Vlad merely smiled his cold, cunning smile in response.
We departed Buda in the crisp, gray dawn and left behind the world I had grown to love. Magda sobbed as I kissed her cheek and clung to my hand until Vlad had pulled me away. Astir and Ignatius had also come to see us off. Their good-byes were muted under the fierce gaze of Vlad Dracula.
I am now certain that Vlad suspected all of us of duplicity and wanted nothing more than to have me far from those he considered my co-conspirators.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Countess Dracula. May we meet again,” Ignatius had said, kissing my hand.
It had taken all my willpower not to break down and fling myself into his arms. His gaze had caught mine for a mere second and I felt the connection of our love flare. I had quickly averted my eyes least Vlad see.
Later, as I sat in the rocking carriage, remembering my last moments with Ignatius, I felt a tear on my cheek. I brushed it away with my gloved hand and tried hard not to express the deep despair welling up within me.
Vlad’s hand took my other hand and he held it against his thigh. He said nothing, but his firm grip on my hand was possessive.
As we left Buda behind us, I laid my head against the closed panel covering the window.
All that I had cherished in Buda was gone and I was still Vlad’s.
I dreamed of Cneajna on our journey. I dreamt she was nothing more than a skeleton with gray skin, parched and dry, drawn tightly over her bones. In my dream, I tried to console her as she wept in the anguish of the hunger. And in my dream, her milky eyes looked up at me as she seized me and sank her teeth into my throat.
We reached Bistriţa on a misty, dreary night. Drizzling rain fell steadily from the dark sky as our carriage found its way through the dark streets.
When we alighted from the carriage, I felt a pang of sadness as I stared up at the countenance of the Golden Krone Hotel. I had first met Ignatius here not so long ago when my adventure had first begun and now it was almost at its sad end.
Vlad ushered me into the hotel as the proprietor gushed over us, quite anxious to make sure we were perfectly content with the room he had selected for us. I was hungry and weary from our travels and in no mood to deal with the mortal. He simply chattered on in his nervous tone. When we reached our room, I turned to Vlad and gave him my most plaintive look.
“Thank you for your kindness, but it is best if you leave now,” Vlad told the man.
The proprietor glanced toward me, saw my grim look, and immediately withdrew from the room, nearly tripping over his feet.
“You are in quite a mood, my dear wife.”
“I am quite exhausted,” I answered. “And hungry. Give me your neck.”
Vlad laughed. “I think not. I shall bring a victim for both of us.”
I sat down on the edge of the bed and pouted.
“I shall leave immediately. I can see that you shall not be satisfied until you have fed.”
I just glared at him.
Vlad leaned over and kissed my pout. “I shall return.”
I waved a hand at him and flopped back on the bed. I stared at the ceiling and sighed. My fingers played with the buttons of my traveling coat, but I had no desire to undress and put on one of my long robes. Completely morose, I merely lay there and remembered the touch of Ignatius' lips upon my own.
By then I had realized we were returning to the place of my captivity. Up until then I had been uncertain of our destination. When we reached Bistriţa , I understood we were returning to the castle.
I could make sense now of the terrible gnawing within me. As we drew closer to the castle, I could feel the hunger and madness of the three women that we had left behind. My anxiety formed a tight knot in my stomach.
Closing my eyes, I drifted off to sleep for a mere moment, but in that moment, I had the most vivid and terrifying dream.
Cneajna rose up next to the bed, her body restored and once again the Hungarian beauty she had been for four hundred years. Lying down beside me, she wrapped her arm about my waist and laid a gentle kiss upon my lips.
“My little one returns to me.”
“Cneajna,” I whispered.
She smiled gently, tears on her cheeks. “My darling daughter, please come back to me. I miss you so.”
“Cneajna, I am sorry I was away for so long,” I answered.
She lay down, curling herself around my body, kissing my cheek softly.
“I need you to make me feel alive once more. Come home to me, my lost daughter. Come home.”
“I am coming home. I promise.”
I kissed her cold cheek and hugged her tightly. I felt a great love for her in that moment, my cold vampire mother who had helped bring me into this world of eternal darkness. How could I have forgotten her when I was in Buda? What betrayal was this that my heart could forget her calm presence in my life?
Then in my dream, she drew back and I was horrified to see her drawn, skeletal countenance. Before I could escape, her fangs tore into my throat.
I awoke with a start and sat up, my bonnet falling off my head onto the floor.
Vlad stepped out of the shadows dwelling in the corner of the room with a young woman in his arms. Her long blond hair fell over his arms to brush against his legs as he walked. She appeared to be in a deep swoon. When he set her on her feet, she blinked dreamily at me. The languid expression on her face spoke of her thrall, and, as I rose, she held out her hands to me.
“This is Katya,” Vlad said. “The proprietor’s daughter.”
I gave him a dark look. “Do you wish for him to turn against us?”
Vlad laughed. “Drink what you need. No more.”
He released the girl into my arms, and I caught her easily.
“His kisses make me feel so drowsy,” she said. “I must be dreaming.”
My arm about her waist, I let her fall across the bed. She laughed drunkenly and lay in a seductive little pile on the covers.
I unbuttoned my coat and let it slip off my shoulders. Hungrily, I climbed onto the bed beside her and looked down into her transfixed blue eyes.
“Katya,” I said softly.
She focused upon me.
“Think of that which you desire most.”
I was not surprised when her gaze flicked to Vlad as he settled in a chair near the bed. Glancing over my shoulder, I gave Vlad a bemused smile.
“I drink from her often,” he answered.
Looking down at the girl, I willed her to look at me. She smiled and reached up her hands to touch my shoulders.
“He says you will kiss me as he does,” she said.
“I will kiss you better than he does,” I answered. I bent down and bit into her throat as she held me. I willed her to feel only pleasure in the bite, not pain, and she sighed happily.
I drank to quench my thirst, not my deep hunger, and then rolled away from her. She let out a soft little snore as I rose to my feet.
Vlad sat calmly in his chair, rubbing his bottom lip thoughtfully.
“Your mistress,” I said with a snort. “You brought me your mistress.”
“It entertained me,” he answered with a smirk.
Flicking my hand at him, I walked into the shadows and willed myself into the next room. I slipped easily through the darkness into the room beside ours. In this room lay a man and woman sleeping. I pushed out with my power and plunged them into a deeper slumber. Without hesitation, I climbed onto the bed and bit the man’s throat. He moaned and writhed beneath me, but did not awaken. I pressed thoughts of pleasure into his mind and drank in his blood with relish.
I felt Vlad join me, sinking his fangs into the woman. I felt no compunction to cease in my feeding. These were travelers that could easily disappear on their journey. Vlad and I both completely sated ourselves then slid from the bed, leaving the two cooling corpses behind us.
Since Buda, a latent anger had been within me and I felt it beginning to boil. It is terrible to realize I took it out upon those poor travelers, but I must admit I killed them out of spite.
As I slipped through the shadows back into my room, I felt Vlad follow me. He tried to reach for me, but I evaded him.
“Why do you not entertain your mistress?” I snarled at him.
“Jealous, wife?” Vlad said with bemusement.
I struggled to contain myself, but a cold anger filled me. “I demand to know if we are returning to the castle.”
“We are.”
I was startled at how easily he responded. “Oh. Well. Then. What do you plan to do about the sisters?”
Vlad crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me thoughtfully. “I suppose I shall feed them so they may return to their senses.”
“So you will not kill them?”
Vlad shook his head. “No, I will not.”
I relaxed a bit as he said this and realized I had been terrified we were returning to the castle only for him to wipe out my sisters and destroy what little happiness I had within the castle walls.
“Very well,” I said. “Then I am satisfied.”
He shook his head, laughing softly. “I am glad for that.”
I began to uncoil my hair, letting it fall around my shoulders in red waves. He stared at me openly as I did, so I turned my back on him. I pointedly ignored the sleeping woman on our bed as I went about preparing to sleep through the day. It was near morning.
“I will see to the people next door,” Vlad said. He hoisted the sleeping woman up into his arms and vanished from our room.
I drew on a nightgown and brushed out my hair, enjoying the sensation of warmth within my body as the blood renewed me. As I drew the brush through my red tresses, I thought of Buda, our house there and all that had occurred. It had been glorious. I wanted nothing more than to go back and reclaim my life there. But, alas, we were returning to the castle.
Vlad returned and joined me on the bed. The shutters were drawn tightly over the windows, and I knew that the guards Astir had provided would watch our room throughout the day.
I finished brushing my hair and lay the brush on the small table next to the bed. Drawing my feet up from the floor, I lay down.
“You are unhappy,” Vlad said in a low voice.
“I dread what we will find at the castle,” I answered.
“We shall only be there for a short time,” Vlad assured me.
“I meant the sisters.”
“Oh, yes. Well…we shall deal with them,” Vlad answered, hooked his arm around my waist, and pulled me firmly to him.
“But you will not kill them,” I said.
“No, I will not.”
I sighed with relief and closed my eyes.
We returned to the castle the next night. The sky was clear and beautiful. The cold stars glittered above us set in the soft velvet of the night sky.
Vlad looked more like the Prince of Wallachia than he had since we had departed. His hair had fully grown out and his mustache was quite thick. Dressed in clothes more suited for the countryside, I could see the old world warrior within him. He was in a pensive mood, quiet, and guarded. His green eyes glimmered with dark fires, so I dared not try to engage him in conversation.
I was dressed in my traveling clothes and felt nervous about returning to the castle. My life in Buda had made my life in the castle feel remote and surreal. My nights of dressing in flowing, skimpy gowns, my limbs laden with heavy jewelry seemed a distant dream. I wondered briefly if Vlad would demand that I once more dress as a part of his harem, but I suspected we had moved far beyond those roles.
We ascended Bârgãu Pass and I began to feel the pull of the sisters. I could feel their waning power reaching through the blood that connected us, crying out to me. Their hunger was so very strong and I looked to Vlad to see if he also felt it.
His profile seemed carved of stone as he sat in rigid silence beside me. If he heard them, if he felt them, he did not reveal it. Yet I am certain he must have felt their waves of hungry madness seeping through the night.
Far too soon, the castle loomed before us. I could see the flickering light of bonfires around the castle. I felt a sense of dread and glanced toward Vlad for reassurance.