Subtle Signs

1. The Jinn-2

She nodded.

‘Now don’t be frightened.’

The albino brought his hand to his mouth and Eno saw his teeth. Teeth like a lion. She moved back slightly. The albino pierced the tip of one of his fingers with his teeth, making a few drops of blood flow out. The wound healed immediately.

‘Lick,’ he said, putting his finger in front of her mouth.

Unsure, Eno opened her lips. The albino brushed her lower lip, depositing a few drops of blood there. Eno felt them on her tongue, tingling.

Much like earlier, the tingling sensation diffused throughout her body, giving her a pleasant feeling.

‘More,’ he said, biting himself again.

This time Eno licked the blood from his fingers.

The pleasurable sensation increased. The tingling invaded her completely, running through her like a shiver.

Eno closed her eyes. She didn’t want to let herself be taken by that feeling, but it was so pleasant…

‘More,’ his voice repeated and she opened her mouth.

More salty blood that burnt her tongue. The pleasurable sensation was growing and growing.

Eno discovered that she felt languid and stunned. Her n****e had hardened and she felt something humid between her legs. She was breathing quicker and she felt like she wanted something, but she didn’t quite know what it was.

‘Don’t worry, it will pass in a while’ he said.

‘It’s… nice…’ she whispered.

‘Good,’ the albino said, before turning out the light.

‘You… do you have a name?’ she asked.

He stayed silent for a few seconds.

‘Of course,’ he said finally. ‘My name is Tyr.’

+++

They had been travelling for ten days when she finally saw him feed for the first time. Up until that moment, Tyr had not drunk, nor eaten. He had made sure that she always had something to eat and drink, but he didn’t seem to need it.

‘No, no… I need to feed as well,’ he explained, when Eno had asked him. ‘But less than other people. And I don’t eat what you eat.’

That afternoon they had come to a small city along the coast. They had entered on the sly, leaving the dromedary at the walls of the city.

‘What if someone steals him?’ she asked.

‘We’ll buy another,’ Tyr answered. ‘I don’t want to leave you alone too long.’

That was another strange thing about Tyr. He had plenty of gold coins but often he didn’t need to use them. He looked at the merchant in the eyes and the merchant gave him everything he needed to him as a gift.

They entered the city and they disguised themselves among the people in the souq. Tyr bought her new clothes. He accompanied her to the hammam so she could wash.

Then when it was almost sunset, he took her by the hand and he took her through the narrow stone streets of the city.

‘Don’t be afraid, I don’t want you to be here but I don’t know where to leave you,’ he said.

‘I won’t be afraid,’ Eno said. She had been with him for ten days now. If he wanted to hurt her he would have done so already. She didn’t know what Tyr was – he definitely wasn’t a normal person – but Eno was no longer afraid of him.

They went through random streets, until Tyr found what he was looking for. A young man leaning against the entrance to a house.

Tyr approached him, without letting go of Eno’s hand, and he looked at the young man in the eyes.

‘Follow me,’ he said. The young man took on a dazed look that Eno now recognised quite well.

The young man followed them humbly into another alley, which was completely deserted.

‘Stay close,’ Tyr said, letting go of her hand.

Then he turned towards the young man and he lifted his chin with his hand. The other didn’t fight it. Tyr bent over his neck and Eno realised that Tyr was biting him. The young man leant on the wall of the house behind him while Tyr sipped at him. It was as if… yes, Eno was sure he was drinking.

The young man closed his eyes and began sighing. Disconcerted, Eno saw his loose trousers swell up at the front. She knew what that meant. It was what would happen to al-Badr Shan before he…

Scared and disgusted she took a step back, but then she stopped. Tyr had told her not to be afraid. Tyr had told her to stay close.

As if she were frozen, she kept staring.

Tyr drank and drank and the young man stuck his hand in his trousers. Tyr didn’t seem to notice. Eno saw the young man touch himself and move his hand up and down, until he didn’t let out a louder groan and a wet patch appeared on his trousers.

Tyr moved away slightly. From the other’s neck two thin streams of blood were flowing down his neck. Tyr licked the wounds, which at that point healed.

He moved away a bit, letting the young man go. He stumbled. Delicately, Tyr pulled his hand out of his trousers. He lifted his chin again.

‘Forget me,’ he ordered.

Then he turned towards Eno.

‘We’d better go now,’ he said.

+++

‘What happened?’ Eno asked, when they had set up camp for the night. They were in complete darkness, so she couldn’t see him, but he could probably see her. He could see in the dark. She was sure of it.

‘I need to feed too,’ Tyr replied in an soft tone.

Eno thought about his answer. ‘And is that what you eat? Blood?’

‘Not quite.’

Eno remained silent. She was only curious, not worried or scared. She was a little shocked for what that young man had done while Tyr was drinking him.

‘Not only blood… but also feelings, you know. Everyone has its taste. It’s hard to explain.’

‘But why… why…’ she added, and then she stopped herself. She didn’t understand, but she wasn’t sure she could ask what she wanted to ask.

Tyr sighed. ‘Do you remember when I cured you?’

Eno remembered it perfectly. She remembered the pleasant tingling and she wanted to… well, she wanted to try it again.

‘Mmm,’ Tyr said.

‘It’s true,’ she whispered, with certain urgency. ‘It was so beautiful.’

‘I had to heal you,’ he cut her short.

Eno asked herself why he was so reserved about this. Why had that young man begun touching himself? For a moment she was afraid that the man would have wiggled away from Tyr and that… but of course it was impossible. Tyr would never have let him reach her. He would never have let him hurt her. She didn’t understand why that pleasant feeling she had experienced became ugly when she saw it in that young man.

‘It’s not ugly, per se,’ Tyr said.

Eno remained silent.

She remember what al-Badr Shan and his friends had done. They also had that part of their body straight and hard. And they had hurt her with it. It couldn’t be something beautiful.

‘No. That’s true. That wasn’t beautiful.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Eno murmured.

‘You’ll understand with time.’

Eno leant her chin on her crossed hands, pensively. She looked at the darkness where she knew Tyr was.

She couldn’t work it out.

‘I’m happy you don’t have that part,’ she said, finally.

Tyr grunted. Then for the first time ever, Eno heard him laugh.

‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I also have that body part. But for the most part I don’t use it. Now sleep and don’t worry, okay?’

Eno, obediently closed her eyes and tried to sleep.

She wondered what that part of him was like.

+++

Al-Andalus, that’s what that place was called. And that city, the city in which they had stayed for almost a year was called Córdoba. For Eno this place was magnificent. The caliph, ‘Abd al-Rahmān III, was a great man, who not only had built the imposing Madīnat al-Zahrā outside the city, but he had also encouraged the culture.

Tyr and Eno had rented a place near the Jewish suburb, in an old but still-solid building. Tyr pretended to be an eccentric scholar. Eno didn’t know how he had managed to convince everyone to leave him in peace. He had probably paid them. Also, in truth, they didn’t get in anyone’s way. They didn’t have a social life. Only Tyr, sometimes, met some other scholars, Muslims and Christians.

They were a species that Eno had learned to recognise, even if in the city there weren’t many of them and mostly they kept to themselves.

After all she had learnt many things.

She had learnt to read and write, in both Arabic and Latin. She had learnt three new languages, even if she didn’t speak Catalan very well. She had learnt to cook (Tyr pretended to eat).

For everyone, she was Tyr’s daughter. People, however, would still make strange expressions, when one of them explained this.

‘You must get used to it,’ Tyr explained, when she asked him for an explanation. ‘People usually marry people similar to themselves. I’m too light for both Christians and Muslims, you are too dark for them. When you say you are my daughter, they imagine that I married a woman as dark as you and they don’t like it.’

‘Why don’t they like it?’

‘Because… well. For many reasons. For religion. They think that I’m Christian and they think that a black woman cannot be Christian.’

Eno smiled. ‘Well, I am Muslim, at times.’

‘I’m also Muslim at times. It’s difficult not to choose a side. But in the long run this will be a problem. We’ll have to go, you know.’

‘Oh, Tyr… but…’

He looked at her for a long time. ‘We’ll have to leave when you become too old to be my daughter. And we’re almost there.’

‘Well, we can say that I’m your wife.’

Tyr laughed under his breath. ‘We can say that, but somewhere else. I think we should go south again.’

‘But I want to see the north! I want to see France. I want to see England. I want to see the places you come from!’

Tyr stroked his chin, thoughtfully. ‘Eno, it could be complicated. The further north you go, the lighter people’s skin is. You could be my slave, but that would also be scandalous.’

‘Why?’ she asked exasperated.

He snorted. ‘Damnations. You’ve read all of this. You’ve studied. You know what the Christian way of life is like. Why would a wealthy man who can afford a servant, have only one servant? A young and beautiful one? Black as ebony? And no wife?’

‘Well, they’d think that you do to me… what you do with other women, no? I know what you do with them. I’ve seen it. It’s nothing serious.’

‘I know you’ve seen it, even if I asked you not to look. And for Christians that is considered a sin. Or rather, the fun part is a sin, the feeding part is an abomination worthy of being sent to the stake, probably.’

Eno looked at Tyr badly. ‘They wouldn’t be able to catch you, ever,’ she said in a confident tone.

‘We still cannot go there. There are too many… issues. I’m not the only being… who is like this. Or maybe yes, I don’t know. But there are other blood eater as old as me. Or younger, it doesn’t matter. For you it would be dangerous. And in the north there are wolves as well.’

‘Wolves?’ Eno smiled. ‘Where I grew up we had lions.’

Tyr stroked her cheek, almost touched. ‘One day I’ll show you the snow, I promise. Soon though… we will have to go back to the sea, to the south.’

Eno resigned herself, she tilted her head and she enjoyed the touch of his hand.

+++

Balarm shone in the night, while Eno walked back towards home. The tavern doors were illuminated and above her she could make out the Quasr, the emir’s palace. The air was warm and full of scents.

Eno slipped into the alley where she and Tyr had rented a place, covering her face with her veil. At that time of night, no one should have been around Balarm, but here the habits were more relaxed, so she wasn’t too worried. She loved that island even more than Al-Andalus, and that city was as beautiful as Córdoba.

She greeted the blacksmith’s son with a nod of her head. As every evening he was sat outside his father’s shop, sharpening his tools.

‘Tell your master that his dagger is ready,’ he said, looking at her with admiring eyes.

‘I will,’ she replied, distantly. She didn’t want to treat him with too much familiarity.

‘Perhaps you don’t want to… go home just yet,’ the other rebutted.

Eno arched her eyebrows.

‘He isn’t alone.’

She shrugged and continued on her way. It must be one of those evenings. An evening when Tyr fed himself.

Eno felt contrasting sentiments about it. Rationally she understood that he also had to feed and Tyr had explained that blood was not sufficient.

On the other hand every time Tyr fed on a woman, Eno harboured great anger towards Tyr.