The Frostwoven Crown (Book 4)

by Andrew Hunter

  No voice answered in the silence of his mind.

  Garrett sighed and wiped the cold sweat from his brow before drying his hand on his pants. Then he felt something hard in the hip pocket of his leggings.

  He pulled out the small white object and smiled to remember the sight of Claude’s face, missing the tooth.

  Then his mood chilled again, realizing that his feud with the vampire was far from over. It would only be worse the next time they met.

  Garrett had been lucky to survive the last confrontation. What chance did he stand if the young gaunt rider decided to seek vengeance for the injury? Why wouldn’t he seek vengeance?

  He considered going to Marla and asking for her help, but the thought of it shamed him. How could he ever hope to protect Marla from the vampire elders as he had sworn that he would? He couldn’t even beat a young one in a fair fight.

  He turned the white tooth over between his fingertips, feeling the sharp point of it pressing into his skin. His tongue probed the points of his own teeth as he considered the problem.

  A half hour later, he had scrubbed himself clean and dressed in the black silk suit that Master Jannis had made for him. It felt a little snug across the chest now, but still fit well enough. He pulled on his hood and headed out the door, taking a long look at the gray glow of the sun through the clouds before setting out toward the house of the vampire tailor.

  Garrett pushed his way through the busy streets of the Foreign District, trying to remember the location of Jannis's shop. He doubled back more than once before he was able to spot the unobtrusive little sign marking its location.

  Garrett rapped politely at the door and waited.

  A soft click sounded from beyond, and the door swung open. Garrett stepped into the gloom within.

  The door swung shut behind him, and Garrett offered his thanks to the wriggling shadow that quickly scurried away behind the counter.

  "Master Garrett," Jannis called from somewhere in the darkness, "What brings you to my parlor this fine, sunny day?" The vampire's voice sounded faintly despondent.

  "I... I wanted to ask you something, Mister Jannis," Garrett said.

  Something turned the valve on the shop's lamp, and the flame now burned bright enough to reveal the vampire tailor, slouched in a chair at a nearby table. A bulging wineskin lay draped across the center of the table, but it was not wine that oozed from its corked mouth to stain the table red. Jannis sat, dressed in a sleeveless black shirt with one pale arm draped across the back of his chair. A stained silver goblet dangled between the fingertips of his other hand, and he wore an expression of bemused idleness on his red lips. He crossed his long legs, pointing the toe of a snakeskin shoe toward Garrett as he regarded him with curiosity for a long moment before his lips curled back into a fanged grin.

  "What is it that you wanted to ask of me, Garrett?" he said.

  Garrett hesitated before speaking again. "How do I become a vampire?" he asked,

  Jannis's eyes widened and then lifted to the shadowy rafters above where Garrett thought he heard the faint buzzing of some insect. Then the vampire's eyes narrowed as he uncrossed his legs and sat forward, cradling the silver goblet between his hands.

  "I heard there was a bit of an altercation between you and young Master Claude yesterday," Jannis said,

  Garrett nodded.

  "And you are looking for a way to even the score?" Jannis asked.

  "No," Garrett said, "That's not the only reason."

  "What are your reasons then?" the vampire asked.

  "Marla," Garrett said.

  "Oh..." Jannis said, raising his eyebrows, "I see."

  "They're going to take her from me," Garrett said, "and I'm not strong enough to stop them from doing it."

  "And you think that, by becoming one of us, they would just accept your claim to her?" Jannis said.

  "It's not like that," Garrett protested.

  "What then?" Jannis said, "Explain your reasoning."

  Garrett lifted his hands. "They don't see me as an equal... because I'm not. I'm not strong enough or fast enough... I won't live as long as she will... At least if I was like you, like her... At least then I'd have a chance."

  "And you'd give up your humanity for this... for a chance?" Jannis asked.

  "Yes!"

  "You would give up the sun... give up the taste of food... watch your friends grow old and die?" Jannis stood up, setting his goblet aside, and took a step toward Garrett.

  "You told Uncle Tinjin it was worth it," Garrett said.

  Jannis shrugged. "It is," he said.

  "Then how do I do it?" Garrett asked.

  Jannis gave him a wicked smile. "I'm just not convinced that you understand what it is you are asking," he said.

  "I love Marla," Garrett said, "and I'll do whatever it takes to keep her."

  "Have you discussed this with her?" Jannis asked, "Does she get a say in any of this?"

  Garrett blushed.

  "You haven't, have you?" Jannis chuckled.

  "She wouldn't want me to do it," Garrett said.

  "Why?"

  "Because she loves me the way I am," Garrett said.

  "Then you are fortunate beyond measure!" Jannis laughed, "Go forth and be happy with what you have!" He gestured toward the door.

  "It's not good enough!" Garrett said, "It's not good enough, because they're going to take it away from me! They're gonna take Marla away, and there's nothing I can do to stop it! You know I'm right!"

  The smile drained from Jannis's face.

  "You know I'm right," Garrett repeated.

  Jannis's eyes fell.

  "They are going to take her back to the vampire city, and I'm never gonna see her again," Garrett said, his voice breaking with emotion, "There's no way to stop them from taking her back... but, if I can't stop them from taking her there, at least I can go there with her... I'd follow her into hell if I had to."

  "Hell?" Jannis mused, his eyes lifting to Garrett once more.

  "I will do whatever it takes to be with her," Garrett said, "I love her..."

  "Then prove it," Jannis hissed.

  Garrett blinked as the vampire's body blurred into motion. Jannis leapt high up into the rafters of the shop and landed in a flutter of silk and black hair on the floor in front of Garrett.

  Garrett, startled, took a step back, staring down at what Jannis clutched in his right hand.

  A coppery-colored fairy screamed in terror, trapped in the vampire's steely grip. Garrett's eyes went wide in recognition of the same fairy that he had freed from Mrs. Veranu's shop.

  "A friend of yours?" Jannis asked, lifting the fairy between them.

  "Uh... sort of," Garrett said, "I've met him before once or twice."

  The little fairy flared a brassy shade of rage, spitting Faeish curses at the vampire tailor.

  "Feisty little thing," Jannis mused, "Any idea why he was following you?"

  "I don't know," Garrett said.

  Jannis shrugged. "It doesn't really matter," he said, "but it does provide us with an excellent opportunity to test your level of commitment."

  "What?"

  "Kill him," Jannis said, holding the fairy out toward Garrett.

  Garrett stared up at the vampire in horror.

  "You want to be one of us?" Jannis sighed, "Then be one of us... Kill him."

  Garrett shook his head slowly.

  "What is it that you think we do?" Jannis asked. "There is a price for immortality, you know. A higher form of life requires a higher form of sustenance... Kill the fairy."

  "No," Garrett said.

  "What?" Jannis asked, cupping his free hand behind his ear, "I didn't quite hear that... weren't you just saying something about being willing to do anything for your love of the girl?"

  "This isn't right!" Garrett hissed.

  "What does that have to do with it?" Jannis scoffed, "You asked me about becoming a vampire, and yet you aren't ready to hear the truth!"

  "There has to
be another way," Garrett said.

  "You mean you'd rather just close your eyes and let someone else do the killing for you?" Jannis laughed, "Oh, yes, we have plenty of those back home. I know a few vampires that have lived for hundreds of years and never once used their teeth... never once pressed their fangs against a softly yielding throat... never once felt that crisp, warm burst of sweetness, filling their mouths..." Jannis lifted the struggling fairy toward his own glistening fangs.

  "No! Please!" Garrett gasped.

  "Oh, so you'd like to go first?" Jannis asked, holding the fairy out toward Garrett again.

  "Just let him go!" Garrett cried.

  "Why?" Jannis asked, "I thought you wanted to be a vampire... Didn't you want to be a vampire?"

  Garrett glared back at the pallid tailor and said nothing.

  Jannis looked down at the fairy, furrowing his brow. "You heard him say it, didn't you?" he asked the fairy, "He did specifically state that he would do anything to become a vampire, did he not?"

  "Let him go," Garrett said, his voice frosting the air between them.

  Jannis's eyes widened slightly and then narrowed again. "I believe I've exposed a nerve," he whispered.

  "Let him go, now, please," Garrett said.

  Jannis's grin flashed anew, and he bowed suddenly, the fairy clasped to his chest as the fingertips of his free hand swept the floor. "As you command, Songreaver!" he said. Standing erect, he tossed the fairy into the air with a flourish and watched him fly back into the shadowy rafters above.

  "How did you know?" Garrett gasped.

  Jannis grinned, "You just told me so," he laughed.

  "But..."

  "I've had my suspicions," Jannis said, wiping the fairy dust from his hand onto his trouser leg, "I've been watching young Lady Veranu quite closely for some time. There are very few details of her life that escape me for very long."

  "Why are you watching her?" Garrett demanded.

  "It is my job," Jannis said.

  "I thought you were retired," Garrett said.

  Jannis gave him a thin smile.

  "Who do you work for?" Garrett asked.

  "Interested parties," Jannis said, walking back to the table and uncorking the wineskin to pour himself another cup of blood.

  "Like the Valfrei?" Garrett asked.

  "No, the ones unlike the Valfrei," Jannis chuckled, taking a sip.

  "The vampires that Uncle Tinjin was friends with?" Garrett asked.

  "Some of them," Jannis said.

  "Can they help us?" Garrett asked.

  "Us?" Jannis said.

  "Me and Marla," Garrett said.

  "Ah... why should they?" Jannis asked.

  "Well, if they were friends with Uncle Tinjin, maybe they would help us now," Garrett said.

  Jannis chuckled and shook his head. "You inherited Tinjin's house when he left," he laughed, "not his reputation."

  "Well, what am I supposed to do?" Garrett sighed.

  "I haven't a clue," Jannis said with a shrug, "You've already proven yourself too squeamish to do things my way. I have no further reason to aid you at all."

  "Thanks," Garrett said dryly.

  "You're quite welcome," Jannis said, taking another drink.

  "I guess coming here was a waste of both our times," Garrett fumed.

  "Not at all," Jannis said, "I rather enjoyed the diversion, and I was able to confirm my suspicions about your little secret. You as well benefitted from the exchange."

  "How?"

  "Well," Jannis said, "not only did you learn that you were being followed by a rather foul-mouthed young fairy, you also discovered that your own sense of morality has resisted the influence of an ancient power within you, a power last wielded by a despotic madman... Perhaps this too we owe to Tinjin and the, undoubtedly, idealistic worldview that he fostered in you."

  "Are you going to tell anybody about it?" Garrett asked.

  "Of course," Jannis said, "I must report this to my employers. It's my job."

  "What about the Valfrei?" Garrett asked.

  "Oh, gods no!" Jannis said, choking on his blood.

  "Thanks," Garrett said.

  "I like you, Garrett," Jannis said, "I really do."

  "But you won't help me," Garrett said.

  "I am helping you, Garrett, believe me!" Jannis said, "There may come a day when you are ready to put aside your humanity and take up our dark mantle, but Garrett, can't you see? That's why she loves you... because you are human! Enjoy this time! Savor it, and remember it. Cherish it because it is fleeting! A hundred years from now, you may look back on these happy, simple days and smile. I envy you, Garrett, I really do!"

  Garrett frowned.

  "Don't be so ready to rush into immortality, Garrett," Jannis sighed. He crossed the room to put his hands on Garrett's shoulders. "There is time enough for tomorrow... don't let it rob you of this one, sweet today."

  Garrett hung his head and then nodded.

  Jannis patted his shoulder and then stepped away.

  "Any advice on how to beat a vampire in a fist fight?" Garrett laughed.

  "Ah... the Claude situation," Jannis said.

  "Yeah."

  The elder vampire looked thoughtful. "Are you willing to owe me a favor?" he asked with a wicked grin.

  "Sure," Garrett said.

  "Such a sweet, naive boy you are," Jannis chuckled.

  Garrett frowned.

  "Very well then, " Jannis said, "I will ask the young gaunt rider to deliver an urgent message back to Thrinaar for me with all haste. It just so happens that I have recently discovered something rather extraordinary and would inform my employers of it at once. I imagine that the flight and the subsequent delay while he awaits their response may keep him away for some months."

  "Thanks," Garrett said.

  "And, in that time," Jannis said, "I would suggest that you learn to master the power within yourself, if you can. Then Claude may return to find you quite a formidable opponent indeed."

  Garrett nodded.

  "Now go on," Jannis said, "Go eat some twigs, or whatever it is that you humans do with your time. You'll find that fairy sulking behind the flowerpots across the street, waiting for you. I suggest you find out why he's been following you." He walked away toward the half-opened open doorway at the back of the room.

  "Thanks," Garrett said, "I owe you one."

  "Indeed you do," Jannis said, looking back over his shoulder with a thin smile on his lips.

  Garrett waited until Jannis had disappeared into the back room before letting himself out. The gray haze of day burned his eyes as he stepped out into the street again, and the scent of flowers and exotic spices washed over him from the nearby cart of a naga herbalist. He smiled and nodded at the serpent-tailed girl and then walked across the street toward the rows of planters stacked in front of a weathered stone wall.

  "I want to talk to you," Garrett said, "Can you come out?"

  No answer came from the planters, and Garrett spoke again, in Fae this time, "Please come up. I would enjoy speak with you."

  He heard the buzz of fairy wings among the leaves and he frowned.

  "I know you are here. Please, I would speak." he said in the language of fairies.

  At once the brassy-colored fairy lifted from the flowers like an angry hornet, his fiery eyes blazing. He hovered and darted side to side as though he might fly away at any moment.

  "I am friend," Garrett said, "Please, we must talk."

  The little fairy darted close enough that Garrett could see the sneer on his face. "I'll talk," the fairy spoke in thickly accented Gloaran, "but, spare me yer butchery o' me mother tongue. Who taught ye to spake it, a boggle?"

  "A fairy," Garrett said.

  The brassy fairy raised his eyebrows and whistled. "A daft one it was that taught ye then, or yer no fair student at all."

  Garrett frowned, thinking better of saying anything in his own defense.

  "Come on then," the fairy said, waving for Garrett
to follow as he darted into a nearby alleyway.

  Garrett sighed and followed the fairy into the alley.

  "I'm guessin' the blood drinker sent ye away empty-handed," the fairy laughed as he lighted upon the iron railing of a second story balcony, high out of Garrett's reach.

  "Who are you?" Garrett asked.

  "I'll not hear you try an' fail to spake me true name, boy," the fairy laughed, "Just call me Shortgrass and leave it at that."

  "Shortgrass," Garrett said, "My name is Garrett."

  "That I know," Shortgrass said, his wings buzzing, "but what I don't know is how ye came to spake the Wyrd o' Breakin'. That I would know, boy. That I am keen to know."

  "I found it in the tomb of the Songreaver," Garrett whispered, glancing toward the street behind him.

  "Jus' lyin' around, unattended, was it?" Shortgrass scoffed, lifting his tiny hands in disbelief.

  "What do you want from me?" Garrett asked.

  "What do I want?" Shortgrass asked. He lifted his hands again and then jabbed his finger accusingly toward Garrett. "I want to know the Wyrd, ye thievin' shufflefoot!"

  "I didn't steal it!" Garrett said.

  "Nah, you jus' took it without askin', the same as any other thievin' shufflefoot that e'er lived!"

  "I don't know what you're talking about," Garrett sighed, "I didn't steal it. I just found where it was hidden and brought it back."

  "Give it to me then," Shortgrass said, "an' I'll see that it gets to where it needs to go."

  "It's not a word that I can tell you," Garrett sighed, "It doesn't work like that!"

  Shortgrass shook his head. "Listen, boy," he said, "I burnt what patience I had left in this sorry life, rottin' in that wee wire cage that yer blood drinker friends stook me in. I've got none left fer hagglin' with ye! Set yer price, an' ye'll have it!"

  "What?" Garrett asked.

  Shortgrass stood to his full height on the rail of the balcony and pointed at his thin chest. "Yer lookin' at a squire o' the Amber Court, boy," he said, "... low in me fortunes, I know, but me word is me bond. If it's gold ye want, I kin drown ye in the stuff!"

  "I don't want money," Garrett said.

  "Then what?" Shortgrass said, "Name it an' ye'll have it."

  "I just did it to help Lampwicke," Garrett said.

  Shortgrass stared at him, uncomprehending.