Chapter 274
The tour was shorter than Katelina expected. Cyprus left with an acquaintance almost immediately. Verchiel peeled off in a lounge full of vampires and crimson filled glasses and, when the remaining group reached a restaurant, Jorick made his excuses to their hosts. The Scharfrichter wished them a pleasant evening, then whisked a frightened Neil away to finish the tour alone.
The restaurant had a heavy wooden door that was propped open and glass windows that peered into the corridor. Inside, the walls, ceiling, and tablecloths where white. With the black chairs, and glittering crystal and silver place settings, it was only the polished wooden floor and strategically placed rattan wall panels that gave the room warmth.
Jorick and Katelina took a seat near the back. To her surprise, the menus had a variety of dishes, from German to Italian. She didn't feel adventurous, so she scrolled past the unfamiliar food to find something she recognized. Spaghettieis was on the bottom of the second page, and she ordered it with the conviction that no one could ruin spaghetti.
The waiter brought Jorick a glass of blood and set a small bowl in front of Katelina. Though she nodded when he asked if everything was fine, it wasn't. Something that resembled a piece of waffle cone was sticking out of her very small meal and, instead of being hot, the bowl was ice cold. The sauce, artfully drizzled over the noodles, had a jelly-like, translucent quality, and she realized that maybe they could ruin it, after all.
Then she stabbed the food with a fork. It took two or three sniffs and an experimental lick for her to discover the problem. It wasn't spaghetti, it was - "Ice cream?"
Jorick cocked an eyebrow. "Ice cream for lunch?"
The pair at the nearest table giggled and Katelina's cheeks colored. She had no intention of admitting her mistake. "What's the point of being an adult if you can't have dessert first?"
Jorick's snicker said he knew the truth, but he kept his comments to himself.
Katelina followed her ice cream with some kind of fish that she didn't recognize, and then she and Jorick went back to their room. Eternally amazed by Jorick's ability to find places he'd only been once, she wondered if it was a vampire trait or something he was just good at.
The claw foot bathtub beckoned and she heeded the call. After a long soak, she emerged to find Jorick on the bed watching a flat panel television. When he saw her, he snapped it off, and the screen morphed into a static image of fat cherubs among the trees. Framed in gilt, it was one of the paintings she'd admired earlier.
She dropped onto the bed beside him, her eyes on the faux picture. "This place is way cooler than the Citadel."
"They've been here longer."
When no more conversation followed, Jorick turned the TV back on. The programs were the same sort of late night television that Katelina was used to, and some were even in English. She laid her head on Jorick's chest and closed her eyes. Though the clock on the nightstand said it was only after one a.m., she soon drifted to sleep in his arms.
***
Jorick woke her the next evening. They dressed and ordered breakfast from room service. The pale sausage and large dollop of mustard made Katelina pine for scrambled eggs. She'd spent a good half hour playing with her food when a knock sounded on the door, followed by Verchiel's cheery voice. "Guten tag!"
Jorick growled low in his throat. "Go away."
Verchiel knocked again. "That's not very nice. Besides, I'm not alone. It's group meeting time!"
"We don't need to have a meeting." Despite his words, Jorick opened the door wide enough to poke his head out. "What do you want?"
Verchiel ducked past him so fast that he seemed to evaporate and reappear inside the room. "It wasn't my idea. I prefer spontaneity, but somber-britches thought we needed to discuss procedure."
Jorick spun to face the redhead, who was once again decked out in Executioner black. "I didn't invite you inside!"
"No, but since I'm here you might as well let the others in."
As if on cue, Cyprus pushed his way inside, followed by the gray clad and ever nervous Neil.
Katelina used the newcomers as an excuse to push her plate away and stand. "And what am I supposed to do during this meeting?"
Verchiel acted as if he'd just noticed her. "Good morning, Kately! You can join in! Won't that be fun?"
Jorick purposefully planted himself between them. "Her participation is unnecessary."
Verchiel blinked innocently. "I thought you might like to rehearse the questioning before she is put in front of the True Council, but suit yourself."
Katelina felt the blood drain from her face and dropped back into the plush chair. "What? Why would they want to talk to me?"
Jorick looked quickly from Verchiel to Cyprus. The new Executioner shrugged and held out an official looking document. "We all have to testify, even the guard."
Jorick jerked the paper from his hands and read through it. "This is ridiculous. What purpose could interviewing either of them serve?"
"I don't know." Verchiel turned suddenly serious. "But we have an hour to get both of them ready to face the council, so we'd better get started." Jorick started to object and Verchiel added, "Since Cyprus' stint here was more recent than yours, he thought his expertise might be helpful."
Jorick growled, but stepped back. "In that case, your presence is not required."
"Of course it is. Without me, Neil might faint. Right?" He tipped the guard a wink. Neil's return stare looked like someone suffering from debilitating indigestion.
Cyprus moved to the center of the room. "As Jorick probably knows, I served here for a time as the equivalent of a lesser guard before I transferred back to America. Though that was ten years ago, it seems little has changed. The True Council - or Pure Council, which is a better translation - is made up of three vampires. I've never seen them, and I doubt many living vampires have, short of Wolfe who leads the Scharfrichter. The trio remains isolated on the bottom-most level of the stronghold. As far as I can tell, it's been decades since they left their chambers."
Neil choked and wrung his hands. "Doesn't that make it hard to run things?"
Cyprus shrugged. "What is there to run? Der H?here Rat - High Council - is under them, and then there is a Lesser Council. Both handle the day-to-day activities, just like they do at The Guild. The True Council only rules on things of great magnitude."
His explanations didn't make Katelina feel better. "They're older than Malick?"
"And equally powerful," Cyprus replied. "At least one is rumored to be a Destroyer, and some say they all are."
Though Katelina looked to Jorick, it was Verchiel that answered, "A Destroyer can kill people with their mind, like Malick did in the atrium."
She remembered the noise in her ears, the throbbing in her head and the way that those closer to the ancient master had dropped to the floor dead, blood leaking from their ears and eyes. "Oh God."
Jorick caught her hand and squeezed it. "You'll be all right. I'll be with you."
"Maybe," Cyprus said. "I saw a small room rather than a full council."
"Cyprus is a demon eye," Verchiel chirped. "Like Eileifr."
The announcement made her feel even worse.
Jorick went on as if they hadn't spoken. "You'll be fine. The True Council will probably ask you questions about what you saw, or what I told you. I assume they'll use you to try to discover if what they see in my mind is the truth."
She thought instantly of Oren. If the council found out that Jorick had helped him escape, Jorick might be in a lot of trouble. "Oh God." She buried her face in her hands and tried not to throw up.
Verchiel snickered appreciatively, no doubt having plucked the thoughts from her mind. Jorick ignored him. "It's all right, little one. I doubt they'll be interested in anything trivial."
She wanted to argue that aiding and abetting was hardly a trivial charge, but when compared to Malick's mutiny and mass murder, maybe it was. She glanced down at her clothes. She'd dressed to hide in the room or maybe go to the restaurant, not to face a trio of ancients. "Should I change?"
Jorick made a strangled noise in his throat and Verchiel laughed. "Just like a woman!"
"No," Jorick said quickly. "You're fine."
But she didn't feel fine.
