“Of course, I’m sorry. You’ve already been such a great help.” William gave a small smile.
Miriel was taken aback. She wasn’t sure how to react, but something about him had changed. He was more relaxed and confident. Maybe that was the result of him leading the founders in their game. He was now first, but that was all he shared with her about it. Miriel was curious about the other founders, she’d only been able to figure out who a handful of them were which meant the remaining few were very good.
“Elle?”
“Hmm?”
“Just making sure you were still with me. I want you to set up in the gatehouse. I’ll send them to you for an interview and then you send them to Mrs. Everett’s house. She’ll be giving them a brief history of what we do and how we live, and getting them dressed appropriately until we run our of clothes.”
“You aren’t sending them to Madame Perkins? I’m sure she’d be happy to train some of them. If nothing else she really has been an excellent teacher.”
“I’m sure, but she’s already been given a job.” William walked away briskly, leaving Miriel alone in the gatehouse. She assumed that was his way of saying the conversation was over.
Miriel pulled a table closer to the front door and positioned herself so she could see the TV from the chair. She expected to be bored to tears halfway through the first interview and at least this way she’d have a small distraction.
Lucian and any mention of the cult had fallen out of the news. Everyone was focused on Kristopher’s changes. He had plenty of people doing damage control, everything they did was done for the common good. More than enough people believed them. Miriel knew things would continue to get brutal. Lucian was still involved and Kristopher needed a body a day. There would be more blood than anyone could imagine before it was over.
“Hello, I’m Elizabeth Flynn. You’re Elle aren’t you?”
“Please, sit down.” Miriel pointed to the chair across from her. “So, I have your name. Any family with you today?”
“No, I’m here more for a change of scenery than to get away from Kristopher. The second things aren’t perfect so many people just jump ship. But that’s not me.”
“Alright.” Miriel tried to make the one word sound as condescending as she could. “Any friends?”
“This is really more of a spiritual retreat than a social calling. I just want to get to know myself again. You look like you can understand.” Elizabeth gave a familiar wink and patted Miriel’s arm.
“Um, alright.” Miriel moved her arm away. “Does anyone even know you’re here?”
“Well, there were just so many people I wanted to tell, but if you tell one you have to tell everybody and they’re just so hard to get a hold of. I figure they’ll just look for me later and I can tell them all about my revelation. You know.”
“It’s a revelation now? I thought it was a quest,” Miriel muttered as she wrote the girl’s name on a sheet of paper she’d be sharing with William at the end of the day. “Take a seat over by the computers, we’ll be sending you in groups for a type of orientation with a Mrs. Everett. She’ll be letting you know how life works here and the rules we expect our citizens to follow.”
“Well, thank you so much! And can I just say I love your little outfit. It’s like being in one of those little historical villages with all the actors.”
“Ms. Flynn, we have a lot of work to do today and it’d be a huge help if you’d have a seat by the computers so I can get on with my work.”
“Of course.” Elizabeth narrowed her eyes and glared before turning to walk to another seat.
Miriel concluded there were probably several people who would be very happy when she turned up dead.
The rest of the interviews went the way Miriel assumed they would. Entire families were fleeing together to get away from the Kristopher administration. Several wanted to get away from “the Order” which Miriel learned was what Lucian’s cult was now called. All these Miriel interviewed quickly and sent on their way. They would play by the rules because this place was going to become their cover, once things with Kristopher were handled they’d be on their way back home. The only thing they didn’t seem to realize was that things with Kristopher might never be over. Several people came in alone, with very practiced answers, and Miriel could tell immediately they were spies for Kristopher. All of their names went on the list for William.
As the day went on the people got crazier, some of them only there because they’d seen a long line. Others showed up because the other communes were no longer able to accept people. Miriel finally put all the last minute interviews on the list for William regardless of why they showed up. She considered it a form of population control, and everyone was starting to annoy her.
“Did you send the last of them to Everett?” William came in looking exhausted.
Miriel made a show of looking around the empty gatehouse before looking back at William and raising an eyebrow. She’d wanted to think of a witty response but it was a long day.
“I get it.” William slumped down in a chair and stared blankly up at the TV. Neither of them wanted to go home only to start the whole thing over again in the morning.
Miriel pushed her personal list over to William. At least that was one part of the day she was happy with.
“Please tell me that Flynn woman is on here.”
Miriel laughed. “She get to you too?”
“She kept making comments about my top hat, said I reminded her of a cartoon character, and then went on to tell me about how she’s on some kind of spiritual quest.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever met a more annoying woman.”
“Agreed.” William gave Miriel a tired smile. “That’s hardly a reason to kill her.”
“Please, Will, you can’t honestly tell me you haven’t killed anyone for less?”
“What good would it do?”
“You add a plus one to your count and I won’t have to live with the cow.”
“That’s cold.” William tried to hide his grin.
“I don’t have a conscious, Will. Do you?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Oh, please, dump the bitch in the woods, get rid of her paperwork, no one will remember she was here.”
“And if people ask questions?”
“Say you vaguely remember her but she asked to leave because her god or spirit guide or whatever had called her somewhere else.”
“That could work.”
“Bring her to me.” Miriel’s eyes went dark. It had been a long day and she wanted a bit of fun.
William nodded, his eyes were sparkling.
While William was out getting Elizabeth, Miriel made sure the gatehouse was entirely dark. She ripped off a piece of thick, brocade cloth from the hem of her dress. It was time Ms. Flynn learned all the uses for a cute little costume.
“I’m so sorry to wake you ma’am, we just need you to sign the paperwork for us.”
“Yes, that woman you had conducting interviews seemed incompetent.”
“You wouldn’t believe all the things she’s done.” William smiled.
“I bet.” Elizabeth giggled.
“This way, I’m sorry it’s so dark, all the lights are on a timer.”
“How quaint.” It never occurred to Elizabeth she might need light to sign something.
Miriel decided anyone being that daft would be killed by something fairly soon anyway, so she stepped behind the woman and pulled the cloth tight around her neck. Ms. Flynn didn’t struggle. She was dead in minutes. Miriel looked at the body and laughed, William joined her.
“Here, I’ll take her feet, we need to get her dumped in the woods before the next wave of lunatics starts setting up camp outside my wall.”
“Of, of course.” Miriel carried the woman out. William had never helped her like this before. She realized the man was insane, but it had been a long time since Miriel had had this much fun.
It didn’t take long to dump the body unc
eremoniously behind some trees. Then Miriel and William walked back to town together.
20. Lucian and Kristopher
“Lucian, this is getting ridiculous, we can’t screen all the people coming in.”
“I realize this isn’t working, Belle, but what else are we supposed to do. There’s no way I’m letting anyone learn how to raise the dead if I don’t think they’re really invested.” Lucian was sitting behind a pile of forms and feeling overwhelmed. Kristopher was keeping him in the dark and he had no opportunity to figure out what was going on while swamped with so much busy work.
“Well, can I run a suggestion by you?” Belle looked tired, just like all the other elders. Everyone was exhausted and no one was feeling the benefits of their new partnership. If they weren’t filling out paperwork or screening idiots, they were performing arbitrary rituals for Kristopher.
“If you have an idea that could help share it. I can use anything at this point.”
“Put them all in the congregation, that’s what we’re essentially doing anyway. If we find someone who really seems to have a knack for it we can sort them out later. Lucian, we’re all starting to get worried. The other chapters aren’t being as selective and Kristopher’s spies are getting books. You need to end this. Make the ruling. Anyone who isn’t a direct descendent goes to the congregation.”
“That’s not why we’re doing this!” Lucian stood up and pushed the stack of papers to the floor. “This partnership wasn’t about cheap publicity! We were supposed to become well known and taken seriously, equal to the big three religions. Now we’re doing parlor tricks for politicians and being treated like a new fad. We can’t give up on that goal now, we’re closer than we have been in centuries. If we could find enough real members to make a difference things could change.”
“Lucian.” Belle tried to make her voice soft and reassuring but it still had a cold edge to it. “This is as good as it gets. We’re a state sponsored religion, everyone knows who we are and, publicly at least, they have to respect us. But what we do here, raising the dead, creating monsters, keeping ourselves immortal, that will never be accepted as normal. People will be scared of us, but what you’ve built here is greater than anything your father could have built.” Belle put a hand on Lucian’s shoulder more out of pity than sympathy.
“You’re right. Send out the new ruling to all the chapter elders. People like us will come to us through different channels. They always have.”
Belle nodded and left before Lucian could change his mind.
“Lucian?”
Lucian looked up from the floor where he was trying to reorganize all the papers he’d tossed. He was never happy to see Alexander’s form darken his basement, and even less today. The boy had once been his most promising student, but now he was a liability. The boy had taken to Kristopher’s world far too quickly and his mind was becoming too dark and calculating. The boy was enamored by the power of death without any concern for life. Lack of balance was not good for a necromancer, and in any other circumstance Lucian would have taken away Alexander’s book and sent him back to training. Now he was protected by Kristopher and Lucian couldn’t touch him.
“Did we have a freak windstorm down here?” Alexander looked at the mess of papers on the floor with amusement.
“What do you want, Alexander?”
“Kristopher’s having another press conference and he wanted me to bring you up, make sure you see it.”
Lucian nodded, but there was something about Alexander’s demeanor that made him feel like he should be worried.
The press conference was, again, being held at an outside location, and Lucian was simply expected to watch it on a screen. He tried to think what else Kristopher could be announcing but nothing came to mind. Another bad sign. Kristopher came on screen impeccably dressed with his Cabinet behind him, and Lucian started to feel concern.
“I am here today to address some of the concerns myself and my counterparts here,” Kristopher gestured to his Cabinet. “Have heard from our constituents. While I assure you every change we’ve made has been for the greater good I can understand your concern. Lucian and his order offer us a wonderful gift, a gift that has put us in an undefeatable position in this war, but forcing religious participation in order to make sure of that gift is clearly in violation of our separation of church and state laws. I apologize for making such a grievous misjudgment on my part. Starting today we will extend the benefits of Lucian’s order to members of my political party only. Your religious decisions will no longer be a factor, as it is a personal choice we as a government should never have interfered in. Members of any other political party will still have those services available to them for a fee to be discussed with Lucian and his Order.
Also, in light of these new laws and in respect of the separation of church and state laws, Lucian will no longer be appearing with me in matters of state such as this. Instead, I will make sure the only people dictating laws are those personally elected be you, the people, to do so. Thank you for your time.”
Alexander had disappeared during the speech. He was smart, a deception this big would not only have lost him his place in the cult but also gotten him killed. Lucian was furious. He’d gone from partner to lackey and hadn’t even realized the change was coming.
“Lucian!” Belle came running in, out of breath and pale. “They’re pulling out almost as quickly as they came in. We’re losing numbers fast.”
“Promise them something, anything you can think of. We need them loyal to us, especially over Kristopher. Get to those other parties, offer them a deal.”
“Lucian, how bad is this going to get?”
“We’re hovering on the verge of war.” Lucian’s eyes were dark, and he ignored Belle as he walked towards the sound of Kristopher’s interns answering phones. No doubt collecting more names for the party lists. There were only five of them today. Five nameless drones hardly qualified as a massacre, a small price for Kristopher to pay. They barely looked up when Lucian walked into their office. The first one Lucian strangled with the phone cord, Kristopher really should have gone wireless anyway. The second had his throat slashed with a letter opener. Lucian had a real trick for the third, using an ancient, no longer taught ritual ripped out her heart with his hand. It was still beating, and not wanting it to go to waste he fed it to the fourth who died choking on it. Lucian took pity on the fifth and simply broke his neck. He felt better after that, it was no less than what Kristopher deserved.
“Now, Lucian, did you have to go and make such a mess?” Kristopher was unfazed by the deaths, but his Cabinet looked sick.
“You’re on dangerous ground, Kris.” Lucian smiled. “As for the rest of your Cabinet, they’ve seen what I can do. You I might not be able to kill, but what’s keeping them safe?”
The Cabinet looked nervous. Lucian made an excellent point.
“I need one of your elders tomorrow.” Kristopher was still in a blithe mood.
“Of course, we are partners after all.” Lucian grinned. All he had to do was wait. It was simply a matter of finding the perfect time.
21. The War Begins (Miriel and William)
“We’re going to have to find somewhere else to hide the bodies.” Miriel looked out at a clearing, piled with corpses.
“It is getting a little too crowded.” William chuckled, still in high spirits. Thanks to Miriel he had a lead in his game so strong it would take years for anyone else to catch up.
The influx of people coming to them in an attempt to escape Kristopher was huge, they’d never be able to support that many people…alive. During the interview process Miriel would weed out people who were inappropriate or whom she just didn’t like, and they went on her list. Slowly they worked through the list together. Miriel was having the time of her life.
“You know, Elle, we’d really be able to step up this game if you were away from Madame Perkins.”
“And how do we do that? Space is limited enough as it is with all thes
e refuges coming in. Even with the number of people dying out. We’re going to need to come out with a more rigorous acceptance process.”
“You’re right.” William seemed distracted, still staring at the pile and counting bodies. “But you need to get back to your room, it’s almost sunrise. We’ll talk about it more tonight. Oh, and expect me for tea this afternoon.”
Miriel nodded and turned for the gates. Madame Perkins’s house was crowded, every room filled with women who had to be trained. It made going in and out a little easier, but the process now had new concerns. Some of the women were taking to their roles a bit too zealously, and many of them were looking for a reason to knock Miriel out of favor with William. The idea of getting out of that house permanently was glorious. Miriel would have done anything to manage it.
“Elle, get up already!”
Miriel had gotten back to her room unnoticed, no small feat considering she now had three roommates, but she hadn’t had a real night’s sleep for weeks.
“Really, Elle, it’s almost noon. I don’t know how you can stand wasting the day.”
Miriel wanted to point out no one in the room had done anything with their morning, but William was coming for tea and that meant she had to get ready.
“William, how wonderful to see you again!” Madame Perkins called loudly enough to be heard upstairs. Miriel finished dressing as quickly as she could and rushed down to meet him.
“Good morning, Madame. I thought I’d take advantage of your standing invitation to tea.”
“Of course, it’s always an honor, especially with things going so well for you.” Madame’s voice fell into a strange tone. “I hear your practice is flourishing.”
“Oh, it is,” William responded slyly. “I hope for things to get even better. Speaking of which, there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask Elle.”
Miriel heard her name and stepped through a cluster of envious girls to get into the front parlor.
“There you are, Elle, I was wondering if you had some time for me to ask you a rather important question.”
The Price of Life Page 18