Evalina was settled in her own home, right next door. A simple arrangement that I knew would work well for us. She retains her own home here in London so no one suspects, and we live together everywhere else. I entered my laboratory and looked over my notes. There must be something I could do to sway the Board and to show them that I was right. "Henry?" Evalina's voice came from the top of the stairs and I saw the hem of her skirt as she appeared "oh, thank goodness you are home at last. I was waiting for you" she smiled so sweetly as she hit the landing "put your notes and journals away, do not look at your serum. Do not trouble yourself with it for a few days, Henry. The answer will come eventually but it should never come in haste" she took my journal from my hands "if you require a subject or two then you and I can discuss it, I know a few insane or evil people who could become your test subjects" "is this true?" "it is" she had a wicked smile upon her face "and where would you find these subjects?" "from the worst of society. You are trying to reverse the worst of society and aid those who truly need help. Those fools do not realize what you were truly asking- they are simply afraid and jealous" "jealous, you must be deranged, Evalina" "yes, jealous. To them you are a middle-class doctor who is courting one of their own innocents. They think you are poaching one of their own. If only they knew" she put the journal out of reach "come" she gripped my hand in her two "we are going upstairs right now and I am putting you in the bath" "pity it is too small-" "oh, no. you are not using me to get over your own self-pity" she dragged me upstairs then to the door which joined our two homes. Like me, she preferred darker, masculine colors to pastel feminine colors. She brought me to her bathing chamber and stared at me as she turned on the water "I am disappointed in you that you would allow such lowlifes to bother you so. I learned long ago that I should not allow the bleating of mere sheep pester me. They are nothing compared with us moving forward. We are, as a people, stuck in the middle ages. So are the Board. You are a man of the 1890's and they simply do not understand your mind or your dreams. They never will" "how do you know this?" "I had to learn how to behave as the times changed. I had to relearn so much just to fit in. Samael is the best teacher I ever had for this" "Samael? What does he know about etiquette?" "more than you know. Even I do not know how old he truly is but I do know he remembers when we used to be a matriarchy. That points to the Greek times but he is also very militaristic pointing toward Sparta" "why Sparta?" she smirked "he encouraged me to do the Spartan women's exercises" "perhaps he prefers them" "I do not know about that. Now, get in" she sat behind me, rubbing my shoulders "you spoke well today up to the point you lost your temper. Never lose your temper, Henry, they are not worth it" her voice was soft and soothing "that will be the hardest thing for you to learn- not to let their arrogance push you to fury. Your fury is what they desired so they can call you a madman yourself" "how shall I fix this?" "prove them wrong, but not today or tomorrow. You belong to me and I to you. Your wife is telling you to take a break from your serum and research and so you will even if I have to bind you with everything I have. You will take a rest, then the answer will come" she was right. "Very well, Evalina. What do you want to do tomorrow?" "hmmm- actually talk?" "you want to talk? Very well. I am thinking of taking Emma as my concubine. What do you think?" she paused "I think she is weak" "compared to you, every woman is a weakling" "that is true" she chuckled "does she make you happy or is she simply a distraction?" "both. I think I could manipulate Sir Danvers through her" "you could" "and she is his sole child, his heir" "oh, you are devious, Henry. I was worried that pain had taken that from you" she nuzzled my cheek and sighed "if she makes you happy, then you have my blessing to ask for her hand in marriage, but you must remember who your Chief Wife is and act accordingly. I expect her to obey me eventually, Henry. I know it will take some time to get there" "of course, Evalina" her silver eyes gleamed for a moment "do you feel better now?" "yes, dear" "and will you tell me why you continuously reject my choice of- stress relief for you?" "I beg your pardon?" I leaned back so I could look at her "Lucy Harris, the prostitute at the Red Rat. I paid for her time, for you" "you did? Why would you do that? Were you testing my loyalty?" "of course not, I wanted you to have fun and I do know the Ladies of the Night well. I know who is clean, who is good, who is attentive. She has had no callers recently and I thought you would be generous with your time. Though now I see it is your loyalty to me which gave you pause, but that did not seem the case tonight. She simply plays arrogant, you do realize that? She truly is a sweet girl. Gentle" "how do you know that?" "I've known her since she debuted, Henry. It was me who convinced the Spider to allow her to sing to attract customers" "you know the man who owns that place?" "I do, well enough that he will throw any who offend me out right away" "are you-" "I am in no relationship with anyone but you" I pressed a kiss to her cheek "you are a troubled woman yourself, Evalina, are you not?" "tortured, not troubled" she smiled "my troubles are nothing of importance to me, in all honesty. I am old enough that either the troubles can be easily fixed, I ignore them, or I worry over them. If I worry then know it truly is bothersome" "how old are you, Evalina? You mentioned Samael's age but never yours. Everyone thinks you were born in the early 1500's but your accent is so strange that none can place it and you speak of traditions that were barely existent in the time when you were supposed to have been born" "never ask a lady about her age, Henry, it is not polite" "then how will I know when to celebrate your birth?" "none has ever truly celebrated my birth, Henry. The only one who did was my Milk Mother, my father's second wife and my sister, Bea." "when were you born? A date then?" "we did not truly write it down but somewhere near the winter solstice" "December, that is something. You will not tell me your birth year?" "no" she pushed up from where she was sitting and went into her bedchamber. I followed her, tying a robe as I moved "and you, Henry? How old are you?" "I am from the late 1600's" "that is all the validation I require to not reveal the year I was born. It is enough to make someone like Blood blanche, I can only imagine how you will react" she was sitting on the edge of the bed "you want your Emma, go ahead and capture her heart but if she steps out of line or displeases you or I, she is mine to deal with" "another one of your traditions?" "yes, though it will certainly make it easier for you and for me" she brushed a lock of her hair back and smirked "so, do you often frequent the Red Rat, Evalina?" "I frequent a lot of places, why?" "I need to know if I have any competition" I was teasing her "no rivals, no competition. I look out for the girls" "why? Why bother with them?" "it gives me a sense of purpose. A purpose I thought I had lost many years ago, Samael always encouraged a purpose and a campaign to keep me occupied. I chose to help those who cannot help themselves, such as I have been in their position and was helped" "will you tell me?" "I was taken in by a mortal and his partner, a wonderful pair. He was a pirate all feared but he protected me from his men. They became almost a mother and father to me. she was shot in the head, he was hanged, as was the man he sent to watch over me. He gave me to Samael for protecting and that was that" she smiled "enough of my past" "no one knows anything about you, Evalina. You do not let anyone in, why is that?" "too many have tried to rip me down and in all honesty they would never understand" "I am not many people" "you let-" she paused "I know, and I am sorry about that. How can we become a partnership if we do not know anything about each other? You know me well because we have spent time together and there isn't much to know but you- no one knows. Where were you born?" "I was born and lived many years in a castle in early England. We still spoke a mix of Germanic and Roman languages; hence I speak Latin, Ancient Greek and Roman fluently. I had the chance to learn many languages over time, I speak some Ancient Egyptian and a bit of Sumerian as well. I spent time in Italy, and France in my youth, just after I was baptized. We had a sister coven that housed me for a time, they were cutthroat, but I enjoyed being there. It was better than the oppression I felt at home" her voice was soft "the Church of Whispers is a very dangerous one. The High Priest and Priestess do not care about anyone except themselves, power, and their male line. Charlotte is a vain creature, Gregory is not so bad if he is alone. I cannot count how many times he had to step in to pull me from her grasp. It does not mean he did not mete out his own punishments but he at least could stop her from killing. I spent much of my life in darkness, never recalling the day or the even the year. Silence was often my best companion. My sister, Bea and I were put together in the end but we were too afraid the other would say something to truly bond like we had before I was baptized. It was a cruel existence. This behavior is the reason I am always so confused when people say they wish to join that church. I want to shake them hard and scream that it will be nothing but incomprehensible horror." I held her hand gently "and my troubles seem like nothing compared to what you have lived through" "they are not nothing,
Henry. They are something to you and thus I will do what I can to help you. I believe in your serum, to an extent, and I will support you but understand I will pull you back if I feel you have gone too far." "I would expect nothing else, my love" I held her close and just sat like that, one hand stroking her silken hair.