Forever Young The Beginning (51 page)

The day of the performance arrived and
Celeste was at the palace early as was requested, along with the
entire group. She dressed for the performance and then just spent
time with Marie at their spacious guest quarters.

Before the performance the wife of
King George III, Charlotte of Mecklenburg, came to see them and
visited for a while with Celeste and the rest of them. She
remembered the name of McCloud from somewhere and asked him who he
was. The whole pirate story again had to be told. She hung on every
word of it and said she would relay it all to her husband the King.
Ian fervently hoped he wouldn’t have to tell it again. Alyssa got
to talk to her for a bit and was able to communicate fairly well
since Celeste had been teaching her some English for years. For her
part, Queen Charlotte was a charming host.

When the time came for the
performance they were all ushered by uniformed royal staff to the
central hall where all such things were held. They took their
places and waited for the Royal couple to arrive. When they
entered, all stood while they took their seats, being raised
thrones side-by-side. All then sat down and the conductor bowed to
the couple and they signed for him to proceed. Celeste was
introduced as the Swiss Nightingale. She sang
‘God Save the King’
to begin with and
then concluded with a heart-stopping French song. She was
stupendous and the King himself stood to lead the applause for her.
Even though the British were more staid as audiences go,
nonetheless there were a fair number of them in tears while she was
singing.

She was summoned to the throne by the
King himself and shortly the entire entourage was also summoned to
approach. They visited with the royal couple for several minutes
during which time Queen Charlotte whispered to the King and he
extracted a promise from Ian to tell him all about the pirate
incident.

The King then signed for the
concert to continue so they returned to their places. Ian was
amused and
thought
three vampires were standing a scant few feet from the
British Royal family this day. History was made. Then again though,
this may not be the first time vampires have been near the British
Royal Family after all. I’ll ask Henri about that.

After the performance was
over, the King did call them over again and he still wanted to know
more about the pirate battle so Ian told him a condensed version.
He gave credit for Sir Haversham’s suggestion for the oversized
rudder he’d suggested for
Elsie’s
Cloud
before she was built.

They were all favorably received by
the Royal Couple and that made impressions on those who were always
at the court. The trip was a success for both the British banking
effort and for Celeste who was now considered to be an
international prodigy.

An unexpected thing happened
when Henri and Ian went to meet the two London bankers. The junior
partner of Edwards & Milliken was none other than the
vampire
Supreme Council
judge Robert Milliken. He winked at Ian as they
shook hands while pretending to be meeting each other for the first
time ever. The bank partnership with draft honoring and fee sharing
was as good as done. Lafayette had expanded successfully into
England, albeit not one of the larger banks, but a noted one
nonetheless. Ian shook his head afterward and said “Henri, you
could have at least told me before we met them”. Henri had laughed
and said “Now Ian, what would be the fun in that?”

Before they departed, Alyssa received
four requests for private showings and fittings for the more daring
of the ladies of the court who would want to come to Paris later
for some new wardrobe items. Alyssa was thrilled beyond her ability
to express it. She had thought of herself as just tagging along
until then. All returned to Paris and celebrated their
success.

That night, Alyssa had asked Ian to
come home with her to her apartment. It was not very big, but just
big enough for Alyssa and had a place with good light for her to
design. It was as much of a design shop as an apartment.

She and Ian made love that night. It
was sweet and intense. She had really had little male companionship
since arriving in Paris and Ian had had no female companionship
since Anna had driven him away. She awoke during the night and they
made love again twice.

During breakfast, Alyssa confessed
that she was so grateful for being asked along on the trip and
concluded that it was the experience of a lifetime. Ian stayed at
her place for the rest of that week and into the next one until
they all departed for the chateau. He promised to come and see her
the next time he was in Paris. She was invited to the chateau and
promised to get time to visit there.

Before leaving, Ian lay with her the
last night and said “Alyssa, you can choose to cross over whenever
you want. Henri and Marie are in agreement about this. You’re old
enough now and it’s your choice. Celeste must wait a few more
years. You should know that you’ll never bear a child if you become
one of us, and you’ll never walk uncovered in sunlight. Only you
and Celeste have this open invitation to become one of
us.”

“
I… I’m honored,
really.”

“
It would be best done at
the chateau near Marseille. I’d be there to go through it with you
until you’ve completed the process.” Here he took her hand and
kissed it tenderly. Then he concluded “I’ll never press you on this
issue, nor will I make mention of it again. You only have to tell
one of us when you’re ready. I love you, and I’ll still love you
either way.” He kissed her tenderly then, and gently kissed both of
her eyes. Neither Alyssa nor Ian knew that she was at a pivotal
place in her life at that moment, but she would recall it all too
well later.

“
Ian?”

“
Mmmm?”

“
I’ve wanted to ask you
about this…um….thing…” Here she paused to laugh as she blushed a
bit. “You have so much…stamina regarding love making. Is it…is it
something that has to do with your…change? With your crossing
over?”

Laughing softly he nodded his head.
“Yes. I have more stamina that way than before.”

“
Oh, I believe that all
right! she exclaimed with a giddy laugh. “Mon Dieu! Do I
ever!”

Ian laughed softly as she continued
running her hand up and down his hairy torso slowly as they talked.
Leaning in close and nibbling at his ear she peppered his neck with
kisses, ending with a passionate kiss on his lips. She then nuzzled
his neck and after kissing his ear, she whispered “If I cross over,
will you bite me then, love?”

Laughing again he said “I’m no biter,
but I’ve been known to nibble a bit.” He allowed his eyes to glow a
bit, a slight pulsating glow, and then he nibbled lightly at one of
her ears as he nuzzled her neck. She laughed delightedly and
squirmed a bit, then she said “Mmmmm…show me how you feel again,
cheri.” Chuckling softly, he took her in his arms and did just
that.

***

Ian stopped at the
Blue Oyster
as soon as
they all got to Marseille. He told the others that he would be
along later on after learning that Lorn and Corinne were now
married and worked at the inn. They were happy and in love. Lorn’s
first wife in Scotland had died in childbirth years earlier and he
had no family remaining who were alive.

Ian had them to sit down at
a table there and he presented a piece of paper to Lorn that was
the deed to the
Red
Dolphin
. The two were speechless. Corinne
covered her mouth and cried tears of joy. She got up from her chair
and came around to Ian to hug and kiss him.

After thanking him, Lorn
told Ian that Tom McBride had gone to Barcelona to marry Celita.
Ian was shocked. He hadn’t heard the name nor had he even thought
of Celita or even of Alandra for so long. Pondering this
development he sat silent for a while; so much so that the couple
asked him if anything was wrong. He smiled and reassured them that
it wasn’t and parted from them with the reminder that the chateau
was open to them to come any time. Innkeepers didn’t ever get
invited to the home of the Lafayettes, so they felt privileged.
After leaving he opened a line of credit via a draft at the
Banque de Lafayette
Marseille so that they could start remodeling as soon as
possible.

The chateau had filled
somewhat later that year. Celeste and Alyssa came to visit and Ian
was there. Alyssa gave him a passionate kiss which he gladly
returned. They all got to do the usual things such as fishing,
swimming, and horseback riding. Marie sang the song
‘Aloutte’
to call the
horses in from their pasture. This delighted Alyssa, having never
seen Marie’s playful side. Marie said “See Alyssa, Celeste isn’t
the only one in our family who can sing.”

Henri replied “Yes, but Celeste sings
to Kings and you sing to horses.” Everyone including Marie laughed
long and loud at that.

Again Alyssa thought
what marvelous people. No wonder Celeste loves to
come here so much!
She noticed that Celeste
was thought of as family to the Lafayettes, and secretly hoped that
she could earn that distinction. Ian and she stayed at his home
near the chateau. They made love as often as they could get away
from the others which was not often, but they had a nightly date
that they kept nonetheless, and Alyssa got little sleep. Ian
excused himself from her to take Celeste running three different
times. She had made him promise to do so and held him to it,
enjoying it as much as ever.

Alyssa prevailed upon him to take her
running as he had Celeste. So one morning they did so, leaving from
Ian’s house. It was breathtaking beyond her expectations. He showed
her how he hand-fished and they had roast fish for lunch. Using his
knife he dug up some wild onions, washing and mincing them in tiny
pieces, his knife flashing so rapidly that Alyssa couldn’t even see
it moving. She enjoyed the simplicity of it all.

Ian never fed nor hunted nor refreshed
himself in her or Celeste’s presence. After they had made love
beside the stream, he held her and said “Alyssa, I’m so glad that
you came here. I can’t tell you how much I love it that I don’t
have to conceal things from you. I’ve not had that since I was with
Cosette and I’ve missed it so very much.” Alyssa was just happy to
be there with him and snuggled contentedly in his arms, kissing one
of his hands, as they lay talking of different events in their
lives.

Ian’s old shipmate Lorn Barnes and his
new wife came out for three days and got the grand tour of the home
and grounds. It was like a luxury vacation for the couple, and Ian
was happy that the Lafayettes treated them so well. Alyssa and the
others bonded well with them and Lorn got to catch up on Li’s life
since he had settled in Marseille when Ian had. The two were
thrilled with their time there and every evening they got to hear
Celeste perform for them in several languages.

Alyssa thought that Henri
and Marie, as well as Li and Sophia were ideal couples. She tried
to imagine how it was when Cosette was alive. Drawn to this group
of people, she could see why they considered themselves a family.
All too soon she had to return to Paris. For the first time, she
began to regret her decision to live there. Her life had been good,
but it was all filled with her work. She had seen something special
while traveling to England and in visiting the chateau she had come
to realize it. Her life wasn’t all that she wanted it to be. Ian
promised to look in on her the next time he was in Paris. After she
departed, she pondered his open invitation to join the Lafayettes
as one of
‘the others’
and wondered if she shouldn’t have just set everything aside
and done it while at the chateau. As it turned out this wasn’t the
last time she would ponder this.

As her carriage drove out of
sight Ian stared at the last place he could see it even after it
disappeared thinking
her work is truly
everything to her after all. I suppose I waited too late to ask her
to join us. I wonder if I should have asked her to marry me. Could
I expect her to make me the center of her life after she’s had such
success on her own? I love her, but wouldn’t I be putting an unfair
burden on her by proposing marriage now?
He
sighed deeply and returned to the Chateau to rejoin the others who
had already gone inside.

As her carriage rocked along the road
to Arles, Alyssa turned over the recent events in her mind. Then
she thought back to their last night in Paris, and about her asking
Ian about his love making stamina. She sat bolt upright suddenly as
something occurred to her.

He always had that stamina,
even from the first night we made love when we first met years ago.
So hadn’t he already crossed over by the time we first met? Did he
tell me everything about that, or did he hold something back? God,
I love him so! But I do wonder about that part of his story. Still,
how can I ask him about that? How can I ask any of them about it
really?

She sighed deeply, staring out the
window at the French countryside but not seeing it as her carriage
traveled along.