Disclaimer: I do not own anything concerning Red River. Red River is the work of Chie Shinohara. For the small True Blood-ish references, the TV series is the creation of Alan Ball. True Blood is based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse novels.

The Scarlet Dancer

Two days later, before Uhri's return to Hattusa.

Mitanni—People are celebrating the Black Prince's coronation. For such an occasion, five hundred female dancers have been commissioned by the palace. Kings, queens, and mayors from around the neighboring imperial provinces are gathered amid wine, live music, and lavishness. Word has spread out that Kail Mursili and his famed concubine-Ishtar-, are among these guests. This intelligence has reached Uhri, but no one really knows of his whereabouts. In fact, what Uhri had to do now was more important than keeping an eye on Nakia's walking opposition.

The ceremony begins and everyone falls silent. Mattiwaza solemnly accepts the crown, and with it, the weight of Mitanni on his shoulders. He sits on the throne and motions for the celebration to continue and the dancers appear for the first time. Their graceful movements entrance the audience while the music shifts to a lower frequency, the grounds of the city dancing along. Their silk, scarlet robes shimmer in the early evening sky, like liquid rubies splashing against the atmosphere. The dancing army stops and stays in formation as the music ceases. Mattiwaza stands and the dancers kneel; the people are applauding, enraptured in a whirlwind of joy as the guests are preparing to leave for their respective affairs. As the dancing army is ready to depart, Uhri sneaks and enters the crowd. One particular dancer does not seem to like this… at all.

"Let me go!" she mutters between her clenched teeth. "I have no business with you!"

Eyeing her robes, Uhri grips her arm tighter. "Oh, I'm afraid you do. Something that concerns what you truly are, and you owe me, or I'll find a way to finish you" he replies, "for good".

Uhri surveys her expression, a deer in the headlights upon the realization that her secret might be out very soon.

"Very well, then" the woman finally concedes. "But you're not to tell anyone about me or how we came to know each other."

He smiled and eased her grip on the woman, a brunette with olive skin and eyes dark as sin.

"I won't tell, lest you drain me dry and leave me in the desert to rot."

"Are you sure you're not tricking me? By Teshub I will behead you…" Uhri warns, the obsidian bottle in his grasp. The woman sits comfortably, smiling and a flicker of her pearly canines showing. Uhri narrows his eyes, clutching the bottle. This woman would not give this valuable possession away just because she felt it in her heart.

"You know my price, priest. I can make you live forever. Yet all you do is be miserly and bother me with your pet peeves" the woman purrs on. Within seconds, she's crouching beside Uhri, her hand closing in his windpipe. "Today, I'll feed. Next time, I might make you mine…"
She hears him mumble, struggling for breath and she can't make words out of his rasping. "What, my love?" she asks while her hand closes in, like a vice.

"Ne-ver…" he finally manages to utter. "You are not… to… decide… what I… become…" He stops panting, then wipes the tears of pain from his cheek.

"Really?" she replies, though faking bewilderment. "And you forget I am stronger than you? That I've helped your hide more than you can admit to your queen?"

"I don't love you, Zemfira. I can't even please you, and if you want that for eternity…you'd be doing me a disservice. I didn't want this" he says, looking away. "I have no wish to share forever with you". The scarlet dancer throws him a livid stare. "Do you really want to expose yourself?"

"You obviously have no idea, do you?" she shouts, indignant. "You reject one of our lord Nergal's consorts in exchange of giving you Teshub's lifeblood. I don't care what people believe, I am real. I'll rise and your cadaver will be there for when it occurs. You microcosmic fool." She rants and flashes away from Uhri. "Leave. Your stinking human wretchedness makes me want to plague you less…"

"If anyone can bear the weight of the world" Uhri replies "that will be me aiding my queen and making sure she can bear it too. What is a moving corpse good for anyway?"

Uhri leaves Mitanni, stars above his head, with an angry trail of broken glass, puddles of magic water mixed with death water, and dark tears in his wake.

End notes:

As you may already have figured out, Zemfira's mine. I'm not basing her on any Truebie in particular. Do I want a vampire army? Yes and no. Yes, it could be interesting and no, because I don't want to deviate from my main idea for this fanfic and also for time constraints.

Hope you're enjoying the story!