The Chateau
A few years earlier I purchased what was once a fine chateau atop a hill overlooking the Moselle River. It was surrounded by thick forest, occasional clearings and genial brooks. Two main levels, an extensive attic with gable windows, and a few cellars. Fireplaces in every room. Good floors that creaked only a little. A long, curving, rutted drive leading from a road that ran along the river, between Metz and Pont-à-Mousson. Only forty rooms, as the agent said, but perfect to refurbish.
He thought he had unloaded a disaster onto a fool, since I paid cash for it. And even more foolish on my part was how there were now rumors of war with Germany, since the frontier was not so very far away. Only an idiot would put down hard-earned money for such a place.
Except, I knew something they did not.
Actually, Loronce did. And it was at his encouragement that I considered it.
"It would be smart to have a place where we could center ourselves," he had told me. "A headquarters, if you prefer."
"But currently we travel to where the food is," had been Tellis' response.
"And do not remain long enough for anyone to wonder much about us," Doric had added.
"Loronce was not born with gypsy blood," Gregory had chuckled.
Which was true. Loronce had been the indentured servant of a moneylender in York when he was taken by Prior Pious. It just before the millennium and he'd been alone on a high balcony of the man's home, considering jumping off. Seems his master had caught him being buggered by the drunkard son of the magistrate and had run to the Bishop to turn him in, to be burned for sodomy. Of course, the son would not be subject to any punishment; his father would happily bribe the church to do nothing against him. Quite the choice — a fiery death or eternal life with me.
And it's true, Doric and Tellis were from a gypsy encampment that was under attack by villagers the following century. Not far from Salisbury, as I understand. One of those appallingly human instances of being so fearful of strangers that you had to kill them. So under the cloak of night they had slaughtered the men, raped the women before enslaving them and their children, and set the tents and carts ablaze.
My two lads had survived the raid only because they had snuck off to be together, in private. Something they knew even their families would not approve of. They had returned in time to find themselves orphaned and had been grabbed by the mob, bound, beaten, and nearly burned at the stake. They had been saved by Prior Pius setting the village church on fire. When the human monsters had hurried back to stop the flames, he'd carried Doric and Tellis off.
Doric was turned, immediately, because he had been badly hurt. Tellis agreed to join with them, then they had exacted revenge on those who'd slaughtered their families. Some of the stories the two would tell could be wonderfully intense, made more-so because Prior Pious merely watched as he fed on the town master's fat wife.
"The world is becoming ever smaller," Loronce had said, and in a condescending tone, I might add. "Industry drawing people to cities. Telegraph communications. Newspapers. Letters passing quickly, everywhere. Carriages, trains and ships travelling at twice the speed they used to. We need a place we can not only retreat to, but that helps the locals believe that we are not marauders out to loot and pillage in the night."
"Even though that's what we do," Stephane had chuckled.
"But won't you need to change your manner of foraging?" Meron had asked. He was a doùlos, not a vampire, but his input had proven useful on many an occasion. "Currently, you have the flexibility to appear where the best feeding will be."
"If we find a location with rooms enough," Gregory had all but purred, "we could always lay up stores." And the wickedness in his grin was very telling.
"Then it would need to be away from any city," Reyndahl had said. "A country estate. Isolated, but understandably so. A way to keep prying eyes, and ears, out of our business."
At that, Stephane had nodded. "They are making more and more laws against anything and everything, with men to enforce them. I hear the Tsar has even established a secret police to work out of St. Petersburg. Help him control his population."
"Oh, that's a way to build loyalty to the crown," I had sneered.
"England is doing the same," had been Reyndahl's comment.
"Only in Ireland and the colonies," Gregory had smiled. "Can't have the English thinking they're being spied upon. At least, so far as they are aware."
"There will be war here," Stephane had said, "the way both Paris and Berlin are yapping. Like excited poodles. This area will figure into their battles. Much of it is flat and arable, but also perfect for armies to go head to head."
"That would be good for Tellis," Meron had added. "Plenty of fertilizer to enrich the land. But what about in the future? Wars are becoming fewer on the continent."
"But greater," Gregory had shrugged.
"There is always crime in the cities," Reyndahl had said.
"And fighting in the Balkans," Doric had added.
"Plenty to feed on, there."
"Too bad they're not worth anything more than that," Loronce had smirked.
"You're too picky," Stephane had said.
"I think they have tasty blood in that region," Gregory had purred. "And some lovely men."
"And Austro-Hungary has a great deal of interest in the area, now that Bismarck’s lording it over them. Perhaps too much. I wouldn't be surprised if it finally leads to another war."
"I like the notion of keeping livestock," I'd added. "The chateau's cellars were used for wine and to keep meat and vegetables cool."
"I never drink wine," Gregory had snickered, "but the meat..."
Tellis had swatted him, laughing.
So I had agreed to the purchase. But not only as a residence. It was also to be a center for our growing business dealings. I had always been wary of doing anything that would tie my pack down to one area, but with commerce growing more and more worldwide, it looked more and more like our gypsy-like lifestyle was a dead-end path to follow. I'd learned Gabrielle was doing the same, becoming part owner of a munitions manufacturer in Poland as well as with one in England.
So appropriate for her.
Gregory had joined Loronce and myself at the chateau and liked the look of it. Reyndahl had followed him but was not so agreeable. He had walked along each floor, looked out each window over the surrounding countryside...well, what could be seen beyond the trees, and finally given a long sigh before finally saying, "I don't know. What of the land around Strasbourg?"
"Not bad, but not quite as conducive," Loronce had replied.
Gregory had an I know what you're up to expression on his face as he said to Reyndahl, "I noticed a couple of chateaux near there, if you really want to look."
"This one is best," said Loronce. "Not far from good hunting. And when that war's done, you'll be able to purchase the surrounding land for next to nothing."
"Won't that depend on which side wins?" I'd asked, just to be contrary. Thanks to Gregory and Stephane, I had grown to know too much about the respective abilities of the French and the Germans to have any doubt. "And do you really think this is the only place they will fight each other?"
Loronce rolled his eyes, irritated, but Gregory jumped in with, "As Léonidès has already noted, this chateau has plenty of storage space in the cellar. And Stephane agrees this will be a major route for both armies, even without battles. And Berlin will want to take Paris and Paris, Berlin, but still..."
"The former might happen," Reyndahl had growled. "The latter never will."
Tellis hurried in, happily chiming, "They have nice garden areas blocked off, at this one. I'd like to grow flowers. Lilies of the valley. Poppies."
"Those are a weed," Doric had laughed, directly behind him.
"Not the way I plant them."
Then Reyndahl sighed, still growling, "Security is about the best you will find, for a mere house. But if the locals wanted to burn this place, they could fairly easily."
"Then we should give them no excuse to," I'd replied.
"It's certainly more cost-effective than letting flats and rooms at inns," Loronce said.
I had laughed. As if money was an issue for us, by that point. Deposits in banks that were then allowed to use them for investments had proven profitable. And Stephane's ability to sus out trends towards financial panics and runs on those banks had protected the large portion of it.
It was at this point that Stephane finally arrived to be part of the discussion. "I met with the heads of a few trades unions in Metz," he'd said. "In a couple of different restaurants. One even invited me into his home."
That had made Gregory perk up. "Anything worth feasting on, in there?"
Stephane had just shaken his head at him. "Daughters, only, and he tried to set me up with two of them."
"Pretty?" Reyndahl had asked. He had always been more inclined towards women than men.
"Both. Fortunately, neither seemed interested in me. Too young." We all chuckled at that. "But you might have a chance, Ren."
He'd nodded.
Stephane had continued with, "They never said so, but they think repairing this chateau is laughable. Though they would be happy to take on the jobs as needed. They will overcharge us, of course, but if we work it properly, this will also make them very loyal."
"What?" Reyndahl was less than impressed. "Them defrauding us will make them like us?"
Stephane had cast him a gentle smile. He liked Reyndahl far more than Reyndahl liked him. "If it's worked properly, and they know we know they are overcharging but are happy to do so to help them, they could see that as a quiet gesture to help the local economy. My thought is, they would shift from seeing us as rich fools to benevolent neighbors."
"Perhaps."
So it was settled. The task for refurbishing and furnishing the place fell to Meron and myself, because we could work during the day without protective covering. The rest prepared their own room to their liking, during the night. We had carpenters, masons, painters and cleaners working dawn to dusk, at which time they were quietly ferried off home in carriages I provided.
Well...except for one well-fitted masonry lad, whom Tellis took a strong liking to and who stayed a bit late, on more than one occasion. Remaining in Tellis' room, of course. The man may have had a wife and four children, but I caught the light jingle of extra coins in his pockets, more than once, so had an idea of what was happening. Money is an excellent tool for seduction, and Tellis' un-life was his own. So long as he remained within the Oiym's boundaries, I honestly did not care what he did or with whom.
Therefore, it was to here I brought young Franz. And I must admit, carrying him was one of my more pleasant experiences. The form of his body against mine. The gentle rhythm of his breath. My only complaint was that we were so close to Mars-le-Tour, it took only moments before I had him laid out on the kitchen table. I would love to have held him for longer.
I set water to heating over the hearth, collected soap and towels and a sleeping shirt, next, and found a bottle of bromine I had taken from an obnoxious surgeon after the first battle. He had been having far too much fun pouring it into open wounds and watching men scream in agony. I was more than happy to stop the sadistic bastard. Besides, a young Dutch colonel I'd become acquainted with during the German campaign against Holland, some years earlier, had mentioned how well bromine did against gangrene. If carefully applied.
I didn't take the time to enjoy the elegant view of Franz lying there, but washed the poultice away from his head wound with hot water. He would have a very sexy scar, if I let it heal before I turned him. I daubed a bit of the bromine over the cut skin.
He grunted and began to wake. Apparently, it really does hurt, and oh does it stink. I wondered if that was a good thing.
Gregory arrived, then, stripped down to his shirt, trousers and boots.
"He's awake," whispered from him.
"How is his mount?"
"Favoring that leg but Tellis is handling him, now. What is that red stain on his forehead?"
I showed him the bottle.
He frowned. "It's an ugly color."
"It's not permanent."
Franz shifted and his eyes opened. He frowned and started to rise.
"Hold him down," I said.
"I thought you'd never ask."
Gregory climbed onto Franz to straddle his belly and gripped his elbows to keep him lying on the table.
"No," Franz said, in German. "No...let me...up...let me go to...to my regiment..."
He was semi-delirious, so I whispered, in German, "Shh, we're only trying to help you, sir." Then added, "Gregory, hold his shoulder still."
He gently took Franz by the throat and bicep and would not let him budge. Then I dribbled a scarce amount of the bromine around the edge of the bullet wound, to let it soak into the poultice.
Franz grunted, in pain, breathing hard and now afraid. He bucked at Gregory but there was no way he was getting free.
I stroked his hair, murmuring, "It's all right, we're not going to hurt you. We're helping you."
The look on Gregory's face, however, was not conducive to trust, so Franz only tried to fight harder. His shoulder began to bleed and his voice grew panicked as he begged us to release him. Until he grew woolly in his words. And passed out.
Gregory relaxed, let himself lie against Franz and nestled his face in the crook of the lad's neck. He let out a long sigh then said, "Oh, this was difficult. Léon, if by any chance you do not want him, I do."
I could see he was very ready to have taken the struggle to the next level, so I put the bottle aside and ran a hand along his spine, lightly touching.
"You're a good boy," I whispered. "Stay good for another hour, I'll reward you, handsomely."
His voice was ragged as he whispered. "In what way?"
"Well, if you are no hungrier than I am," I said, stroking around his lovely ass to encircle his right thigh and tickle his balls. Then stopped. They were enclosed in some odd material.
"What are you wearing?" I asked.
He managed to look at me, a goofy smile on his face as he said, "A Union Suit, from Chicago. It's the latest thing. Covers me from neck to ankle, like leggings for your entire body."
"Why?"
"It's the fashion." He sat up and back on his haunches, his ass nestling against Franz's groin. Then he unbuttoned his shirt and removed it to reveal a form-fitting garment made of wool, with an open set of buttons at the neck. And I had to admit, it enhanced his every muscular line, including his nipples. I could not help but reach over and caress them.
A low, happy growl drifted from him. "I assume you like?"
I wrapped a hand around his fine head and pulled him into a kiss. I so loved it when our lips met. Every time was like the first. Every sensation I had felt, then, danced back into my very being. Perhaps it was because he had saved me, at great peril to himself. Perhaps it was because he was my first time with a man. Perhaps it was because, even after eight-hundred years, he was still struck me as unbelievably beautiful. It didn't matter. I would do all I could to keep him.
Finally, I whispered, "Do you remember how you took me, the first time?"
That made him blink. His look went wary as he nodded.
"Keep this on you. There's a pool in a stream to the west of Tellis' gardens..."
"I know it."
"I want to see how this looks on you, wet."
"And then...?"
I smiled and took his right hand and moved it around to hold my ass. Oh, how his grin widened. The randy little bastard. So I had to put a finger to his lips and add, "But first, we take care of Franz. Undress him. Wash him. Bind his wounds. And put him to bed in my chamber. You may see what he has but you may not touch."
Then I kissed him, again.
This time, when I pulled back, his expression was almost ethereal, but still with a glint of mischief in his eye as he murmured, "You're the boss."
And squeezed my ass, nice and hard.
We did not undress Franz; we shredded his trousers to reveal linen undergarments buttoned tight around the hips and extending to his knees. They were still wet and clung to his hips and thighs in ways too erotic to describe. The manner in which the muscles of his sides and belly slid into them was heartbreaking. To think he had almost been killed in this idiotic war was too much to contemplate.
I ripped the undergarments away from him to show his dick was not insignificant. It flowed out from a bush of hair darker than what was on his head and maneuvered over his balls like a snake, daring us to touch it.
I did.
Stroked the length of it as Gregory watched. Collected it in my hand to fondle its girth. His balls wound up in my other hand, and the heft in them was promising. I couldn't help but sigh with anticipation.
"You never did that with mine," Gregory pretended to whine.
"You did this to me, remember?"
He huffed and puffed and pouted. "That's beside the point."
I chuckled. "Wash his legs. I'll do his body."
"I'll bet you will." Then he poured some hot water into a basin, dipped a cloth in it and rubbed on soap as he said, "It's fortunate for you I like legs, especially those like his. The form of them; I've rarely seen such elegance." He shot a smirk at me before adding, "Even with you."
I sneered back as I took my own cloth, mimicked his actions with the water and soap and worked down from Franz's face and neck to his chest.
Gregory wasn't done with me, yet. "Do you still plan to turn him, even if he isn't inclined, like you?"
"I haven't decided anything, yet."
"Leeee-onnnn," he droned. "I am the only one you know whom you cannot fool. I see how your fingers linger as you wash. How your heart grows quick. And your breath shallow."
"Is that why you would have taken him? Because you knew I would want to, and you would rather he be for yourself?"
"Of course." He was done with Franz's feet and working up his calves. "It would be nice to have someone for myself."
I washed under Franz's arms and down to his hands, the tone in my voice mocking. "Are you lonely? Even with all of us around you?"
"Ha, ha, ha," he said, but his tone was not joyful. "I know what you meant, and your comment got me to thinking. You are the only one I feel close to, and that does not extend to more than something occasional. I can enjoy myself with someone I'm about to feed upon, when they're attractive enough. And sometimes with one of the others, but I understood what you meant when you said you still feel apart from us all, at times."
My cloth swiped over Franz's belly, into his navel, and down to his groin. "I thought you and Loronce were partnering."
"No. He has taken Stephane hunting. And I know they've fed together. Which makes sense, I suppose; they are the two most happy handling the world. Learning about it. Knowing about it. Reyndahl loves his solitude, and did from the moment he was turned. Even Prior Pious was surprised to find how standoffish he could be. Tellis and Doric have always been close to each other, which is no surprise, considering the horror of their past."
"What about Meron?"
He sighed. "I almost wish I had turned him, when I had the chance. I like him. Like having him as our helper. He's been so good at it, I hesitate to raise the possibility because we would need to find someone to replace him."
"Still, I could ask the Oiym, for you."
"I very much doubt they will let you have both Franz and Meron. It would smack of favoritism."
He was now rinsing soap off Franz's thighs as I washed his dick and balls. Slowly. Loving the feel of them. Working up a bit of an erection from him. Which Gregory noticed.
"Léonidès, please," he said, his head bowed. "His blood calls to me. His body torments me."
"Have you not been with Meron?"
"No. It would be unseemly."
"How so?"
"We are not equals."
Just as he and I were not, when we're together. I hadn't even considered Gregory might not be completely happy with the arrangement.
"I never thought that would be a difficulty."
"I am not as complicated as you."
We rolled Franz onto his belly to clean his back and both were caught at how lovely his ass was. Not too big; not too small; merely elegant in shape and smoothness of skin. Without thinking, Gregory caressed it with his cloth. Then he froze and glanced at me.
I sighed. "I do not mind you touching him, on this side."
He continued washing Franz's cheeks, as gentle as you would with a child. I shifted to behind him. Wrapped him in my arms and let my teeth grow just a little before nibbling his neck. He gasped and pulled my arms tighter around him.
Finally, I said, "You have a strong affection for Meron, don't you?" He nodded. "I will insist the Oiym let you have him. If he wants to."
"That will bring our number to eight...no, with Franz it will be nine young men. Living together, alone. Without female companionship. People will think that we're sodomites."
"Which many countries frown upon. How would you handle that?"
"Switzerland," he said, as he rinsed off the mounds of Franz's ass. Twice. A third time.
"They frown upon it, as well."
"Not in Zurich. Not if you have money enough in Credit Suisse. Which we will."
Now he caressed Franz's back with clean hot water as I said, "I like Lloyd's."
"By all means, keep that account. It helps us with an Empire upon which the sun never sets. But I think we should shift away from France and Germany."
"Into St. Petersburg?"
He snorted. "Trust a Russian with our money? Never. Sweden, perhaps."
I released him and unfurled a towel. "Hold Franz up," I said, "and I will dry him."
"Must you be such a bastard?"
"Consider it foreplay, for later."
He took Franz under the arms and lifted him into a sitting position at the side of the table. Then he said, "His hair."
I looked and saw the blood in it. And flies. I'd been so focused on his wound, I'd neglected to notice that.
"You can wash that," I said, drying his legs and crotch.
He laid Franz's head back in his lap and carefully ran soapy water through the lad's tresses. Massaging gently. His trousers were soaked by the time he was done rinsing, but the boy looked as fresh and clean as the day he was born.
"I like your idea about Zurich," I said as I prepared a bandage for the wound on his chest. "The Swiss are so rabidly defense-oriented and proudly neutral. Set it up."
"Would you want everything in your name? If so, I'll need you to..."
I cut him off with, "Work it like a corporation, you as a high officer. Parcel out responsibilities, with you on the same level as myself. I will sign whatever documents are needed."
"I'll speak with an attorney about how to do that. I know we'll need a charter. And a board to control future decisions, and have a justification for the business."
"Or would it be better to arrange it in London?"
"No. Their rules and regulations are nearly impossible to understand. I'd establish an office in Lugano. But keep the banking in Zurich."
"Why Lugano?"
"One, it's not obvious," he said as he rubbed Franz's head with the towel, "and two, I've been working on my Italian. I've even dropped down to Italy for dinner, a few times. Unification was quite bloody, but now that Rome is captured, things are much quieter."
I nearly laughed. "In Italy?"
"Which is why I say Lugano and not Milan."
I slipped the nightshirt over Franz's head and down his body. "Whatever you need to do, I will back you."
Gregory was not looking at me as I lifted the lad into my arms. "So be it," he said.
"We should have a meeting to discuss the new company. Figure out what we want to do with it. What goods to manufacture. Crops to grow."
"I would emphasize shipping. Land and sea. Services instead of specifics. But yes, do maintain agriculture, if only to keep Tellis happy."
"Travel?"
He offered a slight shrug. "It is happening more and more."
"We can think on it. All of us, can," I said as I laid Franz back onto the table.
Gregory's eyes froze on him, then he quietly said, "I hope he brings you what you need."
"Thank you."
Then we bound Franz's wounds and I took him up to my bed.
