Neferata by Josh Reynolds

Author:Josh Reynolds
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Black Library
Published: 2012-12-23T16:00:00+00:00

TEN

The City of Bel Aliad

(–1150 Imperial Reckoning)

Bel Aliad heaved in the throes of civil war. Kontoi warred on Kontoi, noble house on noble house. Neferata moved through the incense-shrouded corridors of the ghoul-god’s temple, followed by a panting praetorian guard of half-armoured ghouls. These were the largest of the colony beneath the temple, the ones who feasted on the freshest flesh and felt no fear in battle. They carried tulwars and, remarkably, possessed some skill in their use. Khaled had seen to that, at least.

Neferata herself wore the flowing mail coat of a Kontoi, and had a jewel-hilted scimitar sheathed on her hip. She disdained the use of a helmet, having never developed a liking for the feeling of metal and wood enclosing her skull. Her armour was covered in crusted, dried blood and when she stopped, several of her whining guards licked at the stains. Neferata ignored their antics. She stood in the central plaza of the temple, where her handmaidens – those who weren’t involved in the fighting – oversaw the control of those parts of Bel Aliad that they held. Neferata scanned the faces of her followers and the priests who bustled about.

‘Where is he?’ she snapped.

‘Where do you think?’ Naaima said. The other vampire sat on Neferata’s throne, reading a report. She tossed the scroll aside and pushed herself to her feet. ‘He took as many ghouls as we could spare and went down into the tunnels. He’s heading–’

‘For the caliph’s palace, yes,’ Neferata said, rubbing her brow.

‘You should have killed him.’

‘Possibly,’ Neferata said. ‘And possibly his bloodlust will serve our purposes. As long as Al-Khattab holds the caliph, he holds the illusion of legitimacy. Khaled will be hailed as a rescuer…’

‘By whom?’ Naaima asked. ‘The people on whom he feeds openly or the nobles whom he seeks to topple? Both fight us now, as well as Al-Khattab’s conspirators!’ Naaima trembled with anger. ‘I warned you! I told you–’

‘Be silent!’ Neferata snarled, her voice echoing from the pillars. Every living thing, and most of the dead, froze at the sound of those words. Naaima stepped back, as if slapped. Neferata fell silent. She looked around. ‘Where is Anmar?’

‘I sent her with Rasha. There is a force approaching the city… I thought it best to find out who they are,’ Naaima said hesitantly.

‘When did you send them?’ Neferata said.

Before Naaima could reply, there was a crash. The roof of the temple buckled and a section fell, crushing a number of priests and trapping one of Neferata’s handmaidens. The vampire writhed beneath the stone, her lower body crushed to a paste. She shrieked wordlessly, her fists battering at the stone and her human face dissolving into a mask of animal pain.

Neferata moved swiftly to her side. She knelt and took her handmaiden’s head in her lap. The woman’s screams quieted to whimpers. ‘Find out what’s going on,’ she said, flinging out a hand imperiously. Then she leaned over the wounded vampire, whispering comforting nonsense into her ear. With time and care, she might survive, but Neferata had neither.

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