[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
of power and vampires. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep, and perhaps dream of a smoky-voiced woman
with eyes like soft velvet.
Ryan sensed that Carissa's amorous mood had been completely quenched by Martin, another fault for which
Ryan would enjoy making him pay. Ryan had to deal with Alyssa first. In some perverted sense, Martin
belonged to her, and if Ryan destroyed him now, Alyssa would be obligated to start a war that Ryan had no
interest in fighting. But the man had violated so many of Alyssa's own rules that she would give him up if Ryan
asked nicely. And Ryan could wait. Indeed, revenge, like sex, was so much better after a period of anticipation.
Let Martin sweat for a while. Vampires had very long memories and lives long enough to exact payment for
most debts.
6
Betrayal
"Was Meg your second lover?" Carissa asked.
The weather had turned ugly that day, and Carissa was happy to spend a night inside by the fire. Ryan
reached up and took down the second painting on the mantel. She opened it almost reluctantly and handed it
to Carissa.
"No, Meg was, and would always be, the sweet child who Brynn and I cared for. I never could have touched
her that way. Glyn was Meg's daughter."
"The relatives I left Meg with were farmers. They had a good piece of land and were as prosperous as they could
be. The money I gave them didn't hurt, of course, but they were good folk. They had lost two of their five
children to the plague, one of them barely two years old. Meg was four when I brought her to them, and I
could see that she took the place of their lost baby in their hearts."
"I would visit at least once a season, and they did not know it, but I kept a closer watch on them than even that.
I still played the merchant, but now I began to trade in other things. Over the years, I had accumulated a small
hoard of jewelry from my victims. I never really wanted it. I just kept it hidden away in my cave, but now I
began selling it. I would pry the stones out and melt the metal down, and then I brought it to gold and
silversmiths and sold the gems and metals. With the money I got, I would buy more, traveling from the town
where Meg lived to the coast and all the towns in between."
"At first, it was very difficult. I had to travel by night, and I could hardly stop at an inn for the day because they
would be suspicious of someone who spent the day locked in a room. I had to contrive shelters in between the
towns I traded in, so my first years were spent finding caves or abandoned huts and making them hidden
shelters. I also had difficulty finding horses that would tolerate me. Most animals shun vampires; in that they
are much wiser than humans. I found if I took a very young colt and raised it myself, it would grow
accustomed to me and let me ride it, but that took many years to discover, so mostly I traveled by foot.
"I will admit to you that those first years I was a thief, albeit a very clever one. A gem merchant's most prized
possession was his reputation. No one would buy from me if they thought I could not be trusted. Oh, even back
then, it was easy to fence stolen goods, but I wanted to deal with the goldsmiths themselves, and they were a
cautious group as a whole. They had to be. So I would steal and then leave my stolen goods hidden, sometimes
for years. Mostly, I stole from the church, for which I had a natural enough antipathy."
"I thought vampires could not enter hallowed ground and that they could not abide the sight of the cross,"
Carissa interjected.
"As with many myths, there is both truth and falsity to that. It is not the cross or the hallowed ground but the
strength of faith that can repel a vampire. Remember that strength is based on will, and often those with strong
beliefs are either strong willed themselves or fanatical in their beliefs. If someone believes that some symbol of
faith will protect her, then that very belief will undermine a vampire's power. As you saw with Martin, many
vampires are cowards at heart or lazy, and they would rather find easy prey than try to overcome someone
who is strong-willed."
"As for churches, some of them do hold great power. The generations of worshipers, sometimes they seem to
imbue the very stones with the power of their fear and hatred."
"Hatred?"
"What emotions did you think the church tries to instill? Christian love and kindness?" Ryan asked with some
amusement. "Over the centuries, the message preached has been much more one of hatred and condemnation
than of forgiveness. The church ruled through superstition and fear for a very long time. It still does in some
ways. I have been to a few shrines and chapels that indeed have been filled with a kind of loving-kindness, but
the large cathedrals were always ruled by politicians within the church. Some were good, but many were not,
and not one of them would have had anything but condemnation in their heart for something like me, or you
now, my dear."
"Again, a vampire who does not have a strong will could not face the accumulated devotion of all those
centuries of worshipers. There are some churches I could not enter myself. But in those days, the churches were
much younger, and I could slip in and rob the gold cross from the altar. It was a crime most thieves were too [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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of power and vampires. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep, and perhaps dream of a smoky-voiced woman
with eyes like soft velvet.
Ryan sensed that Carissa's amorous mood had been completely quenched by Martin, another fault for which
Ryan would enjoy making him pay. Ryan had to deal with Alyssa first. In some perverted sense, Martin
belonged to her, and if Ryan destroyed him now, Alyssa would be obligated to start a war that Ryan had no
interest in fighting. But the man had violated so many of Alyssa's own rules that she would give him up if Ryan
asked nicely. And Ryan could wait. Indeed, revenge, like sex, was so much better after a period of anticipation.
Let Martin sweat for a while. Vampires had very long memories and lives long enough to exact payment for
most debts.
6
Betrayal
"Was Meg your second lover?" Carissa asked.
The weather had turned ugly that day, and Carissa was happy to spend a night inside by the fire. Ryan
reached up and took down the second painting on the mantel. She opened it almost reluctantly and handed it
to Carissa.
"No, Meg was, and would always be, the sweet child who Brynn and I cared for. I never could have touched
her that way. Glyn was Meg's daughter."
"The relatives I left Meg with were farmers. They had a good piece of land and were as prosperous as they could
be. The money I gave them didn't hurt, of course, but they were good folk. They had lost two of their five
children to the plague, one of them barely two years old. Meg was four when I brought her to them, and I
could see that she took the place of their lost baby in their hearts."
"I would visit at least once a season, and they did not know it, but I kept a closer watch on them than even that.
I still played the merchant, but now I began to trade in other things. Over the years, I had accumulated a small
hoard of jewelry from my victims. I never really wanted it. I just kept it hidden away in my cave, but now I
began selling it. I would pry the stones out and melt the metal down, and then I brought it to gold and
silversmiths and sold the gems and metals. With the money I got, I would buy more, traveling from the town
where Meg lived to the coast and all the towns in between."
"At first, it was very difficult. I had to travel by night, and I could hardly stop at an inn for the day because they
would be suspicious of someone who spent the day locked in a room. I had to contrive shelters in between the
towns I traded in, so my first years were spent finding caves or abandoned huts and making them hidden
shelters. I also had difficulty finding horses that would tolerate me. Most animals shun vampires; in that they
are much wiser than humans. I found if I took a very young colt and raised it myself, it would grow
accustomed to me and let me ride it, but that took many years to discover, so mostly I traveled by foot.
"I will admit to you that those first years I was a thief, albeit a very clever one. A gem merchant's most prized
possession was his reputation. No one would buy from me if they thought I could not be trusted. Oh, even back
then, it was easy to fence stolen goods, but I wanted to deal with the goldsmiths themselves, and they were a
cautious group as a whole. They had to be. So I would steal and then leave my stolen goods hidden, sometimes
for years. Mostly, I stole from the church, for which I had a natural enough antipathy."
"I thought vampires could not enter hallowed ground and that they could not abide the sight of the cross,"
Carissa interjected.
"As with many myths, there is both truth and falsity to that. It is not the cross or the hallowed ground but the
strength of faith that can repel a vampire. Remember that strength is based on will, and often those with strong
beliefs are either strong willed themselves or fanatical in their beliefs. If someone believes that some symbol of
faith will protect her, then that very belief will undermine a vampire's power. As you saw with Martin, many
vampires are cowards at heart or lazy, and they would rather find easy prey than try to overcome someone
who is strong-willed."
"As for churches, some of them do hold great power. The generations of worshipers, sometimes they seem to
imbue the very stones with the power of their fear and hatred."
"Hatred?"
"What emotions did you think the church tries to instill? Christian love and kindness?" Ryan asked with some
amusement. "Over the centuries, the message preached has been much more one of hatred and condemnation
than of forgiveness. The church ruled through superstition and fear for a very long time. It still does in some
ways. I have been to a few shrines and chapels that indeed have been filled with a kind of loving-kindness, but
the large cathedrals were always ruled by politicians within the church. Some were good, but many were not,
and not one of them would have had anything but condemnation in their heart for something like me, or you
now, my dear."
"Again, a vampire who does not have a strong will could not face the accumulated devotion of all those
centuries of worshipers. There are some churches I could not enter myself. But in those days, the churches were
much younger, and I could slip in and rob the gold cross from the altar. It was a crime most thieves were too [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]