your family. Once you are mine it will have to stop, If course, I will be the only one to know anything about you."
"Once I'm yours? You're not right in your head, man, why would I choose a Kazakh chieftain when I have my pick between Europe's best and richest?"
"Few of them are as smart as I and nobody's as strong as I. I'm the best husband stuff available everywhere. You're smart; you'll know what's good for you and our dynasty."
"You're dreaming…"
"Every time I think of you!"
She didn't laugh but he felt that she was pleased.
"I'll be back someday to ask for you, be prepared…"
And he sauntered away.
I
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"He came for her, you realize it, I suppose…"
"I do, love," answered d'Arcy. "And I must say that I quite like him. He's smart and strong and what's even better he clearly has gotten her attention."
"How about his motivations," asked Maureen from d'Arcy's left.
"I don't know. Yet! He knows everything about me…"
"He kn…" said Jane but was immediately stopped by d'Arcy's finger on her lips.
"Everything, he had made inquiries with his tribesmen and he has uncovered everything there was to uncover. He knows about my father and my brother and he knows that my mother died in Samarkand under my sister's care. He was quite thorough in his investigation. Quite interesting young man."
"Will he follow through with Betty?" asked Maureen.
"Of course he will; he is a man who knows what he wants and I believe he sees a lot in an alliance with your family."
"Is there only interest in his attention to my daughter?" sighed Jane.
"Probably not, but we can't be sure. We all knew from the beginning that we would have men around her and Lexi who would only see the family connection and not the woman. It will be her job to get to the bottom of his motivations. We can only warn her that he could be of the badly interested sort."
"At least for Lexi we no longer have that scare," whispered Maureen.
"Yes but if the father in law has pushed them together it's clearly a case of interested in the family connections…"
"And the dowry," said Jane with a smile. "He had preposterous demands."
"He still has them and we should probably accept most of them," said d'Arcy. "After all we do want to see our daughter married with the man she loves."
"He's the greediest rascal of all Europe," complained Maureen.
"And your daughter will marry his only heir, love. What we give them today will be their children's in the future. It is not a bad bargain."
"And what will the Kazakh ask for our Betty?"
"If Betty wants him he'll probably ask for a huge compensation seeing that she has such a nefarious reputation…"
Jane couldn't help but frown at her husband. She opened her mouth to protest but he stopped her.
"Don't, love. No need to protest. He will get what he needs to be powerful enough to protect your daughter, I promise. Not more but also not less!" He smiled at her and pulled her towards him. They kissed and he didn't release her. "And he won't get her if he doesn't succeed to convince her he's the best for her!" He winked at her. "But I do believe he'll find the right arguments to get her attention. Reminds me a lot of your first husband that one. Brazen and full of himself…"
"Don't forget the rakish smile," added Maureen with a smile of her own. "You know as well as I how effective that peculiar smile can be… Got me over in less than a second!"
"Well," said d'Arcy, "let's not be overwhelmed here ladies. He's perhaps good but certainly not that good. Remember he's a mere boy, nothing to do with the splendid specimen of adult male you met all those years ago…"
"Speaking of splendid specimen of adult male…" crooned Maureen while taking advantage of his arms being encumbered with his first wife. "What about a little demonstration to remind us that our present husband is worth our while?"
He protested only for the show and not very strongly.
I
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"I looked for you…" said Betty who clearly was hesitating between being pissed and satisfied.
"I had business to attend," answered Fluffy. "Unexpected business, some ambitious idiot has sent a competitor to kill me, I've dealt with the killer and the sponsor…"
Betty was immediately all worried.
"To kill you, but why?"
"Envy probably, thanks to you I'm becoming a rather impressive representative of my ilk. One of them felt threatened by me and sent an underling to put a stop to my progression. He was weak and no threat at all…" She let Betty feel her mood. "The sponsor was a lot more dangerous but thanks to what I learned looking at you and Maureen sparring I finally got him."
"You learned by looking at us?"
"I did train a little while you were asleep…"
"But a martial art depends greatly on hand and arm movements… And you don't have arms or hands…"
"Not when I use this physical form but that's not the form I use on my plane of origins. Don't let you be fooled by my cat incarnation, I use it only to ascertain that nobody becomes suspicious, but it has nothing to do with my real form."
"You could show me…"
"I could, but I won't."
"Why not, I'm sure that it wouldn't change the way I feel about you."
I'm not quite so sure, my friend, thought Fluffy. And I won't take the risk!
"I'm quite sure too but it has to do with my mass. Here the earth has a stronger pull and with my real mass I would be crushed on the floor and be unable to move easily. And I'm not at all like you or any other human. Were I to be seen by anybody else it would create a real…" She hesitated. "Let's say tantrum, but I'm quite sure that it would be more than that."
She felt the point of annoyance which was always there when Betty didn't get what she wanted. And since she didn't want to annoy her she decided to make concessions.
"But I could send you an image of what I look like where I come from…"
The annoyance immediately disappeared.
"Please, show me…"
Fluffy did as she was asked. But what she sent was not quite the truth. She erased the scales, the crest and the horns totally. She kept the four arms and the wings but gave them a little twist by removing the claws and the stings and giving them a soothing whiteness. She added a pair of female breasts –uncovered to give herself a more human touch- and erased her more terrifying features –like fangs and facet eyes. Her face she chose to reform into a feline one. Very similar to the face she sported as her Fluffy incarnation. All in all the picture she sent was that of a furry four armed winged oversized bipedal tiger of whitish complexion… Quite handsome and cuddly the tiger, she would have to memorize it and use it from time to time.
Could be interesting to play the role of a creature from somewhere else in this universe. And considering the family's background it could even be credible. Outside of the weavers of course, who wouldn't be fooled.
"I did enhance a little," she confessed. "My wings are not visible like that at all times, I'm able to fold them in order to not be hampered by their size when I move on the ground. But I'm more impressive with them unfolded. And I'm more on the dark colored side when it comes to my cover. My ilk is more or less a stalking predator species."
"And you really are able to fly?"
"Indeed. Why have wings if you can't use them? They are not as easy to use as your birds' but I'm able to take off –if a little clumsily- and fly on my own on short to medium distances. We use the flight to survey our environment and hunt. Not to migrate on long distances."
"I quite like your true form!" said Betty.
I doubt it very much.
"We are quite handsome, I must confess pride there!"
"And you fight among yourselves?"
"We are a territory bound race. We try to secure a stretch of land as our sole hunting ground. When a new hunter seeks his own territory it happens that we have arguments."
"But you spoke about a killer sent by a sponsor…"
"That's because we are not only hunters we are also intelligent and bellicose. Sometimes there are more ambitious individuals who seek to get more than they need to prosper. So they gather lesser willed idiots around them and send them out to destroy what they believe could be a competitor. It was one of them I had to eliminate. And since I was quite sure the boss wouldn't let it be with one killing I went to give him the chance to choose a better, more peaceful way of dealing with each other."
"I suppose he didn't grasp the olive branch?"
"He didn't and he died of his mistake."
"You could have died?"
"He was stronger than I, but I had a better fighting technique…"
"Perhaps but that was only a small part of what you could have been able to do. I'll have to teach you how to do it rightly."
She could feel Betty's excitation.
"We will have to create brand new techniques to take your four arms and your wings into account…"
"Don't forget the tail…"
"I didn't see a tail…"
"Because of the wings, they cover quite a lot of my background…"
And I'm sure a scorpion's tail is not what you would believe credible with a furred tiger.
"I'll show you, it has a sting at the end. We use it to shoot a poison into our prey. We are immune to our own poison…"
"That's cool, but it will need other fighting techniques to use it. I suppose we could ask dad, he's the best specialist in unarmed combat available. He does know about you, doesn't he?"
"We spoke and I confessed him that I'm a nightprowler. But I never showed him an image…"
"We'll do it tomorrow…" said Betty while fighting against sleep. "I'm sure he will be as thrilled as I…"
I doubt it but we'll see!
I
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"Looks cute," said d'Arcy. "Thanks for her not showing your real appearance." He looked at the feline body she was wearing. "Because it isn't your real appearance, is it?"
"Of course not! I'll tell her later, I promise. But for now she's not ready and she has other things on her mind."
"Other things?"
"There's that man. She thinks about him quite often and she dreamt about him…"
"How can you know what she dreamt of?"
"I got a few extra powers recently. Comes with climbing the social scale in my job."
"I suppose it is the big brawny Kazakh?"
"It is, he has made quite an impression. She believes he will come back to ask you for her hand."
"She's not the only one to believe that, as you can probably see in my head."
"Indeed…" answered Fluffy while answering to both d'Arcy's questions.
"Why are you here?"
"Because I promised Betty I would come to speak to you and because I want you to accept that I stay with you when your wives and kids go back to Pemberley."
"Why would they go back?"
"Because they are in danger here and the day you go out to fight the Sultan's wars, the vulture will rush at them with gusto. They know it and they are already preparing their departure. They stay only because they want to take your new wife with them. They care about her and they know that letting her here will give your enemies a hold on you."
"Couldn't you protect them?"
"Indeed I could and if I'm with them I will, but at how many desiccated bodies on the roof do you believe the people here around will begin to search for answers? And what best answer than the presence of Nazarene witches in the Palace?"
D'Arcy couldn't deny Fluffy's argument.
"But you want to stay with me?"
"Of course I want. I want to be there when you butcher thousands of people. I want to be there gorging myself of their life energy. I want to be the first nightprowler to have been able to take part at such tremendous feasts."
"They are no feasts…"
"For us it is and my being here in person will give me a power you don't even imagine."
"Why would I give you that opportunity?"
"Because you owe me your daughter's life, perhaps? I saved her twelve times in the last two years and the last time was last night when I intercepted three very raunchy bastards who were heading toward your kids' bedroom. I stopped them before they were able to interrupt what she was sweetly dreaming… Even if I doubt you as her father would have considered them sweet dreams…"
"What happened to the men?"
"They provided me with a very healthy snack… What's left of their desiccated bodies are on the Palace's roof. Nobody will find them for quite a long time and they won't stink in their present mummified state."
"Thanks but I'm not going to let you grab at innocent people's souls."
"Don't be an idiot and don't believe the Church's shit about us. It's true, we do gorge on life energy but we have no power over the people's souls. The sacred part of that is out of our reach. We can only touch the part that would have dissolved into the nature and the part that would have blocked the less well prepared for their death within some artificial construct on the astral plane. They will lose the benefit of the present incarnation. What of it? They have chosen the path of murder, rape and soldiering. Let's give them the chance to do it again from the beginning."
"You could just be lying through your teeth to me…"
"I have fangs and I'm not lying! We can tear out of a man's body the part of the soul that gives him the possibility to survive on that earth. But we cannot touch his treasure of past lives. It is just not possible if he doesn't chose to hand it to us! If he's willing, than the question is another one. But for now life energy in great quantities is a much better bargain than even the most pristine man's soul. Quantity has its own quality, believe me. And being at your side while such an orgy of death and destruction is taking place will satiate me quite suitably. Not to mention that I will be able to protect you. No stray bullet or cannonball will be able to reach us, I promise." Fluffy's cat face made a very convincing smile. "You'll have your very own guardian-angel. Isn't that a deal worth a little tainting by association? After all, as you say quite often: you are not a good guy. And for me it's much better so, don't you think?"
"You're manipulating me…"
"That's the way this trade takes place, your Highness. I protect you and you give me access to a source of power no other member of my ilk has ever been part of. It is a fair deal for you and me. And the other sufferers are enemies, aren't they? Bad guys out to loot and rape and murder. Not really worth your wives' compassion."
"You fight dirty."
"Comes with the job description, your Highness. I'm definitively neither good nor a guy, even if I have unprecedented foibles for my human wards."
I
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"You don't stay?"
Yasmina did everything to smother her anxiety but it was nevertheless visible.
"Neither do you," said Jane. "As soon as you're married with him we all go to someplace where we are not under constant threat."
"As soon as in immediately?" whispered Yasmina.
"Yes it means immediately" said Maureen with a knowing smile. "We would have granted you the night and the morning but there are already three bodies on the Palace's roof and we can't take the risk to stay too long."
"Three bodies? How d…"
"Don't ask we don't know the answer, so we can't answer you, dear," said Jane. "But Geoff is adamant; they did come to assault the kids. If it would have been only us at risk, we could have stayed and lived up to the challenge but we won't stay if the children are targeted. We will worry like we did a few years ago when our husband was absent but we can't stay in a place where, because we are not Muslims, the guards accept to look the other way when fanatics try to assault us."
"I will ask my father that…"
"Don't" said Maureen. "As long as our husband is with us he will be able to protect us. And we won't stay after your wedding; we have already organized our departure. The date hasn't changed, has it?"
"No, it will be the Thursday just before the end of the negotiations which should close the following Saturday."
"Good, our lift should be here on Thursday night and should be able to transport us toward Jerusalem where we will catch an official airship."
"Why not take my father's airship? The same that brought us here?"
"Over all because we don't trust your father's crew," answered Jane. "We prefer our own family-made solution. At least we will be sure of the crew allegiances. And because he and d'Arcy will need to go to Baghdad right after the end of the parley. Our solution spares a lot of time and reduces the risks we are ready to take." She smiled at Yasmina. "And, as an accessory, I can't deny that I'm very curious as to Charles' new airship."
Maureen coughed twice and Jane nodded.
"But that's not why we asked you to come today. We need you to make a decision which can be seen as a little extreme and which could be a little difficult to accept. But all in all we need you to stay with us tonight, can it be arranged?"
"Why should I stay tonight?"
"You want the official answer or the truth?"
"Can I have both?"
"The official answer is that we, the wives, want to discuss with you the details of our soon to be cohabitation. What role you want to play in the overall family business."
"And the true one?"
"The true one is that we want you to spend the next night with your future husband…"
Maureen couldn't help but notice the mixed feelings in the young woman's eyes. Fear, excitement and a fierce interest.
"Why is it necessary?"
"It is because we want you to have a real wedding night with our husband while everything is still safe and secured. I'm quite certain that next Thursday there will be a lot more tension around here if only because, that same night, we will be sneaking off like thieves."
"It is a rather surprising proposition…"
"It is necessary, believe us because tomorrow you will be very sick and you need my presence and my medicines to survive."
"Why will I be sick? What will happen…"
"Do you believe you know me enough to be able to trust me?" asked Jane.
Yasmina looked her soon to be sister in the eyes and nodded.
"Yes I do know I can trust you."
"Because you will trust me with your life and while you are ill you won't have the least doubt that it is exactly your life that is threatened. But you must know that I have the knowledge and the expertise to save you."
"I already said that I trusted you, Jane. But why are you so sure that I'm going to be ill tomorrow?"
"Because making love with our husband will have you catch something that performs like a disease but isn't one. That thing, without adequate treatment, is almost always lethal. And I'm, while you are here, the only person able to save you."
Yasmina frowned and looked Jane in the eyes.
"Does that mean that had you not decided to accept me as your co wife you could have let me marry Geffraan with the certainty that I would have died the next morning?"
"Of course not, I would never have let any harm befall you. But you are right, were I a cruel woman I could have agreed to Geoff's marriage knowing that you wouldn't have been able to survive more than a few hours…"
"But how is such a thing possible?"
Jane looked around them and shook slowly her head.
"We will tell you everything, I promise, but not here and not now. You'll know as soon as we have reached a more secured environment."
l
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