The Elemental Mysteries: Complete Series (122 page)

The childlike elder tripped into the room with a huge smile adorning his or her face. Just as Lan passed them, Giovanni saw the elder pause for only a fraction of a second. Lan caught Beatrice’s eye as she stood next to Giovanni and gave her a playful wink.

Giovanni looked down at Beatrice, then back to Lan, who had already moved up to the throne at the front of the room. Beatrice looked up at Giovanni with an expression of equal confusion.

“What the hell did that mean?” she murmured in Spanish between clenched lips.

“Tesoro… I have no idea.”

Chapter Seventeen

Penglai Mountain, China

November 2010

“There’s still something I’m not getting about this,” Beatrice whispered to her father in Spanish as the formal greetings of the court began. Each elder was standing to greet the assembled vampires and most of them seemed highly impressed with their own voices.

“There’s a lot about this that I don’t understand,” Stephen whispered back.

“Why did he agree to this?”

“Who?”

“Lorenzo,” she said. “Why did he agree to this? Everyone seems to be sure that the Elders will either vote for Gio or tie, both of which leave Lorenzo at a disadvantage, so why did he ask for this trial?”

Stephen shrugged. “Perhaps he didn’t plan for it. When he made the request, it was right after Lorenzo discovered he had no claim over me. Maybe it was not well thought out.”

“I’m not buying it,” Beatrice whispered as the Immortal Woman began to speak. Like Lan Caihe, He Xiangu was not as long-winded as the rest of the council. Thinking about her own terse mate, Beatrice wondered if it was a characteristic of all fire vampires. “Lorenzo plans everything. He may be totally different from Gio in a lot of ways, but not that. They both plan for every contingency.”

“Beatrice, I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Shhh,” Giovanni turned to them and made a shushing motion as Tenzin’s father stood to speak.

“Immortal brothers and sisters of the council, I would take this opportunity to introduce an immortal sired in my household these past weeks. Most of you know the dear friend of my only child, Tenzin, was turned by my daughter’s mate in my home. We welcome you to our honored company, Beatrice De Novo. Daughter of water, mated to fire. Kinswoman of Don Ernesto Alvarez of California. Honored friend of my house and learned scribe.”

Though Beatrice had been briefed on the importance of her formal introduction, she still felt like blushing, even though she couldn’t. Her heart began to beat as she stepped forward, nodding deeply to Zhang, then turned to the rest of the room and gave a slight nod. She stepped back next to Giovanni, with her father standing behind her. Her eyes scanned the room, searching out Lorenzo to gauge his reaction.

She finally spotted his blond curls in the middle of a group of Zhongli’s guards. Far from the anger she had expected, Lorenzo looked positively gleeful, and his eyes looked her over with clear interest and approval. She knew Giovanni had spotted him when she felt his hand brush hers. His amnis reached out and wrapped around her waist.

Stephen leaned over once Zhang had stopped speaking. “Why do they call us scribes, B? It makes me feel old.”

She snorted a little under her breath. “Because it sounds cooler than assistant professor and librarian?”

“Laugh if you want,” she heard Baojia say as his eyes scanned the room, “but Zhang gave you that title deliberately. It is now part of who you are here, and it’s not something this court takes lightly.”

“Come to think of it, B, I’ve never been named a scribe in any formal way,” Stephen said. “That is significant.”

“And I was not informed of it,” Giovanni muttered. All four were speaking in Spanish, and Beatrice could see the curious looks from the few vampires around who could hear them.

“I think we need to shut up now,” Beatrice said.

“Quite right, Tesoro.”

Zhongli was speaking. “It is my guest, Lorenzo, who has brought this petition to us. He claims the right of ownership on a certain book that is in the possession of Elder Lu Dongbin’s monks.” Zhongli nodded toward Lorenzo, who stepped forward.

“The book in question belonged to the sire of my own father, Giovanni di Spada of Florence, Giovanni Vecchio to the company here. Though it was intended for my father, the great library of Nikolaos Andreas was scattered five hundred years ago. It is only with great care and much time and expense that I have managed to find a few valued pieces from my grand-sire’s collection.”

“Liar,” Beatrice whispered.

Giovanni shot her a look. “Shh.”

“Imagine my dismay when those same books were stolen by my own son when he ran from my home. He took this manuscript, along with several others that were worth a considerable amount of money. I’m sure he has sold many of them.” Lorenzo shook his head sadly. “But this one in particular was very dear to Andreas and it is my hope that it may be returned to my rightful ownership.”

Royal Uncle Cao, the earth vampire, leaned forward. “But if it was intended for your sire, then why do you have a claim on it?”

It was Zhongli that responded. “Surely the Elder must recognize that my guest is the one who found the book. If Giovanni Vecchio wanted it, surely he would have been the one to find it.”

“Perhaps he would have,” the Immortal Woman spoke, “if he had known it had survived the destruction of Andreas’s library.”

“Indeed,” Elder Lu added. “It seems to me that the original intentions of the owner, the scholar, Nikolaos Andreas, should be honored in this matter. He intended it for his only son; it should belong to his son. I’m sure Giovanni Vecchio would reimburse his child for any expense he incurred while searching for the book.”

“Indeed,” Giovanni spoke up, “I would be happy to reimburse Lorenzo for any expenses, though I sent him into the world with wealth, as is the custom.”

“I was wondering,” Elder Zhang spoke, “why your son took these books, Lorenzo. You imply that it was for money. Did he not have an allowance from his sire?”

“Why would you?” Beatrice whispered.

All eyes turned to Stephen as he spoke to the hall. “Sadly, my father did not send me into the world with anything, Elder Zhang. I had to fend for myself.”

A low murmur of disapproval filled the room. Beatrice looked at Giovanni. “What? What’s the big deal? I mean, not every vampire is turned by their choice, right? It’s not always friendly. Why would Lorenzo give my father anything?”

“Even in cases where the vampire is unwilling, Beatrice, it is still customary after a certain number of years to send a child into the world with some degree of independence if they want to leave. Since I was Andros’s only child, he would have given at least a quarter of his wealth to me if he had sent me away.”

“What? Really?”

“Yes, I wouldn’t have gone—he had far too much influence over me—but when I sent Lorenzo out on his own, I sent a third of my wealth with him.”

“It is the custom among our kind,” Baojia whispered. “If you send a child away from your care, out of your aegis, it is considered very shameful to send them away with nothing.”

“But Dad escaped.”

The room was still milling, and Beatrice could see a sour expression on Lorenzo’s face.

“My son,” Lorenzo spoke over the crowd, “Stephen, ran away from my aegis. If he had told me his desire to leave, I would surely have given him gold, as is proper.”

A few vampires on Zhongli’s side nodded, as if that explanation was satisfactory, but Beatrice could tell by the subtle frowns and veiled expressions of the vampires in the hall that the mood of the room had shifted against Lorenzo.

“Perhaps he took these books out of spite,” Elder Han, the water vampire, said. “Why should we honor the actions of a spiteful child?”

“Why should we deliberate at all?” Elder Lan finally spoke, and the attention of the room swung toward the previously silent vampire. “Why shouldn’t it remain with Lu’s monks? I’m sure they are taking good care of it.”

More nods were seen among the Elders, and Lorenzo pursed his lips.

Beatrice didn’t like the idea. They needed to find out more about the book, and currently, it was being held at a monastery of unknown location, and they couldn’t even examine it. If they were ever going to find out what the secret of Geber’s elixir was, they needed the manuscript.

“What is this book that we deliberate over? What makes it so valuable that it warrants the time of the council?” Iron Crutch Li asked.

Lorenzo stepped forward, confident again. “It is an unfinished manuscript of the alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan, or Geber, as he is known in the West. It is not among his published works, but Geber was an acquaintance of Andreas, and it was given to him for safekeeping. It had… sentimental value to my grand-sire.”

Beatrice asked. “Is that true?”

Giovanni shook his head. “I have no idea. It’s possible, but my father had little regard for alchemy when I knew him. He considered it more superstition than science.”

“This claim seems very straightforward to me,” Lorenzo’s ally, Zhongli, said. “The book is clearly Lorenzo’s.”

“Of course it is,” Beatrice muttered.

Elder Han spoke. “This book may have been intended for Andreas’s son, but he forfeited his rights by not pursuing the manuscript when it was lost. I see no claim here by Giovanni Vecchio.”

“I see no claim here by Lorenzo,” the Immortal Woman spoke up. “Can we not honor the intentions of the great Andreas and give his property to his only child? Let this conflict be between sire and child. The book belongs to Vecchio.”

At that point, whispers began to circulate the room, and Beatrice looked around. The hall seemed to be split exactly as Tenzin had predicted, and Beatrice’s eyes sought out the one elder that no one seemed to be able to predict. When she found Lan, the enigmatic vampire was looking straight at her. Lan scanned the crowd, propped herself up on her knees, and addressed the gathering of immortals.

“Brothers and sisters,” Lan said with a smile. “I feel at a disadvantage after my travels. It seems that so much has passed in my absence. May I be permitted to ask a few questions?”

Lu Dongbin leaned forward and nodded to Lan. “Of course, Elder Lan. The hall is yours.”

“Oh good!” Lan clapped and grinned. “Dr. Vecchio, did you send your son into the world with wealth?”

“Yes,” Giovanni answered respectfully. “I sent him with half of my gold, and I gave him property in our homeland, as well. It is what my own sire would have wanted.”

“You honor your father, Dr. Vecchio. And did you send him with any of your father’s library?”

“It was my own son that had the care of my father’s books when he was human,” Giovanni said.

Careful, careful, careful.
Beatrice’s heart raced.

“After my father’s home had been raided, and Andros died in the fires, Lorenzo gave me the grave news that my father’s property near Ferrara had also been ransacked by brigands and the majority of the library lost. Rumors abounded for many years that this piece or that had survived, but there was little fact. My own business now centers on finding lost books and antiquities, in part to find what I can of my father’s collection. But I had no knowledge of this manuscript until a few years ago. I have been searching for it since I learned of it.”

“So you
were
searching for it?”

“Yes, Elder Lan.”

“And found it here?”

“In the stewardship of Elder Lu’s monks.” Giovanni nodded at Lu. “I have full confidence they have handled it with care and respect.”

“And do you ask for it to be returned now?”

Giovanni paused, as if considering. “Though I would prefer that the book return to my own library, I ask only to be able to examine it. I am willing to leave the book in the care of Lu’s monks if that is what the council desires.”

It wasn’t the ideal outcome, but if they were allowed to examine the manuscript more carefully, Beatrice realized that Giovanni would probably be able to memorize it enough for their purposes.

“Lorenzo?” Lan turned to Giovanni’s son.

“Yes, Elder Lan?” Lorenzo stepped forward with an ingratiating smile.

“How many children have you sired?”

Beatrice blinked at the unexpected question.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she whispered to Stephen.

“Canny vampire,” Baojia murmured.

“Why?”

“The Eight Immortals have been outspoken against those who sire many children, Beatrice.” Giovanni looked at her with a subtle smile. “They consider it irresponsible and unwise.”

“Oh.”

Lorenzo didn’t look pleased. He looked nervous. “I… I have had the joy of siring many children in my life, Elder Lan. I cannot give you an exact number at this time.”

“Or he doesn’t want to,” Baojia said.

“You have sired so many children that you can’t remember the number?” Lan said with a raised eyebrow. “That is… unusual.”

“Is it?” Beatrice whispered.

“How many children does Carwyn have, Beatrice?”

“Um… eleven, right?”