The Fifth Elephant - Terry Pratchett [121]
“Does he need them?” said Angua.
“No, but you thould never mith an opportunity to improve yourthelf, I alwayth thay.”
Igor grinned. It was a strange sight. The scars crawled around his face like caterpillars.
“Just see to the arm,” said Vimes, firmly.
The baroness reappeared, flanked by several werewolves. They also backed away as Angua spun around.
“Take it,” said Serafine. “Take the wretched thing. It is a fake. No crime has been committed!”
“I’m a policeman,” said Vimes. “I can always find a crime.”
The sleigh slid under its own weight down the track toward Bonk, the town’s watchmen running alongside it and giving it the occasional push. With their captain down they were lost and bewildered and in no mood to take orders from Vimes, but they did what Angua commanded because Angua was of the class that traditionally gave them orders…
The two casualties were bedded down on blankets.
“Angua?” said Vimes.
“Yes, sir?”
“There’s wolves keeping pace with us. I can see them running between the trees.”
“I know.”
“Are they on our side?”
“Let’s just say…they’re not on anyone else’s side yet, shall we? They don’t like me much but they know…Gavin did, and right now that is what’s important. Some of them are out looking for my brother.”
“Would he have survived that? It was a long way down.”
“Well, it wasn’t fire or silver. There’s nothing but white water for miles. It probably hurt a lot, but we heal amazingly well, sir.”
“Look, I’m sorry that—”
“No, Mister Vimes, you’re not. You shouldn’t be. Carrot just didn’t understand what Wolfgang is like. You can’t beat something like him in a fair fight. Look, I know he’s family, but…personal is not the same as important. Carrot always said that.”
“Says that,” said Lady Sybil sharply.
“Yes.”
Carrot opened his eyes.
“What…happened back there?” he said.
“Wolfgang hit you,” said Angua. She wiped his brow.
“What with?” Carrot tried to push himself upward, winced, and fell back.
“What have I always told you about the Marquis of Fantailler?” said Vimes.
“Sorry, sir.”
Something bright rose from the distant forests. It vanished, and then a green light expanded into existence. A moment later came the pop of the flare.
“The signalers have got to the tower,” said Vimes.
“Can’t this damn thing go any faster?” said Angua.
“I mean, we can contact Ankh-Morpork,” said Vimes. After everything, he felt curiously cheered by this. It was as if a special human howl had gone up. He wasn’t floundering around loose now. He was floundering on the end of a very long line. That made all the difference.
It was a small public room over a shop in Bonk and, since it belonged to everybody, it looked as though it didn’t belong to anyone. There was dust in the corners, and the chairs that were currently arranged in a ragged circle had been chosen for their ability to be stacked neatly rather than sat on comfortably.
Lady Margolotta smiled at the assembled vampires. She liked these meetings.
The rest of the group were a pretty mixed bunch, and she wondered what their motives were. But perhaps they at least shared one conviction—that what you were made as, wasn’t what you had to be or what you might become…
And the trick was to start small. Suck, but don’t impale. Little steps. And then you found that what you really wanted was power, and there were much politer ways of getting it. And then you realized that power was a bauble. Any thug had power. The true prize was control. Lord Vetinari knew that. When heavy weights were balanced on the scales, the trick was to know where to place your thumb.
And all control started with the self.
She stood up. They watched her with slightly worried yet friendly faces.
“My name, in the short form, is Lady Margolotta Amaya Katerina Assumpta Crassina von Uberwald, and I am a vampire…”
They chorused: “Hello, Lady Margolotta Amaya Katerina Assumpta Crassina von Uberwald!”
“It has been five years now,” said Lady Margolotta.