Blood and Gold - Anne Rice [212]
“As far as we know,” he said. “They are very clever. They hunt the poor, the diseased, the outcast. The renegade who told us so much explained that they fear “places of light,’ as they call them. They have taken to believing that it is not God’s will for them to be richly clothed, or to enter churches. And your Amadeo now goes by the name of Armand. The renegade told us that Armand has the zeal of the converted.”
I was too miserable to say anything.
I shut my eyes, and when I opened them I was looking at the fire which was burning very well in the deep fireplace.
Then slowly my gaze shifted to Raymond Gallant who was staring at me intently.
“I have told you everything, really,” he said.
I gave him a faint, sad smile and I nodded.
“You’ve been generous indeed. And many a time in the past when one was generous to me, I took from my tunic a purse of gold. But is such needed here?”
“No,” he said agreeably, shaking his head. “We need no gold, Marius. Gold we have always had in great abundance. What is life without gold? But we have it.”
“What can I do for you, then?” I asked. “I’m in your debt. I’ve been in your debt since the night we spoke in Venice.”
“Talk to several of our members,” he replied. “Let them come into the room. Let them see you. Let them ask you questions. That is what you can do for me. Tell them only what you will. But create a truth for them which can be recorded for study by others.”
“Of course. I’ll do this willingly, but not in this library, Raymond, beautiful as it is. We must be in an open place. I have an instinctive fear of mortals who know what I am.” I paused. “In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever been surrounded by such.”
He thought on this for a moment. Then he spoke:
“Our courtyard is too noisy, too close to the stables. Let it be on one of the towers. It will be cold, but I shall tell them all that they must dress warmly.”
“Shall we elect the South Tower for our purpose?” I asked. “Bring no torches with you. The night is clear and the moon is full and all of you will be able to see me.”
I slipped out of the room then, hurrying down the stairs, and easily passing through one of the narrow stone windows. With preternatural speed I went to the battlements of the South Tower, and there waited in the mild wind for all of them to gather around me.
Of course it seemed I had traveled by magic, but that I had not was one of the things which I meant to tell them.
Within a quarter of an hour they were all assembled, some twenty well-dressed men, both young and old, and two handsome women, and I found myself in the midst of a circle.
No torches, no. I was not in any conceivable danger.
For a long moment I allowed them to look at me, and form whatever conception they desired, and then I spoke:
“You must tell me what you want to know. For my part, I tell you plainly that I am a blood drinker. I have lived for hundreds of years, and I can remember clearly when I was a mortal man. It was in Imperial Rome. You may record this. I have never separated my soul from that mortal time. I refuse to do it.”
For a moment only silence followed, but then Raymond began with the questions.
Yes, we had a “beginning,” I explained but I could say nothing of it. Yes, we became much much stronger with time. Yes, we tended to be lone creatures or to choose our companions very carefully. Yes, we could make others. No, we were not instinctively vicious, and we felt a deep love for mortals which was often our spiritual undoing.
There were countless other little questions. And I answered them all to the best of my ability. I would say nothing of our vulnerability to the sun or fire. As for the “coven of vampires” in Paris and Rome, I knew little.
At last I said:
“It’s time for me to leave now. I will travel hundreds of miles before dawn. I lodge in another country.”
“But how do you travel?” one of them asked.
“On the wind,” I said. “It’s a gift that has come to me with the passing centuries.”
I went to Raymond and I took him in my arms again,