Cazi's Journey Ch. 03

Cassandra looked up at Henry, alarm on her face. "Henry, no, please."

Lord Bevington snorted and pointed at Cassandra. "You see. She does not want you to give up your money and leave her penniless."

At that Cassandra's head snapped towards her father-in-law. "I assure you, sir, that even if Henry did give up his money we would in no way be near penniless. I do not ask your son for any money. I have plenty of my own resources from my properties in India."

Henry shook his head at Cassandra and frowned. "Be quiet, Cassandra. My father has spoken and on his head it will be." He held his hand out to her and she took it, rising as he looked back at his father. "I wish you the best, Lord Bevington. I hope your other three sons can make you proud. I will not trouble you again."

Cassandra was in shock. Henry was giving up his family for her. She looked from Henry to his father and back looking for any sign of give in either man. She sighed as Henry turned her towards the door. She tried not to flinch as she heard him slam the door to Bevington Manor behind them.

"The one, your M... Lord Cadeyrn?" Cazi asked, forcing herself to stay motionless under the man's gaze.

"Yes, Cazi, the one." He stopped and looked at Amina, his head tilting curiously to one side for an instant before looking back at Cazi. "The one that caused my heir to disobey me yet again." He walked back around in front of Cazi and gestured to a chair. "Please, sit. There is no need for you to be uncomfortable while we talk." He lowered to a seat himself and glanced over at Amina. "I see you told her about us as Aelfric told you. That is good. Our kind can always use a trustworthy human."

Amina, ashen faced, dropped a slight curtsy as well. "Yes she told me about your kind, Lord Cadeyrn. But my loyalty is to Miss Cazi alone."

Cazi bit back a gasp at Amina's statement before turning to look at Cadeyrn. Again he cut her off with a raised hand. "You do not need to defend her, Cazi. Her loyalty to you is admirable." He again gestured to the seats Cazi and Amina had vacated. "Please, sit. I do not want to look up at you both as we talk."

They sat down slowly and, adjusting her skirts, Cazi blurted out, "Lord Cadeyrn, is Aelfric alive?"

Cadeyrn smiled his ghost of a smile and nodded. "Yes, Lady Cazi, my heir is quite alive, though by now he may be wishing he was not."

Cazi leaned forward in her chair, her alarm evident in her voice. "Why? What did you do to him?"

Cadeyrn plucked at a nonexistent string on his sleeve. "I was forced to punish him for violating my orders." As Cazi opened her mouth to ask how, he continued, "A punishment I heard about in Paris. He has been put into a box and sealed up in the mausoleum at my house, alone except for his thoughts and his hunger."

Cazi gasped at that, unknowingly leaning closer to Cadeyrn. "Walled up in a mausoleum? You mean he was buried? What kind of punishment is that, sir?"

"A very effective one." Cadeyrn said. "I can feel your concern for him. It does you and him both credit. But he will be fine when he is released from the box. Some do not hold up so well to it, but Aelfric should be used to it by now. This is not his first trip to the Box of Silence."

"What does it do, Lord Cadeyrn?" Amina asked quietly.

"For certain acts, a vampire is sentenced to the Box. He is then either buried or walled into a crypt. When I pass the sentence only two people ever know the duration of the punishment. That way there is always someone that knows when to release him." He smiled wistfully. "In Paris I met a vampire that had been in the box for over 25 years. He was sentenced to it just before the French Revolution. When the Revolution came about, the people who had put him there were all killed." Cazi shuddered at his words, listening. "Over time he was forgotten about completely. Then one day they went to put another vampire into their box and he was released. By that time, though, he was quite insane from the solitude and the hunger."

"Insane!" Cazi said. "You would put your heir into a box where people have come out insane? That is ludicrous."

Cadeyrn smiled again. "I see now the spirit that Aelfric spoke of. I had seen it earlier tonight." Cazi looked at him curiously. "Why did you let the girl go when you had decided to feed on the next one to pass by you?"

"Because she was young." Cazi said, fuming. "She has the rest of her life ahead of her. So I chose someone else."

"Yes, her pimp of a father." Cadeyrn said. "I saw that as well. You did very well in pushing him out of the window to make it look like he fell. I doubt that anyone will suspect."

"You did not answer my question, Lord Cadeyrn. Why did you put Aelfric into a box knowing that people have gone insane from it?" Cazi could not keep the anger from her voice.

"I put him there because he disobeyed me, Cazi. His punishment is severe, but he has been through it before. He will come out of it just fine." He chuckled softly. "I do not intend to leave him in the Box for a quarter of a century. A month or two should get my point across. He has done a month before, several times, so he should have no problem this time. Having no one know the duration of the sentence is a part of the punishment."

"How is that part of your punishment?" Cazi almost jumped when she heard Amina ask the question that she had been thinking.

"Imagine it. You are in a box, a coffin. You are sealed inside of a space just big enough for the box, allowing no light or sound through. You do not know if your sentence is for a day, or for a week, or for a month or two, or even a year." Cadeyrn leaned back in his chair but Cazi could not force herself to look away. "You have no way to mark the passage of time and only your hunger to keep you company. A hunger that grows stronger and louder with each passing day."

"Barbaric."

Cazi did not even realize she had spoken aloud until Cadeyrn smiled at her and nodded. "Yes, it is quite barbaric. But very effective, and that is what matters. Generally the first words out of a vampire's mouth when they are released from the Box is 'how long'. Then they are allowed to feed and let go to do whatever. The only time anything else is done is when they are obviously insane."

"What do you do then?" Cazi asked, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"If they are insane, they are kept in a room and allowed to feed, sometimes several times a day. The feeding sometimes helps the insanity to pass, silencing the hunger for long periods. If it does not help," Cadeyrn shrugged. "They are turned out into the light of day to die."

Cadeyrn put his hands on his knees and made to stand up. "I must be going. Daylight will be here soon and I must get home to sleep." He stood and bowed to Cazi. "I will see you again, Lady Cazi." Cazi nodded respectfully to him and he smiled for a moment before looking at Amina. His eyes hardened slightly as he nodded, the look so fleeting that Cazi was not sure if she saw it or imagined it.

In the blink of an eye he was gone, as fast as he had appeared. Cazi shook her head and looked at Amina as the Indian woman whispered, "I do not like that man, Cazi. I cannot say what it is, but there is something about him that is just wrong. Did you see the way he looked at me?"

Cazi looked surprised. Maybe it was not her imagination after all. "Yes, Amina, I saw how he looked at you. But he is an important person." She smiled and gave a soft chuckle. "Not to mention he is a vampire that, according to Aelfric, has been alive since even before the Romans came to Britain."

Cazi could see that Amina was less than convinced when she sniffed disapprovingly. "Yes, you could be right. But something just seems wrong about him to me." She turned to look at Cazi, smiling. "Tell me everything, Cazi. Why were you made into a vampire? Did it hurt? Can you do like that Cadeyrn man did? Move fast I mean?"

Relaxing, Cazi shared the tale of her turning with Amina. She laughed quietly when Amina chastised her for taking Aelfric back to her apartment and having sex with him. "I know, Amina. It was horrible of me to do." She could not resist poking at her friend. "But it was oh so enjoyable. Being turned into a vampire did hurt. It hurt a lot at first." She shrugged and smiled. "But the pain passed quickly. Aelfric said that the pain was my body dying."

The room blurred around Cazi as she demonstrated her new speed, rushing across the room and turning to look back at Amina, who was looking around trying to find her. "Yes, I can move quickly like him."

"Thats amazing, Cazi. How did you do that?" Amina asked, spinning to look at her.

Cazi shrugged. "I do not know really. I just thought about being here and I hurried." She grinned at Amina just like she used to when they were children. "I also can do other things." She held her hand out towards an empty candlestick. With barely a thought she brought the candlestick from the table across the room into her hand. She was kind of glad that she did not miss catching it this time.

Amina's mouth fell open. "You did that? How? You can do that because of being a vampire?"

Cazi nodded, still smiling as she sent the candlestick back over to where it had been and returned to her seat with the same blurring of motion. "Yes, Amina. I can do that because I am a vampire. I can read people's minds." She thought she sensed Amina tensing when she said that but she continued anyway, this time projecting her thoughts into Amina's mind. I can also speak to people without speaking. Speaking, she continued. "Do you remember when we used to pretend that we could speak to each other in our minds?"

Amina smiled, her hazel eyes sparkling. Yes, Cazi. I do remember. Cazi's eyes widened in surprise as she heard Amina's voice in her mind. "It was not pretend though. I have been able to read people's thoughts since we were children. It made you happy to pretend to speak to each other in our minds, so when I saw that you were 'concentrating' to talk to me, I would read your thoughts and answer them. You were the only person I felt comfortable doing that around."

Cazi's smile grew wider. That is wonderful. Now we do not have to pretend. Amina nodded. No, we do not. She was smiling, but Cazi could see that the smile was strained. "What is wrong Amina?"

"Nothing is wrong, Cazi. I am just sleepy. It is only an hour or so until dawn." She rose and hugged Cazi again. "I have to get some sleep. I will see you tomorrow, my little Cazi."

Cazi stood and hugged Amina back, whispering "I am glad to be home, Amina. I was so afraid that you would be frightened of me or want to leave me. I could not handle losing you too." Not after I lost my beloved Henry.

Amina hugged her even tighter. I am not going anywhere, Cazi. You do not frighten me anymore. Not since we were children. She clasped Cazi's shoulders and smiled, looking into her eyes. "This will just take some getting used to. Just like everything else."

Cazi hugged her again, kissing her cheek. "I missed you so much, Amina." She slipped her arm into Amina's and turned for the stairs. "Let's get some sleep. I would not want you to think I was a horrid person for keeping you awake so late." She relaxed as she heard Amina laugh and follow her upstairs. She walked with Cazi to her room before leaving her. Cazi went into her room and laid down on the bed. Sleep came for her more easily than it had for weeks.