Page 139 of Dawn Caravan
“Not necessarily,” Tenzin said. “If a human proves to be the correct person to ascend to terrin, then that human would be turned. They are very selective about which Poshani become vampires and which do not, but new vampires are sired when it is necessary.”
“So in theory,” Ben said, “Vano holding two goblets means that he could choose a successor for Radu, and that person would be his ally and give him effectively two out of three votes?”
“Correct.” She looked up from the binoculars. “Or alternately, Vano could choose two vampires who are his children, thus retaining effective control of the entire clan. Or he could choose weak vampires and manipulate them. But control is the only motivation I can see for stealing Radu’s goblet.”
“Didn’t someone tell me,” Ben said, “that the Poshani decide their leaders in the end? That if a terrin was proven to be unjust or corrupt, the darigan wouldn’t follow their lead?”
“Yes, but you can see how Vano has catered to the goodwill of the humans in the camp. I’m sure he has a plan to appease them.”
“Shouldn’t he want to cater to the darigan?”
“Not necessarily.” Tenzin handed over the binoculars. “Catering is not leading, and every culture is vulnerable to demagogues if they show up at the right time. The Poshani need a leader, not a fairy godmother.”
Ben’s eyebrows went up. “A fairy godmother?”
“I believe the comparison is accurate. Chloe made me watch a series of movies featuring princesses’ heroic journeys, and the fairy godmother trope appeared in most of them. I’m assuming they’re old human attempts to make sense of vampires since many of the godmothers appear to fly or have other supernatural qualities.”
Ben stared at her, unable to hide the smile on his face.
“What?” Tenzin frowned. “Have you seen these movies?”
“Princess movies? Yeah.”
“I have thoughts about the mermaid movie. There are very unhealthy messages in it, and I don’t believe Sadia should watch it.”
He leaned over and pressed a fast kiss to her mouth. “I missed you.”
“Yes, I missed you too.” She lifted the binoculars again. “I believe I see René leaving something for us.”
“We’ll have to get closer and just pray the Hazar don’t see us.”
“See?” Tenzin hung the binoculars around her neck. “Catholic.”
* * *
They pickedup a bundle from the base of a birch tree.
Ben started to open it, but Tenzin stopped his hand. “Wait.”
Her feet never touched the ground as she floated closer to the edge of the forest. She waited, motionless, while Ben stood in the shadows.
His amnis gave a pulse of excitement a second before she turned and floated back to him.
“Let’s go.”
“What—”
She put a finger over his lips, then took his hand and flew through the canopy, darting between trees and dipping low to skim over meadows and isolated ponds. The landscape was washed in an eerie white glow from the gibbous moon as they crossed the hills to find shelter in their cave.
They landed near a stream that cut through the narrow valley below where the cave was located.
“Do you know where we are?” Ben asked when they landed.
“I’m not certain,” Tenzin said. “It’s part of the traditional Poshani route. I would guess we are in the Eastern Carpathian Mountains, probably in Ukraine.”
The moonlight created dappled shadows on the ground as Tenzin sat on a large rock and dipped her feet in the water.
“So” —she nodded toward the bag— “are you going to open it?”
