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"I'll soon set up my court to which you can come at any time, with rooms there for wayfarers, and all wayfarers. And the voice of Benji Mahmoud will never cease to offer you invaluable counsel. But if we are to cease from all battles and gang wars, and to live in secrecy and harmony with one another, then there must be rules, the very things I fought all my life, rules, and there must be a willingness on your part, for your own sake, to obey them."
Again came that soft but mighty roar I'd heard from them on the sidewalk before the townhouse only a night ago.
"You must leave this city," I said. "You must not congregate any more before Trinity Gate. Please, I ask that you agree to this."
There were nods, cries of affirmation, of "yes" from all sides.
"This city," I said, "great as it is, cannot sustain so many hunters, and you must find hunting grounds where you can feed on the evildoer and leave the innocent unmolested. Understand. This you have to do, and there is no escaping it."
Again came their chorus of praise and agreement. So eager, so innocent, they seemed, so charged with collective conviction.
"There is no reason under the moon and stars," I said, "why we cannot prosper. And prosper we will."
A louder roar, and the innermost circle pressing in even as Gregory and Seth gestured for them to hold where they were.
"Now, give me time," I said. "Give me opportunity. Wait to hear from me and I promise your patience will be rewarded. And spread the word far and wide that I am your leader now and you can trust in me and what we will all achieve together."
I then took my leave, once again clasping hands on both sides as Gregory, Seth, Flavius, and Thorne escorted me out of the park. We ignored a deluge of irrepressible questions I could not answer now.
When I entered the townhouse, I saw in the drawing room the unmistakable figures of Gremt Stryker Knollys and Magnus, along with an impressive white-haired ancient blood drinker, and other ghosts--striking ghosts as solid and real seeming as Magnus. The shining and cheerful ghost of Raymond Gallant was among them. Had he met with Marius? I certainly hoped so. But Marius wasn't there.
Armand was with them and so were Louis and Sevraine and they all stared silently at me as I came into the room. I was alarmed at the sight of this ancient blood drinker simply because he hadn
't come to us before. But I could see at once by the manner of everyone present that this was some sort of decorous or amicable meeting. And Seth and Gregory didn't follow me but remained in the hallway, with Flavius and Thorne, but they did not seem concerned.
Gremt and Magnus were robed as before, but this ancient blood drinker who gave me his name telepathically as "Teskhamen" wore a handsome modern suit of clothes. The other ghosts were all attired in the same way, except for the one woman ghost, who wore a fashionable long dress and a slim black coat. The group was very simply astonishing.
Did Louis and Armand know these were ghosts? Did they know this Gremt was a spirit? And who was this Teskhamen, a blood drinker who knew these ghosts obviously, but hadn't made himself known to us until now?
After a moment's hesitation, Louis left the company and Armand stepped back into the shadows. Sevraine gave a warm embrace to the blood drinker, and then took her leave as well.
The clock was chiming the half hour. I had only thirty minutes to be with Rose and Viktor.
I approached Gremt. I realized that the first time I'd encountered this spirit I'd found him intimidating. I hadn't admitted it to myself. But I knew it now because I was not in any way afraid of him. And a certain definite liking of him arose in me, a certain warming to him because I had seen emotions in him that I understood. He wasn't without emotion now.
"You know what's happened," I said. He was staring at me intently, staring, and perhaps staring through me, and through my eyes at Amel. I couldn't know. But Amel was quiet. Amel was there as he always would be, but not a sound came from him.
And not a sound came from Gremt either. That this being was in fact a spirit and not some species of biological immortal was almost impossible to grasp as I looked at him. He appeared so very vital, and so complex and obviously filled with feeling. He was not at ease.
"Soon," I said, "I want to talk to you, to sit down with you, if you will, and talk--with you and Magnus here and all of your little company. I'm going home as soon as I can to my father's house in France, in the country where I was born. Will you come to us there?"
Again, no response and then Gremt seemed to pull himself up, to force himself to be alert, and he gave a little shiver, and then spoke.
"Yes," said Gremt. "Yes, thank you, most definitely. We want very much to do that. Forgive us for interrupting you without warning. I realize that you're expected elsewhere. It's only that we could not stay away."
The blood drinker, Teskhamen, a spare white-haired being of considerable elegance, stepped forward. He introduced himself again with a soft agreeable voice. "Yes, you will forgive us, I hope, for coming to you so unexpectedly. But you see we are so eager for a meeting, and simply could not, after what has happened, remain away."
What did they know of what had happened? But then of course they knew. How could they not? Ghosts, spirits, what limits were there to what they could know? For all I knew they'd been in the house, present invisibly when I had taken Amel into me.
But it did seem this Teskhamen wanted to put me at ease.
"Lestat," he said warmly. "We are the ancient Elders of the Talamasca. You've been told this. We are the founders of the Order. In a sense, we are the real Talamasca and the enduring Talamasca--no longer in need of the mortal Order that survives--and we want to talk with you very much."
Armand standing silently against the wall said and did nothing.
"Well, I couldn't be more eager to talk to you myself," I said. "And I understand why you came. And I suspect I understand why you've cut loose your mortal scholars. I think I do, at any rate. But I need time to prepare my home in France, before I see you. And I ask that you come to me there, and soon."
"My name is Hesketh," said the woman, "and we are so longing for this meeting. We can't tell you how very much we want it." She had her smooth blond hair swept back from her face in rather beautiful waves, held in place by bits of pearl and platinum and then flowing over her shoulders in a timeless fashion.
