Chapter 23 #2
“Yes, it will be. I have asked Joseph to gather everyone two hours before dawn in the Ossuary. Do you think Elspeth or one of your other friends would be content to sit with Fletcher? I would like to introduce you as my wife.”
“I think I can prevail upon Elspeth again,” Genevieve murmured.
“Thank you.”
“Is that all right with you, Fletcher?” she asked.
“Suppose so.” The boy eyed Kendrick. “What are you doin’?”
“We’re going to be making a change to the way reavers behave in London,” Kendrick said. “Making a change to many things. I’ll find you when it’s time, Jenny. You have plenty of time to make friends with the dog.” So, he hadn’t missed the lump under the covers. “Has it a name?” he asked Fletcher.
“Wulfric. Out o’ the book.”
Kendrick chuckled. Genevieve broke into a wide smile at the thought of the faithful friend of Sigestan living on in a dog, also a faithful friend.
“What a wonderful thought, Fletcher. If you learned your letters, you could read all manner of stories in time,” Genevieve coaxed, reaching for the book on the bedside table.
“Shall I show you a few and then read another chapter?”
“Suppose that would be all right, missus,” he said, his eager eyes belying his blasé words. “What am I to call you now?”
Genevieve looked up at Kendrick. “Well, we haven’t really discussed it. But I don’t think it would be too improper for you to call me Miss Genevieve for now.”
“And you’re all right with watching him?” Genevieve asked Elspeth again as the time drew close for the assembly Kendrick wished to hold.
“Yes, of course,” Elspeth said. “He’s asleep, anyway. And you’ll be back before dawn—at least I expect so.”
“That is the plan.”
“What is Kendrick going to say?” Elspeth asked.
“Truth be told, I’m not entirely sure,” Genevieve said. “I will give you a full report when we return. Or I’m sure Robbie will as well.”
“He volunteered to keep me company, but I told him to go and hear the news in person,” Elspeth said, a lopsided smile on her face.
“That was sweet of him.” Genevieve studied her face. “Is everything all right, Elspeth?”
Her friend looked up from the lacework in her lap. “Yes, of course. Why?”
“I… I suppose it feels like things are moving so quickly, and…we’ve spent the last two decades together, for the most part. I wasn’t sure if you felt similarly strange.”
Elspeth’s mouth trembled for a second, but then her smile steadied. “It is strange, and change is hard, but I am happy for you, truly.”
“And I spoke to Kendrick—he offered rooms for you and Sparrow here, once we have more of the house furnished. There are floors and floors of them, after all. You don’t have to return to the Ossuary.
” Genevieve raised her eyebrows at her friend.
“I believe he’s planning to offer residence to Robbie and Joseph as well. ”
Elspeth licked her lips. “How kind. And just think—we won’t have to bother with packing.”
When Kendrick came looking for her, he found them holding on to each other, trying to muffle their laughter, lest they wake Fletcher and the dog.
Looking out at the sea of vampires squeezed into the main room of the Ossuary, Genevieve realized just how many vampires there were in London, and just how many were trapped underground. “Is this everyone?” she whispered to Etienne, who waited beside her.
“It’s everyone we could pinpoint as crucial or influential, and then everyone else we could get word to. Some of us will be appointed to carry the word and make sure everyone hears in the coming days.”
“And…do you know exactly what we are to hear?” Kendrick had asked her to come and stand with him when she heard her cue. But he had neglected to mention what that cue was.
“Exactly? Non. But I have an idea.”
Kendrick looked at their knot of people—Etienne, Addie, Joseph, Robbie, Dominic, and a few other vampires she did not recognize—at the head of the room.
He nodded to them and then ascended the dais.
The crowd, which had been murmuring and humming with tension and speculation, hushed.
She could have heard an inhaled breath. But they were all vampires, and they did not breathe.
Kendrick looked out upon the sea of assembled vampires, studying their faces. Finally, he spoke.
“My name is Kendrick. I was born sometime between the Romans leaving Britain’s shores and the Normans arriving.
I lived under the sun thirty-odd years before dwelling in the dark until now.
I killed Rupert, and so I gained his position and property, and by precedent, that made me Master of the Ossuary.
But I don’t wish to be your master. You are not my serfs or slaves.
You are my people, and I would rule justly, for the betterment of all.
“Kings, in days long past, did not just receive tribute from vassals. They exchanged oaths with those under them. In return for oaths of loyalty and service, kings vowed to provide security, justice, help in need. If kings broke those oaths, it would absolve their vassals of their oaths as well.”
He turned to glance at Genevieve, and she stared at him, breathless. He swung the sword from his shoulder and ran the blade along his arm, wetting the blade with his blood. He set his hand on it.
“This oath I make to you now, as your lord: I will provide security and protection for all vampires under my rule. I forbid all wrongful deeds of murder, robbery, and abuse, no matter their station, and will forswear those who commit them. And I will provide justice and mercy in all judgments…so that, when we are given our final judgment at the end of the world, we may acquit ourselves honorably.” He looked over at Genevieve once more.
A shiver ran down her spine. She nodded a little and gathered her skirts to ascend the dais. She was glad she had let Elspeth talk her into the second fine dress, green and glowing in the lamplight, which only had elbow-length sleeves.
“Do you vow the same, my wife?” Kendrick asked in a carrying voice.
A susurrus of whispers swept the crowd.
Genevieve unbuttoned her glove and let it drop before copying his motion to wet the sword with her blood.
She set her hand on the blade. “This I vow to the inhabitants of the Ossuary: to speak and advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves, to protect the lowly, to make a better life for all vampires so we may enjoy true peace, that the gracious and compassionate God who lives and reigns may grant us all His everlasting mercy.”
“Have I not chosen well?” Kendrick said, eyes still on hers. “Your queen has future vision for her people, even in the dark.”
Genevieve smiled.
“Hail Kendrick and Genevieve, first King and Queen of the Ossuary!” Etienne called in a loud voice. “Hail!” Joseph and Robbie took up the call, and soon much of the room was chanting it. Genevieve leaned against Kendrick’s side to hide her trembling.
He held up his hand. “Who will exchange oaths with me?”
Joseph stepped forward and knelt, slicing his hand and laying it on the outstretched blade.
He spoke in a voice that carried to the far corners of the room: “I will to Kendrick be faithful and true, loving all that he loves and shunning all that he shuns, according to the law of God and the custom of the world; and never by will or by force, in word or in deed, will I do anything that is hateful to him; on condition that he will hold me as I deserve and will furnish all that was agreed between us when I bowed myself before him and submitted to his will.”
“Kings in my time were known as givers of rings,” Kendrick said, reaching for the pouch at his waist. “Take this ring as a sealing of the oaths between us.” He proffered the gold band in his free hand. Joseph took it and slipped it on his bloody finger.
“Who else will exchange oaths with me?” Kendrick called.
The cavern echoed with the cries. “I!”
“I will swear!”
“I!”
“You should’ve seen it, Elspeth,” Genevieve whispered.
“I know it wasn’t everyone, but a good number—so much so that blood started to pool from where it dripped off the sword.
He gave out nearly all the rings he had forged.
He’s going to make more, for future,” she added.
“And afterwards, he set out the main dooms for the Ossuary: that anyone who kills a fellow vampire or a human shall be punished with death, but those who go mad and have not killed shall be offered a chance to regain their sanity. That those who have been abused can petition us for protection and aid, and they can bring their abusers to justice. And he has promised to improve the living conditions of the Ossuary. Kendrick and Joseph are meeting to discuss opportunities for the Ossuary to employ people and give them support.” She shook her head.
“It’s more than I dreamed. And I can do all of that on my own, just as he promised. ”
“No one objected, as you feared?” Elspeth asked.
“We heard reports of mutterings afterwards, which I expected, but no one openly challenged it.” Genevieve lifted her head. “I think this really is the start of true change.”
“I can scarcely believe it,” her friend whispered.
Genevieve squeezed her hand. “It’s nearly dawn. Thank you for all your help these past days. I’ll keep watch over Fletcher. Why don’t you pick out a room for your own?”
Elspeth returned the press and slipped out of the room.
She sat there for a while, soothing the puppy when it roused to wakefulness and watching the boy breathe. He was bouncing back at a quick pace; the blessing of youth, Joseph had said. But he was still thin and undernourished. She started her mental list.
New clothes for Fletcher, and teaching him to read to keep him from mischief.
Furniture for the empty rooms.
A place to begin receiving guests and hearing petitions.
Meeting more of the vampires who did not live in the Ossuary. She didn’t know many of them. How many did Kendrick know? They would need to call on them and make sure that they knew they were not exempt from the new laws. Perhaps a census?
Settling those who were alone or without defenders into families or support networks to look out for each other.
They would need some way to handle daylight deliveries and callers, Genevieve knew. She wasn’t sure how others managed that.
And she’d need to inform Sally that she wouldn’t be able to look after the children anymore.
Genevieve’s pang of regret was stronger than she’d expected.
She would miss them greatly, and it would certainly put a strain on Sally and the other women.
Tomorrow, she’d have to speak with her and perhaps find another solution beyond just tendering her resignation.
“Still awake?” Kendrick murmured from the doorway.
“Just thinking. There’s such a lot to do,” she said, looking at him over her shoulder.
“Are you going to stay up with the boy?”
“I had thought to,” she admitted.
“You won’t fall asleep?”
She peeked through her lashes at him. “Not if someone were with me.”
Kendrick pulled up a chair beside her and took her hand, raising it to his lips. “Thank you for tonight.”
“I didn’t do so very much.”
“You gave me the eyes to see, and the hope for something better. I think whatever light may dawn upon us is all due to you, my wife.”