"How did it go?" Lucas asked, squinting at me through the falling snow as I walked out of the church and joined him under the trees.
"Perfectly." I smiled happily, letting him pull my hood on.
"Do you mean that the priest agreed?" He asked, voice laced with surprise and doubt.
"He did. But I need to find a suitable place."
"And... can you?"
"Of course." I replied, imagining how much work would need to be done on the half crumbled chapel by the lake. Mine and Vlad's chapel... "But let us go home now, it's getting late."
As Lucas had predicted, the castle was upside down when we got back, late in the afternoon, wet through because of the heavy snowfall.
I looked at him and took a deep breath even as he shook his head.
"After you, Princess," he said, motioning towards the wooden bridge spanning over the impetuous stream I could only hear in the darkness of the early winter night starting to descend around us. I let the wolf pack go, then we crossed over, followed only by Shadow.
One of the Guards meeting us on the drawbridge sent for Katerina immediately and she was waiting for me, silent but scowling, on top of the first staircase.
"You're drenched to the bone!" She scolded when I reached her, peeling the heavy coat off me. "Your bath is nearly ready... And you, Master Lucas, a great Guard you are..."
"Katerina it's not his fault!" I defended my friend, then added, turning to him, "Go take a rest, Lucas, I'll be fine. See you in the morning, for the archery lesson, remember? And thank you. For everything."
He winked at me gratefully for not forcing him to listen to my nurse's laments and pulled me in a quick, one armed embrace, then was off.
"Where have you been, my lady... when your husband finds out..." Katerina rattled on as we entered my chamber and she helped me out of my damp clothes, then into the bath the moment the maids left.
"Don't worry, Katerina. I'll explain it to him." I said, reveling in the feeling of the warm water caressing my skin, hoping that Vlad would understand and forgive me.
"I've been afraid..." Katerina mumbled, as she added more wood to the fire and spread a towel and one of my white shirts on the bench to warm up.
"Nothing happened to me, I'm well. And hungry." I added in an attempt to make her change the subject.
"I'll get someone to bring your food the moment you are dressed."
Once I was dry, dressed and wrapped in my blanket, Katerina sent me to bed while she helped the maids to remove the bath so they would not wake me up later.
"Is there any news from my husband? When is he coming back?" I asked her when she appeared at the foot of my bed, carrying a tray with my dinner.
"A messenger arrived for you from him just before lunch, saying his lordship would be back tomorrow night, or the morning after at the latest. But, seeing that... you were nowhere to be found, and the man was sent back to your husband with that information, I would not be surprised if he returned earlier." She sighed, making me feel guilty. I did not want Vlad to worry.
I nibbled at my food half-heartedly, not feeling hungry at all.
Katerina sat on the bed next to me, watching me intently as she said, "Your mother was just as stubborn as you, once she set her mind on something there was no stopping her..."
"Katerina, tell me about her, please!" I begged, sensing one of the rare moments when she was willing to talk, as I passed the tray to her. She placed it on the small table next to my bed even as I lay down, snuggling under the blankets.
Then I let her voice wash over me, her words filling me up with drops of truth about the woman who died to give life to me and I did not even remember her.
"Your mother was one of us. A witch, of the kind which is supposed to keep their distance from humans. A transcendental. But she fell in love with your father and did not care... See, the moment we fall in love, and tie our life with a human's, we lose our immortality and become just like them, apart from a few powers we keep. She died in childbirth, begging me to stay close to you, to protect you. And I promised her that. I became your nurse, pretending to be an ordinary mortal, and I never left you out of my sight entirely until... the day you left us."
She observed me, her eyes filling with tears. I did not move or spoke, afraid that she would not say anything more if I interrupted her.
"When your father promised you to Lord Radu, I... was happy. I knew that he was about to become a vampire like his father, and vampires are not really humans any longer... But you disliked him from the moment you two first met and as the years passed, I saw you falling for Lord Vlad, who never considered becoming one of them. I knew that your mother would not deprive you of such love, the same for which she sacrificed her own life so I... stepped back. I watched helplessly how his love for you grew equal to yours, even though I knew how it would finish for you... And when it happened, when the end finally arrived, using my magic I separated this place, this... rivulet from the main river of time, distancing it from any other human world. I created this enchanted realm and trapped everybody in it, waiting for your return."
"You knew that I would be reborn." I said when she trailed off, my voice barely audible above the crackle of the fire.
"Of course. We all do. Those of us who lose their immortality and die, are reborn. Once. Like you, they are born as humans and remember nothing, or very little, from their previous existence. And they all take their own time-- there is no way of predicting where or when they would be born again."
I sat up, facing her, my hands fisting around the blankets as I realized what her words implied. Maybe I wasn't too late...
"Has my mother been reborn already?"
Katerina nodded, "Yes, and not too long before you. Her name was Zora, just like before... Interesting how they all keep their names and looks... " she murmured, more to herself than to me. "Maybe because her connection with me was stronger than yours, she was born here, within this world. She married the miller."
She married the miller... my subconscious whispered the line a few times as I struggled to keep up with Katerina's story.
"She... was Clara's mother?" I breathed after a few moments, unable to believe it.
"Yes, and like before, she died in childbirth, just like you nearly died in Lord Radu's hands again. It's... like a curse."
She looked at me intently, trying to see if I was still following her before she continued, "She remembered much less of her previous life than you, nothing apart from a few unclear flashes she would see from time to time, and spoke to me about them as if they were strange dreams. There was no point for me to trouble her with things she could not understand. When I recognized her, we became good friends, but I never told her anything about her past existence."
I nodded, even though her words did not fully register in my mind, not yet. The only thing I was sure about now was, "Clara... is my... half-sister..."
Katerina smiled, "She is."
"Does anyone know?" I asked, even as I remembered that her, our secrets were not to be revealed.
She only shook her head.
"Clara..." I asked again, trying to picture our next meeting. How on earth am I to behave...
"She knows nothing, and you must not tell her. She would not understand. She does not remember her mother and as she was reborn as a near complete human, any special skills Clara might have inherited would be so weak that she doesn't even notice them."
I nodded. "So this is why you care about her, and the miller so much."
"Yes," Katerina smiled, "Zora loved them, so they are dear to me, too."
I smiled back. Even if Vlad and I left this place, she would have others to stay here with, keeping this place for us.
"Zora... The name means sunrise, doesn't it? Just like Aurora."
Katerina nodded, smiling, and stood up. But even though I wanted to lay down and think everything through alone, one more thing sprang up in my mind.
"Katerina, why are the portals only open on Halloween nights?"
"Because as you might know it's the time when most of the passages between worlds stand open. Even though you may have felt pulled towards this castle your entire life, you could only walk through the passage on that one day of the year. Not even my magic can keep it closed then, or open on other days.
I sighed, feeling tired and confused. Stunned. It was all so unbelievable.
"You must sleep now, my lady. You had a long day. Don't leave the castle tomorrow, I'm sure Lord Vlad will be back early, and he won't be happy..."
"Are you foretelling my near future?" I forced a smile, looking at her stern face.
She shook her head. "I wish you were more careful. You may be a vampire now but still..."
"Good night, Katerina." I muttered, hugging Vlad's pillow to my chest, wishing he was next to me, angry or not.
The following morning, Clara entered my room the moment the table by the windows was laid for breakfast.
"They are coming back today," she beamed at me, confirming Katerina's words.
I watched her cheeks flushed with the early morning's frost she had faced on her way from the mill, and her love for Junior. She missed him as much as I missed his father.
I invited her to join me for breakfast and she did not refuse. While we ate, she kept talking about her father and little Ioan. I observed her inconspicuously, noticing our likeness properly for the first time. Her hair was only a shade or two darker than mine, she was as short as me... How did I never think about this before?
"Will you come outside with us?" I proposed when Lucas knocked and entered my chamber a little later. "We are going to practice archery."
She raised an eyebrow at me, "Archery? No thank you. I'll... stay in the kitchen with grandmother and Ioan. You... will be careful, right?"
She looked from me to Lucas before she left us, even as he replied, "Of course, no worries, Clara."
I smiled at him the moment she was out. "That should actually be 'Lady Clara' as she is marrying the future prince the moment I get the chapel restored."
"You are right. Let's teach you some archery before you come up with some other crazy idea. Visiting that priest yesterday was enough for me." He teased, helping me into my coat.
I patted my pockets, and finding the key to the spiral staircase where I left it the previous evening, I beckoned him to follow me towards the door leading to it.