Page 74 of Crimson Oath
“You know how it goes.”
“I do.” If there was one thing that felt normal to Tatyana about immortal life, it was the constant shifting of power and politics.
“Other people, they get attached to land,” Rumi said. “Attached to buildings and statues and schools.” She curled her lip. “And then when they lose something, they go to war.”
“Not the Poshani.”
Unlike other vampire clans, the Poshani had territory that seemed to be constantly shifting.
Rumi kept chopping onions. “We understand things differently than settled people. Nothing is permanent in this life, is it? Family keeps us together. Traditions keep us together. The kamvasa keeps us together. Money, buildings, houses… They can all disappear.” She snapped her fingers. “Like that.”
The snap took her back to Oleg.
“I don’t like the snapping thing any more now than I did when I was alive.”
“You’re still alive, volchitsa. Your teeth are just sharper now.”
She was still alive, and every night she existed, her teeth got a little sharper, her outlook a little more cynical. It felt good to talk with Rumi about baking bread. About childhood chores and the complicated universality of family.
“So what is the camp gossip?” Tatyana kept stirring the goulash, careful not to let the bottom of the pot burn. “Are there any dramas I should know about?”
Rumi smiled. “You are a strange vampire, Tatyana.”
“Considering the vampires I have known in my short life, I’m going to consider that a compliment.”
A week later,Tatyana sat on a cushioned sofa set under the stars. Her trailer was once again in the inner circle of the Poshani camp, lush carpets had been laid across the grass, and a light meal of smoked fish and caviar was set out on an open-air buffet as the children of the kamvasa put on a delightful play of their own composition that they calledBaba Yaga and the Three Sisters.
“But you left my doll in the woods,” a little girl shouted from the stage in the center of the meadow. “And now I must go find it and… and Baba Yaga will eat me alive!”
One of the sisters was played by a red-cheeked boy who clearly was reveling in the extra attention of being the only boy in the cast. “Little sister, don’t worry about the witch in the forest. You’re too skinny to be a good meal.”
The human and vampire audience laughed at the boy’s high-pitched voice and silly expressions.
“Come, little sister.” The oldest girl held out her hand. “Let’s go to Papa’s barn. We will take the rope from the cow and tie it around your ankle. If you get lost, all you must do is follow the rope and it will lead you back home.”
“And don’t forget to wear the cow’s bell around your neck to scare off the witch.” The boy twirled a blond curl of the wig he was wearing.
“Don’t be silly!” The smallest sister was indignant. “If she thinks I’m a cow, she will definitely eat me for supper.”
The audience of humans and vampires laughed and clapped as the children ducked behind the green velvet curtain to prepare for the next scene.
Tatyana couldn’t remember the last play she’d enjoyed so much.
The children were silly and stumbling and exactly as enthusiastic as children should be in a play they had written themselves. The audience cheered and clapped with abandon. The musicians performed a score for the little players as if they were a professional troupe, and the costumes were lavish andcarefully fitted.
A moment after the musicians took the stage for the scene change, she felt vampire energy approaching.
Tatyana sat up, and her amnis went on alert. The damp night air drew to her skin, only to relax a fraction when she realized it was Radu.
The clever wind vampire raised his hands and approached carefully in the darkness. “May I join you?”
She motioned to the space on the sofa beside her. “Please. I’m sorry if I seemed alarmed. I wasn’t expecting anyone to join me.”
Most of the paying guests kept to themselves, though she’d shared a drink with Madina, another vampire who had joined the kamvasa for the season.
Madina seemed overly curious about her origins, so Tatyana had spent most of the evening smiling, nodding, and talking about the skill of the Poshani musicians and the comfort of her travel trailer.
Unlike talking to Rumi, vampire small talk was not enjoyable. At all.
