Arthur looked up, to all appearances unruffled by the suddenness of the change of plans. He logically stepped through his sequence of thought aloud. "What kind of clothes will I need to bring, and when will we be leaving? I can be ready in ten minutes. Should I call a cab?"
Joseph replied brusquely. "You will need to be very formal. The gatherings will be with some very powerful individuals. We will be leaving for the airport at ten p.m. tomorrow evening. Soon-Li will be driving us there. The flight will leave out of Love Field at eleven-fifteen: Southwest Airlines flight 1023. It will be arriving in Houston at twelve-fifteen. We will be met at the airport by a car, and we will be staying at the Local Chantry the entire time." Joseph waited a moment to see if Arthur had any more questions. When none came, he turned and walked back into the hall, closing the door quietly behind him.
Joseph went home after this and spent the rest of the evening entertaining Soon-Li. Soon-Li favored a noisy sort of play, and to assuage her for his upcoming absence, Joseph indulged her fully. Elizabeth got very little sleep.
The Houston night was hot and muggy but the car air-conditioning was very good and kept the occupants comfortable. The flight down from Dallas had been without incident, and the drive from the airport had been conducted in silence. Now, as the car drove up the long driveway to the local Chantry, Joseph was once again struck by the difference in the two locations.
Dallas' Chantry was located in a small office building, about three stories of white stucco, that was mixed in with several other white stucco office buildings. The one in Houston was on about thirty acres, all by itself, and looked like a very rich man's estate, which it was. Both served the same purpose: to hide the truth from mortal man.
Joseph glanced briefly at Arthur and again went over the way he had this plan formulated, looking for weaknesses and building contingencies. This weeklong trip was to further along several different plans. One of them was to put Arthur through one final obstacle before making him a Tremere. Joseph was looking forward to seeing how the young man would react, the way his future childe would conduct himself.
Few people were ever even considered to be Tremere. Of those that were, fewer still were ever even approached to become one. Of those that were approached, and accepted the invitation, few ever survived the long testing process that the Tremere put them through. So when one applicant finally did make it to the end there was a certain amount of anticipation. Then once they were accepted in to the clan, the young Tremere could look forward to centuries more of striving and struggle, all for the great plan.
This final obstacle was not really a pass, or fail situation. Arthur would now become a Tremere, there was little doubt of that. This final test was more of a psychological study and would be put in his file to assist elders in the future, in how best to manipulate him. As so it was Joseph's duty to prepare a test that would best demonstrate one or more of Arthur's tendencies. This was Joseph's test.
Pulling around to the front of the residence, the car came to a stop about a hundred feet from the front door. From the back seat Joseph could see a half a dozen guards patrolling the area, and he knew that there would be several more that he could not see, as well as cameras, motion detectors, heat sensors, and auditory devices. Then there would be magic over everything else.
That was why they had stopped so far from the front door: wards. Tremere could ward a building, to keep certain types of beings out. This one was certainly warded against vampires, and probably against several other types of being as well. The only thing that you could not ward against was normal animals, which included ordinary human beings. They were the reason for the non-magical security.
Stepping out of the car, Joseph and Arthur were met by a matched pair of neonate Tremere. The two vampires escorted the Regent and ghoul, hands on their shoulders, through the wards and onto the threshold. There they were given a moment to adjust their clothing and their thoughts before the front doors were thrown open and they were announced.
The room was large and well appointed, and Joseph was once again struck by how well arranged it was. The whole room had no other purpose than to force the unwary mind into a heightened Alpha state, a state where it could be more easily manipulated. Every soothing blend of color, every supple textile, every soft shadow play, was designed to trap the unwary mind. He knew, even though he could not hear it that the music would be ever so slightly discordant, jarring; to help coax the mind a certain way. He also imagined that when mortal guests were here there was often, probably a problem with the bathroom, or plumbing. One's mind became more open to suggestion when one "had to go."
The guests in the room could not have been more jarring to the room's purpose than if it had been scripted. Most looked like they had just climbed out of a grave somewhere, and almost all were dressed in the severest functional dress attire imaginable. That was the Tremere, the rest in the room, mostly ghouls, were in wildly varying modes of dress, ranging from nothing at all, to costumes that would make a Rio de Janeiro float queen envious, and all of them, every single one of them, looked at Arthur with murderous envy.
The cause of the envy was so obvious, Arthur did not even question how he knew it. Hence he withstood the intense level of envy with a great deal of detachment. He could comprehend it intellectually, and feel its force viscerally. But Arthur did not crave the Embrace; instead, he accepted it as a possibility. He felt with an intuition beyond reason that it was their very envy, their active emotional craving of what they thought he would be given, that barred their way.
Such had been his experience through the years, and his keen intelligence had sorted through it all to find the consistent thread. Anything he wanted too much, he would be denied. The true path lay in calm and focused action in the direction wished, without the sharpness of desire washing out one's clarity of vision. To this end he had pursued not wanting, patience in ambition, and it seemed that once again it had been fruitful.
There was a sense of loss deep within Arthur, because in giving up desire, he had sacrificed a great deal of himself. Now he would be called on to give up yet more. Yet part of him felt a keen edge of triumph at being the focus of so much envy, too. He was so close to having won. Pyrrhic victory, but victory nonetheless, was near, and if he only could make it through this final phase, he would achieve it.
For four days Joseph was deep in the intrigues of the Tremere. Here in his Lord's Demesne, many plans were started, and many others were revised and updated. There were two other Regents here besides Joseph, and they all met together and separately, every night, working on ways to help the clan and themselves. The ghouls and apprentices spent the time playing their own games and working on keeping themselves entertained. The Lord had a large retinue of ghouls, a dozen here to see to the day to day running of the estate. Then with the apprentices' ghouls, the number of mortals swelled to thirty.
For these four days Joseph hardly talked, or even saw Arthur. Some of the plans that Joseph had created were no longer needed or practical, and the others had to be amended to take into account some of the new information that he had gleaned. This had been expected, but more than the usual number had been compromised and had to be severely restructured. The rapid change in technology was the culprit. Computers in particular were forcing plans to be redesigned at alarming rates.
In four days of political games among the resident ghoul servitors, Arthur had come to know much about them. Some of their entertainments were far too appealing to him, and he avoided those. They were a dangerous distraction. Others he found he could help in certain ways, and with careful secrecy he aided them so that the traces were hidden, yet would come out if it were sought. He did not wish to seem to be helping for his own glorification, and in fact the envy of a few had become, whether feigned or real, admiration for his skill and insight. Others had merely deepened their envious aspects.
Only once did he succumb to the lure of the entertainments put on by a sizable clique of the others. He was drawn in by a skillful combination of flattery and request for assistance, as one of the women asserted that only he could provide the needed level of balance necessary for her performance. Several of the ghouls noted the depth to which this entertainment stirred him, though they found themselves unable to further pursue this insight, as Arthur's self-control did not falter again.
He had not truly shed desire, as this episode again reminded him. He had merely pushed it into a corner so that the things he desired were things he could accept never obtaining. In fact, he had compacted it so tight that the things he desired were things he rationally did not wish to obtain. He would not be able to cheat fate completely with this trick of reverse psychology, but it did make a certain fatalistic acceptance possible in cases where it would not have been otherwise.
Joseph was in deep discussions with the various other vampires until on the fourth night when he sent out a message for Arthur to attend him in the small study. This room had been set aside for Joseph's use while at the Houston Chantry, and he had spent all his time that he was not in meetings, here revising his plans, and preparing for the next meeting.
At Arthur's knock, Joseph bade him to enter and then leaned back and studied the young man for a moment. Joseph's features were all bland angles save for perhaps just a hint of sadness or vexation.
"I am going to take you in and introduce you to his Lordship and the other Regents this evening. This will be a formal introduction and is scheduled for 4:15, five hours and 18 minutes from now. You will want to make sure you have familiarized yourself with the proceedings involved if you have not already done so, and then meet me back here five minutes before hand. There is a volume of White's "Formal introductions and greetings", down the hall in the library."
With a slight wave of his hand Joseph silenced any questions that Arthur had and then said. "All you will need to know is in the book. Go prepare yourself." The word, "Prepare" seemed to have a foreboding finality about it.
At 415 on the dot Joseph presented Arthur to his Lordship, Bernardo de Gálvez, the visiting Regents, and a few senior Apprentices. The ceremony lasted only about fifteen minutes but was somewhat involved and precise. As Joseph had expected, Arthur's memory of the ritual responses from White's was both word perfect and as naturally modulated as if he'd ad libbed it all.
Finally, at the end of the ceremony, Joseph turned went back to a spot against the wall and discreetly opened up a briefcase and pulled out a thick manila folder. Then stepping back up in front of the Lord, next to Arthur he then stated. "Here is his file, your Lordship, and as was discussed earlier, I now formally turn over this most excellent young man to your enlightened care. I formally release him to you with the expectation of receiving him back into my care in twelve years."
The Lord seemed to slither upright and then bowed to Joseph, and in a dry hissing voice, states. "I then accept this charge into my care, to train in the ways of my household, and use as I see fit for twelve years. At the end of which time, if he is still alive, I will return him back over to you."
Joseph then bowed and turned to Arthur. "As my last command to you as your Regent, I order you to take this file and give it over to your new master. I further command you to obey him with the same intelligence and integrity that you have given me." With the last of these words Joseph put the thick file into Arthur's hands.
Arthur, after an initial inclination to smile with the wry amusement he felt at what sounded like an odd attempt to frighten him, considered what sort of poker game must have transpired to pass his "contract" over. This was not the first such transfer he'd experienced, however, and he felt little concern, less than he thought he should feel, in fact. "It has been my honor to serve you, my lord Regent, as it will be to serve his Lordship." He bowed to Joseph and smiled very slightly, suppressing a stray whim to reassure Joseph that he'd be okay. That would be deeply inappropriate. He opened the file, riffling through it to see what it contained, and after ascertaining that it indeed contained his information -- wouldn't do to embarrass Joseph by allowing the wrong information to be passed, and as Joseph had handed it to him, he expected that that made him responsible for the accuracy of the information within -- he handed it to Lord de Galvez.
Formally taking the folder from Arthur the Lord opened the folder and then closed it again and handed it back to Arthur. Then reaching out a clawed hand he grabbed the top of Arthur's shirt and slowly pulled him down until Arthur had to put a hand on the chair to keep from pitching over., and the Lord continued to pull Arthur down until their faces were just bare inches apart. Arthur clutched at the folder, a few pages slipped out onto the floor as he momentarily lost his grip. The ghoul stared at the photograph lying face-up on the carpet as Galvez's tongue slithered out and touched his upper lip, then darted out further testing for something that no one else could detect. His lips pulled back revealing his elongated canines as his bony fingers pulled Arthur's tux open at the neck. Then with his three inch nails still wrapped in Arthur's shirt, the Lord pulled Arthur closer still and then leaning forward lightly bit into Arthur's neck.
Arthur could feel the tongue flicking against the skin as it lapped at the small trickles of vitae that flowed from the small piercings. He felt almost nothing of the pleasure he usually associated with the vampire's bite, though there was enough that he tensed in anticipation. Then the Lord pushed Arthur back up and in a piping croak said. "As your master I release you back to your former master so that he might raise and rear you in the proper traditions of the Clan Tremere." With that the Lord's bloodless lips snapped shut and he slither slumped back into his chair. Arthur immediately bent and retrieved the papers that had fallen from his folder, replacing them within. He composed himself as fully as he could before once again rising, turning his eyes to Joseph and offering the folder.
Joseph bowed again and intoned. "I thank your Lordship for the return of my Ghoul and swear that he will be raised in the most high standards as set forth by our Brethren before us. " Turning he then took back the folder from Arthur and tucked it under his arm. Together he and Arthur then faced the group of cold unblinking faces and together bowed one last time. Joseph then said "We thank you Brethren for formally accepting this candidate as worthy of joining our ranks." Then together they turned and headed for the door.
"Joseph." The unusual voice of the Lord reached across the room and froze Joseph in his tracks. Turning Joseph slowly faced the ghoulish being curled up in the chair. "What you want is expensive, I will require one of your other ghouls for the agreed time as compensation." There was a slight stirring in the other Tremere at this unusual announcement, but Joseph slowly bowed and then turned and walked out the door with Arthur.
Joseph led the way down overly baroque halls of red and gold to the study that had been set aside for him. Entering, he stalked over, sat down at the writing desk, and turned to Arthur. "You did well in there today. Now I must be getting to bed, I want you to call Soon-Li and Elizabeth, they will need to fly down here. I will want you to choose the one who will take your place on his Lordship's staff, and then you will introduce them to their new master this evening. You will need to write up a report as to your reasons for choosing the one you do and turn it in to me this evening when I rise. You will also need to prepare yourself for the induction ceremony tomorrow night. It will be held at two, in the main ceremony chamber."
The choice seemed self-evident to Arthur. He wondered for a moment whether it was truly his choice, or if Joseph would find a reason to override it if he had chosen as Joseph did not wish. He decided, however, that that was both fruitless and irrelevant of a consideration; the task should be carried out as though he were assured of its being fully as described, and determination of whether it was yet another test could be left to hindsight's evaluation.
In a brief matter of two hand-written pages, Arthur explained that Soon-Li would find herself a niche within the social/political structure of de Galvez's staff more easily, be of more direct service to his Lordship, be easier to replace than Elizabeth due to her specialities and the tendencies of those who held them, and finally, her loyalty to Joseph was of a shallower nature, easier shifted now and, more importantly, easier shifted back to Joseph on completion of the contract. Elizabeth, on the other hand, would if "traded" feel a deeper sense of betrayal, adjust more slowly, and possibly hold a grudge afterward on her return. Combined with the analysis Arthur had made of the niche she would eventually hold within the society of the snakelike Lord's ghouls, and the relative difficulty of replacing her unique talents, Arthur concluded that of the two, Soon-Li was the preferable choice.
He had so delicately balanced issues of Joseph's benefit, de Galvez's satisfaction, the two ghouls' own happiness, and the general psychology of the environment, that he felt the report was suitable to be read by Joseph, de Galvez, and even Soon-Li and Elizabeth, with full approval. On a final re-reading before allowing himself to sleep, he noticed that he had made no mention of how the choice would affect him personally. He wondered if this omission would be noted, and if it was, what it would be taken to mean. Arthur smiled slightly to himself, then changed into his pyjamas and retreated to slumber.
to be continued