Lilah (7 page)

Several days without blood made a
reborn
strigoi weak and irrational. But for the elders of
our kind, the impulses and cravings lessened over centuries. I did not choose a
mark even though it had been weeks since I had fed. My body still had not
reached the need.

There were twelve of
us and
eleven men
. One strigoi offered me a wrist of one of the men still
conscious enough to show terror in his wrinkled brown eyes, but I shook my
head.

‘Are they Brodnici?’ I asked Pietro, one of the
elders.

‘They don’t fight like them. They are too
stupid and barbarous and I saw nothing from their past to suggest it; though in
his memories I did see this one receiving a bag of silver from a gentleman.’ He
turned the now shrunken and almost unrecognisable face of the leader towards
me.

‘Did you know the person you saw?’

‘No, sir,’ he said. ‘He wore a hood. I could
not see the face.’

These villagers may have been opportunists with
newfound knowledge of our existence; fuelled by beer and gypsy legend, and
tales of coffers filled with gold. But there was something not quite right
about this and I would need to be more mindful of strangers among us.

I was done here and left knowing my coven would
clean up after themselves, burning the husks of the men to ashes and scattering
them to the winds.

We left no trace of our presence, of any
bloodbath as humans might refer to it. We had to remain unfathomable – a
story to pass on as legend. If the truth of us
was
exposed, fear would drive humans to hide or fight. We could not afford such
behaviour.

Although we were superior to all other living
creatures, we did not abuse the privilege. For the continuation of life,
moderation was expected and avarice not tolerated. Our kind had to coexist by
staying out of sight, undetected and choosing to remove only those humans who
provided little value to the world. Humans have been important to our longevity
for many reasons, not just for feeding. When our numbers were low, we bred with
these beings to create our lesser cousins: witches. Witches since, have made
the
change
to strigoi and thus ensuring the multiplication of our line.

It has taken the blood of humans to continue
the line of witches, and the blood of witches to grow our strigoi covens. For
that, I am grateful to humans, but I do not forget also, they are simply a
means.

Once Gabriel had returned from wherever he was,
I would need to remind him that this house was marked and dangerous, and he
would need to find another love nest for his personal conquests. Not that he
would listen.

Everything was temporary with Gabriel. He did
not attach himself to anyone or anything for very long. He could move and leave
his possessions like they were nothing and start again. For the sake of the
coven, he would have to change his wandering ways.

And yet, despite his shortcomings, I had grown
attached to him. He had an allure that few others shared
;
drawing friendship from many. Where most might abuse such influence to gain
following within our circle, Gabriel chose not to exercise his appeal. This
lack of personal ambition suggested to me that he would make an ideal leader in
my absence.

Lilah

We said goodbye to the kindly couple
after a breakfast of rye bread with caraway seeds, bacon and watered wine,
which had made me light-headed and talkative. I told Gabriel all about the
monastery and he seemed very interested to hear about the sisters, especially
Arianne.

Gabriel walked with me half a day or more. I
did not ask about his discussion the previous night. When the town was in our
sights he stopped.

‘I have to go now.’

‘But don’t you want to go to the town?’

‘No, I am going further and will take another
track from here.’

I looked around but could see no track.

‘Farewell, Lilah.’

As he walked away I felt a strange sense of
loss and realised I had asked nothing of his background. I had been too busy
talking and answering his questions. Perhaps it was his idea all along to keep
me busy with my own words.

Once in the town, as soon as Arianne’s father
was mentioned, residents gave me directions. It seemed everyone knew the family
who lived on vast acres of land just outside the town.

The pathway to the front entrance was long and
sat between rows of peach trees, their fruity scent making me thirsty. I
followed the path towards the front door of a large white house surrounded by
manicured gardens. A man toiled the earth between flowering bushes. It was
difficult to arrive quietly given the noise of the crunching coloured stones
beneath my feet. Those creeping doubts about my acceptance had magnified, and I
wondered then if I could find my way back to the couple whose house I had
stayed the night before.

The gardener stood up as I approached. ‘Are you
lost, girl?’

‘No. I’ve come to work here.’

He was doubtful; looking me up and down then up
towards the house.

‘There’s another house down the road. It’s a
few miles’ walk and you can get there before dark. I hear they’re looking for
workers.’

I didn’t say anything immediately but stood
waiting to see if he would alert someone or wave me on.

‘My friend used to live here…Arianne.’

‘Oh,’ he said, lowering his eyes, and after a
long pause, ‘How is she?’

‘Very well.
She takes care of the orphans at
the monastery.’

His eyebrows raised and his sombre mood lifted.
I believe the news gave him some sort of joy. ‘Hmm. Well you need to take the
side path, not through the front door or you’ll likely be turned away as a
beggar before you even open your mouth to speak. And good luck to you.’

I walked to the small courtyard where he had
indicated and found the entranceway into the servants’ rooms. Linens hung from
a washing line and I surprised the girl emptying brown water onto the grass.

‘What are you doing here?’ she asked,
suspiciously.

‘My name is Lilah. I am here to see Baron and
Lady Köszegi. Here is a letter from their daughter, Arianne.’

The magic word was
Arianne
and the girl,
several years older than me, grabbed the letter greedily. Her eyes scanned the
parchment and then studied the bottom of the letter. I believe she was
illiterate but appeared to recognise the signature. She took the letter away
and was gone a long time.

I sat against the wall. The bricks were warmed
from the sun and I pressed my back against them. It wasn’t long before I dozed.

Then I was shaken roughly by the same girl and
taken past the galley. The cook ceased chopping the limbs from a hog with a
cleaver, her face red with exertion and droplets of sweat dripping from her
forehead. She looked at me with her mouth pursed and I felt a hostile air in
this house. The servant led me down long basement stairs. Behind a small door
was a small room with two cots. She indicated me to one of them.

‘This one’s mine.’ She sounded annoyed. She no
longer had any privacy and for a moment I felt some pity towards her.

‘Lady Köszegi will see you now.’ She instructed
me to follow her. We reentered the ground floor through another flight of
narrow stairs and followed thickly woven rugs through long and narrow hallways.
I could hear music playing somewhere in the house, the sound increasing as we
progressed. Passing a sitting room, I saw a girl close to my own age playing a
flute. I had heard this instrument before, from a man in Güs whose window I
passed on the way to the market. I would often slow my pace so I could catch
the melodic sounds that mimicked the tunes of the lark.

I wished for several minutes to sit and listen.
The girl had the same fair hair as Arianne and large round eyes. She stopped
when she saw us. We continued walking until we reached the foyer crossing over
to enter another larger sitting room at the base of a winding staircase. Large
paintings of the apostles, bordered by gilded filigreed frames filled up most
of the spaces on the walls.

‘What is your name?’ I asked the girl. She
knocked on the door.

‘Danika,’ she said solemnly, not caring whether
I heard her or not. ‘Remember to curtsy.’

‘Why? Are they royalty?’

‘No. But they think they are.’ Someone called
out ‘
enter’
and then Danika opened the door.

The room was spacious and overly warm. We
brought with us a gust of air
;
billowing the curtains
at a front window enclave. There were several people here all of some authority
and my mouth felt suddenly dry, a lump forming in my throat that threatened to
end further speech.

Lady Köszegi sat in a high backed chair
upholstered in floral tapestry. Two male persons were beside her. One was quite
tall and darkly handsome with narrow eyes and a fixed grin ready for my entry.
The other was shorter, with fair hair and a pale complexion with dark patches
beneath his eyes. He did not seem interested in who was entering the room but
dreamily looking at something through the sunlit windows
;
imagining somewhere else.

Danika curtsied and quickly left. I felt
exposed when she had gone. I barely knew her but wished she had remained beside
me.

‘Come here,’ ordered the lady.

I walked forward, lowering my head and
curtsying as I had seen Danika do.

She looked me up and down and I found it hard
to meet her glaring appraisal.

‘Stand up straight,’ she commanded. ‘Don’t walk
around like a meek lamb. That won’t do in my household.’

I surmised immediately that this woman could
prove quite difficult to work for, that her expectations would be high, but in
that moment also, I recognised her fragility and fearfulness. Whether I had
sensed this with my skill or by ordinary observations, I could not say.

She held the letter from Arianne in her hands.
‘How is my daughter who tells me nothing?’

Words tumbled out awkwardly as they often did
when I was nervous. ‘She is very well. She ably cares for the poor and is
looked upon with respect by many. As you are probably aware, she is being
groomed to become second in charge.’

‘No. I am unaware of anything that she does any
more. This is the first letter I have had from her in years.’ She spoke without
looking at me directly and I detected a hint of regret at their separation.

‘Oh,’ I said, not knowing whether to express my
pity for such a fact, and stunned that she’d had no contact with her daughter.

‘Arianne always liked to be independent,’ said
the taller man still smiling.

‘This is my youngest son, Andrew, and my other
son, Emil.’

I curtsied again feeling quite silly. The elder
fair-haired Emil only briefly nodded to me before returning his gaze to the
window.

‘Well, if I might say so,’ said Andrew, ‘it is
a pleasure to have you here as a housemaid. Arianne says glowing things about
you. Mother can be a bit of a bully sometimes. We cannot pay you much but I’m
sure you will find the food and bed adequate enough and you will have half a
day off for your leisure.’ He smiled widely then, and I shivered for there was
no warmth in it. ‘You can go now.’

He rang a small bell and Danika returned to
collect me. As I left the room I turned to notice something else that greatly
disturbed me. The hard face of Lady Köszegi had softened and she had what
seemed to be a pleading expression towards her younger son. The smile on
Andrew’s face had gone and there was nothing but contempt as he looked down
upon his mother.

We returned along the hallways and I heard no
more music. Danika showed me through the rooms. I was to dust and clean daily,
and make the beds. She showed me the laundry where I would wash the linen. I
was also required to peel the vegetables and skin the rabbits. Only the last
task did not appeal but everything else I could live with and felt very
thankful to have another roof over my head. I was also relieved to learn that
Baron Köszegi was away on important business and would not be back for weeks.

On opening one of the bedrooms we found the
little musician sitting on her bed. Danika apologised for the intrusion.

‘That’s quite alright,’ she said solemnly. She
stepped towards me and held out her hand. ‘I’m Evaline but most call me Evie.’

I touched her hand and it felt like a lightning
bolt had split me in two. Several images rushed into my head. I saw Evie pushed
against a wall and the room seemed to spin and alter in shape and colour, light
to dark, then night to day, then a flash of something so dark I could not put
words to it. Evie was suffocating, a hand over her mouth, but the image was
wrong somehow. It was only a flash and too great for me to deal with or make
sense of at the time.

When I let go of her hand I felt a release and
the room seemed back to normal. My hands were shaking and Danika had noticed my
dazed state. She nudged me to address the girl.