Scene V: The Duplicitous Baers
The 1st Day of the 4th Moon, 1536 P.V.
Corax Asylum, Togaduine
Two beings rode towards the gates of Corax. One was a large, heavy-set man wearing a wolf skin cloak. From his thick, tan leather pants swung a sheathed dagger, and his dunn carried a shield on his behalf. His greying beard swallowed up the fair skin beneath masking world-weary wrinkles and scars.
His partner’s appearance contrasted with his. She was stunningly swarthy with flowing locks of curly black hair that matched her eyes and she wore a shredded dress soaked in elaborate brown and blue swirls. Her tiara matched her dress, and she too carried a blade at her side.
The gates flung themselves open welcoming the duo.
They cantered across the barren grounds to the front of the asylum where they were met by two porters dressed in orange and green overalls. The young gentlemen helped the couple down and led their horses away to be fed and have their thirsts quenched.
The arched oak door of the asylum was also open, and a Nicolai dressed in black, sporting long flowing brown locks met them.
‘You must be BaerNedi, and…’ He took the woman’s hand and kissed it, ‘Banshee Baer, your beauty is only preceded by its reputation.’
Banshee Baer smiled, took a double take whilst considering the implication of his words, then smiled again,
‘And which Nicolas are you?’ She asked.
‘Nicolai-Nicolas Nachtvinsky. I am afraid Chives could not meet you. He has gone to Sapari to collect Nicolas’s new suit.’
‘That’s fine.’ Banshee nodded, ‘Will Nicolas be joining us today?’
‘Unfortunately, not, Madam, he is allegedly writing a book with Nicolai-Binky, but to be honest I suspect he is sulking in his office as yesterday’s tribute-brain upset his stomach,’ Nachtvinsky lied. ‘Trust me, you would not want to be in the same room as him right now. Archie has Ball on standby to clean up any leakage.’
Ball was Nicolas’s favourite mutant, and he kept Ball in Corax with a rag or towel attached to him so that the monstrous ball could roll around clearing up noxious messes on demand.
‘Now,’ Nachtvinsky smiled, ‘I was just in the middle of writing the Corax national anthem when Nicolai-Archie asked me to fetch you, so follow me.’
Banshee and BaerNedi followed the maestro as he hummed an awful, off-key melody to himself. They bypassed the office, which had two Nicolai standing temporarily wedged in the doorway to block their view, then walked by the banqueting hall and headed south.
After passing several doors, who’s locksets offered joyous grins to welcome them, Nachtvinsky stopped at a rickety archway covered with a yellow and black plaid curtain,
‘In there,’ he gestured, ‘they are waiting for you.’
Banshee pulled the curtain aside and the rail shuddered. The two walked into the not-so-secret games room. The room matched the general damp and fungal aesthetic of the overall asylum. There were books, plates and papers strewn about the floor, some of which had their own sporous communities, and in the centre of the room an old, neglected teak table wobbled and groaned.
Four beings sat around the table playing games.
The first to speak was Nicolai-Archie. His name was not really Archie. Archie had no name as he was far too good for a proper noun. By trade he was an architect, so Nicolas called him Archie, and the Nicolai followed suit. Archie wore a splendid bright red and black, flamboyant suit covered in diamonds. His hat matched his suit and flourished with feathers. A monocle perched on his right eye,
‘Come, sit, our illustrious baers,’ he said, whilst gesturing to some empty chairs that pulled themselves out invitingly on the other side of the table.
The baers took their places at the table.
Opposite Archie slumped a masked figure wearing a burgundy and purple cloak and hood. On the table between Archie and the hooded figure sat a chessboard.
‘Elyas and I are partaking in a game of wits,’ Archie explained, ‘Elyas is losing.’
‘You’re cheating,’ Elyas replied.
This comment prompted the gentleman in the purple suit and hat, which sat next to Archie, to speak up,
‘No, Elyas, you’re cheating.’ The red-haired gentleman, Nicolai-Chester said as he pulled a deck of cards from his pocket.
Chester dealt seven cards to himself, and then seven cards to the third Nicolai at the table, Nicolai-Nicolas Remdali.
Remdali considered himself an artist and wore an oversized top hat sporting a melted pocket watch, and a suit patterned with embroidered pocket watches to match. His moustache was long and curled at the ends and he spoke with a stupid and clearly phoney accent,
‘Whata are we-a playing, mio amico?’
‘Rummy,’ Chester spat, ‘me first.’
Archie turned and looked at Chester’s cards, as he did, Elyas pinched Archie’s rook and hid it under the table.
Banshee’s eyes widened, but she said nothing about Elyas’s cheeky move, instead opting to ask,
‘Archie, Sir, I thought Elyas was banned from Corax?’
Archie turned back, looked at the board narrowing his eyes, then glared at Elyas,
‘Nicolas is indisposed today, Banshee, and what he does not know does not hurt him!’
Chester picked up a card and added his own two penny’s worth,
‘He’s got the shits.’
‘He is indisposed,’ Archie reiterated as he waved his hand towards Elyas, ‘as this necromancer will be if he does not return my rook.’
‘I don’t have your rook!’ Elyas bit back.
Archie growled and then hissed,
‘I will count to three… One.’
‘Umm,’ BaerNedi interrupted, ‘you summoned us?’
‘Si!’ Remdali replied putting down a joker for no reason in the world. Chester sighed, but said nothing, and instead laid a blank card.
‘We ‘ave a presento for you,’ Remdali continued.
‘Indeed, we do!’ Archie concurred, as Elyas put his rook on the wrong square, ‘We have a Mica.’
‘What’s a Mica?’ Banshee asked.
‘Not what, who?’ Chester replied, picking up his own blank card as Elyas moved the knight diagonally across the board.
‘Mica,’ Archie continued, ‘is a vampire, and he has been selected by Nicolas to betray Nicolas to our third Immoless.’
Chester glanced at the mirror on the wall behind Remdali, who desperately needed the ace of spades, rummaged through the pile, and took the card for himself. Archie responded by moving his king forward six spaces.
‘Do you know how to play these games?’ Banshee asked curiously.
The Nicolai and Elyas all stopped what they were doing and stared at her. They leaned forward in their chairs and drew their lips back. The candles dimmed.
Banshee let out a cough,
‘I, I was joking,’ she stuttered, ‘of course you do. I’m sorry.’
Chester grunted a single syllable indicative of a laugh, the candles glowed brightly, and the players resumed their games. Banshee tried to quell an involuntary sigh of relief,
‘Tell us about Mica.’
‘Who?’ Chester asked.
‘Mica.’
‘Who?’
Banshee looked towards Archie, who moved his bishop six steps forward and one to the left. Elyas responded with a gallant move, sacrificing his king to save the queen. The queen did not need saving and was very surprised when the king threw himself off the board and onto Chester’s messy heap of cards, which Remdali was flicking about in circles.
‘Mica,’ Archie said after an awkward silence, ‘is a vampire, and you shall take him to the Immoless. He will be her next victim. He has been supplied with enough information; tell her you found him wandering about some forest or another.’
‘We shall set this up exactly as Nicolas has advised,’ Banshee nodded reassuringly.
‘You had better,’ Chester growled. He then sniffed twice and added
‘Now, you girl, come here?’
Banshee went to stand when the curtain opened and a malnourished and blood-stained tribute with patches of her lank red-hair missing walked in. Her head hung and she looked at the floor. She shifted slowly, with a slight limp, and knelt before Chester,
‘Yes Sir?’
Chester pulled her to her feet. A long black tongue drooled from his mouth and licked her all over, then withdrew, happy with its exploration.
Chester pressed her back to her knees and whispered,
‘Fetch Mica!’
‘Yes Sir,’ the woman replied. She stood slowly, her eyes downcast, and backed out of the archway.
‘How did you know she was there?’ Banshee asked.
Chester glared at her. Archie glared at her, and both spoke at once in a low, unified voice,
‘Don’t ever question me again.’
Banshee lowered her head.
‘Forgive her,’ BaerNedi pleaded, ‘she forgets herself at times.’
Chester nodded,
‘Forgiven but not forgotten.’
Banshee shivered.
Mica arrived alone. He waited at the opened aperture until summoned by a click of Chester’s finger and thumb.
‘Buongiorno,’ Remdali said, laying two cards at once, ‘it’s-a your time. A.’
Mica bowed,
‘Am I to suffer the boiling?’
‘Si,’ Remdali replied as Chester picked up three cards, and Elyas jumped Archie’s knight with a pawn.
Mica folded his arms tightly across his body. Silence filled the room as Archie and Remdali simultaneously stared at the vampire. Chester spoke first,
‘We know what you are,’
‘Thinking,’ Archie continued, ‘fear of pain. Fear of death. Potential escape.’
‘But we promise you,’ Remdali butted in, ‘much worse awaits traitors.’
‘Even Irkalla can’t hide a traitor,’ Chester muttered.
‘I understand,’ Mica replied.
‘We can give him something to alleviate the pain,’ Banshee suggested, her head still lowered.
‘No!’ Archie and Chester snapped, ‘Bring the pain.’
‘As you wish.’
Archie added three draught pieces to the board,
‘Now, about the third Immoless. How is she?’
Banshee breathed deeply through her nose,
‘She thinks she has an alcohol problem. She is prepared for her destiny, a little bit moody about dying, but prepared.’
‘And the blackouts?’
‘They continue.’
‘Yes, they do,’ Chester leered, ‘but tell me, does she love her boyfriend?’
Banshee bit her lip hard,
‘May I speak freely, Sir?’
‘No one is stopping you,’ Chester replied, collecting all cards and shuffling them, ‘we value honesty.’
‘She feels that love is not meant for her, and that her impending death is a barricade to it.’
‘That is-a logic, not-a sentimenta-a,’ Remdali said as he pulled a piece of parchment and pencil from his suit and drew two stick people.
‘Allyra is melancholy,’ Banshee whispered, ‘it is heart-breaking to watch.’
Chester nodded,
‘We appreciate your honesty, Banshee, but you must not get attached. This attachment concerns Nicolas. She will meet Nicolas soon, and then Nicolas will be responsible for her. She will no longer be your concern, remember where your loyalties lie.’ Chester then changed the subject, ‘I think her sex addiction is more than ready for us. She has had a good tutor in that regards.’
‘Indeed,’ Banshee replied.
Chester flicked his wrist in her direction,
‘You may depart now, and don’t forget to take Mica with you.’
Banshee and BaerNedi stood, bowed to each of the players, then walked backwards through the archway taking Mica with them through the sea of wailing inmates. Their horses were waiting for them outside. Banshee took Mica on her steed, and BaerNedi led the way back to Sapari.
The two Nicolai waited until the baers had departed, stepped away from the office door, and left Nicolas to grin wildly at the wall in his own time. Nicolas found the wall less insipid than the baers, and he knew Banshee’s growing fondness for Allyra was cause for concern.
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