Blood Ties by Hayes Sam

Author:Hayes, Sam [Hayes, Sam]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Publisher: Headline
Published: 2010-03-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

The sun streamed brightly in the Baron's room through the arched windows of the high tower. The mist had disappeared early and the view from the window was panoramic, with the mountains and the valley sharply etched. Charles sat propped up by the overstuffed pillows on the high feather bed. Earlier, a barber from the nearby town had come by to cut his hair and shave him, an old custom that gave the Baron pleasure. By the time the others began to arrive for breakfast, he was properly groomed and rouged. His image in the glass stared back with satisfaction while Karla, with compliments, buttressed his sense of well-being.

He always felt stronger in the morning, a condition which faded as the day progressed, although he was able to marvel at the stamina he displayed at last night's dinner.

"You look well, Father," Rudi said as he entered the room and walked to the edge of the bed. Two waiters had set a large round table and the smell of coffee and bacon was pervasive and tempting. Charles nodded to his second son, offering a thin smile. The plutonium matter had put his second son in a new light. Perhaps over the years he had missed something about him, the clumsiness and chubbiness a barrier to understanding the person within.

Siegfried arrived, pasty-faced, going directly to the coffeepot, taking it from the waiter and pouring a steaming cup, which he sipped saucerless with a shaking hand. The Baron's disgust with his oldest son was absolute. Perhaps he suffered him because he was, after all, the oldest, a lesser evil within the circle than outside of it. As long as he merely attended, said little, provided no difficulties or interference, he would be tolerated. Like Charles' own father.

Frederick and Wilhelm arrived together, overly solicitous and fawning, taking their seats around the table, sitting stiff-backed and silent as they waited for the group to assemble. They were brothers although they were diametrically different in physiognomy. Wilhelm short and tiny boned. Frederick, tall, sandy-haired and rough-skinned. They were the grandsons of his grandfather's brother who had died early.

Albert, Klaus, and Adolph followed, paying their respect to the old man while Karla fussed with the comforter and repositioned the pillows. Small talk seemed superfluous as the men silently ate and drank while the waiters hovered over them.

"Excellent," Adolph exclaimed, wiping his heavy lips daintily with his napkin and smiling at one of the waiters, the younger one.

"Really," Siegfried said, watching his cousin with amusement.

Adolph blushed and lowered his eyes.

"Will you please leave?" Karla said suddenly, directing the order to the waiters, who understood immediately and quietly left the room.

When they had gone, Albert lit a cigarette and inhaled deeply, exhaling the smoke through flared nostrils. The Baron recognized the gesture. Albert was uneasy. It would be an interesting test of his younger son's coolness.

Since the last reunion, the von Kassel arms brokering network had pulled off the most complex deal in the history of the family.

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