Stephan’s voice was bleak in his own ears. He acquiesced, knowing acquiescence would not be enough. Rubius was not going to let him in to Mirso .
“What were you going to do? Challenge the Elders for authority when you proved our Rules were wrong?”
“I . . . I don’t know. I thought made vampires could be valuable citizens . . .”
Rubius waved that naïveté away with one hand. “Pride. Rebellious pride. We raised you, boy, taught you, considered you precious. And you repay us with treachery.” He had begun to pace, his bulk moving with surprising grace back and forth in front of the fire. “And even when your experiment went wrong and the bitch tried to kill Beatrix, who was born, and rule the Continent through that human general, what was his name?”
“Bonaparte, Eldest.” He kept his voice flat. It wasn’t hard .
“Even then, you let her go.”
“I thought exile — ”
“Don’t excuse yourself!” Rubius rounded on him. He clasped his hands behind his back and paced. “Look where it led. She found an Old One, took his blood. She was almost so strong none of us could stop her. Made vampires everywhere,” he muttered. “Khalenberg and Davinoff, Urbano and the others have had a time of it trying to find them all.”
“I volunteered — ”
“How could we trust you to go?” Rubius almost spit the words across the carpet .
“You couldn’t.” That was the worst pain. He hadn’t been allowed to make amends .
There was a long silence. Rubius rocked back and forward on his heels. “Well. Now you want the refuge of the Vow.”
“You will find me a humble and eager Aspirant.” Stephan kept his gaze riveted on the carpet at Rubius’s feet .
“Will I?” Rubius mused .
“I swear it,” Stephan said, unable to keep the emotion from the edge of his voice .
“There is a price,” Rubius whispered. The look in his eyes was speculative, and . . . triumphant. That look frightened Stephan. What kind of price?
It didn’t matter. “How . . . how can I serve you, Eldest?”
Abruptly Rubius turned away and eased himself into the leather wing chair that sat beside the fire. He gestured to the chair’s mate. Stephan sat stiffly. Rubius stared into the fire. The light flickered across his ruddy face. “I have a task for you, boy,” he said at last .
“You have but to ask.” Yes! He would prove himself. The old eyes bored into him .
“You will become an instrument of justice even as you have been a force for chaos. You will set right what has been loosed upon the world through your crimes. For that atonement, you will earn the right to work toward a quiet mind. You will be granted refuge at Mirso.”
Stephan breathed. “Yes. Let me set it right.”
“But to do that, you must be trained.”
Stephan straightened in the chair, then went down on one knee before Rubius, head bowed. “I will be a willing student, Eldest.”
Rubius put his hand on Stephan’s bent head. “You make that promise lightly, but your way will not be easy. Still, the promise is made. I shall hold you to it.”
Hope fluttered in Stephan’s breast. “You shall not have to compel my obedience.”
“Let me introduce you to your teachers, then.” A door snicked open .
Stephan raised his head. Three beautiful women drifted through the door. One was dressed in red, one in black, one in shimmering white. They wore simple dresses in the style of Rome. But no matron of Rome would have dared wear them. Courtesans perhaps, in the privacy of a secluded villa meant for pleasure, but not matrons. Silk by the clinging look of it hung from their shoulders, leaving their arms bare, and plunged between their breasts to be clasped at their waists in gold filigree. Their hair was all long, black, and loose about their bodies, but the hair of the plumpest one curled softly rather than being straight like that of the other two. Their skin was the white of those who have never seen the sun. Their eyes were dark pools . . . of
“What were you going to do? Challenge the Elders for authority when you proved our Rules were wrong?”
“I . . . I don’t know. I thought made vampires could be valuable citizens . . .”
Rubius waved that naïveté away with one hand. “Pride. Rebellious pride. We raised you, boy, taught you, considered you precious. And you repay us with treachery.” He had begun to pace, his bulk moving with surprising grace back and forth in front of the fire. “And even when your experiment went wrong and the bitch tried to kill Beatrix, who was born, and rule the Continent through that human general, what was his name?”
“Bonaparte, Eldest.” He kept his voice flat. It wasn’t hard .
“Even then, you let her go.”
“I thought exile — ”
“Don’t excuse yourself!” Rubius rounded on him. He clasped his hands behind his back and paced. “Look where it led. She found an Old One, took his blood. She was almost so strong none of us could stop her. Made vampires everywhere,” he muttered. “Khalenberg and Davinoff, Urbano and the others have had a time of it trying to find them all.”
“I volunteered — ”
“How could we trust you to go?” Rubius almost spit the words across the carpet .
“You couldn’t.” That was the worst pain. He hadn’t been allowed to make amends .
There was a long silence. Rubius rocked back and forward on his heels. “Well. Now you want the refuge of the Vow.”
“You will find me a humble and eager Aspirant.” Stephan kept his gaze riveted on the carpet at Rubius’s feet .
“Will I?” Rubius mused .
“I swear it,” Stephan said, unable to keep the emotion from the edge of his voice .
“There is a price,” Rubius whispered. The look in his eyes was speculative, and . . . triumphant. That look frightened Stephan. What kind of price?
It didn’t matter. “How . . . how can I serve you, Eldest?”
Abruptly Rubius turned away and eased himself into the leather wing chair that sat beside the fire. He gestured to the chair’s mate. Stephan sat stiffly. Rubius stared into the fire. The light flickered across his ruddy face. “I have a task for you, boy,” he said at last .
“You have but to ask.” Yes! He would prove himself. The old eyes bored into him .
“You will become an instrument of justice even as you have been a force for chaos. You will set right what has been loosed upon the world through your crimes. For that atonement, you will earn the right to work toward a quiet mind. You will be granted refuge at Mirso.”
Stephan breathed. “Yes. Let me set it right.”
“But to do that, you must be trained.”
Stephan straightened in the chair, then went down on one knee before Rubius, head bowed. “I will be a willing student, Eldest.”
Rubius put his hand on Stephan’s bent head. “You make that promise lightly, but your way will not be easy. Still, the promise is made. I shall hold you to it.”
Hope fluttered in Stephan’s breast. “You shall not have to compel my obedience.”
“Let me introduce you to your teachers, then.” A door snicked open .
Stephan raised his head. Three beautiful women drifted through the door. One was dressed in red, one in black, one in shimmering white. They wore simple dresses in the style of Rome. But no matron of Rome would have dared wear them. Courtesans perhaps, in the privacy of a secluded villa meant for pleasure, but not matrons. Silk by the clinging look of it hung from their shoulders, leaving their arms bare, and plunged between their breasts to be clasped at their waists in gold filigree. Their hair was all long, black, and loose about their bodies, but the hair of the plumpest one curled softly rather than being straight like that of the other two. Their skin was the white of those who have never seen the sun. Their eyes were dark pools . . . of
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