69 Tales by Xavier Vollant

Before “9 ½ weeks” and “50 Shades of Grey”… came the “1111 Nights”.

A dance of Love and Death through the ages, as Sheherazade, a million year old soul-drinking and shape shifting demon, meets Dorian Blue, a Playboy Millionaire Serial Killer, inside a virtual reality created by an Artificial Intelligence, called the Magic Lantern, in a virtual world inspired by thousands of years of Erotica and Sex in litterature, art and cinema…

1111 Nights

69 stories 
by 
Xavier Volant

LOVE NEVER DIES

1. Sheherazade et Dunyazad, Baghdad 769 Ad

2. Sapho et Echo, Isle Of Lesvos, 669 Bc

3. Alladyne et Dorian Blue, Hong Kong, 2033

4. Odette et Amira, Constantinople 1696

5. Anais et June, Paris 1920

6. Hef et les Jumelles, Chicago 1969

7. Apollinaire et Marie, Paris 1906

8. Lolita et Vladimir, Boston 1955

9. Linda et Chuck, Los Angeles 1979

10. La Vampire Salope, Dordogne 1969

11. Les Deux Tours, Paris 2001

CHAPTER ONE:

SHEHERAZADE AND DUNYAZAD

1.
A woman’s voice (off):

In the long-forgotten times when there were still Kings and Djinns and Monsters on this earth, there lived on the islands of India and China two Princesses, and they were sisters. The older was called Scheherazade and the younger Dunyazad. But their father was killed in a war and they lost all their fortunes and were sold as slaves. They were taken to Baghdad, where the Caliph Harun Al-Rachid, the enlightened, reigned. This was the dawn of the Golden Age of Islam…

The sun shines mercilessly on a vast desert, the air simmers from the heat. In the distance, a caravan is slowly approaching, appearing on the top of a sand dune, camels and horses, with riders in white bedouin suits with turbans, there are elegant chariots for the Noblemen, wagons for food and merchandise, and at the end of the caravan, cages with iron bars for the slaves.

Oh, sun of Baghdad!

I am sick; your friendship and tenderness have passed away.

I fell in love with the sun — who has ever seen a man in love with a sun?

W hen I did not get your letters, as was usual when we were beloved, I said: I wish the wind would run faster, and fulfill my wishes.

My heart, though made miserable, never concealed its beat and throbbing;

Raving about a tender and splendid gazelle, her lips are black, dressed with a cloth of beauty;

A naive gazelle decorated with an earring, no, in fact, it is the gazelle who decorates the ring;

Beauty and glamor obey her, which is amazing, by itself, but she behaves arrogantly; and if Fate prevented me from seeing her, I wish Fate would be ruined.


al-‘Abbas ibn al- Ahnaf (750– 809)

In one of the cages, Sheherazade and Dunyazad, two beautiful Yeminite Princesses, are bound in iron, their heads shaved, they are dressed in rags. Sheherazade is the oldest, her skin is almost black, and her eyes are green, Dunyazad is the youngest, with fairer skin and blue eyes. A rider approaches and whips the horses, the two sisters are scared, they watch at the horizon, looking for deliverance, but there is only the desert sun.

Then, in the distance, shimmering minarets appear. A sprawling settlement full of tents and bazaars surrounds large fortified walls, forming a perfect circle, the caravan passes through makeshift tents and approaches the gates of the great town of Baghdad.

Inside the fortifications is the majestic Bagdad, with the emerald dome of Madinat al-Salam, the Caliph’s palace in the middle, the straight avenues leading from the gates to the center, full with people and animals, bustling with life and colors. The Tigris river winds through the city, merchant boats unload their goods from foreign countries. The city is surrounded by the vast desert, the sun shines upon all of its wonders. 

Through the streets of walks Jafar al-Barmaki, the son of the Grand Vezyr. He’s dressed in a golden turban we and magnificent silk robes embroidered with gemstones, the guards make way for him as he passes through the crowded avenues and reaches one of the iron gates in the circular wall. His piercing dark violet eyes are watching what is going on in the city, the bustling streets full of chattering merchants from Syria, Egypt and many other countries, all in colorful clothes, with different skin colors, speaking various languages, selling African ivory, Indian teak, Chinese porcelain and many other goods from around the world… 

Jafar goes to the slave market, where he notices the two black-skinned sisters, beautiful slave girls from Yemen, Scheherazade and Dunyazad. He falls in love with both of them at first sight and buys them at the slaves auction, paying a great sum of Drahim. Then he takes them to the palace in Baghdad and they become his favorites.

Jafar’s father, Yahya ibn Khalid, the Grand Vezyr of Baghdad, the closest man to the Caliph himself, and his family, the Barmakis, are very linked to the Caliph and extremely influential. The young Caliph Harun al-Rashid is an enlightened man, beloved by his people, who set up the Bayt al-Hikma library where all the books of wisdom in the world are kept and translated into Arabic. 

The palace of Baghdad forms a labyrinth of rooms and corridors leading into alcoves and courtyards, the gardens are laced with roses, dotted with splashing fountains, and ornamented with strutting peacocks. The Caliph and his entourage stroll, converse and relax amid a scene that inspires delicate lyric poetry and magical tales… This is a world where sorcerers, magic and demons still exist, but are being replaced by science and faith with the support of the Caliph… and of Allah. 

The years pass and the beautiful slave girls get used to the palace splendor and to be treated like princesses. Scheherazade is very smart, she loves reading, playing chess, telling riddles and stories. Her sister Dunyazad is always happy, she loves to dance and sing. Both bear Jafar a child, Scheherazade a boy, and Dunyazad, a girl. 

2.

But one day, Jafar’s father, the old grand Vezyr, sees Scheherezade and Dunyazad and falls in love with them. He forces his son to give his favorite slaves away. And when the Vezyr shows his slaves to the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, the Caliph also falls in love with the beautiful Scheherazade and Dunyazad and has the Grand Vezir executed, torn apart by five horses in front of the Caliph’s Palace and his head and body are left for the vultures to eat. 

Then the Caliph appoints Jafar as the new Grand Vezir, they are childhood friends, the Caliph also has to rely on Jaffar’s influential family, the Barmaki, to look after his imperial interests. Jafar becomes the new Grand Vezir during a sumptuous ceremony, but he is devastated because the Caliph stole his beloved slave and killed his father, and he knows that despite this he will have to serve him faithfully. 

Jafar goes to the library, looking for advice from the old books. He finds an ancient Vedic scroll from India, with strange tales and magical spells, where Jafar comes upon an old Tamil legend, the story of King Vikram and the Vetala, an ancient vampire spirit that asked the king riddles… and the scroll also contains a spell to conjure the demon, which will grant three wishes to it’s summoner – says the scroll. 

Jafar tries the spell, which involves capturing a giant bat and sacrificing the animal and drinking its blood, as well as reciting an ancient mantra. That night, Jafar catches a terrible fever, he vomits and defecates all over the place, his servants rescue him, he becomes delirious. 

Jafar finally falls asleep, then a shadow appears in the darkness of the reflection of a mirror. It is the Vetala, an ancient vampire, soul-drinking and body-shifting, an immortal demon who completed many cycles of existence and possesses the memory of each being that it has inhabited before. The demon appears as a shadow against the sky full of stars, and speaks with the voices of man, woman, child and beast it has inhabited through the ages. 

The Vetala speaks with its multiple voices and says that it will grant Jafar 3 wishes – but only if he can answer his riddle correctly. It is the old riddle of the Sphinx, and Jafar knows the answer from the Greek tale of Oedipus, which he has read.

His first wish is to get Scheherazade and Dunyazad back – and to avenge himself on the Caliph. That’s three wishes, says the Vetala, it agrees but also demands a sacrifice: it will take the soul – and the body – of one of the Vezyr’s beloved, he must choose between Scheherazade and Dunyazad… 

That night, Scheherazade and Dunyazad cannot sleep, they talk and cry, but finally Scheherazade, as the older sister, volunteers to be the one who will give her soul away to the Vetala.

When the whole palace sleeps, the Vetala creeps in as a shadow on the wall of the palace corridor. The shadow slips under the door of Scheherazade’s bedroom. Scheherazade sleeps in her bed under a canopy lit by candlelight. 

Then, the shadow covers the candles, Scheherazade moves in her sleep, opens her eyes and sees the shadow next to her bed. She is frightened, trembles but cannot even cry out. The Vetala kisses her and sucks her life energy out of her breath. Her body is completely paralyzed and she cannot budge, only her eyes are moving. The shadow enters into her, Scheherazade screams, then she stops breathing, falls lifeless on the pillows. 

The next morning, the sun is shining, and Scheherazade lies dead. Jafar and Dunyazad are at her bedside, they cry, but do not bury her. 

Night falls and the moon rises, Scheherazade wakes up from the dead, she has now become a Vetala. Jafar demands from the demon to keep its part of the deal: to seduce the Caliph, and then kill him. 

3.
Scheherazade and Dunyazad return to the court of Harun al-Rachid as his slaves. But Scheherazade poisons the Caliph’s wife’s food and she dies from what appears to be indigestion. The Caliph is struck with grief, then Scheherazade seduces him. Dunyazad falls in love with the young Caliph, but he prefers Scheherazade, Dunyazad cannot accept the loss of her beloved and of her sister who has become a demon and she swears to take revenge on the Vetala and to cross Jafar’s plan. 

Harun Al-Rachid marries Scheherazade in the wonderful wedding chambers, the walls are hung with heavy velvet drapes, soft Persian carpets are underfoot and beautiful cushions decorate every chair, in every corner flash the sparkles of gold and diamonds, hundreds of guests congregate for the royal wedding. 

After the wedding, the Caliph enters a tent in front of the palace, in the middle of a great open space, like an arena under the night sky, there is a bed under a canopy, decorated with silk and gold. 

Outside the canopy, the Caliph’s entire harem stands in waiting, more than a thousand wives and concubines, they watch through the transparent curtains and then join the Caliph and his new wife in their lovemaking, an endless stream of women join Sheherazade’s wedding night, in an enormous bed full of oriental pillows. 

At dawn, when the Caliph is asleep, his wives and servants leave him alone with Scheherazade, closing the curtains. Scheherazade wakes up and fetches a knife hidden under the mattress. But Dunyazad, who has been hiding behind a curtain, stops her sister’s hand at the last second and raises the alarm, the guards arrive just in time, and Scheherazade is captured. 

Scheherazade is put on a trial by the Caliphe, her sentences her to be beheaded the next day for this attempt on his life. The main place of Baghdad is prepared for her execution, the executioner sharpens his scimitar. 

But from her cell, Scheherazade begs her sister Dunyazad to come and see her and to tell her one last story, and to repeat it to the Caliph the next day. The Vetala, through Scheherazade lips, tells her sister Dunyazad about the poet Sappho, who lived on the isle of Lesvos in the year 669 before the man who died on a cross was born… 

02: SAPHO OF LESVOS, 669 BC 

A woman’s voice over:

In the long-forgotten times when there were still Kings and Djinns and Monsters on this earth, there lived on the island of Lesvos in the Aegean sea two Princesses, and they were sisters. The older one was called Sappho and the younger Echo… but wait, my Prince, for dawn is breaking…

TO BE CONTINUED…

Xavier Vollant, Paris 2025