Blood-Born

Chapter XV - Praetor's Consent

"They say that kings are made in the image of God. If that is what he looks like, I feel sorry for God."

- Frederick II of Prussia

The Farm

Augustus Poe recognized the familiar feel of a pained hangover from far more experience than even he might have cared to admit.

When he rolled over on his back he was surprised to discover bruised and mending bones among his ribs after they had objected to the movement.

Flicker of light danced across a curtained cover above him as he began to recall exactly where he was and why.

LaRouchette's quarters...

With a wince he pushed himself up on his elbows, mystified to have discovered both wrists wrapped in cotton and silk along with more that bound snug against his throat.

He groaned in recognition of what they clearly implied.

A vampire had fed from him...

Several other soft aches elsewhere told him there would be yet further injury to be revealed beneath the sheets.

"Leave them be, I will check them later." Abby's voice called out before she appeared and set a tray on the bed next to him.

With great care so as not to spill, she poured from the pot into a cup which she handed to him.

When he frowned at the repugnant smell, she shook her head.

"Just drink it; you will need the energy while you recover. Don't make me feed it to you. You know that I can and you know that I will ... if I have to."

Carefully he began to sip the god-awful contents as instructed before he drank it down in full and placed it on the platter.

The molten mix burned horribly as it burrowed its way through his system.

"Let me guess, there was a fight of some sort?" He asked in muddled confusion before he lay back to rest his head upon the soft pillows where he suffered through blurred and refocused vision while sharp pain of hangover lanced through his head like a bolt of uncontrolled lightning.

"Of a sort; but before we get into all that, tell me ... what exactly do you remember of it?" She appeared to study him as a doctor would, the soft cool back of her hand against his cheek as she turned his head one way and then back the other under close inspection.

"I remember ... the Indians ... Eve and Adam ... and you along with Deer, but Clementine wasn't with us ..." He winced as the storm continued in his head, "... I was unable to sleep while I waited so I decided to check out his bath ... if you can call that monstrous pool a bath."

"Nothing more...?" She asked evenly, her eyes sharp on him.

She turned to pour more of the foul liquid into the cup and reached to press it to his lips as he sat forward to drink his fill and then lay back.

"For some reason I remember the tiles at the bottom of the pool and steam from the calm surface of the water but other than that ... not much else, except a lot of muddled nothings that make no sense to mention in any detail whatsoever."

Abby nodded with a polite smile as she stood and walked to a nearby basin where she fetched a wet cloth from a bucket that she rinsed before she returned to dab it across his forehead and then gently washed his face.

Poe made a fist with one hand as he tried to regain control of his focus.

"Abby tell me what the hell happened, from the bandages and your clear concern for me, one could hazard a guess that there was some sort of attack by a vampire and since I'm still alive it either went well or ..."