What appeared in front of him was the thin, dark but muscular figure of his cousin, the more than twenty black braids tied back by golden hoops, and the Astri war mark on the left side of her neck.
But these things were covered with blood, which was her sister's blood that had just been stained on her hands.
Neferata's little eaglet was lying weakly in her arms, about to die from a wound on her waist that injured almost all of her internal organs.
She bit her lips tightly and did not stop tasting the blood until her lips became sore and the precious blood belonging to the ancestor of vampires flowed at the wound.
This is a gift that is enough to bring eternal life. As long as her sister drinks a drop of blood, she will not die.
Neferata turned her sister's face around and pressed her close until they could only see each other's eyes.
"Kiss me, little eaglet, and you will live forever."
Unlike in her memory, Khalida did not refuse this time. The touch and taste were just like when she was still a princess within the palace walls.
However, everything in front of her was an illusion. Neferata knew that she only knew her sister when she was young, and what she felt now was the same, it was just another dream.
Shattering those illusions, Neferata woke up from the bed suffering from the pain in her head. The little maid was panicking and planning to come over to serve her.
"thirsty."
The maid didn't hear Neferata's words clearly, and felt a sense of weightlessness.
She grabbed the young maid into her arms. Neferata licked her neck, showing her fangs, but in the end she did not bite.
Once she started sucking blood, she couldn't control her urge to suck blood.
Such a young child can still survive after losing so much blood. It is best not to kill casually in front of Alkadiza.
After a long wait, the red drink was served. After drinking it, the never-ending thirst for blood was slightly stopped.
Standing up, Neferata noticed that there was cold seafood hotpot on the table far away. Neferata looked at it with disgust and asked the maid to throw it away.
The vampire can no longer taste any delicacies. If this taste could not remind her of the past a hundred years ago, she would not touch it, let alone this thing that has been left overnight.
The previous maids should have dealt with this a long time ago, but considering the age of these maids now, Neferata has no intention of punishing her severely. At least she has to wait for her to grow up for a few more years before she can get stronger.
Under the service of the maid, she put on the gorgeous silk dress covered with gems, put on the golden mask and crown, and Neferata began to welcome a new day.
Today's work is still heavy.
Unlike funerals a hundred years ago, it took several months for messengers to travel to various countries, and it took several months or even half a year for missions from various countries to arrive.
But this time it's different. With the help of the lizard people, and with the help of Vosolun's magic tool called the Guide Stone, the messenger will be directly transported to the seven most powerful nations of Nehekhara under the influence of the Shadow Bridge.
The royal delegation over there will also be teleported directly from Wosuoran to the city of Lahmia after it is ready.
There was less than a week left for her to prepare.
In order to prepare for the funeral and coronation in such a short period of time, she had approved the funds for ten tons of gold before going to bed yesterday.
Although it is already half of the total annual aid to various countries, in addition to displaying Lahmia's financial resources in front of various countries, she can just use the name of preparations to carry out large-scale purchases and rebuild trade confidence.
Offsetting the losses avoided, in a sense, the money spent this time may have been earned.
The trivial matters have been taken care of by the business groups affiliated with various nobles below. What she has to do today is something she doesn't want to do.
According to Alkadiza's request, they had to go and meet the gangsters on the golden plains first.
Logically speaking, those barbaric tribesmen were not qualified to meet the kings of Nehekhara. Neferata had a headache when she thought that this kind of thing made Lamiya inferior to the other kings.
Fortunately, those gangsters were more sensible and only sent one representative over.
A young woman said to be the so-called Bride of Hasa, God's Chosen One.
It's really ridiculous. Who doesn't know that the covenant has long been destroyed by Nagash, and the glory of the gods is long gone? Otherwise, would the cities of the priests still need the assistance of three tons of gold from Lamia every year?
Sitting on the throne with the granddaughter of unknown generations lying in the coffin, two cat-like vertical pupils looked at the woman who was slowly walking towards the throne behind the golden mask.
Her face was exquisite enough to serve as a maid in the royal palace. Looking at those golden eyes that were completely different from ordinary people and looked like lions, Neferata commented in her heart.
The black robe on her body was made of fine linen, and the intricate decorations were made of silver thread. The turban on her head was also black silk imported from the East.
The gangsters in the desert can actually supply this kind of clothing, and it seems they are not as poor as they thought.
Neferata raised the decorative spike on her chin and asked haughtily.
"Daughter of the Desert, what is your name?"
Those golden eyes didn't mean to avoid Neferata's gaze, as if they were seeing farther through Neferata, the girl's ethereal voice answered.
"Sulema."
Before Neferata could ask the next question, the young girl spoke up first.
"Your fate was not meant to be like this, Neferata, this was not the fate the gods gave you. You were meant to lose Arkadiza, lose Lahmia, something messed it up."
At first, Neferata didn't realize what the Desert Daughter was saying. After a few seconds, the face behind the golden mask began to distort uncontrollably.
"That's enough! Do you want your gang to disappear forever on the golden plains!"
The black vertical pupils with murderous intent faced the golden pupils, and the latter showed no fear at all.
"If you can't do it, the tribes tested by Hasa will drown you in the yellow sand."
The desert girl said coldly, without any emotion in her voice.
Neferata's body turned into an afterimage, several gems shattered under the violent movements, and the broken pearls kept beating on the ground. The range of her movements could make any living thing feel her anger.
The floor beneath her feet was filled with the vibrations of the tide of seawater hitting the rocks. Neferata approached the Desert Daughter, raised her hand and turned into the claws of the vampire's true form, intending to turn this golden lion-eyed woman into a ball of rubble. Meat.
"Stop it, Neferata!"
Alkadiza's voice made her stunned, and she did not wave her claws immediately. When she reacted and wanted to continue, the prince's strong arms strengthened by the elixir of life had already caught her.
"What happened?"
Before Neferata could explain, the desert daughter with lion-like golden eyes looked at the dark-skinned prince, from his short black hair to his dark eyes, to his thick cheekbones and strong nose. , square chin, strong muscles.
She seemed to be fascinated by the prince and looked at him for a long time before saying.
"Alkadiza, your fate should not be like this. You should have married a girl who has passed the test of Hasa decades later, not this vampire."
These words made Alkadiza feel inexplicable.
"Hasa? Destiny? The covenant has been destroyed. What are you talking about?"
There was some inexplicable rejection in the prince's heart, even though his intuition made him inexplicably think that what the other party said was shock.
But if everything is destined, then who is he? A toy of the gods?
The desert daughter's golden eyes never left her dark eyes, she said calmly.
"The covenant is only between the gods and you Nehekhara people."
This actually interested Alkadiza. He helped Neferata back to the throne, comforted her a little with his hands, and then walked to the Desert Daughter.
"In other words, Hasa is still protecting you?"
There was hope in the prince's eyes. If he could establish contact with the gods in ways other than covenants, the future development of the Magic Academy would be smoother.
However, the Desert Daughter's answer is bound to disappoint him.
"Each tribe will only be tested by Hasa to make them strong. The God of the Wasteland will not give them any blessings."
"And the daughter of the desert is the bride of Hasa."
Is the implication that only the bride can gain some magical abilities?
Shaking his head, Arkadiza turned to Neferata.
"Keep her in the palace. She may be useful later. Before that, I think I need to consult the Skink Priest."
"They previously proposed an idea, saying that after the giant spiritual network is restored, it may be able to help us renew our covenant with the gods."
But I don’t know what those words were that offended the Desert Daughter over there. Inexplicably, she got angry and yelled at Alkadiza.
"This shouldn't be your fate!"
Before Alkadiza said anything, Neferata turned into a shadow again, appeared in front of the Desert Daughter, and held her chin.
"Destiny? Destiny! Show me what destiny your god, your husband, has shown you."
As soon as she finished speaking, the Desert Daughter's golden eyes widened.
Neferata lifted up the black silk scarf that covered her face and leaned forward. Under the strength of the ancestor of vampires that far exceeded that of mortals, Sulema could only let out a whimper.
Not long after their eyes met, the desert girl's eyes gradually lost their luster, which was a sign that her ability was taking effect.
Neferata let go of her chin and wiped the wet marks on her face.
"Okay, now tell me, what is the destiny your god has given you?"
The ancestor of the vampire put his finger on the desert daughter's chin and kept making circles, and asked.
Soon, a statement that made her blood pressure rise leaked out of this woman's mouth.
"Alkadiza should have died fighting and killing the usurper. The sons of the Old Ones in the south should not have helped you."
"What?"
Alkadiza frowned.
Ancient Sage? The one who created the big plan? Alkadiza had never imagined hearing this word from the mouths of the Golden Plains natives who were isolated from the jungles of the south.
However, he immediately noticed another sentence.
"In other words, I can kill Nagash?"
The Desert Daughter paused, as if trying to remember something, and then spoke after a while.
"That was your original destiny. As long as you cross the strait in front of you and reach the other side of the sea, you can kill him. But as long as you cross this strait, you will die."
"Now your fate has become beyond my ability to see clearly."
"The destiny and the will of God make me feel that the usurper is different from the one in his destiny. He is stronger now than he was in his destiny."
Arkadiza frowned and held her stubbled chin.
"That's really not good news."
According to their original expectations, Nagash must be much more powerful than he was hundreds of years ago.
If Nagash is stronger now than he was in the so-called destiny, the threat level of the usurper will be even higher, and perhaps the power of the entire Nehekhara can no longer deal with the Necromancer.
Arkadiza said, grabbing Neferata's hand.
"It seems that we will have to speed up the construction of the giant spiritual vein network in the future. This spell structure is quite beneficial to spellcasters."
The black vertical pupils looked at the prince's eyes without blinking.
"Of course, Lahmian gold is used for these things."
Smiling and caressing her face, Alkadiza asked the maid to lead Neferata back to the palace to go to bed - sleeping day and night is the physiological schedule of a vampire.
He himself went beyond the palace walls to meet with the Skink Priest and his attendants.
Nearly ten hours later, the sky had gradually dimmed. Neferata, who woke up from bed again, saw her cousin who disappeared at an unknown time last night in the main hall.
Two pale figures flashed past, and Usuoran took the warlord in charge of the Lahmian army, General Ankat, and stepped into the palace with weapons.
Seeing their unconventional attire, Neferata frowned, then felt relieved.
Going to the palace with swords and shoes is no threat to her at all. She can knead a steel sword into dough with one hand.
When her cousin came closer, she realized that Wu Suoran's expression looked quite strange, as if a disaster was imminent.
"Other countries are plotting something."
Usuoran's words made Neferata roll her eyes and reply.
"What day are they not plotting something?"
Her cousin seemed not to notice, almost maintaining the worried expression as he said.
"We all know that except for us and Astri, the national strength of the other six countries in Nehekhara has been quite weakened."
"While they can stay afloat with our aid, they still owe us a huge debt."
"The princes and princesses who remain in Laemia as hostages will receive luxurious residences and other pleasures from us."
"But they still hate us. The dual economic and cultural disadvantages have created a hatred in their country that is difficult to eradicate."
"My sources tell me that some of them are quite dissatisfied, especially Numas and Zandiri."
Neferata held her head, drank a cup of the worshiper's offering that was just served, and shrugged.
"But they didn't dare to take action, otherwise they would have taken action hundreds of years ago."
These are not new things. In the past, these countries have always been dissatisfied, but who of them can leave Lahmia's annual aid of three tons of gold?
She remembered the time hundreds of years ago when the ruler of Kuata was almost stopped as a beggar by her gate guards.
"Yes, at least until they don't have a righteous name that allows them to trust each other."
Ankart said suddenly, which made Usoran and Neferata turn their eyes to him.
"If you have anything to say, I think you might as well say it directly?"
The ancestor of the vampire said that she always felt that there was something hidden in Ankat's words.
General Ancart, who got the hint, roared angrily.
"You agree with Alkadiza's plan to disclose our vampire identities. Have you ever thought that this will give this great honor to them?"
Neferata spread her hands indifferently.
"Being hostile to Nagash is the true righteousness in this land."
She doesn't think there will be any consequences in the end. Just like Alkadiza said, vampires will be disliked because this technology is related to Nagash, and those who use this technology are regarded as Nagash's lackeys.
As long as they show their hostility towards Nagash, they will soon have the possibility of being accepted by Nehekhara.
General Ankart clearly did not agree with this.
"Nagash is far away in the horizon, Lahmia is close at hand, especially the gold of Lahmia, is close at hand."
"In short, I have recalled Ablash, and the champion warrior is about to return to Lahmia."
