I looked up at Lady Dunn. She was trying to hide it, but she couldn't hide it from me. She was frightened. I put a hand on her arm, and she looked down at me.
"You had a question?" she asked.
I nodded.
"Then stand and ask it." She helped me up, and I made a show of needing the help.
"We are the challenged?" I asked.
"Yes," said Rachel. "You are."
"And this competition, it is to include weapons?"
She smiled. "Yes."
"Weapons from those available in this room?"
"Yes," said Rachel. "You will both use the same style of weapon."
"And as the challenged, is the choice of weapon my lady's? I believe that is the tradition, but perhaps not amongst vampires."
She consulted her blood slave, and the woman nodded eagerly.
"Yes, the choice of weapons is your lady's," she said, "with the exception of crossbows."
I looked around. "If I lose," I said, "I will certainly die."
"That is the risk of your crime," Rachel said. "Perhaps you should have thought one more time before driving your car."
"If your blood slave looses, she is fit and healthy. She has not been bled today, and perhaps not for several days. I am bled daily. She can offer blood to all here and walk away."
"That is true," Rachel agreed.
"So, the risk to us is far higher, and so should there not be odds given to us? What do you offer my mistress if I win, using the weapon of my choice from those available in this room?"
The vampire laughed. "You aren't going to win."
"Then it should be easy to offer something." I turned to Lady Dunn. "I do not know what she has you may want."
"Her controlling interests in Liegon Associates," Lady Dunn stated immediately. "Every last share of stock."
The room burst into noise as each discussed the newest twist. I had no idea what was going on, but Lady Dunn turned to me, pulling me to her. "What are you doing?"
I whispered into her ear, hoping the sound of the other vampires would prevent my words from reaching our challenger. "Find me a pen or pencil and paper. Someone here has them."
She pushed me away, not saying another word.
Cathalina held up her hand, and the room grew still. "Well, Rachel?"
"I agree," the woman said with a smile.
I didn't know what was going on, but I knew this was a setup.
"We accept the challenge," Lady Dunn said immediately. "Declan, are you here?"
"Yes, Lady Dunn," replied a voice, and it was the vampire who had asked about my art. The vampires parted, and the man stepped through. "Can I be of service?"
"Yes," she said. "I believe you are carrying the weapons we shall use."
"I am?" he asked. Then he glanced at me, and he smiled. "All I am carrying are a couple of pens." He reached into his suit coat and pulled them out, handing them to Lady Dunn.
"And they both work?" she asked.
"Very well," he replied.
"It would not do to have a weapon fail," Lady Dunn said.
"These pens will not fail."
Rachel began to hiss. "That is not a weapon! What? They are going to stab each other with a pen?"
"Of course not," Declan replied. "Have you not heard? The pen is mightier than the sword."
The surrounding vampires again began all talking at once, but it was with amusement at the twist in events, not with anger. Cathalina, clearly attuned to her audience, held her hand.
"What competition shall we have with these pens?"
Lady Dunn turned to me. "You are the challenged," she said.
"Perhaps the competition should be two out of three rounds," I replied. "We will require canvas, paper, or even a bare wall, although perhaps Miss Cathalina would rather we not adorn her walls."
"We will acquire paper," the woman said.
"Then we shall each place our pen to paper, three times, with perhaps ten minutes per round?"
"Five," Cathalina overrode, and I nodded to her.
"The first competition shall be to see whose work most angers the other's mistress. I will seek to anger Miss Rachel, and her blood slave shall seek to anger my mistress."
"Oh, excellent," said Cathalina.
"I presume if my fine competitor does an especially excellent job angering my mistress, there will be many hands to protect her. I would not want the competition to end before it barely begins."
"Of course," Cathalina replied, knowing it wasn't Lady Dunn who was going to get held back.
"For the second competition, I believe we should each strive to most please our fine hostess."
The room chuckled at that, and Cathalina smiled broadly. "Very good. And for the third?"
"For the third," I said, "perhaps the vampire who has provided our weapons can make a suggestion?"
"For the third," Declan said, "in keeping with the reputation of vampires, perhaps we shall strive for the most frightening composition."
I smiled. I could do frightening.
"I believe in that case, the blood slaves should receive assurances we will not be punished if we are especially good at our compositions," I stated.
Cathalina smiled. "Your mistress may punish you if she is displeased, and no one here would interfere, but no one else will seek retribution if either of you are particularly frightening." She said it as if she didn't believe either of us could frighten a vampire.
"I protest!" Rachel said. "This is not what we had planned."
"I had not planned a competition at all," Lady Dunn replied. "You have had advance notice, you challenged us, and you brought a ringer to the competition. But you agreed we were to pick the weapons. We will, of course, submit to Cathalina's judgment."
"I believe this is a fine competition," Cathalina said, and I decided that while she may have been complicit in setting up Lady Dunn, she wasn't out for too much of my blood. "I am looking forward to the results."
"This is ridiculous!" Rachel said. "She's an artist. This is hardly fair."
Everyone knew how ridiculous a statement that was.
"And bringing a triathlete to challenge an artist is?" Cathalina asked. "Besides, the judging isn't on the quality of the drawings but on the quality of the responses. A stick figure could win."
"Or an essay," Declan pointed out. He laughed. "Oh, most excellent entertainment!"
"Then we need paper," Cathalina said. "Will any paper do?"
"Yes," I replied. "But if there is more room, then perhaps the results will be more expressive."
Cathalina raised her voice. "Deirdre! Deirdre! Where are you?"
"Here, m'lady!" came a voice, and through the crowd, a small woman stepped. She was dressed as a household servant.
"One of the cook's daughters is always drawing something."
"That would be Carrie, Quinn's daughter."
"She must have paper. Obtain some."
"Yes, m'lady." The woman fled from the room.
"Well then," Cathalina said, "what shall we do while we wait?"
I turned to Lady Dunn and sank to my knees, leaning against her. Then I said quietly, "we will need a place you wish us to draw, and you must decide if you want everyone to see what we draw or to offer them as surprises."
"Oh surprises," she said immediately. "But I believe we should also somewhat even the odds." She turned to Rachel. "We can, perhaps, add a level of athleticism to this event without making it impossible for the little artist to compete."
"I think we could," Rachel replied.
"And so," said Cathalina, "we shall suspend our competitors from their ankles. They can draw upside down, or they can use their athletic abilities to right themselves before they begin drawing."
Lady Dunn looked down at me with concern, but I just leaned more heavily against her, not worried. I've been known to lie in the most unusual positions to draw.
"We will need backing for the paper," I said. "If your maid brings sketchpads, they will be fine, but otherw
ise we may need a book under our paper. Otherwise you will have a poor competition, and no one would want that."
Cathalina sent anther servant for rope and a third for a tall ladder. She clearly had already used this space for this before, as the servants knew exactly what to do, and they returned with everything necessary to run two heavy ropes through hoops in the ceiling. The maid returned, and much to my pleasure, she brought several sketchpads. I hid my smile.
"All right," Cathalina announced. "Each mistress shall tie her own blood slave and be responsible for her position above our heads. There will be a short pause allowed between competitions." She looked around. "Declan and Misha will collect the completed entries but not display them until we are done."
I allowed Rachel’s blood slave to select a pad and one of the pens, then I selected another pad, one that would take pen better than the one she had picked.
"Might I suggest," said Declan, "that if either competitor drops her weapons, it would be a poor competition, and so Misha and I are authorized to return the weapons to them."
"Very good," Cathalina said. "Let us start."
The vampires cleared a space underneath the two hoops in the ceiling, surrounding the dangling ropes. My vampire tugged me to my feet and led me to one of the ropes. She was grim faced as she tied my ankles. I leaned into her.
"Please raise me slowly."
She nodded.
She tested the knots and stepped away.
I glanced over, and Rachel's blood slave didn't appear nervous about the ropes but I wasn't sure she knew which end of the pen to use.
"Miss Cathalina," I asked, "will you count down the time?"
"Of course," she said. "Both teams are ready? Hoist the blood slaves."
Lady Dunn began hauling downwards on the other end of the rope, and my legs raised from the floor while I sat there. I whimpered a little. Then, lifted by my ankles, my buttocks raised, much of my weight on my shoulders. And then a few moments later I was dangling upside down in the air, twisting slowly as the rope stretched. My vampire continued to pull on her rope until I hung just over the heads of the other vampires.
The blood rushed into my head, making me instantly dizzy. I closed my eyes, gritted my teeth, and whimpered once more.
"Your first drawing," Cathalina said, "to anger the other mistress. Begin! Five minutes."
I opened my eyes, oriented myself with the paper. I was left-handed, so I held the pad in my right, the pen in my left, and I tipped slightly so the pad would be angled upwards, the pen down. I began my drawing.
"Four minutes!"
"What the hell?" said the other blood slave. "This fucking pen doesn't work!"
"Watch your tone, blood slave!" Cathalina said. "That will be five strokes later."
I glanced over. The other blood slave was upright, her feet at my chest level, and she was clutching the rope above her head, holding herself upright. I couldn't have done what she was doing. Even though she was upright, she was forced to hold the sketchpad while clutching the rope and thus was attempting to draw uphill.
"She can trade with me," I offered. "This pen works fine."
I held the pen out, and Declan passed underneath me, collecting the pen from me and trading it with the other blood slave. She had to bend down to accept it, but she made it look easy. I accepted her old pen, shook it out twice to get the ink flowing downhill again, and continued to draw.
"Three minutes!"
"Now this pen doesn't work!" the other slave said. What was her name? Katarina something-or-other. "It must be the same pen."
"Perhaps you are holding it wrong," I offered.
"How many fucking ways are there to hold a fucking pen?" Katarina asked.
"Make that ten strokes," Cathalina said. "Two minutes."
I kept drawing. "Many, oh so many, Katarina. Try pointing it downhill."
The assembled vampires chuckled, and I was sure most of them were now on my side. I was amusing; Katarina was crass and boorish.
"One minute."
I eyed my drawing. It was quick and crude, but given my upside down position, I was happy we were only given five minutes a drawing. I made a few additions, whistling.
"Shut that god damned bitch up!" Katarina said.
"Thirty seconds," Cathalina said. "And you will be bled whether you win or not. Once more and I declare a forfeit." I pulled my pen away from the paper, and Cathalina said, "Time. Declan and Misha, take the pads and tear off their first drawing. Do not display them."
I handed my pad to Declan and a moment later, he returned it. He glanced at the drawing and his eyes widened. He looked up at me. "Death wish?"
"If I could be gently turned to face my friendly competition," I said, "perhaps I can identify the problem with her pen."
Declan chuckled, as did some of the other vampires, then he rotated me towards Katarina. He was, indeed, very gentle, and I revised my estimate of him decidedly upward. I was sure he was on my side.
Sure enough, she was still holding the pen upside down.
"Katarina," I said, "Look at me."
She looked over. I held my pen the way she had hers, then I pointedly turned it so it would face downhill. She almost began swearing again, but her vampire said, "Silence," before she could get enough out that Cathalina must interfere.
"I do so enjoy good sportsmanship," Cathalina said. "Lady Dunn, your blood slave surprises me."
"She has been worth every cent I paid for her," Lady Dunn agreed.
"Well, blood slaves, your second drawing is something to please me. Ready. Begin. Five minutes."
I had fun with this drawing. It was very naughty. I was in my groove and didn't notice the rest of the world as I slowly turned back and forth, drawing rapidly. I am sure the vampires got glimpses of my drawings, but not enough to be able to tell what they were. But I paid attention to the timer, and I had my pen clear of the paper when she called time.
I heard the scratching of pen on paper several seconds after Cathalina called time.
"I said stop!" she bellowed, and I dropped my pad and pen to cover my ears. Declan collected both, handed me the pen, and then turned to the pad,
"Please do not be angry," I said quietly.
He glanced at it and looked up. "Sycophant."
I grinned down at him.
He tore it off and added, "She's going to love it." He returned my pad to me.
"Miss Cathalina," I called out. "May I request a clarification of the rules?"
"There were rules?"
"Who is judging the final drawing?"
"Does that matter?"
"What is frightening to me is unlikely to be frightening to anyone else here."
"Well, I believe we shall collectively judge the third drawings," she said. That's what I wanted, but I also wanted to be sure.
"Ready, begin! Five minutes."
I drew and was done with plenty of time. I didn't wait for the timer to expire, I simply handed the pad and pen to Declan and asked if I could be lowered so as to more readily enjoy the judging.
"Of course."
Lady Dunn lowered me gently to the floor, and she was untying my feet before Cathalina called time. I clung to my vampire and whispered, "I probably can't stand, and all three drawings are of the sort you've been seeing."
She nodded understanding.
She helped me to my feet and allowed me to drape on her, steadying me.
"Your slave appears weakened," Cathalina observed.
"She has bled much today," Lady Dunn replied.
"Rachel may try to kill me," I whispered to m'lady.
"I understood the first time," she replied. "Everyone can hear you, you know."
"Oh."
Around me, there were grins, but I also noticed Cathalina was moving some of the vampires between the two teams. She was far subtler about it than I had been.
"Well," Cathalina said. "This has been entertaining so far, and if your blood slave is to be believed, Lady Dunn, it is about to become m
ore so. I believe that while the drawings were done in one order, we should show them in reverse order. Let us see the third drawings, the one designed to frighten us all."
Misha turned Katarina's drawing around first. It was hard to tell what it was, some sort of monster face with fangs. The reaction was bland.
Then Declan turned mine around, and the reaction was anything but bland.
I had drawn a small group of vampires. They were running in fear, looking over their shoulders, and I had written "Vampire Nation" across them. They were being pursued by a number of shadowy figures, all clearly holding stakes, and I had written, "humanity" across those figures.
The tension in the room soared, but then Cathalina yelled, "Silence!" They settled down, but the grumbling continued. "We gave them a task. We can hardly complain when the task is completed this well. So, is Rachel's blood slave the winner of this round?"
Not even Rachel said anything.
"And so, is Lady Dunn's blood slave the winner?"
They roared their approval.
"One point to Lady Dunn," Cathalina declared. "And now, the second drawings. I am the judge. Misha, I would see that drawing first."
She took it and looked at it, then displayed it for everyone. "I am not quite sure I know what is depicted."
"It's a kitten," I said quietly.
"How... cute," Cathalina replied. "Declan, may I see yours?"
Declan slipped it to her, and she turned to it. Her eyes grew wide, and she began to grin. "I understand Declan's comment to your blood slave, Lady Dunn. She has quite the sense of humor."
She turned it to face everyone.
I had drawn her, quickly, but I was sure she would recognize herself, especially as she was dressed, and around her, I drew countless other vampires, all smaller than her, turned to her as if she were their supreme vampire.
The surrounding vampires growled at the image, but Cathalina held up her hand. "She makes a joke, of course. I understand not all here will find it quite as funny as I do, but the assignment was to please me, not the rest of you. I declare Lady Dunn's blood slave the winner of this round as well. That means she has already won two rounds and is the overall winner, but I do believe I wish to see the final drawings. Does anyone wish to make side bets as to the accuracy of the blood slave's prediction?"
Blood Slave Page 23