Early August, 1866, Paris, France
"Why did I think visiting Paris in the summer was a good idea?" asked Elise as she bounced back and forth over the cobblestones in the carriage.
"We could have come by portal," said Charles. "That warlock Banes offered to send us off once he found out we were going."
"Listen to you, Charles, letting portal and warlock slip off your tongue like they are everyday occurrences," she teased.
The warlock had been in Cornwall for reasons of his own and met with Lamar for the better part of an hour. Charles had thought him a bit odd, but he was a warlock and who knows what was normal for them.
"Ju-ly or August, they are both vay-re 'ot," she said. The closer they came to Paris, the more her English took on a French accent. She was also given to speaking in bursts of French some of which he managed to understand. They had taken a ship from Plymouth, landed at Le Havre and rented a small coach to take them inland to Paris, by way of Rouen. She had insisted that the French countryside was worth the drive and for the most part, she had been correct, but the dusty, packed roads leading into Paris had been another thing entirely. They were both ready to be done. She had been a wonderful guide and he had learned all kinds of things about France, but strangely the topic of her mother rarely came up. The longer she waited to broach the subject, the more he wondered what awaited them.
"Fortunately, the Institute, it is quite cool," she said. The head of the institute was a man named Ely Fay, who had succeeded Lamar when Elise's father had chosen to leave. Elise described his as a severe, but fair man whose wife was a friend of Elise's mother and a much more warm and open person. They had two sons and a daughter, but she only expected the boys to be in residence. "I suppose it is time to warn you about John and Jonas," she said with a sour face. "I have not seen them for a few years, but things did not go well at our parting. They seemed to think that after a reasonable period of mourning, I would marry one of them, they seeing themselves as being eminently suitable replacements."
"Lovely," he commented.
"Quite," she agreed. "When I turned down John then naturally Jonas assumed it was because I had chosen him. When I turned him down as well, he went running to his father who had the nerve to say I had been leading them on. Needless to say, I left shortly thereafter."
"So they are going to feel the need to challenge me, to show they are the better men, I am guessing," he said. "Otherwise you would not need to warn me."
"Exactly! See how you are," she said in satisfaction, "I do not have to spell everything out for you." Charles thought she was overdoing it a little, another sign of how nervous she was.
"And are they very skilled?" he asked.
"John is solid," she said. "He works hard, is quite large and strong, but not particularly quick. He favors a really big axe for killing large demons and has a couple of smaller axes he can throw to good effect. In sparring though, he is very cautious normally. Jonas though was very talented, but lazy. Some days he could give me a good thrashing and other days you might die of boredom before he would do anything difficult. Just be careful. Jonas at least is sure to ask you for a 'friendly sparring session.'"
"I will keep it in mind," he said. "Have you thought of how we are going to do any searching without them wondering what is going on?"
"Of course," she said, "I am going to show you the city. This is Paris, after all. There is much to see here and unfortunately, plenty of demons to hunt. We shall hunt for demons and family at the same time."
"Well, hopefully, we have the time," he said. "You implied once word got out they were likely to summon me to this Alicante place and question me. Or send someone looking for me."
"Worry about that when the time comes," she said. "Now is the time to worry about my mother. Nous sommes arrive!"
The sheer size of the Paris Institute amazed Charles and showed him that the Cornwall Institute was practically a shack by comparison.
"You are thinking that my father left all this to go to Truro," she said. "Well, let us go and meet the reason why. Remember, making her laugh is the quickest way to win her over, but knowing what will make her laugh is the trick. Do your best and remember this is not an interview; I will continue to like you whether she does or not."
"I will take comfort in that," he mumbled.
"You should," she said and pulled on the warning bell. "I love surprises and this one will be choice."
It took about five minutes, but presently a tall solid-looking man appeared and greeted them.
"Well, look who decided to come and visit," said the man. "Welcome, Elise."
"Thank you, John," she said. "This is Charles Duclot. Would you mind taking us to my mother and letting your father know I have come. We have rooms elsewhere if our presence is too much hassle for the staff."
"You know father will complain, but complain even louder if you do not stay," he said. "Come, I think our mothers are in their favorite knitting room." He led them without further conversation deeper into the dark, but thankfully cool hallways of the institute. When they arrived at a particular door, he indicated it with a nod of his head, knocked and identified himself and then told the ladies inside they had visitors.
"I will go and tell my father you are here," he said and walked off.
Charles opened the door for Elise and she walked in as serene as can be; at least, she seemed that way to anyone who did not know what to look for in her features. Charles would have gladly faced a Confederate ambush to avoid walking through the door, but he hesitated a moment and followed her inside.
Of the two women sitting with their knitting on their lap and looking at the door expectantly, it was instantly obvious which one was Elise's mother.
She had an air about her of competence and expectancy, like Charles' school teacher in Missouri who knew what she wanted you to say, expected you to speak up and heaven forbid you say the wrong thing. She was still quite attractive despite her severe look that included her tightly-pulled back hair, drab colored dress and somewhat gaunt look. She must have been beautiful once, but the years had not been kind to her.
"Elise, welcome!" burst out the other woman, who instantly stood and came to hug her warmly. Elise's own mother followed, but the embrace was shorter and less affectionate. "It has been too long, Elise; far too long."
"Well, daughter, based off the concerned yet adoring looks this young man is giving her, it appears you have finally decided to get on with your life."
"And I missed you, too, Mother," said Elise sourly. "Shall I introduce him then? Mother, this is, Charles Dulclot."
"French then?" said her mother. "That is not a family I have met."
"It was my mother's name, actually," said Charles. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Is it really?" said her mother, examining him closely.
"Well I hope it is going to be, else Elise has promised to send me to a monastery high in the Alps and I hate snow," said Charles, smiling.
Elise's mother burst out laughing and then came to offer her hand.
"Well, to be polite, I should tell you that I am Nicolette Bodine," she said. "We shall see what we can do about avoiding snow, shall we? Now, come and sit next to me. You bear such an uncanny resemblance to an old friend of mine that I cannot get over it." When Charles and Elise gave each other a knowing look she jabbed Elise in the ribs. "Out with it." That was all.
"Mother, this is Miles Nichols' son, come back to us from America," said Elise.
"Oh, my heavens," said the other woman, who had introduced herself as Adley Fay. "Now that you say it, the resemblance is remarkable."
Elise's mother was looking at him like she was remembering something long ago. He expected he would see more of those looks as they began searching Paris for his mother's side of the family.
"Come sit, it seems we have much about which we can speak," said Nicolette. "Has my daughter asked you to marry her yet?"
"Actually, no," said Charles quite cheerfully, "though she is very clever at hinting."
"Well, hinting with men is a good way to be ignored," said Nicolette.
"Well, I am doing my best not to ignore her," said Charles.
Elise had settled down in her spot as if she was about to view a contest; a contest on which she had placed a very large wager.
"Well, you are handsome enough, I suppose," said Nicollette, "but I am not sure what you are getting out of it."
"Oh, you know, she has very pretty … eyes," he said and smiled with too many teeth.
"Well, the eyes are the payment you receive for dealing with her sharp tongue," said Nicolette.
"Perhaps, but if so, they come cheap at the price," he said.
"You have hardly begun to start paying yet," mumbled Nicolette.
"Oh, I do not know," he said. "I think we set some kind of record with the number of demons we have killed together since the day we met. So far I have several bruised knuckles, a slice along the ribs, a slight Jorach Demon blood-acid burn, and I have ruined two coats, three pairs of trousers and four sets of gloves."
Nicollette laughed again, this time slapping him on the thigh appreciatively. "And how did you meet, exactly?"
"Well, I was sitting on a bench in Truro, when the most beautiful woman I had ever seen walked by in front of me on the other side of the street," he began. "Something seemed off with the man that was following her and, not wanting the lady to be harmed, I decided to follow them. When they turned down an alley, I rushed in to help and found her already eviscerating the demon with her parasol.
"Well, imagine my surprise when she tells me to duck and heaves the thing over my shoulder like a spear straight into the eye of a Ravener Demon," he went on expansively. "Then she leaped over me before I could get up, brandishing that blade she keeps in the handle. Well, what was I to do but jump in and give her a hand?"
"A Ravener?" said Adley, "what was one of those doing in Truro, of all place?"
"Well, after some discussion, the staff at Cornwall decided they were trying to turn the table on her in when she tried to ambush them," said Charles. "It was fortunate I came along when I did. I managed to wave my sword around enough to distract the beast while she chopped off its legs one by one. She was even gracious enough to let me deliver the coup de grace after it was immobilized," he finished with a self-satisfied smile.
A loud sniff from Elise's direction said she had had enough of Charles making fun of her.
"It appears romance is dead," said Nicolette. "Fighting is the only thing that interests the young these days."
"Oh, not entirely dead, you should have seen the time I rescued her from Moloch demons when they set her dress on fire," he said.
"I can only imagine," said Nicolette and now she was smiling at Charles and he was smiling back at her. "Well, Charles, if this was some sort of test that Elise set for you, I will have to give you a passing grade."
"I rather thought I deserved an A," he said loftily.
"As long as the A does not stand for accuracy," said Elise, finally speaking.
"Oh, Elise, do not clutter up a good story with facts," said her mother. "Are you saying his version was not true?"
"Well, there was a Ravener, and he did kill it by putting his sword in its head, but the rest was … creative at best," she said.
"Well, well, modesty and a good story teller," said her mother. "What more can you ask?"
"If the verbal sparring is all well and done," said Adley giving Nicolette a stern look, "let us ask Charles how he came to be sitting on a bench in Truro."
From there Charles backtracked and told about his growing up years, the War between the states, his work on the railroad and meeting the old Chinaman, who had sent him to England.
"I was out of money and ready to go home the day I met Elise," he finished.
"Fortuitous indeed," said Addley. "Ah, here is my son."
"Father gave you some time for visiting and would like to invite you all in to dinner," said John.
"Very good," said Adley.
Their first dinner at the Paris Institute was a very interesting affair. They ate with only the director and his immediate family, which included John's wife, Adela, and their three young children, who were introduced as Owen, Cynthia and Julius. Unfortunately, Jonas was also in residence and did nothing to hide a sour expression when Charles was introduced as Elise's 'good friend.'
"Quite a catch you made there; no one else has got a second look for years," he said when they shook hands. "Most of us thought she was going to wear black the rest of her life."
"And thus we see why you cannot find a wife," said Adela. "You would not understand tact or decorum if it was a fiery demon standing right in front of you."
A look from Ely silenced both of them, but Charles immediately sensed this was longstanding argument between the two. Ely had welcomed him and inquired if he had been added to the roles and Elise had quickly jumped in and said her father had sent word to the London Institute and it should be known to the Clave soon enough. Once it was known that Charles had lived on the "American frontier" and traveled all the way to the Pacific Ocean, there was no keeping the curious children from asking questions.
"Have you ever seen a bear?" asked Owen.
"I did once, … uh," he hesitated.
"I am Owen."
"Ah, Owen," he continued. "Yes, I did see a bear once from quite far away."
"Are they really ten feet tall?" asked Julius.
"Well, no, but they do seem rather large," said Charles. "I would not care to walk into one accidently."
"Did you see Indians, too?" asked Cynthia.
"Yes, I did, Cynthia," said Charles.
"Call me Cyndy," she said. "Only my mother calls me Cynthia."
"Well then I shall have to call you Cynthia, as well," said Charles. "Yes, I met several Indians from different tribes and ironically, the few I spoke with at length seemed to agree that there were monsters out there that most people did not recognize."
"Were they as savage and bloodthirsty as reports say?" asked Jonas.
"Are we comparing them to their own society, or the culture they have been practicing for hundreds of years?" asked Charles, looking directly at Jonas. This question seemed to leave him thoughtless, so Charles went on. "The white man came and took their land, gave them diseases and in general broke pretty much every promise or treaty that was ever signed. They certainly live differently, but it appeared they love their children as much as we love ours."
That caused a lull in conversation before John asked, "So if you intend to join us have you begun your weapons training yet?" The tone did not have any of the belligerent flavor with which Jonas had spoken; he was simply looking for information.
"Well, my father began training me when I was five until he was killed by demons when I was twelve," said Charles. "After the first family I stayed with moved west, I had an old cavalry officer and his wife agree to take me in and I helped out around their small farm. When he saw me waving a stick about in practice one day, he took an interest and taught me to shoot and fight with a saber. When the war between the States began he sent me to fight for the Union. We lived in Missouri, but he detested slavery."
"Four years of fighting and another year of living in the West honed all those skills and helped me survive when others did not," he said. "Without all their training I doubt I would have survived the war or all the random demon attacks. I never understood what I was seeing, and no one really believed me, but I believe war and hate and death open up a lot of doors for demons to enter the world and hide. Since finding the Cornwall Institute, Elise has been in charge of my training, overseen by her father."
Jonas snorted loudly but kept quiet at a look from his mother.
"Well, Hyram and Elise were as good a pair of Shadowhunters as I ever met, so you are in good hands," said John. Jonas scowled at him but kept silent.
The boys had had enough of serious talk and were bouncing in their chairs.
"Are the mountains there really so high they block out the sun?" asked Owen.
"Well, they cannot block out the sun all day long, but it does not come up until pretty late in the morning in places," said Charles.
"No more questions until you are finished eating," said Adela. "And chew your food!" she said when they started wolfing down what was on their plates.
"Sir, can I ask how many people live here at the Paris Institute?" said Charles.
"Our numbers are fluid, but in general we have about forty people here," said Ely. "That includes about ten members of the staff and two other family groups that are permanently settled. Presently, though we have been augmented by three other families of Shadowhunters that I requested from Alicante. Paris has been … unsettled, of late. Having lost its war in America, the monarchy is very much in debt and added to the poor of Paris, you now have a sizeable number of veterans who are out of work because they have been crippled. The size and nature of the city make it very easy for demons to hide and for vampires to go about their bloody work without anyone noticing the loss."
"We have been running a steady operation of patrolling for the past three months," added his wife. "We also rotate in Shadowhunters from the country where things have been quieter."
"Which all adds up to lots of dead demons and Downworlders," said Jonas.
"Jonas, you have had too much wine," said Adley severely. "You may leave now." The uncomfortable silence lasted until he had left the table.
"I am sorry for that," said Adley. "Jonas has yet to find his way in the world and his sour personality comes out when he drinks."
After a few more questions from the children, Dan and Hugh, the Fay's personal servants, came in to clear the table and then Flora, the cook's assistant brought dessert. Once finished, Adela took the children off to bed while the rest stayed for further conversation.
"I know you came for a personal visit, but your help would be welcome in light of our current troubles," said Ely. "As a man who has survived a war, I think you will understand better than most the problems we face here. We have as many as three separate groups of vampires at large that do not pay any heed to the established clans rules."
"They have rules?" said Charles in surprise.
"Of course, else it would be open war between vampires and Shadowhunters, which would not serve our cause well," he said. "The local clan is led by a vampire named Violette de Lyon and she has them well under her control, but as Paris has grown unstable the other groups have grown and been difficult to stamp out. We also fear some sort of plot between vampires, demons and warlocks—it is the only way we can explain how so many demons are cropping up in the city."
"This is not something that has become common knowledge," said Elise.
"We have been granted a space of time to take care of our own problems," said Ely. "I will admit, at first, pride kept me from asking for help, but I fear greatly that this has become a problem for the Clave."
"We would ask you to be discreet about this," said Adley, "until the Clave has made a decision one way or the other."
"Of course," said Elise. "And we can certainly help." After a moment's pause she continued and her words surprised Charles. "We are also going to look for some of Charles surviving family while we are here."
That announcement brought silence to the table.
"You mother was French, was she not?" asked Nicolette. "And from Paris, I believe."
"I believe so," said Charles.
Disapproval radiated from Ely and curiosity from his wife. All he said though, was, "Well, you know what you are about and until he has taken the oaths then he is technically not bound by the Codex … but I would think it would behoove you, Elise, to set a good example."
"I suspect that until a person has lost a loved one, they cannot understand what it is like to find them again," said Nicollette, to no one in particular.
Ely looked on the verge of speaking again until a tiny shake of the head from his wife stopped him. He wished them all a good night and told them that rooms had been prepared for them. Nicolette accompanied them to their rooms and asked them both to come inside for a quiet talk.
"I am so glad you have come, Elise," she said. "I wish you would have stayed when you father left … "
"Mother … " said Elise in a warning voice.
"… but I understand some of the reasons you had at the time," she finished smoothly. "However, this search you undertake sounds like a poor idea, not to mention bringing it up in front of the head of the institute."
"I decided it was a bad idea to deceive him," said Elise.
"And nearly gave me a heart attack," said Charles.
"Well, unfortunately after hearing about the current state of the city, our site-seeing tour seemed less and less of a good cover story," said Elise.
"Paris is very dangerous right now," said Nicollette. "Even for a pair of accomplished Shadowhunters, I would not recommend you travel alone at night. Please be careful, dear."
"You know I will, Mother, but you had to see how much it meant to Stiles and Meg, not to mention Father, to understand why we have to do this," she said.
"I understand," said her mother. "Now tell me how my grandchildren are doing."
A thorough update of the goings on of the Cornwall institute took more than an hour and then Nicolette passed on what she had heard of Christopher, Nina and their families. Charles learned a great deal about Elise's family and also the various means of communication the Shadowhunters used to keep track of their far flung society. It appeared that Shadowhunters, if they did not live in Alicante, tended to stay in cultural regions throughout the world. As he listened, it sounded like they were spread quite thinly in places, but reference was made to many cities in the world on every continent, though admittedly, the New World was far less well-established and the sheer expanse of Africa and Asia made it difficult to be everywhere.
It was interesting to see how close the two women were and how Elise refused to be caught in the middle of her parents' conflict. She referenced her father casually and had done much the same thing when speaking with her father. Her mother did not seem to react with the same level of disapproval when Elise mentioned her father, but she would also subtly refrain from commenting either.
Talking of family eased much of the severity in her mother's face and Nicolette's good humor showed more as she talked about her running of the institute library and training the children of the staff. It was nearly nine o'clock before they wound down and went to bed.
"Well, today was a pleasant surprise and no mistake," said Nicolette, rising. "Better than the surprise was how much happier you look, Elise. I think it is safe to say that no one since Hyrum has brought that kind of smile to your face."
"Thank you, Mother," said Elise. "You should come back with me to Cornwall to visit. There might be a very good reason soon."
Her mother gave her a long look. "If you are going to do that, why not here in Paris? This was your home for most of your life. And are you going to try and invite Christopher and Nina?"
"Cornwall, Mother, and I am not going to argue," said Elise.
"Well, good luck to you, Charles, at trying to get her to obey better than I can," said Nicolette. "I have not had much luck since she was about five years old."
"I do not intend to try, Madame," he said. "I am just content to stare at her pretty face."
Elise rolled her eyes, but her mother laughed. "Proving again that men are not the smartest of creatures."
"True enough," said Charles. "Not when confronted with great beauty."
"Agreeing with her only makes her more incorrigible," said Elise.
"Nothing I do is going to change your mother," said Charles.
"I take it back," said Nicollette, who came over and kissed him on both cheeks. "This one has managed to retain some intelligence after all."
When she had left, Elise game him a tight embrace and a long kiss. "You were wonderful today. Your handling of Mother was perfect."
"Well, she seemed to enjoy saying startling things and usually people like that go one of two ways—either they get offended when other people say startling things back to them or they laugh that someone finally stood up to their verbal bullying," said Charles. "It seemed to me that your mother was the second type, so I simply responded in kind."
"Well, it seemed to work, so I thank you for the effort," said Elise. "I was rather pleased she did not blow up at the mention of going to Cornwall. Living in Paris so long has made mother something of an elitist. Cornwall will seem like a farmer's cottage in comparison. Well, I am tired and do not feel like laying plans for our search today. Courtesy dictates that we call on all the other Shadowhunters here in Paris, so tomorrow may be busy as well, but we will begin searching as soon as we can."
"Thank you for your help, despite everyone's disapproval," he said.
"Everyone has been disapproving of me for a long time now," she said. "Our search is going to be much more exciting than we might have imagined. Fortunately, the Paris armory is much larger than Cornwall, so I think we should easily be able to outfit you in a well-fitted suit of Shadowhunter gear and some proper blades for hunting."
"I cannot wait," he said.
"Well, I cannot wait for other things as well, so unless we want to create even more scandal then I must be off to my room," she said and kissed him goodnight.