Vampire Wares pt 8

After the vampires had left, Lucian opened up the curtains, flooding the room with light.  He turned to look at Andrei and said with a small laugh, “You ought to be careful about Asha.  She normally wouldn’t hesitate to kill you.  Any different circumstances and you’d be dead.  I was afraid for your life for a second there.  I wasn’t sure if she could restrain herself.”

“If you two agree on this truce, though, she won’t be able to,” Andrei replied.

“She might be willing to risk it for your sake,” Lucian rejoined.

There was a knock on the door, and it was Beniamin, who Andrei admitted into the room.

“What do you think of this truce?” Lucian then asked.

“I don’t like it,” Andrei admitted, sitting back in his chair and looking up at Lucian.

“Of course you don’t,” Beniamin merrily chuckled, “You might as well ask Cornel if he wants to ban metal, or ask the bees if they want to forego their nectar.”

“I admit it might be good for the village.  If the vampires don’t break the truce, that is.  But, I don’t trust them to do that,” Andrei said, settling back into his chair and rubbing his beard with one hand.  He then added, “And Vasile told me this morning that he thinks the vampires are in decline.  My intuition tells me he’s right.  It seems to me that with a concerted effort we could wipe them out.  I think that’s the only way I can trust they’ll keep their agreement, if they’re all gone.”

“You don’t trust them because we’ve always been at war.  They’ve never had a chance to prove their trustworthiness.  If we give them a chance, I think they will show their true worth, and they will show that they are human.  They are as much human as we are.  And they can cooperate, especially if it for something that will benefit us and them alike,” Lucian pontificated, in his usual politician’s voice.

“They depend on us for food,” Andrei disagreed, “They are not going to give us up.”

“They can live on other meat and other blood.  They can eat cattle and sheep like us,” Lucian said

“We’ll have vampire shepherds then?” Beniamin laughed, “Leading their sheep to pasture?  That’ll be a sight to see.”

Andrei told Lucian and Beniamin that he had to get back to his shop.  He left the town hall and approached the door to his store to unlock it.  A customer was already waiting in front, an oldish woman with poor posture.

“My apologies,” he said deferentially to her as he quickly opened the door and let her in. “I just had to discuss some very serious political matters with Magistrate Lucian.  I hope you weren’t waiting long.  What can I do for you?”

<-- Go to Part 7         Go to Part 9 -->

You can see what's been written so far collected here.

After the vampires had left, Lucian opened up the curtains, flooding the room with light.  He turned to look at Andrei and said with a small laugh, “You ought to be careful about Asha.  She normally wouldn’t hesitate to kill you.  Any different circumstances and you’d be dead.  I was afraid for your life for a second there.  I wasn’t sure if she could restrain herself.”

“If you two agree on this truce, though, she won’t be able to,” Andrei replied.

“She might be willing to risk it for your sake,” Lucian rejoined.

There was a knock on the door, and it was Beniamin, who Andrei admitted into the room.

“What do you think of this truce?” Lucian then asked.

“I don’t like it,” Andrei admitted, sitting back in his chair and looking up at Lucian.

“Of course you don’t,” Beniamin merrily chuckled, “You might as well ask Cornel if he wants to ban metal, or ask the bees if they want to forego their nectar.”

“I admit it might be good for the village.  If the vampires don’t break the truce, that is.  But, I don’t trust them to do that,” Andrei said, settling back into his chair and rubbing his beard with one hand.  He then added, “And Vasile told me this morning that he thinks the vampires are in decline.  My intuition tells me he’s right.  It seems to me that with a concerted effort we could wipe them out.  I think that’s the only way I can trust they’ll keep their agreement, if they’re all gone.”

“You don’t trust them because we’ve always been at war.  They’ve never had a chance to prove their trustworthiness.  If we give them a chance, I think they will show their true worth, and they will show that they are human.  They are as much human as we are.  And they can cooperate, especially if it for something that will benefit us and them alike,” Lucian pontificated, in his usual politician’s voice.

“They depend on us for food,” Andrei disagreed, “They are not going to give us up.”

“They can live on other meat and other blood.  They can eat cattle and sheep like us,” Lucian said

“We’ll have vampire shepherds then?” Beniamin laughed, “Leading their sheep to pasture?  That’ll be a sight to see.”

Andrei told Lucian and Beniamin that he had to get back to his shop.  He left the town hall and approached the door to his store to unlock it.  A customer was already waiting in front, an oldish woman with poor posture.

“My apologies,” he said deferentially to her as he quickly opened the door and let her in. “I just had to discuss some very serious political matters with Magistrate Lucian.  I hope you weren’t waiting long.  What can I do for you?”

<-- Go to Part 7         Go to Part 9 -->

You can see what's been written so far collected here.

Vampire Wares pt 8