Date: Fri, 1 Feb 2013 14:56:59 +1300
From: Arthur <artcart65@vodafone.co.nz>
Subject: paulek chapter 8

				  PAULEK

				 CHAPTER 8

				 BY ARTHUR



AUTHORS NOTE: PLEASE DONATE TO THE NIFTY ARCHIVES TO KEEP THE SITE FREE FOR
ALL READERS.



Tito was quite taken by the sheer size of the town, while it was nothing
more nor less than a rough sea port, it had, too a certain extent been
roughly planned and the different strata of town society could be seen by
their position to the long sweeping docks.

The two boys stopped on a small rise so that Tito could look over the large
bay, he had never in all his young life seen such a vista of sea and sand,
below him and along more than half the length of the bay, ran wooden
wharves, from his vantage point, they looked like dark teeth set in the
bay, tied up to the wharves were numbers of boats and ships, all very
distinctive in their own way.

Far out in the bay other ships waiting to load or unload, sat at anchor as
they waited their turn, others were waiting for the high neap tides so they
could make their way across the shallow and dangerous sand bar that sat at
the entrance to the bay, only the most shallow of drafts could make it
across on an ordinary tide.

Behind the wharves and large cargo sheds, ran a rough cobble stone road,
along this lines of carts and wagons carried the goods too and fro from the
warehouses, on the other side of this road were all the shops and dealers
in cargo, they were interspersed with taverns and grog shops that seemed to
take up every available space, even though it was early in the morning,
Tito could see that most of the grog shops were still doing a roaring
trade, it seemed that sailors never got tired of being under the influence
of strong drink.

Another wide well cared for road ran behind this port road, along its
length sat many fine shops and the better class of tavern and hostelry, it
was the play ground of the wealthier people of the town, the road was well
paved and the walkways were wide and clean, unlike its twin road close to
the wharves, this one had deep drains to keep the effluent of a big town
from soiling the shoes and boots of the better class citizen.

As the land rose higher along the dunes of the bay, the houses got larger
and more expensive, the prime location was overlooking the bay and well
away from the stink of everyday life in a port town, many of the houses
resembled small estates with large gardens and rolling vistas, the air up
there was clean and clear on most days, it was only if the wind changed and
blew off the sea that some of the stink rose to these rich heights.

At the far edges of the town were the lower class hovels, narrow and
dangerous lanes of mud and dirt led into warrens and dead ends, this was
the home of the lowest workers and the starving where a life was worth less
than the price of a loaf of bread, adults moved with menace as they stalked
the lanes and alleys, packs of young children scampered about as they
learnt their trade as cut purses and cut throats, in these mean alleys,
there was no such thing as innocence, it was a dark, dank miserable place
and any who wished to survive had better be ready with a sharp wit or
sharper knife.

Tito looked up at the opulence on the hills above the port and then down at
the misery of the outskirts and the bustle and wealth that poured into the
port town, it was hard for him, a Roma, to understand how people could be
so isolated in their misery, all Roma stuck together, it was there
strength, if one suffered, all suffered, it was the secret to their success
and survival, below him he could only see greed, anger and violence.

Bevic watched the dark young boy from a far away place, it was clearly
evident the boy had never seen a big town before, he stood patiently
waiting for the boy Tito, too take it all in, even as he watched, Bevic
could think back when the town was only a small port of little importance,
in his fifteen years, Bevic had watched the once sleepy small port grow
insanely into one of the major ports for ships from the south lands.

When Bevic was a small boy he would come to the market with his father, he
would have been able to count the number of flat bottom barges on one hand,
they carried all the produce from the area to the markets of the big
cities, the shallow draft barges could cross the sand bar at most times
after half rising tide, it had only been ten years and now the once
peaceful farming bay was full of ships of all types from all over the
nation and further away.

>From where they stood, Bevic could even see one of the large triremes of
the southlanders, its central masts stood above other biremes that
surrounded it, its huge striped sails were folded and rolled along the top
spar, its three tiers of oarsmen were nowhere in sight, it was said they
were all slaves and had to row the enormous vessel until they dropped dead
from hunger and exhaustion.

>From this distance it was hard for Bevic to truly understand the size of
the trireme, the few men he could make out on the far off deck, looked no
bigger than ants, the detail on the boat was astonishing, it looked more
like a kings barge than a working cargo vessel, Bevic shook his head as he
felt the pressure of Tito's hand on his arm.

"Come on Bevic, show me the council chambers, we have to get your taxes
paid then I want you to show me everything in the town."

Bevic nodded and took a last look at the once peaceful bay, along the
length of the port facilities were fifteen long wharves, the two in the
centre were longer than the rest, each wharf had a large ship tied up on
either side, the two central ones had two on each side, there were a
mixture of one, two and three masted ships as well as more biremes, all of
them were a hive of activity as they were loaded and unloaded, Bevic turned
away and led Tito down the rise and into the better streets of the town.

After working their way through the ever growing crowds, the two boys came
to an open central plaza, a large new fountain was spurting water up high
into the air as children frolicked in the shallow pond around it, garish
stalls were selling fresh food and produce from the surrounding farms and
behind them were the bright stores of the merchants, at the far end of the
plaza stood the tall council building, it was three stories high and had
only been completed two years previous, it was the seat of power as well as
the place where all taxes and port duties were paid, it was also the first
and only completely stone building in the town and towered over the single
story businesses around it.

Tito followed Bevic up the wide stone steps and into the building, its
opulence was there for all too see, well dressed men and women moved
through the building on some errand or other, their faces set in determined
visages as they scurried about, Tito was not overawed by the building as
some yokels may have been, he had seen castles bigger than this and his
natural curiosity kept his head moving in an ever alert manner as he
followed Bevic to a long wooden counter behind which sat many desks with
people all working over large ledgers.

Bevic stopped in front of a gruff looking man that stood at the counter,
after waiting for a few minutes, the man looked up at Bevic with impatience
written plainly on his face.

"What do you want, boy?"

Tito watched as Bevic squared his shoulders and looked the caustic man in
the eyes.

"I've come to pay my taxes in full."

The man looked at Bevic as though he had picked up something nasty off the
street.

"Name?" The man said gruffly.

"Bevic Strangeblood of the farm of Gaston Strangeblood."

The man had almost a sneer on his face as he opened a large brown ledger
and ran his finger down page after page until he stopped at a name.

"Do you have enough coin to pay the full tax arrears?"

"Yes, I have eight gold coins; it is enough to pay it in full."

"Eight? Eight? That's not enough, there has been interest added for the
late payment, it is now ten gold coins, do you have that much, if not then
we will be taking the farm next week as part payment and you will have to
be indentured for five years to pay off the rest, now, what will it be?"

Tito could feel the tension in Bevic's body at this latest news, with a
soft hand he tried to sooth the other boys nerves, finally Bevic spoke up.

"Yes I have that."

Bevic threw ten gold coins on the counter and they both watched as two of
them rolled over the counter and onto the floor with a loud tinkle, the
surprised look on the mans face said it all, he had not evidently expected
the boy to come up with the coins for his farm, the mans eyes scrunched
together, the Mayor was not going to be happy about losing that piece of
land but there was little he could do about it, he had nothing else he
could delay the boy with.

The man picked up the coins and counted them twice, each time looking up at
Bevic with a thin veneer of hate in his hard eyes, throwing the coins into
a hidden drawer under the counter, the man was about to turn away when Tito
spoke up for the first time.

"Bevic will need a written receipt to prove he has paid in full."

The man turned his angry eyes on the smaller dark boy, he had hoped to get
away without writing one and then, again, claiming the boy had not paid as
they had done in the past, the Mayor would then be able to get the land for
nothing, a number of the wealthy merchants had plans for the plot, now, if
the boy had a receipt their plans would come too nothing but he could not
refuse, with as much bad grace as he could muster, the man took up pen and
paper and wrote a receipt for the ten gold coins, once done he hardly
looked at the two young boys as he threw it over the counter and then
stalked away, he would have to report this to the Mayor at once, the one
problem he had was, where did the boy get so much gold coin.

For the next two hours the boys wandered the main business street of the
town, Tito had never seen nor smelt so many new things, fruits that could
only be thought up by some weird god, smells that filled the nostrils with
sweet and then sour odours, strange burning sticks that filled the air with
scented smoke, hot spices for cooking that could bring tears to the eyes if
you inhaled them, Tito was quite taken by all the new things he saw.

As noon approached they decided to go into a tavern for their midday meal,
they would have a tankard of ale and talk over all that had happened that
morning, the coolness inside the smart tavern was welcome after the heat of
the day, outside there was not even the faintest of sea breezes to cool the
skin, as the boys sipped their tankard of ale and waited for their meal of
stew with bread and cheese to arrive, they sat back and talked over the
mornings events.

Unknown to the two, a pair of dark eyes watched them from a deep shadow in
the back of the tavern, the man who watched the pair was quite nondescript
in his appearance, he looked much like any other worker in this part of the
city but his intentions were far different as he watched the two young boys
eat and drink while they talked softly too each other, every movement,
every gesture, was taken note of by the watching eyes, by the end of the
day he would report back to the Mayor and they would see what could be done
about the sudden wealth of the farm boy, the dark boy was of no consequence
as far as the watcher was concerned, he was just another young boy with
nothing to do.

Their meal and ale finished, the boys left the tavern and made their slow
way to the dock area, Tito found he had to keep sharp eyes out for all the
traffic moving back and forth along the narrow road of the wharves, as they
drew closer, Tito realised just how big most of the ships were but, for
some unknown reason he was drawn to the large trireme, it had the look and
feel of the trader they had disposed of, when they got closer, he was
certain it was the one they were looking for, on the wharf waiting to be
loaded onboard, stood seven very beautiful horses, they looked well rested
although a little jittery about going onto the ship.

Tito spied an old man he presumed was once a sailor, sitting on a broken
woven lobster cage, the old man was carving some sort of white bone, out of
curiosity, one of Tito's well known traits, he approached the old man and
started to talk to him, over the course of many stories about his time on
the sea, the man eventually told Tito that the large southern ship would
sail on the next neap tide in four days, they were now only waiting for the
owner to arrive with his caravan and they would leave, Tito thanked the man
and turned to Bevic, as he did so, Tito spied something further down the
wharf.

"Can you wait here for me Bevic, I have to piss then we can go back to the
farm, it's getting late and my Master will wonder where I am."

Bevic nodded and watched as Tito ran for a nearby alley, it was not unusual
to use the narrow alleys for this purpose, Bevic waited patiently for his
new friend, after about five minutes, Tito was back beside Bevic with a
wide smile on his face.

"Ahh, thanks Bevic, I really needed that after all that ale, let's get back
to the farm."

So saying, the two boys turned their backs on the bustling wharves and
hurried their steps back towards the farm, it was only an hour until
sundown and they needed to be back before dark, Bevic to once and for all,
settle into his free home, Tito to report what he had seen to his Master.

In the office of the Mayor, three men waited patiently for their spy too
report, the treasurer and secretary sat on the other side of the desk from
the obese figure of the Mayor, he had held the office for twelve years now
and had never been defeated at any election, of course the fact that most
of his one time opponents seemed to either disappear or lose interest also
had a lot to do with his long run as Mayor.

It was fully dark and their spy had still not appeared, the Mayor looked at
the secretary with an inquiring glance.

"Well, where is he?"

"Let me go and check Mr. Mayor, I'm sure he was held up somewhere or is
still watching the boy, I'll send out the Captain of the town guard, he'll
soon find him if anyone can."

The secretary left the office and the others waited impatiently, it was
another half hour before the secretary returned, with him came the Captain
of the town guard, both men did not look happy, the Captain most of all.

"Well?" the Mayor asked.

"The Captain found him, he was dead in an alley off the wharves, I'll let
the Captain fill you in on the details as he saw the body."

"Well, Captain?"

"Well Mr. Mayor, he was stabbed by a long thin blade of some sort, it must
have been a highly trained assassin to be able to get close enough to him
and the means of death I have only seen once before in my life time, it was
a thin puncture wound at the back of the neck, between the spine and the
base of the skull, the blade must have gone straight up into the mans brain
and killed him instantly, there was little blood and he looked as though he
was just sitting down resting, whomever did it was a master assassin."

"You said you have seen it before?"

"Once, a long time ago when I was a Kings man, we were routing some
families from where they had squatted on the Kings land, they called
themselves, Roma or Romani, lazy bunch of lay abouts, two of my men were
found later that night, both had been killed like he was today, no one saw
or heard anything, we never saw those people again, never did like them,
something not right about how they lived."

"Thank you Captain, you may leave us, we have important things to discuss."

"Well gentlemen, what are your thoughts on this matter, we need that land
the boy is on if we're going to enlarge the town in the manner we had
planned?"

"What about this murder Mr. Mayor?" The secretary asked.

"What about it, it was probably some cut throat out for the mans purse, I'm
damn sure two young boys would not be able to overpower a man like that,
you heard the Captain, it was a professional assassin and those boys
certainly don't fit that bill."

"It doesn't answer the question of how we are going to get the land,
Mr. Mayor." It was the Treasurer this time that asked the question.

"We will just have to think of another way to get it, how that boy came up
with so much gold I will never know, you said, Mr. Treasurer, the boy had
the full eight gold coins for the back taxes?"

The Treasurer lightly fingered the two gold coins in his pocket as he
answered with a very straight face.

"Yes Mr. Mayor, eight gold coins in full, mind you we have not done too
badly from that family, we have collected a full sixteen gold from them,
more than most of the town put together and, we have managed to get most of
his land for nothing as well, perhaps we should let him have that small
piece that's left."

"No, we need the rest of it, I suppose we could always bring in our own
assassin and rid us of the boy all together, that would solve a lot of
problems, if we're going to put the new larger cobbled road through, we
need that land, I don't want traders to see bends in the road just to go
around a boys plot, what are your thoughts on the matter?"

"Personally," replied the Secretary, "I think we should just get rid of the
boy, he has no relatives to lay claim to the land, it would revert to the
council or, one of us could buy it for a small sum and sell it back to the
council for the road."

"And which of us should buy it, Mr. Secretary?"

"Why you Mr. Mayor, I'm sure we all agree it would be best for us all if
you did."

"Of course it would, right then, we get someone in to get rid of the boy
and I will buy the land from the executor then sell it back to the council
for the new road, we can all share in this little venture, do you have your
masons working on the cobbles, Mr. Treasurer?"

"Yes, we have a nice stock pile all ready to go as soon as we have that
last piece of land."

"And Mr. Secretary, you have made all the arrangements for the slaves to be
brought in to do the work as we discussed?"

"Yes Mr. Mayor, we will charge them out to the council at one silver per
man per day, as they cost us only four coppers per man to hire from their
Master we should all make a tidy profit from the venture, the towns people
will not object when they see such a fine road leading into and out of the
port and town environs."

"Good, now all we need to do is find someone to rid us of the boy once and
for all."

"I'm sure we can find a couple of good cutthroats down at the wharves that
will do the job quickly and cheaply."

"We'll leave it too you then Mr. Treasurer, get it done as soon as possible
so we can get started on the road, well gentlemen, here's to a very
successful and profitable venture."

The three men smiled broadly now that they had their plan revised and
nearly in operation, before too much longer they would all be wealthier by
a considerable amount, the Mayor more than the others.

As the three talked on into the early evening, at the farm of said boy
Bevic, there was a lot of movement as the sleepers awoke, they had been
awake only minutes before Tito and Bevic arrived from their visit to the
town, Paulek immediately noticed the slight change in Tito but the
awareness of the change fled his mind the moment he spied Bevic, it was as
though his mind insisted on going blank and only taking notice of the young
farm owner, everything about Bevic held Paulek's attention, it was a
feeling he had never had before, it was more intense even than his feelings
for his lost brother.

Every movement, every gesture, every pause that Bevic made, held Paulek
spell bound, the soft lilting of his voice filled Paulek's ears like music,
his desires and senses could only see Bevic, could only hear Bevic, it was
as though he had been missing some part of himself all these years and
Bevic suddenly came along and filled him to overflowing, it took every bit
of his inner strength to stop himself from racing to the boy and holding
him as close as he could, even the lightest touch of his hand sent Paulek
into a dizzying spiral, had Paulek been alert to what and who was around
him, he would have seen the smiles on the faces of the other boys, he
seemed to be the only one that was not aware of what he was feeling for the
first time in his life.

It took a little time before he heard Tito's voice as the boy reported what
had happened in town, what he had seen and where they had gone, it was not
until he was alone with Paulek later in the night, that he reported why he
had got rid of the man that had been following the pair all day, Paulek
just smiled at his protector and said.

"Thank you Tito, you did the right thing protecting Bevic."

Tito's face reddened a little and then he asked.

"Master, when are you going to bed with Bevic, he really wants to be with
you as you want to be with him?"

Paulek was taken aback at the young boys boldness, even though it was the
truth it had not seemed right but, now that the words had been spoken out
loud, the idea became more solid in Paulek's mind, it was of course exactly
what he wanted to do, his only concern was, how would Bevic react to what
Paulek now was, would he be afraid of him to the point that he feared him
as some sort of monster, or would he just run and not look back, this was
Paulek's greatest fear as he knew he could not go on without Bevic in his
life.

When Tito and Bevic had finally decided it was time for sleep, Paulek and
the others sat outside to discuss what Tito had seen at the port, the ship
was evidently that of the caravan Master they had disposed of but, how long
would it wait for his return before they set sail for the southern lands,
the new boys told them that the ship would never sail without the master of
the caravan unless he had given them explicit orders to do so, with this in
mind, and the fact there would be a very high neap tide in four days,
Paulek decided to go and look the ship over for himself, Pavlik and Hawk
would spend the time teaching the new boys how to defend themselves. With
this decided, Paulek took one last, long look at the sleeping form of Bevic
and started for the port while Pavlik and Hawk set about the new boys first
training, with there enhanced abilities it would not take long for the boys
to learn enough to protect themselves and others.

Keeping to the dark shadows of the night, Paulek sped through the town and
down to the docks, the usual uproar of drunken sailors and workmen filled
the night as he slid from one shadow to another as he closed on the large
ship, on the dock beside the ship stood four very large men, he could see
instantly they were not drinkers but they also were very alert and
obviously well trained in their work.

The men were wearing what appeared to be a long set of chain mail, it
covered them from their heads to their knees, there was a thicker piece of
what looked like leather around their necks to protect them from any sword,
the men were armed with double swords as well as a short bow, these were
hand picked and trained guards.

Paulek looked over the ship, it was a large trireme, fitted in the deck
were two tall masts for the lanteen sails, below the deck were three tiers
of oars, this large ship was made for war more than for trade, on the upper
deck at the bow was a Ballista filled with six long spear like shafts, on
the aft deck was another weapon called a catapult, it was not loaded with
anything but it's size would have made any pirate think twice about
attacking the ship.

Paulek also saw small patrols of men on the deck, they walked back and
forth in pairs, every part of the ship was under observation at all times,
it was going to be difficult to get on board, especially if the crew, who
Paulek could discern as human and not drinkers, had been well trained and
were aware of what a drinker could do, this was not gong to be an easy
rescue, Paulek could almost feel his brother on the ship, he knew he would
have only one chance to rescue him, if it was not done now he could very
well lose him for months or even years before he could find a ship to take
them to the south, Paulek set his young mind to thinking up a plan of
attack.

Paulek was about to turn away and return to the farm to talk with the
others when he heard a commotion on the ship, most of the guards
immediately turned to look at something below them inside the ship, it was
then that Paulek heard a familiar voice swearing like a rough worker, there
came thumps and crashes from inside the ship as his brothers voice filled
the still night air, from the crew came laughter as well as swearing until,
finally, Paulek saw a small fighting figure appear on the deck in chains,
three grown men were holding tightly to the ends of the chains as Milac
fought them all the way to the centre of the ships deck, the chains holding
him were then locked into large rings set in the deck, it seemed that Milac
was allowed some fresh air each night as long as he stayed chained.

Paulek could see so well in the dark that he could make out the main
problem and the reason for Milac's behaviour, the boy had been kept hungry,
he was almost starving and, while this kept him weaker than normal, it also
increased his blood lust, Paulek could now see that Milac was almost
totally into blood lust and was nearing the point where he could turn feral
if he was not fed soon, to the crew it was no more than a game, a dangerous
game, but still a game, Paulek's anger rose as he watched helplessly, alone
he could do little, he had to get back and make a plan quickly, his brother
would not last much longer in his present state.

Paulek left his shadows and sped back to the farm where the others were
still training hard, it was an hour to the middle night bell, he had time
to go tonight as long as the others thought they were ready for a
fight. Once at the farm Paulek called all of the others to him, he then
explained what he had seen and what he wanted to do right then, it was Hawk
that calmed him down.

"Paulek, we truly understand how you feel but we are not ready, one mistake
and your brother might be killed, we have to plan this properly, how long
do you think your brother can last before he is feral?"

"Three maybe four days, he's very weak and won't last much longer than
that, I want to go as soon as I can, I don't want him to go feral, I
couldn't kill him, he's my little brother."

It was one of the new boys that gave some hope.

"The guards on the dock are specially trained by the Master, they are very
hard to kill even though they are not drinkers, it would be better to
bypass them, the other two guards will be placed outside the Masters rooms
at the stern of the ship, the room has big windows overlooking the sea, as
we do not need to breathe, we can approach the ship under water and climb
the stern to get through the windows, once inside we would only have two
guards to get rid of, if we could do it silently, the others would never
know, it would just be a matter of waiting for your brother to come from
the slave cages in the bottom of the ship and then take him before he goes
up on deck."

"He would need to feed first, he's very weak." Paulek told the boy.

"We just keep one of the guards alive, let him feed on him then we can go
out the same way we came in."

"We don't have much time, when will you new boys be ready to fight?"

"One more night, we don't have enough weapons for all of us."

"Ok, I'll get Tito too look for some weapons tomorrow and we go the night
after, it will be close to their sailing time and they may be a little more
relaxed."

Suddenly Paulek felt a little better, he glanced through the farm house
window at the sleeping form of Bevic, his heart raced like it had never
done before at the sight of the sleeping boy, if it was to go further, he
needed to tell Bevic what he was and what it would mean for them both, it
was just then that it struck Paulek, if he was to continue his new found
love for Bevic and, he was almost immortal, he would have to watch Bevic
age and eventually die while he lived on still as young as he now was, this
thought caused Paulek to pause in his thinking, could he watch the boy he
had fallen for, age and die while he himself stayed young and alive, it was
something he needed to think on more closely before vowing his newfound
love for Bevic.

The rest of that night was spent in teaching the six new boys how to use
weapons and how to best use their extra blood abilities just as Sergei and
Jorge had taught them, the boys were quick learners and they were soon
sparring as though they had done it all their lives, once Tito had weapons
for them all, Paulek would feel much better, he was now building quite a
little army of his own, in the back of his mind he saw a glimmer of an idea
begin to form for their future, that was if they had a future after the
night of the attempted rescue of Milac.

When the drinkers had gone too sleep, Tito, along with Bevic, took the list
of needs that Paulek had left for them and made their way to town, Bevic
had said it was not going to be easy to find all the weapons, they were
very closely controlled by the town guard but he thought he might know some
street boys that would be able to tell them where to get some that the
guard had no knowledge of, it was going to be very expensive he said, but
Paulek nodded to Tito and they both understood that as much of the gold
under the floor could be used to purchase the weapons as was needed.

During the day, Tito noticed that Bevic was watching him like a hawk, Tito
could feel the tension in the air each time Bevic looked over at him, he
decided that, at their break for lunch at the same tavern, he would ask
Bevic what was worrying him, although Tito began to suspect what the
problem was, he thought it best to let the farm boy raise the subject in
his own time, Tito had a very old head on very young shoulders.

When it came time for their lunch, Tito purposely found a table well back
in a dark corner of the tavern, during the morning he had seen the worry on
Bevic's face grow stronger at each passing minute, he thought that this was
the time for him to seek out what it was and he didn't want anyone else to
hear their conversation.

Once lunch had been ordered and the usual tankard of ale had been placed
before each boy, Tito looked at Bevic and began the conversation.

"Ok, Bevic, what's worrying you, you've been away in the clouds all
morning?"

"I, I don't know if I should say anything, Tito."

"There's nothing you can ask me that I won't answer as best I can, I know
it's something to do with my Master and it's worrying you."

"There is something, but I think it's all just an old wives tale, I don't
really want to make a fool of myself or ruin any feelings that Paulek may
have for me, I know I want to be with him very much but there's this thing
inside my head that makes me afraid of him for some reason."

"So just tell me, if it's something I can help with I will tell you right
away."

"It all began when I was just a little kid, when I played up or made my
parents angry, they would say that one night while I was asleep, the night
monsters would come and drink all my blood and send me to hell, it really
scared me, after all I was only five or six at the time but, now I've seen
Paulek and his friends, well, I mean, look, they never sleep at night only
during the day as though they were afraid of the day light, they also seem
to be faster and stronger than normal teen boys, Tito? Are they all night
monsters, if so are they going to kill me?"

Tito sat and thought for a little, he then waited while the pot boy put
their meal on the table and left them alone, how much should he tell Bevic,
what would his Master expect from him when asked this question, as he began
to chew of the hot stew and sip his chilled ale, Tito decided to tell as
much as he thought Bevic could take and then leave the rest up too his
Master.

"They are not monsters like you think of them, but they are different and
it is not their choice, they were given no choice by the ones that changed
them, you're quite right that they are people of the night and they have to
feed on things that we can not but they are not monsters. Paulek I am sure
loves you very deeply even though he has not yet said anything but all of
us can see it, if you feel the same way about him as I am sure you do by
your actions to date, then you will give him the chance to explain
everything to you before making a final decision on your future."

"Am I in any danger from the other boys, Tito?"

"Danger; Not even in the slightest if anything you are the best protected
boy in the land, there is not one of them that would damage as much a
single hair on your head, if Paulek asked them they would all lay their
life down for your protection so you have no worries on that score but, to
really find out all there is too know, you really need to speak to Paulek,
there is much I can tell you but he is my Master and it must be his words
that you hear not mine."

"So I am safe with them, they are not the night monsters of my childhood."

"Yes, you are safer with them than if you had a hundred of the Kings Guards
around you, as too being monsters, well that is only for enemies to find
out, for you they are friends and protectors, now lets eat and go and see
if those street boys have found any weapons for us before we get old and
talk too much."

Tito laughed at his lame joke and turned back to finish his meal, he had
the distinct impression that Bevic still had questions but the boy opposite
him did seem a little more relaxed as he too began eating the cooling stew.

Tito and Bevic met with the street boys they had talked too earlier in the
day, the boys had managed to find some weapons for them, they had them
wrapped tightly in thick sail cloth, in a dark alley, the two boys opened
the package and inspected the weapons, it was obvious they had been stolen
either from their owners or from a store house, they were in reasonable
condition although would need a little attention before being used.

The street boys had got them five short swords, six daggers and three short
horse bows, these could be fired while on horse back and at the same time
were very good when in the close confines of the forest, after some
haggling, not to beat the price down on the street boys but more to
maintain a sense of the rights of trade, Tito handed the small gang of
young street boys a leather bag containing three gold and nine silver
coins, both parties parted ways happy in the knowledge neither one had been
cheated.

Tito, once they were back at the farm and away from prying eyes, set about
cleaning and sharpening the newly bought weapons, Bevic paced back and
forth most of the time, his head bowed while he was deep in thought, there
was so much he wanted from Paulek and so much more he was afraid to ask
about or even admit to himself, the only thing that brought a modicum of
peace was the steady sound of Tito sharpening swords and daggers.

As night drew in, the first murmurs and sounds of the boys awakening came
to the two boys ears, it was time to face his fears and seek Paulek, Bevic
straightened his young shoulders and, even with the old tales of the
horrors of the night monsters still fresh in his mind, Bevic walked towards
the fancy wagon where the boys always slept.

As Paulek stepped down from the wagon, he saw Bevic approaching him, with
sudden clarity, as though something during the day had awakened him, he saw
right into Bevic's mind, he also became more aware of Tito and what he was
thinking, the two boys conversation of the afternoon was the first thing he
saw in Bevic's thoughts, with a soft sigh to himself, Paulek smiled at
Bevic and then said.

"It's time we talked, isn't it."

Bevic blushed and could only nod his head as he saw Paulek reach out a hand
to him.

"Lets go for a walk so we can be alone, I'll tell you everything you want
too know, if after you have heard it all then you can decide for yourself
what you want to do but, remember this, at no time are you in any danger,
not from me and certainly not from the other boys, whatever you decide to
do after we talk will be respected by us all."

Bevic could only nod his head and take the offered hand, it was the first
time they had actually physically touched, the cold feeling of Paulek's
skin made Bevic jump a little at first but, with no sign of anger of
distaste from Paulek, he tightened his grip again and followed the boy into
the darkness of the new night.

It took them both an hour to talk it all through, Paulek answered every
question that Bevic asked, he showed him his special skills and strengths,
the hardest part was telling Bevic that he had to drink blood to live but,
after he told Bevic how he became like he was and who had done it too him,
Bevic seemed to relax, it had not been a choice that Paulek had made it had
been forced on him and he now had to live with it for as long as his life
lasted and, as Bevic found out, that would be along time.

The final problem came when they discussed their aging, for the first time
in the days he had known Paulek, he saw the boy with red tears in his eyes
as he wept and told him why he cried, it was not for himself but for Bevic,
he then told him about the immortality he had been given and that he would
have to watch Bevic age and die while he lived on in his youth, at the
heartfelt sound of Paulek tears and sobs, Bevic reached out and hugged the
blood drinker for the first time, his own feelings were now as raw as
Paulek's but for a different reason.

The two boys continued hugging and at the same time talking about the
possible future for them both, it soon became apparent that they would stay
together, somehow it made sense to Bevic even though Paulek still knew he
loved the farm boy, he had slight doubts as to his own ability to live up
to the other boys expectations of him, he knew it would take time for them
to become one but it was certainly going to happen if Paulek had anything
to do with it, the two boys stood in the dark of the night holding each
other as close as they could, all the fears and worries were now past and
there were no secrets between them.

Slowly Paulek pulled away from the warm embrace and looked again at Bevic,
both boys had unknowingly become very erect as their bodies were crushed
together, had there been enough light for Bevic's eyes to see, he may have
been embarrassed, not knowing how good Paulek's eye sight was in the dark,
he felt no worries about the hardness of his boyhood, thinking that his new
found love could not see it pushing out the fabric of his homespun
trousers.

An hour had passed and they decided to return to the farm where the others
were now practising with their new weapons, as they walked into the yard
lit by an open fire at the centre of the yard, Paulek suddenly stopped,
there, right in front of them all was the simple answer for getting onto
the ship without having to go for a swim in the dark night, Paulek drew
Bevic into another close hug and then ran to the middle of the yard and
called the other boys to come and listen to his new plan.

When he had finished, the others were all smiles and decided not too wait
for the next night, they would go now, with a little luck they would soon
have Milac back with his brother, Paulek asked Bevic and Tito too stay
behind, this was work for those who could use the night to the best
advantage, Pavlik and Hawk took off to the small paddock and brought in the
six wagon horses.  Within half an hour the horses were back in their traces
and ready to go.

Tito and Bevic watched as the large wagon pulled out of the farm yard, on
the driving seat sat two of the caravan Masters boys, hidden in the back
were all the others, slowly the darkness swallowed the large wagon as it
rolled on towards the port town and finally the docks where the ship
awaited them, it was hoped that the wagon was a familiar enough sight to
the guards to allay any fears they may have if strangers tried to approach
and, the two boys on the front seat were well known by the guards, all that
remained now was for the story they had thought up to be believed and they
would have the ship before any alarm could be raised.

As expected, when the wagon appeared around the last bed on the dock
street, the four guards left their posts and stood together waiting for the
Master to arrive, they took notice of the two boys driving and, although it
was unusual to see them there, it was not totally unknown for their Master
to do something like this to try to catch them unawares.

The guards stood erect with their shoulders back, their hands nowhere near
their weapons, this was not a strange wagon and so they felt no threat to
the ship or themselves, the wagon came to a halt a short distance from
them, the two senior guards stepped forward and asked the boys.

"Where is our Master?"

"He's staying at the tavern for a little while, he said he had a last trade
to take care of and sent us on ahead so the wagon can be loaded ready for
when he gets here."

"You had better bring it closer to the ship then."

"Master asked that his four chests be unloaded first, he wants them secure
before the wagon is loaded on, it may be better if you four can take them
out now and carry them up on the deck."

Knowing better than to argue with the Masters orders, the senior guard
turned and called for the other two to join them and carry the chests,
without waiting for the other two, the first two guards went to the rear of
the wagon and opened the heavy gate, as the gate dropped, two shafts shot
from the inner darkness and lodged themselves into the necks of the guards,
the men fell without even seeing who had fired them, as they dropped dead
to the dock surface, the second guards came around the end of the wagon and
they also had no time to defend themselves from the seven boys who had
suddenly appeared in front of them.

The fight lasted only seconds and all four guards were dead on the dock,
the shipboard watchers saw nothing in the darkness, the wagon had been
parked just out of the range of the ships lanterns and the rear was still
in deep shadow, using their superior strength, the boys hefted the four
chests and walked towards the ships gangway, the deck guards barely looked
at them as they carried the chests up to the deck level.

On deck were eight sailors acting as temporary guards, after placing the
chests on the deck, the boys, now joined by the two younger ones from the
drivers seat, quickly drew their swords and faced off against the deck
guards, Paulek said in a voice just loud enough to be heard by those on
deck but not any that may have been below.

"Your Master is dead, you now have to make a decision, you can fight and
die now or step aside and let me get my brother, if you lay down your arms
you will live, when we are finished here you may take the ship if that's
what you wish."

The eight men looked at the armed and ready boys, they had been in the
employ of the Master for many years and knew a blood drinker when they saw
one, with the odds of nine drinkers to eight humans, they stood little
chance and they knew it, all of the sailors lowered their weapons and stood
aside as six of the boys went towards the ornate carved doors of the rear
cabin.

Paulek and the others well knew that there would be two of the special
guards behind the doors and behind the guards would be the accommodation
that the Trader had used, all they had to do was either kill the guards or
capture them so that once they had Milac freed, he would be able to feed on
at least one of them.

While Paulek and the five boys readied to go through the doors, Pavlik
along with the two black youngsters, had the eight crewmen carry the four
heavy chests back to the wagon and place them inside, the ship they could
have but not the gold and silver, even with the odds of eight to two the
sailors knew better than to try anything, they had their lives and the
ship, it was enough, there was no need for any of them to die for a dead
Master.

When Paulek threw the doors open, he quickly saw that the confined space of
the short passage would work against them in a fight with well trained men
like the two that were rapidly advancing on them, Paulek quickly got the
others to step back into the more open space of the deck where they had the
advantage of numbers and their drinkers abilities, the two large guards
rushed out with their wide curved swords swinging at the boys.

This fight took a little longer and a lot more skill as the boys worked
together so the two guards could not get an advantage over a single boy on
his own, slowly they wore the two down until Hawk managed to drive his
dagger deep into the throat under the chin of one of the guards and, as he
dropped to the deck dead, one of the smaller captive boys managed to duck a
wild blow and sever the Achilles of the other, the man dropped to the deck
now unable to defend himself as three swords were quickly held at his
throat.

The noise of the fight had by now drawn more of the crew up on deck but
they were not soldiers, they were just ordinary sailors and the dead and
injured guards were enough to make them keep their distance, Paulek turned
to the watchers.

"Where is my brother being held, the captive drinker, hurry up, where is
he?"

A large burly man stepped forward.

"Your Honour, I am Margate, the Bosun, if you mean the young drinker in the
hold, then come with me, I will show you."

Paulek looked at the man and saw that he did not have any other ideas,
asking the other boys to keep watch, he and Hawk followed the large man to
a covered hatch and then down a set of narrow steps, once inside the dark
hold, the only light was that of a small lamp hung from a metal hook in a
central beam.

Margate led them deeper into the ship until, finally, Paulek could see a
number of iron cages, from below his feet he could hear other voices in the
darkness, he assumed it was the area where the rowing slaves were kept but
they were of no interest to him, only the cages held his attention as, from
the last one in line he heard the growling and swearing of his brother
Milac, Paulek looked at Margate.

"Where are the keys to the cage?"

Margate reached up to a hook that Paulek had not seen, there was a large
metal ring with a number of keys on it, taking this Paulek ran to the last
cage in the line, there crouched in the confines of the small cage was
Milac, he looked dirty and roughly treated but, as he took in the face
through the narrow bars, red tears began to fall down his young cheeks.

"You came for me, Paulek you found me, that camel fucker said he left you
dead, please Paulek, get me out of here so I can kill everyone of these
goat fuckers."

Paulek did not know if he should laugh or tell Milac not too use swear
words, he was just so relieved that he had finally found his little brother
although, by the sound of the language, Milac was not so little anymore,
Paulek quickly found the right key and threw open the door, his brother
jumped into his arms and wept on his shoulder, his arms trying to strangle
Paulek in his need for reassurance that he was finally free.

Paulek held Milac as he too wept with the joy of finding him, Milac still
looked starved and very dirty, he had not been treated well by those
guarding him, slowly Paulek leaned back and took in the smudged face and
red bloodshot eyes, it was then he saw Milac's fangs fully extended, his
little brother needed blood fast he was on the point of going entirely
feral from which there was no return, Paulek began to forcibly drag Milac
from the dark dank hold, silently and with a certain amount of trepidation,
Margate followed at a small distance.

As he made his way up through the hold, Paulek began to hear a deep growl
from Milac's chest there was also an almost snarling sound as they came
closer to the smell of hot blood, using all of his drinkers speed and
strength, Paulek rushed them both up on the deck, without pause, Paulek
told Milac to feed on the wounded guard.

Milac didn't need to be told twice, the guards was one of those that had
treated him the worst, in minutes, along with some snarls and gurgles,
Milac had drained the man, he was not yet totally full but he did feel
better, the blackness that had almost overtaken him was now pushed into the
shadows, Milac had been sure he was not going to survive the blackness
until he saw the vague and misty figure of Paulek appear in the darkness of
his prison.


TBC.


Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz