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friends made some harsh jest about the soutane, asking when I had taken holy
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orders, and a little later inquired whether I intended to say mass.
I gazed at him steadily. "I dislike jesting about sacred matters."
The vampire who had spoken fell silent, blinking, not knowing what to make of
that dead-serious reply.
"Vlad has had just cause to be upset with me." Radu was musing aloud. His
demeanor was that of one inclined to be forgiving. "In fact I sometimes fear
that he might even nerve himself one day to make a serious attempt upon my
life."
Radu turned to our peers and colleagues, wistfully inviting their
understanding.
"Do not tempt me," I growled softly.
Throughout the course of this dialogue, our peers and colleagues were looking
at me thoughtfully, and I could see that most of them were not quite able to
reconcile the figure I presented with the one they had been forming in their
minds, based on Radu's description.
"So, 'this is the famous Prince of Wallachia?" one demanded suddenly.
Having answered that question with regard to myself, if I thought it deserved
a straight answer, I now repeated it, turning it on Radu.
"Thou knowest who is famous and who is not."
My brother, it gradually became clear to me as I listened, had been telling
these potential recruits to his cause that was the one who had nailed the
turbans of he the sultan's envoys to their heads. (Remind me to tell you about
that, another
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%20on%20the%20Neck.html (133 of 389)23-2-2006 17:54:42
Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 09 - A Sharpness on the Neck (v1.0) (html)
time). He, the prince who had so thoroughly terrorized the potential criminal
elements that a merchant's bag of gold could lie untouched in the streets all
night
but that story I have told elsewhere.
At least Radu had been making those outrageous claims before I arrived.
Constantia, who had been listening to them, knew better, and Radu of course
realized this; but he also knew that she was not going to contradict him.
The subject which had been under discussion before my arrival was soon taken
up again: the recent shocking events of the Revolution, and how the profound
changes taking place in the breathers' society were going to affect their
lives.
Opinions were divided on the probable effect of these attacks upon the Church.
The consensus was that almost any change was likely to be for the worse a
truer, more spiritually active church would not be a good thing for the
villains in the group.
One of them wondered, with a languid laugh, whether under the new regime
aristocrats among the nosferatu might be called to account for drinking the
blood of the unwilling. I had gathered from the speaker's previous remarks
that he was planning a dreadful vengeance on his peasants, who in their
ignorance were congratulating themselves on having, as they thought, burned
the lord of the manor alive.
Eyes of divers colors, set in a variety of pallid faces, turned in my
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ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
direction.
Some, no doubt, were not impressed with what they saw. Well, it was not my
purpose to appear impressive.
One asked: "And what does our most recent arrival have to say upon the.
subject?"
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I was reluctant to comment on the Revolution, except to say that the lower
classes were not without rights as long as they chose to exercise them.
"How do the Americans put it now we are all 'endowed by our Creator with
certain inalienable rights'? In this the peasants of France are remarkably
like everyone else. Including us."
My words were met with a largely uncomprehending silence.
Chapter Eleven
From the moment of my entry I had been aware that the company had already been
enjoying some refreshment. The remnants of some hors d'oeuvres were in fact
scattered about, as I soon noticed: fragments of a few small human bodies,
quite freshly dismembered, none more than three years old. When the bones are
young enough and tender so I am told chewing by certain ruthless and
discriminating connoisseurs extracts from them an essence composed largely of
the blood-manufacturing cells which they contain.
One of the infants' lifeless bodies was in plain sight, and still recognizable
for what it was. The soft, small bones had been crushed between vampires'
teeth and sucked dry. The floor was stained by a few small drops of fresh
blood, wasted by some careless gourmet.
The delicate peak of flavor, as I have heard from vampires who pride
themselves upon their epicurean tastes, begins to fade into a steep decline
almost instantly at death. For the true aficionado, only the cells of the
living body will do.
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%20on%20the%20Neck.html (135 of 389)23-2-2006 17:54:42
Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 09 - A Sharpness on the Neck (v1.0) (html)
Constantia, catching my eye, shook her head slightly in a gesture of almost
prim disapproval. Knowing my own poor opinion of such cannibalistic behavior,
she desired to express her sympathy. Politeness, or her idea thereof, had
perhaps kept her from stating any forceful objection, beyond merely declining
to partake, when the recent snacks had been brought forth and offered round. I
did not think it altogether beyond the bounds of possibility that she might
have been persuaded to join Radu and his colleagues in their appetizer. For my
own peace of mind, I never questioned her on the matter.
But, as I have already indicated, the supply of treats was not yet exhausted.
The single set of operating lungs, whose presence I had noted upon arrival,
now sharply drew in air, filling themselves for a desperate effort. A small
heart raced.
There was a stir of motion in a far corner of the long room. The child who was
to be the last hors d'oeuvre
(she had hardly blood enough to provide the main course for such a gathering
as this) was a small girl of five or six (thoughtfully provided by Radu? One
of his colleagues thanked him for the treat), who had evidently been kept
immobilized, by hypnotically enhanced fear, at the far side or end of the
room.
It was soon quite clear to me that the child had mistaken my black-garbed
figure for that of a priest her eyes must have been quite well adapted to the
dark by this time. She uttered a cry of desperation and came running barefoot,
in her small ragged dress, to clasp both arms about the waist of the
Page 67
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
deceptively familiar figure of the newcome vampire, appealing to him in a
shrill wordless cry for help.
Naturally this outburst attracted the attention of the company. One of Radu's
less mature companions giggled, as a normal human might at some bizarre
behavior on the part of a dog or cat; the rest reacted only in an abstracted
way, even as
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%20on%20the%20Neck.html (136 of 389)23-2-2006 17:54:42
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their attention might have been drawn to a chicken bursting out of some
breather's kitchen and scampering a half-winged progress across the floor.
Even
Constantia, I could see, was no more moved by the victim's anguished effort to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl ocenkijessi.opx.pl
friends made some harsh jest about the soutane, asking when I had taken holy
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kru...s%2009%20-%20A%20Sharpness
%20on%20the%20Neck.html (132 of 389)23-2-2006 17:54:42
Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 09 - A Sharpness on the Neck (v1.0) (html)
orders, and a little later inquired whether I intended to say mass.
I gazed at him steadily. "I dislike jesting about sacred matters."
The vampire who had spoken fell silent, blinking, not knowing what to make of
that dead-serious reply.
"Vlad has had just cause to be upset with me." Radu was musing aloud. His
demeanor was that of one inclined to be forgiving. "In fact I sometimes fear
that he might even nerve himself one day to make a serious attempt upon my
life."
Radu turned to our peers and colleagues, wistfully inviting their
understanding.
"Do not tempt me," I growled softly.
Throughout the course of this dialogue, our peers and colleagues were looking
at me thoughtfully, and I could see that most of them were not quite able to
reconcile the figure I presented with the one they had been forming in their
minds, based on Radu's description.
"So, 'this is the famous Prince of Wallachia?" one demanded suddenly.
Having answered that question with regard to myself, if I thought it deserved
a straight answer, I now repeated it, turning it on Radu.
"Thou knowest who is famous and who is not."
My brother, it gradually became clear to me as I listened, had been telling
these potential recruits to his cause that was the one who had nailed the
turbans of he the sultan's envoys to their heads. (Remind me to tell you about
that, another
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kru...s%2009%20-%20A%20Sharpness
%20on%20the%20Neck.html (133 of 389)23-2-2006 17:54:42
Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 09 - A Sharpness on the Neck (v1.0) (html)
time). He, the prince who had so thoroughly terrorized the potential criminal
elements that a merchant's bag of gold could lie untouched in the streets all
night
but that story I have told elsewhere.
At least Radu had been making those outrageous claims before I arrived.
Constantia, who had been listening to them, knew better, and Radu of course
realized this; but he also knew that she was not going to contradict him.
The subject which had been under discussion before my arrival was soon taken
up again: the recent shocking events of the Revolution, and how the profound
changes taking place in the breathers' society were going to affect their
lives.
Opinions were divided on the probable effect of these attacks upon the Church.
The consensus was that almost any change was likely to be for the worse a
truer, more spiritually active church would not be a good thing for the
villains in the group.
One of them wondered, with a languid laugh, whether under the new regime
aristocrats among the nosferatu might be called to account for drinking the
blood of the unwilling. I had gathered from the speaker's previous remarks
that he was planning a dreadful vengeance on his peasants, who in their
ignorance were congratulating themselves on having, as they thought, burned
the lord of the manor alive.
Eyes of divers colors, set in a variety of pallid faces, turned in my
Page 66
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
direction.
Some, no doubt, were not impressed with what they saw. Well, it was not my
purpose to appear impressive.
One asked: "And what does our most recent arrival have to say upon the.
subject?"
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kru...s%2009%20-%20A%20Sharpness
%20on%20the%20Neck.html (134 of 389)23-2-2006 17:54:42
Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 09 - A Sharpness on the Neck (v1.0) (html)
I was reluctant to comment on the Revolution, except to say that the lower
classes were not without rights as long as they chose to exercise them.
"How do the Americans put it now we are all 'endowed by our Creator with
certain inalienable rights'? In this the peasants of France are remarkably
like everyone else. Including us."
My words were met with a largely uncomprehending silence.
Chapter Eleven
From the moment of my entry I had been aware that the company had already been
enjoying some refreshment. The remnants of some hors d'oeuvres were in fact
scattered about, as I soon noticed: fragments of a few small human bodies,
quite freshly dismembered, none more than three years old. When the bones are
young enough and tender so I am told chewing by certain ruthless and
discriminating connoisseurs extracts from them an essence composed largely of
the blood-manufacturing cells which they contain.
One of the infants' lifeless bodies was in plain sight, and still recognizable
for what it was. The soft, small bones had been crushed between vampires'
teeth and sucked dry. The floor was stained by a few small drops of fresh
blood, wasted by some careless gourmet.
The delicate peak of flavor, as I have heard from vampires who pride
themselves upon their epicurean tastes, begins to fade into a steep decline
almost instantly at death. For the true aficionado, only the cells of the
living body will do.
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kru...s%2009%20-%20A%20Sharpness
%20on%20the%20Neck.html (135 of 389)23-2-2006 17:54:42
Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 09 - A Sharpness on the Neck (v1.0) (html)
Constantia, catching my eye, shook her head slightly in a gesture of almost
prim disapproval. Knowing my own poor opinion of such cannibalistic behavior,
she desired to express her sympathy. Politeness, or her idea thereof, had
perhaps kept her from stating any forceful objection, beyond merely declining
to partake, when the recent snacks had been brought forth and offered round. I
did not think it altogether beyond the bounds of possibility that she might
have been persuaded to join Radu and his colleagues in their appetizer. For my
own peace of mind, I never questioned her on the matter.
But, as I have already indicated, the supply of treats was not yet exhausted.
The single set of operating lungs, whose presence I had noted upon arrival,
now sharply drew in air, filling themselves for a desperate effort. A small
heart raced.
There was a stir of motion in a far corner of the long room. The child who was
to be the last hors d'oeuvre
(she had hardly blood enough to provide the main course for such a gathering
as this) was a small girl of five or six (thoughtfully provided by Radu? One
of his colleagues thanked him for the treat), who had evidently been kept
immobilized, by hypnotically enhanced fear, at the far side or end of the
room.
It was soon quite clear to me that the child had mistaken my black-garbed
figure for that of a priest her eyes must have been quite well adapted to the
dark by this time. She uttered a cry of desperation and came running barefoot,
in her small ragged dress, to clasp both arms about the waist of the
Page 67
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
deceptively familiar figure of the newcome vampire, appealing to him in a
shrill wordless cry for help.
Naturally this outburst attracted the attention of the company. One of Radu's
less mature companions giggled, as a normal human might at some bizarre
behavior on the part of a dog or cat; the rest reacted only in an abstracted
way, even as
file:///C|/Documents%20and%20Settings/harry%20kru...s%2009%20-%20A%20Sharpness
%20on%20the%20Neck.html (136 of 389)23-2-2006 17:54:42
Saberhagen, Fred - Dracula 09 - A Sharpness on the Neck (v1.0) (html)
their attention might have been drawn to a chicken bursting out of some
breather's kitchen and scampering a half-winged progress across the floor.
Even
Constantia, I could see, was no more moved by the victim's anguished effort to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]