“The vendetta,” she said quietly. “Tell me.”
Santo sighed, his chest moving under her. “Well, as I said the vendetta was just a piddling thing when we first decided to have children together. Nothing even worth noting. It was perhaps a little more troublesome when we tried for girls and had Dardi, but still nothing too bad. No one had really got hurt, it was still mostly insults cast back and forth and—” Frowning, he asked, “Rustling? Reive? I am not sure of the English word.”
“Stealing their animals?” Pet asked, just to be sure she was understanding correctly, and when he nodded, said, “Either, I guess.”
“Then they would reive back and forth a bit.”
“Okay. Not great neighbors then.”
“No,” he said with a sigh. “But still not so bad either.”
“If you say so,” she said dubiously.
“It was a different world,” he pointed out solemnly.
Pet merely nodded. “So what changed things?”
“Vanittus Vilani,” Santo said, loathing in his voice. “He was born the same year as Dardi.”
“Vilani was the family the Brunis were feuding with?” she asked, just trying to keep the names straight.
“Sì. The original feud was with his father, Vincente Vilani. Vincente met his life mate five years or so before they had Vanittus. He was their first son. Their only son as it turned out.”
“Why?”
“Reivers from the Bruni family went on a raid, stole several sheep, and set what they thought was an old abandoned hut on fire as they left.”
“But it wasn’t abandoned,” Pet guessed.
Santo shook his head. “Lady Vilani was inside. She had been to visit friends at court, but was delayed on her return. The sun rose as they reached the edge of Vilani land, and she took shelter in the hut. She kept her maid with her, but there was not room for everyone, and she did not expect any trouble, so sent the other servants and the soldiers on ahead. Old Vilani was sleeping when they arrived. But when darkness fell and Vincente rose, the servants explained their lady’s absence. Vicente rode out to meet her as soon as he got word, but arrived only to see the hut ablaze. He ran in to try to save his life mate, and both died.”
“We’re very flammable,” she murmured, remembering him saying that.
“Sì. Vicente was running to his death when he went into the burning hut and knew it. That is how important life mates are to us.”
Pet merely asked, “So the son . . . ?”
“He blamed Anselmus,” Santo said solemnly.
“Did he do it?”
“No. But his men did, and Vanittus held him responsible. I think Anselmus felt responsible too, otherwise he surely would not have been so easily captured.”
“Vanittus killed Anselmus?” she asked, and when he nodded, said, “I’m sorry.”
Santo grunted sadly, and then sighed and continued, “Honorata wanted revenge. But the vendetta was getting out of hand. Two had died on one side, and one on the other. I tried to reason with her and convince her to let it lie.” His mouth tightened. “I thought I had talked her out of it. But I should have known better. The moment I left, she started plotting her revenge.”
“I’m guessing something went wrong,” Pet murmured solemnly.
“Sì. You could say that,” he said dryly. “Her men attacked Vanittus and brought him to her so she could kill him personally as Honorata wished. But once they had him at Bruni keep, it turned out she could not read or control him. He was a possible life mate to her.”
“No way,” Pet gasped with dismay.
“Sì,” Santo said grimly.
“What did she do?”
“She could not bring herself to kill him, so let him go,” Santo said wearily. “It was the biggest mistake of her life, and ended up causing the deaths of herself and our children.”
Pet remained silent. She really didn’t know what to say. Fortunately, Santo didn’t seem to expect her to say anything and continued.
“I knew none of this until long after it happened. Otherwise, I might have been able to prevent what occurred.” His hand lifted to his head, and she knew without tipping her face up that Santo was running it over his scalp. His hand dropped, and he went on, “In the meantime, she came to me about trying again for a girl. Knowing not what had happened and understanding her desire for a female, I agreed and we tried. Nothing came of that attempt, and we tried twice more before she got with child. But the pregnancy was an easy one, and the girls were born beautiful and perfect. Everything seemed fine for the next five years.”
“But it wasn’t,” she said on a sigh.
“No. Nothing was fine. Vanittus was young and—”
“What?” Pet interrupted with a snort. “He was over one hundred years old if he was born the same year as Dardi.”
“Young for an immortal,” Santo amended. “So . . . headstrong and arrogant. He was also grieving his parents, lusting after Honorata, and enraged that he was. He was equally enraged that she would have nothing to do with him.”
“So, basically Vanittus was screwed up in the head,” she suggested, and then added, “Although, I’m a little surprised that she could resist. I find you completely irresistible. And I did try,” Pet admitted, although she knew she hadn’t tried very hard. Santo was like a drug she couldn’t do without. If Vanittus had been like that for Honorata . . .
“If you found out that I was a member of the Brass Circle who killed your parents . . .” He let the question drift off when she scowled.
“That is different,” Pet said grimly. “The fire was an accident. They didn’t realize anyone was inside. My parents were beheaded and burned to death on purpose.”
“And perhaps that is why Vanittus was more willing to have Honorata as life mate. His parents’ deaths were not deliberate murders. But Vanittus had Anselmus tortured before having him set on fire,” he said solemnly.
“Oh.” Pet sighed.
“But I do think Honorata was tempted anyway,” Santo said sadly. “I think that is why she was so desperate for another baby. She said it was because she wanted girls. But afterward, I wondered if it was to distract her from her desire for Vanittus.”
“What made you think that?” she asked with curiosity.
“Because Vanittus later told me she did lie with him one night. Which just made matters worse for him. He was young enough that he was still sexually active. Or had been. After sex with a life mate, however, no mortal or immortal woman would be able to satisfy him.”
“It must have been hard for Honorata too,” Pet pointed out.
“Sì, but Honorata was eight hundred years old. Wiser, more disciplined, and after six or seven hundred years with no appetite for sex, was used to going without.”
They were both silent for a minute, and then Santo said, “The girls were five when it happened.”
Pet didn’t ask what; she suspected she knew.
“Dardi no longer lived with his mother, but he was visiting her and his sisters. He was not within the walls, though, when Vanittus and his army attacked. There was a small lake a half hour’s walk from the castle, and Dardi had taken a young maid there for a moonlight tryst and to feed.”
Pet glanced up at him with surprise.
“There were no blood banks then,” Santo reminded her gently.
“Oh, right,” she murmured, and lowered her head again.
“Dardi saw what was happening on his return. The gates were closed, and Vanittus was being held at bay for the moment. Dardi came looking for me. He had no horse and had to make his way on foot. He ran through the night and well after dawn, arriving at mid-morning.” Santo paused, and his voice was grim when he said, “Unfortunately, Romaso and Cataldo were visiting me.”
She didn’t have to ask why he thought that was unfortunate. If they had not been there, no doubt they would still be alive.
“We gathered the men together and rode out.”
“Were your men immortal too?”
“No. Mortal. All the servants and soldiers were mortal.”
“And no one ever saw you . . . feeding. Or thought it odd that you slept all day and were up all night?” Pet asked with surprise.
“We were always careful not to be caught feeding,” Santo assured her. “Often we rode out to find our hosts in nearby villages rather than feed on those at home. As for the hours we kept, the nobles and wealthy were always considered eccentric layabouts who partied all night and slept all day. Although, that was more true in the Regency period, but even that early in history some nobles were like that.”
Pet shook her head, but then asked, “Dardi didn’t stay behind? He’d run all night and part of the morning. He must have been exhausted.”
“No. Extra blood took care of the exhaustion. It was one of the few times he was allowed to feed in the keep. And he was as determined as the rest of us to save the girls and Honorata.”
“Oh,” Pet said. She understood what he meant about the extra blood taking care of exhaustion. The body repaired itself while mortals were sleeping, but the nanos repaired immortals all the time. Give immortals enough blood and they probably hardly had to sleep at all.
“Vanittus and his men had breached the walls by the time we arrived at Bruni. Our men attacked from behind, while the boys and I plowed down the center, battling our way inside the wall. What I did not know was that one of his men had caught the maid that had been with Dardi, and learned he was fetching me back. Vanittus had sent for the rest of his men, and those of a nearby ally. He’d ordered them to wait in the woods on the other side of the keep and attack our flank once we arrived and set to.
“I should have expected that,” Santo said wearily after a moment. “Had I stopped to think, rather than gathering my men and charging out in a panic, I might have considered the possibility of his doing something like that and planned ahead to—”