Though Beatrice had been briefed on the importance of her formal introduction, she still felt like blushing, even though she couldn’t. Her heart began to beat as she stepped forward, nodding deeply to Zhang, then turned to the rest of the room and gave a slight nod. She stepped back next to Giovanni, with her father standing behind her. Her eyes scanned the room, searching out Lorenzo to gauge his reaction.
She finally spotted his blond curls in the middle of a group of Zhongli’s guards. Far from the anger she had expected, Lorenzo looked positively gleeful, and his eyes looked her over with clear interest and approval. She knew Giovanni had spotted him when she felt his hand brush hers. His amnis reached out and wrapped around her waist.
Stephen leaned over once Zhang had stopped speaking. “Why do they call us scribes, B? It makes me feel old.”
She snorted a little under her breath. “Because it sounds cooler than assistant professor and librarian?”
“Laugh if you want,” she heard Baojia say as his eyes scanned the room, “but Zhang gave you that title deliberately. It is now part of who you are here, and it’s not something this court takes lightly.”
“Come to think of it, B, I’ve never been named a scribe in any formal way,” Stephen said. “That is significant.”
“And I was not informed of it,” Giovanni muttered. All four were speaking in Spanish, and Beatrice could see the curious looks from the few vampires around who could hear them.
“I think we need to shut up now,” Beatrice said.
“Quite right, Tesoro.”
Zhongli was speaking. “It is my guest, Lorenzo, who has brought this petition to us. He claims the right of ownership on a certain book that is in the possession of Elder Lu Dongbin’s monks.” Zhongli nodded toward Lorenzo, who stepped forward.
“The book in question belonged to the sire of my own father, Giovanni di Spada of Florence, Giovanni Vecchio to the company here. Though it was intended for my father, the great library of Nikolaos Andreas was scattered five hundred years ago. It is only with great care and much time and expense that I have managed to find a few valued pieces from my grand-sire’s collection.”
“Liar,” Beatrice whispered.
Giovanni shot her a look. “Shh.”
“Imagine my dismay when those same books were stolen by my own son when he ran from my home. He took this manuscript, along with several others that were worth a considerable amount of money. I’m sure he has sold many of them.” Lorenzo shook his head sadly. “But this one in particular was very dear to Andreas and it is my hope that it may be returned to my rightful ownership.”
Royal Uncle Cao, the earth vampire, leaned forward. “But if it was intended for your sire, then why do you have a claim on it?”
It was Zhongli that responded. “Surely the Elder must recognize that my guest is the one who found the book. If Giovanni Vecchio wanted it, surely he would have been the one to find it.”
“Perhaps he would have,” the Immortal Woman spoke, “if he had known it had survived the destruction of Andreas’s library.”
“Indeed,” Elder Lu added. “It seems to me that the original intentions of the owner, the scholar, Nikolaos Andreas, should be honored in this matter. He intended it for his only son; it should belong to his son. I’m sure Giovanni Vecchio would reimburse his child for any expense he incurred while searching for the book.”
“Indeed,” Giovanni spoke up, “I would be happy to reimburse Lorenzo for any expenses, though I sent him into the world with wealth, as is the custom.”
“I was wondering,” Elder Zhang spoke, “why your son took these books, Lorenzo. You imply that it was for money. Did he not have an allowance from his sire?”
“Why would you?” Beatrice whispered.
All eyes turned to Stephen as he spoke to the hall. “Sadly, my father did not send me into the world with anything, Elder Zhang. I had to fend for myself.”
A low murmur of disapproval filled the room. Beatrice looked at Giovanni. “What? What’s the big deal? I mean, not every vampire is turned by their choice, right? It’s not always friendly. Why would Lorenzo give my father anything?”
“Even in cases where the vampire is unwilling, Beatrice, it is still customary after a certain number of years to send a child into the world with some degree of independence if they want to leave. Since I was Andros’s only child, he would have given at least a quarter of his wealth to me if he had sent me away.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes, I wouldn’t have gone—he had far too much influence over me—but when I sent Lorenzo out on his own, I sent a third of my wealth with him.”
“It is the custom among our kind,” Baojia whispered. “If you send a child away from your care, out of your aegis, it is considered very shameful to send them away with nothing.”
“But Dad escaped.”
The room was still milling, and Beatrice could see a sour expression on Lorenzo’s face.
“My son,” Lorenzo spoke over the crowd, “Stephen, ran away from my aegis. If he had told me his desire to leave, I would surely have given him gold, as is proper.”
A few vampires on Zhongli’s side nodded, as if that explanation was satisfactory, but Beatrice could tell by the subtle frowns and veiled expressions of the vampires in the hall that the mood of the room had shifted against Lorenzo.
“Perhaps he took these books out of spite,” Elder Han, the water vampire, said. “Why should we honor the actions of a spiteful child?”