April 1070
We found Eva in her room, grooming her owl. She seemed a bit surprised as we walked in.
"Hello," she said. "Is there a lesson today after all?"
"In about an hour or so, yeah. We've got something else to talk about though," I said. I moved to lean against the wall, while Elfleda sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Are you getting married?"
I choked on air and had to hit my chest a few times, while Elfleda just lightly laughed.
"No, the subject is rather… different," Elfleda said.
"Yeah, uh, that," I said, coughing my throat back into order. "The short version is that the earl's going to be heading off to France soon, and you're going to have to stay behind when we go."
Eva furrowed her brow and frowned. "Why?" she asked.
"You know that conversation we had about vampires, and Tim…othy and Lucille being ones?" I asked.
"Yes," she said slowly. "They don't seem very dangerous."
I took a deep breath. "They don't seem very dangerous because they haven't done much at all, at least so far. And the reason they haven't done much at all is because they either want to work with me or at least not make me angry enough to come after them. And also, because as vampires go, they're just not very vampy. Or experienced. But make no mistake – they are dangerous, and you should be cautious around them until I can be sure they're trustworthy." I shook my head. "Where was I, right. The other bit you should remember from that discussion is that vampires are born. Specifically, Timothy and Lucille have a father, someone with significant influence in France. And I have no clue if he's going to make an appearance or be hostile."
"Why would he be hostile? Or why do you have to go?"
That was a question I expected to hear a lot over the coming days, in various forms.
"Lucille really, really hates her father, and is also terrified of him. She thinks, and maybe soundly, that he wants to control and manipulate and dominate her," I said. "Maybe she's wrong. Maybe he doesn't. But if she's right, and if he does, I need to be there to stop him. So that's why."
"But why can't I come along? Timothée and Lucille don't know about me, do they?" Eva asked.
"They should not know you're a witch, but no one could miss that Harry has some obligation to you and your brother," Elfleda said. "If you come to France, then Harry will have to worry about protecting me, and the earl, and the Renouths, and you and your brother, all by himself. That is a great many people to watch over and not a simple task, especially if the Renouths prove treacherous."
"But… I…" Eva sighed and emotionally, and slightly physically, deflated. "I just got the wood for my wand. Why now? What am I even going to do?"
"We've got a few weeks before we have to leave, so we'll change the focus of our lessons to primarily wood-carving and focus-making," I said. "And when the time comes, I'll send you and your brother back to your parents. I figure you'll appreciate some time with them after almost a year apart."
Eva's expression rose. "That's true."
"And just because I won't be around to teach you doesn't mean I can't get someone to cover for me. Probably." I looked around the room quickly and settled on a small bedside table, where a few pieces of parchment, quill, and inkpot sat. I pointed at it and asked, "May I?"
"Uhm, yes," Eva said.
"Thanks. By the way, what'd you name your owl?" I asked, taking the top off the inkpot and dabbing the quill inside.
"Elric," Eva said with a touch of melancholy. "After my younger brother."
I frowned and had to process that for a bit. "How did he die?" I asked.
"I don't know. I was only a few years older than him and he died young. I barely remember anything from that long ago," she said.
"I'm sorry," I said, then paused as I put quill to parchment.
The question, when boiled down to the basics, was whether I would ask Rowena or Helga to sub in for me. Helga could fly, and was good at Transfiguration, so she'd be a good fit that way. On the other hand, she could be busy in Constantinople. On the metaphorical third hand, Rowena lived close to Dorham – relatively – had some actual teaching experience, and seemed to get along with Eva.
After some thought I decided to split the difference and send the letter to Rowena, asking her to check with Helga and come to my house to talk about arrangements when she-slash-they could.
I penned the letter, closed the inkpot, dried the quill against my fingers – my right hand had recovered enough I no longer felt the need to wear gloves – and set the quill back down, waiting for the ink to dry. "Have you fed Elric recently?" I asked.
"Just this morning, an hour ago," Eva confirmed.
"Good," I said. I gave it most of a minute for the ink to dry, then carefully rolled up the parchment and turned to Eva. "Now, first things first, open the window."
She got up off her bed and did so.
"Now take this, and offer it to Elric," I said, holding out the parchment.
She took it gingerly, then moved to where Elric was nesting atop her drawer, head cocked at a right angle. She held out her hand, and the owl focused on the parchment.
"And finally, tell him to deliver this to one Rowena Ravenclaw," I said.
She repeated what I said, and after one final glance, Elric reached out, grabbed the parchment, and flew out the window.
Eva looked excited as Elric left, though after a little while the excitement turned to a mix of confusion and curiosity. "How does it know where to fly, or who Rowena is?" she asked. "Does it remember her?"
"Well, probably," I said. "But I have no clue how those birds work. You should ask Rowena if she ends up teaching you in the interim, she might know."
"Is she going to be teaching me while you're gone?" Eva asked.
"Maybe. Her or Helga, hopefully. Or both. And if neither, well, then just enjoy your time with your family and don't do anything adventurous," I said. "Now, I'm going to go back home and get ready. Once it's noon, come on over; I'll get you started on the carving."
After making my goodbyes I did not, in fact, go straight home. Instead, I went looking for either Tim or Lucille, found Tim wandering the halls, and told him I wanted to speak with Lucille two days from then, at four past noon.
I could've tried to push for an immediate meeting, but time wasn't that short and I was the one that had instituted the "rule" about scheduling and appointments, so I figured I may as well follow it.
Eva, as it turned out, did not have a talent for woodworking. But she had determination, and frankly that was more important. I got her started on bits and pieces of wood, taught her how to hold and use the knife, to take it slow because you couldn't really fix a mistake if you carved off the wrong bit, and so on. Would she be ready to make a wand in two, three weeks? I wasn't sure. But she stood a good chance, I would say.
Rowena was the one that came to see me. It happened the next day in the evening, a while after Eva and Elfleda had left. I let Rowena in, prepared a quick snack, and we sat down at the main table across from one another.
Rowena got right into it. "Like you thought, Helga is busy in Constantinople, and will be for a while. Now, I can look after your apprentice if you wish, though I would strongly prefer if she came to my tower. But where are you going where you need to make such arrangements?"
"Vampire central," I said in between bites.
She frowned. "What?"
"Sorry, personal reference," I said. I washed the bread down with some water and added, "Robert, the earl, is heading down to France, partly to deal with some rebellion. And I am… somewhat reliably informed that the current Constable of France, the commander of their armies, is a vampire. And has a good chance of showing up."
Rowena nodded. "I see. And you don't want your apprentice anywhere near that."
"Oh hell no," I said. "Every time I've gone anywhere that could be described as vampire central hostilities have broken out and things got crazy; I don't really think this time will be different."
"Which is why you want to go and protect the earl, your patron." Rowena nodded, snacked a bit, then asked, "Why not ask Salazar to help? I'm not certain, but I think he could make time."
"I… don't really think that's a good idea," I said slowly.
Rowena's eyebrows rose. "Why?" she asked.
"I mean, protecting Robert is important, but if it was just Robert, I wouldn't actually consider him to be at risk, really. It's Tim and Lucille, mainly."
"The vampires. From here," Rowena said.
I nodded.
"What about them?"
"Lucille is the one that told me that the Constable of France is her father. And she is afraid that her father will try and control her. And… I'm not sure I can really justify it as being 'not my problem.'"
"She's a vampire. Why do you care?" Rowena asked.
I didn't have a ready answer to that, so instead I metaphorically chewed on the problem while actually eating as well. In truth, I already knew the answer; I was just wondering how much to tell Rowena.
"Well, you already know about the shadow," I said. "And in comparison, this is a lot milder." I drank some water and wiped my mouth. "I had an older brother. He was a vampire. A Raith, specifically. We were close, and we lived together for a while, and he… he tried to be better. To not take the easy route, to not be a monster. And we parted on… not great terms."
"They're not your brother though."
"I know that!" I yelled. Then I grimaced and pulled back, feeling a little guilty over the way Rowena had frozen. "I know that. I know that there's fucking nothing I can do to address the way I hurt him. But that's not really why I'm doing this." I fell silent, moved my plate to the side, and put up my elbows in front of me, resting my head against steepled fingers.
I thought a lot of half-formed thoughts in that moment, most of which I don't even remember at this point. But I do remember the one that stuck: Amoracchius. I don't know how I got to that train of thought, but I know where I went from there.
Presumably, Uriel had given the Sword for me to safeguard. And presumably, he'd left it in my bedroom to get a slight laugh at my expense. But experience, and his own words, told me that he never tried to do only one thing. There were always butterfly effects. I'd used the Sword to counter my friends' and colleague's suspicions, and I doubt Uriel had a real problem with that, but that's too simple, too direct.
And the more I turned the question over, the more things came together. At first, I'd thought I'd gotten the Sword because of what I did with Cerdic, the chance I gave him. And that was probably part of it. But now, I'm wondering if it didn't appear in my room after that talk with Lucille on the road.
"Choice," I said quietly. "It comes down to choice. Lucille and her brother could be wolves in sheep's clothing, manipulating me to their own ends. Maybe. But I don't really believe that. I think they're people, struggling with a bad hand of cards. And you could be right and they could become monsters and screw me over, and that would be their choice. But if Lucille's right about her father, and I'm not there, then she doesn't get a choice. And enough choices have already been taken from her."
Rowena didn't reply immediately. She didn't say anything for a full minute. When she did speak, she just said, "Alright."
"Thank you," I said.
"What are you going to do with Eva?" she asked.
"Can you come by again next Sunday?" I asked. "Not this Sunday, the one after that."
"I can."
"Great. I'll take Eva and Cuthbert back to their parents that day, and I'd like you to come along. Once we're there, we can discuss how and when Eva's going to be going back and forth to and from your tower."
"Am I going to have to ride a horse again?" Rowena asked.
"Yeah. Why?"
Rowena let out an aggrieved sigh. "It's sore-inducing and painful, not to mention awkward."
"They're the fastest form of land travel. Unfortunately."
"The Ways are the fastest form of land travel," Rowena said. "Or flight, in Helga's case. Horses are… inefficient."
"Then make something better. I'd appreciate it."
"Hmm." She finished her food and wiped her mouth. "Thank you for the food. I'll see you next Sunday."
"See you next Sunday."
I led Rowena to the door, saw her out, and brought my wards back up. Then I went upstairs to my bedroom, and spent a good long while staring at the naked length of Amoracchius. I wasn't the right kind of guy to use that Sword properly, not for long. I wasn't, really, that patient or tolerant or loving. The last time I'd used Amoracchius, I'd wielded it in anger and almost gotten it destroyed. And just because I had it, didn't mean I had to use it.
But. But. I'd just spouted out a whole Knightly spiel downstairs about choice and preserving it. So I kind of walked right into this.
Slowly, grudgingly, I looked up at the ceiling.
"Fine, Uriel," I said. "Just this once."