Ancient Shadows

TWENTY SEVEN

Dutch arrived at the chateau when expected. His appearance was drastically different than when he met the brothers two nights before. His thick long red hair was nearly combed to one side and tied in the back. He wore an orange cioppa over his doublet that was tied at the waste by a wide black leather belt. He legs were covered in yellow hose and he had short brown leather boots.

The hosts of the dinner had no doubt dressed for the occasion as well. Augustus wore a doublet coated with fine wool whose hem was lined with pink colored ermine. Ermine was a stylish and expensive fur worn at the time only by the wealthy. The finest pearls hung around his neck. Gold and silver brackets adorned both arms. His pair of fashionable leather shoes went above the ankle.

Walter sported a red silk giornea over his auburn colored doublet. Sashes covered his fitted upper arms. Walter like his brother had accessoried himself with jewelry. In particular were gold and brass rings adorning most of his fingers. His hose were multicolored, white and red on either leg. Long leather black boots almost reached to his knees.

The dining hall had been prepared though it was normally exquisite in nature. A crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling as it always did. Larger than normal candles had been fitted into it for the occasion. A new dinner table had been brought into the hall especially for this affair. The surface made of laquered cherry wood and the legs of sturdy red oak.

The table had been set for a meal even though no meal would be eaten by their guest, Dutch and neither by his two hosts either. Food had been prepared for the mortals present. The strong aroma of roasted boar hung in the air. The dining hall had been prepared to look its best. The brothers meant to make a good impression with their esteemed guest. He was much advanced in years but appeared to be. Walter was highly impressed by Dutch while Augustus had already simply fallen in love with him. In what sense that love existed was not entirely yet apparent.

Against Walter's wishes, Maria was present at Augustus's side when Dutch was brought in to the dining hall. She had figured out that the brothers weren't like other people. She wasn't sure exactly what they'd become but she had a good idea that something beyond understanding was at work. Something she attributed to the devil or demonic forces. However that hadn't bothered her very much. Augustus had hinted of immortality. He had enigmatically dangled it in front of Maria. And made promises of bringing her over.

Dutch welcomed his hosts with a big warm smile. The brothers took him into the dinning hall but after some small talk at the big table they found it would be more comfortable talking in the den. There was a warm fire in the fireplace and comfortable couches to lounge on. After they settled in Walter asked Dutch if he would answer a question. Walter wanted to know how Dutch knew who they were, what they were. How did he know to find them on the river and why had he approached them there?

"I knew of you for weeks before. You see Walter, I am old. When you grow older your powers will increase. You will hear the thoughts of others. You will know things through hearing thoughts of others," Dutch explained calmly with a bright smile on his face.

Augustus pressed further. His eagerness showing he asked Dutch just how old he was, asking for the year of his birth. Dutch smiled at the young vampyr's boldness, ever patient and understanding.

"I was brought into the darkness when Islam had been born and established its caliphate across the mid east and into Persia. When the Bulgars had arrived in the Balkans to establish the Bulgarian Empire. It all seems like a long ago dream now, my dear Augustus," Dutch's smiling face had been replaced with a longing listless look.

"Ah so that makes you around 800 years old," Walter added with a look of amazement.

Dutch adjusted himself, setting up straight before he spoke. "Well you see while I am old it was my maker who was truly ancient. Born to darkness over 1000 years before Christ lived."

Augustus looked at Dutch with a look of bewilderment. Walter, skipping and stuttering over his words noted that Dutch had spoken of his maker in the past tense. Walter asked him frankly if his maker had perished somehow. Dutch looked impossibly bereaved at the question. He replied that his maker had been gone for 200 years. That his maker had an old quarrel with another ancient blood drinker. That other blood drinker had slain his maker. Walter plied for more details about the matter but Dutch would give no more details.

Dutch changed the subject. His powerful eyes moved away from the eyes of the brothers as if talk of his maker had somehow brought distance between them. Their guest went on for a while about practical matters. Things of which the brothers were mostly familiar with. The intimacy from before had been extinguished, put out like a fire that had warmed them on a cold night.

On Dutch went with blood drinker small talk. With casual conversation he continued. He was far from being the entertaining paragon he'd been les than an hour before. Walter picked up on this while Augustus was befuddled. Walter stepped in to give a distraction. It was time for refreshments.

Walter excused himself and rose from his couch. He called for the servants to bring out one of the vessels. The male prisoner had been perfectly subdued with opium. The woman they held had tired herself out with her hectic protesting. In addition she was too hung over to offer many objections.

Out came two servants carrying the intoxicated male prisoner. One was a loyal bodyguard and friend named Philip who'd been with the brothers for two decades. With tremendous strength he easily held the groggy man up with one arm. The prisoner's eyes could not stay open. He lowly hummed a song in slurred speech. Walter motioned to Dutch and asked him if he was hungry.

Dutch's response was not what either of the brothers expected. While Maria wasn't quite sure what was going on with the intoxicated man being brought out like a gift. Dutch shook his head at the gesture to feed on the man. He told Walter that the man was a slouch and he wasted his life on frivolous pleasures but that he was no murderer. Walter wasn't puzzled by this but Augustus was unsure. Dutch clarified it for him taking his face in his hands with Augustus's long black hair smooth against Dutch's ice cold pale hands.

"This one is no murderer, Augustus," Dutch went on carefully."I would not take his life. I would not take his life unless the man was a murderer or a vile rapist."

Walter looked ashamed. He instructed his servants to deliver the man back to the place where he had been abducted. As Walter was giving specific instructions, the man listening became upset and demanded he be allowed to stay! He had become fond of the opiate treats he had been fed in the last 24 hours. Against his wishes he was taken away to go back to his life.

Similar instructions were given to release the young woman who was also being held prisoner. At this Augustus made a minor protest being that he wanted to feed from her. Dutch used his considerable influence over Augustus to persuade him otherwise, promising to feed with him before the night concluded. Dutch promised to show him how to feed on the killers of society.

There was a quiet that came over the room. Candles were replaced by the servants. Wax scraped off the tin cups holding the candles. Augustus called forth a hired musician who brought with him his lute. Dutch gave the brothers an approving smile to assure them they had not committed some grievous sin. Walter would have breathed a sigh of relief if he still had breath. But his undead nature had stolen that away. Augustus was simply enchanted by this oldest vampyr he had ever met.

Dutch asked his hosts if they would like to hear the old tales. The old tales, he explained, came from his maker's makers. Going back to the earliest days of the Empire of the Undead, when such a thing existed. Walter, Augustus and Maria were all on the edge of their seats. This must be the good stuff! Those were the thoughts of Walter who never stopped loving history in any form. And here he was about to learn the history of his own kind. The early days of the blood drinkers. The Empire of the Undead.