Lost in the Castle

~37~

I regained my senses soon after Vlad had laid me on the bed. He was arguing with Katerina, and when I heard their angry voices, I forced myself to follow them back to consciousness. I didn't want them to fight, I had to intervene.

"What is it?" I asked, surprised by how weak my voice sounded.

I was sure that the wound on my neck was only a scratch, I didn't even lose much blood. Still, I was feeling exhausted and sleepy.

Vlad, sitting on the bed next to me, leaned down and kissed me on the forehead, asking, "How are you feeling? You have a fever, but the bite is only superficial..."

"I don't think Radu really wanted to hurt me..." I interrupted him mid sentence. "He is just so very upset..."

"I don't want to hear this. If you hadn't stopped me, I don't know what I would have done to him. Nothing that he would not deserve, certainly." His voice was so hard and cold that it made me shiver.

"When I think that it was him even back then, and I've never guessed! How could I have been so blind?"

He heard the last part of our exchange then... Hopefully, no more than that. There was no point in his finding out now about my suspected pregnancy...

"Why were you and Katerina arguing?" I asked, to distract him.

"It's her!" Vlad exclaimed, diverting his anger at Katerina. "I want to stay with you, to take care of you, but because you lost some blood and your dress is stained with it... She wants me to go away, she thinks I won't handle it! Just how can you still think I would ever harm her, woman! After all this time..." He turned to face Katerina.

My poor love.

"Hush..." I said, lifting myself up slowly and wrapping my arms around him. Even that simple movement felt like a huge effort, and I didn't object when Vlad laid me back down gently.

"It's the effect of the venom. You'll have to take it easy for a few days, but you'll be fine once it wears out." I had never seen him look so frustrated or heard his voice so full of despair before.

I nodded, forcing my lips into an approximation of a reassuring smile, then looked at Katerina. She was standing at the edge of the wooden dais, her chin raised high in the typical sign of defiance.

"Katerina, I love you too. But would you mind leaving us alone now? We won't need your help here. Please," I begged.

It seemed so very important for Vlad to prove to her, me... and even himself that he could manage. But she wasn't moving. I needed to get her busy somehow. Bringing my hand to my neck, I found the wound already dressed. No need to send her for bandages then...

"Katerina, would you get me a clean shirt and some warm water? I want to wash and take this dress off. Once you are done, would you send us some food from the kitchen, we haven't eaten yet."

Vlad raised an eyebrow at me, looking perplexed, but my attempt at distracting the nurse worked. Katerina finally moved down the wooden steps with a silent, "As you wish, my lady."

"Well done," Vlad whispered as we heard her sweeping away the shards of the broken basin, then replacing it with a new one and filling it with water. "I thought she would never leave."

"Are you all right?" I asked him, regretting it straight away. He just turned away from me to hide the boiling anger my question stirred inside of him. Even though I couldn't see it, I could feel it radiate from him.

"What would you like to eat, my lady?" Katerina asked when she returned to us. She put a smaller basin filled with warm water on the chair standing next to the bed, along with a clean white shirt and a couple of towels.