Lost in the Castle

~31~

The days after Petru Rareş and his minions left the castle, chased each other away in a blur.

Sorina recovered quickly, and a few weeks later, she was allowed to join me and Clara, but only when at least one of the men-- Mihail, Ioan, or Vlad-- were present, too. She was a very nice and friendly young woman, and it was a pleasure having her around.

Even though she looked like any of them by now, perfectly human-like and self-composed, she never joined us during the meals in the beginning. I was told on different occasions by either Clara, Ioan or Mihail-- always after they glanced over their shoulders several times surreptitiously to make sure that Vlad was nowhere within earshot-- that at the moment she could only drink animal blood. She would start eating again, eventually.

Knowing that talking about it was making Vlad feel uncomfortable, I never brought the subject up in front of him. I was able to find out all that I really wanted to know by pestering the others with my questions. And, as I heard, Junior would be coming soon. He would surely tell me the rest, fill in all the remaining gaps in my knowledge.

The life seemed perfect, and I started to coax myself into first hoping, then believing that maybe it could last forever. Vlad finally had more time just for me. Whenever the weather permitted, we would spend most of the time outside, riding, visiting the village when running small errands, accompanying Clara and Ioan to the mill, or simply exploring the surrounding forest.

When it was too cold, snowing, or as the spring approached raining, we would spend most of the time in the library. While Vlad was reading or writing letters, I continued drawing in my book. There were nearly no pages left without my sketches obliterating the printed words.

Of course, there were moments, especially at nighttime, when instead of sleeping, I passed hours thinking about my friends and parents, my life back in London... But the memories were fading slowly. I started to regard that part of my life as a story in a book which I had read so many times that I felt as if I knew its protagonists personally, but still, it wasn't about me.

Whenever the memories kept me up all night and left me exhausted and melancholic in the morning, Vlad would make sure that my mood didn't last too long. After every sleepless night, there was a new sunrise to watch from the tower. It was always worth climbing the spiral staircase at the crack of dawn, however tired I felt, to admire nature's awaking at Vlad's side. If only to see him smiling at me when he saw my nostalgia dissipate like the early morning's mist.

Like this, days continued fading into weeks and morphing into months. Spring arrived unnoticed, silent as a whisper, gentle like a caress.

Everyone kept talking about the oncoming ball. Clara, who was still busy finishing her gown. Sorina, who was expecting her parents to come for the occasion, as the last time they came, just after she had arrived in the castle, she did not see them. Katerina, whose duty it was to make sure that all the guests who would be staying would have a suitable place to rest or sleep. And even all those inhabitants of the castle who habitually gathered in the kitchen every night, the maids, servants, and grooms...

Apparently, I was the least excited of them all. The idea of the great and magnificent Council gathered in the castle in their full number this time, the notion of seeing the obnoxious Petru Rareş again, was disconcerting, to put it mildly.

After weeks of waiting and preparations, the day of the ball finally arrived.

"I have a little surprise for you," Vlad whispered in my ear as he woke me up one morning.

He was sitting on the bed next to me, dressed and ready to leave.

A large number of guests had gathered in the castle over the last couple of days, and we were back to our normal, busy routine. Which meant not seeing enough of each other when I would give anything to have him just for myself.