So here is Part 3, and Eric can either break things off with Zoë, or let things go even farther beyond the proper line. But, he has had her blood, and blood never lets a vampire think straight. This bit is shorter than the others; I had written a lot more detail to one scene that would have kicked this up to M, but wasn't necessary.
Instead of going to his home, Eric hurried through the back alleys of Constantinople. I bit her I bit her, what have I done? The Viking knocked on the door of Theodosius, the vampire sheriff of the Constantinople area who secretly lived above a merchant's store. The door opened and Eric burst in.
"I bit a human!"
Theodosius was unimpressed. "And that is why you have those fangs. So?"
"She's fascinated by me, not scared at all! And she's the emperor's great-niece."
Theodosius was paying attention now. "You bit a member of the royal family? Well, is she still breathing?"
Eric nodded. "But she's kept my identity secret for a week now." He allowed himself to smile. "I think I've gotten myself involved in something juicy here."
Theodosius shrugged. "If you're happy with your pet and she says quiet, why are you bothering me about it?"
"Because I crossed a fundamental line! I bit her but I did not turn her!"
The sheriff stayed quiet. He had a reputation for not really caring about anything not involving money, and Eric realized he wasn't getting any help from him. Eric bowed in respect and left.
To Eric's surprise, Heroditus was not surprised either. "What did you expect with a vampire and a human, Eric?"
"But now she's running around with a vampire bite on her lip!"
"If you're so concerned about her, find her and turn her. That'll settle this all down."
"But I don't want to turn her!"
"No, Northie, you want to hold on to the last bit of humanity you have left." Heroditus took a drink as Eric glared at him.
"She is not my 'last bit of humanity!' Zoë is a—" He struggled for the right word.
"Pet to you."
"No."
"Hmm-hmm."
"No she is not!"
And Eric stormed out swearing in Old Swedish.
The next time he saw Zoë was in a hallway at court. He pulled her aside into a room.
"Are you alright, Zoë?"
She nodded. "It stopped hurting really quickly. So, you can bite someone without making them a vampire?"
"Yes, I have to drain the person to death first." As he said death she flinched.
Eric noticed the motion. "See Zoë, that's what I am, death frozen in place."
She shook her head. "I don't believe that."
"Well, I do."
She arched an eyebrow. "You're tense tonight."
"Oh really?" Eric regretted the words as soon as he said them, as Zoë stared back with a shocked look on her face. "Ah dear, I'm sorry. It's just, this is new to me—"
Zoë started laughing. "You've been around for two hundred years and this is new to you?"
"Well, yes. Usually it's a one time thing between a woman and I. You're the first in a long time that I've just merely talked to."
"And you're the first man I've allowed to keep getting this close to me. Since the late Emperor was my mother's uncle, I have had many suitors. But, like Odysseus' wife, I've turned them all away."
"Why? Surely you know that marriage is inevitable nowadays."
"I know, Eric. But young men can seed their wild oats. Why can't I have some fun before I settle down?"
"But society doesn't work like that—"
"Oh, so now the vampire is going to inform me about what society says is proper?" She laughed. She smiled, and cocked her head. "Do you like my company?"
"Well, yes, but—" She walked slowly around him, Eric turning to keep his eyes on this girl, on the playful smile on her face. "For so long, I have only read about things, great things." She closed the door and slid a piece of metal through the handle, locking it. Silver, Eric realized. The vampire was in an odd place indeed: trapped by a human woman.
"So what exactly do you like about me?"
Eric gulped with trepidation—and anticipation.
"Well, you're curious, you are smart"—he was up against a wall—"you are doing this without any fear whatsoever."
"Who says I'm unafraid? I'm drawn to you precisely because you are something out of a whispered story. You are something forbidden, not allowed, and all my life I've been a good girl."
She brought his head down so she could whisper in his ear.
"I'm tired of being a good girl."
After Zoë had left with a smile and a kiss, Eric pranced about, a grin on his face. Sure, he had gone farther with Zoë than any vampire should with a human, but she had been so eager. She had seduced him, he thought with a laugh. Then, a lead thought hit his mind. He had just deflowered a Byzantine noblewoman in an age when a woman was measured by marriage, and marriage by virginity. But why was she so willing?
"You WHAT?" Heroditus dropped his glass.
Eric grinned and leaned against a stand.
Heroditus shook his head. "A Byzantine lady who is still human? God help you, Eric."
Eric shrugged. "She was willing, and what is the problem?"
"For starters, did you leave a serious bite?"
"Not where anyone else would see it."
Heroditus stared, aghast. "In sixteen centuries, I have never took a human woman and let her live to talk about it. You are much bolder than I would have ever guessed you, Northman."
"Well, it is a new age. The Queen of France divorced her husband*, there are young widows who refuse to remarry. Perhaps Zoë will never marry."
"It is a new age. The vampires in China have been driven underground." He pointed to a letter, written on a rare Chinese invention, paper. "Good Lord, Eric, if news spreads about this? A monster ravaging the young women of the court."
"We aren't monsters, and Zoë is not a typical young woman."
"We are dealing with humans here, Northie. They will believe anything. That's the main reason you can walk around at court, passing yourself off as a strange foreigner." He shook his head. "You have made a grave error, Eric. You are getting too sure of yourself over one girl."
The Viking smiled. "I do not think so. I have taken a risk, yes, but it has paid off beautifully." He grinned and strode out of the room.
The ancient vampire poured himself another glass of dark red. "We will see, Eric. We will see."
Alas, this is 1153, when the vampires are considered dangerous monsters. Take note of what happened to the Chinese vampires. In Part 4, we will see the solution to the Eric-Zoë situation, and then we will see the last straw for Eric that forces him out of his beloved Constantinople. Beware, history is seldom kind.
* - The Queen is Eleanor of Aquitaine, who divorced King Louis VII of France and quickly remarried to the soon-to-be Henry II of England.