Crimson Kiss

by Trisha Baker

  Meghann was shaking all over with revulsion. "But why didn't she tell the queen?"

  "Do you think she would believe that of one of her favorites? No, Isabelle had no allies at court, and Simon read any letters she wrote to her family first. And the depravity was only the beginning of his revenge. Isabelle was extremely suspicious when Simon took a sudden interest in Michael.

  "Naturally, everyone at court thought it was wonderful… said what an excellent stepfather Lord Baldevar was. He took the boy riding, taught him how to read… In short, he made the child adore him. This went on for four years. Simon simultaneously drained Isabelle of all her dignity while he made her son love him."

  "Why did he want Michael to love him?" Charles asked.

  Meghann answered the query lifelessly. "So it would hurt more when he killed him."

  "Excellent, banrion. When the boy looked upon Simon as a god on earth, he made his move. Oh, he was clever. What he did was 'accidentally' leave the boy alone in the stables. He knew Michael was enthralled with his stallion, Sulieman. A five-year-old could not control the horse, but the little boy's desire to ride overcame common sense—as Simon knew it would if the child got the opportunity. So Michael climbed on Sulieman. The stallion took off… Michael had no way of controlling the wild horse. Soon Michael was thrown off. It took a few days for him to die of his broken bones and internal bleeding. Two hours before he died, Simon visited the little boy, who joyfully cried out 'Papa' when he saw him. When Simon left the room, the child was sobbing as though his heart had broken. Within an hour after the visit, Michael died in his mother's arms."

  "Poor Isabelle," Meghann said softly, "now she had nothing."

  "Her mind broke. She appeared before Elizabeth, screaming wildly and incoherently of all Simon had done: Roger, Michael, the sick acts. Elizabeth declared the woman mad and had Simon flog her for uttering such filth in the queen's presence. Once Isabelle was able to rise from bed after the whipping, she hurled herself out the window of her bedroom and fell two stories."

  "Did she die?" Meghann asked.

  "It would be better if she had. No, the fall merely crippled her. She would never walk again. Simon arranged for her to be sent to their estate. Isabelle was utterly mad with grief, and most of the time, she was kept quiet with sleeping herbs. The servants cared for her as well as they could… eager for the day God would end her suffering. So most of the time she was kept calm… except when Simon came to visit. He would order her medication halted… He wanted her lucid when he tormented her with memories of her dead child. Then she began raving that Simon was a daemon. For she said he would hover over her bed in the air and display long, vicious fangs that he used to suck the blood from her."

  "Couldn't she be checked for bite marks?" Meghann asked.

  "Who around Isabelle cared enough to? Around the time Isabelle made those accusations, Simon fired the entire staff that had loved their lady and moved in new workers whose loyalty was to him alone. Their 'care' consisted of never changing Isabelle's linen and leaving her to lie in her own filth—per Lord Baldevar's orders. They never washed her either. She was not fed regularly—when I first saw Isabelle, I promise you she was unrecognizable as the woman in that portrait. What greeted me was an emaciated bag of bones. She was also covered in the same running sores I had not seen since the plague, when people did not bathe regularly, and she was losing her hair due to starvation. But the worst was her eyes—they sank into her skull."

  Alcuin stopped. Meghann and Charles both looked away; they knew that he was wiping away tears. Meghann wondered if Alcuin might have fallen in love with Simon's wife. When he spoke again, his voice was ragged with barely concealed sobs. "But I'm jumping ahead. First I should tell you of Simon's transformation."

  "Of course, Isabelle's tale of a bloodsucking creature was true," Meghann said.

  "Oh, yes. After she was banished from court, Simon was free to pursue even more women, and how the women of the court flocked to him. They fell in love with his looks and his wealth. Of course his reputation as a smooth, accomplished, virile lover spread like wildfire."

  Alcuin smiled with grim satisfaction. "But his reputation wasn't the only thing spreading through the court. After a few months, Simon became violently ill. In confidence, the court physician told him that he had the pox—or what we would today call syphilis. In a few months, he would go mad. After a few years, he'd be dead."

  Charles angrily muttered, "To die of venereal disease would have been a perfect end for Lord Baldevar."

  "Indeed," Alcuin replied. "Unfortunately, it wasn't to be. If anything would make me believe that Simon has sold his soul to Satan, it would be the many times he has managed to defeat death. For around the same time Simon received his death sentence, a new member of the court arrived—Nicholas Aermville."

  "A vampire?" Meghann asked.

  "Oh, yes," Charles informed her. "A homosexual vampire who was desperately lonely and completely infatuated with Simon."

  Meghann was perplexed. "But Simon's not—"

  "Why would that stand in his way?" Alcuin pointed out. "Banrion, Simon was a dangerous man. The rumors of sorcery were not idle gossip. He was heavily involved in the occult. Have you ever heard of Dr. John Dee, Elizabeth's astrologist?"

  Meghann shook her head.

  "A brilliant scientist and mathematician. He is best known for his interest in the occult, though. He left the court in 1583 in the company of Edward Kelly to tour the Prague Hradeany. Their alchemical experiments brought them the patronage of a Polish nobleman, Albert Laski. But he quickly became disillusioned with the pair and their empty promises. Eventually, Dee saw through his charlatan companion and returned to England in 1589, disgraced and impoverished. But he soon found a wealthy patron at Queen Elizabeth's court."

  "Lord Baldevar?" she guessed.

  "Indeed. Simon was never foolish. He knew that a pact with the Devil and drinking the blood of goats was for simple, backward people. But he saw the power in alchemy, Rosicrucianism, Enochian magic, the cabala. John Dee became one of his best friends at court… and the only person besides the physician who knew Simon was dying. And Simon confided that he had found a way to outwit death."

  "But," Meghann puzzled aloud, "I don't care if he studied the cabala backward and forward… He was still mortal. A vampire should have been able to see his thoughts."

  "Meghann, if his interest in sorcery did nothing else, it sharpened his power of mind through the constant meditation and lengthy rituals. And frankly, there are supernatural forces in the world. Aren't we proof of that? Who knows? Perhaps Simon did manage to conjure up a spirit or two through the Enochian Aires to help him. At any rate, you can see how dangerous Simon is—if even as a mortal he could fool a vampire into believing he was in love with him. Nicholas offered Simon a bargain—transformation in exchange for Simon becoming his lover."

  "So Simon slept with this man?" Meghann asked.

  Charles snorted. "Oh, no. The bargain was transformation first, sex second. First Simon claimed he could not possibly sleep with anyone when he was ill. Then, to further manipulate Nicholas, Simon told him that he wanted their lovemaking to be done when they were equals… not vampire and subordinate mortal. Nicholas agreed—"

  Alcuin interrupted. "Perhaps I should mention Nicholas was a novice vampire when he met Lord Baldevar. He had only been transformed two hundred years before—perhaps that's why he was no match for Simon and his friend Dr. Dee. All Nicholas did was bleed Simon and provide him with vampire's blood. Dr. Dee and Lord Baldevar worked out transformation all by themselves. How these two mortals managed the process I'll never know. But through some of John Dee's writings, I've pieced together that the transformation took fifteen days, with lengthy rituals and fasting. At the end, Simon was on the brink of death and John Dee was no better. That caught the court's interest—particularly when Simon was no longer seen by anyone during the day. John Dee had planned for Simon to transform him after he became a vampire, but watching t
he process of transformation changed his mind. He was far older than Simon, and he thought the experience would kill him."

  "What happened to Nicholas?"

  "Once he became a vampire, Simon slaughtered Nicholas," Alcuin said in completion. "It was at this point that I became involved with Simon Baldevar for the first time. Nicholas had been a vampire I tried to help. His immortality and his sexuality confused him. I begged him to accompany me to the New World in 1580, but he preferred to stay in Europe."

  "Why were you in the New World?" Meghann asked.

  "The Spanish were brutalizing the Indians. I set up a mission in Mexico. If the Indians were going to be forcibly converted, I wanted at least a few of them to receive some comfort from the church. One of my apprentices wrote to me describing Nicholas's murder and this horrifying new vampire who was shocking my circle with his heinous acts. When I saw the name Baldevar, it occurred to me that my sister, Mary, had married a John Baldevar in 1390. When I came back to England to deal with Simon, I did some research. It turned out Simon was my nephew, several generations removed. So I had a special interest in him—one, because he had killed my friend; two, because this evil spawn was of my own mortal bloodline. I felt it was my duty to rid the world of him."

  Alcuin poured the rest of the absinthe into his glass, Charles's, and Meghann's. "When I returned home, the first rumors I heard concerned Isabelle. I decided to go see the poor girl—see if I could help her." Alcuin paused and eyed the two young vampires. "Did it strike either of you as curious that Isabelle's care so utterly deteriorated?"

  Charles and Meghann exchanged blank looks.

  "Well, Master," Charles said haltingly, "I thought it was more punishment—"

  "To a degree, it was. And I also made the great mistake of assuming that. But no—another reason for Isabelle's neglect was that there was no one to look after her during the day." He let his words sink in.

  "No!" Meghann gasped. "You mean Simon's servants were all—"

  "Vampires. An entire estate—some one hundred people. That land was a vampire stronghold. Simon had gathered up as many small, evil people as he could find. Cutthroats, highwaymen, whores, the criminally insane—he transformed them. When I went to the estate, I could feel the evil ten miles away."

  Alcuin shuddered. "It took months to kill them all, but we had to. Such an abominable group could not live. They had practically bled the countryside dry—it would only be a matter of time before they inspired a true witch-hunt by the terrorized population. And in that battle, I lost many friends. I came close to losing my own life on a few occasions."

  "Where was Simon?" Meghann asked. "Didn't he defend his vampire haven?"

  "Simon wanted to see what the opposition could do. At first, I thought he was merely a coward. That was another mistake. At any rate, with the guard down, we were finally able to rescue Isabelle. Of course, her care had further deteriorated when the fiends became more concerned with saving themselves. She was dying, but we tried to give her some dignity. We bathed her… trying not to hurt her, for she was merely bones covered with abscesses when we found her. I told her I was a priest, and she begged me for extreme unction, which I performed. I also had to listen to her terrible confession, everything I have just told you. At that moment, I wanted to kill Simon… for completely destroying this young woman far before her time. I made a vow the moment she died… that he would die by my hand. For four hundred years, I have been trying to honor it. And at the moment I completed the rites, Simon appeared."

  Alcuin hurled his glass into the fireplace. "I will never forget the arrogance I saw on his face. He stared me down, asked why I dared to trespass on his property. When I explained our relationship to him, he didn't even express surprise. Simon truly had no fear of me; he laughed in my face. Told me I was as pious as his deceased wife and it was time for me to die."

  "What happened?"

  "For the first time in his young life, Simon met someone he could not overcome. Not that he didn't try. It took hours for me to subdue him, and I don't know that I could have if he'd had the remotest conception of my power. But finally some friends and I restrained him. We chained him up outside so the sunrise would kill him. We were going to behead him, but it was too near the dawn and we were battle-weakened. We had to flee into the darkness. And before the sun could end Simon's miserable existence, a human companion hiding in the village threw him into a closed carriage and sped away."

  "Who was the companion?" Charles asked.

  "Dr. Dee—the only person I believe Simon has ever respected. But our encounter frightened Simon. He retreated from Europe the next night. That did wreak havoc—my apprentices were able to seize all his property. Simon was a penniless outcast—in fear for his life. It took him nearly a century to recover his wealth."

  "Why didn't you track him down and kill him?"

  Alcuin sighed. "Banrion, I don't want to misrepresent myself to you. I am strong and have dealt with many adversaries over the years, but I cannot allow you to think I have some wonderful ability to murder Simon whenever I wish. He is the most powerful vampire I have ever encountered. Over the centuries, our situation has developed into a cold war—much like the one between the Soviet Union and America. We despise each other, but we do not attempt any acts of aggression because the cost would be too dear on both sides. Rather, I have spent several hundred years attempting to undo his evil deeds and waiting for an opportunity to slay him that would not cost an inordinate amount of bloodshed. So far, it has not happened. The only way to destroy him would have put far too many mortals and vampires I have promised my protection to at risk."

  "Do you think I killed him?"

  "I sincerely hope you did—that with one lucky accident, you managed what I have not been able to accomplish. But if you did not—then I have committed an act of open warfare. I have offered my protection to his consort—the chosen mother of his children."

  Meghann yelped. "What?"

  Alcuin smiled gently. "Did you forget I said Simon had two reasons for transforming you? Meghann, he still wants a son."

  "But… but…" she choked out, "I can't!"

  "Why not?" Alcuin paused delicately. "You do still—"

  "Huh? Oh! Oh, er… yes, I do," Meghann replied with the same strained delicacy. She remembered how surprised she had been that her menstrual cycle did not stop when she became a vampire. But it had undergone a radical change—it only occurred once or twice a year.

  Alcuin saw the shock on her face. "It's quite rare, Meghann. And extremely dangerous—for the mother."

  "So Simon took a chance that I'd be hurt?"

  "He did that when he transformed you," Alcuin informed her. "He did not put those manacles on because of his fear that you'd harm yourself—he had a far more pressing fear that you'd harm him. Transformation is quite dangerous, Meghann. Most people either die or go insane."

  "And then he took a chance that I'd become pregnant."

  "A remote chance," Charles chimed in. "Meghann, in almost two thousand years, we only have a handful of proven instances of vampire pregnancy."

  "What happened?" She wanted to know.

  Charles stared into the fire. "None of the mothers survived—all died from hemorrhaging. But who knows? Perhaps now that could be fixed. The last known pregnancy was in 1110."

  "And the children?" she asked.

  "Almost all of them were stillborn. Those that survived were terrible monstrosities, like the one who transformed me," Alcuin told her.

  "Then why does Simon want a vampire child? Why not have a child with a mortal woman?"

  "Mortals and vampires cannot reproduce. As for his desire for a child… Have you ever heard of the philosophers' stone?"

  Meghann shook her head.

  "Alchemists believed that there was a spirit that linked everything in the universe together. By subjecting raw materials to lengthy chemical processes, the alchemists believed they could reproduce the spirit of the universe into the philosophers' stone, or elixir
of life. The philosophers' stone would grant its possessor eternal youth, freedom from death and sickness, knowledge, power—the gifts a vampire enjoys. So Simon, alchemist that he was, decided the philosophers' stone was a metaphor for vampirism."

  "What does all this have to do with having a child?" Meghann asked.

  "Vampires are nearly invincible, Meghann, but for one flaw. They are powerless and vulnerable to attack during the day. Lord Baldevar and John Dee puzzled over this problem and decided that the elixir of life was diluted when it came into contact with mortal blood, producing a miraculous but flawed substance that led to a disease that made sunlight poisonous to vampires. Lord Baldevar decided the true power of the philosophers' stone could only be realized through the mingling of the blood of two vampires—when they created a child together."

  "So Simon thought the offspring of two vampires wouldn't be vulnerable to daylight?"

  Alcuin nodded. "But he also thought, at least according to John Dee's writings, that he could walk in daylight if he drank his child's blood."

  Meghann was aghast. "You mean he'd kill his own child?"

  "Oh, no, banrion. Lord Baldevar is far too much of an egoist to harm his own descendant. No, he thought a small portion of the blood—the same amount you need for transformation—would be enough to make him immune to the sun's power."

  Meghann stared into the fire before speaking. "Am I to understand that the reasons I'm a vampire are that I resemble a long-dead spouse, and I'm expected to give birth to the Antichrist?"