"Well, Azalin, until circumstance and necessity raise their ugly heads, I will bid you welcome to Barovia."

"As a subject?" There was a decided sneer attached to that query.

"As my honored guest."

He gave me a long contemplative look, full of caution, but I could tell he was interested. "There are sacred customs in my land regarding host and guest associations."

"It is likely they are similar to the ones here."

"Which are?"

"The host promises to defend and nurture his guest. The guest promises to honor his host and keep the peace and law of his house."

"I can protect myself."

"Are you so sure of that? There are dangers in Barovia of which you have no knowledge. I do."

"Yourself being the chief amongst them?"

I spread my hands, smiling. He shifted slightly at the movement as if to react to an attack. "I will not deny it," I said, repeating back his own words. "However, if you are my guest then I am obligated to protect you."

"So long as I keep your peace and law."

"Not a difficult task, I assure you."

"You would accept my word?"

"I would, since the consequences of your breaking it would be… unfortunate."

"Might you elaborate on that?"

"You are intelligent enough to imagine for yourself what you might do to me were our positions reversed and I attempted to violate your laws." Excellent word, that: 'attempted.' I could almost see him turning it over in his mind. Certainly he must now be as curious about me as I was of him and wanting to learn more. "I think you can see the advantage of cooperation over conflict. The latter would be a great waste."

"I would not want my place as your guest to hinder in any manner my efforts to return home."

"On the contrary, it would be my delight to aid you in the process. If you can escape this 'plane of existence' as you call it, then I, if not all of Barovia, could be set free as well."

"You would help me?"

"We would help each other. I can provide you with the resources and equipment to allow you to begin work without delay. Give me your word to keep the law, and you may avail yourself of my own library of magical volumes. Then you need not be reduced to barrel scrapings such as this." I indicated the priceless book with well judged contempt, not too much, not too little.

He made an ugly, mirthless sound, but I was certain it was a laugh. A bitter one. "And am I to trust you to keep your word?"

"Mutual trust for us is an absolute necessity for mutual survival so long as you are here, otherwise neither of us will break free. I would keep my word. Anything less would be dishonorable."

"And you trust me to keep mine?"

"Just so. I think you would prefer to search for a return path through the Mists without the distraction of constantly having to look over your shoulder."

I would be there, anyway, but then he would know that and could be confident that I wouldn't put a knife in to his back-purely in the figurative sense, mind you. It was my expectation that any normal weapon would have little effect on him.

"You would work with me on this escape?"

"Yes."

"I would want to set down additional rules before agreeing to this."

I gave a gracious nod. Anything he could come up with would only be for his own self-protection and likely have little consequence against me. I was quite serious about my duties as host. Getting him to accept that fact would effectively place him under my rule and once there, I could play on that point to my best advantage for as long as necessary.

Most people pace around or let their gaze wander as an aid to thought. He continued to look steadily at me with those strangely cold red eyes. It might have disconcerted a lesser being, but I had faced the personification of Death itself and survived. At this point, Azalin inspired no fear in me.

"Very well," he said.

I strove not to let my satisfaction show, but in those two words he had just delivered himself to my tender care.

"You have my sworn word to abide by your laws for so long as I am here-and so long as you return in kind."

"I swear to return in kind."

"The chances are," he added, as if to discount the profound importance of what he had just done, "that this is but a temporary situation."

On that I could offer no comment.

From Azalin's private commentary notebooks, contd.

542 Barovian Calendar, Barovia

One's hindsight is always clear, and after but a month in the company of Von Zarovich mine confirms to me what my inner voice had urged on the first night of our meeting: that I should have killed him then.

Certainly I am more than capable of doing it, but curiosity and caution stayed my hand then. I knew nothing about him, and the fact that he had survived the otherwise lethal force of the first spell I had flung at him was enough to school me against additional assaults.

He was-so it seemed-coolly unconcerned toward me, something I am not used to; since the moment when I initiated my own change the reaction of mortals in my presence is ever that of fear. I had grown so accustomed to seeing it that its sudden lack drew my instant attention. If he was not as other men, what then was he?

Since he had thrown off my attack and seemed immune to fear I had two choices before me: that he was a mage of deadly power equal to or greater than myself, or that he was some sort of supernatural creature. It did not seem likely he could be both, for talent like mine is rare, and I had to purposely effect my own supernatural change. I can account for my deficiency of perception by the fact that I had many distractions that night and could not bestow my full consideration equally upon each. I only realized the possibility of the combination after it was too late to do anything about it. By then I was bound by my own oath to his laws.

I see now that he had bluffed his way through the whole business. He has magical power, but it is nothing to compare with mine. He must have known that, yet played expertly upon my need for aid, maneuvering me into a position with his sly bargaining so that I was forced to put myself at his mercy.

I could feel the fool, but at that point his act was as complete as one of my own illusions, so there is little purpose in self-reproach. I take pride in being able to know when anyone lies to me, but Von Zarovich proved to be the one exception capable of immunity to that ability. The why of it eluded me until I came to reside in his castle while he made improvements to the manor house which I have chosen to reside in for the duration of my stay.

That he was not human in the normal, mortal sense was soon obvious, but the exact nature of his difference was not immediately apparent, but easy enough to discern with time. He took pains to conceal the pointed tips of his ears, but beyond that-at least while in my company-bothered to do little else. Of course, once I was in regular contact with him his undead nature became quite conspicuous: the lack of mirrors, the dusk-to-dawn hours and so forth-not that I was particularly disturbed by any of it. My own nature was such that he would be disappointed by the contents of my veins, so I was safe enough from that feeble threat.

What most concerned me was the extent of his magical knowledge. Should he prove to be superior in talent to me, then I would have to be most careful in my dealings. Our first weeks together might be construed as laughable to those indulging in grim amusements as we oh-so-cautiously fenced around one another, each imparting as little information to the other as possible, while at the same time trying to extract it. This was in spite of our noble pact.

He acted wisely in entrapping me into promising to abide by the laws regarding host and guest. By the time I knew his true limits it was too late to do anything about him. I will be honor-bound by my word. Though I may break it in an open challenge, I am not yet in a position to do so. I am yet a stranger in his land and he my only "friend." I use the word as a form of contempt. He is in actuality a necessary evil I must endure until such time as I can effect an escape.