Chapter 25

The room was deathly silent as Armando stared at Pallando.

"That's impossible," said Mikhail. "Are you actually saying you met Armando a few hundred years ago?"

"Indeed," chuckled Pallando. He moved closer to the SongMaker and smiled up at him. "The oldest Carpathian held captive by a wizard."

Mikhail spoke in a low voice. "Javier is dead. Armando carried out his sentence as was his right. Javier betrayed and controlled one of us."

Pallando did not take his eyes off the SongMaker. "Oh, I never said I would do such a thing. One asks for death in trying to hold a full fledged Carpathian male." He paused, looking at Armando with a thoughtful expression. "Still, it was indeed a triumph for the wizards."

"I'm not sure that's the wisest choice of words in a room filled with hunters," said Aiden in a low voice.

Mikhail tried to regain a diplomatic tone. "How is it you survived all these years?"

Pallando finally turned and looked at the prince with a gleam in his eyes. "Ah, yes. I benefit from something which many wizards only hoped to obtain." He walked toward the armchairs. "A longer life," he said in a louder voice that echoed throughout the enormous room. With his cane, Pallando steadied himself and slowly sat down.

Mikhail approached him, causing every hunter in the room to also advance in the event he needed protection. The prince glanced at them and gestured with his hand to back off. While they stopped, every Carpathian male stood their ground, ready to strike the moment anything went wrong.

Armando, however, did not move. He remained by the wall as his head was spinning due to the turn of events. This old man represented something in his past he longed to forget.

"How?" repeated Mikhail.

Pallando raised his head, looking past Mikhail. "Marla, darling, do not touch."

The prince turned to find the woman quickly dropping her hands from the gold statue. He narrowed his eyes at her while she innocently smiled back at him.

"Come here," said Pallando patting the arm chair next to him. She flipped her long hair over her shoulder and obediently went to him. Sitting, she reached out and held his hand. Pallando turned his attention back to Mikhail. "Do you like stories?"

"Excuse me?" asked Mikhail.

"Stories. I know of a very good one."

Julian growled from across the room. "We are not children, old man."

Mikhail felt the tension in the room from the other Carpathians and tried to ease the situation. "Tell us your story."

Pallando grinned. "Long ago, when I was young, I watched as the wizards squabbled over finding a way to gain immortality. Being young, I did not care about such things until my guardian, who was my mentor, secretly discovered a way to prolong his life. Unfortunately, he was too ill by the time he created it." Pallando's expression was sad. "The very man who made such a discovery could not even benefit from it."

"You were a wizard, then?"

"I still am today of course."

Gregori shifted in place, a subtle move near Mikhail indicating he would be the first to strike should Pallando decide to demonstrate any such power.

The wizard ignored the healer and continued. "Faustus was the one who saved me after my parents were murdered by a vampire when I was a young child. I can see their horrific death in my mind even now. Faustus came upon me just when the vampire was thinking of using me as a snack. I had never seen a master of magic more powerful than he. Honor was a code he thought all wizards should follow. He respected the Carpathians for their power."

"Wise of him," spoke up a hunter from somewhere in the room.

Pallando laughed but then went into a fit of coughing. Marla patted him on the back.

"Do you need water?" asked Mikhail.

As Pallando coughed, he shook his head. "No," he rasped, "just give me a moment." When he finally settled down,, he took a few deep breaths.

The prince tilted his head. "In my time, wizards condemned the Carpathians for not finding way to share our gift of immortality."

"Yes, I know. But Faustus saw you differently. He felt the Carpathians demonstrated an extraordinary amount of power in your compassion for mortals. Your respect for life was what he admired the most, including the fact that you must hunt your own kind when they have turned to vampire."

Mikhail crossed his arms over his chest. "Apparently your mentor did not influence the rest of the wizard community on this subject."

Pallando coughed again. "No, but he came up with a different solution to ensure only honorable wizards would eventually survive."

"You have not answered my question as to how you have lived so long."

"And I did not finish my story," Pallando suddenly snapped in a dark voice that made the room vibrate.

Gregori took an aggressive step forward. "You do not talk to the prince in that tone."

Pallando simply leaned back in his chair. "Then allow me to finish."

Mikhail placed a hand on Gregori's shoulder. The healer frowned and stepped back while continuing to closely watch the wizard. The prince called on his patience and nodded at Pallando. "Please, continue."

"Of course, of course. You just need to be quiet and listen."

Gregori and a few of the warriors grew even more agitated. While this wizard was not like some of the other evil ones they'd encountered in their past, he was just as egotistical and treated Carpathians as if they were beneath him.

Marla curled up her legs in the armchair and leaned over to give Pallando a kiss. He smiled at her and stroked her hair. "There are some things still worth living for, of course. Look at this beautiful creature. So perfect in youth. It is understandable why the wizards wanted to find what gave Carpathians their long gift of life. Faustus discovered a way to live a longer life. He passed on the information to someone he thought could be trusted."

"And the name of the wizard he trusted?"

"Argile was his cousin and a close friend. But Faustus underestimated what that kind of power would do to him. However, Argile was disappointed the solution did not provide true immortality. It delays our aging but lasts for two to three hundred years at the most."

"Obviously," said Joseph. He leaned over to Byron and lowered his voice. "That girl probably knows he hasn't got much longer and is hoping to get all his money."

Unfortunately, Pallando heard and glared at him.

Byron smacked Joseph on the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"It's not polite to comment on someone's age," muttered Byron, even though he had a few words he wanted to share on the situation.

Pallando shook his head. "Faustus did agree, however, that you Carpathians are always so arrogant. I can see that remains true. I deserve more respect." He looked at the prince. "You should be more in control of your hunters."

Before anyone could rebuke the comment, Mikhail held up his hand in a peaceful gesture. "My apologies. Please continue."

Gregori bristled that Mikhail would even apologize.

The children, Mikhail reminded him in a gentle tone on their private path.

No one commands my prince without answering to me.

Mikhail ignored him and urged Pallando to continue. "Tell me more about Argile."

"He was a brilliant chemist, known for his numerous potions. He later claimed that he was the one who gave Faustus the idea which created the solution for our longer lives."

"May I ask if there are other wizards still alive today because of this…solution?"

Pallando chuckled. "Yes, you may ask me. That was much more polite, thank you."

Gregori curled his hands into fists.

"There are a few, yes," continued Pallando. "And their generations live on because of the same formula."

"So it is a potion."

"Indeed. It prolongs our life."

"Is Argile still alive?"

"Oh no, his thirst for power ruined him. He became careless and I had to kill him."

Mikhail raised his eyebrows. "Really."

Pallando sighed. "Yes, quite unfortunate. But, he began to let too many of the wizards know about it. It was too risky given what we had to do to make the formula."

Armando, who had been listening, suddenly had a terrible gut feeling. He spoke softly, but everyone, including Pallando, hear him. "Carpathian blood." All heads turned to look at him. "You could not create the formula without it."

Pallando shifted in his chair. "Yes."

"And just how did you get this Carpathian blood?" asked Gabriel in a low voice.

"I am tired of such horrible manners. I thought I was telling a story. May I remind all of you that I was the one invited here."

"You do realize you are surrounded," snapped Vikirnoff.

Pallando scoffed. "I do not have to tell you anything."

"We could beat it out of him," suggested Julian who was growing more annoyed by the moment.

Mikhail rose to his full height. "Enough! One more outburst and I will clear this room." After a few moments of silence, Mikhail nodded at Pallando. "Now, you were saying?"

"Thank you. At least the prince of the Carpathian people has some manners."

Marla began to giggle at the remark. To everyone's surprise, Pallando slapped her across the face. Despite the fact that he appeared so weak, the blow was enough to leave a red mark on her face. She held her cheek with one hand and trembled.

"Oh now, darling, do not cry. I told you I would punish you the next time you were rude."

"But how was I rude?" she squeaked.

"We do not laugh at anyone. That was not very nice, was it?"

She shook her head.

He is extremely unstable, Mikhail, said Gregori on their private link.

Unstable and very unpredictable, agreed Mikhail. He speaks of a respect for honor and yet he continually seems to contradict himself. He is very odd.

Pallando patted Marla's hand once more. "Good girl. Now, where was? Oh yes, I killed Argile after he began to share our secret. We did not need wizards running around trying to capture Carpathians. Although everyone was in awe of the fact that Javier was the first to successfully capture and hold one of you, we knew it was by far too dangerous. Xavier soon followed with his own solution of breeding Carpathians for children. He had the right idea, but it was far too risky." Pallando glanced over at Razavan who was rigid. "The instinct to find your direct born children with the knowledge that they have been taken is just too strong. Faustus did not need every Carpathian looking for him. And drinking Carpathian blood works, but it doesn't provide extend life as long as the potion Faustus created."

"So if he didn't capture Carpathians, how did he obtain the blood?" asked Mikhail.

"He created the children himself."

"Excuse me?" asked Mikhail, as he wasn't sure he heard correctly.

Pallando laughed. "He was well ahead of science and the genetic code back then. He simply used the friendship we once had with the Carpathians to collect your DNA."

"What?" asked Jacques who couldn't help himself. "How did he collect this DNA?"

The wizard shrugged. "A flake of skin, a few strands of hair…it was fairly easy."

"Are you saying you cloned us?"

"Oh heavens, no! He simply took the elements needed from various strands to create what he wanted."

"Where are these children?" asked Mikhail.

But Pallando only shrugged. "I do not know."

The prince had enough. "You do not know," he repeated in a low voice. "Your mentor created them!"

"Oh, he never told me where he kept them. He placed a secret guardian in charge of the children who makes the potion. Argile said he knew where the children were, but once he began to tell too many wizards about the potion, I killed him to ensure the wishes of Faustus remained intact. Only a few honorable wizards and their family lines would continue to be selected to receive the potion."

"Where are they?" demanded Mikhail.

"I do not know. In fact, I am uncertain if they are even still children of course. As I said, very hard to keep a grown Carpathian with full powers."

"They are still children," confirmed the prince. "Armando hears them."

"Really?" asked Pallando. "Razavan told me one escaped but was a young woman. I thought maybe she told you some information."

"She cannot remember," said Julian.

"Hmm, well Faustus was brilliant. I'm sure he put some powerful spell in place for anyone who escaped. Still, if the SongMaker hears children, maybe the guardian simply kills them when they become too old and replaces them with new ones."

Raven gasped. "How could anyone kill innocent children? Armando, I thought you indicated they are trapped in time!"

Pallando looked past Mikhail at the SongMaker. "Oh my. I suppose that is possible. Faustus was so far ahead of his time. Such a shame he is not here today."

"So you've said," muttered Mikhail. "There must be a way to find these children."

Pallando gave the prince a slow smile. "Oh, I'm sure I could find out. Yes, I could help you…for a price."

Mikhail frowned. "What do you want?"

Pallando took his cane and struggled to stand. Slowly, he walked closer to the prince, and a few growls erupted from some of the hunters. Gregori stepped in front of Mikhail, blocking Pallando's path.

But the wizard walked right past them. To Armando's dismay, Pallando approached him. The old man smiled. "A song."

The room actually grew cold as Mikhail's eyes blazed. "He is not for your entertainment," hissed Mikhail in a voice that actually made the walls vibrate.

"Oh come now," said Pallando in an amusing tone, "is not the SongMaker's purpose to ease even the most lost hunter's soul? All I ask is for his power to soothe my tired spirit." He took another few steps, causing Armando to visibly stiffen. "But I want to feel what I used to be when I was the young wizard you saw in my mind."

Armando was frozen in place. The wizard was telling him that he would have to recreate that memory from so long ago when Javier held him. And not only would he have to re-live the horror of being Javier's puppet, he would also have to show it to all those in the room.

The humiliation was overwhelming.

"Why?" asked Mikhail. "Why would you even help us? Why would you give up your resource for the potion?"

Pallando's gave a soft, cackling laugh. "Look at me. Do you really think this is living? Oh, perhaps if I could stay younger for a longer period of time like you do, than yes, I may want to live longer. But even you must admit life can grow weary after too long. Death is just a transition to what must be natural."

"And what of the other wizards?"

Pallando snorted. "Not many left are worth living in my opinion. But as I was the only named benefactor to Faustus, I demanded a rather large supply of the potion. For years I have stocked it, and transactions for it are made through me. I have plenty to sustain only a few worthy I have chosen for their generations to come."

"But who sends it to you?" demanded Mikhail. "If you receive the potion, you must know."

"Oh please, I told you Faustus was a great wizard. He thought he could trust Argile who betrayed him."

"Yes, you told me," said Mikhail as grew impatient. "Why did you not get him to reveal where the children were?"

"And I told you, Faustus had placed a secret guardian of the children. That guardian is the one who leaves the potion in various agreed places for my staff to find and deliver to me. Argile said he knew where the children were but it did not matter to me as I still regularly received my agreed shipment."

Gregori shook his head. He is indeed odd. How do we even know he can obtain the information we need?

We cannot.

Pallando smiled. "And now, my price has increased." He looked at Armando. "I want two songs."

Author's note: Thanks for the reviews everyone. Hope all had a good holiday! -Anne