"You are very stubborn and brave for a human, you know?"
I opened my eyes in time to see Junior giving me a curious sidelong glance.
Stubborn, maybe. But brave? I didn't think so, I was still shaking from my encounter with Jusztyna.
"I'm sorry, Vlad," I said.
"Hmm?" He looked at me again, puzzled.
"I would hate to see you arguing with your mother because of me," I told him, meaning it.
Whatever she was, however she behaved to me, she was still his mother.
"You mustn't worry about it. This kind of argument has been going on between us for ages. Father hasn't spoken to her in years. She is... well, we are just too different," he assured me, taking hold of the reins of the two horses brought to us by a groom.
The presence of the two beautiful animals calmed me further, and I smiled at my Frost, as I caressed his pinkish nose and patted the smooth white fur of his large, warm body. He nudged at my hand tentatively and snorted in righteous indignation when I failed to offer him a treat. I must remember to bring him something when I come out the next time.
I looked at Junior, who was similarly busy with his own horse.
"So Clara will need a chamber now that she will live with us in the castle, I shall see to it as soon as we are back," I said, hoping to distract him. He still looked gloomy and worried after our encounter with his mother. "Shall I keep her close to me, or will Ioan have other ideas?"
The shocked look Junior shot me was telling me that my conception of a relationship was maybe a bit liberal for this era.
"Ioan can have all the ideas he wants, but until he and Clara are allowed to marry, those ideas will remain just that. The girl is barely seventeen, and if her father agrees to leave her with you, then he will surely expect you to take some responsibility for her. Maybe we should go to see Clara's father now, so you can talk to him personally. He might feel better if he sees that you are a human like them. He doesn't like us," Junior said with a wave of his hand that included himself, the castle and the vampire knights standing by the open gate. "The man is not fond of Ioan at all," he added as he helped me mount my horse.
As we rode out of the castle gates, the horses' hooves clattering loudly on the hard wood of the drawbridge, I noticed the wolf pack watching us from the shadows of the nearest trees, like a silent guard.
"Amazing creatures," I whispered, turning my horse towards them.
"You like them?" Junior asked, surprised.
"Don't you?" It was my turn to be surprised when he shuddered before responding.
"No, I don't. None of us does, except my father. They are the only animals able to kill a vampire."
Oh! I had no idea. I had kind of assumed that vampires could not really be hurt, so now I was shocked into silence. There was a lot to learn for me.
Instead of riding towards the forest and the wolves, Junior led the way down the hill. We rode along a narrow, rocky road pursuing the stream running at the bottom of a deep gorge. Without any bidding or order from me, Frost obediently followed Junior's grey, carefully choosing his footing on the treacherous, snow-covered rocks. We rode in silence for a while, the muffled, rhythmic sound of the hoof beats on the fresh snow, helping me to organize my scattered thoughts and form a coherent question.
"Can a vampire die, then?" I asked when the narrow road became wider, and I could bring my horse next to Junior's and ride close by his side.
"Of course. We can kill each other. But there is the Council to make sure that this doesn't happen without a very good reason. There are laws and rules we must follow and respect. Even humans can kill us, but it's not that easy for them. They would need to burn us alive. Didn't you know that?" He smiled at me, a smile that did not reach his eyes.
I shook my head and swallowed with some difficulty before answering, my mouth suddenly dry, "I thought you were immortal." And couldn't be hurt, at least not easily. I wished I had paid more attention when reading vampire novels. But I had just never believed that a wooden stake ran through a heart, crucifixes or fire could kill a vampire. Better, I had never believed in vampires.
"Where exactly did your father go?" I was definitely beginning to worry now; coldness that had nothing to do with the frosty weather started to seep through my body, chilling me to the bones.
"He is in the village, Samara, and absolutely safe. You mustn't worry about him, silly." The smile reached his eyes this time; whatever he saw in my face amused him.
I looked away from him to compose my features; I didn't want him to laugh at me.
"Hey, I'm sorry," he said after a while, resting one of his hands on both of mine, clasped so tightly around the reins of my horse that they were starting to hurt. I had left my gloves somewhere in my chamber with my other coat, and now my hands were freezing, even Junior's normally cold hand felt warmer than mine. "I suppose you are afraid, but please, trust me, he'll be back tonight."
"And we might even meet him in Bran," I said hopefully, realising that we were headed towards the village ourselves. Soon, we would pass the spot where in my time the hotel where I stayed would stand...
Thinking about what had happened to me was still too confusing. I didn't understand any of it yet, but I didn't want to think about it right now. Aren't there a bit too many things you simply refuse to think about? my subconscious questioned.
"I didn't say he was in Bran." Junior's voice pulled me back to my current here and now. "They went to Sighisoara."
"What?" That's a good ninety kilometres away, my mind informed me promptly.
Sighisoara was not close, I knew that perfectly well. We-- Lia, Anne and myself-- wanted to visit the small medieval town during our Halloween trip, but were told by a friendly and helpful receptionist of our hotel that we would need to stay at least one more day to do so. And whereas Lia could afford one more day of holiday, both me and Anne were supposed to be back at work on Saturday... Stop!!! Wherever I was supposed to be on Saturday, the third of November, twenty-eighteen, did not matter at all right now.
"He will never be back tonight; it must take at least one full day to get so far on horseback!" I insisted.
"You are right. On a horse, it would take a long time. Running is much faster," he said, gauging my reaction, his lips twitching with a suppressed smile.
"What..." I repeated, too stunned to find anything more proper to say.
I kept forgetting. They were vampires. Suddenly, I thought that even if some of them looked nearly as human as me, for them, it was only an act. A simple pretence. Or maybe it was hard work, an ordeal some of them put themselves through but still... They were only doing it for the sake of the humans around them. Who knows how they were when left on their own, among others of their kind? Those like Radu and Jusztyna.... I had already noticed that they were all stronger and much faster, they didn't really need to eat or sleep, they didn't mind the sunshine more than me, they did not seem to feel cold... What else was there? Did I really want to know?
Junior was watching me so intently that for a moment, I was sure he was reading my thoughts.
"If Father is not back tonight, Ioan and the Guard will follow him tomorrow," he promised. I felt he did not want to tell me anything more about the matter. Not unless I asked directly, and I couldn't. Not yet. So much for being brave.
"Why doesn't Clara's father like Ioan?" I asked instead, ready to change the subject.
"Apart from the obvious?" He laughed, but I just looked at him, nonplussed again.
"Ioan is a vampire, Samara. Clara is not. The humans are supposed to keep with the humans. Her father does not want her to marry one of us. Especially because he has already lost one daughter."
Clara was the second daughter of the local miller, Junior explained. Her mother died in giving birth to her, and the girl was brought up by her father and grandmother-- the castle's Cook. Clara spent as much time in the castle as in the mill while she was growing up until her older sister died. She was killed by a vampire who was never found. After that, her father forbade Clara to come to the castle or meet any of the vampires, but it was too late, she and Ioan were already in love and kept finding ways to see each other.
"They are like Romeo and Juliet," I murmured, more to myself than to Junior, smiling when a baffled expression crossed his handsome face. "Never mind, you wouldn't understand," I assured him, pulling Frost's reins tighter to make him walk slower.
We were descending a steep, rocky hillside. The mill lay just underneath us to the left, in the place where the strong current of the small stream flew down in a few metres tall cascade, landing with a loud splash on a huge wooden wheel, exploding on impact in a shimmering rainbow hovering above the water's surface.
A sudden echoing clatter of falling rocks made me look behind us.
"It's just one of your wolves," Junior said without looking around. "He's been following us like a shadow ever since we left the castle."
I could see him now-- it was the dove-grey young male. He sat half hidden in the bushes, not very far but not even too close, as still as a... shadow. He has just earned his name. Shadow. It suited him perfectly.
We crossed a small stone arch bridge spanning over the impetuous stream not far from the giant wheel, thus reaching the large wooden building.
"Are you ready?" Junior asked as we tethered the horses outside the mill. "You tell him."
And so I did.
Clara's father, a short, sturdy man in his fifties, welcomed us if not in an entirely cordial, then in a very polite manner. He expressed his delight at my being back finally, the happy news already spread as far as the village and the people rejoiced with His Highness. Well, even if the vampires in general were not loved by humans, Vlad seemed to be respected by his loyal subjects. That's better than an open dislike, I mused.
The miller didn't resemble his daughter, but there was an obvious similarity between him and Cook. The roundness of his face for one and the way his dark, intelligent eyes moved quickly between me and Junior. He wasn't as jovial as Cook, his mother, but not unfriendly either.
The man apologised about the slight disorder of the only large habitable room the mill contained-- the place was a kitchen and a bedroom at the same time. Even though the place was clean, the lack of female attention was evident in its details. With his wife long dead and his young daughter mostly up in the castle, he was alone, left to fend for himself.
I felt sorry for him when I realised that he would be really alone once Clara married Ioan, but, I reasoned, it wasn't really Clara's place to look after her father, she had her own life to live.
It was obvious that the man did not like Junior exceedingly and was surprised to find out that I was as human as him. He warmed up towards us somehow when he understood that my situation was very similar to his daughter's.
"I really appreciate your staying human despite being married to one of them, my lady," the miller said.
I did not appreciate it particularly, and I was happy that Clara's father could read the others' thoughts only as much as me. I shot Junior a warning look when I heard his effort to mask his outburst of laughter as a coughing fit. He knew better.
"You see, Lady Samara, I think highly of your husband. He is a great man, but still... he is not like us and... They are different," he said, looking suspiciously at Junior. "I don't know this Ioan well, but I know Clara and if she has chosen him then he must be a good man. Please tell him to give her time to decide. Clara is too young now to know what she really wants. And even if I know that I can't stand in her way forever... please don't let him change her yet."
With that, he accompanied us outside and only spoke again once we were ready to leave. He had to raise his voice to be heard above the sound of the enormous wheel yielding to the stubborn, ceaseless stream, creaking and sighing but moving relentlessly nonetheless.
"I want my girl to make her own choice when she is ready. Not mine or her lover's. I want her to be happy."
"I understand. I'll do my best to help her be happy," I told him as he kissed my hand and bowed politely to Junior.
Once we were in the saddle, the horses were ready to move, stumping impatiently in the snow-covered yard. We took our leave quickly and left the miller to his hard work.
Clara is lucky to have such an understanding father, I thought, looking back at the man, already busy with sacks of grains piled high against the outer wall of the mill. My own parents were a different cup of tea. If only they knew where I was now... Well, it would take a lot more to explain my situation to them than it did to Clara's father. Expecting them to understand it would be outright foolish.
But there would be enough time to worry about this problem when and if it occurred, I decided. I had other things to think about right now.