Lost in the Castle

~20~

I took a deep breath and opened the door of my room carefully. Katerina was not there, I noticed peeking inside. Good. I knew exactly what she would say should she see me like this, I didn't need to hear it. I walked inside preceded by Shadow, shut the door, and rushed towards the fireplace. Taking my drenched coat off quickly, I spread it over the bench and patted my dress. It wasn't too bad, really, just a bit damp; the thick wool of my coat had trapped most of the water. But I had to get changed anyway, unless I wanted to catch a cold.

Still trembling, I walked into my dressing room. Luckily, Katerina always kept a couple of dresses spread out over the wooden chests, ready to wear. In the dim light that found its way here from my chamber, I shed my damp clothes and removed my wet shoes. I grabbed the closest dress I could reach and tiptoed back to my much brighter and warmer chamber.

When Katerina entered the chamber, I was dressed, seated by the fire, my damp hair loose and drying up slowly, and my slippered feet stretched as close to the burning embers as I dared.

Shadow, spread out luxuriously by the hearth, raised his furry head momentarily, but not finding the old woman as interesting as some other inhabitants of the castle promptly went back to sleep.

"Is he back yet?" I asked before she could say anything. Someone must have told her in which condition I had come back because she wore a deep frown on her face and carried a steaming cup on a small silver tray.

I was only interested in the latter.

"I will have to have a word with the young lord, I think. He mustn't bring you back like this..." she started.

"I think not, Katerina. You won't tell him anything. This was as much my fault as his," I said, reaching for the cup.

At least I had stopped shivering. If she had seen me when I arrived, I would be in real trouble.

"Is my husband back?" I repeated after I took a sip of the warm spiced wine, feeling its heat spread through my body.

"But he didn't even bring you in for lunch..."

"Katerina!" She was the most exasperating person in the whole world.

I stood up, slammed the cup down on its tray spilling half of its contents, and made for the door leading towards Vlad's chamber. If she wasn't going to tell me, I would find out on my own. I reached the library before she caught up with me, a candle glowing in her hand. It was dark and cold, and so was Vlad's chamber.

"Katerina, I want someone to come at once and light a fire in here. It's snowing outside; he will be freezing when he comes back!"

"But his lordship might not be back tonight, my lady."

"He will," I said, trying to persuade myself as much as her. "Just do as I say. Please." Seeing his chamber so dark and cold was unsettling.

"Very well, I'll send someone to attend to it. But you must come to dinner now."

Seeing my mood, she wisely kept her opinion about my wolf behind her tightly closed lips. She didn't even object to my bringing him into the kitchen.

When we reached the kitchen everybody was already there-- Junior, Cook, Clara and Ioan. Shadow made a beeline for Ioan, as he was the only vampire present the wolf hadn't met so far. From the expression on his face, it was obvious that he would have jumped if Clara wasn't sitting on his lap. She jumped at seeing me, though, embarrassed.

"Please, stay, don't mind me," I told her.

I didn't understand why she should feel shy in front of me if she didn't seem to mind her grandmother seeing them like this.