The Vampire's Crimson Kiss (Editing)

Chapter 25/Feast of Fools encounter in Byzantium

The phrase "blood god" in the Shadow Tongue was a word so terrible, so macabre that even the dark lords tended to avoid its use. Instead, they would say "blood god" in English with a shadow accent. The true version required making a sound so terrible that it felt like you had unleashed the sound of hell itself from your mouth. To hint at the sound, to the mortal ear, it seemed to contain the sound of wailing babies being crushed by cloven hooves. It was deep, like the last exhausted cry of a whale who, at the impact of a harpoon, knew its bitter fate. There was a guttural roar, as if a lion had been thrown into a fire pit to die. It cluttered your mouth with dissonant vowels, as if you were simultaneously uttering every foul word in every language ever spoken. The word itself was so horrendous that once spoken, it left you for a moment feeling soulless, and it would bring a cold, spidery-fingered fist tightening around your heart. It was said that frequent repetition of the word would drive a non-believer mad, and there was a casual violence to the word that dissuaded even the strongest from wanting to test the idea.

As I continued to read, I found that the nightmarish word I had been taught was not the blood god's true name. Speaking the true name to an unbeliever was considered blasphemy, and the punishment for uttering it was death. When I asked which party would be killed, the speaker or the listener, Mary had answered both. As a nonbeliever, I was not permitted to read any religious text, and I was pleased not to. Perhaps Mary was trying to avoid looking over those words, but she told me that the pages of the vampire bible, the Book of Erebus, were written on cured human skin.

Mary recovered quickly from her draining and was up and back to work by the week's end. I returned to my studies. Mary began to teach me to read more English, and she was right; with only 26 letters and no words that felt like they would make you spew forth your own vocal cords, I learned quickly. My knowledge of the Shadow Tongue was good enough to read some of the histories of the coven of the Meridian. The coven had a long history reaching far back in time. There was talk of purges that happened in the 15th century. In them, I found a passing reference to a 'wild talker' or a 'wind walker,' the details of which were in the Book of Tethdalus. It made me want to walk into the temple, except the temple was off-limits to those who did not believe in the blood god. I was not allowed to join, as this would require the brand of Savage Absolution, which would break the Duke's promise. So, this became my plan: I would look for the book during the Feast of Fools, to which the Duke had already invited me.

I began to familiarize myself with the writing in religious texts I was permitted to read so that I could quickly read the Book of Tethdalus in the temple if I had the chance. It felt that religious texts struggled not to be read by a non beliver. 

Then I heard that word had been sent out. The Feast of Fools had been declared off-limits to the uninitiated. Given that initiation involved the taking of blood, I was effectively the only one excluded. Even the viands could go, but not me. Apparently, the High Priestess and her deputy had consulted the stars and decided on this minor exclusion. I discovered that Electra held the role of deputy priestess and lost my surprise.

I was determined to sneak in despite my apparent ban. Making my desire plain, Mary relented. The Feast of Fools was a masked event, so I might pass as another low familiar. For entry, she relied on the guards not being diligent enough to check the brand. She made me promise that if we encountered the wrong guard, I would have to be disappointed.

The Feast of Fools was a celebration of the life before the fall. For it, we would need new special clothes like the ones people wore before the fall. Mary bought mine in secret, and for once, I wouldn't have to wear a corset. The thin dress she got me showed a great deal of skin, and I knew I would freeze. I could see why the vampires found them attractive. The dress was a bright red, which Mary said was a color from the time before, when people didn't wear the dark, sullen colors the vampires preferred or a the pale natural dyes of the town folk.