The woman steps outside the inn with Eira in tow. The Archman is standing before them patiently. The woman looks up at the Archman for a brief moment, simply to take in his presence.
"Mon dieu, you weren't kidding." The woman turns to Eira, both her eyebrows raised in genuine amazement.
The Archman takes his own moment to observe the woman, noting specifically her golden locks and blue eyes. They are in direct contrast to the Archman's silver hair and crimson irises.
"Raeburn?" The Archman asks plainly.
"Oh, have we met before?" The woman turns back to the Archman, twirling her blond hair in one of her fingers.
"I doubt it. I knew your relative, though. Leonard Raeburn." The Archman dictates.
"You knew grand-père Leo?" The woman is astonished, trying to piece together how someone who knew a recent ancestor could look so young.
Eira stands by idly, her fingers fiddling with the bundle of chains in her grasp.
She wished she had something more to contribute to the conversation, but she couldn't find any opportunity to step in.
"We met briefly." The Archman nods.
"Zut alors." The woman scratches the back of her head, still gripped with fascination.
"C'est toujours a delight when old family friends pay a visit." She turns back towards the door, gesturing for the Archman to follow. "Let's go."
"May I come in?" The Archman stays perfectly still, not responding to the woman's gesture at all.
"Uh, of course. Bien sur." The woman states with confusion. She thought she'd already made it clear that he could enter.
"You have to say it." The Archman explains.
"Quoi?" The woman looks at the Archman, her confusion growing denser by the second.
"You have to say 'come in'." Eira points out, eager for the chance to interject.
"Okay...entrez." The woman opens the door and indicates to the interior of the building with her head, swishing her gold hair inadvertently.
"Merci." The Archman says courteously, walking inside.
Eira follows behind the Archman, then the woman enters last, behind Eira.
"I'll take that back now." The Archman reaches out an open palm, requesting the bundle of chains back from Eira.
"Oh, right." Eira returns the chains to the Archman.
"I have a table over there." The woman points to the table where she was napping earlier when Eira approached her. Eira and the Archman follow her to the round wooden surface, pulling up two chairs and sitting down to join her.
"I gotta know, que fais-tu to keep your skin so young?" The woman crosses her arms on the table and leans forward, admiring the Archman's complexion.
"I drink human blood." The Archman says with an indifferent curtness.
"Aha! Fantastique! Why didn't I think of that?" The woman laughs gleefully, reacting to a nonexistent humour from the Archman's words.
"Oh, pardon moi, I nearly forgot." The woman extends her hand out to the Archman for a handshake. "Je m'appelle Fiona. Pleasure meeting you."
"Likewise." The Archman takes Fiona's hand and shakes it as briefly as can be considered polite.
"What about you...?" Fiona pries with unabashed eagerness.
YOU ARE READING
The Archman
Любовные романыWhile departing for London to meet with her fiancé, Eira Pryce finds herself taken captive by a living legend, the fabled pirate known only as the Archman. As it turns out, the fables may not have been so accurate in their portrayal of this mythic f...
