Monsieur Xelvos should not let me leave his sight, an insistence instead that for my safety I remain at his Suite during the night hours and that during the day I confine myself to the area immediately surrounding the Governor’s Hotel, which regrettably has put paid to any excursion on the outskirts to calm my mind. I confess that I do not fully comprehend as to whose benefit this should be for, as it is my understanding that as long as the sun remains within the sky, the creature is powerless to act, it’s abhorrent deeds committed only under cover of darkness at a time when I am safely within my bed. There is part of me which sees his concern as the endearing, protective instinct of a fiancé, but then when we are apart, I see it more that he simply wishes to keep me under control, caged as some animal for his own gratification, selfishly kept apart from others as his own hoarded, treasure with a firm, selfish hand. I may see it within his eyes on occasion; The flickering sense of greed at how much of my wealth he may snatch from me before I am discarded as another of his conquests, no doubt. Perhaps he knew of my worth and saw me as Wallis Pomery-Dumont, that odious philanderer, had some years prior; As voiceless decoration upon his arm, to be seen and not heard. He has been absent upon his business with the Katayama as I write this, no doubt settled in the arms of some paramour in some distant land, cackling at my misfortune but how little he should know of me. For I have many willing admirers already, ones who shun me in the company of others and yet covet me when we are alone and I will pre-emptively shatter his heart to pieces should I feel he betray me. Stop this! Why can’t you just be happy and accept his love for the wonderful gift that it is?
Though ‘Xel’ assures me that we are stable financially for the moment, I cannot help but feel redundant, useless, unable to contribute to our success, and whilst I suffer still from minor exhaustion, I must put my mind to good use lest I lose it completely. I have therefore placed my application in for employment as “Valet Personel”, a secretarial role that offers an admirable remuneration package, for a new enterprise, and this very evening I meet with the proprietor of the Blackburn Fur Trading Company, ‘Roderick Blacksdale’. I shall not be bled dry of coin whilst I have strength enough within my bones to earn it, to work as any other, to simply be ‘normal’. Is it so much to ask for one who tries so much, tries so hard? And fails are every turn. Just take it. Take it all from them, both peasant and parasite alike, name it as a reward.
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Blacksdale was committed to his business ventures elsewhere during the daytime when offices were staffed and the machinery of bureaucracy ran unhindered, though even these soulless bureaucratic cogs would need to oil themselves at a tavern at the close of the day. I had not informed Xel of the interview as it was to be held just after dusk, mercifully at a nearby tavern in the Quartier Savant, as I knew that he would fret and panic needlessly for my safety, and this overbearing coddling could see my chances scuppered from the outset. As quickly as this vampire ‘Claude’ had begun his reign of terror he had now curiously ceased, and speculation was that he had satiated himself enough for the time and would vanish into obscurity, to move onwards to evade capture or destruction now that he had been identified. It in no way diminished his murderous acts however that had seen a total of six slain individuals, found either inside the city boundaries, to Val de Luxemont to the immediate South or to the agricultural community of Edrigan further still [Addendum: A full collated, investigative document is forthcoming owing to evidence gathered thusfar - MdW.] , and it was the unknowing, prevalent danger which still haunted me, struck me momentarily with fear that the shadows still watched, waiting.
He was to arrive a little later after dusk as I waited at the ‘Blooming Rose’, an archaic, dimly-lit tavern almost devoid of patrons where our meeting had been arranged. It was a rarity indeed, that in this city of progress that there should be an establishment that felt more dusty museum than vivacious place of merriment yet, I was discover, this is where he should find his evenings with a quiet, succulent supper or agreeable refreshment to while away his hours. He was a rugged, imposing man who would have made for a fearful interrogator; Well-built with the lean of a gentleman who had spent his life upon some vast estate as gamekeeper or warden, however his blue eyes had a cold warmth about them that felt… irresistible, charming, demanding of attention which I so readily gave to him, complimented by a curled, soporific smile, a presence that should calm the most sullied of nerves. His silken introduction ran from his tongue and in that moment, I felt as though I had met him before or had known him forever, amicable, genuine as he was. [Addendum: Why am I so fascinated with him? – FL.)
We took refreshment together as he outlined further his requirements and the subsequent difficulty he had encountered with the city administration on the acquisition of a trades licence, one that was necessary if he wished to give his business the legitimacy to operate. His enterprise was Mordentish, headquartered in the Arden Bay, and it was upon this revelation that I became distracted, uncomfortable enough to begin to stumble over my words as though they flailed upon icy waters in the vain hope of remaining afloat; Arden was a city to the not too distant North to Glenwich, the city that I had taken flight from on the wings of anonymity, and it was with a tangible sense of anxiousness that I feared he would raise my father’s name and that of his impetuous, missing daughter. But he did not see or recognise me, nor had the intention to delve further into the myriad of fabrications I had spun to explain where I had come from. I clattered my glass clumsily upon the table between us and rapidly changed topic, lest his suspicion uncover me. and I would be forced to pierce his throat with his own splintered glass to silence him.
My ‘competition’ for the role was anything but a challenge to my credentials and he recounted amusedly how the two previous applicants had been less than satisfactory in his eyes; A clockwork Lamordian man, he recounted through sips of wine that never seemed to diminish, that spoke in monotone and seemed more disinterested in the position than enthused. The second, a silver haired Elven woman who had since disappeared, therefore casting her opportunity to the wind. It was not arrogance in which I celebrated my success before it was announced, only that I knew deep within that he loved me more than he loved them and that he would gift me what I so deserved.
At the close of the evening, I explained my apprehension to him as a woman walking alone upon the city’s rues and he willingly walked me to my lodging as a gentleman would, honourably without question nor fear of the burden of imposition. Claude, I explained, ‘The Lavender Leech’, still stalked the night and I would take no risk to let the opportunity for this new employment slip through my fingers by his hand… and Roderick Blacksdale agreed, smiling.
