Forever Young The Beginning (45 page)

Anna said “You’re known here it
seems.”

“
Yes, I came here to eat a
few times with some of my crew after the storm.”

About that time, Henri
Pronovost said “Oh he’s known here for more than that. He and his
shipmates saved this place from being burnt to the ground one
afternoon. And he also beat that big bully LeBlanc to a pulp over
at the
Red Dolphin
.” Anna, Celeste, and Serge wanted to know more, so Henrique
told them the story about how LeBlanc had slapped a young boy and
Ian had stopped him from beating the lad. He told them that the end
of it was that LeBlanc pulled a knife and Ian broke his arm. Anna
looked at Ian and thought
I don’t doubt
that one bit.

Ian said “Would you like to meet the
boy?”

They all said “Yes.”

“
Well, you already did. It
was Louis.” He laughed at his joke.

“
Really?”

He turned to Anna and said “That’s how
I came to meet Cosette.” Anna gave a sympathetic smile and inclined
her head to rest it on his shoulder. Celeste got up from her place
and came to him, and hugged him.

They ate then, and after thanking
Henri and hugging him goodbye, he saw that the serving wench
Corinne had a letter for Lorn. He took it and promised her it would
get to Lorn, feeling bad at not at least keeping in touch with
Corinne. He truly liked her and resolved to try to help her in the
future if she needed anything to make her life easier. This was a
small favor, but it would later prove to be a life-changing
event.

The days at the chateau were
wonderful. Around ten days later, Henri came to Ian and told him
that he had to go to Liechtenstein for a meeting of the
High Council
. He wanted
to take Ian with him for that and to meet some bankers in
Bern.

Ian put forth the idea of taking
Celeste along, so they conferred with Marie. She thought about it
and said that Celeste should be taken back to Caryn when they left
Switzerland and not brought back to the Chateau. She would write
the necessary letter to keep Caryn apprised of the change in plans,
being as she could post Henri through the banks’ courier network if
things changed.

Ian went to see Li and Sophia one
afternoon and stayed until evening visiting them. They were happy
and Sophia had long since finished her imprinting. She was an Adept
with some tolerance to sunshine, which thrilled Marie and Henri
both. Li had of course been teaching her the principles of Kung Fu
and she was doing very well in that science. He would be starting
her on firearms training and on fencing with wooden sabers too.
Marie had already taught her English. She was to learn Spanish
next. For her part, Sophia was still in a state of wonderment at
the speed of the changes in her life. She was very happy with her
life now and was devoted to Li and to all of her new family at the
chateau. She confided to Ian that she had finally found a place and
people to whom she felt she belonged. Ian was warmed to see how the
couple was devoted to each other and was especially pleased at how
well Louis and Mustafa had helped her.

The next day, goodbyes were said all
around and they were off to the Swiss Confederation. They took
Henri’s best carriage and his best four horse team and a driver who
would make the entire trip.

Celeste pointed out things that she
had seen on her trip to Lyon the year before. It was an uneventful
trip with a day-long break near Lyon before starting the leg to
Lausanne. Ian and Henri were silent as they passed the entrance to
the old Francoise chateau. There was no sign of any activity at the
place. Some of the staff had been allowed to stay and live off of
the output of the farming part of the estate. So there was some
livestock to be seen in the distance and crops had been
planted.

It was an easy trip with no
complications. They arrived in Lausanne and took three days to see
the sights.

A few days later they were at Anna’s
home, all at the breakfast table visiting. When Liridona the maid
brought their breakfast in she thanked Ian again for his help in
her little brother’s recovery from the Wasting Disease. When Andre
saw Ian he ran to him for a manly hug and a handshake. Liridona
stood there watching the whole thing with tears of joy in her eyes.
She came to Ian and taking both of his hands she kissed them, once
more thanking him for saving her brother’s life. Being both touched
and embarrassed by it, Ian hugged her and said it was
nothing.

In two days they were off to Bern.
Anna had furnished a fresh team of horses for the trip. They went
by way of Fribourg to Bern, and it was a scenic trip as is any trip
in Switzerland. Serge showed them the location where he went to
school. Henri and Anna both visited a bank there and transacted
some business while Serge showed Ian and Celeste around Bern. They
spent two days there and Ian got a few prickly alarms now and then
so he knew that there were vampire Adepts in Bern.

Departing then they went toward
Liechtenstein by way of Lucerne and Zug. When they came to the
Rhine Henri announced that they would be staying near Schaan. He
said he had an uncle there who he wanted to see. Henri’s ‘Uncle
Karl’ was a silent partner in his banking network who was an Adept.
He had a charming wife also an Adept, and they had known in advance
that Henri would be coming with Ian so it was no inconvenience to
accommodate all of them at their large estate.

They were all glad to be at a place
where they were not in a carriage for a while. Karl and Elsa Von
Brandt were both charming hosts. Henri was able to speak with Ian
as the others were getting settled in the guest quarters of the
house. He informed Ian that Karl was an expert in trusts and estate
management and inheritance laws throughout Europe. He gave Ian a
basic outline of how he and Marie held the bulk of their wealth in
anonymous trusts throughout Europe.

Von Brandt was very secretive in his
dealings and had earned his reputation of being the man to see in
all matters relating to trusts and estates. He was going to be
starting a small network of such trusts for Ian at Henri’s request.
It would be domiciled in Liechtenstein and would have branches in
Henri’s banks in France and Luxembourg. The Netherlands, Scotland,
England, Spain, and Italy were all mentioned as possibilities for
future locations of anonymous deposited funds.

Ian raised the question of them
expanding their banking and trust networks to America and both Karl
and Henri raised their eyebrows as they looked at each other.
“Well, Henri you’ve done well indeed with the way you and Marie
have been bringing this young man along. I had thought of that and
I don’t know of another who had until now.”

“
We need a trusted
representative over there to make a start. It could be that we have
one right here with us.”

“
Gentlemen, I’m honored, but
I need further training before trying such an undertaking. In
Scotland I hear of no small discontent over there with the British
Crown and their practices. I’m no judge of such things, but would
it not be prudent to wait until that’s resolved before venturing an
investment over there?”

“
Indeed it would, Ian.” said
Henri and Von Brandt agreed, saying “This man might have been a
merchant sailor once, but he seems to have a grasp for things that
many people miss.”

The conversation returned to trusts
and how best to use them. The object was to hold wealth anonymously
in scattered places. The banks were eager to help in any way
because it was in their own best interests to cater to wealthy
depositors who would have funds on deposit for long periods of
time. This gave stability to the bank, so it was beneficial for
both parties. The banks in turn applied political pressure to the
governments in their respective countries to be accommodating to
the concept of banking privacy in general and toward trusts in
particular. This worked to the advantage of shrewd Adepts and in
reality it harnessed the resources and efforts of humans on behalf
of a small number of astute vampires. Needless to say, it was most
convenient for those who didn’t die, but had to move from
generation to generation. Even kings were discouraged from peering
into anyone’s banking business in Liechtenstein or in
Switzerland.

The concept of interlocking anonymous
trusts though was scarcely known among humans, yet it was the
iceberg beneath the exposed tip of banking privacy to all
knowledgeable Adept vampires. Ian was overwhelmed at what he had
learned sitting with these two experts. He thanked them both
sincerely for so educating him. Karl liked Ian and told Henri so
after Ian had excused himself that night. He congratulated Henri as
anyone would for having such a fine son.

The next day, Ian and Henri
were to go to the capitol, Vaduz. He had some banking business
there and then he would bring Ian when he attended the
Council
meeting.

The capitol, Vaduz was a
beautiful and very clean city. Ian was favorably impressed with it
as he was with the Swiss Confederation. Accompanying Henri on his
business he mostly just sat in on the proceedings. Afterward they
made their way to the place where the
High
Council
would meet. Henri took the
opportunity while they traveled the short distance to that place to
counsel Ian for his testimony to the
Council
.

“
To begin with, say nothing
until spoken to, regardless of what is said. One might try to bait
you just to see if you’re hot-headed or too quick to speak. Be
certain to take off your hat when we enter the chamber itself. Hold
your hat in your hand at all times. There is no servant or valet in
that room to take your hat. If offered a drink, take it. It will be
goat’s blood. If not offered, don’t take offense. You’ll be
standing at all times. There are only nine seats in that room. Be
brief and concise. Don’t give too much detail unless specifically
asked. Don’t even hint at your ability to know when a vampire is
looking at you. That is a talent unheard of. Don’t mention at all
your ability to withstand direct sunlight. That too is an ability
unknown among our kind. Don’t mention one thing concerning the
Francoise affair nor of your loss of Cosette. We officially know
nothing of that incident. Too many bigwigs died in that affair not
to cause concern if it was known to be our doing. The
Council
majority wouldn’t
approve of such a thing for the sake of orphan humans.”

“
I hope I’m up to
this.”

“
You’ll do well. Timing is
on our side what with the way things have gone, and with the
information we’ll reveal today.”

They had arrived at a three-story red
brick building which wasn’t notable in any way. However it did have
a white domed top which was an interesting feature. It wasn’t
overly large by the standards of the day and locale. Ian noticed
that there was one entrance visible from the streets. The council
building sat on a corner and all main floor windows had very heavy
iron bars over them. There was an imposing iron gate comprised of
two doors of heavy wrought iron. They were formed to fit an archway
built in to the brick wall of the building and were wide enough for
a carriage to enter or exit. It led around a blind corner to a
blind courtyard which was surprisingly spacious with the necessary
accommodations for horses including stables, hay, and even a well.
The other buildings on the block backed up to this area but were
for all purposes just part of a wall of privacy around the entire
place. Ian noticed that there wasn’t one single window in the back
of any one of these adjacent buildings. No one would be able to see
who came and went from any vantage point overlooking the courtyard.
In fact the other buildings were so constructed as to restrict
visibility of the courtyard even from their rooftops. The only
windows overlooking this inner courtyard were the few in the
council building itself. They all had heavy bars, as did those at
street level in the two sides of the building that faced the two
streets. Two tall muscular looking Adept vampire guards let them
through.

Henri took a box from the trunk of the
carriage. Ian looked questioningly at it. “Sun glasses; a pair for
each council member and a pair of ladies’ sun glasses for each of
their wives, although two of them are bachelors. I won’t give them
to my cohorts until the session is ended. Otherwise it would look
like a bribe. I’ll bring the box in and leave it visible for all to
see, but over to one side so that they know it wasn’t a reward
after the fact for siding with me.”

“
You think of everything,
Henri. How did the guards at the gate know to let us
through?”

“
Have you noticed the little
emblem on the two doors of my coach?”

“
Yes. What are
they?”

“
They are a stylized version
of the characters for the first letters of the words
‘Liechtenstein Trade G
uild’. The guards know to let a carriage enter if it bears
that emblem.”

They entered through an unimpressive
entrance facing the courtyard. There were four large muscular Adept
vampires standing inside the door. They were tall husky men,
dressed like any business man of the day. Knowing Henri on sight
they only nodded to him as he passed, saying “Herr
Lafayette.”