chapter forty-

two

               

Des was a responsible and sensible human who was ready for work right away.  She had been Salome’s assistant and lover for over ten years, even before the vampires had come out of the coffin.  They were fascinated that she knew so much about it until they discovered her older brother was a werewolf. Of course she would know about the supernatural world.  “So when are you  two gonna have the kiss?” she asked a bit brusquely.

                “I beg your pardon?” said Rachel.

                “When are you gonna let your men make you vampire?” asked Des.

                “Not for a while yet, before we get too old and after we get waxed,” said Sky. She was entering the data Des was sending her. It would help them keep track of who was checking in. “So this is interfacing with the hotel registry?”

                “Yes, and you should be looking at the registry, you can see who has checked in and who has yet to check in,” said Des. “Most everyone is checked in.”

                “So the vampires up here, they have a Queen?” asked Rachel.

                “Yeah, her name is Endora Goode and everything you heard about her is true, she is a ruthless vampire who practices witchcraft, but she is fair. She isn’t on our Regent’s side, but she will see the truth,” said Des.

                “Do you like Eric?” asked Sky.

                “Sure I like Eric, I liked him when he was just a sheriff. He is generous, he likes to make money but he likes to spend it too, and he likes to have fun. He is a great poker player and he treats women well. If I were interested in men, he would be the man I would want to tussle around with,” said Des.  “Don’t you like Eric?”

                “Of course I like Eric,” said Sky.

                “How about you?” she asked Rachel.

                “I do like him. I wished I knew him better, but I like him,” said Rachel.

                “So do you girls know the protocols for the trial?” asked Des.

                “No, they haven’t told us yet,” said Sky.

                “Well, you can’t wait for vampires to tell you, they won’t till the last minute or they tell you after the fact. By the way, I like what your center is doing.”

                “Thanks, so how do we find out about the protocols for this quorum?” asked Rachel.

                “I will send you what I think of as my vampire world handbook,” said Des. Her fingers flew over her key board and she sent the document to the girls. They opened them and went to the section about the quorum. Sky and Rachel were engrossed in the manual. They could hardly wait to get into the rest of it.

                “Have you thought about publishing it?” asked Sky.

                “No, not really, I don’t think they would like it very much,” said Des.

                They worked for a couple more hours when there was a knock at the door. Rachel got up and went to the door. “Who is it?” asked Sky in a whisper.

                “It’s John Quinn,” said a deep growly voice.

                “John Quinn!” mouthed Des. Rachel nodded. “Open the door.” She mouthed back. Rachel opened the door and John Quinn, the weretiger came and took up space. Quinn was a couple of inches taller than Eric was and twice as broad and bald as a cue ball. Sky had to admit there was something unabashedly sexy about the smoothness of his head. His purple eyes were merry and he was confident as only a big super strong guy could be.

                “Which one of you is Mrs. Northman?” Sky raised her hand. “And Mrs. Compton?” Rachel raised her hand. “Excellent.  And who are you?”

                “I am the sheriff of area one’s human companion,” said Des. “Deseret France.”

                “Excellent,” he said. “I am the acting officer of the court. That means I set the ceremony and the discipline while court is in session.”

                “Cool,” said Sky.

                “You are designated as assistants to your husbands and to their legal counsel,” said Quinn. “You will enter with them and the defendant and you will be seated at a table behind them and you will be able to plug in your computers and use your recording devices. Audio only, no pictures of the proceedings. You are bound by the confidentiality of the court even after the trial, so you can’t talk about it.” Sky nodded in understanding. “You should wear clothes you would wear in any court, slacks and blouses and sweaters and that sort of thing. We don’t search for weapons, but I recommend you not be armed. It simply keeps down problems.” Sky nodded. Rachel knew they would be carrying some sort of weapon, Bill and Eric had already told them they would. “Also, I have to explain about the Britlingen.”

                “Britlingen?” asked Rachel.

                “Yes, one of the monarchs has hired the supernatural body guards, the Britlingen. They are quite fierce and they look quite different. They are here just to guard the monarch who paid them,” said Quinn.

                “Fucking Isaiah Boone, he is the scariest vamp I have ever met,” said Des.

                “Scary?” asked Rachel.

                “Not scary as in bloodcurdling, scary as in cowardly,” said Des. “He always hires them, though I have to wonder where he gets the money to hire them each time, Kentucky is piss poor.” Quinn shook his head. He had no idea.

                “We are going to have the seating of the judges tonight and the opening arguments, and then we will break for the night. The next night will be the trial,” said Quinn. “We will have regular dining before trial and this means for vampires and humans, but if they are taking blood from you, please take care of that before you come down. No open feeding here.” Sky and Rachel nodded.  “When the Ancient Pythoness stands, you stand, when she sits you sit. Any questions?”

                “Testifying? Can Sky and I do it?” asked Rachel.

                “You may be asked by the legal counsel for the prosecution to clarify something that is in general, but may not be well known to vampires, but you will not be allowed to give direct testimony and no one can cross examine you.  This can be a tool, or it can be turned against you and used as a weapon, so before you speak, don’t hesitate to ask the court for a few minutes to confer, even if it is to Google what you are about to say. The court stands down because I say it does,” said Quinn. “Now, you have to tell me, where is De Castro, the defendant?”

                “On his way I suppose,” said Sky. Eric and Bill had told them not to tell anyone they had De Castro. Rachel nodded.  Des typed something into her computer.

                “He has not checked in but his main people, his sheriffs from Nevada and Arkansas and Oklahoma are here, either checking in late last night or around dawn by their daywalkers,” said Des. Quinn nodded.

                “Very well,” said Quinn. “It’s lunch time. You girls will not want to skip meals, you won’t get much more than water in the courtroom and you can simply go and use the bathroom so long as you are quiet.”

                “Thank you Mr. Quinn,” said Rachel.

                After lunch the girls went to lie down for a nap. They would likely be keeping vampire hours as it was and they tried to get as much sleep as they could. Besides, the events of the last few days were still being expended and they still felt the fatigue of the adrenalin they had used to get through the hard part. Sky lay beside Eric’s body. It was prone and still. The blanket was down to his waist and his hand was on his belly. She traced the shape of his face and twined a lock of his golden hair around her fingers. When she let it go, it sprang with life into a glistening curl. Sky had never cared that much for long haired men, but on Eric, it simply fit, like the blue of his eyes blazing out of his whiter than white face. She laid her head on his chest and listened to the nothing stillness of her body. When she woke, she could hear the noisiness of her body compared to the stillness of his body. She fell asleep listening to that comforting quiet.

                She woke by degrees. Her eyes fluttered. Eric was now on his side, still asleep though she knew somewhere deep down he was waking too. Her eyes slammed shut again and she slept more. Then they fluttered open again and she could feel the lethargic caressing of Eric’s cool hand skimming her face and she was out again. This was the way Eric woke every night of his life, this becoming aware by degrees. She wiggled tiredly against him. Then she woke, a little more aware now, feeling his arm pulling her closer to him. She understood that people thought vampires were freezing cold and hard as stone, but she knew differently. They did not feel human but their coolness was a transitory state for them, for though they would never be as warm as people, they were not cold as marble. Sky also knew they were hard, but their skin gave and it was very firm, but his body was pliant to a degree.

                She felt his cool lips on her forehead and his hand go up to her hair. He crushed the curls in his hand carefully. They bounced back as if they were a living thing, like the snakes of Medusa. “Now I get to wake you,” he whispered quietly.

                “A rare treat,” she said, still sleepy.

                “Are you very tired my lover?” he whispered. His hands slid under the blanket and he could feel the shocking warmth of her, as though she had an atomic sun inside her burning. He put his arm around her waist and relished her heat.

                “I am getting my energy back up,” she said, smooching his chest muscle over his heart.

                “Would sex wake you up?” he asked, nuzzling her neck.

                “For a while then I would be exhausted again,” she said. He chuckled in her neck.

                “Then I will wait until after the preliminaries tonight,” he said. “We need to get up. Bill and I have to bring you to the Ancient Pythoness.” She jumped up.

                “What?” she asked.

                “The Pythoness wants to meet you,” said Eric.

                “Why didn’t you tell me?” she said.

                “Because I didn’t want you to be anxious about meeting her,” he said, pulling her back down to lie next to him.

                “What should I wear?” she asked.

                “She’s blind lover, just dress neatly, it will suffice,” he said, sliding his hand over her, down her belly and into the waistband of her pajamas.

                “I thought you were going to wait?” she asked as she felt his cool hand in her pajama bottoms, fumbling around in her panties.

                “Now you are anxious, so I want to calm you down a little,” he said, settling her deeper into the bed.

                Rachel slid out bed. She stretched and drew her robe around her. Bill followed her out and he grabbed her hairbrush and brushed the bed tangles from her hair. “You aren’t nervous?” he asked.

                “No, should I be?” she asked.

                “No, the Ancient Pythoness is just curious about you is all,” said Bill. He finished her hair and Rachel went to get an outfit. She chose silk and wool blend slacks that tapered at the ankle in a golden and copper shade. She pulled out a chocolate sweater that draped elegantly on her.  Bill went in and took a shower and came out and dressed in a warm cinnamon brown suit with a gunmetal blue tie. He watched Rachel braid her hair and bind it. She put in a pair of earrings with suns and moons hanging from them and a matching necklace.

                “Do I pass muster?” she asked.

                “You look beautiful,” he said. Rachel turned to Bill and straightened his tie and flattened his lapels unnecessarily. “How do I look?”

                “Beautiful,” she said.

                Sky tapped on the adjoining door and Bill opened it. “Are you ready?” asked Sky.

                “We are, where is Eric?” he asked.

                “He is having De Castro’s coffin brought up,” said Sky. “I guess Pam and Heidi and Indira are going to see to it he is ready to go to court.”

                “Yes, he has to be present for the trial,” said Bill.

                “Will you and Eric be in trouble for…detaining him?” asked Rachel.

                “No,” said Bill.

                “Sky you look great,” said Rachel. Sky was wearing royal purple slacks and a spring green sweater. It reminded Rachel of the violets she had sunning themselves in the pot on her desk under the lamp in the office.

                “Thanks, you look wonderful yourself, I love those earrings,” she said. “Where did you get them?”

                “Genuine Magik, that shop Amelia worked at in New Orleans,” said Rachel.

                “The lady who sold me the mistletoe,” she said.

                “That is the one,” said Rachel. Eric slid gracefully into the room. He was beautiful in slate grey and a lavender tie. Sky had brushed back his hair and braided it for him. “Eric you look like a model who might be a thug.”

                “I am a thug,” he said agreeably. “De Castro is being prepared. We should take the girls to see the Ancient Pythoness and then go down for supper. Pam and Heidi and Indira will bring the King down.” Bill nodded in agreement.

 Sky and Rachel had read up on the oracle of Delphi and they were more than a little intimidated when they went into her suite. The Pythoness looked rosy, having just fed and her attendants were looking after her. “Come in ladies, I have been anxious to meet you,” said the blind vampire. The girls were guided to the Pythoness and the two women sort of bowed to her. “Please sit down daughters.” Rachel looked at Bill and he gave her a confident nod.

                “We are honored you wanted to meet us,” said Sky.

                “You are both rare humans,” said the Pythoness. “You love vampires and you do it without prejudice. I can feel the bonds you have made with Eric and Bill.” Her voice reminded Rachel of Anthony Quinn’s accent in Zorba the Greek.  “The world is changing.”

                “Yes ma’am, it is,” said Rachel.

                “You ladies are like the legendary Sarah who became the mother of a new nation. Our kind has been indelibly marked by coming out to you, humanity, this way. I wonder what the future will be for us.”

                “Surely you would know Pythoness, you are the Oracle,” said Sky.

                “The future is always mutable. You can change the stars you were born under,” she said.

                “Pythoness, thank you for listening to Bill and Eric, they have struggled with this for such a long time.”

                “I cannot take sides in this, I am the judge of all here. But please favor me with your thoughts on Filipe De Castro.”

                “Should we?” asked Sky. “We may prejudice you.”

                “Your answer tells me volumes. Your stories I am sure will not cast De Castro in the best light and yet you want…Due Process…for him?” she used the modern legal term as if it was a bizarre ritual. “Let me worry about my being prejudiced. Tell me about your concerns.”

                “I would not in all the world encourage my husband to take this action. I do not like the danger it puts him in. I could even forgive the fact De Castro forcibly drank my blood and interfered in my life and my husband’s life. What I cannot forgive him for is how he has interfered in the loves of his own people and tried to make their lives harder than they have to be. I know vampires have always done this to one another, but I believe in the principles of freedom and unity. Maybe this is because as an American and a person who has lived in a democratic world based on the philosophies of the Greeks. I believe there should be no hindrances in the lives of their own kind. I want justice as much for your kind as I do for him to be punished for the personal evils he has inflicted on Eric and me.”

                “And you Rachel?” she asked.

                “I am not a well educated woman like Sky, and my dislike of this King is extremely personal. But I suppose I agree with what Sky said. It is a matter of equality and justice,” said Rachel.

                “Thank you to the both of you,” said the Pythoness.  “I must say that I was impressed you agreed to meet with me. True, not many humans know about me, much less our own private government and our own private court system. The sentences are usually very stiff, the penalties are final. It has had to be this way because of who we are. We live a very long time, sometimes too long. We have to live with each other, we can’t hold on to petty insults because we are so few in numbers and those of us who are strong enough to be the rulers of our kind, even fewer.  Eric is such a one, De Castro too when he is not blinded by some petty obsession.” She shrugged, so common a response seemed out of place for so powerful a woman. “It is time for me to get ready to go downstairs for the opening ceremony. This must seem silly to you, the pomp with which we do things. However, it is needed, it is familiar and comforting. Vampires are very much creatures of routine. We do not change easily.” Eric and Bill began to usher the girls out without a word. “And gentlemen, please see to it Filipe is in good health.”

               

                The supper was just beginning when they went downstairs. De Castro’s vampires were shooting evil looks at Bill and Eric. Eric smirked. “Well, they must have heard De Castro is here already,” said the vampire.

                “Be careful Eric, you don’t know what they might do,” said Bill.

                “Everything is as it should be,” he said. They were seated by the wait staff and water and wine was poured for the ladies and Imperial brought for the vampires. Sky and Rachel’s eyes were scanning the crowd. There were a lot of humans there now. Some were playthings and others were the efficient day walkers and human seconds in command and a couple of human spouses.  They were elegant and well versed in the world of vampire.

                “Suddenly, I feel like a well scrubbed rube,” said Rachel to Sky.  Bill leaned in.

                “You ladies are just fine,” said Bill. “You are exactly what we need. They will be self assured and lazy with the details, you will be extra careful and pay close attention.” He leaned back and turned to speak to Stan Davis. Eric returned from speaking to a statuesque red haired woman. She was Red Rita Morgan, the Regent of Arkansas. Eric was carefully courting her alliance. He knew she had grievances with Filipe De Castro.  Eric sat down beside his wife and he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

                “Everything okay?” she asked.

                “Everything is excellent,” he said.

                After supper, they went into the reception area and stood around waiting. John Quinn was overseeing the last of the preparations and Sky and Rachel had gone up for their computers and Bill’s iPad.  Just before Quinn announced for everyone to begin filing into the conference hall, De Castro made his entrance into the reception hall.

                The first creatures to enter the room were the weres. There were eight of them. They were growling and their hackles were raised. Pam immediately pushed Rachel and Sky behind her and India and Heidi. She was watching her maker as well. Sky realized that on many levels, Pam loved Eric as much as she did and she may be willing to take Rachel and Sky out and push them into a car, but she would fly right back in there to fight at her maker’s side. Sky approved of this situation whole heartedly. Rachel was scared. “Rachel, be brave, send the energy to Bill,” said Sky. Rachel nodded and took a breath and clenched her fist and concentrated. 

                De Castro was the next person in. He was cleanly shaved and dressed extravagantly as always. Though he was not very tall, he was only a couple of inches taller than Rachel, he looked  formidable. Pam snorted through her nose and watched him as he strolled into the conference room.  John Quinn motioned for the rest of them to proceed in. Bill and Eric were next and Pam and Heidi and India pulled Rachel and Sky to come in behind Eric and Bill. They walked into the conference room and sat down at the table which had been set up behind Eric and Bill’s table. Desmond Cataliades was already there, papers and a legal pad already there and ready. There was a pitcher of water and a pitcher of blood on the tables. Sky looked over at De Castro. His weres were all crowded around the table. He looked forward and paid no more attention to the people coming into the room than he would a fly.

                They got their computers set up and their WORD documents opened and the file of vampire protocol open but hidden on the tool bar. Sky and Rachel looked cool but Bill and Eric knew better, they were anxious. Eric and Bill turned their seats sideways a little so they could look at them and speak to them and comfort them to a degree. John Quinn mounted the presentation stage where there was a long table set with seven chairs and an ornate stake. Diantha Cataliades was sitting just behind the girls and she leaned forward. “What is that Diantha?” asked Sky.

                “That is the first stake. They say that when Cain slew his brother Abel and became the first vampire, he used an ash branch. That is just one version of the story but that is the most popular. Vampires love their old relics,” said Diantha snickering. Pam turned and looked at her and Diantha bit her lips to stop laughing.

                Finally the Ancient Pythoness appeared.  She was being escorted by her ladies in waiting. She moved carefully but confidently and some vampires the girls noticed dipped their heads in respect to the old vampire. She seated herself on a throne that was on the main floor below the stage where the judges would sit. Two of her women, both chocolate colored and fierce looking, were standing behind her. Behind the throne, Quinn mounted the stage and held his hands up for attention.

                “The first piece of business is the seating of the judges. The two representatives of the aggrieved parties have chosen them. Please come to the podium when your name is called,” said Quinn.  “Endora Goode, Queen of Massachusetts, Betty Joe Picard, sheriff of Area One of Mississippi, Sandra Seacrest, Sheriff of Area Seven of Nevada, Joseph Velasquez, Sheriff of Area Six of Texas, Sherrie Langston, Queen of Illinois, and Stephen Soren, King of Ohio and Maude  DuPlessy, Queen of Minnesota.”

The seven vampires were seated at the table above. Rachel watched as Sky pulled out her smart phone, opened a page in her electronic notebook, and typed in the names and their affiliations. She made little ticks by the ones who probably favorable to Eric. She showed Rachel the phone and Diantha pointed to one she had a question mark after and gave her thumbs up. Sky added a little check mark by her name. Quinn’s voice rumbled again. “The court is meeting and the judges are being seated in the matter of Filipe De Castro King of Nevada, Arkansas, and Oklahoma and Louisiana, being brought by Eric Northman, Regent of Louisiana. “

Against protocol, De Castro walked with a purpose toward the Ancient Pythoness. Eric and Bill were watching him stoically. How could they do that when they knew all hell was about to break loose. Sky noticed the way the other vampires had seated themselves. Stan, Russell, and Bart were taking up positions by Eric and Bill. Russell and Barty may be a little twisty but they were older vampires, three and four hundred years and they were fighters. Never judge a book by its cover. Red Rita Morgan was sort of in the middle but more on their side than De Castro’s. Bill and Eric had thought she was totally for her king because she was the regent for Arkansas, but she was actually frustrated with De Castro who thwarted her efforts with improvements in the moneymaking structure in her state. The ones who were neutral were in a far corner and this was a tense area.

                De Castro turned and looked at everyone there and then turned back to the Ancient Pythoness.            

                “I am the son of the Pythoness,” he knelt in front of her. “Please command me my mother.”

                “Felipe Marco Jesus De Castro, I charge you with endangering the entire vampire community, of sabotaging the kingdoms of your fellow monarchs, for undermining the health and welfare of your own servants not limited to Eric Northman. You have betrayed the blood oath you have made with him as your regent. You tasted his wife without her permission and defiled their wedding union. What do you have to say for yourself?” asked the old vampire.  Rachel noted she did not touch De Castro as one might do if they found your obeisance acceptable. If the old girl could see, Rachel may well be able to tell what she thought.

                “I will speak for him Pythoness,” said Simon Maimonides. “His majesty Felipe De Castro has been beset by subterfuge. Eric Northman had his regent Victor Madden murdered. He had Victor’s seconds murdered. He lost an invaluable resource for the vampire world who lived in the kingdom of Louisiana and whose skills were never properly harnessed for his king. He has ordered the deaths of nearly a hundred vampires in Louisiana. Last but not least, he has murdered his queen and wife, Freyda Larson of Oklahoma.”

                “And how do you answer Eric Northman?” asked the Pythoness.

                “I speak for Regent Northman,” said Desmond Cataliades. “Regent Northman has done his very best to preserve the wealth and strength of his beloved home in Louisiana. He has worked hard to build businesses; he has bolstered a strong work ethic and has been a zealous promoter of your most ancient laws: Laws against selling the kiss of immortality, the laws against selling the Blood.  Victor Madden did all he could to contravene the success of Louisiana by ignoring the needs of the entire state to discredit and ruin the good work Regent Northman has done even before he became regent. The human who was an asset to the vampire world, Sookie Stackhouse, has died in a tragic accident which this king has refused to believe. The marriage was brokered in a backward thinking way by a backward thinking vampire who wanted to punish his son for leaving him, who was jealous of his success and his ability to mainstream. Regent Northman did his best to fulfill his maker’s wishes though he had been released and this was against his own desires. Regent Northman was forced to kill his wife because she was eventually going to kill him.”

                “The trial will begin tomorrow night. King De Castro, consider yourself in custody and protection of the court. You will make blood oaths to one another. If something happens to King Filipe De Castro, Eric’s life is forfeit. If something happens to Eric, De Castro’s life is forfeit.” The Ancient Pythoness looked in the direction of the two vampires. De Castro bit into his hand and Eric did the same and they clasped hands and made the oath and let go of one another.

                “Everyone will retire and return tomorrow night and be ready to argue your case,” said the Pythoness.  De Castro gave Eric an evil look and followed the Pythoness out. He looked at Bill, then turned to the wives.

                “We must go and confer with our allies, De Castro will be doing the same, but summoning them to his rooms since he is under arrest,” said Eric. “Heidi, you and Pam see the girls upstairs and stay with them.” Pam and Heidi nodded and helped Sky and Rachel with their computers and they began to file out of the hearing room. Sky spared one more look at the judges. They were stone faced as vampires tend to be and inscrutable.

               

                “Bill, I think we need to see Isaiah Boone right away,” said Eric as they walked down the hall.

                “Why?” asked Bill.

                “I have a feeling, a suspicion Filipe will make a very daring move,” said Eric.

                “Against us?” he asked.

                “No, against the Pythoness, why else did he make that grandiose show in the hearing,” said Eric. They went to the elevators and stepped in and made for the King of Kentucky’s suite.

                Isaiah Boone was nervous. He was the most skittish of the vampire monarchs. How he won and retained his kingdom was a mystery to the other monarchs. Isaiah was actually fairly successful and ran a quiet little kingdom. It was not very rich, but it could be with the right alliances, and right now, he was unsure with whom to ally. Isaiah was a paragon of indecision. Truth be told he felt trapped by both of the powerful vampires. The only thing that made him feel safe was the presence of the Britlingen.

                “We need your cooperation,” said Eric.

                “Jesus Eric, I am here, what more do you want?” asked the King of Kentucky.

                “We believe the Pythoness is in danger, we want you to give us the Britlingen to keep her safe,” said Eric.

                “You don’t think Filipe would harm the Pythoness do you?” asked Isaiah.

                “We believe he would do just that,” said Eric.

                “Maybe we should not be here, maybe we should go,” said Isaiah.

                “Look, you are the king of a powerful state in our region. You fought a great war to have that kingdom,” said Eric. “If De Castro defeats me, how long do you think you will be king?”

                “Okay, okay,” said Isaiah. He turned to the Britlingen. “He is your master now.” The Britlingen stepped forward and inclined their head toward Eric.

                “You are the personal guards of the Ancient Pythoness,” said Eric. “She is in the presidential suite. She goes nowhere without you.”

                “As you wish,” they said simultaneously.

                “I will reimburse you for your expense in hiring the Britlingen,” said Eric.

                “How precisely do you plan to do that when you are dead and your wealth confiscated by the crown?” asked Isaiah.

                “Do you really think I would come here if there was a chance I could lose?” asked the Viking.

                “I don’t know, you are reckless when it comes to humans and vampires, you are a rebel even among us,” he said.

                “True,” said Eric. “But in this I have done my best to follow our laws. You will see, Isaiah.”

Bill and Eric went from room to room, chatting with all their allies and came back to their own suites just before dawn. Eric came in and undressed and found his wife in bed asleep with papers on the bed around her. He carefully moved them and stacked them up and put them on her side table and got in bed beside her. She turned in the bed toward the side where he slept. He slid into bed and pulled the blankets up around her and pulled her against him, nesting her against his chest. Her warm hand smoothed over his cool chest and she kissed his neck in her sleep. He stroked her coppery curls and he thought about the first time he had seen her in the shadowy garden of Rachel’s business and how her curls looked like flame even in the darkness. He kissed her temple and settled down and looked at her as he went into his day sleep.