convinced of that."
"How can you doubt it?"
"Because in a democracy everyone is free to speak his or her mind without fear of punishment. Just because he disapproves of us doesn't mean he actively seeks our destruction. If you can't accept that, maybe I should put you back in that sarcophagus. Am I clear?"
"Crystal, My Master. But things were much simpler when I ruled Wallachia."
"Hmph. I wish I had that luxury, but I don't. Never mind that, back to business. I need you to probe his mind."
"About time."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You should have ordered that in the beginning."
"Perhaps, but at that time I had no reason to."
"It would have saved time and aggravation."
"What I said about freedom of thought goes for privacy as well. I will not violate anyone's right to his own secrets unless I have reason to believe he poses a threat. Do you understand?"
"Yes, My Master. So, what has changed?"
"I need to know if there is any reason other than his opposition why the nurse would name him. Can you probe him without his knowing?"
"No, but I can erase his memory of the event."
"What of his mistress?"
"I can cloud her mind so that she is unaware of anything happening."
She shuddered, but she was more angry than frightened. "I'm not sure I like the sound of that. Are these more examples of your Dark Arts knowledge?"
"They are."
"Would you do either to me?"
His expression turned grave. "No, that would be a violation of my oaths."
That piqued her interest. "What oaths?"
"When Old Abraham conquered me and took me defend his Bloodline, he made me swear three oaths upon the Bible?"
"You can touch the Bible?"
"Of course, Master. I happen to be very religious."
"Yes, of course. My apologies."
"You need never--"
She felt her temper flare. "Skip it! Tell me about these oaths."
"The first is that I would never harm, or through inaction allow harm to befall, any member of the Bloodline. The second is that I would obey all orders of a member of the Bloodline, provided such orders did not violate the first oath."
"That's why you refused my order not to harm Aelfraed when he tried to inject that poison."
"Just so. The third and final oath is that I would protect myself at all costs, unless doing so violated the first two oaths."
"You told me the other day, that you do not obey laws."
"Laws are rules imposed by an outside agency under the coercive threat of force. An oath is a promise voluntarily made. I swore upon my honor, and I would not break my word to save my own life." He managed to sound miffed.
She could understand his conviction, and yet..."How do I know you're telling the truth?"
"If you ever come to doubt my word or sincerity, you may put my back in that sarcophagus."
She felt that he was sincere, and it occurred to her that he knew of her misgivings and was trying to allay her concerns. She decided to take him at his word.
For the time being.
"Hmph. Fair enough. Very well then, tomorrow I want you to probe his mind to find out if there is anything that could pose a threat to anyone other than myself and the Order, but don't hurt him! Understand?"
He gave her a deep bow. "Your wish is my command, Sir Differel."
"Excellent. Before you go back, however, there is one more thing I'd like you to do. Stay here; I'll summon you when I need you."
"Of course, My Master."
She opened the door, and wheeled out and down the hall to the family elevator. She rode it up to the third story and moved out into the family passage, then through the grand hall and the solar into the east wing. Three guards stood in the hall outside a guest suite, and Aelfraed stood with them.
"Wheel me inside," she said to him, "but don't interfere. Understand?"
He returned a quizzical look, but nodded. "Of course, Madam." He came around behind her and pushed her forward as one of the guards unlocked and opened the door.
She found the nurse sitting in a chair in the sitting room, watching television. She switched it off and stood up as soon as Aelfraed cleared the door. It seemed to Differel that she was nervous.
"My apologies for not visiting you sooner." Aelfraed closed the door. "Are you comfortable? Have my people been taking good care of you? Do you have everything you need?"
"Yes, I'm fine, everyone's been quite kind."
"Good. I wanted to inform you that we've been able to verify your story."
She displayed great relief.
As if she was afraid we would have mucked it up.
"Then you'll be moving me soon?"
"I'm afraid not."
She started and looked shocked. "What?! But you gave your word!"
"On condition that, among other things, you help us secure proof. We verified that the man you described was an aide to a counselor; we verified that he was in Denver at the same time you were. However, we have been unable to verify that you two actually met at a cafe. My agents questioned the managers and employees of every restaurant, cafe, teahouse, and public house in Denver and no one can put you two together. In fact, none were even able to identify you or him from photographs."
"I can't help that--"
"Yes, you can. Give me the receipt."
"I didn't keep it; I didn't think I'd need it."
"Then what was the name of the cafe? Which street was it on? Who served you? What did you eat? How much did you tip?"
"I don't remember!"
"There are only a handful of places in Denver, surely you should remember the name."
"I can't!"
"What shops were nearby?"
"I don't know!"
"You went there to shop; where did you go?"
"It's all a blur!"
"What did the cafe look like--"
"Stop it! Stop it!"
The nurse turned away and Differel fell silent. Though frustrated, she wasn't surprised. It just confirmed to her that she was probably lying.
"I warned you that I had the authority to question you if I felt it was necessary. Vlad,"
He appeared in a spectacular burst of shadow, complete with electropyrotechnics and sound effects.
"Madam," Aelfraed began, "I--"
She threw him an angry glance. He jumped, but then smiled and nodded. "My apologies."
The nurse was staring at Vlad with an ashen, horror-stricken face, while he grinned at her in a wolfish manner.
"Vlad, she has information I need. Without physically hurting her, get it from her."
"My pleasure, Master." He advanced on her.
"What--what are you doing? Stop! You can't--you can't do this!" She retreated as he closed on her, and her expression turned more terrified. "No! Get away from me! Get away! Call him off! For the love of God, please, call him off!" She collapsed in the chair and tried to curl up into a fetal position as she covered her face and head with her arms.
"Vlad. Stand down."
"Yes, My Master." He managed to sound disappointed.
She rolled closer to the chair. "Tell me the truth, or I'll have him extract it from you molecule by molecule."
The nurse dropped her arms and stared at her with a defeated look. "It wasn't Lord Stadford that ordered your death, but Sir Edward Penbryn."
"How do you know?"
"He recruited me personally in London, and on the day of the assassination he sent me a fax, instructing me to go to Denver so as to establish a connection with Stadford."
"And why would he want me killed?"
"He wants control of Dracula. With you dead, he would take over the Order and claim the Vampire."
"Why incriminate Lord Stadford?"
"If I was caught, I was to blame him so Penbryn could use my testimony in Council to get Stadford struck off. Otherwise he planned to eliminate him at a later date."
"And proof?"
"I was instructed to burn the fax, but I saved it, as insurance. You will find it in my old room, under the mattress."
She nodded. "Very well, we'll look into it, but if this is another lie, I'll let Vlad finish what he started. Let's go, gentlemen."
Aelfraed wheeled her out as Vlad followed, and one of the guards closed the door.
"Aelfraed, check out this new claim."
"Yes, Madam."
"And Aelfraed, just so you know: I don't believe a word of it."
"Frankly, Madam, neither do I."
She gave him a grim smile. "Then find the flaw."
"Right away, Director." And he went off into the solar.
"Take me to my room; I need to lie down. Then you can return to Stadford."
"Yes, My Master." He pushed the chair down the hall towards the solar.
"Just out of curiosity, what did you do to her?"
"I showed her her deepest fear."
"Hmph. When this is over, you and I will need to have a talk about these 'Dark Arts' and your other powers."
"My pleasure, Master."
The next day, Differel tried to keep herself busy, to take her anxious mind off waiting for news from Vlad. After physical therapy and studies, she put in some knife and stick fighting practice, followed by playing a few pieces of music on her cello. When everything else failed, she could count on that to soothe and calm her.
Being Sunday, the kitchen staff would be serving Sunday roast early afternoon, so she skipped lunch. Mandy had preferred afternoon tea over dinner and she had picked up that habit from her, but every Sunday she had shared roast with her father. She had decided to continue the tradition as a way to honour his memory. Besides, that day's roast would be a special occasion.
She took a break when Aelfraed brought her morning cream tea, and because he had a report on the nurse's latest story, she asked him to join her.
Aelfraed poured as she spread clotted cream on half a scone. "The fax checks out. It was received on one of the infirmary fax machines and I managed to trace it back to Sir Edward's private residence."
She often wondered how a man who had never been to college, never worked for a technology company, and never been in the military, knew how to do things like that, as well as handle Sykes-Fairbairn daggers like a juggler handled batons. Once when she asked, though, he had politely told her to mind her own business, and she had let it drop.
"However, based on our mutual suspicion, I dug a little deeper. I spoke with Stevens, and she confirmed that while he had been in that day at that hour, he was engaged in other business the whole time and was not able to send a fax."
Differel knew that Stevens was Sir Edward's Negro female majordomo.
"She has agreed to have his fax machine and line checked out for possible tampering, but without telling him for the time being. However, she doesn't believe she can learn anything definitive until tomorrow at the earliest."
"Is it possible to determine if the fax really came from his machine?"
"Yes, up to a point. I have Mr. Mannering comparing the fax the nurse received with others we've received, to see if they match. It's much like examining typewritten pages for details unique to each design of typewriter, though we are hampered by the fact that the pages were printed on one of our machines rather than his."
"I understand."
"However, I have been able to verify that it did come over his land line. Now we just need Stevens to tell us how it was done, if she can."
"So once again we have a lot of circumstance but no concrete evidence."
"I'm afraid so, Madam."
"Very well, keep at it."
"I also have something to report on that...other matter you asked me to look into."
That caught her by surprise. "So soon?"
"Yes, Madam, but unfortunately my report is negative. There are no official records describing what happened or offering a motive as to why it occurred. I will, of course, keep searching; the records may have been misfiled, or there may by unofficial personal recollections, such as diaries. But for the time being, I fear there may be nothing to find."
"Why?"
"I can only speculate, but something of this import might have been considered too sensitive to make official. There is also the possibility that your family wanted to keep it a secret even from the Order and Her Majesty's Government."
She sighed. "I see. Thank you for trying, but I wouldn't spend much more time on it. Oh, and could you