A Scripta

Dmitrius held the phone to his ear, while Kalius had stepped out of the room. "Hello, Rowena," he said.

"Dmitri, luv!"

Dmitrius smiled. "Rowena, I have some news for you."

"Yes?"

"I'm getting married."

"To that man you were searching for?"

"Yes."

"That's wonderful! When is the wedding?"

"After I take care of things down there."

"Will he be Embraced before or after?"

"He won't be, Rowena."

Rowena tsked. "Dmitrius, I know you haven't had much experience with mortal lovers, but it really is not a good idea to have a purely mortal lover. They will grow old and you will have to take care of them, and by the time you want to Embrace them it will be far too late, so it would be better to Embrace him now, while he is in the prime of his life--"

"No. I love him. That's that."

Rowena immediately fell silent. He had used his voice to command other vampires and men before, but didn't realize that he actually used it. Kalius entered the room, and didn't think anything had happened.

"I'm sorry, Rowena."

"No," she said quietly. "Don't be. I've had mortal lovers, Dmitrius. It always seems to end badly."

"I appreciate your advice." He put an arm around Kalius and sat with him on the couch, still talking on the phone. "I have a question for you. Will you come to the wedding?"

"Who else is going?"

"I was thinking of Aelric and Nexus if I can get a hold of him. It will be small, because Kalius' family has to come from California. And we are going to do a separate ceremony with his friends here."

She paused. "I haven't seen them in a long time...yes, of course I'll go. Do you need anything?"

He looked at Kalius and smiled. "No. Not anymore."


Kalius had gone to the grotto for a moment, and Dmitrius stayed up in the room. He called Cairo - it was only 1 a.m. there, while it was 6 p.m. in Rhode Island. He went through layer upon layer of personnel - most didn't remember him, but that was expected. Finally, he heard a familiar voice, a voice unlike anyone else, a voice that sounded like stone grinding against stone. "Dimitrius of Thebes," the man said.

"Aelric Princemaker."

He chuckled. "I have not had that designation in over a hundred years."

"Because you choose excellent princes for your city, my friend." The two men spoke conversational Latin, what they had spoken during their time before the Exodus to the New World. The younger vampires were always angry when Aelric's words travelled on the wind and Dimitrius would respond, as if speaking to no one but everywhere at once. Aelric was a master of hiding, and later a master of Shadows, learning from a Lasombra vampire he supposedly "kept" (though rumors said different, no one could prove it, and the Lasombra was killed by her own clan when she escaped). Even the shadows could carry words on them, and this is how he became a master of secrets and information.


"You did not call to exchange pleasantries."

Dmitrius knew Aelric liked to get directly to the point. "I have news. I have found my lover that I thought was killed in the Battle of Lucerna."

"How? Is he an animated body?"

"His soul is in another man's body."

"Ah, reincarnation."

"More than that." Dmitrius explained Kalius' agreement with Ares, and what had happened since. Aelric listened in silence. Dmitrius knew him well enough that the man did not waste air or movement to acknowledge anything to the speaker. Others would think him rude. He considered himself a conservationist. Dmitrius had taken a lot of that from him, but was slowly losing it as he was gaining in his humanity.

"So he will be your childe?"

"No."

"He will grow old and die."

"I will die with him."

"You will walk into the sun for him?"

"I will."

Aelric was silent for a while. Finally, he said, "It's good that you've found your love again. You know what you're doing."

Dmitrius smiled, and said, "Thank you, Aelric. We're getting married."

"Whatever for?"

"Kalius wants to. To show the Gods that we are meant to be as one. I want you to be there."

"As your best man?" He chuckled.

"You and Nexus."

"I have not heard that name in a long time. I heard Nexus went feral in the '70's."

"He was in Russia at the Fall in '89. He sent me a letter via courier saying he was going through Russia."

"The two of you were the fiercest fighters I had ever seen," Aelric said wistfully.

"My lover taught me the basics. Nexus taught me how to fight dirty."

"And your lover? Does he still fight?"

"Very well."

"I should like to see that."

"You always enjoyed watching that."

"You were the brawn, I was the brains."

"More than that, Aelric, much more than that."

"You flatter me because you want me to give you a fine wedding present."

"I only want you to be here."

He was silent again. Then his voice came over the line, "For you, Dimitrius of Thebes, I will gladly cross the ocean."

Dmitrius' voice was warm. "Thank you, Aelric. Thank you so much."

"When will this take place?"

"After I take care of some business in Texas."

"Then let me know. I will inform my people to put you directly through."

"Thank you, Aelric. Peace be upon you."

"And upon you, old friend."