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"And the Mother and the Father?" I asked. "Do you know what they are?"
She shook her head. "Only that you have them, or had them when she spoke of it. Are they the First of us?"
I didn't answer her. But I believed her, that this was all she knew, extreme as it was.
And now I did penetrate her mind, calling on my power to know her past and present, to know her most secret and casual thoughts.
She looked at me with clear unquestioning eyes, as if she felt what I was doing to her, or trying to do, and it seemed that she would not hold anything back.
But what did I learn? Only that she had told me the truth. I know no more of your beautiful blood drinker. She was patient with me, and then there came a wave of true grief. I loved Eudoxia. You destroyed her. And now you cannot leave me alone.
I stood up and went again to walking about the room. It's sumptuous
Byzantine furnishings stifled me. The thick patterned hangings seemed to fill the air with dust. And nowhere could I glimpse the night sky from this chamber, for we were too far from the inner garden court.
But what did I want just now? Only to be free of this creature, no, free of the whole knowledge of her, of the whole awareness of her, free of ever having seen her, and that was quite impossible, was it not?
Suddenly a sound interrupted me and I realized that at last Avicus and Mael had come.
They found their way through the many rooms to the bedchamber, and as both of them entered, they were astonished to see the gorgeous young woman seated on the side of the immense heavily draped bed.
I stood silent while the two of them absorbed the shock. Immediately
Avicus was drawn to Zenobia, as drawn to her as he had been to Eudoxia, and this creature had yet to speak a single word.
In Mael I saw suspicion and a bit of concern. He looked to me searchingly. He was not spellbound by the young woman's beauty. His feelings were under his command.
Avicus drew near to Zenobia, and as I watched him, as I watched his eyes fire with a passion for her, I saw my way out. I saw it plainly, and when I did, I felt a terrible regret. I felt my solemn vow to be alone weigh heavily upon me, as if I had taken it in the name of a god, and perhaps I had. I had taken it in the name of Those Who Must Be Kept. But there must be no more thoughts of them now, not in Zenobia's presence.
As for the child woman herself, she was far more drawn to Avicus, perhaps because of his immediate and obvious devotion, than she was to the distant and somewhat suspicious Mael.
"Thank you for coming," I said. "I know it was not your choice to set foot in this house. "
"What's happened?" Mael asked. "Who is this creature?"
"The companion of Eudoxia, sent away for her own protection until the battle with us could be finished, and now that it is finished, here is the child. "
"Child?" asked Zenobia gently. "I am no child. "
Avicus and Mael both smiled indulgently at her, though her look was grave and disapproving.
"I was as old as Eudoxia," she said, "when the Blood was given to her. 'Never make a blood drinker of a greater age,' said Eudoxia. 'For a greater mortal age can only lead to misery later on from habits learned in mortal life. ' All of Eudoxia's slaves received the Blood at my age, and were therefore no longer children, but blood drinkers prepared for eternal life within the Blood. "
I said nothing to this, but I never forgot it. Mark me. I never forgot it. Indeed, there came a time a thousand years after, when these words meant a great deal to me, and they came to haunt my nights and to torture me. But we will come soon enough to that, for I mean to pass over that thousand years very quickly. But let me return to my tale.
This little speech from Zenobia was spoken tenderly as all her words had been spoken, and when she finished it I could see that Avicus was charmed. This did not mean that he would love her completely or forever, mind you, I knew that. But I could see that there was no barrier between the child and himself.
He drew closer still and seemed at a loss to express his respect for her beauty, and then, surprising me completely, he spoke to her:
"My name is Avicus," he said. "I am a long-time friend of Marius. " Then he looked at me, and then back to Zenobia. He asked: "Are you alone?"
"Quite alone," said Zenobia, though she did glance at me first to see if I meant to silence her, "and if you ¡ª all of you or perhaps one of you ¡ª do not take me with you out of here, or remain with me in this house, I'm lost. "
I nodded to both my long-time companions.
Mael gave me a witheri
ng look and shook his head in negation. He glanced at Avicus. But Avicus was still looking at our child.
