Ancient Blood: A Novel of the Hegemony (The Order Saga Book 1) (28 page)

Sebastian explained, taking the occasional question from the assembled Hegemons, while I tried to reason out what had happened.

“All you have demonstrated so far is an inability to maintain the order of your own house,” Julia told Sebastian in English. “Forgive my informality but I am weary of such foolishness and see no good cause for us to convene in this … domestic affair.”

“Unless Hegemon Valmont intends to seek some penalty against Hegemon Blackwood for his Pupil’s confessed intent,” Draco suggested.

I glanced up and caught Valmont’s eyes as he considered me but Sebastian spoke before he could answer. “Bear in mind, I pray, that his intention did thee no harm. Thou would not have even the knowledge of it but for my honest revelation.”

“And the strange fortune that your sweet rose had her thorns at hand,” Valmont said, turning back to Sebastian. Geoffrey, Jade Tiger and Julia chuckled. “Still, I shall be magnanimous and content myself with seeing this intemperate beast put down.”

Draco raised a hand to halt the general movement toward the doors. “I must speak further. I feel that this occurrence puts into question the veracity of Hegemon Blackwood’s claims against the Judicis.”

Iago attempted to interrupt Draco but he steamrolled on. “Therefore, I ask that this body return to proceedings as scheduled and terminate, without prejudice, my appointment as Judicis Proviso.”

“Hear me, I beg, good and gentle colleagues,” Sebastian said. “Before my suit be tossed aside in the moment’s haste, allow me this small time to defend it. Having heard most closely the recounting of my Caroline, Hegemon Plantagenet’s man and this villain himself, I cannot make myself content that these pieces give forth the whole and unobstructed truth. The girl asserts that Avery was a creature possessed, slave to a cruel and terrible rage quite out of keeping with the loving nature he was wont to show her. And look now at him sitting not grieved, not angered and not terrified as his situation warrants but dumb and insensate with confusion. I admit puzzlement at his actions and strange turn of humor but do not think he should likewise.”

Valmont snorted, folding his arms. “Sebastian, the boy was caught up in a jealous rage, which we have all seen evidenced. He’s now in denial or simply affects madness in an attempt to win leniency.”

“You suspect hypnotism, Bastian?” Geoffrey asked, sitting on the arm of one of the throne-like chairs.

Sebastian planted his hands on his hips. “I say ‘tis well worth eliminating ‘fore my aspirations to
judicatus
are scoffed away.”

Geoffrey rose. “I’ll take a look.”

“No,” Draco said.

“Don’t worry, I promise to report honestly.”

I thought I saw Draco’s lips hint at a smile. “That is not the cause of my objection. As this issue informs the greater one of Hegemon Blackwood’s charges against the Judicis, I feel protocol compels me to conduct this investigation as Judicis Proviso. Do you concur with my interpretation, Hegemon Julia?”

Julia pretended to reflect before nodding. Iago sat slumped, dreading something he knew was coming.

“Have I your leave to interact with and influence your Pupil, Hegemon Blackwood?” Draco asked.

“Aye, on yer word that thou shall report honestly and stay within that part of his knowledge directly bearing on the question before us.”

Draco did that trick of growing taller without moving again. “Given.”

I have to admit that the seriousness of the situation hadn’t hit me yet. I didn’t get scared until Draco strode over to me, removed his sunglasses and knelt.

His face alone is enough to give you goose-bumps but his eyes bring it to another level. They’re large for his narrow face with irises a pale, frosty-blue I’d never seen before and pupils so small they look like specks of dirt. He must be extremely sensitive to light for them to stay so tight in dimness like the chamber. I’ve since discovered that the condition is a rare genetic defect called ocular albinism and that the blue color is an illusion. His irises have no pigmentation whatsoever, what you see is the tissue of his cornea showing through. Considering the huge genetic restructuring that occurs in Creation, it’s amazing to me that a flaw like that escaped unchanged … unless it happened during his Creation.

With his personality behind them, those eyes are like pools of liquid nitrogen.

“Your mind is open but unfocused and distant,” he said, staring until I could feel him inside my skull like a spider. Iago had been subtle, unobtrusive; this felt like a dental exam. “Do not draw away—”

Without taking his eyes off mine, he broke my index finger so fast that I heard it before I felt it.

“Let the pain focus you.” Now I felt it all right, like a needle sewing its way up my arm! My eyes flooded and I tried to turn my head but he grabbed my chin and held me. “Open to me.”

I felt his spider burrow through the frontal lobes of my brain. Images and memories of my attack on Caroline and the hours leading up to it flashed through my thoughts as the spider dug deeper and pawed through them. Every memory it touched got covered in greasy fingerprints but still it clawed and pried at their edges.

Through the haze of discomfort and nausea, Draco’s voice: “There is indeed evidence of false memory here. I will uncover the true ones.”

No! I can’t! There’s nothing there! Nothing! I won’t do this! NO! I’LL DIE FIRST!!

He twisted my broken finger until the agony made the world fade to whiteness. As I faded back in, his industrious mind-spider peeled up a fresh scab of my memories. Digging its claws into the wound, it burrowed under again…

In flashes at first, then in larger chunks, the memories returned…

* * * * *

I lie on my bed, head full of plans of killing Valmont and avenging Caroline. I’m nearly healed now, so moving is no longer the agony it was an hour ago. I’ve already decided that, along with a knife, I’m going to need to grab a few blood packs. Healing is thirsty work.

Sometime later, there’s a quiet knock on the door. By the time I’ve finished sitting up, it opens and Iago slips in, closing it behind him. “Ah, nearly healed, I see. A welcome sight, for there is precious little time to have your revenge.”

He eases himself onto the bed beside me with a conspiratorial air that brings Geoffrey to mind.

“How did you know?” I ask.

He smiles and I don’t think anything of the fact that he’s looking me in the eyes. “Elementary, my boy. In your circumstances, I should think I’d pursue a similar course. However, mark my words with utmost care now, for such a bold undertaking wants deep commitment and thought.”

With that, he has me. Hooked, reeled in and flopping on the boat.

I feel a sense of total relaxation as his mind washes over mine, like sliding into a warm pool. The relaxation increases as he speaks until I have no sense of myself at all. Nothing exists for me but the sound of his voice, his words and the deep wells of his eyes.

“I never came here. You will repress the memories of my presence with all your will. You’d rather die than reveal it. Instead, you will remember only that you have lain here for many hours as you healed, boiling with a terrible hunger for vengeance upon your enemy Valmont. Slowly, ever so slowly, the memory of your Caroline’s passionate desire for him returned to taunt you. Try as you would, it did not release you and in fact, only grew stronger as your body’s hunger increased. Could it be they were once lovers? The suspicion ate at you as you reviewed every touch, glance, sigh and kiss. You have been most ill-used in her game and such a woman, that could so cruelly betray your trust, does not deserve to live.

“From this moment of decision shall come a great feeling of power and purpose. Your rage shall consume all doubts, just as your hunger shall consume her precious blood. That blood which first gave you this new life shall be yours again and with it, all the strength you need to defeat your adversary and escape retribution. You are newly-Created, the sun holds less sway upon you. With her blood and that of Valmont, you shall have the strength to flee this island even under the sun’s glare. Still, ‘twould be best to have it quickly done. Kill Caroline and Valmont before sunrise to make better your escape. Even now, your hunger for her blood and your rage at her betrayal grow in concert. They give you the power of ten. So, lay back down now and listen for the closing of the door. When you hear it, your thoughts shall assume their new pattern for a thousand beats of your heart. At the thousandth beat, you shall decide her fate, sit up and make good your plan.”

I become aware of my body again once I am lying down.

The door shuts with a click.

* * * * *

Back in the council chamber, I retched as Draco withdrew from my mind, both from the physical pain and the assault of the new memories.

Iago
!

I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe it. As much as I’d made a point of not trusting him, I realized that I still had. He’d charmed me with his grandeur, his romanticism and his self-depreciatory wit.

The room erupted into chaos as Draco described his findings, Sebastian roared, Julia muttered in Latin and Valmont quipped something to the effect of “I didn’t know the old boy still had it in him.” Geoffrey and Jade Tiger studied everyone else’s reactions.

Iago rose, letting out a little of his majestic dignity. “I dispute these findings and demand leave to disprove them.”

“Thou’ll have no opportunity to tamper with my Pupil’s memories again, Iago de’ Medici!” Sebastian shouted. “But ‘tis the very boldness thou show in further disrupting the order of my house to escape those very same charges that leaves me undecided ‘twixt admiration and outrage.”

Julia smiled. “The Judicis has never lacked for boldness.”

“Judicis Proviso Draco,” Iago said. “I insist that you re-examine the Pupil’s memories for another layer, for I swear upon my life that I did not commit this crime.”

Draco, who had put his sunglasses back on, looked more grim than usual. “I did already examine each fragment of the revealed memory for any trace of counterfeit and found none. Much though it pains me, I must pronounce it authentic.”

Only then did Iago turn to Julia, eyebrow raised. “A glamour, Pina? I’m most flattered by the effort.”

“Do not think to disentangle yerself by casting about groundless suspicions!” Sebastian closed the distance between them, the tide of his rage forcing the Judicis to shrink back. I could feel the room tense, expecting Sebastian to assault Iago right there. “Thou could not have suspected the boy’s attack would fail, so either killed by Valmont or during his escape, his memories could cause thee no fear. But why my beloved Caroline, thou most base and thrice-damned villain? Was it merely to weaken my spirit or did she possess some secret knowledge of thou? If ‘tis the latter, then be certain we shall discover it at trial!”

Turning, Sebastian made another of his dramatic exits from the room, leaving Draco with the details of announcing that Iago’s trial would proceed tomorrow evening as scheduled.

PART FIVE

Research into the subject by such Order notables as Galen, Denys and Schreck has proven that our weakness to ultraviolet radiation and conditions such as feralism, are the result of inherent genetic flaws in the Vampyric Creation Retrovirus. This idea has met with considerable resistance, of course, because it strips the Vampyr of his “Divine perfection of form.” However, in shedding the mystery, this discovery grants us the possibility of cures for these issues. The Vampyr no longer need remain in darkness; he can evolve and be free if he chooses to embrace that opportunity.

- Dr. Caroline Ludlow,
The Order: History, Structure and Purpose
.

From the Diary of Caroline Ludlow

October 18, 1978

This will be my last entry. I see it’s been years since I wrote anything in here. It’s no longer safe to write down my thoughts and troubles, as they might be used against me by Sebastian or some new member of the household seeking to curry favor. Still, I often find myself reading them and remembering those times, both good and bad. I also feel a desire to document my experiences, if only to prove they really happened.

I no longer feel that I’m Sebastian’s wife. Now I’m his Adjutor and even that is a token position. He keeps me on a short leash and no longer consults me on major decisions. My last big play was helping those reporters expose the Watergate break-in (oh, last week I got Ash to explain the nickname they gave me in that book of theirs, though he couldn’t meet my eyes the entire time! Men!) and then pulling my last strings to get Carter in office. Unfortunately, Sebastian and DeWinter have seen to it that Carter has not been the independent reformer I hoped. Since Burlington’s assassination a few years ago, I don’t have any political allies.

Ash is the only person I can talk to but even with him I have to be careful. He takes his job seriously and anything that might impact it gets reported. I also have to be careful not to compromise him by seeming too friendly. Though the idea of an affair between us is ludicrous, God knows what some of his more ambitious subordinates might try to use against him if given a chance.

I’ve become very interested in this computer-to-computer “ARPANET” that the DoD developed a few years ago. I’ve been experimenting to see what I might be able to make of it. Everyone else considers it something akin to a telegraph and doesn’t see its purpose aside from allowing a few academics to talk to each other. All except for DeWinter III, who I discovered hiding behind an alias. Interesting. It just might be possible to use this network to get some of my research projects started up again.

I don’t know whether I should be more afraid of Sebastian, or for him anymore. His condition has hit what I can only term a stable period, though not by any means a remission. There is little binding us together now, except habit and a sense of ownership on his part. We’ve slept in separate rooms for years and haven’t been intimate for even longer. There’s no other woman in Sebastian’s life. I almost wish there were, as it would demonstrate some human feeling in him.

He no longer fears the feralism or attempts to curb its influence. On the contrary, he embraces it, believing that he is evolving into a superior creature. “Purification” he calls it.

He seems to care little for the welfare of the humans in his Domain and concerns himself with keeping his rivals at bay. Having spent centuries avoiding The Game, paranoia has driven him to become one of its major players. Thus, I’m also forced to play to keep him from destroying the country I love. With Vietnam over, he keeps Draco engaged with the stalemates in Eastern Europe and a dozen little guerrilla fights in Central America and Africa. He thinks his newfound cunning can keep all of them in check but he is deluding himself there too. They know him too well and if it weren’t for that old snake DeWinter, we’d have been killed by now. Despite his occasional mutterings of “ending The Game” and his smug confidence in some grand scheme of his, I both anticipate and dread the day when he falls to someone’s plot and my fate rests in the hands of one of these other monsters.

I’m afraid to even write it here but I fear he’s engaging in the drinking of unwilling Vampyr blood. Cannibalism. If true, his doom may be very close indeed.

Back when he first took to hunting game on the island, it was with guns, then bow and arrow to give him more of a challenge, now he does it alone and with his bare hands, ripping apart anything he catches. He’s even gone so far as to construct a giant maze where the gardens were. It’s a ghastly structure, resembling nothing so much as the Berlin Wall.

More than once I’ve seen him slink into the house barefoot, his clothes filthy, his face and hands splattered with blood like a ghoul from a graveyard. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, I hear the screams from the maze. The number of people being brought to the island to stock the “wine cellar” has increased in size and frequency. All for Sebastian and his hunts.

As for me, these last years have drained me to the point that I feel hollowed out, a shell of a person going through the motions of my daily routine. Sebastian has accepted my surrender and no longer shouts or lashes out at me unless my performance of some task displeases him. We’ve reached equilibrium, however unpleasant. Secretly98- however, I have hope. The seeds of a plan are germinating away in the deepest recesses of my mind and will remain there. For now, I must wait and watch for opportunities. It might take decades but I have no other choice.

Farewell.

Caroline Ludlow