* * *
Asha and Eta sat in a carriage looking directly across at Lucian and Beniamin, seated opposite them. The carriage bumped around violently on the rough forest road, while in the center of the carriage the knees of the two humans and the two vampires were dangerously close to touching. With each new jolt Beniamin stiffened to prevent himself from lurching forward and accidentally coming into contact with Asha. He had come to believe that any direct physical contact with a vampire would automatically lead to infection making this carriage journey a terrifying ordeal for him.
He asked Lucian leaning towards him and trying to speak quietly, “Are you sure there’s no risk of infection?”
“There is no risk,” Asha loudly proclaimed in response, “Your damn worthless physicians have fed you more mountains of ignorance than I could possible push aside, but I will tell you this: vampirism is not spread through bad air; it is not spread through touching. It is spread through fluids. It lives in our blood, in our sweat, in our spit, in our tears. So unless you decide to drink one of these fluids, then you needn’t worry. Though, I suppose a kiss would work as well. Are you interested in kissing me Beniamin?”
Asha said it in a taunting way, but Beniamin blushed when she said it. Though her head was hooded and covered in a black cloth that enshrouded her face, Beniamin was familiar with Asha’s beauty from their previous meeting. To his mind, she was the most enchanting creature he’d ever seen, and he yearned for her to remove that covering and reveal her face again. The carriage’s interior was dark, with the doors and curtains closed, but though stifling heat oppressed her, she didn’t deem it safe and preferred to remain covered.
The ride was long, but they eventually pulled in through the gates of Terem. The horse hoofs echoed on the stone pavement as they pulled into the center of town. The market was alive with crowds bustling about in a loud hum of activity, but when Asha and the four vampires accompanying her stepped out of the carriages, the crowds stopped and fell into silence.
Asha had never been inside the walls of Terem. They were high and well guarded. She’d always wanted to breach them, but only now, after she’d made peace, did this become possible.
Flaviu, the captain of the guard was there to greet them. He was a short, stout man with white hair and a red-cheeked face, flushed like one drunk. He extended a hand to shake but Asha ignored him and strode forward towards the town hall where she supposed the meeting to be held.
The town hall was a red brick building with several white-framed windows and a pair of chimneys emerging from either side of the roof. When Asha opened the door, she saw a large open room crammed with pews that were now filled with onlookers. Above her head was also a gallery section, and she could hear the shifting of feet as people heard her entrance and moved in anticipation of seeing her and the other vampires.
Most of the villagers had the good fortune of never having seen a vampire, fortunate since most of those who saw vampires were victims or the families of victims. When Asha walked down the center aisle, all eyes were turned to her.
Rows of windows on either side of the hall flooded the room with light, until, at Flaviu’s command, the shutters to these windows began to be shut. Darkness spread across the room in a slow wave that proceeded behind Asha as she walked towards the front.
Once all the windows were closed, the room was only faintly illuminated. The crowds of people began to mutter in evident alarm, and some people even cried out in panic. Flaviu had to shout out in a powerful voice, “Quiet! You’re all perfectly safe.” The commanding voice stunned the crowd into obedience, and, even though they looked on nervously, they at least remained silent.
Reaching the table at the front where a candle burned, Asha took off her hood and her head-covering and exposed her face to the crowd, while the four other vampires with her did the same. Though it must surely have been difficult for most of the townspeople to see her clearly in the dim light, the effect was transformative. They had never realized how stunning the vampires were.
Eta was a small, arresting beauty, with a pleasant softness to her features—a curved nose and a round face with large, open eyes—and many people turned to look at her with admiration when she removed her head-covering. But Eta was still young, and it was Asha who drew the most attention, eliciting a slight gasp of awe among the collected spectators as she exposed herself. Asha displayed to them her creamy, soft skin, her high cheekbones, her long, thin nose and clear blue eyes, and they found it difficult to dislike her, even though many had lost acquaintances and family members to her coven.
She looked over the crowd silently like a queen surveying her subjects, and the crowd stared back, drinking deeply of her beauty.
Lucian, who was waiting behind her decided to step forward to speak and break this silence. “I thank you all for coming to witness this historic event: the end of the war between vampires and humans. I hope you will heed me when I entreat you to attend to every detail displayed before you today, since for generations to come your children and their children after them will ask you to describe how it was to witness the forging of history. I pray that this event may be retained in our collective memory for their benefit. Just like many great events in the past, the full gravity of this event is not fully fathomable to us here in the midst of it, but in time to come it will be recognized as a great turning point that will define all future affairs to come.”
Asha had to interrupt at this point with a loud assertion of “Let’s get on with this.” Her strident voice had an effect on the crowd quite the inverse of her appearance, and they recoiled a little to hear her assert herself with such force.
Lucian respectfully deferred to her and walked back to the table where sat the treaty that had been drawn up. Expounded in standard legalese was a description of the conditions and penalties of their peace arrangement, beautifully inscribed in Beniamin’s excellent hand. Asha examined the document perfunctorily, though she couldn’t read. She trusted that Lucian had not tried to sneak in any provisions of which she wouldn’t approve.
“We will receive all of your capital criminals?” Asha asked Lucian. He nodded, adding, “And we yours.”
She picked up the pen, dipped it in ink and wrote, in a crude, barely legible script, “Asha.”
A whole line of officials and representatives, representing the various villages and landlords that controlled the region were standing in the front with Asha and Lucian. They all, in turn, signed the document, with handwriting considerably more refined and polished than Asha’s, until the whole bottom of the treaty was crowded with a congeries of signatures.
No handshakes were exchanged, but Asha and her four companions gave short bows to each of the representatives after they signed.
When all was completed, Lucian rolled up the document and raised it in the air in triumph. Asha put back on her head-covering and hooded herself, the other vampires following her lead. Without further formalities, she left, walking down the center aisle and exiting through the front door. Lucian and Beniamin followed behind and led the vampires into the two carriages. They departed from the village as abruptly as they’d come, heading back to the coven.
Elixir of Flesh Page 36