A/N: This short chapter is a flashback to a time before vampire Moriah and Suzie got together; when Taumuriya/Moriah was still in her bloodlusty era. Trigger warnings include physical abuse from a parental figure, attempted sexual abuse, graphic violence, and angst. I'm sorry in advance, we went to a bit of a dark place in this series.
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My life was an odd one for a woman in my time. For one, I was immortal. My adoptive father, Tigratava, was someone who didn't care about social norms, gender limitations, or even normal ethics. I had full reign of his empire, and I was grateful for the trust he had in me. Tigra's inner circle was well-chosen, but his rules were immovable. If anyone challenged him, they were done. I knew I was his right hand, but I acted as a compliant servant. It gave me more chance for glory than I would otherwise have as a human girl in the plains of the west.
One day in the year 236 AD, we came upon a family whose husband ruled his home with fear and violence. In a hypocritical fit, Tigra stole the man's wife and children, then killed the man. Dariyah was the woman's name, the children were: Yethlehem, Hezekiah, Arias, and Marai. I supported him and followed blindly. They became our family. We finally had a home and fought like hell to protect our kin. Yeth, Hez, Ari, and little Mara were my new immortal brothers and sisters. One by one, they pushed their luck too much and perished. Only Yeth and Dariyah were still alive centuries later from that first time we expanded our family. It was an exciting time as we gained numbers in our dynasty.
In the late sixth century AD, my father had aspirations to rule an advanced city the likes of Constantinople with himself as the emperor of his part of the world. We were working our way through the Eastern European Empire, conquering one village at a time while we gained numbers and military power. At the time, Dariyah's children were mostly gone, just Yeth remained. That night, I was lying in the plains near the Black Sea with Yeth, a warm fire, and my lean dog resting beside me; the puppy's lids were drooping heavily over his warm hazel eyes. Yeth was cutting his hair a few paces away while I whittled a dry piece of wood. The day had been mentally tiring as well as painful with the sun piercing needles through the threads of our heavy dark cloaks. Tigra had ordered us to take a battalion of his fighters across the plains to purchase weapons and train them in combat. We'd been traveling in the day and were left to our own devices while our humans slept. Yeth was always a little too cruel with them in his command, and it grated on me for some reason.
We took the nights to relax a little or feed if we were thirsty.
I looked over at Yeth's lean face and sharp black eyes. We had gotten into a lot of trouble together over the last couple hundred years, and it was fun. We'd also been at each other's throats at times, quite literally -- about to rip each other's throat out.
He spoke over the dancing flames as he cut his hair with a sharp blade. "Let's go hunting."
"Okay. There's a town nearby." I put away the little camel I was carving in my leather pouch; it looked like a dog so far. I wasn't very good at whittling yet.
"Fresh blood," he hissed.
I stood up and strapped on my rapier over my hip. I was still clothed in my earlier garb, so I just put the hood over my head and entered a headspace that lusted for blood.
Fresh, warm, female blood.
My fangs clicked out in preparation. The dog at my feet raised his head from where he was dozing and crooked his head in curiosity as he saw my pearly white teeth. He yawned, then laid his head down again to continue sleeping, knowing he couldn't follow me anyway.
Yeth grinned at my bloodthirsty sneer and clapped me on the back before we shot into the air in tandem. We swirled around each other in the air, spiraling gracefully as we anticipated each other's movements. We could potentially pass as fraternal twins -- same build, same color hair, and same lean face. The lights of the town flickered into view. The flames of the lanterns promised a quiet village in the distance, full of humans who had no understanding of the world in the shadows.
How quaint!
Farmers and their wives, young lovers and their supposed clandestine meetings, and the stale blood of the elderly ones, tinged with various maladies. We took a circuitous route around the perimeter of the town, gliding like birds of prey. Smells came up to meet us in the night. I smelled the sharp smell of blackened firewood as well as the smell of sex as a couple rolled around on their pallet over the dirt floor of their shack. I was looking for my type. A woman seemingly similar in age as my undead body. I scanned the small town.
There.
A woman sweeping up outside before retiring for the day. Her sweat made my mouth water with the smell of her musk; it made her blood all the more thick as I smelled the flow of it through her veins. She seemed to live alone as well. I grinned evilly at Yeth and he grinned back as we flew. I dipped down around her shack, then took my hood off. Yeth continued his own hunt.
I took a breath and affected a weary countenance as I slowly rounded the corner. "Pardon me." As I spoke, she jolted.
"What? Who are you?" She gripped her thicket of thin branches she was using to clean around her home tighter to her chest. Her speech was so musical and delicious.
"I'm a traveler heading to Babylon. I've been walking all day. Please, does your town have lodging?"
She frowned at me in suspicion, but then softened. "No, there is no such place. We don't have visitors here."
"Ah! Bad fortune!" I lamented heavily.
She fidgeted and shifted her weight nervously.
"I'll find a soft bit of ground on which to rest my head tonight. I'm sorry to have startled you." I made to leave.
"Wait!"
I smirked out of her sight before turning around.
"There --there are wolves on the plains!" She said worriedly. She deliberated some more while I waited. "My god would want me to shelter a woman. Please stay the night. I don't have much space, but at least you will be safe."
"Bless you." I said gratefully, knowing full well she would be pale and lifeless before dawn came. I followed her into her shack. It was a cozy room made up of imperfect logs and tied together with twine. Stumps made small stools where she could cook and mill wheat. A small collection of earthenware housed a little flour and water.
"Please sit." She gestured to a braided grass mat. I sat and pushed the locks that were crowding my face back. She stood in front of me in as she stared. I took off my heavy traveling cloak and bared my strong arms. I had leather and beaded bracelets on my wrists; her eyes went to them.
"Collections from my travels." I jangled the wooden beads so they clacked. She kneeled in front of me to look closer. "What is your name?" My eyes travelled over her thick eyebrows and long nose.
"Siarah. And your name?"
"Taumuriya."
