The Meridian Gamble (38 page)

The puncture wounds of two sharp
teeth on her neck.

I fill up their trays with food,
and Mar Mar hugs me gently again as they leave, and whispers to me.

“It’s wonderful on the upper
floors. Pharaoh is an amazing man, more than I had even imagined. I will try to
get them to bring you up so we can be together again.”

And my stomach drops. As much as I
desire exactly that, I am also terrified of the thought of stepping into my doom.
And I smile at her, pretending I am thrilled by her offer.

And with that, the girls walk away,
giggling. When Mar Mar is gone, Famoush gives me a knowing look, and his eyes
seem to say that she is lost to us.

A few days later, a strange woman
comes into the kitchen, to speak with Famoush. She stands in the corner with
him, looking at me, and I am nervous, because I instantly know what it means. I
look to Famoush, hoping he will save me, but in my heart, I know it is useless.
I know by now that he will gladly sell me out.

And the two walk over.

“Come with me,” the woman says.

I look back at Famoush, and he
cannot even face me. He turns away, to go back to his work.

She takes me into the depths of the
palace, so deep that I get confused as to where I am. We enter a room full of
tubs with steaming water, where other young girls like me are being fussed
over. I am stripped of my clothes, and placed into a scented bath. And from the
way we are all being treated, I wonder if we are being prepared to be fed to the
royals.

“What is …”

But the woman who brought me here
looks at me with steely eyes, and puts a finger to her lips, quieting me.

It seems pointless, since this is
what I wanted. This is my mission, and I submit to them.

After I am bathed, they dry me off,
and apply scented oils to my body. The smell disgusts me, it is musty and
almost foul, but this is what people like the royals enjoy. My hair is braided
and a comb of metal is placed in it, nothing quite so valuable as what Mar Mar
wore. And I am led out with the others into the corridors of the palace, up
several flights of stairs to the upper floors.

I try to remember which way we
twist and turn, but it’s impossible. The corridors seem designed to confuse me.
And eventually, we come to a large room that reminds me of the one where the
great feast was held. There are two large chairs on a raised dais, and I
realize this is the throne room of the royals.

We have been brought before Pharaoh
and the Queen.

They sit and peruse the line of
girls before them from their thrones. The Queen wears a simple dress today, but
she has a gold band around her forehead, and bracelets on her wrists. And she
seems bored, talking instead with one of her servants. She barely looks at us.
Pharaoh has on a simple gown that once again exposes a part of his chest, and I
cannot help but to try to catch a glimpse of him. He doesn’t seem to recognize
me, which tells me he really must have been looking Mar Mar’s way on the night
of the great feast. And today, he seems quite interested in the others who have
been brought before them.

Finally, the Queen looks up at the
line of girls in front of her, and she points to one. Then another. And I
wonder what she is choosing them for. She picks one more, and when I think that
they are done, I realize that Pharaoh is looking at me. And he points a finger
my way.

I am quickly ushered out of the
room by the woman who stole me from Famoush. She takes me back downstairs to
the chamber I’ve slept in, to gather my things, the pack I originally brought
to the temple, where I’ve hidden Adam’s knife. After that, I’m brought upstairs
again, to another kitchen. I realize it is the one that services the royals,
the one run by the dreaded rival of Famoush.

It reminds me of our kitchen, only
this place is much more clean. I imagine it’s because less cooking is done
here, as I know for a fact that the royals do not eat, certainly not the food
prepared in the kitchen. But there is a doorway that leads out onto a terrace
much like ours, only it is much higher from the ground, and the view here is
spectacular. I peek out, and can see the entire city.

The one my family has no doubt fled
by now.

The cook for the royals comes in,
with a young boy at his side, who reminds me of the one who worked with us for
a while. He is corpulent, with a disgusting, huge belly that peeks out from
beneath his shirt, and hangs over the waist of the flimsy pants he wears. The
cook has a bald head and a beard that is trimmed short, and when he turns, he
looks to me with a wicked smile.

“I am Adjo,” he says in a friendly
manner, as though we have know each other for a lifetime. But, instinctively I
know he is not to be trusted, even less so than Famoush. In fact, the more
widely he smiles, the more I suspect he is a creature of pure evil.

“So, you are from the lower
kitchen? You will show me what you have learned there. I must know that you are
worthy to assist in preparing food for the court of Pharaoh.”

And I get to work. I show him how
to make the loaves of bread my mother taught me, the way Famoush showed me to
rub spices into a chicken, to make it as succulent as possible. I show him a
vegetable dish we prepared, which the soldiers seemed to love, as well as the
women from the court who would come down begging for samples. And Adjo watches
everything, greedily drinking it all in, like a desert rat searching for
scraps.

And Adjo proves to be a terrible
taskmaster. I was wrong to despise Famoush, despite his selling me to Adam,
because life in the upper kitchen is much worse. Despite smiling as if we are
all friends and laughing as much as possible, Adjo only sits back, and wants us
all to do the work. Even worse, he constantly chides us, and will rap our hands
with a stick if we make the slightest mistake.

“What are you doing?” he hisses at
me, flying into a sudden rage.

“I am making chicken the way
Famoush does. Isn’t that what you wanted me to do?”

“I want you to make it the way he
does. Only my way.”

I no longer sleep in a room filled
with other girls, but rather, in a small room next to the kitchen. Which is
fortunate, because it gives me a place to keep the knife Adam gave me close by.
Adjo sleeps in a room down the hall, with the boy. And occasionally, I hear
groans coming through the walls that disturb me.

One day, as I am preparing a
mid-day meal, Adjo comes into the kitchen and issues a command.

“Pharaoh wishes for sustenance.
Prepare him a plate of cheese and fruits and take it to his chamber.”

“Where is his chamber?” I ask,
tentatively.

I have barely strayed from the
kitchen and the small room where I sleep. Other servants take the food we
prepare to the court.

“The guards will show you! Hurry!
And whatever you do, be sure to change from those disgusting rags you’re
wearing!”

I do as he says, gladly. I place
some of his best cheeses on a plate, with thin slices of some bread I’ve made,
along with a few dates. And I quickly take the tray to my room, where I step
into the dress they put me in on the day I was first presented to Pharaoh. And
it gives me a chance to strap the sharp knife to the inside of my thigh, where
it will not be seen.

I walk down the hallway in a
direction that seems right, and I finally find a soldier, and ask him for
Pharaoh’s chamber. He points me to some stairs, and tells me to go up and to
the right. And when I do, I find another soldier standing dutifully outside a
door. The man stares at me with a stony expression, as lifeless as the rocks
that make up the palace. And he finally allows me in.

I walk through an archway, and down
another short hall, and enter a huge room. There are tall plants everywhere,
and I wonder how they gain enough light to survive. Candles are burning, and
there is a bed made of thick wooden posts that dominates the room. And on it,
Pharaoh lies with a lump beside him. I tentatively walk in with my head bowed,
waiting to be addressed.

And my body shakes, nervously. This
is it. This is the day I will finally use the years of training the General has
given me. This is the day I will die, and the monster I will try to kill is
Pharaoh.

And kill him, I must. It would be a
shame for me to simply scar his beauty, as I did with the older vampire Adam
spoke of, the red-haired woman.

“My, what a beautiful creature you
are,” he says, staring me up and down. “Come closer. Let us see what you have for
me.”

And for some reason, I wonder if
he’s even talking about the tray of food I’m holding.

I move further into the room,
toward the bed. It is difficult to walk with the knife strapped to my leg, and
I wish I had practiced more. As I get closer, Pharaoh stares at me with a look
of amusement. It’s unnerving, and I immediately doubt myself. But I resolve to
do this, and tell myself that the second I have the chance, I will pull the
knife from its hiding place and pounce on him. I will leap at his throat, and
cut it.

“Put the tray on the table,” he
says.

I set the food down next to him,
and catch a quick glimpse of the man, and see that his eyes are an unusual
shade of blue, like the sky. I had never been close enough to notice it before.
And I look at the form next to him on the bed, which seems familiar in shape.

The girl rolls over, and I realize
it’s Mar Mar.

She looks sick, weak and pale. But
when she sees me, her face momentarily brightens.

“Saga, is that you?”

“Saga? Is that your name? It’s very
lovely,” Pharaoh says, with a smile.

I can only imagine what the two of
them have just done. Most likely, he’s had relations with her. And I wonder if
he fed off her when they made love. For some reason, I can’t stop staring at
her. It’s a ghastly thing, to see my friend withering before my eyes.

“Can I please have some food? I’m
afraid I don’t feel well. May I eat, my lord?”

“Of course, my pet.”

Pharaoh plucks a chunk of cheese
from the plate, and passes it to Mar Mar. She nibbles on it, though she can
barely consume it. He takes a glass, and gives her a sip of wine. And he looks
back to me with a smile, as though pleased with himself.

“There’s not much life left in this
one, I’m afraid. You do know how Pharaoh survives, don’t you? How I reign? It’s
through the lives of my people, which they generously offer, to keep me alive.
But I suspect you already know my secret, don’t you?”

And I’m stunned. I’m not sure how
he knows, but he does. And for some reason, I don’t try to hide, or answer him
with a lie.

“The blood. You drink their blood.”

“Yes, I drink their blood. And I’m
about to finish off your friend. So tell me, do you care for her? Enough to
take her place, so she may live on for another day?”

“No, I don’t,” I say, coldly.

And Pharaoh looks at me in disbelief.
And he laughs.

“Have it your way, then.”

And he gathers Mar Mar up in his
arms. The girl rouses, suddenly realizing something is happening.

“What? What are we doing? Are you
going to drink again?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Oh, good,” Mar Mar says.

“And then you’re going to go see
your mother.”

“But my mother is dead,” Mar Mar
mumbles.

“Exactly.”

Pharaoh opens his mouth, and bares
his teeth. And two of them pop out, in a horrifying way, like a snake I’d once
seen in the marketplace. Mar Mar rolls her head to the side in reaction,
willingly, with a small smile on her face. She seems eager to accept her fate,
and I can see fresh blood running down her neck.

And something moves within me. I
should be stoic and strong and remember my mission, but I can’t let her expire
in this way, not if I have the chance to stop it.

“I’ll do it,” I say, quickly. “I’ll
take her place.”

Pharaoh stops, and he looks at me
in surprise.

“Well, good. I was growing bored
with this one.”

He lifts Mar Mar up, and throws her
as though she is nothing, tossing the girl over himself and out of the bed.
She’s no small thing, and the strength he must have to do this frightens me.
Mar Mar falls to the ground with a thud, passing out, too weak to make a sound.
For a moment, I wonder if she’s already dead.

Pharaoh calls out, and two guards
come to carry her away. When we are alone, he stares me up and down, examining
me like a piece of fruit at the marketplace. He sits up in his bed, and I am
startled, as he is completely naked.

The man pats his hand on a spot
next to him.

“Come, fulfill your bargain. Sit
next to me. But first, get rid of that ridiculous knife,” he hisses.

I gasp, as it surprises me that he
knows. And in an instant, my foolish hopes are dashed. I won’t be killing
anyone on this day. I was stupid to think I could challenge him. But as I lift
up my skirts, revealing my legs, he watches me with interest. And I untie the
knife Adam gave me.

I pass it to him, and sit next to
Pharaoh on the bed. And he smiles at me, gently.

“Oh, don’t look so disappointed. I
am very old, and have been doing this for a very long time. It would have been
extremely difficult for you to fool me.”

And I prepare to accept my fate. I
pull down one shoulder of my dress, and tilt my head. And I offer my neck, the
same spot where he fed from Mar Mar. It is wrong, but I am curious to see what
his bite will feel like.

Pharaoh reaches out, and rubs my
neck. And for a moment, I think he is going to snap it. But he only looks at
me, sadly.

“You give up too easily. Here,
let’s play a game …”

I am shocked, as he reaches out and
hands me the knife once more.

“Take your best shot, try to kill
me,” he says, raising his arms over his head. “In fact, maybe I should let you.
Perhaps the world would be a better place if a wretched creature like myself
was gone from it forever.”