Zenobia is Eudoxia’s beloved and Avicus’s Blood Spouse, a member of the Blood Kindred, and helps establish Collingsworth Pharmaceuticals, which aids in the separation of Amel from Lestat. Zenobia appears in Blood and Gold (2001), Prince Lestat (2014), Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis (2016), and Blood Communion (2018).
Born and raised as a slave in the palace of Constantinople, Zenobia is fifteen years old when the vampire Eudoxia takes her from the palace because she is incomparably beautiful, extremely well educated, and uncommonly clever. Eudoxia then makes one of her own slaves, Asphar, turn Zenobia into a vampire to avoid the fundamental problem that prevents maker and fledgling from reading each other’s thoughts and to allow Eudoxia to communicate with Zenobia telepathically, sharing her thoughts and reading Zenobia’s mind. Eudoxia tells Zenobia the story of her life, how her family moved to Athens when Alexander the Great first founded it, how she was turned into a vampire by the great Cyril, who let her drink from the blood of the first vampire, Queen Akasha. Eudoxia takes Zenobia as her intimate companion, and Zenobia loves Eudoxia deeply.
Eudoxia becomes aware that the vampire Marius has moved to Constantinople from Rome, bringing with him two vampire companions, Avicus and Mael, as well as Those Who Must Be Kept: Akasha and Enkil. Eudoxia explains to Zenobia that she would normally destroy such vampires, since she has been keeping Constantinople clean of vampires for many years. But after discovering that Marius protects Akasha, whom Eudoxia yearns to drink from again, Eudoxia makes two attempts to drink the Queen’s powerful blood, both of which end in disaster, when Marius destroys Asphar, and Akasha destroys Eudoxia, with the Fire Gift. Now all alone, Zenobia begs Marius to protect her, as she is still young and weak. Marius allows Zenobia to drink his blood; it increases her power considerably, since he himself has been imbibing Akasha’s ancient and powerful blood. Marius welcomes Zenobia into their coven; he protects her and teaches her how to dress like a man and hunt safely in the streets. Avicus and Mael are not as welcoming, which angers Marius immensely. What disturbs him most is that Eudoxia’s last assault causes a mob of mortals to threaten the safety of Those Who Must Be Kept. Greatly agitated, Marius knows he must take them elsewhere. His plan is to leave behind Avicus and Mael, and even Zenobia, who is now powerful yet still as gentle as ever. None of them wants Marius to go; and in their grief, Avicus and Zenobia discover deeper intimacy. She finds Mael to be too coarse and closed minded, while Avicus is optimistic, gentle, kind, attractive, and ancient, with blood almost as old as Akasha’s.
After Marius departs with Those Who Must Be Kept, Zenobia and Avicus spend much of their time together, leaving Mael alone and bitter. They sneak into the palace and feed off royalty and slaves, instead of hunting in the streets. Zenobia is too much in love with being a woman to continue dressing as a boy to hunt as Marius taught her. She is learning her own way to be a vampire. And she is dividing Avicus from Mael, maker from fledgling, in the process; for Avicus is also learning from her how to be a better vampire in that age. In time, when they can no longer endure Mael’s bitter company, Zenobia and Avicus leave Constantinople without him, travel all over the world, and become Blood Spouses.
A few centuries later, Zenobia and Avicus come to Carthage in North Africa, where they encounter the coven of Gregory Duff Collingsworth, who was known as Nebamun several thousand years ago in ancient Egypt and was the Captain of the Queens Blood. In his coven, the Blood Kindred, is Gregory’s fledgling and Blood Wife, Chrysanthe, a younger vampire from the great Arab-Christian city Hira. Along with them is Marius’s fledgling’s fledgling (Pandora’s fledgling), the one-legged vampire, Flavius. Avicus and Zenobia join Gregory’s Blood Kindred and remain with them for many centuries. Zenobia and Chrysanthe observe as Gregory and Avicus reminisce about the old days in ancient Egypt.
Zenobia and Avicus stay together all the way into the twenty-first century, living in North Africa, near to the places where they spent their mortal youths, until they eventually move into Prince Lestat’s Château de Lioncourt in the Auvergne.
For more perspectives on Zenobia’s character, read the Alphabettery entries Akasha, Asphar, Avicus, Blood Kindred, Blood Spouse, Chrysanthe, Cyril, Enkil, Eudoxia, Flavius, Gregory Duff Collingsworth, Mael, Marius, Nebamun, Pandora, and Those Who Must Be Kept.