Calling for a Miracle [The Order of Vampyres 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (40 page)

Having reached some conclusion of how to proceed with his mate, Eleazar placed his empty glass on the table and stood to find her. He blew out the lanterns and took the stairs slowly. He ran his hand over the worn banister, feeling a bit nostalgic and glad to be home. He hoped Larissa would like living here. When he reached his bedroom, the door was closed. He took a deep breath, not eager for the battle that was sure to ensue, but there was nothing for it. She was his mate and as such there were certain expectations she would have to come to terms with.

He knew she would likely spit and hiss like the fierce, little kitten she was, but he needed to be stern. She was probably just waiting for him to walk through that door so that she could bombard him with a litany of uninformed accusations. Yes, he needed to set her straight. He just hoped she accepted the way of things and they could move on accordingly.

He turned the knob and was surprised when he stepped into darkness. His eyes adjusted and he looked to the bed. Still made. He turned and found the only chair in his room empty. Where the hell was she?

“Larissa?”

She did not answer. Eleazar left the room and checked the water closet. Empty. He called her again and heard no reply. He began checking behind every door in the various guest rooms, but saw no sign of her. Surely she knew his bedroom was the one at the top of the stairs. It was the only one adorned and dressed for sleeping. Of course there were other furnished rooms, but the linens were put away and the carpets in need of freshening. When he reached the last door of the hall and found the room empty, he began to panic.

“Larissa!” he called again, but heard nothing in return.

This was exactly what he had been concerned of. The girl simply did not listen. Perhaps his assumptions that she was dutiful and naturally submissive were wrong. The longer he searched for her, the angrier he became. He thought about all of the ways she had flouted tradition. She had abandoned her marital duties and fled the farm without permission. She had found employment as a
dancer.
She had privately entertained a strange man who was not of her relation. She had disrespected her bishop and he even recalled her giving her blood to Cain at one point, a forbidden act among The Order. So long as she was his mate, she would not share her blood with anyone but him or his children, Eleazar vowed.

By the time he reached the door to the fourth floor, the bishop was in quite a temper. He opened the small door and climbed the narrow, curving steps. The fourth floor was used for mostly storage. It was somewhat unfinished and smelled of old books and dry air. There were stacks and stacks of old ledgers. There was no reason for Larissa to be up there.

He was about to return to the floors below when a pristine swatch of white caught his eye. He walked toward the back of the house, mindful of the low peaks and dormer windows that cramped the space. He ducked and pushed a large chest out of the way.

There, in front of a tiny attic window, sitting in a patch of moonlight, was his sleeping beauty. She looked so childlike, her legs curled under her skirts and her braids ragged from their journey. Her pale face rested on her arms curled about the sill. Her eyes looked irritated and swollen and Eleazar knew she had been crying. His anger seemed to dissolve.

Not wishing to disturb her, he carefully reached down and scooped her into his arms. She mumbled something he couldn’t make out and snuggled close to his chest. There was a thump as he adjusted her legs.

Eleazar looked to the wood floor and saw a tome. It was one of the council ledgers. He carefully leaned down and picked it up. Holding Larissa’s sleeping form firmly in his arms, he flipped the ledger over and read the date inscribed on the spine. It was only from last year. He frowned. What would she want with such a book? They were filled with nothing but tedious accounts of council business, something Larissa should not be involving herself with.

He turned the ledger over and the spine fanned open. He noticed a section had been ripped out. He frowned. It was against the law to tamper with Order records. He shook his head and placed the book on the chest. Carefully he carried Larissa down the winding stairwell and back to his bedroom.

She did not stir the entire time Eleazar held her. When he reached his room, he carefully pulled his quilt back and lowered her to the bed. Her face turned toward the pillow and she sighed. It would have pleased him to see her so at home in his bed, but the sigh that left her lips was not a contented one. It was a sigh that stuttered out of her as if her body was still suffering the effects of her tears.

Eleazar went to remove her shoes and smirked when he saw that she still wore none. Her little, dirty feet were still beautiful, he thought. He also thought it was a good thing their kind did not catch colds or she would surely be sick all the time for how often she walked about with her feet uncovered.

He carefully lifted her shoulders and untied the back of her apron. Deciding he should first unbraid her hair, he sat beside her and went to the task. He had never taken out a female’s hair before. He was shocked to realize females used actual straight pins, the same used for sewing, to secure their braids. He unraveled her soft, ebony locks, one by one, until her hair shined under the moonlight spilling from the window like a waving river upon his pillow.

He slid her arms out of her apron and carefully pulled the garment away from her body. As he folded it gently, he felt something in the front pocket. Feeling around for the opening, he pulled out a crumpled bit of paper. It was pages from the ledger. He recognized his own neat script written precisely on each page and wondered why on earth she would have ripped them out of the book.

He placed the crumpled pages on the nightstand with her folded apron and removed the rest of her gown, leaving her only in her English panties. He pulled the quilt to her shoulders and tucked her in like a sleeping babe and placed a kiss on her forehead.

After hanging her gown and apron on a peg, Eleazar removed his shirt and shoes and went to the chair by the window. He unfolded the pages she had ripped from the tome and smoothed them over his thigh. With the help of the silver light of the moon he could make out his thin script.

It is on this third Tuesday of September, that I, Bishop Eleazar King, hereby consent to the marriage of Brother Silus Hostetler, son of Damascus Hostetler, descendent of Nicodamus Rocke, to Larissa Hartzler, daughter of Jonas Hartzler, descendant of Ezekiel Hartzler. It is in good standing that the female is of agreement with the union and has made no protests known to the council. It is for such reason that I accept said betrothal as legal in light of the council vote finding the union favorable seven to two, hereby overriding the call for unanimous agreement among the elders.

The bride is of forty-eight years. The parents of the bride have testified to being of firm belief that Larissa Hartzler’s virtue remains intact and that she is healthy, with no reason to assume she shall face difficulty conceiving. It is placed upon the groom, Silus Hostetler, to fortify the link of the Hartzler and Hostetler lines.

Silus Hostetler has testified to a full understanding that his bride of choice is by no means his true called mate. If, by the will of God, Silus is someday called to his true mate, his marriage to Larissa Hartzler shall be considered null and void and the female’s transgressions shall be forgiven, if not overlooked. Any children conceived under the protection of this contract within the bounds of this union will be considered legitimate from here on.

In accordance with The Order and family law, upon consummation of the union, Silus Hostetler holds all rights over his wife to act as head of the household without question. It is within the bounds set forth by our laws that the head of household should maintain any and all rights to determine what is best for his wife and family so long as he does not impede any higher laws of The Order. By taking vows and promising honor and obedience, Larissa Hartzler will be further known as Larissa Hostetler, wife of Silus, and as such promise to honor and obey him in all matters. By the protection of family law, any male, deemed head of the household, shall preserve the final decision in matters of obedience, physical relations, and servitude. It is under the acceptance of such law, that said wife shall leave all decisions to that of her husband. The husband shall determine who may enter the home, how the wife shall serve the home, and so forth. A wife may not leave the home without the husband’s permission. No male shall address the wife of another male without the husband’s permission. The wife shall be courteous to her husband in all matters and show gratitude for his sacrifice and protection. Furthermore, all and every possession, including that of the wife’s personal effects and body shall, from here on, be the sole property of her husband.

This contract is sealed and witnessed by the Bishop,

Eleazar King

Eleazar crumpled the documents in his hand until his knuckles popped painfully. He then cursed himself for being three kinds of a fool. Larissa was right. She had been given away like a sow at a county auction. He had never, in all of his years, considered what a female would be sacrificing in her predicament. True, the laws had been created to protect the rights of called
mates and ensure their privacy. While their culture was sometimes rigid, beyond basic Christian beliefs, their Amish way of living was maintained mostly to keep them isolated from the outside world. He had never intended to be the founder of a society that forbids individuality. Yet, that seemed exactly what he had done.

The laws had been written in the early seventeen hundreds during a time when they did not seem so dated. Females could hardly read at such a time. There were rebellions on every continent and safety had been the council’s first concern. Now however, America was settled. English women were educated. They could serve their country in numerous ways from voting to actually sitting as a government official.

Eleazar accepted that their culture opposed certain advancements. The modern world was overwhelming, always changing, growing more and more violent and morally depraved, but he saw no reason to shy from intellectualism. Females were just as capable as males in most scholarly matters. Sure, they were a bit more emotional at times. But that did not make them incapable of contributing in some way or another.

There was so much Eleazar wanted to change. Their laws needed to be amended. There were practices, such as bundling, that he no longer felt he could abide. Although he was the oldest member of The Order, he was not the strictest. There were elders who held more outdated views than he. He would cause a revolt if he marched into Council Hall and demanded they rewrite the laws they had followed for the past three hundred years.

He looked over to his mate sleeping soundly on his bed. No wonder she had been so upset. He could finally see the world she had lived in from her perspective. She was right. She had the autonomy of an infant on the farm. He no longer felt upset with her. Rather, he felt extreme pride that, in spite of all these repressive laws, she still had the courage to follow what she felt to be fair and right. She had yelled at him more than once today for being unfair. He thought she was the one being unreasonable, but now he realized it was not she that was out of order, but The Order that was.

Chapter 26

The following morning Larissa awoke in a bed she had no recollection of falling asleep in. She was warm under the covers and could feel the cold autumn chill filling the room around her. Winter was coming. She snuggled deeper, prepared to fall back to sleep, then frowned. Pulling her head out from under the covers, she looked around the room. Where was the bishop? She felt the other side of the bed and found it cold.

After several long minutes of contemplating what to do with herself, she finally rose and quickly dressed. She shivered as her bare feet touched the cold wood floor. While there was a large fireplace in the bedroom, there was nothing but ash inside. She would have to insist that the bishop have wood brought up for the following evening.

She visited the water closet and awkwardly tried to tidy herself for the day without her personal toiletries. Once her hair was braided, she returned to the bedroom and waited. She waited, growing more and more impatient by the hour, but no one came. She was without a bonnet and shoes. She pursed her lips, wondering what she should do.