“William, darling.” The term of endearment was as shallow as any word could be. “Any patients that need tending to tonight?” That was always the code Miriel and William used to talk about targets in mixed company. Being the town physician had its advantages.
“Well,” William paused. “Actually no, I thought Lucian might want to meet the remaining founders tonight. And then I could take him to see some of my patients, let him know what it is I do here.”
“Oh?” Miriel looked down at her plate and tried to ignore the slight. She had been working with William for years and not once had she been invited to join the founders for herself. She understood when William had gone on his founder killing spree. It was necessary for her to stay an impartial citizen, at least as far as the rest of the founders knew. Now it was different. Now Miriel was playing the game the right way, and William had succeeded in scaring his fellow players out of quitting. He should have let her in on her own merits, keeping her out was the same as telling her he didn’t view her as an equal.
“The founders,” Lucian replied with enough mockery in his voice to get Miriel to smirk a little as she stared at her plate. “Sounds very important.”
“We’re the ones who started it all. We created this world to play our game and it eventually became a haven to all sorts of people, persecuted by Kristopher and --” William looked very smug until he realized where his tangent was going. He started coughing in an attempt to cover the almost unforgiveable insult.
“Kristopher and what?” Lucian asked innocently.
“Kristopher and who?” Miriel asked not quite as innocently, still upset about William’s unwillingness to let her work as herself.
“Well, umm, just Kristopher.” William started coughing again and it made Mira laugh. The child helped dissipate the tension in the room and William took that opportunity to change the subject.
“We’re supposed to be having lunch together this afternoon. I assume you have no previous engagements?”
“Of course not.” Lucian gave a somber bow of his head. “I am completely at your disposal.”
“Well, good.” William smiled then turned to Miriel. “Madame Perkins has asked you to host tea this afternoon. She’s currently indisposed.”
“Of course.” Miriel managed to keep her face under control but her voice came out through gritted teeth. “Not a problem.”
“Well, then.” William half stood up and awkwardly shifted his weight from side to side as Miriel remained motionless in her chair. “Shouldn’t you be getting things prepared? It’s later than you think.” William looked away for a few seconds but Miriel still didn’t move. “You obviously haven’t dressed for company. That’s my fault. I should’ve told you sooner.”
Miriel got up silently and walked across the table to pick up her daughter, glaring at Lucian as she did. That was nothing compared to the icy stare she gave William on the way upstairs. Lucian laughed to himself. He’d be forgiven soon enough, but William had no idea the enemy he’d made. It was only a matter of time.
“Mira, do you have a favorite dress you’d like to wear to tea?” Miriel picked up her daughter and sat down on the bed, looking into an open and disheveled closet. This wasn’t how she’d wanted to spend her day, but playing by the rules was a lesson Mira needed to learn anyway. At least the day wasn’t an entire waste.
“Mine.” Mira ran over to the closet and pulled out the same dress she’d worn to every tea all month. It was beautiful dark blue, and had cost William every favor he’d had with the underground trading market. She wasn’t sure why William did that for a daughter he hated so much, but it was the only thing Mira and her father both loved.
“Perfect!” Miriel smiled and her daughter came running back. “Now, let’s get you dressed.”
Mira liked getting dressed up, in fact, it was the only time she didn’t struggle with her mother. Miriel was far more maternal than she’d ever believed possible, and it turned out she had a knack for making her daughter look adorable. In fact, Mira’s outfits were the envy of every mother behind the wall, which was why they spent so much time gossiping about the daughter. Miriel got Mira into her dress without much of a struggle and sat her down at the vanity to brush her hair into a braid.
“How beautiful.” Lucian smiled, leaning against the doorway and looking in at Miriel and her daughter.
Mira giggled and clapped when she saw him, then buried her face into her mother’s chest, pretending to be embarrassed.
“Thank you for that, Lu, now she’ll refuse to settle down all day.” Her voice betrayed frustration as she tried to get Mira to face the mirror again. She had called him Lu anyway though, so the leader of the necromancers decided it was safe to walk into the room.
“I hear you’re going to help your mother serve tea to a bunch of old women not worth her time!” Lucian smiled at Mira and spoke as cheerfully as possible for a man like him.
“About that.” Miriel looked seriously at Lucian. “Mira, go see if you have some shoes to match your dress.” The little girl skipped off and Miriel focused on Lucian again. “I need you to tell me if a woman known as Madame Perkins is one of the founders. She’s become very close to William and me and I’d like to believe she’s as dumb as she seems, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore. When William was killing off the founders she stayed away from us as much as she could. And there’s some strange power struggle going on between the two of them.”
“I will,” Lucian nodded and walked down the hall to his room. The founders meeting had been moved from the evening to the afternoon, and after that Lucian needed to find a few things to kill in order to meet his daily quota. This didn’t seem like the place to walk around unprotected. He slipped a knife next to his ankle and another at his wrist, in case these founders turned out to be a little more eager to kill him than he’d been led to believe.
“Lucian, are you ready?” William poked his head into the guest room as Lucian was refolding and organizing the approved clothes he’d been lent to wear during his stay.
“Yes.” Lucian looked up and gave a smile of acknowledgement before making sure his drawers were closed and anything he needed to keep safe was stowed away under the bed. He knew Miriel would keep his things safe, but the idea of a troop of tea drinking women going through the house was too much. “And where are we going?”
“To the gatehouse. That’s where we usually meet. It looks official, the founders all gathering to see what’s going on outside the walls and making decisions about what goes on inside our town. They’d never guess we’re actually tallying murders to see who’s coming out on top.”
“Seems like you have a family business going on at your end. Sending out your wife and daughter as well?”
“Well, Elle likes to be involved. She’s had a little experience.” William leaned in closer to Lucian, whispering conspiratorially. “You know, with everything going on with the world at war people kill a couple of zombies in self defense and they think they know everything. I’ve had to teach her a lot to get her capable of holding her own.” William winked and nodded at Lucian as if to say ‘you know women’.
“Really?” Lucian’s voice sounded much angrier than he wanted it to, he tried to cover it by coughing.
“Oh yes.” William was on a roll now, it had been a long time since he had been able to brag. Taking advantage of other people’s skills didn’t seem to matter anymore, and neither did Miriel. “She was a mess when we went out for our first kill. Absolutely fell apart.”
“She seems very comfortable with it now.” Lucian was clenching a fist behind his back, waiting for William to say something worth starting a fight over. They didn’t need an alliance with this compound that badly.
“Well.” William seemed to sense something wasn’t quite right with Lucian. “We should really be getting over to our meeting before we get sucked into Elle’s tea. A single man like you wouldn’t be allowed to leave.” William laughed and clapped Lucian on the back chummily.
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br /> “Wouldn’t want that,” Lucian muttered as congenially as he could and allowed William to lead him out. He paused once to pat Mira’s head good-bye as they walked past the parlor where Miriel was rushing around to make things presentable.
William still seemed to walk with unwarranted arrogance, but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Lucian was enjoying the silence and using the walk to review the town. Things had gotten more realistic since the town first opened the gates to refuges. Buildings were starting to fall apart because there had to be more of them built with limited materials. People were living in the streets because that was the only way they could get in. Apparently, the life of a street urchin was preferable to the military state Kristopher had imposed outside the walls. Many of the other communes were starting to fall if they hadn’t already. Most of those groups were founded by pacifists, free spirits, people who, in spite of what history had shown them, still thought communism was a good idea. Unfortunately, they lacked true survival skills. When Kristopher cut them off from the people and supplies of the outside world they began to struggle. Then the in-fighting began, those who were there out of fear against those who wanted to be there. Little civil wars began to break out among the people and many were trying to find a way back to Kristopher.
William’s little world was showing signs of decay, but it was still livable, still under control. The founders all brought a substantial amount of money and connections with them, and that went a long way in security. There was also the ongoing game, and that did a lot to keep war away. The citizens were united against a common, serial killing vampire and the founders had the perfect way to get rid of troublemakers before they could make any trouble. It wouldn’t last forever though, Lucian could see the cracks starting to form in William’s perfect society. The founders had a fragile truce, but such a large group of killers wouldn’t be able to work together forever. Eventually they would start a war William and Miriel couldn’t stop. It would spread quickly and the whole city would end up in flames.
“Here we are.” William held the door open and Lucian walked past him into a room filled with the least intimidating people he’d ever seen. It went beyond the ‘mild-mannered assassin’ stereotype. These people would never have survived doing what they did outside the walls they built. It was no wonder Miriel was as successful as she’d been, these people were sick. These were the people who were caught after their first kill from pure stupidity, and their reason for killing was always the same. They wanted to see what it would be like. They didn’t do it for honor or profit or even a longer life. These were the kinds of people he’d been turning away from his congregation since the beginning. Lucian was disgusted to be seen in the same place as the rest of them. At least Miriel had never been insulted with an invitation.
“William, who is this?” Madame Perkins started to circle Lucian with vulture eyes. “He might be good for my little side game.”
“Spoken for.” Lucian stepped out of her circle and stared her down until she took a few steps back.
“Easy, darling, just asking. Isn’t often we get new meat anymore.”
“This is Lucian, the necromancer.” William made the introduction as proud as if he’d caught the lead necromancer himself and brought him back in a cage. “He has a proposition for us, I think it would be good for us, but I wanted to run it by the rest of you, see if Lucian really is a good fit for us.”
The group of founders went around to a circular table and took a seat. William was obviously the leader, but Madame Perkins seemed like a close second. If war broke out she’d be the one to try for first. Otherwise, the founders looked very content with the order of things, some of them even looked scared about the things they were doing. Remorse was written on several faces, usually alongside fear. The one thing every founder shared was the feeling they were in too deep to bother getting out now.
“Lucian, I understand you’re used to having certain political powers and immunities due to your position with Kristopher, but those laws don’t apply here. We treat your proposition like we would if it were from anyone else.” Madame Perkins was struggling desperately for that number one seat, Lucian could see it written all over her face.
“Now, Perkins,” William stood up as he spoke, making sure everyone could see he towered over the old woman. “Lucian might not have political powers as a citizen here, but he has certain rights as a visiting dignitary. We’re here to make a deal with the world outside our gates, not put it in its place.” Several of the founders nodded. “Lucian is my equal, and should have the same respect.” William nodded, satisfied with himself, and sat down.
“If I may be allowed to speak?” Lucian hadn’t sat down with the rest of them, he hovered around the outside of the gathering and walked around the table as he talked, making people uncomfortable. “All I’m asking for is a simple trade. I know about the game you all have going on here and my cult could use a few more bodies to keep up with the growing demand for undead soldiers. If you’ll send me your corpses every few weeks I’ll make sure you have a sizable defense force with a skilled necromancer to control it. I’m sure by now you’ve heard about how things are going on the outside and the things happening inside gated communities like yours. This could be the best, and maybe only, way to keep your community alive and thriving. It’s a generous offer.”
William nodded to say he agreed completely with Lucian. Most of the other founders nodded because they were use to going along with everything William said. Several looked bored and their eyes flipped back and forth between the meeting and the nearest TV. Madame Perkins did seem to have a few supporters of her own, and these tentatively shook their heads, watching her for approval.
“It sounds like all you’re looking for is the chance to get into our community and spy on us. Clever, but not clever enough. We came out here because we wanted to be finished with people like you. We let you and your men in and we’ll end up living in a place exactly like the one we left.”
“Madame, we have no interest in any kind of change. All we want from you are the bodies you don’t know what to do with.” Lucian wasn’t exactly angry, but this Madame Perkins was proving to be an annoyance. Miriel was right, it would be a good idea to keep an eye on her.
“That’s how it’ll seem at first, but I know you and Kristopher. You never liked private communities like ours. Out of reach and control. This is just a way for you to get your foot in the door.”
“You’ve seen the other societies fall, and everyone here knows you won’t survive much longer without help from the outside. I’m giving you the chance to keep your little world alive.”
“Well, it’s something we’ll have to discuss.” Madame Perkins gave Lucian one of her best Victorian-woman smiles.
“William, what do you think? You’ve been very quiet throughout this whole discussion. We talked before and you seemed to think it was an excellent idea.”
“Well, I do agree this is a deal that could prove very beneficial to us, but I can’t make decisions on my own. All the founders have to be in agreement with decisions like this.”
“Which is why we need to discuss it.” Madame Perkins smiled again. “Alone.”
Several founders nodded in agreement and turned to look at Lucian. He stood with an eyebrow raised at Madame Perkins, but he bowed graciously and turned to walk out. He didn’t need to be accepted by the founders. He had other ways to make his points. Although, first he’d have to find a way to get through Miriel’s afternoon tea, unless he lucked out and everyone cancelled along with Madame Perkins.
Lucian walked through the door by the kitchen, hoping that would mean no one would notice him sneaking back in. Of course the moment the door swung closed Mira was there to greet him, making sure every woman in the parlor knew Lucian was back but daddy-William wasn’t. With no other options to choose from, Lucian followed Mira into the parlor where Miriel greeted him with a look of supreme gratitude.
“Please, let me introduce Lucian, he’s st
aying with William and myself for awhile. I just can’t believe none of you have met him yet!”
Lucian smiled and kissed hands before finally being allowed to sit down and have some tea. The women were so engrossed in their gossip and asking Lucian penetrating questions no one took the time to recognize him for who he was. Considering there was also a murder game being played under their nose no one had noticed yet Lucian wasn’t too insulted. They obviously weren’t the most observant group.
“And have you heard about our poor Ms. Perkins?” One of the women chirped, she was a newer addition, one who came in with the promises of the vampire. Miriel thought her name might have been Maggie Collins, but she hadn’t cared enough to figure out for sure. The woman leaned conspiratorially over her teacup towards Miriel. “It turns out she is no longer allowed to host the new entries. Not that we’re really getting many, but no one’s sure why. Must be losing her touch. I think you were the last success story she had, Elle dear.”
“Oh, but Elle and William, that would’ve been a match to retire on! It’s a pity when a woman forgets her age. Could’ve gone out with a bang and instead she’s making a fool of herself and spinning her wheels.”
“Yes, well.” Miriel stood up and started carrying trays and cups into the kitchen, a desperate attempt to get the women to leave. “I can’t remember any girls after I got here. Who else did Madame train?”
The Price of Life Page 26