Lost in the Castle

~16~

I woke up feeling cold, scared, and lost. I was alone in my bed.

It was still dark when I sprang into a sitting position, wide awake, my heart fluttering in frantic rhythm in my chest. He has just left me-- in my dream, Vlad took me back to my own time and left me there.

I struggled to free myself from the tangled blankets and put my feet on the cool wooden floor. Luckily, someone had thought of bringing my slippers over; I remembered having left them by the bathtub the previous night. Even a clean dress was spread on the chair next to my bed.

First things first, I thought, deciding to ignore the dress for the moment and find my elusive husband. Where did he go now? Would he be having breakfast in the Great Hall with the others? The darkness outside suggested that maybe it was still too early for breakfast, but I decided to check anyway.

Dressed only in the long white shirt I had slept in, unwilling to waste time with wrapping myself in my blanket as usual, I quickly made my way towards the door that led to the spiral staircase. I would look, and if they were there, then I would dress quickly and join them, vampires or not. I was back now and belonged here as much as they did, if not more. They were my guests, too, and I was not going to hide.

Reaching for the door handle, I jumped at hearing a vaguely familiar voice, making its way to me from the far end of the corridor.

"There's nothing interesting to see down there at the moment. They are all too busy to sit and chat over breakfast today. And it's locked anyway, remember?"

Yes, I did remember now. The key was somewhere in my chamber, most probably still on the bench by the fireplace.

I looked at Vlad Junior, who materialised out of nowhere like a huge Cheshire Cat. He was leaning casually against the open door of the library, his silhouette haloed by the soft yellow glow of the dying fire from behind. In the dim light coming from my chamber, I could see that his arms were crossed over his chest, and a wide grin illuminated his boyish face, making him look even younger.

I crossed my arms across my body like him, remembering that I was wearing nothing but a shirt.

"I wasn't going to spy," I said, recalling that I had never been a good liar as my declaration only widened his Cheshire Cat grin. Weren't they supposed to have fangs? Apparently not. "I wanted to go up to the tower," I insisted. "Anyway, what are you doing here, and where is everybody else, then?" Where is your father?

"Mother and Uncle Andrei are getting ready. They are leaving today."

Good. I was happy about this piece of news, but it didn't answer all of my questions.

"I'm staying here for the moment, thanks for your invitation, my lady. And I'm to look after you today. We will have the whole day to get to know each other better." He bowed to me politely, and I curtseyed awkwardly, realising again how fast the ingrained manners of this life were coming back to me.

Hmm... He had been obliged or volunteered to keep me company for the day, but why?

Seeing that he was not going to contribute the only information I really cared about, I wrapped my arms tighter around my cold body and frowning slightly at him, asked, "Where is your father?"

"He is in the village," Junior said matter-of-factly, waving his hand in the air as if to underline the banality of my question. But as he continued, what he told me sounded like a carefully prepared and well rehearsed speech. "There has been some trouble, nothing to worry about much, but it will keep him away until tonight, at least."

Oh. I did not expect anything of the sort. Was I supposed to worry, or was this kind of 'trouble' normal, something that happened often? Maybe this was something unusual, serious, or dangerous. Something, a fleeting shadow that had moved behind Junior's eyes when he spoke, suggested that the matter was probably not as light as he wanted me to believe.