“So where are we off to?” Eldrik asked, his hood pulled low over his face to shield him from the sun.

“The Varvaros village graveyard,” Johanna replied as she strolled beside him through the tall grass, still dripping wet from the heavy rain the day before. “It’s been a while since I paid a visit.”

“Varvaros,” Eldrik chuckled wryly. “I might finally meet someone I know.” He glanced at Johanna. “Is it really a good idea for me to be wandering about in the middle of the day?”

“No-one knows what a vampire actually looks like,” Johanna reassured him, “and few people frequent the graveyard anyway. You should be fine.” She smirked and added, “just don’t flash your incisors around, okay?”

“No worries.”

The Varvaros graveyard was the largest in the barony. Hundreds of simple wooden graves were lined up in rows, separated from the dozens of stone graves reserved for wealthier folk, while encircled by a stone wall in the center of the graveyard were the graves of the barons and their families.

“The weeds have certainly gotten away on me,” Johanna commented.

She glanced at Eldrik and followed his gaze, past the nearby village of Varvaros to the small hill atop which the Baron’s castle was built.

“Hasn’t changed much, at least from this distance,” he said thoughtfully.

He turned and strode through the graveyard to the stonewalled area at its center, Johanna following quietly behind him. He walked slowly past the barons’ graves, kneeling before each one to read the name and date.

“A lot of new names, unsurprisingly,” he murmured.

He smiled and pointed at one of the graves. “This one I remember, grandfather’s headstone. I was five, I think, when you buried him.”

He moved on slowly past the graves. “There’s father’s, and there’s…”

He stopped and knelt at the grave beside his father’s, reaching out and tracing his finger along the carven letters.

“Hermann Brant,” he whispered. He smiled and asked, “what kind of a baron was my brother?”

“I’m sorry to say I don’t tend to know the barons very well,” Johanna said apologetically, “but I can say that he was Baron in the darkest of times. He ruled through the years of the Red Plague. With that in mind, I’d say he was a great man.”

“He was  a great man,” Eldrik said softly, “I only wish I’d been here to support him. He waited… everyone waited… but I never came back.” Eldrik choked softly. “I failed them all.”

“We’d best get to work,” Johanna suggested brightly, hoping to lighten the mood, “the weeds are getting out of hand around here.”

Eldrik looked up at her with an angry frown. “That’s how I redeem myself? By pulling out weeds in a graveyard?!”

“It’s a start.”

“You think simple everyday good deeds will make up for what I’ve done?!” spat Eldrik, rising to his feet.

Johanna gave him a stern look but didn’t reply. Eldrik sighed and turned away. He knelt and began pulling the weeds from around his brother’s grave.

*   *   *

When they had finished tending to the graveyard, Eldrik had set off home while Johanna paid a visit to the village of Varvaros. Though one of the wealthier villages in the barony, its inhabitants still greeted Johanna with the same awe and respect, bowing and moving aside as she passed. She was not as familiar with them as she was with the folk of Bekdorf and Sirhalom, but she did her best to remember all their names as she returned their greetings.

She stopped at the house of the village elder, finding the aged woman sitting outside in a wooden chair, a sleeping child on her lap. The elder looked up at Johanna and smiled sadly.

“Ah, good day to you, Gravedigger,” she said gently.

“And to you, Lilika,” Johanna replied with a smile.

The old woman sighed. “No-one needs buried... just yet.”

The girl in her lap broke into a hacking cough. Lilika looked down at her sadly.

“She's been terribly ill for a few days now. I fear it will not be long.”

“Is there no-one who can cure her?” Johanna asked.

“There's not been a doctor in this whole barony for fifty years,” Lilika replied gloomily. “There's little reason for anyone like that to come to this poor land except out of the kindness of their heart.”

Johanna paused, an idea forming in her mind. “Well, there happens to be a traveling doctor staying with me currently.”

Lilika looked up, her face brightening with hope.

“I can't promise he'll know a cure,” Johanna continued, “but he studied in the capital. If it's alright with you, I can take her with me and bring her back when she's well.”

“Thank you, Gravedigger, thank you!” Lilika said, tears of joy in her eyes.

She held the girl out to Johanna, who took her and laid her gently on her cart.

“I'll let you know as soon as she starts improving,” Johanna promised.