The Eyes of Death

Entry Four- The price of hospitality


I brought the tea in on a black lacquered tray with the bottle of brandy arranged in the middle. Adrian offered to poor. The first blond, whose name I forget, declined the liquor. The young man whose name we learned was Gregory accepted the drink. As did the other blondes, I also forget her name. This surprised me because I had expected all of them to refuse- and that’s why I already poured a good amount in the pot before it left the kitchen.

The stubborn blond put the cup to her lips and sipped. She grimaced, \"Excuse me but I think there is Brandy already in my tea?\"

Shocked, Adrian turned to her \"That can not be because you saw me poor for your friends but clearly I never touched your cup.\"

\"But it tastes fun...\" She stopped short. How could she argue with out calling him a liar? I doubted she would be that rude or stupid.

Then the other two took sips next. Gregory held his reaction to a slight twitch while the other girl cried out \"It burns my throat!\"

Adrian laughed. \"Yes, the tea is hot. Do not worry, it is playing a trick on your nerves and only shows how cold you were. Keep drinking the feeling will pass I assure you.\"

And it, as, as the night passed on so did the bottle and the young guests apprehensions. I imagine that by the time they got to the table all three tongues were very numb and unable to taste the soup I put before them. Which was probably a good thing because I didn’t bother to prepare any other courses.

The company did not seem interested in eating and I was even less interested in their company. So I set out a bowl of oranges and another bottle of wine out on the large table and bid them goodnight.

\"Jonou aou are welcome to enjoy the food with us.\" Adrian smiled at me.

\" I can’t eat this late. \" I replied weakly \" It makes me ill.\"

\" My little uccello, you’re so delicate. I on the other hand become ravenous late at night.\" Adrian turned to the two girls. \"Speaking of which. Ladies, I believe there are chocolates in the table by the sofa. Would you care for them? They are the finest in Italy.\"

Distracted by their search for the chocolates, the two girls missed the fall of their third. I caught it on my way up the stairs. Adrian silently walk behind the young man as he was eating his soup and discreetly bashed him in the side of the head with his elbow. He slumped in his chair and gave the perfect appearance of having passed out form too much wine.

\"Ladies!\" Adrian cried out. \"It appears you are the winners. Your Gregory has passed out before you.\"

They both looked up from the sofa and stared, fear had apparently sobered them.

\"Do not worry I’m sure it has everything to do with the stress of the day and nothing to do with his ability to hold his liquor. After all, he had to fight this storm to get you to safety. We should let him rest. Jonas and myself will take him up to a room where he can sleep.\"

The pair nodded but never took their eyes off us as we disappeared up the stairs.