The Frostwoven Crown (Book 4) (5 page)

Garrett forced a smile. “It’s just… I was wondering if you were gonna put a hood on whatever you were making for me.”

Jannis smiled. “All right,” he said, “let me see what I’m working with. Off with the hood.”

Garrett pulled back his hood to reveal his scars, but the vampire showed no sign of alarm or pity in his amber eyes. He pursed his lips and tilted his head from one side to the other. Suddenly, he stepped in close and looped his cord around Garrett’s head, just above his ears. He backed away with a broad grin and a low chuckle.

“Next time, Tinjin,” Jannis said, “bring me a real challenge.”

“You can have it done by tonight then?” Tinjin asked.

“I can have it done in two hours,” Jannis said, “My girls work fast.”

Tinjin smiled. “I hope you pay them well.”

“All the mice they can eat.” Jannis said.

Tinjin laughed.

Garrett gave them both a puzzled look, but Uncle Tinjin only thanked Jannis and the two shared a parting hug. Then Tinjin motioned that it was time to go. Garrett pulled his hood back on as he followed his uncle to the door.

Tinjin turned and looked back. “How much do I owe you?” he asked.

Jannis stood, halfway through the black door at the back of the shop. “I’ll add it to the cost of your next fitting,” he said with a wave of his hand.

Tinjin smiled and nodded, and the two necromancers watched the vampire disappear into the darkness beyond, and the black door shut behind him.

Garrett heard the strange scuttling noise once more now, and a metallic squeak. The gas lamp dimmed again, shrouding the room in darkness. As Garrett’s eyes struggled to adjust, he thought he caught a glimpse of something pale, about the size of a cat, scurry across the floor toward the outer door. Something about the way it moved made his skin crawl.

Then the door sprung open, and Uncle guided him out into the gray light of day.

They walked together in silence, headed back toward the Arcane Quarter as Garrett wondered about the meaning of something in his uncle’s conversation with the vampire.

“Uncle Tinjin?” Garrett asked at last.

“Yes?”

“Did Mister Jannis want you to become a vampire too?” he asked.

Tinjin laughed. “I assure you, I have no intention of taking him up on the offer.”

“But… you could, if you wanted to?” Garrett said.

Uncle Tinjin frowned. “What is it that you want to know?” he said.

“Well, when I asked Marla if she and her mom had gotten bitten by a vampire to make them become vampires, she laughed. She told me that they were both born that way.” Garrett said, “But then Warren’s cousin said they were people that had something bad done to them to make them like that. What is it that makes a person into a vampire?”

Uncle paused, looking around for a quiet spot. He led Garrett off of the street into a small, wooded park beside the Lethian compound and the two of them sat down upon a little bench before a gurgling fountain.

“Marla and her mother were indeed born as vampires,” Uncle Tinjin said, “Vampires may have children, just as humans do, except that their children are born with the same vampiric blood and so become vampires as well. A vampire child will age, the same as a human child… up to a point, and then they age in a similar fashion as their vampire parents, living very long lives with only gradual changes to their physical appearance over time. Marla will continue to grow, as any other girl, until she is about twenty years old. After that, she will not visibly age much, beyond a few, subtle changes to her physiology, for the remainder of her life.”

“Oh,” Garrett said, “but where did the first vampires come from?”

Uncle Tinjin’s lips stretched thin, as though he were considering his words carefully. “Most of the original vampires were created when humans drank the blood of certain dragons,” he said.

“Ugh,” Garrett said.

“Indeed,” Uncle agreed, “and it is this… honor… that Jannis has offered me.”

“So they’ve still got some of the dragon blood to share?” Garrett asked.

“Yes, but it is a rare thing for them to be allowed to make any new vampires. It is not lightly that I would turn down this opportunity.”

“But, if you did it, you would live forever, right?” Garrett asked.

“No one lives forever, Garrett,” Uncle said, “not even vampires.”

“But a really long time, right?” Garrett said, “Why don’t you want to do it?”

Tinjin smiled. “Because I don’t want to change,” he sighed.

“Into a vampire?”

“Into someone else,” Tinjin said.

“What do you mean?”

Tinjin looked out across the garden to where two gray squirrels were chasing each other around a tree. “When you drink dragon’s blood,” he said, “it changes you forever. You are still yourself inside, but forever after, you will share your body with a part of the dragon’s soul. You take on all its infinite sadness and rage, and it changes you… seldom for the better. It would be as if someone offered you immortality, so long as they could climb inside your skin with you and live there for the rest of your very long life.”

“But, if you’re going to die anyway, why not?” Garrett asked.

Uncle Tinjin looked troubled. “Why should I fear death, Garrett?” he asked.

“Why wouldn’t you?”

Tinjin laughed. “Garrett, I’m an old man,” he said, “Every year, more and more of my life… my dreams and memories… are drawn away into that shadow country where we all must go. So much of me is there already now that I hardly feel alive anymore. I feel like a wraith, a faint reflection of the man I once was. So much that I love is gone beyond that dark door… It waits for me there, patiently, for me to finish my task here and hurry after it. Why would I want to delay that? Why would I sell my soul in some dark bargain that would only keep me from that gentle sleep and cheat my shadows of their beloved Tinjin?”

“But we love you here!” Garrett said, “… we need you here.”

Tinjin put his hand on Garrett’s hand. “I’m not dead yet,” he chuckled, “There is still plenty for us to do here, you and I… But, when the time comes, I will go through that door. Then, it may be that I will become one of your shadows, waiting for you in the dream beyond. There is nothing sad in that… nothing terrible… A vampire’s life is like a fruit that hangs too long upon the tree, red and ripe, never falling, never tasted. It hangs there, smooth and unblemished, forever out of reach. It robs the world of its sweetness, and it will never know the fulfillment of surrendering to its purpose, of giving itself completely, one final offering to the world that made it.”

Garrett said nothing, lost in thought.

“Come,” Tinjin said, clapping him on the shoulder, “Let us get something to eat… another perfectly good reason not to become a vampire!”

*******

Garrett was drying up after his bath when he heard a knock at the front door. He tugged on his underpants, grabbed an old robe, and headed downstairs. Uncle had gone down into the cellar, looking for something, and had not yet reappeared.

Garrett hurried to the door and opened it. Master Jannis stood on the doorstep, wrapped in a high-collared black overcoat with a broad-brimmed felt hat snugged down low on his brow. Only his pale nose poked out from beneath a pair of dark-lensed eyeglasses. He carried a package, wrapped in red paper beneath one arm, in his other gloved hand, he clutched a bundle of indigo cloth, bound with a gold-threaded cord.

“Good evening, Garrett,” the vampire said, “May I come in?”

“Yeah, please,” Garrett said, stepping aside to let Jannis enter.

Jannis handed Garrett the red package before removing his hat and glasses.

Garrett looked down at the package, noting the spider-shaped sigil, stamped in black ink in the center of the paper.

“Go on, open it,” Jannis said.

Garrett tore one end of the package open and peeled back the red paper to reveal a long-sleeved black kurta and matching pants. The black silk shimmered in the dim light of the entryway, and Garrett ran his fingers over the countless tiny skulls embroidered into the slightly thicker breast panel. Other than that simple ornament, the weave felt as smooth as the icy surface of a winter pond. Garrett rolled the sleeve of the shirt between his fingertips. There were no seams. He looked up at the vampire tailor in amazement.

“Do you really use spiders to make this?” he asked.

Jannis unbuttoned his collar to reveal his face. He was grinning. “They do fine work, do they not?”

“Yeah,” Garrett said, running his fingers over the silk again.

“Do you like it?” Jannis asked.

“Yeah… I do!” Garrett said. He set aside the paper wrapping and held out the two pieces to admire them, trying to hide his disappointment at the lack of hood.

“And this as well,” Jannis said, holding out the bundle of indigo cloth, “I picked it up on the way here. I thought you might like it.”

Garrett stared at the bundle, uncomprehending.

“Let me show you,” Jannis said. He shook out the bundle, letting a long streamer of the soft cloth hang to the floor from a central cap of corded cloth in the shape of an inverted bird’s nest. He placed the cap atop Garrett’s head and then proceeded to wrap the long tail of the cap around his neck and shoulders. At last, only Garrett’s face showed through the gap in the front of the headdress. “Now you look every bit the Cashuunite gentleman.”

Garrett reached up to feel the top of the headdress with his fingers. “What are the holes for?” he asked, feeling the two gaps in the cloth on either side of his forehead.

“Those are for your horns,” Jannis chuckled, “Most satyrs are quite proud of them.”

“Oh,” Garrett said, remembering the satyrs he had seen in the Foreign District.

Jannis sighed. “I know it seems a bit odd, but it’s better than a hood, and people would expect you to remove a hat indoors. Wearing a Cashuunite wrap and dressing in the style of the Zhadeen will give people the impression that you are a great traveler, that you take your style where you find it. It gives you an eccentric charm, and, if they find fault with you at all, it will be for your unconventional dress, and not for your… well, the things that you are trying to cover up.”

Garrett laughed.

“A great deal of fashion is simply misdirection,” Jannis said, “If you are worried about being judged for something that you cannot change about yourself, simply give your audience something else to occupy their attention. It is better to be scandalous than to be dismissed. It is better to be remembered than overlooked, and, if you are to be remembered for something, let it be for something you choose.”

Garrett nodded. “Thanks,” he said.

Jannis smiled. “Well, I’d better be going,” he said, “Good luck at the party.”

“Are you going to be there?” Garrett asked.

Jannis shook his head. “I no longer find such things… amusing,” he said.

“Well, thanks for this,” Garrett said, hefting the silk clothes in his arms, “and tell the spiders thanks too.”

“I will,” Jannis laughed, then his face became suddenly serious. His eyes darted toward the hall, and he lowered his voice before speaking again. “Be very careful tonight,” he said, “The Valfrei is a dangerous woman. If she takes notice of you, I would recommend that you make yourself seem as inconsequential as possible.”

“Huh?” Garrett asked.

“You do not ever want her to see you as a threat or a potential influence on the young Lady Veranu.” Jannis said, “If she thinks you pose even a remote threat to her purpose in her training of Marla, she will not hesitate to have you put out of her way.”

“You want me to lie?” Garrett said, “I’m not really very good at that.”

“That’s fine,” Jannis said, “I wouldn’t even try lying to her myself, and I’m a master. Senzei can sense deception, so you are far better off just avoiding her, but, failing that, simply be the most non-threatening, shallow version of yourself as possible. In her case, it
is
better to be dismissed than remembered.”

Garrett nodded, suddenly not looking forward to the evening as much as he had been.

“And don’t mention your uncle… unless it is to save your life,” Jannis said.

“Save my life?” Garrett almost gagged.

Jannis gave a nervous chuckle. “Don’t worry,” he said, “Just… enjoy yourself.”

“Yeah,” Garrett said.

“Well, I’m off then,” Jannis said, putting on his hat and glasses again.

“I’m sure Uncle Tinjin will be back any minute,” Garrett said, “I’m not sure what he’s doing, but I can go check on him, if you want to talk to him”

“No,” Jannis said, shaking his head, “I really must be going… Oh, and one other thing… I wouldn’t mention me in any of your conversations at the embassy either. I’m, well… well, I must be going.”

A chill breeze scattered a few dead leaves across the threshold as Jannis opened the door and stepped out into the early evening gloom. The vampire seemed to retreat into the shell of his overcoat as he glanced left and right. Then, with four long strides, he was off and around the corner, out of sight.

Garrett shut the door and bolted it.