"You have been silent for nearly three days," Rotiger said to Ragoczy Germainus as they made camp for the night; gathering clouds overhead promised rain before morning and the air was still and close. The leaves hardly stirred.
"I am thinking," said Ragoczy Germainus distantly.
"You are brooding," said Rotiger.
Ragoczy Germainus gave a sad laugh. "Perhaps. Lavetta and Ubertuz and Ambroisus are on my mind. I hope I have not caused them pain, being as late as we are."
"There's more to it than that," Rotiger said. "You blame yourself for all Chimena has done."
"I am not without some responsibility," said Ragoczy Germainus.
"Why? Did you think she would do what she has done when you made her a vampire?" He was sitting on one of their chests and staring into the fire that burned in a desultory fashion, as if anticipating the wet to come. Their travels had been hard, for the road was neglected and the forest difficult to penetrate where it had grown up around the road; more than once they had had to detour to avoid armed camps or hostile villages and as a result they had not covered as much ground as they had intended. Rotiger reached down into the leather game bag at his feet to pull out his dinner. "Did you expect to have her for an enemy?"
Ragoczy Germainus sighed. "You know the answers; no to both." He looked up through the branches of the trees. "Nothing I can say will change her now. Perhaps it never could." He rose from where he had been squatting on his heels and walked over to where their animals were tethered to a long, braided-leather rope stretched between two trees. "They will be restive tonight."
"Until the storm passes," said Rotiger. He held a skinned hare in his hands, but he held off beginning to eat, watching Ragoczy Germainus with troubled eyes.
"Yes. Until it passes." He patted the jenny on her neck, then bent to examine her hock. "The pace is causing her trouble again. I will make another poultice."
"And tomorrow or the day after we should be out of the mountains and on the plateau, headed for Usca. The forest will not slow us down as much once we are on flatter ground. There should be more travelers about, as well. No doubt we can find an inn where we may all rest for a day or two," said Rotiger with determined optimism, hoping Ragoczy Germainus would consider his suggestion.
"Perhaps," said Ragoczy Germainus; he looked away from their animals toward the stack of packs and chests they carried that were now stacked in three neat piles near the fire, ready for loading in the morning. "We will have to be careful of bandits, so near the Usca road to Zaragusta. They, too, know where to find travelers."
"They have not troubled us thus far," Rotiger remarked, and an instant later wished he had not spoken.
"That is the doing of Chimena's vampires. Once we are beyond their range, the bandits will take their place again," said Ragoczy Germainus with a wry glance toward the forest.
"And soldiers, there will also be soldiers," added Rotiger. "Christian and Moorish."
"Oh, yes-most certainly soldiers." He nodded to the dressed hare in Rotiger's hands. "Aren't you hungry?"
"Of course I am," Rotiger said, feeling a bit foolish.
"Then eat, will you." Ragoczy Germainus smiled slightly. "I had its blood; now it is yours."
Rotiger took his wide-bladed knife from his belt and began to carve the hare. "You have had nothing but the blood of game and animals for...for many days," he said, not wanting to admit he had been keeping count.
"So I have," said Ragoczy Germainus, continuing. "And will for many days more, I suspect. Before you tell me that I need...richer sustenance, I will agree. There; I have said it. But even had I the opportunity, here, in Chimena's region of Holy Blood, I would not make any attempt to visit a woman, knowingly or in sleep." He stared into the middle distance. "It would not be safe for her, or nourishing for me."
"Because of Chimena and all of her followers?" The last word was uncertain, as if he could not think of one that would more accurately describe those who had become vampires of her making.
"Yes. I could not achieve even the most fleeting intimacy with any of them, not after what her lot has done." He shrugged. "So I will wait. Game will suffice me yet awhile; I have gone decades on worse."
"That you have. But why should you-once we reach Usca, you should have some chance of finding a woman who will be glad of the dreams you bring." He took a bit of hare off the point of his knife and began to chew.
"Ah, but we have not reached Usca," said Ragoczy Germainus.
"It will be soon," said Rotiger with conviction. "Three, four days at the most, and we should arrive there."
"But we have not got there yet." Ragoczy Germainus picked up the thick headstall that was added to the jack-mule's halter when he was being led. "This is beginning to fray. I will have to replace it at Usca."
"Is it beyond repair?" Rotiger asked, resigned to the dismissal of the subjects they had just been discussing.
"It is not, but it is old. This one was made in Cyprus, and that was what? seventy years ago? It has been oiled so many times to keep it supple I am surprised it does not drip." He put it down again. "It is time it was replaced."
"There should be saddlers in Usca," said Rotiger as he cut more flesh from the hare's carcase. "No doubt you can purchase one there, or the leather to make your own," he added, for he had seen Ragoczy Germainus make every kind of tack over their centuries together.
"Very likely," said Ragoczy Germainus, his attention now on the braided-leather straps they used to hold their packs and chests in place. "These need oil and wax," he remarked.
"Something more to purchase in Usca," said Rotiger, trying to plumb his mater's enigmatic mood.
"Yes." Ragoczy Germainus was inspecting a girth now, scrutinizing the broad leather belt, looking for wear around the holes for the tongue of the buckle. "This will do," he said a little later, and went on to the next with the same air of perplexing calm. He had finished perusing three of the girths when there was a disruption in the woods a little beyond the firelight. Immediately he dropped the girth and reached for his chain with the iron balls that hung from his belt.
Rotiger set the half-eaten hare aside and drew his short sword, turning to face the dark mass of trees. "Can you see?"
"Not well enough," said Ragoczy Germainus, intent on the direction from which the sound had come.
"How many, do you think?" Rotiger wondered aloud.
"Not many," said Ragoczy Germainus, beginning to twirl one of the iron balls.
"One, in fact," said Ennati as he stepped out of the forest, holding up empty hands and moving slowly.
Rotiger did not lower his sword. "Just you?"
"Just me," Ennati confirmed, continuing quickly. "I have come to warn you-Chimena changed her mind after you left. She killed Yamut ibn Rabi and Blaga, and she ordered Sayed killed as soon as he is caught. Merez is now her guard, and she has said that the clan must hunt you down, for our protection. She told us all that you have put us all in danger. You must die or none of them is safe." He glanced about uneasily. "I left as soon as I could. She is determined to do this."
"Is she," Ragoczy Germainus said quietly, looking directly at Ennati, scrutinizing him.
"You do not know how she is when she has been thwarted," said Ennati. "It is her pride, and her Right that speaks." He kept glancing behind him, as if he feared the trees might attack.
"And her Word?" Ragoczy Germainus asked bleakly.
"She said it could not hold her in this case. She said you coerced her into making a promise, and because of that, it was not binding." He clasped his hands together to stop them shaking.
"And you could not endure it," Ragoczy Germainus said, his voice flat.
"She told us that you would bring our enemies down upon us if you were not stopped and silenced. She said you know too much, and that we would all be hunted because of you." He came a step closer to the fire. "I mean you no harm. I only want to warn you, because you spared me and Blaga when you could have killed us easily. She may feel no obligation for that, but I do." He stumbled and caught himself on the nearest pile of chests; Rotiger instantly raised his sword.
"There is no one else with him," said Ragoczy Germainus, motioning to Rotiger to lower his sword. "And look-Ennati is burned."
"I have been up since mid-afternoon," said Ennati, gingerly touching his face where his skin was blistered and torn.
"To reach me?" Ragoczy Germainus said dubiously.
"In part," said Ennati candidly. "I am also afraid that Chimena may decide to have me killed, as well, as she killed Blaga. She is in a bloody mood now, and that can only be satisfied with deaths, True Deaths. You are not the only one she would like dead. If she could lay her hands on him, she might well do away with Olutiz." He looked up at Ragoczy Germainus. "I saw what happened. She took Yamut ibn Rabi's big curved sword and with her own hands severed Blaga's head in two blows." He swallowed hard. "After she had done the same to Yamut ibn Rabi."
"He did not try to escape?" Ragoczy Germainus asked, more doubtfully than before. "I would have thought he would have fought her."
"How? He was on the ground with a shattered leg," said Ennati. "I think he did not expect her to kill him, not after all the time he has served her." He stared into the forest again, his expression desolate. "And Blaga was still corded up in the bearskin and never saw what she intended to do."
"Why did Yamut ibn Rabi not protest?" Ragoczy Germainus was mildly surprised, thinking back to the Moor and his determination. "I would think he had seen her do as much to others, and for less cause."
"He was devoted to her. He told her he had lost all chance of Paradise to be with her, and she said she was gratified. He made her his deity when she gave him undead life. From that time on, he has been her most ardent slave." Ennati shook his head. "I cannot weep. I wish I could."
"Vampires have no tears," said Ragoczy Germainus, his tone revealing his own anguish at this loss. He saw Ennati attempt to compose herself, and some of his suspicions of the man diminished.
"So we have all discovered," said Ennati as he put his head in his hands. "I do not grieve as I need to." He stared out through his fingers. "I fear I will see her kill him for as long as I walk the earth."
Rotiger asked the question Ragoczy Germainus would not. "Why did she spare you? With all her killing, how did you escape?"
"She said she needed someone to be a witness, so the rest of her clan would know the consequences of shaming her." He crossed his arms and clutched his elbows as if to shield himself from a blow. "I cannot take it all in, not yet."
"You will," said Ragoczy Germainus with such utter conviction that Ennati was driven to silence for some little time.
It was Rotiger who broke the silence. "How far behind you are they?"
"I cannot say for certain: they could reach this place before dawn tonight. They will be here tomorrow beyond question. If they come tonight, they will be tired-that is something in your favor." He shivered as if struck with sudden cold. "If there is rain, it would slow them down with running water."
"And there will be rain tonight." Ragoczy Germainus looked up at the leaves overhead and tried to make out the sky beyond. "It will not be much longer before the clouds open."
"Are you certain?" Ennati asked, half-relieved, half-apprehensive.
"Fairly certain," said Ragoczy Germainus. "I can smell it."
Ennati shook his head. "I am not so sure, but-" He shrugged. "At most you gain yourself a night. And then you will have more than ten of us on you."
Ragoczy Germainus seemed unfazed by this. "And you? Will you attack us then?"
"No," said Ennati. "I am now Chimena's enemy as much as you are; she has made me that. She will want my True Death as passionately as she wants yours, witness or not. I have left her side and she will consider that treason, no matter what I did, or why." He was no longer distraught by this realization. "If I thought it would do any good, I would flee with you."
"Why do you not?" Ragoczy Germainus asked, his dark eyes on Ennati.
"Because it would only prolong what is coming." He paused a long moment. "Besides, where would I go?"
"You could come to Asturica with us," said Ragoczy Germainus. "I think the Dux would be glad of a fighting man who knows something about the Moors."
Ennati chuckled desolately. "And how long would that last? I cannot fight in daylight, and I cannot eat with others." He fingered his copper-colored hair. "I could not be a spy among the Moors."
"You may not need to be," said Ragoczy Germainus. "There are many other services you could perform." He thought back to his own past and his many improvised occupations that served to disguise his true nature. "If you are willing to guard the dead, no one will ask many questions of you, or if you can supervise the sick and wounded at night."
"Why should I do either of those things?" Ennati asked, appalled at the suggestions.
"Because no one else wants to, and those who can do these things are not scrutinized. If you are not blatant, you may manage very well. Tell the Dux that you have taken a vow to do these things, and he will not interfere with you." Ragoczy Germainus saw Rotiger nod in agreement. "You see? I am not the only one who has found such work to be useful."
"But I would have to go away from here," said Ennati, with such desolation of spirit that Ragoczy Germainus felt it as keenly as a knife-thrust.
"So you would." Ragoczy Germainus paused. "I, too, have gone far from the mountains where I was born. I return there from time to time, but now I am as much a stranger there as I am anywhere in the world."
"You did not rule there?" Ennati asked, amazed that this would be so.
"My father did." As he said it, Ragoczy Germainus remembered his father-a man who had survived to the incredible age of forty-eight, half again the age most men attained then. "He was regarded with respect for many thousands of paces beyond our borders." Until, he added inwardly, the long-haired, green-eyed foreigners in their chariots had come out of the east and laid waste to all his father had built and made Ragoczy Germainus a slave, to serve as an example to all his people. "I did not leave of my own volition."
Ennati knew he had touched on something much vaster than Ragoczy Germainus had told him. "How long ago?"
"Nearly twenty-eight hundred years," said Ragoczy Germainus, and knew the sum was too enormous for Ennati to grasp. "There was no Roma yet; Egypt was mighty." How inadequate that sounded, even to him.
"Long ago," Ennati said, trying to show he understood, knowing that he did not.
"Yes," said Ragoczy Germainus, and shook off the ephemeral bonds of memory. "There is nothing for you if you remain here. You have an opportunity to decide how you will live now you have left Chimena. Better to go where you wish now while you can choose for yourself than wait until you are forced."
"Listen to him," Rotiger advised.
"I cannot go from here." Ennati looked around as if to assure himself he was safe. "Even here, in this place, I begin to feel uncomfortable. If I go to Usca, I will be sickened. None of us can go beyond Chimena's lands."
"Because Chimena said so," Ragoczy Germainus suggested, but with less conviction than he wanted to have; the lack of bonds among Chimena's vampires was as familiar to him as it was perplexing; perhaps their bond to their native earth was stronger for that reason.
"And because when I have traveled beyond the region of Holy Blood, I lose strength and become almost as helpless as a babe." He shrugged. "I have thought I might go to one of the old hermitages and take up living there. I know of such a place near the road to the Septimania Pass. The only difficulty is that Olutiz rules there, not Chimena, and he may not allow me, or anyone who has served his mother, to stay in territory he has made his." For the first time his tattered face showed despair as he paced from the fire to the tether-line and back again.
"The Moors might not like such a thing, either, if they discovered you," said Ragoczy Germainus sardonically. "This is most...vexing."
Rotiger noticed the slight hesitation in Ragoczy Germainus' words and he wondered what his master had intended to say. "How much farther can you travel?" he asked Ennati.
"Another ten thousand paces, perhaps twelve thousand," he answered uncertainly. "Not in daylight, certainly. Daylight is too difficult for me now." He indicated the state of his skin.
"That doesn't put us at the Usca-Zaragusta road," said Rotiger. "He would be five to six thousand paces shy of it."
"No, not quite that much; it would be too far in any case," said Ragoczy Germainus. "And it is all moot since you are unable to leave the region of Holy Blood." He faltered, considering. "Where the hills are barren, the earth is sliding away, so such places will not sustain you. You will have to stay in the forests, as far from the loggers and the goats and sheep as you can."
"The Moors are fighting the Christians in the mountains. The Moors want the Frankish lands as well as all of Old Hispania." Ennati sat down suddenly, as if suddenly deprived of all energy. "If I must fight, I suppose I might as well fight the Moors. Better them than my own kind."
"With the intention of dying in battle, I would guess," said Ragoczy Germainus, his tone dropping, his dark eyes shrewd.
"It would solve many problems," said Ennati.
"Possibly," Ragoczy Germainus allowed. "It is a drastic step to take." He thought, suddenly and poignantly, of Nicoris, and how readily she had embraced the True Death.
"But you do not think so," said Ennati, seeing Ragoczy Germainus' countenance and intuiting some of the reason behind his expression.
"No. I do not," Ragoczy Germainus admitted. "It has little to do with you, Ennati, but it does remind me that departing our life is no more conclusive than leaving the realms of the living." His smile had no hint of mirth in it. "You would be rid of your burdens, beyond all doubt, but others would have to shoulder them for you."
"That may be," said Ennati. "I do not want to die yet, not after all I have done to remain undead. Still, if I am to live only to serve Chimena, then death is more welcome to me. I do not want to live in daily fear of her anger."
Ragoczy Germainus nodded emphatically. "Yes. You take my meaning. It is more appropriate that you live as you decide you would like to than to leave you to struggle with Chimena's demands." He gestured to Rotiger. "Come. We must prepare lanthorns: we have a long way to go tonight."
Rotiger made a fatalistic gesture. "You do not want to remain here."
"No, not after what Ennati has told us. Do you?" He indicated their mules and horses. "We cannot go rapidly; our animals are too tired for speed, but we can put another six or seven thousand paces between us and Chimena if we travel all night and into the day."
"I cannot come with you," said Ennati. "I am near the limit of my tolerances." He cocked his head toward the animals. "If you left the jenny with the sore hock behind, that would slow your pursuers down. They would feed on her, and that would delay them." His smile was a mixture of eagerness and uncertainty.
"That may be," said Ragoczy Germainus. "But I do not leave animals behind unless there is no choice whatsoever. We are not at such a point yet, and with a little care, we will not have to be." He went to the tether-line. "We are not so desperate that we must sacrifice these creatures to Chimena's tribe."
"But that could gain you several hours, perhaps as much as a night," Ennati objected. "I am hungry, and I know were I hunting you, I would not hesitate to feed on the jenny first."
"That may be," said Ragoczy Germainus as he reached for the saddle-pad for the jack-mule and put it in place on his back, smoothing it so that it lay smoothly. "Finish your dinner, Rotiger, and douse the fire. We will not rest tonight."
"Do you need any help?" Ennati offered. "I cannot do much, but if you will tell me what you would like-?"
"Be at ease," said Ragoczy Germainus as he went on saddling the jack-mule, securing the breast-collar and girth with the ease of long practice; the jack-mule stamped his on-side hoof and nodded his head to express his annoyance, but did not balk at this new development.
"The mules must be worn out," said Ennati as he watched Ragoczy Germainus continue his work.
"They have come a long way, but they are able to go farther," was the answer he received.
"The breeder is an old friend of my master's," said Rotiger as he ate the last of the hare, and flung the bones away into the dark. "The animals are the hardiest and strongest that she breeds."
"Do you not fear what may happen to them at night?" Ennati asked, his disquiet increasing.
"Not so long as I am guiding them," said Ragoczy Germainus as he hefted the first of his chests onto the jack-mule's pack-saddle and set it in place. "My eyesight is not much hampered by dark-just as yours is not."
"But what shall I do?" Ennati blurted out. "If you are going on to Usca, what will become of me?"
"Come with us as far as you can," Ragoczy Germainus suggested as he began to saddle the larger jenny-mule. "We will not be going faster than a walk, so you will not have to press yourself to stay with us. If you would rather go into the forest, away from the others who pursue us, then go with my thanks."
Rotiger was stacking their goods for loading onto pack-saddles. "If you decide to keep up with us, you will have our protection, should it be necessary. If you would prefer to flee into the woods, you might as well go now."
"That is all very well," said Ennati, sounding a little despondent. "You will leave and I will still have to find some way to live in these mountains." He frowned as Rotiger poured water on the fire, then poked it to be certain it was out; the sudden darkness made him apprehensive.
"Then pack some of your native earth and come with us," Ragoczy Germainus said, continuing to ready their animals for travel. "You may be able to go beyond the region of Holy Blood if you have your native earth with you-not far but far enough to be safe."
"Do you think it would be possible?" Ennati asked, daring and dreading to hope.
"It may be." Ragoczy Germainus loaded the second mule's packsaddle, taking the time to give the animal a handful of grain before he finished his work.
Ennati paced the dark clearing. "You do not understand how difficult this is."
"No, I do not," said Ragoczy Germainus, saddling the smaller jenny last of all, and making sure she had the lightest load. "Her hock will need treatment when we stop again," he said to Rotiger while he adjusted the packs she carried before strapping them in place. "Remind me if I do not remember."
Although there was little chance of Ragoczy Germainus forgetting, Rotiger said, "Of course, my master."
Ennati swung his arms in exasperation. "What am I going to do?"
"That seems to be a troublesome question," said Ragoczy Germainus with real concern in his voice. "Your constraints are such that my advice would have little value, I fear." He was brushing down his gray now, working over the shoulder and flank, moving down and back. "It is unfortunate that you are not able to leave the region, for then you would have all the world open to you."
"You think I should try to leave in spite of my discomforts, do you not?" Ennati asked sharply.
Ragoczy Germainus answered carefully. "I think that if you remain you will have to confront Chimena eventually; she will require it even if you do not. I can comprehend you not wanting to live an exile's life, but I fear that may not be in your power to decide. Ultimately it is Chimena who will control this region for as long as she is vampirically alive."
Ennati stopped, his head lowered in misery. "Yes. No doubt you are correct." He began to pace again. "If I stay away from her and her clan, she should not bother with me; I am only one man." He waited for agreement that did not come. "I could find some of those who have broken away from her. They might accept me as one of them, and I would have protection then. She would not come against us as readily as she might hunt down a solitary vampire." Again he was silent.
Rotiger stopped his packing, saying, "Either way, you are in her path the longer you stay here." He glanced toward Ragoczy Germainus, who remained unspeaking. "Leaving the region may be unpleasant, but what is coming may be horrendous; you would do well to be clear of it."
"Do you think I-?" Ennati broke off. "I will come with you as far as I can, and then I will decide what to do."
"Very good," said Ragoczy Germainus. "You can lead one of the mules and follow Rotiger on my grey. I will bring up the rear on foot, in case we are pursued."
"On foot?" Ennati exclaimed, astonished.
"My master can move as swiftly as any horse, especially in this forest," said Rotiger as he went about saddling his dun.
"There are a few things I can do to discourage our pursuers," said Ragoczy Germainus as he reached into his weapons pack for a broad-headed axe and several lengths of leather thongs.
"Then you believe me-you are being followed," said Ennati with a suggestion of relief in his tone.
"I will bend a few branches as spring-traps for the unwary, to slow them down," said Ragoczy Germainus as he went back to his horse, putting the saddle-pad in place before lifting the saddle onto the gray's back.
"Will you fight them?" Ennati's eyes shone with the prospect of battle.
"Not if I do not have to." Ragoczy Germainus stared into the forest behind them.
"But she wants you dead, the True Death," said Ennati, his fear making his voice strident.
Ragoczy Germainus secured the girth of his saddle. "Many another has wanted that as well, and yet I am still...living." He went to bridle his horse, saying to Rotiger as he did, "Do not push the pace; once it starts to rain, keep on as long as you can. If we get separated, I will meet you at the Usca-Zaragusta road. Come," he said to Ennati, and helped him clamber into the saddle. "Follow Rotiger for as long as you are able. If you must leave, give him my horse's reins before you go."
Rotiger swung onto his dun, and took two of the mules' leads from Ragoczy Germainus. "I will wait for you."
"I know you will, old friend," said Ragoczy Germainus, then slapped the dun's rump before handling the third lead to Ennati; as they moved off, he vanished into the forest.
Text of a letter from Frer Serenus at Santus Spirituz, near Usca, to Ebiscuz Dominicuz in Calagurriz on the Eberuz.
To the most reverend Ebiscuz Dominicuz, at Mader Deuz in Calagurriz, the blessings and prayers as greeting from Frer Serenus at Santus Spirituz on the road to Usca, with the pious hope that this finds you well and your flock in good heart in spite of the trouble of these times.
This is to introduce to you a man seeking a hermitage where he might live in isolation from his fellows for the expiation of his sins, which he says are many. He has vowed to walk abroad only at night, and to take no food but what God sends him, so that he will not become a cost on any of the Christians who, staunch in their faith, may seek to aid him in his withdrawal from the world. His name is Ennati and he came to Santus Spirituz in the company of a man of dignity and learning, and his servant, who were bound for Asturica, and who have departed this place ten days since, leaving a donation of four golden Angels in thanks for the hospitality we extended to them all. As the man and servant both vouched for this Ennati's worthiness, I have taken the liberty of writing this to ask you to make a place for this penitent man; I believe you may acquire much knowledge from him, particularly in regard to the activities of the Moors in the mountains to the west of Tarrago.
As you must be aware, this region has seen fighting for several years, but the Moors have not yet wholly subdued that part of the mountains known as Holy Blood. We have been fortunate that the people in those valleys have remained devoted to our cause, for it is bruited about by the Moors that demons live in that place, demons who drink blood that is left for them in chalices of gold. I have heard many travelers tell of cursed places and empty villages, but it can only be that the Moors themselves have done the things the travelers report, for it is not possible that those who worship the Blood of Our Savior could ever commit the crimes that have been attributed to them.
Of late we have noticed that the Moors are still determined to continue to press into the mountains in an effort to claim Frankish lands beyond; if they can gain control of all the roads and passes so that the Christians in the north, beyond the control of the Caliph, are cut off from the Christians of the Frankish lands, then we might well be doomed. You must see that the link between the churches of the Franks and our churches must be maintained at all costs. Here we have already made our walls higher and thicker, and are now building dormitories for Christians seeking a haven from the Moors. In this respect I commend this man Ennati to you, for as one who has fought the Moors, and in the mountains, he can guide your efforts and help you to prepare travelers for all the dangers they might encounter, as well as aiding us to defeat the foes of our faith.
With my assurances of my continuing devotion, and my prayers for your soul and for all Christian souls in this dark time, I sign myself,
Frer Serenus
Santus Spirituz
on the last day of July, in the 752nd year of Man's Salvation, by the calendar of Roma