Chapter 13 Legends
The messenger tied the horse's bridle ropes to a post in front of the shabby inn in the outsides of the village in Argengau. He traveled thousands of miles from central Saxony to the region of Swabia. It was a tiring journey, more over when harsh cold weather and torrential rains announced that autumn had arrived. Yet, the man had a foremost mission to accomplish; a message to be delivered to Lord Bruce Von Dorcha, Count of Swabia. His daughter Leila, was not dead after all this time and she had been found in the Harz region. Geoffrey smiled, imagining the nobleman's reaction after being notified that Lady Leila was alive and safe in Harzburg, under the protection of the generous Lord Aelderic Cuthberht.
But Geoffrey needed first to rest a little before he resumed his journey. He was only a step away and already in the county, he would gather the information required to get to the Avon Dorcha's castle without further delays. Buckling his dagger to the waistband, the messenger entered into the rustic establishment. The inn's door flung open with a screeching sound alerting everyone of his arrival. Inside the establishment, the peasants beamed at him pry faces and not a single welcoming smile. Although they knew he was not an enemy, the foreigner was a stranger in that place, a stranger not to be trusted. Goeffrey's was a Saxon, and Saxons were not friends to most of the southern regions. The dangerous proximity of these boundaries to the Kingdom of France and the Iberian Peninsula made it hostile ground. By faith and by ethnicity and due to centuries of wars for the supremacy of the realms within the empire, the northern regions and the provinces from the south didn't share the most cordial relationship. Worst than that, Visigoth's blood prevailed in these parts and it was precisely this group who threatened the peace of the Germanic-Roman Empire.
"Good morning." Goeffrey greeted politely while all eyes were on him, scrutinizing and alert to every movement he made. The tall and blonde messenger swallowed a lump stuck in his throat and strutted, his hand open aligned to his dagger, keeping an eye on everyone.
"Good morning." A voluptuous young lady standing behind the counter of the bar was the only one to answer.
"Do you have some food and wine you can offer to this traveler?" Geoffrey asked the sensual woman as he approached to the tattered bar area and smiled. A smile was the best way to gain a woman's trust.
"I can offer to you cured lamb's ham, cheese and mead. Do you want some?" The woman asked moving around the counter with exaggerated cadence. Geoffrey studied her, impressed by her rustic beauty, but with reservations. Women are as dangerous as men... And even worst. But the woman neared, a confident grin on her face and it was hard to say judging the way the foreigner reacted, where exactly was Goeffrey staring; it could be either her pretty face or a pair of voluptuous breasts squeezing out the tight brown leather corset she wore.
"Yes. I'd like to order, thank you. Can you bring me the mead first, please?"
"Of course. My name is Saranah and I'll be back in a minute with your food", the woman turned around after giving the messenger a mischievous wink.
Goeffrey's sat and ate the delicious meat and gulped the cheap wine in a mouthful. The man thanked the woman for her attentions with politeness and she responded, leaning towards him with menacing sensuality. He couldn't take his eyes off Saranah's breasts as she sat next to him by the table. "And what is a Saxon doing in these parts of the empire? You've traveled a long distance to get here. A foremost reason you must have."
"I am a messenger. I come here sent by the duke of Harzburg to give a message to the Count of Swabia." Goeffrey replied. Getting the information he needed was going to be easier than he thought.
"You are talking of Lord Sigmund?" The woman inquired casually.
"I thought his name was Bruce... Bruce von Dorcha." Confused with the other count's name mentioned, the carrier replied. And if he was puzzled, Saranah's reaction was even more bizarre. Jolting back, the woman stood up, her face dropped with astonishment.
In the back, it was heard a glass shattering as it fell on the floor cracking in pieces. "What's going on here Saranah?"
"I'm afraid you've lost your time... Count Bruce Von Dorcha is dead." A man approached, his face sober and his voice grave.
Perplexed, Geoffrey faced the man. "Poor man... he must have died of grief believing her daughter was dead." Both, the peasant and Saranah, exchanged pry stares and it was easy for Geoffrey to read behind the lines. There was something strange going on. "Why do you keep silent? What's going on?" Geoffrey demanded an explanation.
"The Von Dorcha's name is cursed. To mention it is to invoke the devil." Saranah mimicked the sign of the Holy Cross repeatedly over her chest and to continue talking, lowering her voice. "The Von Dorchas were the masters of these lands more than a century ago. A family of witches and pagans. Their ancestors were converted to Catholicism when the Visigoth king Ptolemy decided to convert himself to the faith too. Lord Bruce was a very powerful and religious man, but they were condemned by tragedy. The legend said that Count Von Dorcha's only daughter suffered a terrible disease and died at the age of nineteen. Consumed by grief and frustration, Satan became a bad advisor and evil possessed the earl's heart. He blamed and cursed God's Name for the death of his daughter. Disowned, he repeatedly blasphemed the name of the Holy Spirit and all the Catholic Saints. The elders witnessed when he made a covenant with the devil. After a week of his daughter's death, the Count and his family were slaughtered along with the rest of the mansion's inhabitants... It was the young countess herself who had rose from the dead and blood thirsty, beheaded everyone with her own hands to drink their blood."
"Well, I think that perhaps I had mistaken the name of the family. I must say that what an incredible story you've just told me. I have some good legends now to tell when I get back to Harzburg... May I ask, what is the name of this devilish daughter you are referring to?" Geoffrey's tone was sarcastic.
"Leila... Leila Von Dorcha!" Saranah replied as she drew with her fingers the holy signal again and again.
Geoffrey opened his eyes wide. He couldn't believe what these two villagers were saying. That was impossible. He must have had mistaken the family's last name indeed.
"And... according to this legend, when did these events occur?" Still skeptical, the messenger inquired.
"A hundred years ago from now. The elders of the village, refer to her as a vampire." Saranah spoke almost in a whisper, she was obviously nervous and concerned of re-telling the implausible story she knew so well and feared the most.
"A vampire? I can't believe what you're telling me. It's totally absurd." Geoffrey was even more baffled than before. He thought and thought and finally continued with the conversation. "There must be a mistake... Maybe I'm in the wrong region. The woman you are telling me can't be the same that was found in my master's lands some weeks ago. Leila von Dorcha is alive, yet she could never have a hundred years!"
"For God's sake! What! You've seen that abhorrent creature? She's in your master's lands by this time, you'd said!" Saranah jumped out of the chair and hid behind the huge man that was standing next to her. The man reacted violently and showing more fright than madness, pulled out a dagger and wielded threatening Geoffrey. The messenger stood up slowly. His palms were open by the height of his chest and facing the man showing he was not there for a fight.
"Calm down! What happen to you! Put that dagger down my friend. I don't have any intentions to fight or to disturb you. I am as confused as you are." Geoffrey tried to calm the man whos hand was trembling as he aimed the pointy dagger to the messenger.
"Has she bitten you?" Saranah asked frantically from behind the man.
"No, wait...who? No one has bitten me. I don't understand why the question. I've only come to this town to tell the Count of Swabia his daughter Leila von Dorcha is safely sheltered in the castle of my master, the Duke of Harzburg. And all I got is a fable that says that the woman is a devilish creature who beheads people and drinks blood... Oh, and she died a century ago but now she roams on Earth like if nothing had happened to her! Forgive but I can't believe you. I'd better get going to ask somewhere else. I think you people drank too much wine." Geoffrey was about to leave the place upset, confused and frustrated when Saranah stopped him.
"You do not believe us traveler, do you? Come with me. I will show you something that will scare you to the bones... And you will believe us." Geoffrey and Saranah left the place. The messenger followed the woman closely with precaution to the outskirts of the village. He hoped he could unveil the mystery behind the enigmatic Leila von Dorcha. He prayed everything was nothing more than a fantastic story.
YOU ARE READING
Ardith - A Vampire Story (editing)
Vampire(Featured Story in Spanish) Ardith Cuthberht is the daughter of the powerful duke of Harzburg. When she was a girl she lost her beloved mother and as a grown lady the man she loved was sent to battle in far away regions. One day Ardith found a seve...
