The old witch had heard my call and was coming to me through the wind and heavy rain. It had taken a great deal of power to hold her tongue for the evening, so great was her certainty as to what I was, and the credit of her own strengths. She held her head tall as the lightening flashed overhead. Synnove was awakening to herself now. I can hear her voice on the wind and her feet on the floor of her bedroom. Sleep child. All your questions will be answered in due time, and due course, I am afraid. And before me now stands the first obstacle in her grey puritan cloak, such a considerable irony. The protectress; more a father figure than your this life's sire, but what does it matter? Here it begins again.
"You have called me to you, Son of the Devil, what is it that you want?" Her voice was as cold as the rain must have been on her flesh.
"I do believe that it was you that challenged me this eve in my very home."
"You have no home save Hell."
I smiled grimly. "Well, can we at least dispense with the pleasantries then and get on with it?" I waved my hand at her in disdain. "You, no doubt, think that I wish to take Synnove from you?" A cold smile formed on her lips then signaling that I had it exactly right.
"What other reason would you have for asking us out on such a night? The town thinks you after a wife, little do they know. You are a vampyre after some sup I do believe. A hunter looking for his prize?"
"In your last statement, you are partially correct, so I will tell the tale of it all to you, if you wish it, and then you can judge me for yourself. Either way, I shall present the choice to come with me to Synnove. Even now, as we speak, her dreams are telling her the tale of her last life, how it was taken from her and from me, and how I was made to become what I am. I speak true when I say that it was not my choice, but rather a soldier's folly." She amazed me, this old witch, she nodded! She seemed to understand, genuinely.
"I was last a flesh and blood man in the times of the building of Rome, in the aged years of Emperor Marcus Aurelius Numerianus. The year would have been 281 after the Death of Christ. For all intensive purposes, the world that was Rome was at peace. The Christians were even left to worship as thy chose, though they had been the favored cult for persecution at a slightly earlier time.
"The most pressing matters of state were further expansion of the empire and officers of the Roman army that were too popular with their troops, Diocletian was one of these officers. Numerianus was not entirely concerned with the latter, however. As far as his sight let him glimpse, should he soon perish, his brother Carinus would succeed him. There was no discussing it with him. Carinus, on he other hand, knew the danger of it and could see farther into the minds and hearts of men such as the rising Dragon, Diocletian. Numerianus saw him as an upstart, though a good officer, which the Roman people would not follow due to his humble birth. Carinus saw the true threat of him. He had too much blood on his hands and his eyes altered their color, ranging from clear blue to inky blackness as his moods suited him. He was horrifying to watch in battle, an in his ruthlessness he seldom lost. This struck a deep fear in Carinus for good reason. He was not the military man that Diocletian was and being close to his brother, he knew that Numerianus was beginning to fail.
"Roman succession is above all things, bloody. Numerianus in his ease and age had forgotten this simple truth. I was twenty-six that year, and had stood in the forum for many years already, along side of my father, Baratus. It was after a particularly difficult day of struggling with Numerianus on the subject of succession in support of Carinus, that my father drug me from the senate with a leaden heart. My father was ancient already by then, bent with his years and the weight of his position in society. He had married my mother, a widow of twenty-seven years since her birth with only one son by her previous marriage, when he was already quiet old and grey. The union produced only me, and I was his only son by any woman as he was much like myself, the untamable master. The loss of my mother to the countryside would finally control him, and he settled in to raise me alone. For my part, I simply worshipped the ground that he walked on.
"Synnove was the daughter of a general and an exceptionally wise man. He spared her life even after her mother died a few days following her birth, and was not able to care for her or prevent his rejection of her." The old woman flinched. "I believe that is a similarity to her this life.
"We had met several times in our extreme youth when our fathers felt that they must talk of serious matters outside of the senate, but this was not often and ended after my eighth year. I remember her, in that time, as a very proper girl with unimaginable blue eyes and long, glossy black hair, listening attentively to her teachers as her brothers and I practiced with wooden swords and daggers in the garden. We would sneak sideward glances at each other when we believed that no one was looking, not even each other.
"It was on her eighteenth birthday that I met her again. Her father having invited my father and myself to attend the party and talk of business. My mother and brother, by this time, were well settled in the country and the city no longer suited their more sensitive palettes, preventing them from coming up for the event, even with special invitation from the General.
"We had been deep in our discussion for some time on the same matters that were railed on in the Forum that day, when a beautiful, raven-haired young woman strode up to the general and placed her hand delicately on his shoulder.
"'Numerianus should step down and allow Carinus to succeed him as emperor. There would still be war, but it would be easily won and Diocletian dealt with. Hello Father,' she bent to kiss his cheek. She was flawless in every account; her pale flesh a perfect compliment to her slim and slight figure, as well as her unimaginable blue eyes. The very form that you know her to possess today, she possessed then in those times. There has not been a single alteration in her."
"That is a different way to describe her eyes, most would call them cold and unnatural."
"On the contrary, milady. I found them immediately beautiful as they radiated her soul's strength and warmth. She drew me in completely as she smiled and offered her hand to my father and then to myself in greeting. The grace of her simple movement sealed the deal, so to speak. I could not take my eyes off of her for the rest of the evening as she sat opposite my father and entered into conversation with intelligence on the subjects of the Forum and war. Between her father and her two brothers, she had been subjected to hours of discussion on the matters of state. Most women of our lands and time would have thought it a great injustice to them and would have rightfully; though annoyingly, urged her men onto more pleasant subjects at the dinner table. Synnove would not hear of us changing the subject for her. She was a woman of Rome and was completely capable of expressing her own mind on any subject. She simply amazed me. I, on the other hand, continually made and ass of myself whenever I tried to speak.
"I had kept a long string of women in my youth, all of them taken within the confines of Roman law and custom. Most were of my level, some a little higher, but all were from excellent families. Yet, not one could compare to Synnove in intellect, beauty or grace. It struck me then that I was ashamed of them all in her presence and hoped that my reputation had not preceded me.
"Both fathers picked up on my admiration for her, and I would later find that the match had been desired and was the basic purpose of the meeting entirely, and promptly sent us out together to admire the garden. As Synnove's father put it 'Sebastien has never seen your gardens, Synnove. You must show them off to him. A great deal of care she has put into it and even, to my detriment, worked along side the slaves to build it up to its current glory.'
"'Yes, Sebastien, you must take a turn in it! Your mother will be quiet upset if you cannot fill her in on some details of it when next we take our pleasures of the country. It is the talk of the city young lady! A great compliment to you.'
"'I thank you sir, but it is merely women's work....'
"'Don't be so coy, my dear! The gardens of a man's home are to be a place of solitude, where he can remember the day and contemplate his decisions right and wrong. I spend great amounts of time in my own, listening to the winds and thinking on decisions of home and the Forum. Do I not Sebastien?'
"'Yes Father you do, and then it rains and we must fetch you from it.' He snorted a little laugh when the implication hit him.
"'Yes! Yes you do! Now go you two, talk of blood and war can certainly do with out the likes of you.'"
"I offered my arm to the pale lady before me and she accepted it gratefully, gesturing towards the garden entrance. She moved with the grace of the highest court ladies that Europe has ever produced, yet with the strength and independence of a man. Her gestures were of the highest femininity, but her tongue was that of a man: a paradox, for sure, is what she was to me then and now. She spoke the names of every plant and named the goddess Athena to be the statue that played in the fountain and kept watch over the house. It was at a marble bench that looked towards the statue and the full moon that she made me pause and sit beside her. She stared off into the distance for a time before speaking of her mind and of her heart.
"'Our fathers, Sebastien,' her breath on my name gave me chills then as it did this eve when she spoke it to the winds. I wonder if you heard it." The old woman nodded her head at my statement, lost in the lands of her own thoughts, allowing me to continue. "'Have high hopes of a match of us.'
"I started then, what else was I to do? I was twenty-six and had not spent one moment thinking of love or marriage until that moment. I found most women to be bubbles of air, as I implied before, merely concerned with their children and that their purse was full of coins so that they might enjoy the wares of the markets. I was stunned and could not utter a word.
"'I see that I was right in thinking that you had no idea of the match; that this is entirely a surprise to you. But I was raised to be a senator's wife. Your father and my father have long been fast friends. He came to my father as immediately after my mother's death as propriety would allow speaking of it, and if he had not, my father would have paid him the visit instead. They believe the union of our families to be a great and strong one, and all rational speaks volumes towards it also. But the heart, I have learned, often has other ideas that may go against reason, and it is with that sensibility that I confide this information early to you.'
"'You love another then?' I asked, oddly feeling terrified that she would say yes.
"'No, they have all had flaws too great for me to look beyond, mostly being exposed to the lackluster of soldiers and officers,' she smiled. 'My father, also, always quickly squashed any hopes that any man ever had of me that entered our house. I was betrothed and that was the final word of it. I do, though, believe that it is you who love another.' I found myself on my feet in an instant.
"'What? There has been no one! Who speaks such lies? For surely she is a dreamer and a liar!' She shook her head smiling slightly again.
"'There has been no such liar. You may sheath your blade and your angry tongue.' She had giggled softly and it angered me further.
"'Then why do you speak to me of this? If our fathers have decided upon the union, then it would be an insult to them to abandon it for no reason.'
"'Your words are most certainly true. But as I tried to explain, I see a reason in your eyes and hear it in the words that are spoken of you. No slanderous words have been spoken I assure you!' she explained quickly seeing the anger mounting again in my eyes. 'No one has gone behind your back. They simply speak of your freedom and your love for it. They speak of your passion for the senate and your apparent disdain for the female mind.' She looked somewhat hurt at hearing the last statement issue from her lips. But she was not hurt in her having said it but in my not having immediately revoked it as I stared down at her. However, the look on her face softened me and I retook my seat beside her.
"'It is true, Synnove, that I have spoken ill of many a woman that would have had me marry her, and for some for thinking even less. It is also true that I have spoken ill of a woman after taking her into my bed for a night, but that kind is never to marry. They know what they are when they come to me and I accept them for that brief time. It is, however, the sloth of their weak minds that makes them believe that in the light of the morning sun I will come to my senses and propose marriage to them. Instead they find me at the breakfast table giving directions to a slave or talking of the senate and its priorities with another member. They are always welcome to sit, listen and eat, but there is nothing beyond that for them, and very few do not come to terms with that fact quickly. A number have since married well and return from time to time. These are not the women that I speak ill of though. It is the ones that do not come to terms with their situation in my life and my home. It is the ones that believe that one night in my bed makes them mistress over my possessions and myself. These women are not fit to be thought or spoken well of. They are fools.'
"'And what is it that you think of me?' she asked, her own temper flaring. 'You must think me a usurper.'
"'You, I think, are a rare creature. Raised to have all that is feminine but with an expanded mind that can encompass both sexes, a credit to your father and your teachers. In that, I will now add, if it has not now become apparent to you, that I do not disdain the female mind or anything that is female, I disdain fools. It is just unfortunate that many women are fools and that is because they are placed lower in the family and in society. Boys are educated, girls are simply taught a few tricks and then married off as young as possible to alleviate the burden on the family.
"'You though, Synnove, have been educated properly, your mind and manners expanded to what they should be, to what all people should be. My father and your father have chosen well for me, though you will have to decide your lot for yourself. I will not go against them if it is what they should wish.'
"'Good,' she smiled. 'Let us give it one week's thought then, and after one week's time we shall meet if you wish to accept me and I wish to accept you. But I would have you know this too, I will not have one that I cannot or do not love, for that alone would make me the biggest fool of all.' She stunned me yet again as she rose to her feet and led the way back into the house where she rejoined her friends and family in their celebrations. I returned to my father, who was sitting on his own close to the door; a signal that he was ready to leave as soon as I was.
"'Well my son? Has Synnove spoken of the betrothal to you?'
"'Yes father she has.' He simply beamed.
"'Wise girl! And?'
"'We shall bring our decisions to each other in one week's time. Now let us be off, there is council in the morning and I have much to think about.'"
