The Geomancer by Clay Griffith Read Free Book Online

Paris clan, Caterina, shuffled her feet with annoyance. She glanced at her eldest son who stood at a noticeable distance. Honore was the heir to the clan. As such, he bore the title of Dauphin, which vampires had appropriated with gleeful mockery of the humans who had come before them. Honore preferred to be closer to another figure, a slender willowy female who was pale and blond where Caterina was dark and commanding. He exchanged whispers with the female, eliciting intimate nods and quiet replies seemingly meant to exclude the queen. Having her son ignore her created a sense of indignation in Caterina that was uncommon.
    â€œLady Hallow,” Caterina said with growing disdain, “how long will we wait here?”
    The human at the window dared to glare at the queen, annoyed by her loud voice and the interruption of his reverie. He was tall and old, with a long white beard. He wore a fine suit of clothes with a long white coat. His dark and piercing eyes held none of the usual fear when regarding vampires. It disturbed the queen.
    Hallow replied evenly, “The Witchfinder must prepare, Your Majesty.”
    The queen shook her head and looked out the window. Once an open promenade sectioned off by topiary, the vast grounds were now overgrown and ragged. Hints of carefully planned walkways remained. Clumps of ivy revealed where statues lay hidden around fetid pools. Among the riotous foliage humans stood, perhaps a hundred of them, spread across the decrepit grounds of the palace. They shifted from foot to foot, nervous or bored. Vampires drifted in the air overhead, watching the herd to insure none moved too much or tried to run away.
    Caterina also saw flecks of color dotting the wild landscape. Crystals. Throughout the entire day, the human—the Witchfinder—had spent hours positioning the stones just so. Carrying some sort of weird hand-drawn maps and scurrying about the overgrown paving stones, he would peer around with some sort of brass device. He consulted the device’s needles and numbers, and then would set a crystal on the ground. He continued in that manner for hour after exhausting hour. The herd of humans had wondered at the man who moved between them without speaking. Caterina with her son and Lady Hallow had stood watching from the windows before growing intolerably uninterested.
    Finally, the Witchfinder had joined the three vampires in the palace, where he began the equally tiresome activity of replicating a smaller version of the same pattern of crystals in the Hall of Mirrors. He paid little attention to the vampires as he went about his business. His calm demeanor couldn’t hide the scent of excitement that Caterina could smell on him. The Witchfinder grew more eager by the second as he built the complex crystal pattern on the floor around him.
    Finally, overcome by boredom, Caterina asked, “So this man came from London?”
    â€œYes,” Honore replied with annoyance, his normal state of being. “He was in the service of Prince Cesare, as was Lady Hallow. Now they are in my service.”
    Lady Hallow’s pale blue eyes flicked with amusement.
    Caterina smiled cynically at her son. “Prince Cesare? He’s dead now. Perhaps we should look beyond his former servants for our saviors.”
    Honore snarled, “Cesare is dead because he was betrayed by his own brother! By your old friend, Gareth. The great traitor.”
    Lady Hallow regarded Caterina as if the queen was a misinformed child. At the same time she put a soft hand on Honore’s arm. “Your Majesty, Prince Cesare was brilliant. Perhaps the most brilliant mind I have ever known. He knew that a war with the humans could be disastrous. But when he tried to forestall it, his efforts were blocked by Prince Gareth. Then with war forced on him, Cesare conceived unique ways to win, yes, including using humans to serve him. And again, it was Gareth who ruined those plans. You and I have both