Vas walked his claim, checking the runes which bound his guests. The collection of monuments and mausoleums had grown at a fair enough rate. Callum was proving resourceful with every bit of power Vas lended. In return, so many new faces had come searching for that rumored escape from their troubles.
Vas passed the gilded and polished tombs of those who were fully committed, satisfied with the seals that held them. He couldn’t help but smile in satisfaction as he walked among them, the scent of their hopeless remorse was all too intoxicating.
Then his smile turned sour as he sneered at the more troublesome lot. The ongoing deeds to which held active bargains. Many here had given enough thought to what Vas offered to prevent him from simply locking them away as he did to so many others. Conditions were given, or even limits requested, for the offering of their name.
He approached the first tomb, its door wide open.
Above the door it read;
Here lies Lady Tilsea R. Teasle
No more will she remorse in vain
Vas looked deep within the dark hollow interior, barely seeing the curled shadow of a girl weeping on the floor. Tilt had needed to leave this side behind to accomplish her desires, though she was becoming less and less useful now that she had had her revenge. Vas looked over his shoulder at the series of small simple tombs she had helped fill. Tilt could be left to run a bit longer he supposed.
He looked back along the row, tombs ready and waiting to be finished if only he could fulfill their final wishes in exchange. He approached the next, another that would stand empty until its owner ran out of the unnatural luck Vas had granted him. To Vas’s surprise, a woman lounged atop the casket pedestal within. Her masked face turned and acknowledged his presence. She was taller than Tilt and more lean and athletic. She wore a scout’s leathers, adorned with hidden runes that humans would not be suited to notice even with mage sight. Vas hid his intrigue and switched immediately into a casual stance.
“And who might you be?” Vas purred, his voice slow and pleasing.
The mask tilted with a playful bounce. It was minimal on details and colored dark navy, hiding her true identity. She shrugged, sliding herself upright into a sitting position.
Vas smiled, flashing white teeth.“Well I’m afraid this space is taken, but we could find you something to your liking. What’s your na-”
A loud snap of her fingers cut him short. He looked back to see her rising from the stone. He stared at the openings of the mask to see her eyes but saw only a layer of thin cloth hiding them away. She pointed at his raised book and slowly shook a finger back and forth. Vas snorted.
“Oh, don’t be shy now. Tell me what it is you want,” he put on his most appealing of smiles, his face edged with the setting sun and every hair in place to be a model of charm. She stepped out of the tomb and up to Vas. Her covered eyes were even with his. He opened his mouth to give his next convincing pitch, but she pressed into his space, gripping his waist as the masked face hovered above his shoulder.
“I know the value of what you want,” she whispered into his ear.
The woman slid past The Gravekeeper and stalked along the row. Her arm extended and she pointed at the next in line.
“What did you give this one in exchange?” she asked, her voice confident, especially for one asking anything of Vas.
He paused a moment, regarding this development. His hunger goaded him to respond.
“Father in wait with his sickly daughter. Waiting for a cure.” He stepped up with her and kept pace as she turned to inspect the next.
“Here?”
“Man who needed an escape from pursuers. He stays until no one left knows his name.”
The mask nodded and turned to face the next tomb at a corner of the path. She turned and faced Vas with a tilted head, awaiting him to speak.
“My latest apprentice. Power in exchange that he sends people my way.”
There was an affirmative tone from beneath the mask and she approached The Gravekeeper again.
“Well, we may be able to come to an agreement then.”
Vas raised his book only to have her gently push it back down.
“Someday. For now, I need only someplace to sleep when I see fit. For that, I’ll give you one letter.”
Vas laughed, “Oh, I think I’ll need more than…”
He looked over at where she had been to find her already walking out the gate.
“Fine!” he shouted. She paused and he thought he could hear her smile scraping the insides of the mask. He held back the grimace of being the one led by the nose for a deal, but this mysterious soul was too much to let leave.
“A,” came the only response as she took to the road, drawing her hood over the edges of the mask.
Vas wrote it in and stared at the ink as it dried.