Chapter 3

Early in November the Master of France returned. He was red faced from the cold with snow covering his dark hair and black robes – it had started snowing early that year. He did not have a large retinue with him this time. Just a few knights. After a warming dinner and some wine, he was ready to speak. He met Brother Clement and Brother Humphrey in Clement’s private office. He was accompanied by a middle-aged Hospitaller with the build of a bear, blond-brown hair and a slow, sleepy manner. The fellow did not say a word.

For a while Gaspard stood there, blowing on his brewed herbs, and thinking. Finally, he turned to Humphrey.

“You have been chosen to command Poitiers!” his words resonated loudly in the guiet room. With that, the Master of France passed Humphrey a letter sealed with a large wax seal of the Hospital: a sick man lying on a bed, with a lamp hanging above him. The Hospitallers were proud of their medical work.

Humphrey opened the letter and read it twice. Then he stared at signatures of all the members of the chapter.

“The vote was six to four,” the Master said.

Humphrey didn’t seem to hear. He was flabbergasted. Up till now it was purely theoretical. Just talk. He hadn’t for a second seriously thought he would be given command of Poitiers. Now it was real. He rubbed the scar on the bridge of nose in confusion.

“Don’t tell me you changed your mind! I will look such a fool!” the Master growled.

Humphrey straightened. “No, of course not my Lord!” he said quickly. “I’m just…surprised.”

“As was I,” admitted the Master. “But there it is. You should make your farewells and prepare for the journey. You will leave in a week!”

“Yes sir!”

“Humphrey…there is something you need to know before you go…” Brother Clement spoke softly.

Both he and the Master seemed a little apprehensive now, a little tense.

“Yes?”

“Poitiers commandery was traditionally one of the umm…Nox Commanderia – Night Commanderies,” the Master said slowly, his eyes darting from Clement’s face to Humphrey’s, then to the mysterious knight’s who accompanied them silently.  

“Night Commandery?” Humphrey said slowly, “I’ve heard the phrase once or twice…but I have no idea what those are.”

“Night Commanderies are Hospitaller commanderies where some of the Knights are…unusual.”

“Unusual how?”

“Well…I’m not really one to explain. I don’t fully understand either,” the Master muttered, blushing a little. “That’s why Brother Conain is here.” He indicated the tall, silent knight.

Brother Conain nodded in agreement. His blue, expressionless eyes shone in the firelight.

“I will be straightforward: the unusual knights are refered to the order as ‘Night Brothers”, though I prefer if we call them what they are: vampires.” Conain’s voice was as bland and expressionless as if he had just commented on yesterday’s weather.

Humphrey stared completely dumbfounded. For a short moment he thought they are making fun of him. He glanced at Gaspard. The French Master twitched uncomfortably and was looking away. On Humphrey’s other side however, Brother Clement looked quite calm though he was drumming his fingers on the table a little too fast.

Conain continued as if he hadn’t noticed their reactions. 

“They are…uh…only active during the night. And they can do things which…um…superstitious people might call magic. And they…um…drink blood. Without it they would…uh…die.”

Humphrey ran his fingers nervously through his hair. The whole thing sounded absurd. Except…this was the Master of France he was talking to. Clearly a person of such significance would come all the way here to make jokes. Perhaps the man had gone mad. But Conain and Clement were going along with it. What was happening?

 “I…do not usually put stock in superstition.” Humphrey said slowly, his mind still in an uproar.

“Neither do I, Brother Humphrey,” Clement said, “but if something exists, we can’t just close our eyes and pretend it’s not there. Believe me, vampires are out there. In towns and villages, in retinues of powerful men, in workshops and on ships. And in the Hospitaller Order.”

“Why have I never heard of them?”

The corners of Conain’s lips rose into the faintest smile.

“We try to keep this quiet. At least from people who don’t know about such things. But believe me, there are many who do.”

Clement nodded his head in agreement. The Master of France tapped his foot impatiently.

“You need to come to terms with this Brother Humphrey!” he said, “and fast. The creatures are useful, and it would foolish of us not to have any in our ranks. And we need humans to supervise them. You will have three to four such beings in your commandery. Brother Conain will explain more on the way.”

Humphrey set off to visit his family almost right away. It was better to have it over with. His family could be so tiresome. And they would probably make a huge fuss about it.

It wasn’t that Humphrey disliked his family. They were all wonderful people, in some way or other. But they were - there was no other word for it – obnoxious! Especially when they were all together. His older brothers were loud and all over the place. His younger brother, on the other hand, was dark and broody and very vocal about his feelings of disdain for humanity. His sister was sweet and kind, but her stories were long and confusing and went from tangent to tangent so that even the most patient of listeners would be bored to tears. And she consantly repeated the same ones.

 His mother, like his brothers, was energetic. She seemed to be everywhere at once. Overseeing, talking, making sure everyone was happy and comfortable. And Humphrey was her favourite son. They all pretended not to know that, but it was quite plain. Whenever he came home, she would hover over him, constantly bringing food, and asking how he was feeling, and telling him how proud she was of him, and showing so much concern that Humphrey, while grateful, also felt deeply overwhelmed.

They only person he really got along with easily was his father. A man as quiet as Humphrey himself, but milder. A sleepy, phlegmatic person, he was only interested in his horses. Humphrey’s father bred some of the finest horses in the region. Barons, nobles, knights of the Military Orders would come from leagues away to buy his horses. If there was anything about living at home that Humphrey liked, it was helping his father with the horses.

The estates of the Oisalay family were extensive. As Humphrey passed his family’s pastures and fields he couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if he had not chosen the Hospitaller life. He’d be married by now, of course. And he’d be managing parts of the estates most likely. Most would go to his eldest brother. That’s how it worked. But Humphrey had always shown most interest and aptitude in the ‘boring things’ like management and animal husbandry. If he had stayed home, he would surely have gotten a lot of the responsibilities connected to managing the estates. It wouldn’t have been a bad life. But Humphrey was nonetheless very glad he managed to avoid it.

He finally reached the large paddocks and stables, and beyond them the family castle, built of yellowish sandstone. It was a sombre, no-nonsense donjon with a set of walls and utility buildings around it. And several stables. There were more stables further behind the castle.

Humphrey rode by one of the training yards where a young groom was running a foal through its paces. By the first stable a young, chubby woman who was the smith’s apprentice was checking the shoes of one of the geldings. Her work was carefully observed by the smith himself, a barge of a man, with short, salt-and-pepper hair and burned eyebrows. Noticing Humphrey, they both waved. He raised his hand in greeting, then rode up to another stable. He jumped off Dragonfly’s back and walked her to her box. A groom approached him almost instantly to unsaddle her but Humphrey waved him off. He liked doing this himself. He took of the saddle and reins, then took a long time brushing her down and cleaning the hooves. When there really was nothing more to do, no more excuse he could give himself, he made his way slowly to the castle.

It seemed that the very moment he opened the front door, a shrill, feminine, voice yelled “Humphrey is here!” Moments later two skinny arms flung themselves around his neck and his sister, seventeen-year-old Blanche, was hugging him tightly. Then she let go, took his hand, and ushered him inside, all the while calling out to the rest of the family, hidden for now in their own places in the castle: “Humphrey just came to visit! Maman! Matthieu! Eustace! Humphrey’s here!”

Humphrey’s mother appeared almost as if by magic. She was a woman in her late forties, almost as skinny as her teenage daughter, but her brown hair was heavily streaked with grey. She stared at her son in surprise. Then her face lit up in a huge smile. She too hugged Humphrey enthusiastically, then kissed him on the cheek.

“We didn’t expect you to visit dear! How wonderful! Come, come into the dining room, I’ll have someone to bring you food right away. Or maybe you would like to take a bath first? Are you tired?”

Before he had time to answer her, someone else was already calling his name. Then a large, heavy hand clapped him hard on the back. Humphrey’s older brother, Matthieu, round bellied and joyful was there, his hands spotted with ink. Clapping Humphrey’s shoulder repeatedly he was getting said ink over Humphrey’s habit.  

“Imagine that! My baby brother has come home! Good to see you, old boy! How long are you staying?”

As soon as Matthieu finished speaking, another voice joined the fray:

“Humphrey! It’s been over a year man! How have you been?” that was Eustace, the second oldest brother, very like Humphrey in looks but broader and less freckled. “I’ll go call the children; they’ll be happy to see their favourite uncle!”

“Wait, aren’t I the favourite uncle?” interrupted Mathieu, who himself was a father of two.

“Oh be quiet you two!” Humphrey’s mother said elbowing Matthieu away.  

“Your father is by the stables,” she said to Humphrey, “Cloud is about to have her foal and he spends more time in her stable than in the house. I’ll have someone fetch him! And Hugo is out hunting but he will be back soon! Oh, it’s so good to see you son!” Another hug.

Humphrey smiled at all of them, trying hard to return all the cheerful greetings and hugs and handshakes, but he was feeling more and more dazed. Somehow, his family could be louder and more overwhelming than a small contingent of armed knights. Why did they all have to be so loud?  And they kept asking him questions too, but then didn’t let him get in a word edgewise.

“I’ll go fetch papa,” came Blanche’s voice amid all the greetings. She hitched up her skirts - pink overlayer and green undertunic with lovely embroidery around her neck - and trotted out. At the same moment two little children ran down the stairs into the hall and began to greet him too. Eustace’s twin boys. Then Eustace’s wife. And then Matthieu’s wife. Carrying their baby daughter. Humphrey had only known about the baby from letters. He tried his best to look interested as his sister-in-law proudly showed him the swaddled child. His head was really beginning to hurt.

“So!” said his mother energetically and smiling, “food? Or maybe a bath?”

“Bath, please…” said Humphrey weakly.

The baths were located in a room at the back of the castle, against the wall of the kitchen, allowing the warmth from the kitchen fires to warm the bathroom. Servants quickly prepared the bath – warm and scented with herbs. Soap, imported all the way from Marsailles was brought. Then they left him to his devices.

Humphrey lowered himself down into the wooden bathtub, letting the hot water ease tense muscles, and an even tenser mind. He worried how to explain his new posting to the family. How much of it should he tell them? Just the new region? The fact they were changing the rules in order to give him command? He didn’t want to make the Order seem unprofessional. And the vampires – Night Brothers - he corrected himself. Was he supposed to mention this aspect of the job at all? Probably not. No need to worry them. Besides, they might not even believe him. And he wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t. No, better just tell them the minimum. With these thoughts circling around in his mind, he dosed off. 

                                                                                              ***

“Hey little brother! You alive in there?!”

 His brother’s voice, loud and low, woke Humphrey with a start. The water in the bathtub was already cold.

Humphrey blinked, still slightly dazed. “I…uh…fell asleep!” he said, rubbing his eyes. “Let me just wash my hair!”

“Alright. But hurry up. If you don’t, I’ll call someone up to help you. And it won’t be one of the serving girls either. Maybe one of the grooms instead huh? You would prefer that, I think.” Chuckling Eustace walked away. 

Humphrey sighed. He did not appreciate Eustace's sense of humor or his openess. He liked to keep private things...well, private. But private was not something that existed in his family... Annoyed but resigned, he washed his hair. Finally rested and clean he went to join the rest family for what was surely about to be a very exhausting dinner.