Chapter 18: XVIII:

“So this is what we call l'Archive de la Vie Magique or ‘The Archive of Magical Life.’ My family created it some centuries ago to combat the loss of knowledge and suppression that came with the Age of Persecution. It’s moved, of course, from its original location. This chateau was built by an aristocrat who did not make it out of the Revolution.” Estella waved across the stacks that took up half of the large room and towered three stories above them. She pointed to the back where an unmanned counter sat recessed into the wall between the stacks.

“There is where you will order the more secure documents. As you can see though, we are not very busy. If you cannot find one of the sources that should be available to you out here, you can submit a slip and the house will fetch it for you. Probably without complaint.”

“The house complains?”

She shrugged, “if it doesn’t like you.” Estella smiled at him. It was a tease, really. The house cannot actually complain. The room operated by magic but when she was a girl Matthieu first told her the house was alive and she believed it.

Oliver looked around himself, “are all archives designed this way?”

“No. Human archives hold their collection differently but here at Saint-Tourre, the documents are preserved and protected with magic against the elements though we still request that you use an eraserless pencil. And, of course, you cannot remove any material from this room. The house will not let you.”

He stared at her, wide-eyed.

“Not much experience with magic, no?”

He gave her a tight smile, “No. Not really.” He tilted his head then, “If you can’t take anything from the room, how did you bring that book with you downstairs?”

“Oh. I have special permission.” And then because she felt like she had to explain, she added, “because I am a resident here.” Not the full truth exactly, but certainly not a lie either.

“Of course you do.” She wasn’t sure what he meant by that comment but his mouth had a teasing tilt. Estella decided that this foreign man did not mean to offend her.

“Donc. There is a more comprehensive informational pamphlet on the tables here for you but if you want to eat before beginning you’ll need to come with me. No food in the Archive either.”

Oliver’s lips slightly curled, “No, thank you. I would like to get acquainted with the books before my family arrives.”

Estella softened, her shoulders relaxing further, “Of course. Let me take your bag and I will get everyone’s rooms ready. If you need anything, you can call for me down the hallway or ring the third bell beside the door. Either way, I will hear you.”

She left him then to make up his and his family’s rooms. As vampires — and ones unfamiliar with the magical side of their world — they likely didn’t need much more than a room. But Theodora always told her that the best hosts anticipate their guests' needs, even of those they didn’t think of themselves.

She put them all in the same block of rooms. To Oliver she gave the modest bachelor’s room and the parents were prepped for a large suite with an adjoining drawing room. She was uncertain though about the couple. Vampire relationships can burn hot rather quickly — and depending on the length of the relationship the human might not be wholly ready for that. Being devoted and being ready to share a bed are not one and the same.

No, Estella would put them in adjoining rooms that met in a small seating area. If the human needed space, they had it available.

With each room cleaned and prepared, she headed down to the kitchen to prepare the welcome baskets full of treats. Looking into their pantry, she went through the items they had available or could easily make for her guests. For the vampires, she selected nuts and simple sweet biscuits with a short information sheet with items available in the kitchen for them. For the human, she included some extra treats that were made with ingredients not nourished with blood.

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She only had a day and a half to prepare the rooms and make the baskets, not a lot of time for one person. Her list created, Estella returned to Oliver in the Archives.

She found him bent over scrolls weighed down with ropes, his face scrunched up in concentration.

Peering over his shoulder she asked, “Why are you looking at our rental records?”

Oliver jumped, knocking over his chair.

“Shit.” He clutched his chest, “Oh my God. How did you do that?” Estella frowned. She’s never snuck up on a member of her family no matter how hard she’s tried. But there was something else more interesting about Oliver at the moment.

“You’re American?” she asked in English. “I should have asked earlier but your French was very good.” She hasn’t met an American since leaving the United States. Everything she’s heard about them in France has not been very flattering but Oliver seems so unassuming.

“Yes. How did you sneak up on me?” He pressed.

She shrugged, “An accident, I assure you. Why are you reading rent rolls? I would think court records or maybe birth records would be more fruitful.”

He looked down at the yellowed document on the table, “I thought the rent rolls might help. Show evidence of humans and vampires living together, you know? That the two can co-exist. Your family has lived here for centuries without incident. Why can’t one human be with a vampire?”

Estella sat down in the chair beside Oliver and he hastily picked his chair off the floor to join her. When his head grazed past her the scent of spices filled the air. “I think you are on the right track but rentals won’t help you. They don’t identify the lineage of the individual like other documents would. Besides, Saint-Tourre is a bit of an exception and the Commission won’t be impressed using us an example. Remember, the Commission is also a large landowner. Being able to spout our history of rental income won’t get you very far.”

Oliver sighed in frustration, “So I should start with court records or…birth records?” His voice lifted up at the end of his sentence, turning it into a question.

Estella held her tongue between her teeth, stopping herself from speaking too quickly. She thought that those records may yield support but with Oliver’s seeming unfamiliarity with sources perhaps it’s best they back up a little. “Let’s start with what we know.”

At his glare and argumentative look she held up a hand. “We know that your sister fell in love with a human. The love vampires share — the true love that binds vampires to their significant other is very serious. The Commission won’t doubt her bond. It’s the human we have to worry about. Long lived individuals, immortals or otherwise, tend to look down on human experiences, including their emotions, as inferior. You’ll have to prove that the human’s bond is just as powerful as your sister’s.”

Oliver threw his hands up, “And how are we supposed to do that? Subject Hannah to God knows what kind of personal probing? If that’s what we need to do, what’s the point of Saint-Tourre? Why not go directly to the Commission?”

“I didn’t say anything about diving into the human’s—Hannah’s—psyche. Let me finish first, Oliver, before you start throwing out such dangerous suggestions.” Mon Dieu, does this man not know what kind of magic could do to someone? Let alone a human?

He fisted his hands in his lap but gave no further indication that he would interrupt her again. “Okay, so what else do we know?” She began ticking them off on her fingers, “We know that vampires, witches, what have you — the Commission included — remain in the same place for centuries and that requires a certain amount of complicity from the humans, which means that humans knowing isn’t technically illegal.”

He straightened, “It isn’t?”

“No, it’s…strongly discouraged. By the Commission I mean. But they cannot really declare it illegal without coming into conflict with the Witches Councils.”

“Why the witches? Wouldn’t they be as invested in concealing our world as vampires? Maybe even more so?”

“Some, yes. But they live so closely with humans that their lives intermingle often. Witches often fall in love with humans and can even give up their magic to live a human life. To make relations with humans illegal would be a major infringement on their lives and society. It may even destroy communities.”

“You can choose to become human?”

Estella grimaced. Her vampirism is so subtle she forgets that to many people it doesn’t exist at all. “Well, I cannot but witches can.”

He gave her a look as if he had more questions but Estella didn’t give him the chance to speak, “So what I think we have to do is try to support their relationship with other relationships. They cannot be the only vampire-human couple to have ever existed. No one is that special.”

“And where would we find that evidence?”

Estella disappeared into the stacks. Quite literally. She was turning in her chair to stand and then the next moment she was calling to Oliver deep in the stacks, “Let’s look at the catalogs for court cases, wills, maybe petitions? Come, help me carry some boxes!”