I bow. ‘Thank you for inviting us, Mémère.’
Marianne translates. ‘Ma petite fille, welcome. Everyone here is a loyal vassal of House Durand. They are here at my invitation to celebrate your return to the sangue.’
I glance at my friends. ‘Most venerable Mémère, contain my rudeness. By your favour this humble one entreats you to allow my friends to understand they are safe here, especially Tony Lee who is mortal. His life is fragile and that much more precious.’
Marianne speaks quickly. Maximilien smirks, but Mémère gives me a reassuring smile. She greets me with bisous, then faces the room.
Mémère speaks, her voice hardly above a whisper, but it reverberates through the room, tickling the insides of my ears.
Marianne translates, her high trill accompanying Mémère’s throaty rumble.
‘Let it be known that Lady Gi, Lord Lang, Lord Rune, and Monsieur Tony Lee are my personal guests tonight. They are under the absolute protection of House Durand, now, andalways. No one may harm them or interfere with their well-being in any way.’
Everyone in the room bows their head at the same time, murmuring, ‘Oui, Aïeule Durand.’
Mémère continues. ‘Tonight we celebrate the return of my own darling, long-lost petite fille. Treasure of my heart, sangue of my sangue, flesh of my flesh, Lady Jing, the heir of House Durand.’
Maximilien slumps deeper in his chair, glaring at the table. I want to protest, but everyone is watching; I’ll discuss this with her later.
Mémère presses a hand to her heart and then lips and back to her heart again as she says, ‘Blessed is the blood, heart of hearts, flesh of flesh, bestower of life everlasting. Blessed is the heart that returns to the flesh, bestowed with rest everlasting.Benesangue.’
The room echoes her in eerie unison, finishing the litany with the same gesture, pressing their hands to their naked chests, then lips, then back to their heart once more.
Do they practise that?I turn to ask Marianne, but she’s already seated, as is Mémère who pats the empty seat next to her. I slide between her and Marianne, while the others also sit, leaving a gap between Ah Lang and Maximilien.
‘About being heir – we never discussed it,’ I say, while Marianne translates. ‘It’s not something I can accept; the responsibility is too great. Besides, I know next to nothing about being vampire.’
Mémère tuts with a smile, as if I’m spouting the most amusing nonsense. ‘You are Romain’s child, therefore you are heir. Do not worry, we will teach you everything you need to know.’
Crap.‘Let’s talk about that later, okay? More urgently, Big Wang has a lead,’ I say. When Marianne translates, Mémère’seyes widen. ‘He’s asked us to return to Shanghai so we can investigate.’
‘When?’ Marianne asks.
‘As soon as the Immortal Express is repaired, we can leave.’
Mémère’s eyes well with pink tears, Marianne translating in her bright voice. ‘We cannot thank you enough. Tonight is a double celebration that calls for our best fée verte!’
A lift of her chin brings a parade of waiters. We are each presented stemmed crystal glasses with an unusual bubble-like reservoir below the cup, filled with a luminous green spirit, and a slotted silver spoon laid across the rim. Bowls of sugar cubes accompany the glasses. Placed in the middle of the table is a water urn, but like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The bottom is a silver statuette of a winged woman – a fairy, Marianne says – her arms extended, as if she holds the glass urn aloft. Six metal spouts protrude from the bottom of the urn.
‘We call this la fée verte,’ Marianne explains. ‘It’s Mémère’s favourite drink. Place a sugar cube on the spoon, add water, and wait for the magic.’ She places her glass under a spout and opens it so that water drips onto the sugar cube. Sugared water then passes through the spoon into the green liquid, which smells strongly of aniseed.
‘What happens now?’ I ask.
Marianne smiles. ‘Keep watching.’
When the glass is nearly half full, the green liquid turns a creamy white.
‘Oh!’ I say.
Marianne nods. ‘La louche. Now take your sugary spoon, stir, and drink.’
We raise our glasses and clink them delicately.
I sip.
‘Bon?’ Mémère says.
‘Bon,’ I repeat with a smile.
