“If I dressed in a peasant’s robe, I doubt I’d attract much attention,” she said, answering the question before I’d even asked it. “And I’d be happy to do some snooping around and asking people questions.”
“I knew I could count on you,” I said to her. “All we need now is a decent peasant’s robe for Elyse to wear.”
“My presence might be quite noticeable in the open, in daylight,” Rami said, “but the darkness and shadows are my allies, and I can move through them with enough stealth to make myself invisible to most eyes. I can go into Brakith tonight and steal an appropriate item of clothing for Elyse.”
Isu, though, was another story, and I caught a glimpse of Isu staring coldly at both Rami and Elyse, daggers in her pupil-less eyes. Rami and Elyse seemed to have no problem that they shared me, but Isu’s jealousy was clear. If I ever did add her to my little group of women-with-whom-I-shared-sexual-relations, I would have to quash that emotion of hers.
“Thank you, Rami,” I said. “What color are you after Elyse?”
Elyse chuckled. “I truly don’t mind! But gray has always suited me well, if you can find anything in that color, Rami.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” Rami said with a swift grin and a wink.
“All right, so that’s the plan of action for now,” I said. “We’ve done two days of hard traveling, and I’m sure you all need a good night’s rest now. Get as much sleep as you want; you’re allowed to wake up late tomorrow. Elyse, I’ll brief you on spots where you can pick up the latest gossip and rumors, and who to talk to to get information. Rami, you can head off on your mission as soon as you’re ready. Keep to the east side of town; the poorer folk tend to live there, and a rougher garment will attract less attention than an expensive cloak, especially in the kind of taverns and shitholes Elyse is going to have to visit. Everyone else, you’re free to get some sleep.”
I sat and talked with Elyse for a while, drawing her a map of Brakith and showing her which taverns to visit and writing up a list of names and descriptions of people she could talk to (and bribe) for information. While we were doing that, Rami took a black horse and galloped off into the woods toward the city to begin her mission.
After Elyse had been briefed, she dropped more than a few hints that she was hoping for some more alone time with me, which would have been a lot of fun had I not had a mission of my own to do, one that I had told nobody about. I knew the others would have objected to me doing it, and to be fair, it did come with a little risk, but there were things I needed to find out.
I sent Elyse to bed (alone, which she was very disappointed about) and waited an hour or two for Rami to return from her mission, which was a success; she came back with a hooded gray peasant’s robe for Elyse to wear. After that, I had to get rid of her as well; she was looking for a “special reward” for completing her mission successfully, but I had to deny it to her for the moment and promise her that I’d give her all the Vance she wanted soon, but not yet.
Once she and everyone else in the camp were asleep, I took my kusarigama, my new wrist crossbow from the Tree God’s temple, and the ever-trusty Grave Oath, and slipped off into the woods. Fang watched me go and seemed to want to follow me, but I sent him a command to stay and watch the camp. This was a mission I had to do on my own.
The ruined castle in the mountains, the one my uncle had told everyone was inhabited by a vampire—well, two vampires, since I was one according to his lies—was about a three-hour hike from where we were camped. Since I only needed two hours of sleep, I could get to the ruined castle, snoop around a bit, and get back around sunrise to catch a few Zs before everyone else woke up.
I hiked quickly through the night woods. My night vision seemed even clearer than it had been the previous nights. Once I’d captured a couple more souls and grown even stronger, my night vision would be as acute as any cat’s.
Even if I’d still been my old mortal self, though, I would have been able to find my way through the forest in the dark. I’d spent countless hours as a boy in the woods and mountains around Brakith exploring and adventuring, and I knew this terrain like the back of my hand.
Soon, the ruins of the old castle loomed on the horizon, with the crumbling towers silhouetted against the full moon that was hovering just above the horizon. I’d explored the ruins a couple of times as a boy, and I remembered the layout pretty well. I also remembered that there was a secret way in, via a cave in the hills below the castle walls.
I crept through the trees and studied the hills around the castle closely. I suspected that my uncle, being as thorough as he was, would have a couple guards hanging around here, just to make sure no aspiring vampire-hunters came knocking in the hope of killing the pair of non-existent vampires who supposedly lived here.
After some observation, I found them: snipers with crossbows in dull black armor, hiding in the shadows all over the ruins. Of course, I thought cynically; anyone who ventured too close to the ruins would get a crossbow bolt through their skull, and their death and vanished body could conveniently be blamed on the “vampires” in the castle. There were plenty of places in the old crypts
