And that perhaps was the real change in him, the change that he welcomed—that he could see himself as part now of all this great and glistening world. He was not part of some mindless force that sought to destroy it. No, he was part of it. He was part of this, this night with its sweet mild rain, and this whispering garden with its fragrant flowers and its trees, and the breezes that moved their branches. And he was part of the roar of the city rising around him, and part of the sharp shining music that came from within the house. He was part of the grass beneath his feet, and the tiny relentless hordes of winged things that sought to devour the human waiting there helplessly for a proper grave.

He thought of Lestat again, confident, smiling, wearing the mantle of power as easily as he had always worn his finery, old and new.

He said under his breath:

“Beloved maker, beloved Prince, I will be with you soon.”

Tuesday

November 26, 2013

Palm Desert

Appendix 1

Characters and Their Chronology

Amel—A spirit manifesting to humans six thousand years ago or in 4000 B.C.

Akasha—The first vampire, made by a fusion with the spirit Amel six thousand years ago, or in 4000 B.C. Thereafter known as the Mother, or the Sacred Fount, or the Queen.

Enkil—The husband of Akasha and the first vampire made almost immediately by her.

Khayman—The second vampire made by Akasha within the first years after the fusion.

Maharet and Mekare—Twin witches born six thousand years ago. Mekare was made a vampire by Khayman. Maharet was made by Mekare. Khayman, Maharet, and Mekare became the First Brood rebelling against Akasha and making other blood drinkers when and where they chose.

Nebamun, later Gregory Duff Collingsworth—Made by Akasha in the first few years to lead her Queens Blood troops against the First Brood.

Seth—The human son of Akasha, brought into the Blood perhaps fifteen to twenty years after the fusion.

Sevraine—A Nordic woman brought into the Blood illegally by Nebamun (Gregory) about five thousand years ago, or one thousand years after the Blood Genesis. The maker of several vampires yet unnamed.

Rhoshamandes—A male from Crete, brought into the Blood at the same time as Sevraine, to serve in the Queens Blood. Made directly by Akasha.

Avicus, Cyril, Teskhamen—Egyptian blood drinkers made by the priests of Akasha’s cult well before the Common Era, drinking the Mother’s blood but not made by her.

Marius—A Roman patrician, kidnapped by the Druids, and brought into the Blood shortly after the birth of Christ, or at the dawn of the Common Era. Made by Teskhamen, who was shortly thereafter presumed dead.

Pandora—A Roman patrician woman named Lydia, brought into the Blood by Marius in the first century.

Flavius—A Greek slave brought into the Blood by Pandora during the first century.