Act XII: The Destruction of Sodom (Part 10)

ten

“Why is he going to Karak? Why was he conscripted?” Yubi, clutching the note, stormed into Schumeer’s office. Behind him, a group of slaves, carrying large umbrellas, hurried along, stepping on his heels and the hem of his robes, and stopped abruptly at the threshold. “He never told me about this… Schumeer, did he discuss it with you?”

Schumer, sitting behind the table, nearly jumped in fright. “It’s still daytime! You can call me if you need anything; you don’t need to come yourself.” He quietly slipped another note into the jumbled papers. “Karak Castle isn’t far, and Yakov should be back soon. But there’s something more urgent that I need you to handle.”

Yubi blinked in confusion behind the veil—but soon that confusion turned to excitement. "You want me to handle this?" He raised his chin, casually placing his hands behind his back. "Finally, I have something to do! It's been a long time!"

“That’s right. Only the city lord himself can handle this matter.” Schumer grinned and ushered Yubi into the small room next door—the window there was even smaller and cooler than the copying room. “A messenger just came and informed me that a distinguished guest is about to visit… but the identity of this guest is a bit tricky for us, so it would be best if you received him personally.”

"Who is it?" Yubi asked.

Schumer's eyes darted around. "...She's a distant relative of the Iberin family, a beautiful young woman from France." He sighed, feigning helplessness. "I think you can tell what their purpose is just by hearing this news, right?"

Yubi stared blankly for a moment before realizing what Schumeer meant. "...God, I'm so fed up with all this!" He pursed his lips awkwardly. "If you ask me, someone's probably already plotting something at Nablus's wedding... Schumeer, can't I just refuse? Or maybe I should find a way to leak some of the rumors Diophantus spread back then..."

“You know, those rumors are useless.” Schumacher looked at him with affection.

“Alright…when is that girl coming?” Yubi sighed and rolled up her sleeves. “Maybe I can show her that new house that’s still under construction.”

“Well, the messenger said the date hasn’t been set yet, and he’ll let us know when it is.” Schumer cleared his throat. “But there’s something I need to remind you: whatever you intend to do to her, you must not be impolite. This is not only for your reputation, but also for the stability of the city. There are some hobbies that you shouldn’t show, and you should keep them hidden for now.”

"Huh?" Yubi looked at him blankly. "Kyakov isn't here! He went to Karak and won't be back for a while!"

“I’m not referring to that, my dear…” Schumeer almost burst out laughing, his cheek muscles taut. “I’m talking about the musician you invited. If the Franks saw a naked woman in your room, they’d doubt your piety.”

As Yubi listened, his eyes narrowed sadly. “…You’re right, I really can’t discuss those taboo topics among Christians with her anymore.” He thought for a moment, “What about you? Jews are also pagans, but the Franks don’t care about that?”

“Ha ha, who cares about the Jews?” Schumer waved his hand self-deprecatingly. “None of us has a Saladin among us, with an army of hundreds of thousands, waiting to conquer Jerusalem.”

“That’s great, Schumer! I don’t know what I would do if I had to ask you to leave because of a guest…” Yubi flicked his sleeves and headed for the door. “After I’ve taken a bath tonight, have Daoud come to me… I need to talk to him.”

“No problem,” Schumacher replied with a smile. “You can talk about anything you want.”

He watched the vampire slowly leave the room, his robes trailing behind him, and saw the slaves with umbrellas in the corridor follow. The noisy yet silent footsteps finally faded at the door of the copyist's room. As if he had been underwater for a long time, Schumeer stared wide-eyed and let out a long breath, making his mustache flutter. He strode back to his desk, took out a piece of beautiful, exquisite stationery, quickly wrote a few lines, folded it up, sealed it with wax, and stamped it. After thinking for a while, he hurriedly went to the monastery garden and picked a half-open, shabby jasmine flower.

“Nuk! No…you go.” He whispered, pulling up a young monk from the copyist’s room and stuffing the crumpled jasmine flower into the letter. “Take this to Ramree and tell him it’s for Lord Baldwin of Ibelin…Go! Go now, run, you’ll be back before dark!”

The monk gave a hesitant reply, took the letter, and ran off. Schumer watched as the man ran out of the monastery and onto the main road, finally collapsing into his seat with a sigh of relief.

"He's always causing me trouble." He wiped the sweat from his brow and rubbed his chest. "That wretched barbarian..."

Daoud was always extremely nervous whenever he entered this room. Yubi couldn't understand why the little servant was so afraid of him. "I don't have a scary face like Yakov, with a body full of hairy, stiff muscles," he thought. The vampire studied his kind and lovely face in the mirror, drew new eyeliner with antimony powder, washed his hands, and walked out of the bathroom.

Upon lifting the curtain, Yubi was met with a helpless look at the servant's terrified expression—Daud was curled up with his limbs tucked into his hands, his forehead pressed to the ground, not daring to look at his face, like a charioteer in prayer.

“There’s no need for you to bow to me like that. I’m not the emperor, nor am I that much older than you.” Yubi sat down. “I expect you to treat me as an equal and honest person, and I will treat you the same way, okay? Just like before, keep it the same now.”

“…My lord.” Daoud’s every syllable trembled. “You, you are my god, and gods should not be looked at directly.”

“If you don’t obey my orders now, how can I be considered your god?” Yubi listened helplessly to the boy’s rapid heartbeat. “Get up and sit on the mat.”

His tone was only slightly harsher, but that was enough to make Daoud lift his head from the ground and obediently sit opposite him. Yubi picked up the cup beside him with satisfaction and tasted the blood inside. "I summoned you here because I have something important to tell you." The vampire shifted his posture. "I know you're about to become an adult, soon to turn 18… I've heard that the youngest age for knighthood is 18. And my own 18th birthday was indeed a very special one…"

He noticed that Daoud seemed to be looking into his eyes, yet also seemed to be looking elsewhere. The young servant appeared to be trembling with nervousness.

“I also know you and Nuk are very close; he must have told you a lot about me. Yakov told me everything.” Yubi picked up two more ivory dice from the table—a gift from Leili before she left, a Saracen pastime. “I’ve always known you admired him and wanted to be like him… to have a closer connection with me. That sounds much gentler, doesn’t it?”

He then noticed Daoud quietly turn his hand over and then clench it into a fist. The young servant repeated this action several times, clenching his fist in the air, seemingly grasping at something.

“I discussed this with Yakov a few days ago,” Yubi leaned forward slightly. “I think…”

This time, Daoud's gaze was fixed on his lips, and all his little movements froze.

Yubi reluctantly left his sentence unfinished. "First of all, I want you to know... Daoud, no one here dislikes or is dissatisfied with you. Our decision doesn't mean you've done anything wrong or inadequate, nor does it mean we have any preconceived prejudice against your background or personality." He tried to sound sincere, to avoid making his words sound like harsh nonsense. "We've discussed your situation very carefully, and the final decision is for your own good, for your own sake—the matter of turning you into my blood slave... will have to wait a little longer."

As he expected, the light in the boy's eyes vanished instantly, like a tiny flame extinguished from his bright pupils. Daoud pursed his lips and lowered his head, not daring to meet his gaze again, as if trying to hide his face in his neck.

“…I know you’ll be sad.” Yubi put down the dice in his hand. “But you’re too young. You’ll be blinded by the immediate benefits and unable to see the many perilous consequences. Even I, even the gods, can’t be trusted so easily…” At this point, he realized that he wasn’t old enough to be very persuasive, and that speaking such dogmatic words seemed to make him sound like Yakov, rambling and annoying. So, he decided to risk being more blunt.

“Listen, Daoud, I’m telling you my most honest thoughts, without a single lie,” Yubi said firmly. “Look at Nuk, he became my blood slave at 15 and still looks young. Do you really think it’s all good and no bad? He’s already hard to convince people with just clerical work. But you’ll be leading troops for me like Yakov. You’re way too young for a general.”

Daoud stared blankly at the interwoven vine pattern on the handwoven carpet, his eyes empty and filled with suppressed emotion. His lips moved a few times, but no sound came out.

“I think I can’t make the same mistake with you again,” Yubi sighed. “For both of us, we should wait a little longer, until you’re more mature. That would be much safer… What do you think?”

“…My lord, I understand.” The servant finally said numbly, “You have good intentions, and you are right.”

"You're not just brushing me off, are you?" Yubi stared at his face, scrutinizing him. "You know, this doesn't mean you'll never have another chance. Do you understand?"

“I understand,” Daoud’s voice rose a little. “I will wait however long you tell me to. I trust you.”

Yubi finally heard a satisfactory answer from him, and the anxiety in her heart subsided. "It's so good that you think that way! It really puts my mind at ease!" The vampire laughed, then picked up the two dice again and played them on the low table, making a clattering sound. "I called you here to ask you about something else—how's my new house coming along? Is the hall I've been urging to be decorated yet? We have guests coming in a couple of days, and I was just thinking of showing them around."