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"That ought to be plenty. "
He shook his head. "I came here from Paris," he said. He was quaking. "I was sent by a vampire named Armand who is the leader of that coven. "
I nodded as though all this were quite intelligible to me, and as though I weren't experiencing agony.
"That was a hundred years ago, maybe more. Armand had heard no word from Rome in a long time. I came to see the where and why of it. I found the Roman coven in complete confusion. "
He stopped, catching his breath, backing away from me.
"Speak quickly and tell me more," I said. "I'm impatient. "
"Only if you swear on your honor that you won't harm me. I've done you no harm after all. I was no child of Santino. "
"What makes you think I have honor?" I asked.
"I know you do," he said. "I can sense such things. Swear on your honor to me and I'll tell you everything. "
"Very well, I swear. I'll leave you alive which is more than I've done with two others tonight who haunted the Roman streets like ghosts. Now talk to me. "
"I came from Paris as I told you. The Roman coven was weak. All ceremony had fallen away. One or two of the old ones had deliberately gone into the fire. Others had simply run away, and Santino had made no move to catch them and punish them. Once it was known that such escape was possible many more fled, and the coven was in a state of disaster. "
"Santino, did you see him?"
"Yes, I saw him. He had taken to dressing in fine clothes and jewels, and he received me in a palazzo much larger than this one. He told me strange things. I can't really remember all of them. "
"You must remember. "
"He said he had seen old ones, too many old ones, and his faith in Satan had been shaken. He spoke of creatures who seemed to be made of marble, though he knew they could burn. He said he could no longer lead. He told me not to return to Paris, to do as I pleased, and so I have. "
"Old ones," I said, repeating his words. "Did he tell you nothing of these old ones?"
"He spoke of the great Marius, and of a creature named Mael. And he spoke of beautiful women. "
"What were the names of these women?"
"He didn't say their names to me. He said only that one had come to the coven on the night of its ceremonial dance, a woman like a living statue, and she had walked through the fire to show that it was useless against her. She had destroyed many of the fledglings who attacked her.
"When Santino showed attention and patience, she talked with him for several nights, telling him of her wanderings. He had no taste for the coven after that. . .
". . . But it was the other woman who truly destroyed him. "
"And who was this?" I demanded. "You can't speak fast enough for me. "
"The other woman was of the world, dressing in high style, and traveling by coach in the company of a dark-skinned Asian. "
I was dumbstruck, and maddened that he said nothing more.
"What happened with this other woman?" I finally asked, though a thousand other words flooded my mind.
"Santino wanted her love most desperately. Of course the Asian threatened him with pure destruction if he didn't give up this course, but it was the woman's condemnations that ruined him. "
"What condemnations, what did she say and why?" I demanded.
"I'm not certain. Santino spoke to her of his old piety and his fervor in directing the coven. She condemned him. She said time would punish him for what he'd done to his own kind. She turned away from him in disgust with him. "
I smiled, a bitter smile.
"Do you understand these things?" he asked. "Are they what you wanted?"
