A Hint of Truth

The living room was silent. Lord Ruthvic was wearing all black, just like Irene. His face was somewhat pale, but aside from that, and his lightless eyes, it was impossible to tell how he was doing.

"My apologies," He finally spoke. He hadn't even touched the tea Ivy had brought him. "I simply wished to thank you for…" he sighed. "For taking care of Maria when she came to you. She is young and seeing Ava die has affected her quite badly." He joined his hands, crossing his fingers, and leaned forward. "Please, please tell me you know who did this."

There was desperation in his voice. "I'm sorry, Lord Ruthvic," Irene took care to speak with a soft voice. "I wish I could have somehow stopped this. When I got there, it was already too late."

"I know." The older man nodded. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. "What kind of a monster would go after a child? They should have come after me, not her."

Irene couldn't find anything to say to that. "I will find the person responsible." She promised instead. "I will, and I will make them regret it."

Lord Ruthvic nodded. "Please." He muttered. They sat in silence for a little while before he spoke again. "Maria spoke of a young man who smelled like a human."

Irene flinched. It took some effort to keep her expression from showing shock. How could such a young girl be able to tell apart the smells so easily?

"She said he helped her calm down. I was hoping to thank him for it." Lord Ruthvic shot Irene a quick, questioning glance. They both knew what he was really asking. 'What was a human doing here? Who is he? Let me see him.'

"I'm afraid that young man is no longer with us." Irene softly said. "Though I doubt Maria should hear of it."

Lord Ruthvic's eyes shot open with surprise. "I see, that is too bad indeed. And yes, it may be best to keep if from Maria. She is already not well." He muttered before standing up. "My apologies for taking so much of your time. You must be busy, I should leave."

Irene also stood up and led the older man to the door. He paused before he stepped out and shot her a glance. "Please find the killer. For Ava's sake."

Irene promised him once again, and once he left and she could no longer hear his footsteps, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I hate this." She whispered.

"I think you handled that fine." Ivy's voice sounded as she descended the stairs. "Though, it would have been better if Maria hadn't told him about the human at all."

Irene nodded. That was going to be a problem in the future. She could feel it.

-

The low sound of the crowd was barely audible in the library. The thick, stone walls blocked most of the noise, and the crackling fire in the hearth downed out what little noise could reach inside.

Aoric put the book, 'The Dark Ages of Vesporum' aside, and massaged his temples. The book, while interesting, made everything sound more like some dark fairy tale rather than a retelling of past events.

It talked about werewolves and vampires, of gods who demanded sacrifices every full moon, and of monsters of the night that no man could escape from. He found such things hard to believe, though he had just gotten healed by a sorcerer, so he couldn't brush them aside as just fairy tales either.

He leaned back and stretched his arms as he pondered. He distinctly remembered Irene speaking of that other woman by referring to her as a 'bat'. Both she and Ivy, as well as others in Vesporum had referred to people as 'ruts', and he had heard the terms 'pureblood' and 'half-blood' being thrown around more than once as well.

Werewolves and vampires… If he suspended hi disbelief, some things actually made more sense, like Irene asking him to steal blood. He touched his face, where the person he believed to be the murderer had scratched before. Was she one of these supernatural creatures? It was a shame that he hadn't gotten to see the shape of the scratch mark.

The sound of approaching footsteps alerted him to someone's presence. He glanced over his shoulder, only to see the Sorcerer approach. The white haired man glanced at the book laying on the sofa next to him and smiled. "I see you didn't ignore my advice." He said with a satisfied expression.

"I felt like it wouldn't be too smart of me to ignore you." Aoric replied as the man sat on the other couch.

"Indeed, I do prefer if people listen to me." He smiled. "Well then, what do you think?" he nodded towards the book. Aoric hesitated. "Having trouble believing the things written in there?" The Sorcerer asked with a smirk.

"Well… A little. But then again, you did use magic to heal me." Aoric sighed.

"I did, that is true." The Sorcerer seemed to be having quite a lot of fun as Aoric's expression showed his hesitation.

"There was a wound on my face. Scratch marks, I think." He said. "What did they look like?" The Sorcerer's answer would determine whether he believed what was written in the book or not.

"Three rather deep scratches, yes." He raised his chin and showed in on his own face by running three fingers from his lips, all the way across his left eye, to his hairline. "I don't think a human's nails could cut so deep, and not break."

Aoric gulped. "What could do it?" he asked.

The Sorcerer smirked. "A half blood could. Or either of the two purebloods, if you know what I'm saying." He nodded towards the book. "You have read it, haven't you?"

"Vampires and Werewolves." Aoric muttered. "So, are they real?"

The Sorcerer smiled. "Yes, they are. As is everything else written in there."