Introduction

[knittingrevenge]

She meant to break down that door and see whether the Doctor and, above all, the wife of Evremonde were inside, and she had been hindered by that horrible English woman, and then she had meant to shoot her, and then there had been a lot of noise and a lot of light

Comments

[sweariwontdie]

Armand takes in her and her red cap with bleak surprise. It figures with the week he's had. "Oh go away, citoyenne. You're not wanted here." Yes, it's obvious he's French, and he's very well-dressed with a somewhat outlandish (for their time period anyway) fur-lined blue cloak over his suit.

[knittingrevenge]

She raises both eyebrows, looking him up and down. "Now, now, citoyen! What way is that to greet a decent, hardworking woman? The least you could do is tell me where we are and who you are. Truly that would be the least you could do."

[sweariwontdie]

"It's called the Mansion. I am Armand St. Just."

He thinks again, and tries to be polite. "If you're in need of refuge for a few days, there are always rooms upstairs, but we don't need any of your kind here causing trouble. This... place is chaotic enough with a revolution."

[knittingrevenge]

"St. Just?" Now the stare grows even more intense. "Related to a certain Louis Antoine, by any chance?"

"And whose Mansion is it? - As for whether I am needed or not, I think I can decide that for myself."

[sweariwontdie]

He blushes and coughs. "We're cousins." Then he just sighs. "Whatever you wish, citoyenne. Watch out for the vampires in the tower."

[knittingrevenge]

"Cousins! And you the lesser one, doubtlessly." She eyes him again. "That is a nice cloak you're wearing."

And then she has to raise her eyebrows again. "Vampires? My, but aren't you droll."

[sweariwontdie]

"I'm younger anyway." He wrinkles his nose at the idea of Louis-Antoine. He clutches the edges of the cloak defensively. "My adoptive father gave it to me last winter."

Then he just shrugs. "Vampires in the east tower, elves as neighbors, witches in the woodwork... you'll see, citoyenne, you'll see."

[knittingrevenge]

"I had not expected the places of the dead and the places of children's stories to mingle. Or are you drunk?"

[sweariwontdie]

"Hardly. It's not even lunchtime." Though honestly that sounds like a really good idea.

[knittingrevenge]

She laughs somewhat. "So they have the luxury of lunch here, do they? In our wine-shop people would begin drinking as soon as the sun went up, really."

[sweariwontdie]

"Food is to be had at no cost, so people could eat dawn to dusk if they liked. But no, citoyenne, I do not overindulge in drink."

[knittingrevenge]

"Is it! Who provides it then?"

[sweariwontdie]

"Nobody as far as I can tell. The Mansion does it itself." He sighs and nods toward the interior of the building. "Do you want to see?"

[knittingrevenge]

"If it is indeed as you say, then yes, I would like to see it."

[sweariwontdie]

He shrugs and leads her toward the kitchen. "What do you like best to eat?" he asks.

[knittingrevenge]

"Oh, I am not hungry at the moment. Merely curious."