Chapter Eighteen: Caldric

"Aralyn!" Caldric rushed after her, toward the bright daylight, but the tavern door slammed closed, trapping him inside.

And saving his life.

But what was life without Aralyn? He lunged at the door, ready to tear it from its hinges.

"Caldric!" Silas slipped his arm around Caldric and pulled him away. "It's far past dawn. If you go outside, you'll be turned to ash."

"I have to go after her." Caldric reached for the door, but Silas refused to let him go.

"You need to give her time to cool down," Silas told him. "And while she is cooling down, you need to figure out a way to make this right. And believe me, in my experience with women, this calls for a grand gesture. Something to redeem yourself."

"Redeem myself?" Caldric shrugged off Silas and turned to face him. "I don't feel that's necessary."

"Yes, it is." Silas nodded and then turned around and sauntered over to the bar. "Why don't we help ourselves to a drink and talk?"

Caldric hesitated, and turned toward the door, his eyes fixed on it as if his sheer willpower could pull Aralyn back inside. But he knew Silas was right. Stepping outside now would mean certain death, and he'd be of no use to anyone as a pile of ash on the cobblestones.

Funny, if this was before he met Aralyn, he would not have cared if that was his fate. But he had met her, and now it did matter.

Reluctantly, Caldric followed Silas to the bar. The tavern was dimly lit, its wooden beams casting long shadows across the floor. Silas slid behind the bar with confidence that few had when tempting Morwenna's wrath, his fingers deftly selecting a bottle of dark amber liquid and two glasses from the racks overhead.

"To grand gestures," Silas said, pouring them both a generous measure. The liquid glinted like a captured sunrise in the dim light as he handed Caldric a glass.

"To grand gestures," Caldric echoed softly, raising his glass before taking a long, contemplative sip. The drink burned pleasantly as it went down, but it did little to quell the turmoil inside him.

Silas leaned against the bar, studying Caldric's troubled face with an almost brotherly concern. "So, what happened between you two? I mean before the whole argh! betrayal, vampires can't be trusted , thing."

Caldric sighed, his eyes tracing the whorls in the wood of the bar as if they might provide answers. "I'm not sure," he admitted.

"Oh, maybe this is worse than I thought," Silas said as he took a swig of his drink.

"Maybe it is." He took a stiff drink and then set his glass down on the counter. "We slept together."

"Okay." Caldric nodded. "And…?"

"I believe she's experiencing confusion due to the development of our relationship."

"Because of your opposing natures, I presume?" Silas raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. She even said that she wondered whether I knew better what it was like to be human than she did." Caldric frowned into his glass. "Because I lived a normal life before I was turned, whereas she has been formed into a weapon since her earliest memories because of her bloodline."

"I'm sure being intimate with a being that she has thought of as the enemy this whole time has surely not helped," Silas suggested.

"Definitely not. I worry she thinks she has betrayed who she is meant to be, the people important to her. Or perhaps that she has to choose between me and them."

"A tricky situation, to be sure."

They both sipped their drinks.

"And now she thinks I am not to be trusted because I was dishonest about the terms of our invitation to the ball," Caldric said.

"That doesn't seem like it's far from the truth." Silas leaned on the bar.

"I didn't lie to her."

"Not even a lie of omission?" Silas watched him levelly.

"I suppose it was. Though I didn't see it as that. I suppose I just wasn't interested in sharing details about my personal life with a vampire hunter at the time." Caldric sighed. "But she's right. I should have been honest with her, so she knew the risks. I've put us both in danger."

Silas nodded slowly. "If you can't play the piano to their standard, you'll have your invitations revoked, and the amnesty will be lifted. She'll be hunted for being a vampire hunter, and you'll be hunted for bringing her to the ball as your plus one." He picked up his glass and downed his drink. "I need another."

"I think we both do." Silas reached for the bottle again.

"I hope you have paid for your drinks." Morwenna's voice carried through into the bar from the room beyond, barely muffled by the closed door.

"Morwenna!" Silas filled his glass and then poured a generous amount into Caldric's. "Are you going to join us?"

"I am more of a coffee person first thing in the morning," Morwenna replied.

"And yet I've heard you don't serve coffee in the tavern," Silas said as he placed the bottle on the shelf.

"Well, I'm not going to go about sharing my personal stash with the riffraff, am I?" Morwenna pushed through the door to the back room, nursing a coffee cup. Her eyes fell on the bottle Silas had placed on the bar. "Ah, the expensive stuff."

"Always." Silas raised his glass to her. "My friend here needs cheering up since his good lady has left the tavern and he cannot follow since the sun is high in the sky."

"Really." Morwenna narrowed her eyes at Caldric. "You mean you are stuck here all day?"

"I am." Caldric bowed his head. "I don't have a daylight ring like Silas."

"Well, you can't just sit at the bar all day, my customers won't like that," Morwenna took a thoughtful sip of her coffee. "But I'm sure we can find you something to do."

"I can go and find a quiet corner to rest in," Caldric assured her.

"Oh, no!" Morwenna wagged her finger at Caldric. "There is no sleeping in the bar area. I don't want you to give the Regulars any ideas. They spend enough time in here as it is."

"Talking of which." Silas swung around to face the tavern door as it opened, and a familiar cacophony of voices drifted in from the alleyway beyond.

"Do they do anything else apart from spending time in here?" Caldric wondered aloud.

"I still don't understand why Morwenna refused to serve coffee," Stan was saying. "It boggles my brain that a place that opens this early doesn't sell coffee."

Silas turned to face Morwenna with a questioning eyebrow. "If I didn't know better, Morwenna, I would suggest that you purposely don't serve coffee just to antagonize your regulars."

Morwenna rolled her eyes. "Do you truly think that I would be that petty?"

"Oh, I know the satisfaction that can be gained from these tiny torments," Silas replied with a grin. "Anyone who runs a tavern for so long must enjoy indulging in a little mischievousness now and then."

Morwenna sighed dramatically, yet a small smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "Well, we all have our ways of keeping life interesting."

"We do." Silas cast a sidelong glance at Caldric, who was staring into the depths of his glass. "And these fellows do help make life interesting."

Caldric glanced toward the door as Stan, Harry, and Burt stepped inside the tavern, and headed for the bar, chatting to each other.

But their chatting stopped as they noted the two vampires seated at the bar.

"Oh." Stan approached the bar with a curious look on his face. "Isn't it a little late, or rather early, for you to be out, Caldric?"

"It is." Caldric raised his glass to his lips and took a long sip as Stan turned his curious gaze on Silas in his search for answers.

"Well, since you now have these fine gentlemen to keep you company, I think it is time I took my leave. I have preparations to make before the ball." Silas downed the rest of his drink and strode out of the tavern, his cloak billowing behind him.

"That guy sure knows how to make an exit," Burt said as he and Harry joined Stan at the bar.

"Three coffees, please, Morwenna," Stan said brightly, with more than a hint of hope in his voice.

"How many times do I have to tell you…" Morwenna began.

"Ah, but you are drinking coffee." Stan inhaled deeply. "So, why can't you serve us coffee?"

"It's my own personal blend," Morwenna said, taking a sip and then setting her cup down on the bar. "You wouldn't be able to handle it. I could always warm you up some bread beer."

"Urgh." Burt shuddered.

"Maybe you could invest in one of those vending machines," Harry suggested. "I'm sure we could find a spot for one."

"Or perhaps just a coffee machine?" Burt asked. "It could be self-serve."

"Does this tavern look like the kind of place you would find a vending machine?" Morwenna asked caustically.

"Morwenna is right," Stan agreed reluctantly. "It would not fit in with the aesthetics."

"True, it would start with a vending machine and before you know it, the tavern would be a fast-food joint," Burt mused. "Maybe we'd finally be able to sell our burgers here."

The discussion over coffee being served in the tavern went on around Caldric as he finished his drink. Boy, this was going to be a long day.

His eyes drifted toward the staircase. Perhaps he should simply go back up there and find somewhere to sleep away the day. Or perhaps he would simply disappear up there like so many before, and not have to worry about his troubles.

"So, what happened between you and my niece?" Burt asked. "It seems unlike her to leave you here all by yourself for the day."

"Nothing." Caldric's hand went to his chest, where the invitation to the Tolioni Ball was safely tucked inside his inner pocket.

"Nothing?" Stan and Harry crowded around him. "But didn't I see you both go upstairs ?"

All three Regulars turned their gaze toward the staircase. Which was looking more inviting to Caldric by the second.

"We did." Caldric put his hands to his temples as the memories of his night with Aralyn swirled inside his head.

"Oh, you're still hung over from The Fabled," Burt said matter-of-factly.

"Don't forget, he downed that anti-fae juice a little fast, too," Stan reminded them. "You've got to balance your uppers and downers, you know. For instance, now would be a good time for an upper…such as a coffee." Stan glanced at Morwenna.

"It's not the only thing he's downed too fast," Morwenna muttered as she drank her coffee, which seemed to have magically refilled itself as she ignored Stan. "He's been drinking plenty of my most expensive liquor."

"That bad, huh?" Stan placed a conciliatory hand on Caldric's shoulder.

"So?" Burt asked.

"So what?" Caldric asked. Was this his punishment for misleading Aralyn? Oh, how he missed his quiet house.

But he missed Aralyn more. The thought stuck in his head as he pictured her beautiful face.

"What was up there?" Harry asked.

Was there no peace to be had in this tavern?

"From what Tamsin and Mason told us, everyone finds something different. The tavern likes to tempt them to stay up there forever with…well, whatever they need, I suppose."

Caldric sighed. Perhaps if he answered their questions, they would leave him in peace. "I heard myself playing the piano."

"Oh. Okay." Burt looked a little disappointed.

"Did that have some specific meaning?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Maybe it was a hint that he should come clean with Aralyn about his inability to play before she learned from Silas that their invitation to the Tolioni Ball, and her only hope of getting back her family heirloom, relied on Caldric being able to play to an inhuman standard which he hasn't been able to reach since he was cursed," Morwenna said without taking a breath.

All eyes turned to look at her, and Caldric groaned. His day was about to get a lot worse.

No wonder he normally slept through them.

"You lied to my niece?" Burt demanded.

"Not exactly," Caldric started to defend himself.

"Not exactly?" Burt blustered. "You either did or you didn't!"

"I insinuated I had an invitation to the Tolioni Ball, but in fact, that invitation was an open offer for me to play at the ball."

"So, go and play!" Burt said as if it were that simple.

"He's lost the skill," Morwenna said.

"Then practice," Stan said matter-of-factly.

"It's not that I cannot play," Caldric replied. "It's that I cannot…feel the music.

"Oh, feel the music," Harry nodded in understanding, although Caldric doubted the man had any true notion of what it was like.

"Well, we are here to help you." Stan placed his hand on Caldric's shoulder and squeezed lightly. "All we have to do is come up with a plan."

"A plan?" Caldric asked. "Don't you think if it was that easy, I would have come up with a plan myself?"

"Ah." Stan wagged his finger at Caldric. "We are experts at this kind of thing."

"Although the plan might be spiking your drink with garlic," Burt rumbled.

"You know the garlic thing is a myth?" Morwenna asked.

"Listen, as much as I appreciate the offer," Caldric said, "I can handle things myself."

"Really?" Morwenna asked. "Because you did not do a great job of that just now. Need I mention that you're trapped here until sunset?"

"Don't worry, we've got your back." Stan gave his shoulder another squeeze.

Morwenna snorted but didn't offer any further words as she sipped her coffee.

"All you have to do is put your trust in us," Stan said.

"And the tavern," Harry added.

"I'm listening," Caldric said. After all, what choice did he have? He had no way of leaving the tavern until nightfall, and he suspected any attempt to go upstairs would result in disaster this time. Without Aralyn by his side, who knew what he might find up there?

Or what might find him.

And the idea of getting trapped in the tavern with them for eternity did not appeal.

And anyway, part of him believed they were right. The tavern had brought him and Aralyn together for a reason. It had also thrust them together in a room upstairs where they had made love.

That had to mean something.

Didn't it?