Khayman

Khayman is a fictional character in "The Vampire Chronicles" universe created by Anne Rice.

Khayman was the head steward in the palace of King Enkil and Queen Akasha of Kemet (now Egypt) circa 4000 BC. Of Egyptian descent, he was tall and strong as a mortal, with very tan skin, large dark eyes, and black hair (after being transformed into a vampire, his skin whitened and smoothed considerably).

As head steward to the King and Queen, Khayman was forced to rape the twin witches Maharet and Mekare after the witches incurred Akasha's wrath. Gentle and kind by nature, Khayman was horrified to do so, but was unable to refuse the Queen's demand. From his rape he unintentionally fathered a child with Maharet, named Miriam, who began the bloodline of Maharet's "Great Family" that would later spread to every nation on earth.

When Akasha and Enkil become vampires, they make Khayman bring Maharet and Mekare back into Egypt to find out how their insatiable bloodlust can be mitigated. Maharet replies that the evil spirit now inhabiting the Queen is too large to be contained in her human body; only when more vampires are made (and the spirit thus diluted more and more) will the bloodlust become tolerable. Akasha then betrays Khayman's loyalty and forcibly turns him into a vampire against his will, to verify the witches' claims.

Angry at his fate, Khayman secretly makes the twin witches into vampires as well, in hopes of them one day rising up against Akasha and defeating her. After the twins became vampires, Khayman also makes other vampires to fight against Akasha and Enkil (who now present themselves as the gods Isis and Osiris). His "treason" results in the vampire wars that eventually entrap Akasha and Enkil in a trancelike state for almost 4000 years.

Khayman survives into the twentieth century. His flesh is hard, smooth and white as marble, and no longer vulnerable to the sun's destroying rays. Although he is powerful, he does not like wanton brutality, and is generally lonely and shy. He no longer experiences the blood thirst, but he enjoys the refreshment and clarity it provides. He now has the power to kill humans and animals through telepathy, but will not take blood from any mortal who has made a friendly gesture toward him, preferring to take only anonymous victims. At 6000 years old, Khayman can also kill any vampires weaker than himself by telepathically igniting their combustible blood.

Khayman is otherwise gentle, optimistic, and friendly, inviting mortals to his rooms and entertaining them with poetry, music and conversation. He lives by various guises in many different places, and when he stops having fun or feels pain, he fades out and forgets who he has been. Attempts to think back to his origins are painful, and so he avoids doing so, eventually forgetting entirely.

When Akasha is awakened from her trance in the 1980s, she rises, destroys Enkil, and begins tracking down and killing her vampire progeny worldwide. Khayman encounters her by chance in Athens, Greece and, in that instant, he suddenly remembers how he became a vampire and what crimes he had perpetrated in Akasha's name. Discovering that he is immune to her attacks, Khayman follows her to San Francisco to attend Lestat's rock concert.

Since Khayman has been studied by the Talamasca under the name 'Benjamin the Devil,' he recognizes David Talbot and Aaron Lightner at Lestat's concert. He tells them who he is and warns them to leave because of the mounting danger for them there.

He sees the vampires Mael and Armand (the latter to whom he is strongly attracted, although Armand offers no friendly gestures in return). Khayman advises Mael to shield his thoughts from Akasha, since Akasha can find and kill her vampire progeny through mind-reading.

While Akasha slaughters most of her vampire children worldwide, Khayman accompanies Louis and Gabrielle to Maharet's house in Sonoma as one of the 13 surviving vampires who plan to stand against Akasha in "The Queen of the Damned". Here he indicates several times that he believes in Mekare's prophecy of Akasha's doom, and awaits Mekare's coming as he conspires against his former queen.

After Akasha is finally destroyed, Khayman becomes the oldest vampire in existence, and is often viewed as their unofficial "King", since Mekare, his fledgling, is now Queen. He is briefly mentioned at the end of "Blood Canticle", when he takes away the fledgling vampires Quinn Blackwood and Mona Mayfair to Maharet and Mekare's sanctuary.

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