Page 43

“Now, now, Elias,” Mrs. Harris calms him down. “King Lucca is our guest. Get us some firewater, will you?”

He goes off, in a huff, comes back with a tray and small glasses filled with golden liquid.

We sit down on uncomfortable wire chairs that face the vast wetland. The white branches of dead trees poke from the water, which appears malignant to me. I think of what lurks under the surface of the water.

“To what do I owe this honor?” she asks me.

“I will come to the point,” I say, no reason to beat around the bush. “These are dark days for us all and the news from the Capital is worrying.”

She nods carefully, giving nothing away.

“I fear that the Council is compromised,” I say carefully. “I was hoping you could inform me as to what is happening there.”

She looks at me, craftily. “But you have a son in the Citadel, don’t you? I see him all the time, in and out of offices, up and down the stairs, talking to people behind corners.”

“Sunil? Yes, he has not been helpful,” I say, darkly. “I understand you have children too? Some are… disappointing? Wouldn’t you say?”

She leans forward and then gives a big cackling laugh, slapping her knee.

“Why, that is a good one! Disappointing, indeed!”

She chuckles and then falls silent.

“They’re moving against me, aren’t they?” I say quietly. “They are attacking my lands, destroying my blood banks, spreading rumors about me. A few days ago, some men brazenly shot at me, nearly killing me.”

She looks up at me, her eyes cloudy.

“Some men?”

“The Servant.”

She nods, her face serious.

“Two weeks ago, the Council received a motion that you were suspected of treason against the authority of the Council. That your vampires are indiscriminately attacking the people of Ginnerlong and that you need to be suppressed.”

“Who brought the motion?” I ask.

“Tempesto.”

Of course, I think.

“MoZa backed him, but Dominic and Lare would not. I declined to vote.”

“Why?”

She pauses. “I had a notion there was somethin’ goin’ on there. Something shady. I was right. The following week, Dominic got sick, some kind of heart trouble and Lare had adreadful accident. I received word that the Servant is to take her place. An emergency meeting of the Council was arranged but I decided not to attend.”

She looks out over the water. “It is not safe in the Citadel now.”

“Tempesto is seizing control,” I say. “He must be stopped.”

She nodded. “MoZa is not well. He is old, has become Tempesto’s puppet. He barely speaks these days. My old friend, is gone.” Her voice is sad.

“If we don’t stop Tempesto, it will be the end of peace for our world. Darkness will be upon us again. It will be worst for humans.”

She considers. “We will be safe down here,” she motions over the water. “We have our protection.”

“Against the demons too?”