“Lazarus resembles you. No wonder you don’t want Rudolf to have it.” I handed Matthew his hose. “Bosch must have known you were a vampire, too.”
“Jeroen—or Hieronymus as you know him—saw something he shouldn’t have,” Matthew said darkly. “I didn’t know that Jeroen had witnessed me feeding until I saw the sketches he made of me with a warmblood. From that day on, he believed all creatures had a dual nature, part human and part animal.”
“And sometimes part vegetable,” I said, studying a naked woman with a strawberry for a head and cherries for hands running away from a pitchfork-wielding devil wearing a stork as a hat. Matthew made a soft sound of amusement. “Does Rudolf know you’re a vampire, as Elizabeth does and Bosch did?” I was increasingly concerned by the number of people who were in on the secret.
“Yes. The emperor knows I’m a member of the Congregation, too.” He twisted his bright red hose into a knot. “Thank you for finding these.”
“Tell me now if you have a habit of losing your car keys, because I’m not putting up with this kind of panic every morning when you get ready for work.” I slid my arms around his waist and rested my cheek on his heart. That slow, steady beat always calmed me.
“What are you going to do, divorce me?” Matthew returned the embrace, resting his head on mine so that we fit together perfectly.
“You promised me vampires don’t do divorce.” I gave him a squeeze. “You’re going to look like a cartoon character if you put those red socks on. I’d stick to the black if I were you. You’ll stand out regardless.”
“Witch,” Matthew said, releasing me with a kiss.
He went up the hill to the castle, wearing sober black hose and carrying a long, convoluted message （partially in verse） offering Rudolf a marvelous book for his collections. He came back down four hours later empty-handed, having delivered the note to an imperial flunky. There had been no audience with the emperor. Instead Matthew had been kept waiting along with all the other ambassadors seeking audience.
“It was like being stuck in a cattle truck with all those warm bodies cooped up together. I tried to go somewhere with clear air to breathe, but the nearby rooms were full of witches.”
“Witches?” I climbed down from the table I was using to put Matthew’s sword safely on top of the linen cupboard in preparation for Jack’s arrival.
“Dozens of them,” Matthew said. “They were complaining about what’s happening in Germany. Where’s Gallowglass?”
“Your newphew is buying eggs and securing the services of a housekeeper and a cook.” Fran?oise had flatly refused to join our expedition to Central Europe, which she viewed as a godless land of Lutherans. She was now back at the Old Lodge, spoiling Charles. Gallowglass was serving as my page and general dogsbody until the others arrived. He had excellent German and Spanish, which made him indispensable when it came to provisioning our household. “Tell me more about the witches.”
“The city is a safe haven for every creature in Central Europe who fears for his safety—daemon, vampire, or witch. But the witches are especially welcome in Rudolf’s court, because he covets their knowledge. And their power.”
“Interesting,” I said. No sooner had I started wondering about their identities than a series of faces appeared to my third eye. “Who is the wizard with the red beard? And the witch with one blue and one green eye?”
“We aren’t going to be here long enough for their identities to matter,” Matthew said ominously on his way out the door. Having concluded the day’s business for Elizabeth, he was headed across the river to Prague’s Old Town on behalf of the Congregation. “I’ll see you before dark. Stay here until Gallowglass returns. I don’t want you getting lost.” More to the point, he didn’t want me stumbling upon any witches.
Gallowglass returned to Sporrengasse with two vampires and a pretzel. He handed the latter to me and introduced me to my new servants.
Karolína （the cook） and Tereza （the housekeeper） were members of a sprawling clan of Bohemian vampires dedicated to serving the aristocracy and important foreign visitors. Like the de Clermont retainers, they earned their reputation—and an unusually large salary—because of their preternatural longevity and wolfish loyalty. For the right price, we were also able to buy assurances of secrecy from the clan’s elder, who had removed the women from the household of the papal ambassador. The ambassador graciously consented out of deference to the de Clermonts. They had, after all, been instrumental in rigging the last papal election, and he knew who buttered his bread. I cared only that Karolína knew how to make omelets.