Dead and Gone (Sookie Stackhouse #9)(18)
Author: Charlaine Harris

"In war, or with foreigners, we could kill whom we pleased," he said. "But in disputes between our own people, we had to pay silver when we killed one of our own." He looked like he was dredging up the memory with an effort. "If the person killed was a woman with child, the price was double."

"How old were you when you got married? Did you have children?" I knew Eric had been married, but I didn’t know anything else about his life.

"I was counted a man at twelve," he said. "I married at sixteen. My wife’s name was Aude. Aude had … we had … six children."

I held my breath. I could tell he was looking down the immense swell of time that had passed between his present – a bar in Shreveport, Louisiana – and his past – a woman dead for a thousand years.

"Did they live?" I asked very quietly.

"Three lived," he said, and he smiled. "Two boys and a girl. Two died at birth. And with the sixth child, Aude died, too."

"Of what?"

He shrugged. "She and the baby caught a fever. I suppose it was from some sort of an infection. Then, if people got sick, they mostly died. Aude and the baby perished within hours of each other. I buried them in a beautiful tomb," he said proudly. "My wife had her best brooch on her dress, and I laid the baby on her breast."

He had never sounded less like a modern man. "How old were you?"

He considered. "I was in my early twenties," he said. "Perhaps twenty-three. Aude was older. She had been my elder brother’s wife, and when he was killed in battle, it fell to me to marry her so our families would still be bonded. But I’d always liked her, and she was willing. She wasn’t a silly girl; she’d lost two babies of my brother’s, and she was glad to have more that lived."

"What happened to your children?"

"When I became a vampire?"

I nodded. "They can’t have been very old."

"No, they were small. It happened not long after Aude’s death," he said. "I missed her, you see, and I needed someone to raise the children. No such thing as a househusband then." He laughed. "I had to go raiding. I had to be sure the slaves were doing what they ought in the fields. So I needed another wife. One night I went to visit the family of a young woman I hoped would marry me. She lived a mile or two away. I had some worldly goods, and my father was a chief, and I was thought a handsome man and was a noted fighter, so I was a good prospect. Her brothers and her father were glad to greet me, and she seemed … agreeable. I was trying to get to know her a bit. It was a good evening. I had high hopes. But I had a lot to drink there, and on my way home that night …" Eric paused, and I saw his chest move. In remembering his last moments as a human, he had actually taken a deep breath. "It was the full moon. I saw a man lying hurt by the side of the road. Ordinarily I would have looked around to find those who had attacked him, but I was drunk. I went over to help him; you can probably guess what happened after that."

"He wasn’t really hurt."

"No. But I was, soon after. He was very hungry. His name was Appius Livius Ocella." Eric actually smiled, though without much humor. "He taught me many things, and the first was not to call him Appius. He said I didn’t know him well enough."

"The second thing?"

"How to get to know him."

"Oh." I figured I understood what that meant.

Eric shrugged. "It was not so bad … once we left the area I knew. In time, I stopped pining after my children and my home. I had never been away from my people. My father and mother were still alive. I knew my brothers and my sisters would make sure the children were brought up to be as they ought, and I had left enough to keep them from being a burden. I worried, of course, but there was no helping it. I had to stay away. In those days, in small villages, any stranger was instantly noticed, and if I ventured anywhere close to where I’d lived, I’d be recognized and hunted. They would know what I was, or at least know I was … wrong."

"Where did you and Appius go?"

"We went to the biggest cities we could find, which were few enough then. We traveled all the time, parallel to the roads so we could prey on travelers."

I shuddered. It was painful to imagine Eric, so flamboyant and quick-witted, skulking through the woods in search of easy blood. It was awful to think of the unfortunates he’d ambushed.

"There were not so many people," he said. "Villagers would miss their neighbors immediately. We had to keep moving. Young vampires are so hungry; at first, I killed even when I didn’t mean to."

I took a deep breath. This was what vampires did; when they were young, they killed. There had been no substitute for fresh blood then. It was kill, or die. "Was he good to you? Appius Livius Ocella?" How much worse could you have it than to be the constant companion of the man who had murdered you?

"He taught me all he knew. He had been in the legions, and he was a fighter, as I was, so we had that in common. He liked men, of course, and that took some getting used to. I had never done that. But when you’re a new vampire, anything sexual seems exciting, so even that I enjoyed … eventually."

"You had to comply," I said.

"Oh, he was much stronger … though I was a bigger man than him – taller, longer arms. He had been vampire for so many centuries, he’d lost count. And of course, he was my sire. I had to obey." Eric shrugged.

"Is that a mystical thing or a made-up rule?" I asked, curiosity finally getting the better of me.

"It’s both," Eric said. "It’s a compulsion. It’s impossible to resist, even when you want to … even when you’re desperate to get away." His white face was closed and brooding.

I couldn’t imagine Eric doing something he didn’t want to do, being in a subservient position. Of course, he had a boss now; he wasn’t autonomous. But he didn’t have to bow and scrape, and he made most of his own decisions.

"I can’t imagine it," I said.

"I wouldn’t want you to." His mouth pulled down at one corner, a wry expression. Just when I began to ponder the irony of that, since he’d perhaps married me vampire-style without asking me, Eric changed the subject, slamming shut the door on his past. "The world has changed a great deal since I was human. The past hundred years have been especially exciting. And now the Weres are out, and all the other two-natured. Who knows? Maybe the witches or the fae will step forward next." He smiled at me, though it was a little stiff.

His idea gave me a happy fantasy of seeing my great-grandfather Niall every day. I’d only learned of his existence a few months before, and we hadn’t spent much time together, but learning I had a living ancestor had been very important to me. I had so few blood kin. "That would be wonderful," I said wistfully.