The Dark Venues of Paris, Early February 1440
“Monsieur! Let me buy you a drink,” was the first thing Kayleb heard when he entered one of France’s most favored taverns.
“Jacob, what what brings you to Paris? I thought Romania was the only place you dared to visit,” he said, greeting his friend with a hug.
Jacob took Kayleb’s coat for him and hung it on a coat rack just behind where he was sitting. He had no idea Jagger and Hyatt were hidden away in Kayleb's coat pockets. Jagger poked his fluffy brown head out of one pocket while Hyatt struggled to climb to the top of the other pocket. Once he made it to the top, he shifted his beady eyes around to get a look at where he was. They both watched and listened to Jacob and Kayleb and found themselves to be quite interested in the topic of conversation.
“Romania was the only republic in Europe I had any interest in seeing. That was until I met a glamorous woman in my travels to Hunedoara,”said Jacob after a long sip of ale.
Kayleb sipped on his mug of beer the bartender had put before him. The frothy liquid exhilarated his senses, making his body feel safe and warm. “You mean to tell me you met a woman who didn’t get on your nerves or utterly repulse you, no matter her beauty?”
“Yes, That’s exactly what I’m saying. She’s gorgeous, Kayleb, like no woman I’ve ever seen! I still wonder if she’s from this world at all.” He finished the last gulp of beer and ordered another.
“Well, tell me about her.”
“I’m not sure where to begin. She has the whitest skin, soft like silk. Her eyes are bluer than any sky or ocean, and they’re what captivated me first. It wasn’t her slender, remarkably well-curved body that stole my heart. No. It was her eyes. Brilliant as the stars they are!” Jacob sighed. His mind swam with the fresh memories of his new love, and his body remembered every soothing touch of her hand.
“What’s her name?” Kayleb smoothed a long dark strand of hair behind his ear.
“Oh, her name. Just the sound of it when she introduced herself… Shinar. Sensual Shinar...” Jacob was relaxed on his bar stool, feeling more at home than ever.
How he had dreamed of this woman for years and to find her, to finally feel her body against his was almost overwhelming. He wanted be to loved, cared for, and desired much like any other mortal only he couldn’t stand many of the women of his time. They were far too proper and dull, always having the sharpest grip on reality. This wasn’t what he wanted. No, Jacob’s love had to be bold, imaginative and versatile among his other favored traits of charm and elegance.
Jacob, now on his fifth beer, was feeling pretty good (his favorite part about drinking). But no matter how lightheaded he was, he felt himself hastily sober up when the bar candles cast their light upon Kayleb’s fangs. “What…What, in the name of Hell, are you?" he stammered, falling backward off the stool. “All these years I have known you as a friend I have never noticed those…those teeth!” He stood up and staggered to the door, bumping into tables and people along the way, making many unhappy.
“What’s your problem?” A disgruntled man shouted as his beer was dumped down the front of him.
“It’s him,” Jacob mumbled, pointing frantically toward the bar, while he fumbled for the door latch. “He’s not human! He’s…he’s…” The terrified drunk could not muster the right words to use for an appropriate label.
In his fury of surprise, Jacob knocked the coat rack over sending Jagger and Hyatt to the floor with a thud!. The Messengers fought their way through a mess of coats and searched for a way to see all of the commotion.
