Vlad and I walked through the candle lit corridors and descended the vast staircases holding hands, preceded by Shadow and followed by a couple of knights.
Rather than looking under my feet, I found myself observing Vlad's profile, taking him in, letting him guide me through the semi-darkness of the castle. It was a marvellous feeling, not being alone, having him around for once. I hoped he would never leave for days on end again.
As we reached the unusually noisy corridor leading to the Great Hall, and from there all the way towards the kitchens, I tried to direct Shadow towards the aromas of food coming from that direction. Of course, he feigned ignorance of what I was suggesting until Vlad looked in his eyes and raised his hand toward the far end of the corridor. And just like that, the stubborn wolf was gone.
"That's rather impressive," I said surprised, "how did you do that? Can you teach me?" I added teasingly.
He laughed, then kissed me, his lips meeting mine with such gentleness and urgency at the same time that I forgot all about the wolf and everything else. Vlad had the best way of avoiding answering most of my questions. Oh well...
The door of the Great Hall opened, letting a wedge of bright light and a loud mixture of voices and music into the dim corridor. Someone walked out, freezing at the sight of us, hidden there in the near complete darkness.
"Your Highness," I recognized Ioan's voice before I turned completely towards the intruders. Vlad put his fingers under my chin and tilted my face back to his, kissing me one more time before he turned his attention to the Guards.
He put his arm around my waist as we walked closer to them.
"Excuse us, my lord, my lady," Ioan said, bowing deeply, "but we were just looking for you... Mihail here..."
"That's why we are here, Mihail. Samara, Mihail is Sorina's suitor. You may go to see her now," Vlad added, turning to the young man.
"Thank you for looking after her, my lady," Mihail said, dropping to his knee in front of me and kissing my hand, taking me by surprise.
"I... couldn't do... much, Mihail," I stammered, putting my hand on his shoulder, suggesting he stood up. "I'm really sorry we couldn't help her more... but I believe she was found too late, and we must wait..." I found it difficult to explain something I still didn't understand completely myself.
"Thank you, my lady," Mihail repeated, standing up. "I'm glad she is alive. The rest... We will figure it out. We would have done it sooner or later anyway."
I nodded, feeling relieved for Sorina. Mihail will stand by her side even once she is changed. In her misfortune, she was lucky.
"Ioan, would you show him the way, please?" I said, looking at the Captain. "Just leave Mihail with Sorina and Katerina. He can stay as long as he wants."
"Of course, Lady Samara," Ioan agreed before the two of them disappeared in the direction of the staircase.
"One thing done," Vlad said, opening the door to the Great Hall. "Now let me introduce you to the rest of my Guard."
I was blinded momentarily by the flood of flickering light as the door opened. The vast hall was full of people dressed mostly in azure cloaks. His Highness' Guard. There must have been at least thirty of them, some sitting at the two long tables, eating, others standing in small groups dispersed around the room, talking and drinking. There was music, adding to the general confusion of voices, raining down upon those gathered in the hall from a long and narrow gallery situated high along one of the walls.
"Where do you keep them all?" I asked, puzzled, observing the large number of men. I had never noticed more than a handful of the Guards in the castle at the same time.
Vlad laughed softly, the sound disappearing in the surrounding noise.
"There are not many of them around usually. The Guards are not like the knights. They are my friends or my friends' sons. Being a Guard is more a position of honour than duty. I only call them when they are really needed. Mostly, it is just Ioan who is present because of Clara and a couple of his closest friends."
"Do you need them now?" I asked, frowning in confusion. "Why?"
"For your protection," he announced simply, and noticing my frown added, "Until we find out more about the fire..."
I rolled my eyes at him. Vlad was exaggerating, of course, but there was no point in arguing with him about this. This was one battle I could not win.
At least one thing was good about their number. They were making such a bustle that no one had noticed us entering. I would hate being in the centre of attention of this amount of people. Vampires, I corrected myself.
"What about the knights? Are the maids off tonight?" I asked, dropping our previous subject as I noticed some knights streaming in and out with trays of food, cups, and bottles.
It reminded me of my first night in this castle, about the dancing guests in this very room and how, later, it was the knights and not the servants who brought the food for me and lighted the fire. That night, I was too distracted to notice properly, but now...
"Well, if the guests are purely vampires, then we don't use the human servants and maids around them, just as a precaution, you see..."
"That is a rule, actually, the Council's rule." A strange male voice spoke from somewhere very close behind me.
I was proud of myself that I didn't jump or even flinch. I was starting to get used to them materialising out of thin air.
"For instance, we wouldn't want too many of our men falling for human girls, following His Highness' example. That's against our rules, too," the man continued as he stepped into my field of vision, looking at me intently. Then he bowed and smiled so broadly that I caught a glimpse of most of his small, white teeth. No fangs. "Or getting... other ideas. In our view, the humans and vampires fare better when they are apart," he explained.
I started to fear for Clara and Ioan at hearing this. If this man was one of those who would decide about their future, then I wasn't sure they would let them get married at all.
Vlad wrapped his arm tighter around my waist before he introduced the man to me, "My lady, this is Lord Petru Rareş, one of the members of the Council."
I noticed a shadow pass behind the short man's eyes, and he frowned slightly, as if he wasn't happy with Vlad's introduction. I didn't particularly like him, but I had to smile when I noticed how fitting his name was. He really was rare-haired. Or maybe Rareş is only a nickname, I thought. That would explain his reaction.
However, the sparseness of the man's hair reminded me, out of all people, of William, my ex-boyfriend. This man even had the same baby blue eyes. If he was a head taller and slightly more muscular...
I grinned at the thought, and Petru The Rare-haired took my grin for a sign of cordiality. He smiled back, exposing his perfect teeth again, kissing my hand.
"You are definitely different from our regular humans, my lady," he said as his gaze pierced through me, scanning me from head to toe. I had to resist the urge to fidget under his unwavering scrutiny. What did he mean? Different how? My manners? My looks? No. I don't like him, I decided.
Suddenly, Petru turned away so fast that his grey cloak flared around him like a fan, revealing its silver lining. He called towards those present in the Great Hall on top of his lungs, "Their Highnesses, Prince Vlad and Princess Samara!"
Great. Did he know that I was hoping to avoid this, and that's why he did it? What am I to do now? Curtsey? I despaired as some thirty pairs of eyes rested on me in unison.
"Hmm... hi everybody..." I said, blushing, as all the noise in the room suddenly stopped. Vlad chuckled silently at my side but said nothing. Ever so helpful.
"I'm thrilled to meet all of you!" I added.
Luckily, everybody seemed to recover really fast, and the men started streaming towards us to be introduced.
Standing next to Vlad, composed and silent, I had my hand kissed again and again. I tried to register their names, but when after Stefan, Mircea, Jovan, and Ionel came another Stefan, I was lost. I stopped thinking and simply smiled at everyone.
Finally, the music started to play again, and Petru strolled away, disappearing into the cheerful crowd.
I took a deep breath and asked Vlad, my voice pleading, "Are we done here? Can we go now?"
"Into the kitchen?" he asked, the word sounding strange coming from him, a small smile tugging at the corners of lips. As I only nodded, he added, "Lead the way then."
He is amazing. I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him, then grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room.
"What do you think about Petru?" he asked as we walked down the corridor, our footfalls echoing off the walls. This part of the castle seemed eerily quiet after the confusion in the Great Hall.
"I don't like him," I said honestly. "He is... creepy." That wasn't exactly the right word to describe the man, but the only other adjective I could think of to qualify Petru was dangerous. And that wasn't quite precise either. He was... somewhere in between.
Vlad nodded as if he understood anyway. "He wants to feel important. Petru is the founder of the Council, and he likes to think of himself as its head. But if you ask the other members, there's no such thing. They are all equal." His voice faded in an equivalent of a shrug.
"I don't like the idea of the Council deciding about Clara and Ioan's wedding and their future. Why should they have a say in it? It's not fair," I complained.
"I know," he said gently.
We stopped in front of the kitchen door, and Vlad pulled me into a tight embrace. I buried my face into his chest, happy that even though I came back here, unexpected, appearing out of nowhere and being just a human on top of it, we wouldn't have to ask anybody's permission to stay together. He was my husband if the Council liked it or not.
Vlad spoke again, caressing my hair. "That's how it works here, though, when the couple is mixed. It won't be easy to persuade the Council to give them their permission, but we will manage."
I nodded. I believed him. Clara and Ioan would be fine.
"Ready?" I asked him after a while, indicating the kitchen door.
"Anything for you, my love," he replied, opening the door.
We walked over the threshold together, welcomed by a collective gasp of those present, the kind that can't be really heard, but can be sensed easily. I laughed when someone dropped a spoon or something, the loud clatter being the only sound at that moment. But then, as Shadow leapt towards us joyfully, they all collected themselves and made place for us on the long bench by the table.
Ioan was already there, and he filled me in about Sorina while Vlad talked to Cook about his choice of dinner, and Clara brought some more plates and cups for us.
Later, after everyone had finished eating, the last plates were cleared away, and our cups were refilled again. I found myself leaning against Vlad, who was absorbed in discussion with Ioan and a young man I recognised as the groom that we usually met in the courtyard around our horses.
I was starting to doze off when I caught Ioan indicating in my direction.
"Time to sleep?" Vlad asked softly, and I pulled myself up, trying to shake the sleepiness off.
I nodded. "You can stay if you like." He seemed to be enjoying himself.
Even before I finished my sentence, he was on his feet, pulling me up.
"Good night to all of you, and thank you," Vlad said as he guided me towards the door while the others sprung to their feet to bow and curtsey, suddenly official again.
"Where to now?" he asked as the door closed behind us, leaving us in the darkness.
"First, we let him out," I announced, looking at Shadow, who was already on his way towards the Entry Hall.
My eyes filled with tears at seeing the magnificence of the moon-lit landscape covered with a layer of fresh snow surrounding the castle as I watched Shadow disappear towards the forest. Everything looked like a fairy tale tonight. My heart was full of joy. Vlad was back. We were together. I didn't ask for more.
I shuddered when a cold voice came from somewhere deep in my mind, a silent warning, "It's too perfect to last..."
"You'll freeze. Come," Vlad said, leading me towards the staircase.
There, we stopped for a moment, hand in hand, looking at each other. He caressed my cheek with the back of his hand, and I leaned into his caress, closing my eyes. Breathe, I reminded myself.
"Is there anything I can do for you, my love?" Vlad asked, his voice breaking with emotion.
I couldn't resist, I just enjoyed too much the way his eyes sparkled whenever I said or did something the old Samara in the past wouldn't dare.
"You could take me... to bed, my lord, I haven't seen the new curtains yet," I said, trying to sound nonchalant, my lips twitching in expectation of laughter at his reaction.
Vlad laughed, making me giggle, the surprise in his eyes caused by the novelty of my manners dissipating fast. Taking the 'take me' literally, he lifted me in his arms and carried me up the stairs.
"Your wish is my command, my lady," he whispered in my ear softly, his lips brushing against my earlobe, making my breath hitch and my heart race.
I rested my head against his shoulder contentedly. There were no words for how much I adored this man. The simple 'I love you' didn't even begin to describe my feelings for him.