Chapter 19: A gentleman and a scholar (1/2)

I wake up to the same thing I have woken to for the past hundred days: complete darkness. My hand easily finds and pulls a handle. With nary a noise, the top of my sarcophagus slides up and away on a pair of well-oiled rails. The exterior is completely smooth. It can only be opened from the inside.

My room is rather small but I like it. It is well furnished with a bed I barely ever use, a desk, a wardrobe that hides a secret exit and a small but well-provisioned library. I quickly dress and cross the fortified door that leads to the rest of the basement, rush up the steps and reach the study. Loth is not here so I quickly uncover two golden chalices covered with runes and gulp down their crimson contents.

The chalices are of Loth’s design and manage to conserve the vitality of the liquid for a short while. This way, I can get some nourishment from donors I will never have to touch. It is not much though, just a pale copy of the real thing to stem the Thirst until the next bounty. It will never suffice on its own.

I close my eyes and listen. Loth is not in his office, which means…

I leave the part of the house that doubles as a doctor’s office and reach Loth’s private quarters. A woman is slowly walking down the stairs. Despite her conservative clothes and traces of gray in her hair, she blushes like a maiden when she sees me.

“Hello Mrs. Nobel.”

“Oh! Hum, Ariane! I did not see you there. I was just hmmmm.”

“Of course Mrs. Nobel, I wish you a good evening.”

Turning a delicate shade of tulip, the mature girl makes an awkward exit on shaky legs. As she passes me by, I catch a whiff of her. Oh my, Loth, you have outdone yourself this time.

Leaving our visitor to her walk of shame, I continue and hear Loth in the smoking room. I knock politely.

“Good evening Loth, are you decent?”

“Good evening Ari, come in, come in!”

Loth sits leisurely in a very casual set of silk pants and jacket crossed over a muscular and hirsute chest. He sips Whiskey from a lowball glass while staring at nothing.

“It is good that ye came, there are three things I wanted ta address.”

“Oh?” I answer, suddenly wary.

“Nothing bad I assure ye. First, I recovered a letter from Jimena at the drop point. Here it is.” He says, and hands me a sealed envelope.

“The second thing is a bit delicate, ya know. Would ya consider taking a seat?” he says, and gestures to a leather couch. I do as he says.

“It has come to me attention that the disgusting little weasel who abused poor Margaret was apprehended yesterday. I received a very thoughtful thank ye note from her, I should mention. She even offered to introduce ye to her favorite nephew, a banker from Savannah who happens to be looking fer a wife.”

“Pass.”

“I shall convey yer regrets lass. What concerns me slightly is the state of the weasel’s hands. Now, ye have respected our agreement to the letter and ye had every right ta kill the prick where he stood, however, I would like ta offer ye a piece of advice, from an old monster to a young one.”

“How unusually serious. Do tell.”

“I know ya played with that one while ye simply bit and questioned that other conman from three weeks ago. Ya treated them differently. Why?”

“I was curious about Bishop’s lies. It is as if he could not stop, as if his life depended on it. Testing the limits was quite interesting.”

“So ye did it on the spur of the moment, aye?”

“Yes?”

Loth calmly puts his glass on the coffee table and crosses his fingers in front of him in a pose I now associate with lecturing.

“Many of us long-lived creatures do not attach the same value ta life as most mortals do. They will often hesitate ta torture or ta kill, ya know. It is a natural mechanism that I have observed in all of the peaceful societies I have lived in and is, I believe, caused by the need ta live in harmony. Killing becomes taboo. We outsiders are exempt of that. This is both a benefit and a tremendous risk.

Ya see, the more you follow your instincts and the more you are prone ta fall the path of easy murder, until the very idea of civilization and peaceful cohabitation loses its meaning.”

My Master being the prime example of that.

“Do you mean that I should not torture or kill?”

“Of course not, ye are a vampire. And besides, it would be hypocritical of me to ask this of ya, don’t ye think?”

I remember the only time we went after a band of outlaws together. They had raided a distant farm and spared no one. Loth had been… Thorough. He does not play around like I do. He is methodical and merciless.

“I merely suggest that ye develop a code and try ta stick to it.”

“What if I decide that rapists and those who wear white at someone else’s wedding can be mercilessly tortured before I kill them?”

“Then it is so. I am not judging the scale by which ye decide someone’s fate, Ari, I only ask that ye find one.”

I contemplate those words. Loth is experienced and there is a truth to what he says. I suppose I could at least try.

“I need to think of one. And it will not apply if my life is at risk.”

“Naturally. Now, onto more pleasant matters. I apologize fer the heavy discussion and I have just the thing ta lighten the mood. There’s this English lad who came ta visit this afternoon. He wanted ta, what was it? Entertain me with a proposal that I would find to me taste. Or something. I thought ye might want ta hear it as well so I told him ta show up at eight.”

“That is very thoughtful of you Loth. I appreciate it.”

“Don’t mention it lass” he adds with a smile, “and if he’s trying to, as aunt Freyja said, slather me up and shove me on a spit, I want ya to eat him.”

I smile as we talk about yesterday’s hunt. No matter what happens, tonight will be fun!

“Cecil Rutherford Bingle, miss, at your service!”

The red-haired man removes his bowler hat and bows perfectly. I simply cannot believe my eyes. The chops, the wide, waxed mustache, the leather overcoat, everything conspires to make him appear as the hero of some silly book about mummies and damsels in distress. He has a ruggedly handsome face with a chin like a sledgehammer and the healthy tan of the consumate traveler. He even speaks as if he were in the middle of a theater and had to be heard by spectators on the fourth floor! I am simply in awe.

Loth gives me a half smile and a knowing look.

“Oh, uh, it is my pleasure Mr. Bingle.”

“Hohoho, do not be alarmed by my roguish appearance young miss, I assure you, I do not bite!”

What a coincidence.

“Yet the road is not safe, and a gentleman must do what he must do to guarantee his safety, I say! Now, I apologize if I seem abrupt, but the tardiness and the reason for my visit bear heavily on my heart, and I must beg you to hear me out promptly, for this matter is urgent, as you shall see Professor Delaney.”

Loth answers in kind.

“Then let us retire to my salon. Ari, my dear, would ye be so kind as to brew a pot for our guest, and then join us.”

“Mr. Delaney, hrm hrm, far from me to tell you how to manage your house, hrm, however, the matters I wish to address are so grave as to, hrm, hurt delicate sensitivities, and I would be mortified if hrm, your niece were to be indisposed as a result of hearing them.”

Loth takes a grave and tragic air. With his red nose and beard, he looks like a grizzled retired captain reminiscing about a doomed expedition to the North Pole.

“My esteemed guest, I appreciate yer tactful observation and I see that even in your hour of need, ye still show admirable concern for everyone around ye, however I ask now that ye trust in my judgment on this matter, as it pertains ta my expertise, and to please exert patience, as the necessity of her presence will be explained in due time.”

“Very well, Mr. Delaney, lead the way!”

I leave the two men to go prepare tea and cups. I find the ritual of tea brewing relaxing, one of the reasons why Loth lets me use his precious reserve. It does not matter that I do not drink, the act of preparing it and the fragrance from a successful brew are rewards enough.

When I reach the others, Loth is busy explaining the subtle differences between two rune systems, one of which I am unfamiliar with.

After serving them, I sit in a comfortable leather sofa slightly on the side. After one last dubious look at me, Bingle starts his tale.

“Three years ago, I was stationed in Gibraltar when I met a most peculiar and delightful woman by the name of Flora Schaffer. The daughter of a Prussian Junker, she had a deep and curious interest in ancient history and when my service ended, I agreed to follow her in an expedition to Syria, deep in Ottoman territory. I shall not recount our tale now, as one night would not be enough to do it justice. Suffice to say she located a tablet covered in strange runes that she studied with a morbid fascination.

Seven months ago, I received a letter from her and it was no small amount of surprise that I learnt that she was in the Americas, where her search had led her. Indeed, the only match for those strange runes came from a lone amphora traded to a collector of curios by a group of Natives who disappeared soon after. The letter was vague but hinted at the need for a dangerous expedition. Alas, when I arrived, she had already left to hire a group of adventurers of ill repute called the Valiant Companions. This was three months ago. I am afraid that her eagerness may have cost her dearly.

I inquired about them and learned the most dreadful thing: they are now suspected of several acts of heinous banditry, such as raiding, kidnapping, and racketeering. They have since then escaped the vicinity of Savannah and thus, the arm of the law. Of my companion, there is no trace and I fear the worst has happened.

Intent on gathering clues, I found her notebook in her personal effects, however many of the notes relate to a runic alphabet I cannot decipher. I was about to give in to despair when a friend of mine mentioned you, Mr. Delaney. He said that you were a scholar, a gentleman, and a crack shot, all qualities that I am in dire need of.”

Loth nods in understanding. He opens the notebook and takes out a few drawings, then raises an eyebrow. He places them back and resumes the conversation.

“I appreciate the worth and the urgency of your task Mr. Bingle. Before we continue, I ask that you forgive my rudeness for there is something I need to discuss with my niece. If you will excuse us for a moment.”

I follow Loth outside.

“Yes?”

“He is going ta ask me to join him on his expedition and I am going ta accept because I am bored and his story sounds interesting. I think ye should join too.”

“Isn’t every trip dangerous? What if I cannot find a prey?”

“I think this will not be a problem, at least not at the early stage. I anticipate a lot of violence. The reason why I ask is because I recognized the runes on the tablet and amphora. Those are vampire runes.”