Elurra had never done this with a live audience. Still, now, she was standing in the gardens of the palace with a dagger and wearing the sleeveless top and narrow skirt of the sandmen.
Alric was wearing formal wear, which was pretty much the same thing she was wearing. His skirt was a heavier fabric and split to mid-thigh.
The Dhark and their family were watching on the broadcast. Dwell was fascinated by the concept of a fertility ritual that involved vampire blood.
Elurra looked at her husband and took the dagger. She lifted it high and whispered, “Call to the land, time to wake. Call to the sky, time to rain. Call to the sun, time to shine. Call to the wind to carry my blood.”
She whipped the blade up her inner arm, across her palm and outward. The sandmen gasped as the blood left her, formed a roiling ball of red mist, and then, it darted away.
Elurra dropped the blade, pressed her hand over her arm, and tried to chant the healing spell. It slowed the flow but left the long crimson stripe. She was tired.
Alric caught her and lifted her up.
She looked around. “Where did I drop the dagger?”
One of the men tried to pull it from the soil, and she stared as instead of him pulling it up, it was pushed up by the tree that was beneath it.
The young man asked, “Is it supposed to do that?”
She blushed. “Yes, that’s fine. Thank you. I will be able to reclaim it in the winter.”
Alric scowled. “Why in the winter?”
“Um, the tree is sleeping; it isn’t watching like it will be for the next ten months.”
He tensed. “Ten months?”
She blushed. “Stop staring at me like that. The soil knows before anyone else.”
There was a squeal from the Dhark video feed. The ladies were excited, the men were amused, and Teth was smiling like a proud uncle.
One of the sandmen murmured, “How does the commander know it is his?”
She squirmed to be let down, and Alric complied. She stalked over to the gossiper and beckoned for him to bend down. When he did, she gave him an uppercut that snapped his neck back and left him dazed on the ground in shock.
“Now, if any of you have any doubts about my virtue, please, ask me directly and don’t go whispering. I really hate whispers. It denotes a lack of courage. So, since you need to know, the first man to have me was the commander. We had been together on the dreamscape before we met in person, so our first intimacies were... prolonged. The tree has indicated I am carrying. I still do not know if it will stick. Being cursed has certain challenges, and carrying to term is one of them. I didn’t wish to find out that I was possibly pregnant and then immediately have my honour challenged. If you would like to try again tomorrow, I would recommend that you not bend down where I can reach you. I have a devastating uppercut.”
Alric was behind her, and she swayed. He caught her again.
He growled a few pithy statements about respecting women in general and Elurra in particular. While he talked, she squirmed around to get comfortable. She was dozing against his shoulder when the lecture was over, and she only woke up to him when he was naked under her with her head tucked in invitation against his shoulder. She moved down to his chest and bit, her hips rocking until he shifted them both to connect them.
Usually, the sex came before the bite, but she was a rebel, and Alric didn’t mind the sharp piercing of her teeth. Her father had been right, they were a good match.
She was curled against him, stroking his chest with her left arm. He kept looking at it and shaking his head in amazement.
“I can’t believe I healed that.” He was smug.
She chuckled. “Of course. Only you. You know, since I have been feeding from you, I haven’t been hungry. Normally there is a gnawing feeling in my belly, but now, nothing. I am very content.”
He smiled. “Do you think you are pregnant?”
She shrugged. “I think it is too soon, but the magic thinks I am.”
He placed his hand over her belly. “A tiny little sandman with big sharp teeth.”
“Or sandwoman. We could have a little girl.”
“It is unlikely; we have a skewed population. We only have one woman per eighteen males, so we breed out to many other species. The result is always pure sandman.”
She laughed. “Welcome to Metguard, where your rules don’t apply. Whatever science built this world became magic, and that magic parted ways from rules and logic.”
“Right. Speaking of logic, where did the queen keep her poisons.”
“She grew her herbs in a secret grove of apples. That is why the poison was so hard to detect. It tasted good. I can take you there tomorrow and destroy the trees, or at least remove the toxins. It has been on my list of things to do, but I haven’t been strong enough... until now. Thanks for that.”
He wrapped an arm around her hip. “If you are going out to exert yourself tomorrow, you should really gather strength today.”
She laughed and slid her leg to the top of his hip. “Well, if you insist, but you have already given so much today, I should probably do most of the work.”
He grinned and nodded. “I think that is an excellent idea. Let me know if you need any help.”
She snickered and got him to his back, where she could start her newly favourite procedure for getting his blood. It involved focus, attention to her partner, and not letting herself get out of control.
It was an exercise of focus, and she was so happy to be able to practice.
* * * *
Sixteen years later.
“So, Snow, this is what you will have to do one day.” Elurra explained the ritual, and then, she straightened her ritual costume. The vampire curse was remarkably handy for one thing, after every child, her body had bounced back rapidly.
Snow frowned. “Why does it involve blood?”
“Because everything does. The animals we eat, the birds in the trees, even the trees themselves have a version of it.”
“Why do I have to do it?”
“Because you are the eldest. It doesn’t have to be a solo duty. As your siblings come of age, they can help you, but for now, I am here, and I will do it. Are you ready for the procession?”
Snow nodded. She and her six sisters lined up, and as Alric held Elurra’s hand, the entire family entered the expanded garden.
The sandmen bowed as the royal family walked to the center of the garden. There was a line of men vying for Snow’s hand, but it would be her decision.
Elurra had gotten lucky with her father’s choice. Still, Snow definitely had a mind of her own and two parents to encourage her. She was not going to be left on her own. Blood was good for a lot of things.
She smiled at her husband and her children before lifting the knife. “Call to the land...”
When the ritual was through, she went to get her knife, and it was stuck. She looked up at Alric, and he was laughing in delight. “You have to be fucking kidding me.”
Each of their daughters had been announced in this way, and their family was the envy of the sandmen colony. There was no doubt that Alric was the father of each of her daughters. They were all taller than her by over a head, even the ten-year-old, and they had their father’s golden hair and her blue eyes with their skin a creamy gold.
Seven pretty vampires and one more on the way. She was putting the Dhark to shame.
The End