Page 62 of Theoden
I knew he was referring to me purging my stomach after I had slaughtered everyone in the rectory. “Lesson learned.” I shivered slightly at the memory, for the blood wasn’t nearly as delectable coming up as it was going down.
“I am sure.”
“Were you disappointed that, after the ritual, you were not a dragon, Father?” I asked. He and the others had done the ritual in hopes of becoming dragons. I wondered if any of them felt betrayed.
Ara seem to reflect on my question; his lips pursed, eyes thoughtful. Then he sighed. “At first, yes. Becoming a dragon was our intention. We each felt powerful, transformed. We thought we had succeeded as none of us really knew what a dragon was. What they hungered for, or how their power felt. The first thing that nearly crippled us was the hunger, and it was unrelenting. We could smell the blood of humans for miles and knew instinctually, it was the blood of humans that we hungered for.”
“You fed, Father?”
He nodded. “Quite greedily. The twelve of us left so many bodies on the ground in the nearest city from the pyramid. Once sated, we began to experiment with what powers we had and were disappointed to learn that fire could harm us and we had no tolerance for the sun. Nor could we fly as dragons were said to do. We also began to realize that we could make others like us.”
“How did you know you could, Father?” I asked in the same respectful tone I had asked my other questions. I enjoyed that Ara was in a mood to answer them.
“That, too, had been instinctual, like when humans know that by having sex, they can produce life. The knowledge was ours to have. It did not take us too long to realize what we had become was not the dragons from tales of old, but something all-together different. Maybe even something better in our eyes. We began to embrace what we had become and named ourselves Kings and Queens. We created the name vampire as we became the royalty of it. Others began toembracehumans, siring new vampires and growing their lineage.”
“But your first child was Karim, correct, Sire?”
He smiled. “My first had to be the most worthy. I had to wait until Karim was of age. But he had watched me rule over this land, healing humans who had begun to worship me as their god. When he became of age, I sired him and he became my first son. He waited three hundred years before he found a human he wanted to sire, and so on. Most of the vampires in my kingdom come from his line.”
“Then you sired Titus, Father?”
“I did, and he too grew my lineage. The blood of a King or Queen is most sacred and should only be bestowed upon those who deserve it. That is why I have only four sons and not five hundred,” Ara said.
Hearing him say those words proved just how special I was. That fact was the only thing the Church hadn’t lied to me about.
One thing he had said to me stood out and I had to inquire more about it. “Humans worshipped you, Father?”
Ara nodded. “For a time. This was over a thousand years ago and once I grew too powerful as a deity that many began to believe in, the others forced me to cease granting prayers as I had been doing. The exposure, they said, put us all in danger. I had not sired any children of my own, and they said that was the only way the blood could be worshipped and shared. The only way for us to stay safe and not hunted.”
“They dared to tell you what to do, Father?” I couldn’t believe someone would tell Ara what to do, let alone, that he’d comply.
“At first, I refused, but then I began to see the truth in their words. Humans became too fanatical, too demanding. By giving them my blood, I was exposing our kind. So, I faded away, refusing to show myself when they came to my temple. I moved to another part of Persia, and that is why it is forbidden for humans to know of our existence.”
“Because it puts us in danger? But we are stronger than they are, Father,” I said, not fully understanding the dynamics of our relationship with humans.
“We are stronger, but they are many. It is a risk we must never take. I am linked to the other Kings and Queens, we feel that connection. It warns us that great calamity will befall us and our children if anything happens to the Twelve Royals. That link also makes us very territorial, which is why we steer clear of each other’s territories.”
Now, it all made sense to me. Understanding how we came into being was so enlightening and fascinating. I thought about my time in King Nexus’ lands, the place that was once my home. Shame I could no longer travel there because of what I was. I also thought about the vampire I’d encountered before I left. The one I let live.
“Father, there was a vampire that was older than I was who had confronted me, but I felt that he was not stronger than me. How is that possible?” I asked, remembering the vampire I had chased down.
“Because you are a direct descendent of me. Vampires who are the children of Kings and Queens will always be infinitely stronger than any other vampire sired,” Ara said.
“I have one more question, Father,” I said, thinking back to Karim being Ara’s natural born son.
Ara nodded once, a sad smile on his face. “My wife died during child birth. Karim never got to know how beautiful and kind his mother was. Laleh was the love of my life, and losing her left me heartbroken. Karim looks like his mother,” he said, and his sad smile brightened a bit. “He most certainly has her spirit, as I am sure it passed to him when she left this world.”
“How come you did not take another wife, Father?”
“Laleh was the only woman I have ever desired, child. I raised my son to be the man you see now and once I had become vampire, I gave him the choice to continue to live by my side for all eternity. I knew he would make the right choice.”
“Then I am happy that you have a part of your wife with you forever in Karim, Father.”
“That, I do, my child.”
He had answered all of my questions and I knew I had his trust. I had never felt so fulfilled in my life. This was what paradise felt like, and he had given it to me. He knew what I wanted and what was best for me even when I didn’t. I began to become consumed by this overwhelming feeling of affection for Ara, and I kissed his nipple and looked back up at him. “I love you, Father.”
He was smiling back at me, and he kissed the top of my head. “I love you too, child.”
Content, I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest and let the exhaustion sweep me into a blissful sleep.
