‘Vampirized Travellers – slaves, leeched to death and returned from that condition by reason of their converted physiologies, their altered organs and functions – had prepared the great hall. The table had been laid, and at one end had been placed the mighty bone-throne of Dramal Doombody. Raised up on a shallow platform, it seemed to yawn down the great length of the table.
“There,” said Karen. “Your hiding place – within Dramal’s great chair!”
‘I might have protested, but she foresaw it, stilled my babble before it could pour out:
“Have done! None shall sit upon the throne of Dramal. I do this to honour the leper Lord, my father and master, whose egg is in me. Hah! So they shall suppose, anyway. Myself, I take the great chair at the other end of the table. Between us they are trapped! Their thoughts, at least. Too late now to make other arrangements. I’ll brook no argument. Proceed with your part of our plan or get out. And I mean get out! If you’re not with me you’re against me. Find yourself new chambers within the aerie, or escape from it if you can. I shall not hinder you – but I can’t say as much for the others.”
‘She knew I couldn’t refuse; her vampire was stirring in her, aroused by her excitement. Useless – indeed dangerous – to try to dissuade her when she was like this. I went to the bone-throne.
‘God, what a monstrous chair that was!
‘It was a cartilage creature’s lower jawbone, as I have said. Perhaps five feet long, the eye-teeth formed hand grips at the front, so that the user’s arms would rest along the shining white cartilage ridges which in our jaws house our side or back teeth. Toward the rear of the jaw its sides rose up steeply to the hinge, but of course the upper half was not there. The flat, steep slope at the back of the jaw formed the chair’s backrest, against which was normally set a massive red-tasselled cushion. At front and back, the four corners, knobs of cartilage protruded downward, making perfectly symmetrical feet; the whole piece had been intricately carved and arabesqued, like an enormous ivory. And like ivory, it too had once known life – of a sort. Entire, it stood upon its own small stage, beneath which was my hiding hole. I must crawl in from behind, where once had been the trachea, then sit up inside. In there I found a large cushion; I could sit there as in a canoe, upright, with my head and shoulders protruding through into the cavity under the jaw, and look out through the arabesques so artfully cut in the bone. The great red cushion would not obstruct my view for Karen had had it removed, so that I could view at will every face at the table. It’s far easier to know a man’s thoughts when you can see his face.
‘And so they began to arrive.
‘As they came I read their names in Karen’s mind.
They communicated briefly, mentally, in the fashion of the Wamphyri, exchanging names and boasts. First was Grigis, the least of the Wamphyri Lords. He made out it was a matter of priorities, but plainly he had been sent to test the way.
“‘Grigis is here,” he sent, as he appeared from the stairwell. “‘The Wamphyri honour me, Lady, as you see. My stature is such that I am first-chosen to enter your aerie. Alas, I see warriors there, all about the room. What is this for a greeting?”
‘”For your protection, Grigis,” she told him. “And for mine. When heads as great as ours meet, they might clash! But for now consider the warriors as decoration, a symbol of Wamphyri power. They have no instructions. While we and the other Lords are still, they shall be still. And now, welcome to my manse. You have entered of your own free will, and I freely welcome you. Be seated. The others are not far behind.”
‘Grigis strode to a window, leaned out and made a sign. It was dark, of course, but that is nothing to the Wamphyri. I read in Karen’s mind how a second flyer, warily circling, at once turned inward and sped for the launching levels. Then Grigis took his seat, on one side of the table and well away from the bone-throne. Grigis was of course true Wamphyri and awesome in aspect, but he was nothing special among the Lords; pointless to describe him further.