Brian Lumley - Necroscope - Invaders

'So that Dinu's voice was less certain, small and faltering, as he inquired, '"W-w-what does it mean, my Lord?"

'But The Mind's "cultured" tones were grown very deep and menacing now, and his scarlet eyes more truly aflame as he answered, "It means that despite our — what, our friendship? — and despite that you have been a true and honest man…"

'At which point there sounded a small commotion; a fluttering figure appeared at the rim of the tableau, and: "What? A true and honest man, this Dinu Vadastra? This so-called chief?

This great thief? I say wait, give me but a moment to show you that you are wrong, my Lord!" The voice was shrill and female.

'And Nadia, where she huddled close to me in my father's caravan, started and gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. For she had recognized the voice: that of her mother, Melana Zetra, who came hurrying now from her hiding place. And:

'"But what is this?" Malinari arched his eyebrows, and his forehead creased in a frown. "Someone dares to raise her voice, to interfere, and to command Nephran Malinari to wait?"

'For a moment Dinu Vadastra was stunned; likewise the rest of the clan, including Nadia and myself. But as Melana came in a rush, her hair awry and her face gaunt with fear — the terror of what she was about — it was observed that she wore a robe of offering. And indeed she was offering herself, of her own free will, to Malinari and his tithesmen! Ah, but she was offering a deal more than that.

'"What?" said Malinari again, in utter amaze, as she threw herself down before him, clawing the earth at his feet. "Is she a mad thing, that she interferes with the tithe?"

' "Mad with grief!" Melana cried, tearing her hair, throwing off her robe and kneeling there naked. "Mad with rage, and with outrage. For I have been cheated and used badly. My people, too, and even you, my Lord, cheated! All of us — by this man!" And she pointed a trembling finger at Dinu.

'It was the beginning of the end. And any observer could be forgiven for thinking that Dinu was himself Wamphyri — the way his eyes popped out like plums in his face, and the way he bared his teeth — as he threw himself upon Melana and bore her down. His knife rose over the tangle they made… until Malinari took it from him, tossed it away, then grabbed Dinu by the scruff of the neck and drew him upright. And:

'"Speak up!" he commanded Nadia's mother. "How have I been cheated? Oh, be sure I could learn it my way, but the process is harmful and your chief might easily lose all powers of reason. Moreover, I would like him to hear for himself what may yet harm him even more. So say on, woman: tell me how Dinu Vadastra has betrayed me." He looked at my father dangling in his grasp, his sandalled feet barely touching the ground, then grunted and thrust him away, sending him sprawling to the earth. Dinu would have attacked Melana again, at once, but a pair of lesser lieutenants were at his side, their gauntlets ready. And so he kept still.

'Then Melana spoke up, and the complaints she listed were the selfsame grievances that every decent Vadastra man, woman, or child capable of reasoned and intelligent thought had carried in his or her heart for long and long, without ever daring to give them substance. She spoke of the chiefs many prejudices, and of his favourites — such as herself — who remained hidden away, secret and undisclosed to the Great Lord of Vampires, when he sent his tithesmen out of Starside to collect his tribute; and of Dinu's treachery to his own tribesmen: how, if he were jealous of a man's prowess, or if he should be bested in some piddling campfire argument, then the better man might expect to find himself listed for the tithe. So that for long and long, no one had dared say Dinu no.

'Melana went on and on, as if she would never end. For as my father's odalisque, she had been privy to a great many wicked things in his caravan — all of his conspiracies with his cronies — in the time since her good husband, Banos, had been taken in the tithe. And so she lashed Dinu with her unforgiving tongue, which all the while gathered fire and passion; for Melana knew that, one way or the other, it was all done with now, and so she might as well do her worst.

'Then, towards the end, she spoke of her man, Banos Zetra; but here she broke down, sobbing her heart out when telling how Banos — a hunter whose contributions to the tithe had been significant — had been carried off to Malstack in Starside simply because Dinu Vadastra had fancied his wife for himself, and for no other reason.

'"And here I kneel before you," she finished at last, "the

living proof of all that I have said. But my man is in Starside and there's no place here for me now, for which reasons I would venture over the barrier mountains with you and yours, into the dark. And what of the ones that Dinu has hidden from you, great Lord? My daughter, whom he saves for his own worthless son. Aye, and that selfsame son, Korath, who skulks like a whipped dog in his father's caravan there?' At the last she threw herself flat on the earth, sobbing and clasping Malinari's feet.

'And Malinari was silent for a while, as he considered all that he had been told. But meanwhile his men were not idle. Two of them were at the withe door of my father's caravan; finding it barred from within, they tore it from its hinges. And one of them poked his head in and saw us, calling out: "They are here, my Lord. A youth and a girl, huddled in the dark like mice. The woman spoke the truth."

' "So," said Malinari, and his voice was doomful quiet now, even as quiet as the strange dark clouds circling overhead. "If she spoke the truth, then someone has lied. Bring these mice to me."

'But my father cried out, "My Lord! Have mercy, I beg you! He is my son, and the girl is his woman, and…"

' "And… you kept them from me," said Malinari, silencing him with a glance. "I was not shown them, nor asked if I wanted them. You desired no mercy of me then, only now. Like the child who steals a plum then asks if he may have one. Or in this case two plums… or three, if we include this good brave woman."

'He stooped and caught up Melana's robe, took her shoulder and drew her to her feet. "Cover yourself," he said. "I believe there may be a position for a hard-working woman — as an overseer of women — in Malstack in Starside. Moreover, I know of a certain thrall called Banos, who has not taken any woman of the manse in all the time he has served me. And Banos has served me well… unlike several I could name." He gloomed on Dinu Vadastra, then across the clearing to where a certain senior lieutenant sat all morose astride his flyer.

'And though Melana fastened her warm robe about her, still she shivered. She had felt the weird cold when Malinari touched her, the tendrils of sentient ice that flowed from his fingers. Yet still she was the brave one. "What of my daughter, my Lord? My beloved child, still innocent despite this unworthy Korath's vile embraces?"

'Malinari looked at her and raised an eyebrow. "You should be aware," he said, "of the thin line between bravery and utter folly. I'm not much known for listening to complaints, and even less for granting wishes." But then he sighed, and said, "First let me see this girl, this—"

'"Nadia," Melana told him.

'"As you will," Malinari nodded. "This Nadia. And for that matter, this unworthy Korath, too." And his lieutenants dragged Nadia and myself before him. Thus I came face to face with Lord Nephran Malinari, of the Wamphyri.'

' "Are you your father's son?" he questioned me. ' "Eh? Er, pardon?" (For how to answer such a question?) ' "Eh? Pardon?" He mimicked me. "Are you a cheat and a liar like your father, Dinu Vadastra?"

'Well, I wasn't like my father to that extent. But big and brawny I was, and perhaps a little stupid, too. "I'm no cheat," I told him. "And no man calls me a liar."