Haldred Chronicles: Alyssa (2 page)

“You lived here
long yourself?” she said, gesturing to the man's house.

“Yeh.” he said,
doing the same as her and trying to keep the conversation going but not sure
where to direct it.

“It's not much
but it'll do.” he added.

Alyssa thought
the statement a little off.  They were in one of the more well-to-do districts
of Larrick City, an area called Spelgaa (No, she didn't know why it had an
unnecessary 'a' at the end of its name).  The house was a decent size as far as
she could see; just a little larger than her own and well looked after, on the
outside anyway.  It was three storeys high, built from red muddy bricks with
faded but well-kept wooden beams criss-crossing its surface.  She guessed there
was a living room on the bottom, bedroom on the first level and probably a
store at the top.  Much like most of the buildings in the capital.  Built to
space-restricting specifics and squeezed in wherever there was room.  Even in
the richest areas, space was at a premium.  A lot of people lived in Larrick
city.

“It’s nice.” she
said, and meant it.

They gazed at
each other again.

“Look,” he said
at length.  “I know this is really forward but...do you want to come in for a
cup of tea?”

Alyssa looked
taken back, blinking in genuine amazement.  He wanted to have tea with her?

That better not
be some euphemism for sex.

Alyssa had been
brought up in a 'no sex until married' orphanage and wasn't about to abandon
that.  Whilst Sister Superior Mary-Lee was long dead, Alyssa was pretty sure
that the old crow of the
Saraken
faith would soundly beat the snot out
of her if she disobeyed her even now.  She suspected that dying had been
considered a mild inconvenience for the Sister Superior and was unlikely to
stop her.

She paused to
study him for a moment.  If he did try any funny business, she was quite sure
she could take him, and this definitely didn't happen often.

Hell, why
not?

“Actually, that
would be nice.” she decided.

Her smile grew,
as did his.

She was
immediately impressed as he held the doorway open for her and she entered.  The
house was indeed as clean on the inside as it was on the outside.

“Have a seat.”
he said, indicating the small wooden dining table and chairs at the centre of
the room.

She duly sat
down, hands clasped in front of her as she gazed around.  The room was very
tidy.  A small bookshelf sat under one of the two small bottle glass windows at
the front of the house, stacked with some plain looking books.  A writing table
was below it, quill and ink well at the ready and several parchments sitting
arrayed in uniform lines.

He can afford
books and ink.  This guy has coin, no doubt about it.
 

Paper, after
all, was expensive.  Whilst the so called 'printing presses' (Alyssa had little
knowledge of them other than they apparently built books) were plentiful in the
post-war world, trees for making paper were not.  In a choice between using
trees to rebuild or using trees to make paper, rebuilding won through every
time. 

In his kitchen
area, there was a fine looking porcelain sink sitting off to one side with a
covered bucket underneath it; a variety of small cupboards were mounted on the
walls.  Shelves on either side had kitchen implements hanging from them or
sitting atop.  A cloak rack sat beside the door with only the man's grey cloak
now hanging from it.  The floor was unfinished wood, with a few rugs here and
there.  Mostly plain single colour rugs, nothing fancy.

He was by the
sink now, using the bucket to fill a thermal kettle.

Wonderful
invention
Alyssa mused to herself. 

To think fire
magic could be harnessed for good.  It had been one of the inventions that had
come out of the Six Nations War that wasn't about killing people.  The '
outbreak
of peace'
(a local expression referring to how quickly, and
unexpectedly, peace had come about) had made a lot of inventions available to
the populace of Argon, ones previously confined to military use. The thermal
kettle, a part magical device that boiled water, was just one.  Possession of a
thermal kettle was further indication that this guy wasn't poor.  Thermal
kettles weren't cheap, and the post war economy wasn't exactly sturdy.

The kettle
hissed as he set it aflame by rubbing the heat stone beneath it.   He then
turned toward her, smiling awkwardly again.  She decided she liked his smile. 
His manner was cute if not exactly brimming with confidence.

“So,” he said. 
“what's your name?”

Yes, it seemed
like a good idea to get names in now.

“Alyssa.” she
said, finding herself adjusting her glasses again.

There were a few
seconds of silence save for the kettle hissing.  They stared at each other.

“And you are?”
she enquired helpfully.

“Sorry!” he
started, jumping as if from a trance.  “James.  James is my name.  Sorry,
you're a bit distracting...I mean I was a bit distracted!”

It was actually
quite refreshing for Alyssa to see someone getting more flustered than she
usually got.  She had a good memory of meeting any number of charming young men
in her life and more often than not it ended up with her being the one with her
foot in her mouth.  She didn't always like the attention her beauty gave her. 
She chuckled.

“You've not done
this often have you?” she asked, trying to offer him some reassurance.

He sighed, some
of the tension lifting.

“No, I really
haven't.” he lamented.

“You're in good
company,” she said looking away, “it's been a while for me too.  You can relax.”

His relief
manifested itself in a softer smile.

“I find it
difficult to believe someone as beautiful as you hasn't been in a situation
like this more often.”

She felt her
cheeks burning.  Yes, vampires could blush.  Though she'd yet to figure out how
considering there was technically no blood in her veins.  Maybe another reason
Nature wanted her dead.  Messing with logical explanations was reserved purely
for the fey, and it was common knowledge that those winged humanoids were made
of magic. To Alyssa's mind, that was a license to get away with it (that or
cheating).

“Thanks.” she
said more shyly, wiping her face in a vain attempt to hide her discomfort.

“Sorry.  I've
embarrassed you.”

Yeah no
kidding.

“I only meant to
speak the truth.”

“And now you've
embarrassed me even more!”

They both
laughed, Alyssa's cheeks burning and his not far behind, but they were enjoying
the situation.  This was most definitely out of the ordinary.  He'd not run
off; he'd started a conversation with her; he'd even invited her into his
house; and
now
he was flirting with her!

I'm a vampire
for Saraken's sake!  Humans don't just flirt with me!

But he was, and
it was marvellous.  Still, it was verging on the too-good-to-be-true now.

The kettle chose
that moment to start to sing with a harsh whistle, as the water boiled.

Leaving her to
continue blushing, James poured two cups of steaming black tea, the tea’s aroma
that of peppermint.  As Alyssa recovered she noticed they were no ordinary cups
he had set before her.  Porcelain, not wood, expensive Magra imports.  What did
this guy do to be able to afford all this?

“So, James,” she
said with another small smile, flicking her hair back and being rewarded by him
almost melting into her eyes from across the table.  “what do you do?”

He hesitated for
a moment but nodded, as if confirming something to himself

“Engineering.”

“Oh?  You work
with the Machines?”

He nodded.

Steam power was
a rapidly developing concept in the Argon nation, one pioneered during the Six
Nations War and becoming more commonplace.  Whilst magic could create steam,
engineering did so without the need for a mage.  In effect an ordinary man, or
woman, with the right knowledge, could do things previously restricted to
mages.  A very tempting concept and one that had massively improved the morale
of the people in the wake of a war that had claimed the lives of so many over
such a long time.  Steam powered carts had been used to pull vast siege cannons
into place or been used as siege engines themselves, armed with huge iron
rams.  Now, they were used to haul rocks or timber, taking the place of dozens
of horses.  They could even allow a man to fly via the use of the vast
airships.  This all explained why James had the best of the best.  Engineering,
whilst technically open to anyone, disregarding sex or race, took a certain
kind of person to figure it out.  Those individuals were well paid for their
talent.

“So engineering,
is it good?” she asked, taking her cup and sipping from it.

Being a vampire
didn't necessarily mean you couldn't eat any more.  You could.  But it was like
eating grass when you weren't a cow.  It did nothing for you and took ages to
go through you.  Her stomach craved blood, nothing else.  Still, she could
pretend to like it.  It would probably please him.

“It's good.  The
new science is...interesting work.”

“What do you
do?” he asked in return.

“Barmaid,” she
said automatically, though with just a touch of hesitation.  After he had
described working in a unique and well paid job, she wasn't sure how he would
react to her more common occupation.  Night shift barmaid had been her job more
or less since she had discovered she was the last vampire.  It was the perfect
cover for 'sleeping' (it wasn't really sleeping) during the day.

“Oh?  Which
tavern?” he asked.  Alyssa smiled inwardly, pleased that he'd asked with what
appeared to be actual interest as opposed to polite 'I'll humour you'
conversation.

“Elk's Horn.”
she said with a touch of pride.

The Elk's Horn
was a well-known and well looked after tavern, just off the rich quarter of
Larrick.  Oddly though it was frequented mainly by non-humans.  Dwarves and
elves came and went, as well as orcs and even the occasional ogre (if they
could fit through the door).  Alyssa had likewise found that non-humans didn't
have the same tendency to get worried round her that humans did.  They seemed
unaware of any aura that she generated, so she found it very easy to fit in and
not raise any suspicions.

“I know it,” he
said.  “I've a few friends that go.  I'll have to pop down some time.”

Relaxed now, the
two of them sat in silence.  Drinking tea.  She chanced a glance outside,
through the front window. It was still dark, but her internal clock was telling
her not to delay.  One very nasty aspect of being a vampire was that the sun
was not your friend.
Really
not your friend.  She'd found this out with
brutal clarity when she'd watched Regorash execute one of his lieutenants by
throwing the man into a shaft of sunshine.  The man had simply exploded into a
fireball, his whole body disintegrating into ash.  Alyssa's mind had imprinted
that vision on her memory.

Never go out in
the sun, never even look at it.  The idea of exploding did not appeal to her.

She found she
had finished her tea, and now felt conflicted.  He seemed to notice her
nervousness.

“I can tell you
want to head home.” he said.  His sadness was almost solidified.

“No no.” she
said immediately.  She found her hand suddenly on his in an automatic effort to
reassure him.  She blushed again, biting her lip.

“It's just been
a long night.” she said. 

“But I really
want to see you again!” she managed to blurt out, her hand shooting to her
mouth immediately after.

Gods I'm such
a child!

“Great.” he
managed, after several long (very long) seconds of surprise. Surprise, Alyssa
fancied, at the fact that a girl's hand had been on his and the fact that she
wanted to see him again.

“Ah.” her eyes
flickered.  “Ah, well, why don't you pop in to the Elk’s Horn tomorrow night? 
We could chat during my break?”

“That would
be...great.” he said but he was obviously still in a state of slight shock.

Y
eah, I
definitely like the awkwardness
, she decided.

She rose,
slowly, and James stood with her.

“Strange times,
eh?” she said.

He grinned,
relaxing.

“But good
times.” he said.

She gave him a
grin back.

He led her to
the door and they both stood looking at each other for a while.  He at the
door, not wanting to close it, she just outside the door, not wanting to
leave.  Eventually it was Alyssa who leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the
cheek