What A Woman's Got To Do: 14
"So, this is the home of a crazed vampire goddess. It's, uh, the creepiest place I've ever been."
Isaac, Elena, Nevid and Etienne stood with Farouk and a dozen or so strangers, all of whom stared around themselves in varied mixtures of shock and awe. And terror.
Around them rose an immense hall, tiled in brilliantly polished marble and dominated by a wide curving staircase that rose to a balcony high above.
But even the height of the balcony was dwarfed by the hall itself, a vast cavern of black pillars arching so high overhead they were lost in darkness. Each pillar writhed with detail, exquisite carvings in such profusion they made the stone appear to shift and twist in the candlelight.
Elena inspected the pillar nearest her and drew back.
The same woman, repeated over and over and over again. The same face, the same figure.
The Demon Goddess. Yuek Man Chong.
This great fortress was a temple to her glory. It was the creepiest place Elena had ever been.
"And that's saying something."
She turned back to the crew of strangers huddled together in confusion.
"Look, people, it's going to be okay. Just a few days, and we'll return you to your homes. I promise."
One of them, a heavyset Hinsuan man pulling at his beard, stepped forward belligerently.
"No! Take me home immediately. I don't know who you people are, or what makes you think you can--"
Elena sighed and smiled at the man, pushing a little with her mind. She remembered when this seemed like a difficult thing, a miracle. Now it was just the easiest path.
The man shook his head and subsided, and with him the willingness of the group to speak up.
"I've told you all. You'll be fine, but we need you for just a short period. We wouldn't do this if it wasn't very important. Now, we need to do a few things first, so... uh..."
"I have prepared guest rooms. Junko and Ryo will show them."
Elena and everyone else turned at the rich, amused contralto with the Lohanese accent.
Partway up the staircase stood Madame Yuek in one of her trademark gowns, rippling lace and rich brocade, sparkling with gems and gold and a crimson so intense Elena felt the need to squint as she looked at it. The vampire's hair towered up above her head in an architectural wonder of gold hoops and braids.
By her side stood Arrafin, slight and nondescript in her brown travel robes, her thick curls exploding out from her head in all directions.
"Our new guests will be fine. You, Arrafin's friends, come with us. We have much to discuss."
The statuesque creature turned and made her stately way up the stairs, one hand on Arrafin's arm. The Naridic girl quietly went along with her hostess.
"Arrafin?"
The girl looked back at Elena's question.
"It's okay, Elena. Come on."
The four friends at the base of the stairs looked around them in confusion. Two Lohanese women had appeared and were leading the other folks down a hall.
"What choice do we have, Elena?"
"Yeah, but Arrafin's..."
"Yeah. Looks that way."
Elena could only stare at Etienne for a second, then she blew out a noisy breath and stormed up the stairs after Arrafin and Madame Yuek.
The vampire led them into a high-ceilinged library framing immense windows that opened onto a breath-taking view down a glacial crevasse. Mountain peaks marched off into the distance, trailing icy plumes.
Madame Yuek settled herself on a divan and smiled as Arrafin sat beside her. She gestured to a semi-circle of chairs.
"Please. We have much to discuss."
Nevid stopped half-way into his chair, rivetted by some sudden understanding of the books lining the walls to a height of a ship's mast.
"Are those-- Forgive me, Madame Yuek, but are all those spellbooks?"
"Of course not! Only this side of the room. The other side is mathematical treatises, mostly, on sorcery."
Each side of the room held thousands of volumes. Nevid completed his sitting action, staring up at the ranks of books in awe.
"Now. First, I thank you for finding all the pieces of Tsin Kwan's soul and bringing them here. Well done. But now I'm afraid the real work begins."
"Just a minute."
Elena pointed at Arrafin.
"First, what the hell is going on with you two?"
"I thought it was obvious. We are lovers. What business is it of yours?"
All four stared in slack-jawed shock. Arrafin looked down at her feet, blushing, but she raised her head and shook her curls back, addressing her friends.
"I love her. You don't understand what she's doing, what she's going thro--"
"Hush, darling. It's okay."
"It's not!"
Indignant, Arrafin jumped to her feet.
"She never asked for this! Shang did this to her and she's just trying to, to, control it. To do as little harm--"
"Oh yeah, like those thousands of people in Kish. Or that village in Shaer. Yeah, no harm done there. Arrafin, listen to yourself. I don't know what she's done to you--"
Etienne snickered, but Elena steam-rollered on.
"-- but she is a monster! A killer! She says so herself."
Isaac stood and stepped between his angry friends.
"Guys. This isn't helpful."
He bowed to their hostess.
"Madame Yuek. Can I ask you a question?"
"I am not in the habit of explaining myself to peasants."
Isaac began to protest, but stopped as Arrafin tugged on Yuek's hand, and the two women exchanged pointed glances. Madame Yuek sighed, and then turned back to Isaac with a warm smile.
"Please, ask anything. We have no secrets."
"Uh. Okay. Look. You're obviously very, uh, powerful."
"You figured this out all by your-- Yes, indeed. I am."
Another scolding look from Arrafin quieted down the haughter in the vampire's countenance. She managed another smile, and Isaac continued.
"Why don't you... Go after bad guys? You know, take out the baddies, and leave the innocents? You have to admit, it's hard to... trust someone who seems content to kill folks who never did anything wrong."
"You have never had absolute power of others. I... "
Terrible sadness filled dark liquid eyes.
"I have learned that I am not capable of sitting in judgement on strangers without corrupting myself and all around me.
"I'm not sane, by any definition of that term. I feed on pain and terror and death, and when I lose control of myself, as I did in Kish recently, thousands pay for my error."
Her smile had faded and Isaac stepped back at the glower that emerged.
"I will not judge. I will not claim power that has not been granted me. I kill because I must, else I lose control of myself. I leave no witnesses, so that nobody knows I exist.
"And I am done explaining. Sit. Down."
Isaac sat.
"Now. Tomorrow we begin our attempt to restore the soul of Tsin Kwan, the last Blood Mother. I expect Matai Shang will attempt to stop us. He may be aware that you folks have gathered up a group of random individuals, and that will probably let him know what you're up to. However, he will not be able to find them here in my home."
Etienne nodded and broke in.
"Right, but we have to perform the ritual in the Blood Council Sanctuary in Zuyang. We have to--"
"I am familiar with the plan. Be silent. Shang will notice when I arrive in Zuyang and he will strike then, so we must wait until all the preparations have been made. Therefore, you will enter Zuyang, find the Sanctuary and consecrate it as the Blood Council instructed.
"At that time I will bring the holders of Tsin Kwan's soul and begin the ritual. Shang will most likely attack at this time so I will require your assistance in holding his forces off until I have completed the ritual."
Elena coughed and shifted in her chair.
"Maybe it's a little late in the game, but honestly, I get confused every time I try to work this all out. Why are we doing this again?"
Arrafin jumped in to answer.
"Shang shattered the soul of the Blood Mother and now the Blood Council has no leader. He's corrupted the Council to his own purposes."
Everyone spoke at once.
"But they say Madame Yuek killed the Blood Mother, don't they?"
"I thought Shang wanted to restore the Blood Mother. Isn't he after Nevid's brain?"
"The Blood Council don't know what's going on."
"I sure don't like that Shang guy. He's creepy."
The babble stopped as Arrafin got to her feet and waved for silence.
"Look. Matai Shang is a horrible monster. He turned a young woman into that for no reason other than it made it easier for him to torture her. He's tried to kill us a couple of times, and he clearly doesn't care who gets killed in his plans. He wants to prevent us from restoring the Blood Mother and honestly, that seems like a pretty good argument for doing it right there."
Elena scoffed.
"And you think if your new girlfriend brings back the Blood Mother, those women will be so grateful they'll let her go?"
Madame Yuek chuckled.
"Oh no. They want me dead, and once the Blood Mother is returned, they'll be much more able to do it."
"But that's crazy! Why would you--"
"I WANT TO DIE."
Isaac was watching Arrafin when Madame Yuek howled out her agonizing declaration, and he saw such a look of anguish on the Naridic girl's face that he reached across to take her hand. She paid no attention, utterly engrossed in her lover's pain.
"Don't you understand? I have been trying to kill myself for a hundred years. NOTHING stops this nightmare."
Madame Yuek shook, clenching her teeth and growling as she stared at the floor, fury radiating off her. After a heartbeat, she leapt to her feet and dashed from the room, her robes trailing behind her.
"Alright."
Elena strode over to Arrafin and yanked the girl up.
"What the f**k is going on, Arrafin? How long have you and-- "
"Over a month. Let go of me."
"You didn't tell us? How could you do this to us? We trust you, Arrafin. I thought we were friends."
"It was-- It just-- How could I tell you? I didn't mean--"
Isaac tried to step between them again. Elena threw Arrafin back and snarled.
"That's the last time I trust you, Arrafin. The last time. I'll do this Blood Mother thing, but then we're finished. You understand? I never want to see you again."
"Elena..."
"F**k you, Arrafin. Go play with your murdering vampire girlfriend."
Isaac grabbed Elena's shoulders as Arrafin ran from the room.
"Let her go, Elena. It's done. We--"
"You're okay with this?"
"I'm not! But what can we do at this point? We have to go along with them now."
"I know that! I'm just angry."
"No, really? Hey Nevid, maybe you shouldn't be reading Madame Yuek's books."