“I know that. I saw a building, a palace, last night. Is that where I come from?” I leaned forward. If only I could learn the truth about my past.
“I am not seeing that. Someone is calling you, searching for you.” She ran her hands through her hair, a deep red tonight, making it stand out from her head.
“There were two people in my vision. Are they looking for me? They wore crowns.” I reached for her. I wanted to shake the answers from her.
“Do not touch me!” She glared at me, her eyes glowing, and I jerked back my hands.
“I see danger coming for you. Your fight is not over.” Suddenly the bowl rose from the table and flew through the air, making a circle over our heads.
Flo shrieked. “Don’t you dare drop that on me!”
Helen ignored her, staring up at the ceiling as if looking for an answer. She waved her hands and the bowl finished its circle around the room.
“Who is trying to kill me?” I was glad to see the bowl full of water come to a sloshing rest on the table again. “Is it the pirates? Who is looking for me? Is it my family? The two people who wore the crowns? Are they my parents?” I hated the way the witch ignored me. I slammed my hand on the table. “Answer me!”
Helen lowered her eyes to stare into mine. “You cannot demand answers, vampire. The universe will deliver them when it is ready.” Her voice could have come from hell, it was so low and unsteady. “Watch your back or you will die.”
“I have heard enough.” Valdez pulled Flo out of the way and lifted me out of the chair. “We are getting the hell out of here.” He tossed another coin on the table. “Give her the potion she came for. It had better not harm her or I will be back for your head. Do you believe me, bruja ?”
“I believe you, shifter.” Helen stood and walked to her shelf. She brought back one of the glowing bottles. She lifted the stopper, sniffed, then replaced it and smiled. “This is it.”
Valdez snatched the bottle, staying in front of me.
“Be careful with your threats, shifter.” She held out her hands as if ready to cast a spell on all of us.
“Enough. Keep your spells to yourself. We are done here.” He pushed Flo and me out the door. “Go, ladies. Back to the castle.”
I realized Valdez was truly spooked. He slammed the witch’s door, then took my arm and Flo’s, walking between us so fast we had to skip to keep up. It was almost laughable except I breathed a sigh of relief when we were safely back inside the gates.
“That visit was not to my liking.” He handed me the bottle of potion. “Do with this what you will. I hope you weren’t lying when you said Jeremiah approved it.”
“No, I wasn’t. I will wait until he comes home near sunrise to try it again and do it in his presence. I swear it.” I slipped it into my pocket. I was still shaking. Would I try it? I wasn’t sure.
“Mio Dio ! I did not like that either. Strange messages. Why can’t she say what she means?” Flo had pulled out another of her beautiful silk fans and was using it to cool her face. “I wouldn’t drink anything I got from that woman if I were you, Glory.”
I sat on a wooden bench. “I’m thinking about what she said and didn’t say. Surely, she meant the pirates want to kill me. I am to blame for Zarah’s death. They’ll want revenge.”
“You didn’t get answers about your home, your visions.” Flo sat next to me and put her arm around me. “I’m sorry, amica . I know who I was and have always been. Sometimes I wish I didn’t. I had a hard life when I was young. I did bad things to stay alive. There were acts that shamed me and my family.” She leaned her head on my shoulder. “I won’t tell you what they were or you would hate me.”
“No, I wouldn’t, Flo. If you were poor, you had to do whatever was necessary to stay alive.” I patted her knee. “I was ready to sell myself for food when Jeremiah found me.” I sighed. “Actually, that’s exactly what I did. Do you hate me now?”
“No!” She sat up. “We are alike, you and me. We are strong and wanted only to survive, no matter what we had to do, am I right?”
“You are right.” I was happy to have this new friend. I began to think that I needed to forget my search for the past. What was important was now and the danger I’d been warned about. I felt cold coming from that bottle of potion and shivered.
No, I wasn’t going to take it. Not now. Flo was right—I needed to be strong to defend myself and this potion had made me weak. Someone wanted to kill me. That’s what I had to prepare for, not lose strength in a futile effort to look back.
“Flo! Do you know how to fight with a sword?” I eased away from her and stood.
“Do I! Of course, amica . My brother is one of the best swordsmen in all of Italy. In all of Spain as well. He taught me years ago.” She flushed. “They say he is also one of the best lovers. Some call him Casanova. Women beg to come to his bed.” She laughed. “He is the one who made me vampire. I begged him for that.”
“You have a brother?” I grinned. “That is wonderful. Also wonderful that he taught you to use a sword. Show me. Let’s work on my sword craft, shall we? I’m not going to sit around waiting for an assassin. I’m getting ready to meet and defeat one.”
Flo smiled. “Yes, let’s do it. I have my own sword, amica . Fine Toledo steel made in Spain, a gift from my brother. His birth name is Damian. Someday you will have to meet him. Maybe you will end up in his bed. He might be irresistible , eh?”
“We will see. I do love my Jeremiah. I am loyal to him.” I followed Flo inside. I would use one of the swords left behind by Lord Ralph. Why not? It was time to get serious about my own defense. No more playing with toy swords. If someone wanted to kill me, they’d have a hard time doing it.
Valdez rumbled again as I picked through Lord Ralph’s trunk we’d put in an empty room. I ignored him. Let him wish to keep me playing with toys. If Flo and I cut each other, we would heal. A little blood and pain would serve to remind me to take sword play seriously.
“This would be easier if I had britches like Zarah wore.” I tried to make the kind of moves I’d seen the men make when they practiced in the courtyard. My skirt kept tangling around my legs.
“Britches!” Flo danced into the room, her sword gleaming in the candlelight. Valdez murmured in appreciation when he saw it and she handed it to him to admire. “I would love to try out a pair. We could ask my dressmaker when she comes to make some for each of us. Or your Maggie is clever with a needle, Mercy told me.”
“Yes, Maggie could do it.” I ran a hand down my hip. I knew how Jeremiah would feel about me in britches. His warrior woman wielding a sword like a man.
I grinned at Flo. “Jeremiah would hate it.”
“So would Angus.” Flo’s eyes twinkled. “I fancy a pair in black velvet with gold trim. What do you think?”
“Let’s do it.” I was already imagining it. “Mine will be blue velvet with silver. We can start a fashion.”
Valdez groaned and reluctantly handed Flo her sword. “You know this is going to be a disaster, don’t you?”
“How can it be? With you and Florence as my teachers, I will soon be a master at sword play.” I saluted Flo with my sword. “En guarde, mon amie .”
Flo began to rattle something in French, clearly excited that I had managed to say something in that language.
“Stop! I was parroting what they said in Master Shakespeare’s plays.” I laughed and we started again, our swords clashing. Valdez stayed against the wall, a frowning presence as we parried and I took a few hits. I realized Flo was playing with me.
“You should be doing this outside but I think you would draw a crowd.” Valdez held up a hand. “Stop. Glory, you are bleeding.” He walked over to inspect a cut on my shoulder.
“I’m sorry, amica . I didn’t want to ruin your dress!” Flo rushed forward to inspect the wound. “It is but a tiny scratch, you are already healing.”
“I know. Don’t feel bad.” I was glad Valdez had stopped the fight though. If I had to defend myself
against someone trying to kill me, I’d have been dead ten times over. Except… “A sword through my heart wouldn’t kill me, would it?”
Flo and Valdez exchanged looks.
“No, not necessarily.” Valdez handed me a handkerchief to dab at the small amount of blood that still oozed near my neck. “But if you get your head cut off, that’s the end of you.”
“Or if someone manages to cut out your heart, Glory.” Flo put her arm around me. “Here is my advice. Don’t fight with a sword. You are not ready. Keep Valdez close. If you are alone and trapped? Scream for help. Use your knife. Kick. But you need years to learn to be a maestra with a sword.”
I had a lot to think about as I felt the heaviness that meant it was nearing sunrise. I hurried to put away my sword and head to my bedchamber. Mercy was there with a tub filled. She fussed over the dress that had a few tears. At least they could be easily repaired, this time.
I sank into the tub, sore from the unaccustomed exercise. I had to admit I was worried. I would keep up my practice with the sword. Since I was immortal, I had time to eventually become what Flo called a maestra . If I didn’t lose my head or my heart first.
14
I t took weeks for me to find out what our man riding to Edinburgh would bring back to us. He finally arrived followed by heavily laden carts. Jeremiah met him down at the beach then sent one of the carts and a carriage to the castle.
“Only look, Glory! It is Madame Clotilde, recently arrived from Paris. When I was in Edinburgh, she was the talk of the ladies at court.” Flo was excited. “Come help me get her settled. I heard her talking to her assistant. She called this the wilds of Scotland. She is threatening to go right back to town.”
I hurried toward the carriage. Colin was trying to hand down a slight woman who wore the latest fashion. She was speaking in French but even from across the courtyard, I could tell she was complaining. Her dress was wider than the carriage door and she struggled to push it out without damaging it. With what could only be French curses, she jerked the skirt free.
“Careful, Madame.” Colin grabbed her hand when she wobbled as she hit the ground. She shook her hand free of Colin’s grip as if she had touched a nasty bug.
A tiny woman emerged from the carriage carrying a case. “Madame Clothilde, tu vas bien ?” She hurried to fuss with the skirt until it settled into perfect shape. Wings of decorative lace surrounded the madame’s face which was set in a frown.
“I suppose we must speak English here in the land of the Scottish savages.” She closed her eyes and breathed, as if gathering strength.
I was comforted by the fact that the moat had been freshened by a recent rain. She couldn’t complain of that smell at least. I waited to approach her, in no hurry to hear complaints.
When she opened her eyes, she smoothed down the front of her skirt, plucking at a silk rosebud. “Jolie, don’t forget my bourse . I may need my salts. This place is already making my head pound.” She seemed determined to be displeased.
Flo rushed up to her and actually curtsied. Not her court one, but showy enough that I wanted to remind her that this Frenchwoman was being paid to serve us. The ladies made their answering curtsies. I was glad to see that theirs were low enough to show they understood who was to be pleased here. That made me feel better.
“Madame Clotilde, I am Florence daVinci. You are here to make clothes for me. Laird Campbell, my protector, sent for you.” Flo fluttered around the woman. She exclaimed over the rosettes on the woman’s bodice and the trim running around the bottom of the massive skirt.
A lorgnette dangling from a silk ribbon was drawn up from the front of that very low bodice. Madame looked Flo over. Finally, she smiled.
“Ah, it will be a pleasure to dress you, Madame daVinci. You have an exquisite figure.”
“Merci .” Flo said a few more words in French then turned to introduce me. “I believe you have also been paid well to make a few things for my dear friend, Madame St. Clair. Her protector is Lord Jeremiah Campbell, the Guardian of the Coast. This is his castle.”
Now I was studied through that glass. I wore one of the dresses I had bought in Edinburgh. It was the latest fashion there but apparently not up to Madame Clotilde’s standards if I read her pursed lips and frown correctly. Or was it the fact that I was a much larger woman than my tiny friend Flo that made the seamstress scowl?
“Madame St. Clair. You are more of a challenge. You like your pastries, no?” She patted her own breasts then hips, as if to show me where all those pastries had gone to live.
“I did, once.” I didn’t bother to explain. “Flo, Colin will take care of their bags. Let’s go inside and ask Lady Anne to find rooms for our guests.”
Madame Clotilde gazed around the courtyard. “It smells like the stables here. If I don’t have a satisfactory room, I will go straight back to Edinburgh. The message did not explain that I would be working in such a primitive place. I am not being paid that well.”
“I assure you, madame, we will be able to accommodate you.” I walked ahead of her. “But suit yourself.” I had spent too many hours at court listening to whispered comments not to recognize her attitude. Next, she’d be calling me a fat cow behind my back. I comforted myself that Jeremiah liked my ample backside.
“Glory!” Flo gasped and hurried to walk next to Clotilde and compliment her again.
I ignored them. There was no way that woman would agree to make the britches Flo and I were so set on. I decided then and there to put Maggie to work on them.
Lady Anne found rooms that would suit a woman she saw as a glorified seamstress. The exhausted madame started to complain but her assistant pointed out there was a fine roaring fire. The clever Jolie also managed to produce a tray with what was apparently the woman’s favorite restorative chocolate on it. Since it was late by mortal standards, a pair of maids quickly made up the bed with the madame’s own linens. Flo and I left them to settle in.
“She is not going to like how we stay up all night. She was yawning already and it was not yet midnight!” Flo led me up the stairs to Lady Anne’s solar. She was working on a miniature of that lady as a wedding present and had set up her paints there. “Anne will be here in a moment. I want to get my colors right for her skin tone. But first, what should we do about Madame Clotilde? I want my new wardrobe.”
“Pick out your fabrics. I saw them unloading reams of them from that cart. Let her measure you at night and you can select designs from her patterns then too.” I sat and watched Flo gather her paints. “She can work on making them during the day while we sleep.”
“She will want to do fittings!” Flo set out a board and began mixing colors.
“Then tell her we are unavailable during the day. Because our protectors wish our presence then. She is a woman who must work for a living. Surely she knows a mistress must be available to the man who pays the bills.” I hated to say that so baldly, but it was true.
“You are right, amica . She will have to deal with our schedule or go back to town. Angus pays well. She would be foolish to give up this job.” Flo pulled out a sheaf of papers. “Here comes Anne. I hope you aren’t tired of watching us work at this. Do you like the pose I selected? With her chin just so?” She showed me one of the sketches. “Or one of the others?”
“It amazes me how you caught her likeness, Flo. You are very talented.” I glanced through the pages. “This one. She has a secret smile. Like she knows something she will not tell.”
Flo frowned over it then handed it to Anne who had just come through the door. “What do you think, my lady? Will you like this one for the miniature?”
“Oh, surely I am not that pretty.” She stared at the sketch. “Thank you, Florence. I’m sure Malcolm will treasure it.” Her eyes filled with tears. “If the baron doesn’t arrive here and try to ruin everything.” She waved a letter. “He wrote, forbidding the marriage. I want to,” she sniffed, “keep this from Malcolm. If he doesn’t know…”
“And if the baro
n arrives?” I stood. “Will you show me what he wrote?” I took the letter when she held it out. “His handwriting is impossible. What does he say?”
“I am used to it. He says he has a man picked out for me. He demands I come to Edinburgh immediately.” She wiped her eyes. “I will not go.”
Flo looked up from mixing her paints. “Good. You should ignore the letter. We will send for the priest and you will marry your captain quickly. With luck you will be in your marriage bed before the baron learns that you are defying him.”
“I am not sure I have that kind of luck.” Anne sat in her chair next to her needlework. “My mother wrote as well. She claims she tried to talk to him. To no avail. The man he wants me to marry is old and a terrible gamester. Clyne owes him a vast sum. If I don’t marry Lansdale, Clyne will be ruined. He’ll sell my family home.”
“I’m sorry but you would never have lived there again anyway, would you?” I tried to be sympathetic but Anne had found a wonderful man to marry. What did a house matter?
“I suppose not.” Anne sighed. “What will happen to my mother if he does sell their home?”
“If she can’t bear to stay with him, she can always come to live with you.” Flo was ever practical. “She should leave the baron to starve. Surely she doesn’t love him.”
“No, she couldn’t. Not after what he has cost her.” Anne stared into the fire. “I find it hard to be happy about my wedding with this on my mind.”
“I understand.” I got up and walked to the door. “But, remember, you are marrying a man you love who will take care of you.” I heard those words and realized I had no idea what the captain would provide for Anne or where they would live. It wasn’t my business, but I decided to make it mine. No one else was looking out for her.
“I will leave you two to your painting. I am going for a walk.” I headed down the stairs, stopping in the great hall first. Maggie was there and I told her about the seamstress and her assistant. They were mortals who would need special treatment.
Real Vampires: Glory and the Pirates Page 18