Lost in the Castle

~16~

I opened my mouth to ask what exactly had happened, but he was faster.

"If you get dressed, I'll take you to meet old Cook. She is happy to have someone here who can really appreciate her cooking apart from the maids and servants. She will treat us to a special breakfast. And then we can go out. It's a beautiful winter morning outside. Look."

He crossed the corridor and walked past me into my chamber, stopping by the window, obliging me to follow.

Everything was white outside, and even though the sun was just beginning to rise, there was a strange luminescence emanating from the meadows because of all the sparkling snow.

"Ok, fine," I said, pushing him back out of my room. "I'll get ready. You wait in the library."

"Hurry up, I'm hungry." he said, smiling at my puzzled expression.

I had seen Vlad eating before, but the concept of a vampire eating normal food was still very strange to me. Junior himself had just said that they, vampires, didn't really appreciate Cook's food or something like that... Hopefully, he would not regret at the end of this day that he was left behind to babysit. I had too many questions, questions that, for some reason, seemed much easier to be asked of Junior than of his father.

Now, getting dressed alone and fast is another matter, I thought as I walked towards my bed, remembering the white gown full of inconveniently placed buttons from the previous day. Luckily, none of my dresses had the uncomfortable whale bone or iron corset that the women had to put up with for a long time afterwards. The fashionistas and dressmakers of this era seemed to be content with stiff fabric bodices that with some effort I could put on alone. If I chose the right gown.

I inspected the dress laying on the chair next to my bed and realised with a smile that it was probably Vlad who put it there for me, after instructing Junior about what to do with me in his absence. He remembered the buttons, too. This gown was made of heavy, dark blue velvet, warm and soft to touch, perfectly suitable for riding a horse over the snow-covered countryside. And, more importantly, it had all the buttons, hooks, and laces at the front. It was easy to put on and pleasant to wear, I noticed with satisfaction as I slipped into it. A pair of dark leather boots was under the chair, too.

Bending down to put them on, I called Junior and jumped at finding him seated next to me on the bed when I looked up. They were all so swift and noiseless.

Instead of offering his apologies for scaring the wits out of me, he laughed heartily at my startled expression.

Annoyed by his childish behaviour, I ignored it and only said, as dryly as I could still with my heart in my throat, "I just need a coat, and I'm ready."

"I'll get you a coat. You do your hair. I don't think your nurse will let you go anywhere with me if she sees you like this."

He was right, of course. I hadn't even looked in the mirror this morning, let alone brush my hair. I just didn't care how I looked in front of him. Vlad Junior was like a somewhat irritating younger brother I had never had.

"Fine," I said, walking towards the basin of water between the windows. I cleaned my teeth and washed my face, then brushed my hair and restrained it into a messy bun, not worrying about the stray shorter curls falling chaotically around my face as Junior was already behind me, putting a wide black cloak around my shoulders.

"Are you finally ready, Human? Come, I have to feed you. Father reminded me that you must eat much more often than us," he said, leading the way out of my chamber.

"Oh really? What else did he say?" I asked, raising my eyebrows at him.

"I'll tell you later if you behave," he said, reaching the door leading to the spiral staircase in a blur, the large key in his hand.