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Prelude	By : belladonnacullen Category: Twilight Series > Het > Bella/Edward Views: 5838 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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Chapter List
- 8
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- 10
We talked strategy the whole flight from Italy to Riyadh. It would be just the three of us against a small army. Alice said it would be no problem; they were new and untrained. But with just three of us we couldn't make mistakes. Jasper took us through tactics and formations using the on-flight liquor bottles that no one on this plane had any desire to drink.
Even though I was still feeling guilty about getting us into this, I was pretty pumped. It was such a rush to go into a fight like this, to really give it to someone. And then there was Rose; she was smoking hot. They had us change before we left, saying we needed some decorum or something. So Jazz and I were now in tuxes, and Rose was in this sparkly white number: deep V-neck, backless, floor-length with a slit that should be outlawed. Damn, she was hot.
I wasn't sure about fighting in this get-up, but they let us bring our bags, so we had clothes to change into. Of course, after arriving in Saudi Arabia, we couldn't just walk out of the plane wearing tuxes and that dress. Number one: it's sunny in the desert, so we'd all be pretty conspicuous. Number two: people in Saudi Arabia cover up, a lot. So Jasper and I had these headdress things and some dark shades, we just had to keep our hands in our pockets while we were out in public. Rose on the other hand had to wear an abayah. I always thought it was called a burkha. Anyway, she'd be covered from head to toe. It would certainly make going out in the sun easier. I wondered if there were more of us here in the Middle East than we all realized.
I was listening to old school Beastie Boys on my iPod as the small private plane taxied along the runway. Heat came up off the tarmac in waves, so that the buildings and lights of Riyadh shimmered like a mirage. If vampires have adrenaline, mine was pumping. I look back on our handlers, and there was no apparent adrenaline there. Jane, Felix, and Valentino were all dressed in black, and had been completely still for the entire ride. They could have been going to a funeral. Where Valentino had been talkative and friendly when we first met, he looked angry and grim. I wondered if near annihilation would do that to anyone, or if it was just Valentino's nature. I didn't wonder too long, just took note that I had created an enemy.
The plane came to a stop and stairs where brought up alongside. Felix strode over and threw the door open. Heat hit us like a wall as Jasper, Rose and I stepped onto the landing. There was weight to the air, yet the shimmering city seemed like it could possibly float away the way it shook in front of us.
"Andiamo!" Valentino commanded behind us. Jasper and I donned our headdresses and glasses, our hands coolly in our pockets. Rose slung the abayah over her frame, only her amber eyes showing. I always suspected it, but now I knew; Rose was hot even covered completely from head to toe.
Only after I started down the stairway did I notice two black Mercedes 4 X 4's with blackened windows waiting for us on the tarmac.
"Subito!" Two strong hands shoved me from behind, and I spun around instinctively ready to strike. A growl escaped from Valentino's lips, Felix held him by one arm, but it looked to be more for show than for any real restraint. Jane's eyes glowered from behind the abayah.
"Emmett, let's go," Jasper was stern. I felt my anger ebb as he took my arm and turned me forcibly around. Rose grabbed my other hand and pulled me down the stairs.
"Focus, Emm," Rose hissed. "They're not going to make this easy for us. Let's just do this and go home."
We slid into the creamy leather interior of the first waiting SUV, and the door silently closed behind us. The road from the airport took us through the heart of the city. Skyscrapers, malls, bazaars, and palm trees lined both sides of the large thoroughfare, the congested streets keeping traffic at a crawl. It gave us a chance to take everything in, men mostly in long white robes and headdresses, and the few women we saw were all dressed like Rose. The sky was hazy with a brown-blue hue to it. The buildings got progressively lower, farther apart and camels showed up along the route.
Finally, we left all traces of civilization behind us, and we were left with the black road, and red-brown sand that rose in dunes, irregular and rippling along the highway. The sky was a deep aquamarine out here, with just a few gossamer clouds very high in the sky that managed to stretch from one side of the horizon to the other.
Then without warning, the SUVs pulled off the road and headed straight for the dunes. By the position of the sun in the sky I could tell that we were headed south. The dunes rose higher and turned a lighter shade of tan as we drove through a narrow corridor in the sand. Then suddenly, the path sloped down and the dunes flattened out and as far as we could see was dry cracked earth covered with a layer of yellow-brown salt.
This place was like Bizarro Forks, the complete opposite of our current hometown in the Pacific Northwest. No moisture in the air, no clouds, no vegetation, and everything was red, tan or brown, with an electric blue sky. There was no place to run and take cover. All was vast, flat and bone dry. It left me feeling very exposed and a bit vulnerable, something I was not familiar with in the least.
The driver and his companion had been non-communicative for the entire trip. It had been implied that they would drive, we would observe. But I was unsettled enough that I couldn't keep quiet. I leaned forward, "What is this place?" I asked.
The guide in the passenger seat slowly took off his dark glasses and turned around. His bright red eyes were illuminated by the sunlight, even through the tinted windows. "Salt flat. Najran emirate, this is Rub' al Khali, The Empty Quarter. Sand, oil and Sakhmet." He said simply in thickly accented English. He turned around again without another word and put his glasses back in place. I suppose our conversation was over.
I turned to my brother, seated between Rose and I, who was staring straight ahead into the distance. "So Jazz, there's a lot of sand. Should we work that into our plans? Change things around a little to account for the give in the environment?"
I only realized then that Jasper looked a little sick, if vampires could get sick. His eyes seemed to be searching for something along the horizon and his jaw was clenched. He seemed startled when I spoke. "Umm, Emmett, I, uh, don't know." He shook his head and looked down at his lap.
"Jazz, what is it?" Rose asked, her hand on his shoulder.
Jasper continued to shake his head a little, but said nothing. The car moved into the shadow of a monster dune, and the path seemed to shift ahead of us.
"Jazz, come on. We all need to be on the same page here." I pried.
"Sorry guys." His voice was barely audible. "This place is strange, it's empty. With no one around, it's like I feel less. I think I always focused on the negative aspect of my abilities, feeling what others feel can be overwhelming, a burden. But without people, I'm feeling a bit lost right now. Hollow, somehow."
"Jasper." Rose slid her hand so that her arm wrapped around his shoulders.
Jasper looked down. "Alice would make this better, she'd tell me that this feeling will pass, even if she saw something different. Then I'd make her tell me what she really saw." Alice was really sweet that way, I'd always been pretty sure she did that kind of thing.
Jasper continued, "We've never been this far apart since she found me. The way this place makes me feel so empty inside, it feels evil somehow. I feel evil. I can't wait to get home."
I didn't know what to say to that. Rose looked at me. I could only see her golden eyes wide and sad for our brother underneath the abayah. "Jasper, we'll be your home for now. We'll make sure you get back to Alice," Rose said, and he let his head rest against her. I squeezed Rose's hand, grateful that she could find the words I couldn't.
I looked up to see four red eyes staring at us through the rear-view mirror, still and questioning. Whatever. I slapped Jasper on the knee in an effort to bring him out of it. But when he didn't look up I just let my hand rest there.
Even in the 4 X 4's, it was rough travel, and our guidess seemed to drive randomly, turning around sand mountains that we watched drift from the windows. But then, on the horizon to the east there appeared a cluster of low, white buildings surrounded by a wall fitted with guard towers. Green streamers with white Arabic writing hung from rafters on the roofs. It was shaded on all sides by palm trees, and there was a large caravan of camels and tents off to one side. We continued across the open desert toward the compound since there were no roads leading up to it.
As we got closer, I could see humans camped in the caravan. They wore long white and tan tunics, their heads covered to protect them from the scorching sunlight. The children were running and playing as their mothers tried to herd them away from the approaching SUVs. Their encampment was arranged in a circle, with goats and chickens in the center. The tents were colorful, reds, purples, and yellows, flapping in the dry dessert wind.
We drove up to two enormous metal gates that opened automatically as the cars drew near. Inside the compound it was again deserted, feeling very much the same as the surrounding landscape. The cars pulled right up to the front door of the main building, and our guides were immediately at the passenger doors, holding them open. As I climbed out of the car I noticed sand devils spinning in the empty space of the courtyard, and a darkening brown cloud on the horizon. Jasper looked like he was going to be sick.
Two large wooden doors that might look at home on a castle opened, and a tall and slender vampire dressed formally in a suit and tie beckoned us forward. "Felix, Jane, Valentino, it's been some time. I see you've brought newcomers with you. Please enter before we are caught in the storm."
We were escorted into the dim light of the main house. It was much cooler inside. There were no noticeable furnishings around us, just a low room with pillows strewn around the periphery. Another identically dressed vampire appeared at a distant doorway, then was at our side.
"Your headdresses and coverings, sirs and madams." We followed the example of our Volturi escorts, and handed our Arab coverings to the servant.
"Rosewater?" He produced warm scented towels to freshen our face and hands.
"This way, please. Sakhmet will see you now."
We wound through sparsely decorated rooms, all dark, all smelling of incense. Finally, our guide brought us to a large golden door, inlaid with what looked to be Egyptian hieroglyphics. The room inside was a bit brighter than the rest of the maze we had just been led through. Sunlight streamed through a circular skylight in the ceiling. The room itself was circular, with a raised dais on one end.
All of our eyes were immediately drawn to the creature lounging on thick crimson pillows on the platform in front of us. The red, piercing eyes told us clearly that she was vampire. Her heart shaped face was fierce and feminine, and her full lips held a smile at the edges. Lustrous blue-black hair hung straight to her tiny waist. Her figure was ridiculous, even compared to Rose, voluptuous hourglass curves were accentuated with a thick gold, jewel-encrusted belt at her waist. The belt held a bright orange wrap in place, but the garment hid little of her chalky ebony skin. She turned to face us, and a ruby fixed on her forehead gave her almond-shaped eyes a blood-red malevolent glare.
"Hmm," she smiled up at Jane, Felix and Valentino. "What affords me the honor of a visit from the Volturi, my European friends?"
"It's a pleasure to see you again Sakhmet. It has been too long." Jane didn't answer her question.
Sakhmet's eyes narrowed, and her gaze flickered across the gathering of foreign vampires in front of her. "Five hundred years, give or take."
"Sakhmet, we're here on business from the council. We have been informed about an uprising with its root in your compound." Jane seemed to acquiesce something with her explanation.
"Ha ha ha!" Sakhmet's laugh was rich and deep, shaking her golden jewelry. She covered her mouth with her bejeweled hand and composed herself effortlessly.
"I'm sorry. My apologies. I mean no disrespect, for we all know that the Volturi is indispensable. But do you really mean to assist Sakhmet, the goddess of war, with the destruction of six or seven newborn vampires? Please go back to the council, tell them that your services are not needed here."
This time Felix spoke, and I noticed that he bowed his head ever so slightly. "It is our honor to be in your presence, Sakhmet. We are under strict orders from Aro. This is a test for these three here, testing the allegiance of our American cousins. Jane, Valentino and I are here to simply observe and report back. We do not doubt your prowess, and would never have considered this trip unless we were under orders."
Sakhmet turned and seemed to really look at the three of us for the first time, sizing us all up with a quick but deeply contemplative glance. First she looked me up and down, and her grin stayed smug and menacing. Then she moved on to Rosalie and her eyes narrowed and her smile shifted to a snarl. Finally her eyes settled onto Jasper. Her superior attitude gave way almost immediately and her facial features relaxed into a look of calm satisfaction. Jasper was always at it, I guess. I turned to wink at Jasper, but the look on his face froze me in my tracks. Was it possible that his skin had turned a greenish hue? His face was pinched in concentration and his fists were clenching and unclenching, but his eyes were frighteningly soft and wide. I had never seen anything like it.
I looked back at Sakhmet; her grin was wide now, flashing her bright white teeth in the light filtering in from the ceiling.
"Very well. I don't know your story, and I don't have to. It pleases me to have you here. I should enjoy the company." Her eyes were locked with Jasper's. "Please accept my humble accommodations. According to my sources, the party you are here to meet will be returning within two weeks time."
"Tell us where they are. We will go to them." Jasper's voice was broken and rough.
"We stay here," Jane was uncompromising, "orders." She smiled smoothly, obviously enjoying Jasper's apparent discomfort.
Sakhmet turned to Jane. "Why not just kill them? Why the ruse?" Her grin never left her lips.
"They have conquered larger armies in the recent past. One way or the other it will be settled," Jane replied.
"A mystery," Sakhmet murmured. "I love mysteries." She smiled full on at Jasper.
He coughed and seemed to pull his thoughts from some far away location as he said, "Ma'am, we'll require some help with logistics. Can you tell us whom we will be fighting? What is their motivation? Any help you could give would be greatly appreciated." When Jasper was nervous sometimes the Southern gentleman emerged. It seemed to do the job with Sakhmet.
"Yes, of course." Her eyes were for Jasper only.
I felt myself relax; finally Jasper seemed to be regaining his composure.
"What do you know about me?" She asked Jasper, but I imagined the question was for all of us.
"Ma'am, we're not acquainted with the name Sakhmet. I'm sure our father Carlisle, or our brother Edward might know. They are both much more knowledgeable about the rest of our kind."
"Nothing?" Her voice was more severe. "Nothing about the goddess Sakhmet? Is it true then that the gods have faded in the new world?"
"It's how we are able to live among the humans, ma'am," Jasper replied.
"You must all be young. What is this existence without reverence? Without worship? I am Sakhmet; they call me the god of war and of death. It is how the humans interpret my strength and my desire for blood. I come from Egypt, forced out about 500 years ago, after I became enraged and left a path of destruction that caused the Nile to run red and left the humans in that region decimated. The Vultori allowed me to come here," she said with a sneer in Jane's direction.
"Here where there are no humans, no rivers, nothing but oil underneath my feet. But my followers don't forget me; the Bedouins have ranged all across this middle desert for as long as I have ruled over them. They find their way over the lines of nations to make regular sacrifices. And who could stop them? There is no government to speak of here, no human interference. I am the law. I control the oil, the wealth it brings, the workers that bring it to the surface."
"Excuse me," Rose said impatiently, "that doesn't exactly explain why we're here." Sakhmet looked Rose up and down, appraising.
"No my little friend. No one has exactly explained to me either why you are here." And then her eyes settled on Jasper again, and he clutched his chest and gritted his teeth. "What is it they say in your language? A picture is worth one thousand words, I think. Come with me, tell me how many words my harem is worth."
And with that Sakhmet was on her feet and sauntering towards a door at the opposite end of the room, beckoning us with her finger. I exchanged glances with Jasper and Alice, but the sound of Jane clearing her throat behind us left no question that we were expected to follow. I nudged Jasper in the side as Sakhmet led us through another dizzying array of corridors.
"Jazz, what's going on?"
Sakhmet continued to talk as if Jasper were the only one present, "We have similar gifts."
"Our gifts are not the same," Jasper responded to her. Then he turned to Rose and I. "She can influence emotion as well. But I think she can only elicit one specific emotion."
Sakhmet seemed to ignore Jasper's contradiction, "And you are skilled in the art of war?"
"That's no longer my life, I've changed. I'm here now to protect the life of a human."
"You are a vampire, you can't change. You only pretend to change, there is a difference."
"Jasper, what emotion?"
Jasper was about to respond, when we arrived at another large golden door. Behind it we could hear the murmuring of many voices in a foreign language. She knocked three times, and it opened. Inside was a sea of human males, all dark-skinned, all relatively young. They wore white and tan robes similar to those worn by the humans we passed on our way into the compound. They were lounging, talking in groups, seated on the cushions that were thrown about the room.
But as Sakhmet stepped into the doorway suddenly all eyes were fixed on her and all talking ceased. One by one the males dropped to their knees and bowed their heads to the floor.
She turned and looked at me for the first time since she had laid eyes on Jasper. That's when I felt it, and my eyes clouded over and my body was on fire. "Desire," she said to me. "I make men want me."
She turned back to the throng of men and as suddenly as it hit me, the feeling left. "This is where the newborn came from. His name is Abu Nuwas." Then Sakhmet turned to look at Jasper. "I can sense your thirst, you have not changed. Take whichever you want. I do not mind. It is my gift."
Jasper grimaced and turned away. Every muscle in his body seemed taught. He looked ready to strike or run. Instead he turned back to Sakhmet. "I came with you to learn about our opponent. That�s the information you promised us."
"As you wish, perhaps another time. The invitation is an open one." With that she walked through the doorway and took her place on a platform similar to the one she had been seated on in the other room. The mass parted for us to walk through, and she extended her arm, indicating that we should all sit around her. There wasn't a murmur from the crowd, whose heads were still bowed.
"I assumed Abu Nuwas was the same as every human in this room, brought as an offering. But he was different. While others come to me with caresses and kisses, he used his lips in a different way. He had a way with words."
"The night I selected him, he composed some of the most beautiful stanzas that I have ever heard. He pleased me more than any other has in many years. That night I never used him for his body, and I didn't use him to quench my thirst. I sent him away with the morning, and the next night I asked for more poetry. He made my head spin with his words, and then I took him to bed. But again, I spared his life. In that way, I brought him back to me night after night, and I was amused and delighted."
"The boy was in love of course, and begged me to turn him. So I did, out of a desire to have poetry dedicated to my beauty and exploits forever, and a willing and tireless concubine for the ages. But he believed I changed him for a mate; he thought this change would secure my love for him."
"When I resumed my nightly human habit he was so upset and disappointed that he could create no more poetry. As a vampire he was useless. And with a bit of weakness on my part, I spared his life and made him leave instead of killing him. He said if he couldn't have me, then no one could. That's when he started the talk about the army."
"They are a small bunch, never more than ten. They kill each other almost as quickly as they can find someone new. Abu Nuwas is just a silly poet looking for a poetic death. I would easily do away with them on their return. I have two valiant fighters at my disposal. There is nothing his silly little gang can do to me."
"So you see, I don't need you here. There are not enough people in this region to cause much suspicion. This is not an issue for the Volturi. Aro knows your services here are not needed. Aro must have known how delicious you would appear to me, your battle scars shining and sparkling in the desert light."
"Aro wants proof of our allegiance."
"Perhaps Aro wants to break your coven any way he can. Perhaps he knew you would want to be here with me. Perhaps he would like to change your strange golden-eyes to red."
"We have a job to do. I need to speak with my siblings, and we are going to need to feed often before the fight to keep up our strength."
"Just as much as you are trying to force disinterest onto me right now, I am trying to draw you in. It is working. You want me, I can feel it."
"No, Can you feel the deep affection I have for my mate Alice."
"Yes, something I have never felt before from one of our kind. This mutual affection attracts me as much as your appearance and experience. It is something I would like to know more about. As for sustenance, what is mine is yours." She swept her hand out to encompass the crowd around us.
"No, we're not changing our diet. That wasn't part of the deal."
"Very well, ask Chun-Tao and Dong-Mei to take you into the Southwest. In the mountains there you will find ibex, hyena and wildcats. Will this do?"
I wondered if ibex was a type of desert bear, but had no opening to ask. As far as Sakhmet was concerned, Jasper was the only other person in the room.
"Eat now and ease your thirst. Then come to me later. This could be your destiny my young friend. Think of the power you would wield working with the goddess of war."
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Prelude