Haldred Chronicles: Alyssa Read Free Page A

chose
that moment to start to sing with a harsh whistle, as the water boiled.
    Leaving her to
continue blushing, James poured two cups of steaming black tea, the tea’s aroma
that of peppermint.  As Alyssa recovered she noticed they were no ordinary cups
he had set before her.  Porcelain, not wood, expensive Magra imports.  What did
this guy do to be able to afford all this?
    “So, James,” she
said with another small smile, flicking her hair back and being rewarded by him
almost melting into her eyes from across the table.  “what do you do?”
    He hesitated for
a moment but nodded, as if confirming something to himself
    “Engineering.”
    “Oh?  You work
with the Machines?”
    He nodded.
    Steam power was
a rapidly developing concept in the Argon nation, one pioneered during the Six
Nations War and becoming more commonplace.  Whilst magic could create steam,
engineering did so without the need for a mage.  In effect an ordinary man, or
woman, with the right knowledge, could do things previously restricted to
mages.  A very tempting concept and one that had massively improved the morale
of the people in the wake of a war that had claimed the lives of so many over
such a long time.  Steam powered carts had been used to pull vast siege cannons
into place or been used as siege engines themselves, armed with huge iron
rams.  Now, they were used to haul rocks or timber, taking the place of dozens
of horses.  They could even allow a man to fly via the use of the vast
airships.  This all explained why James had the best of the best.  Engineering,
whilst technically open to anyone, disregarding sex or race, took a certain
kind of person to figure it out.  Those individuals were well paid for their
talent.
    “So engineering,
is it good?” she asked, taking her cup and sipping from it.
    Being a vampire
didn't necessarily mean you couldn't eat any more.  You could.  But it was like
eating grass when you weren't a cow.  It did nothing for you and took ages to
go through you.  Her stomach craved blood, nothing else.  Still, she could
pretend to like it.  It would probably please him.
    “It's good.  The
new science is...interesting work.”
    “What do you
do?” he asked in return.
     
    “Barmaid,” she
said automatically, though with just a touch of hesitation.  After he had
described working in a unique and well paid job, she wasn't sure how he would
react to her more common occupation.  Night shift barmaid had been her job more
or less since she had discovered she was the last vampire.  It was the perfect
cover for 'sleeping' (it wasn't really sleeping) during the day.
    “Oh?  Which
tavern?” he asked.  Alyssa smiled inwardly, pleased that he'd asked with what
appeared to be actual interest as opposed to polite 'I'll humour you'
conversation.
    “Elk's Horn.”
she said with a touch of pride.
    The Elk's Horn
was a well-known and well looked after tavern, just off the rich quarter of
Larrick.  Oddly though it was frequented mainly by non-humans.  Dwarves and
elves came and went, as well as orcs and even the occasional ogre (if they
could fit through the door).  Alyssa had likewise found that non-humans didn't
have the same tendency to get worried round her that humans did.  They seemed
unaware of any aura that she generated, so she found it very easy to fit in and
not raise any suspicions.
    “I know it,” he
said.  “I've a few friends that go.  I'll have to pop down some time.”
    Relaxed now, the
two of them sat in silence.  Drinking tea.  She chanced a glance outside,
through the front window. It was still dark, but her internal clock was telling
her not to delay.  One very nasty aspect of being a vampire was that the sun
was not your friend. Really not your friend.  She'd found this out with
brutal clarity when she'd watched Regorash execute one of his lieutenants by
throwing the man into a shaft of sunshine.  The man had simply exploded into a
fireball, his whole body