Bloody Ascension"Ready? The limo is parked outside." She glides out the door ahead of him, then turns as he exits and locks the door tightly, stepping ahead of him once more to walk down the stairs and outside. She nods slightly to the limo driver and he bows deeply to her, then opens the door for them. The limo takes them to a private jet at the airport and they take off and fly to Italy. They land at a small, private airport outside of Bolzano, Italy. Another jet can be seen sitting in the hanger, a black stretch limo waiting near the runway. They disembark and two men dressed in overalls run out and remove their luggage, loading it into the limo's trunk. She threads her arm through Mac's and lets him escort her to the car. The driver bows deeply to them and opens the door, closing it after they climb in. After the driver climbs in, she speaks curtly to him. "Take us directly to House Narciano." She raises the privacy window, then sits back and relaxes against her companion, looking up at him and smiling, her eyes sparkling like the diamonds around her throat. "I hope you enjoy my home, darling. We're going to my birth home, my main estate." She smiles before continuing... "It was built in the 1500's by my great, great grandfather. It's been added onto down through the years. The place is almost twice the size now as when he first built it." They drive through the countryside, large vineyards stretching out for miles on each side of them. They pass through the relatively small city of Bolzano, on the far side is a large structure surrounded by smaller ones. A sign written in Italian reading "Narciano Wines" stands in front of it. After riding for another 20-30 minutes, they enter a large wrought iron gate and drive up to a mansion, stopping in front of the steps leading up to the doors. A white Rolls Royce also sits in the circular driveway next to a bright red Lambourghini with a vanity plate that reads "Kritz". They exit the limo and she looks over at the car and the license plate and frowns, looking over at Macabre. "I think I'm paying my financial manager too much." Before they get halfway up the stairs, the double doors open and they enter into the large foyer. Her bearing is very regal, much as a queen surveying her domain. After she and Mac are inside, the doors close and she turns around, looking at the two maids that are standing at the doors. "Leave. Find Lord Marcellus and tell him I wish to speak with him." The maids curtsey quickly and scamper off in search of the Seneschal. She turns as she hears footsteps coming from behind her, stiffening slightly as she sees the large, winding staircase, then relaxing as she spies the source of the footsteps. An elderly man appearing to be in his 70's walks toward them, dressed immaculately in a black butler's uniform. She releases Mac's arm and walks forward to greet the old man, keeping her back to Macabre. She smiles warmly, her eyes shining as she holds her arms out to him and hugs him gently, kissing each of his cheeks. "Angelo!" She speaks quietly to him in Italian, the smile never leaving her face, anyone nearby would catch words from him like "dear child" and words from her such as "good friend". She turns and stands at Angelo's side, looking over at Mac, her eyes their normal, unreadable, expressionless blue and the pair walk over to him. "Macabre, this is my head butler, Angelo. Angelo, this is my companion, known simply as Macabre." Angelo bows to Macabre, smiling knowingly, having met other "companions" to his Mistress. He speaks to Mac in heavily accented, broken English. "I hope you enjoy your stay here, M'lord." A moment later, a tall handsome man dressed in an Armani suit, appearing to be in his 30's enters the room and bows to Alexis speaking in Italian. "I see you have arrived without mishap M'lady. That is very good. I have much to discuss with you as does Mr. Kritz." He glances at Macabre, dismissing him immediately with a haughty look. Alexis frowns at the man standing there and gives him a cold stare, noticing the look he gives Mac. "This is Macabre, Marcellus. You will treat him as you would me. Is that understood?" A brief flash of fear crosses Marcellus' face and the haughty look is immediately replaced with one of respect. He turns to Macabre and bows deeply to him, speaking in fluent English. "Please forgive me, M'lord. I meant no disrespect." He turns to Alexis and motions to the room he exited. "Shall we M'lady?" She nods and walks to Macabre, kissing him softly. "Hopefully, this won't take very long darling. Angelo can show you to my chambers. We'll stay here for the day and leave for Austria tomorrow eve. I have some things to pick up here and, it seems, some work to do." She sighs at the last part and kisses him again, then turns to leave with Marcellus to the study. Angelo leads Mac up the stairs and down a long hallway to a set of double, oaken doors and opens them, allowing Mac to preceed him into the room. The bedroom is large, and very expensively decorated, a huge canopied bed occupies a quarter of one wall. Both of their luggage is sitting in a corner near a large closet. Angelo bows and begins to make his exit. "The Contessa has said that you may wander as you wish. She asks that you do not enter any locked rooms." He bows again and leaves the room, closing the doors quietly behind him. A few hours later, Alexis enters the room. She undresses, laying her gown over a chair to be picked up in the morning by one of the servants, her jewelry tossed onto a bureau. She begins going through her closets, bypassing first one outfit and then another, frowning to herself. She selects a couple and lays them out near her suitcases to be packed in the morning. She looks up as she hears him enter and smiles. "I'm sorry it took so long, darling. I hope you had fun touring my home. I had some discipline problems to take care of and I also lowered Kritz' salary." She grins and walks over to him, kissing him deeply. "Now it is time to have fun together." She smiles wickedly and leads him to the bed, a trail of his clothes marking their path....  Part 2: Austria
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