Perilous Partnership (35 page)

“Especially when we are?” Raymond laughed. “All right, I‟ll bow to your wisdom at the moment, but I‟m going to prepare a statement that I can use at our regular press conferences if the subject comes up, which you know it will.”

“Don‟t answer the claims,” Jean insisted. “Simply reiterate the purposes and goals of l‟Institut. After all, what the participants in the seminars choose to do after they leave and the personal relationships of the existing partnerships

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are not the business of l‟Institut except if they choose to share those as part of our confidential research studies.”

Raymond smiled. “You‟re good at this. Are you sure you don‟t want to take the next press conference for me?”

“I would,” Jean offered, “but that also makes us look like we‟re hiding something, since I‟ve only publicly attended press conferences when we have an announcement to make that‟s directly related to the Cours.”

“You‟ve been talking about reaching out to the other chefs de la Cour so they get accurate information before Renaud and Céline get to them,” Fabienne interjected. “Jean could make that announcement so that he‟s visible at least instead of hovering in the wings like he usually does.”

Raymond frowned as he weighed his options. “The only problem I see with that is that it might serve to remind the press corps that Jean and I are partners as well as colleagues. If he isn‟t there, they may focus more in general terms instead of asking about our relationship in particular.”

“Raymond?” Thierry‟s head appeared in the doorway.

“Bonjour, Thierry.”

“The media is outside covering the protests, and a few of the reporters have asked if l‟ANS has any comments,” Thierry said. “I didn‟t want to issue a statement without checking with you first.”

“We were just talking about that,” Raymond said. “We‟re going to wait until our regular press conference.”

“And give the protestors all that time to gather support?” Thierry asked.

“Are you sure that‟s what you want to do?”

“It was,” Jean said, “but the media hadn‟t shown up when I said that. I didn‟t want to draw attention to the protests, but if they‟re here and asking questions, that changes the game. The question now becomes how to best make the protestors look like they‟re unimportant.”

“Do you have suggestions?” Raymond asked. “I don‟t want to go out there unprepared.”

“My first suggestion would be that you not go out there at all,” Jean said.

“If you go out and address the concerns, it gives weight to the accusations because it‟s serious enough for the president of l‟ANS to make a special appearance. It would be far better if Thierry or Mathieu went, someone „unimportant‟ in the eyes of the media. If they know Thierry, they know him from the Milice, so that gives him credibility, but they have no idea of where he fits within l‟ANS hierarchy. He has a partner, but they probably don‟t know who his partner is or maybe even if he has one, and he isn‟t currently sporting any visible bite marks”—he winked at Thierry—“I won‟t ask about hidden

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ones—so there‟s no reason for them to try to make his relationship with Sebastien an issue.”

“If you give me a prepared statement, I can read it,” Thierry agreed, “but I‟m not entirely comfortable with the idea of fielding questions. I don‟t want to accidentally reveal more than we want to say.”

“If it isn‟t in the statement, you don‟t answer it,” Raymond said. “They can ask all they want.”

“That also comes off as a little underhanded,” Jean disagreed, “but you‟re right about Thierry not having to make those decisions. The accusation is trivial to l‟ANS, since it‟s clearly unfounded, but it‟s quite serious to the vampires, because if it were true, that would be an insult to our integrity.”

“It would be to ours too!”

“Yes, but you know it‟s not true so you don‟t need to bother with such silliness,” Jean explained. “I‟ll go with Thierry, a vampire and a wizard making a joint statement, an appearance of strength without any relationship between us but a professional one. If they have questions beyond Thierry‟s prepared statement, I‟ll answer them or guide Thierry‟s answers. The media will get the appearance they want, and we‟ll get our message out without giving too much away. And we might get an idea of who the ringleader is if the protestors choose to engage us while we‟re making our statement.”

“If you think that‟s best,” Raymond said. “Let‟s get our statement together.

I just saw the accusation of pandering on one of the signs. Is there anything else in their protests, does anyone know?”

“Not that I‟ve seen,” Fabienne said. “I can go outside and blend in with the crowd to make sure if one of you will send me and bring me back in five minutes.”

“While you do that, we‟ll start putting together our statement,” Raymond said. “Get your coat. You want to blend in, not stand out because you‟re the only one not freezing.”

Fabienne rolled her eyes. “Delicate mortals,” she huffed, but they could all see the teasing affection on her face as she said it. When she was ready, Raymond sent her outside with a quick wave of his hand.

“She really is a jewel,” Thierry said. “If you resign and go to l‟Institut full time, you have to leave her here to keep Alain and me on the straight and narrow until we find a new president.”

“That will be her decision, but I won‟t try to steal her away,” Raymond promised. “Okay, let‟s think about what we want to say.”

“I think the best tack to take is to simply and clearly restate the goals of l‟Institut,” Jean said. “That way we‟re informing the public of our reality

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instead of getting dragged down into an exchange of insults with the protestors.”

“So we state that the two goals of l‟Institut are to educate any wizard or vampire interested in forming a partnership and to research… research what?”

Thierry asked. “I mean, I know, but how should I word it?”

“The magical causes and implications of existing partnerships,” Raymond answered. “Everything we don‟t know falls under one of those two headings without giving away details.”

“And if they ask for details of what those implications are?” Thierry asked.

“Then you talk about the protection from sunlight and the immediate and long-term increase in a wizard‟s power,” Raymond replied. “Those are the universal results of partnerships, even in a case like Jude and Adèle where nothing else seems to hold true.”

“Five minutes are up,” Jean reminded Raymond. “Let‟s see if Fabienne has anything else to report.”

Raymond summoned the vampire back with a quick spell. “Anything else worth noting?”

“Nothing,” she said with a shake of her head. “The signs and slogans they‟re shouting are focused entirely on the sexual aspect of the bond and the fact that by promoting partnerships, we‟re acting as panderers.”

“Then we‟re ready,” Jean said. “Shall we go down, Thierry?”

“Yes, let‟s get this over with and get them off our steps.” They stopped by Thierry‟s office to get his coat before going down to the front of l‟ANS offices.

The moment they appeared, reporters swarmed them, shouting questions.

Thierry held up his hand, requesting their silence so he could answer.

“Mesdames et messieurs,” he said, “it has come to our attention that some individuals have been casting slurs against l‟ANS and its newest program.

L‟Institut Marcel Chavinier has two goals and only two goals. It was created to provide information and education to any wizards or vampires interested in learning more about the partnerships that formed during l‟émeutte des Sorciers so they can decide for themselves if they wish to form such a partnership themselves, and secondarily, to research the causes and implications of those partnerships for those who are already involved, either from the war or since then.”

“Why didn‟t monsieur Payet come out to answer our questions?” one of the reporters shouted.

“Because monsieur Payet is a very busy man,” Thierry replied. “The accusations are so patently ridiculous that we saw no reason to trouble him with them when he‟s in the middle of important business elsewhere.”

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“Our source told us the partnerships were primarily sexual in a nature,” one of the protestors shouted.

“Then you need to get a more reliable source,” Jean scoffed. “The bond between partners comes from the exchange of blood between vampire and wizard. Anything beyond that is the personal business of the people involved, not of l‟ANS or l‟Institut.”

“So you deny that the partnership bonds are sexual in nature?”

“The partnerships are what each pair chooses to make them,” Jean replied coldly. “It is not the place of l‟ANS, l‟Institut Marcel Chavinier, or anyone involved with either institution to dictate how anyone leads their lives.”

“Can the partnerships become sexual?” another reporter asked.

Jean laughed. “Any time you involve two people in a relationship, it has the potential to become sexual. That‟s human nature.”

“And vampire nature?”

“Vampire nature as well,” Jean replied, “but if that‟s all it takes to accuse us of pandering, then anyone who assigns two people to work together, anyone who merely introduces two people, could be accused of the same thing. Have we truly sunk to that level as a society?”

The reporters had no answer to that. Jean turned back inside, gesturing for Thierry to go with him.

“You know they‟re not completely wrong,” Thierry said when they went inside. “Yes, there is a choice to form a partnership in the first place, but once the bond forms, I don‟t know that people really do have a choice about it turning sexual.”

“That‟s the whole point of the seminars,” Jean said, “so that people who aren‟t interested in forming a bond of that depth can choose not to go forward with it. As long as a vampire hasn‟t bitten his or her partner, the bond can‟t form, and the two are free to go on with their lives. If they choose to create something more, then they‟ll have done so knowingly, like any other couple that enters a relationship. We aren‟t forcing anything on anyone. In fact, we‟re trying to keep them from being forced unwittingly into something they don‟t want.”

“Unfortunately, not everyone will see it that way,” Thierry said. “They‟ll see the result and not care at all that the people involved chose their relationships.”

“So we‟ll keep reminding them that nothing was forced, from enrollment in the seminars to participation in the matching to turning the match into a partnership,” Jean said with a shrug. “There‟s nothing else we can do without giving in to the naysayers. And we‟ve seen what happens when non-compatible

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people form partnerships not knowing what they‟re getting into. The good news there is that Paul and Guillemin have agreed to come to l‟Institut next month when we‟re ready to start our research so we can look into ways to break the bond for those who truly cannot function with their partners.”

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“THANK you for agreeing to meet with us,” Jean said, offering his hand to Roland Estrabaud, the chef de la Cour of Toulouse. The vampire had agreed to meet them in a café on l‟île du Ramier that overlooked the Garonne and offered a spectacular view of la Ville Rose.

“You said it was important,” Roland replied, shaking Luc‟s hand as well.

“There are rumors going around,” Jean explained, “and we thought it would be to everyone‟s advantage to make sure the truth of the matter got out rather than letting everyone hear lies first.”

“Who‟s spreading lies?” Roland asked, his face growing serious.

“Renaud,” Luc said, “possibly Céline Girardot as well. Renaud is upset that l‟Institut Marcel Chavinier is in le Morvan, even though it‟s outside his Cour.

There are also rumors flying in the media about l‟Institut and what its goals are.”

“I‟ve heard a little about it,” Roland admitted, “but I honestly haven‟t paid much attention. It‟s not in my province, so it doesn‟t really affect me.”

Jean wanted to shake the other vampire and ask how he thought something this important did not affect him, but he restrained himself. “It may not affect you directly unless you decide at some point to attend one of our seminars, but even if you don‟t, some members of your Cour might, and it‟s better for everyone if the chefs de la Cour have accurate information.”

“So what do I need to know that Renaud and the media will try to hide from me?” Roland asked.

“Renaud will either claim we moved into his territory or that we‟re trying to force mortals into business that doesn‟t concern them,” Jean said.

“We?” Roland asked. “Who is „we‟?”

“My partner, Raymond Payet, president of l‟ANS and founder of l‟Institut Marcel Chavinier,” Jean said. “He could not join us tonight because he had a meeting with several representatives from Parlement that could not be rescheduled.”

“Or in the case of forcing mortals into business that doesn‟t concern them, we would include my partner Magali,” Luc said. “Both she and Raymond

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accompanied us to our meeting with Renaud and Céline, since the subject of discussion concerned them as well.”

Roland raised an elegant eyebrow. “You‟re breaking all kinds of precedents with that, you know.”