A/N: Okay, I know, it did take me a while to update this. Again, I blame it on school. I have midterms coming up next week, which means I have mucho-studying to do. However, I might update next week, because I get out of school early next Wednesday through Friday(aww, my school system loves us and doesn't want our brains to shrivel any more than they already have!) It all depends. Anyways...first off, I'd like to send thanks, as well as lots of welcomes, to my two new reviewers Erik Destler is my Apollo and SpeedDemon315. I'd also like to say thanks to my faithful reviewers writerluv and musiclover209. And, last but certainly not least, I'd love to give a big welcome back to my best buddy Dr. Lust! I missed you so much!!!
A brief warning...there is a conversation in a foreign language in this chapter. But I am including a translation at the bottom, so you can understand what they said!
Disclaimer: I still don't own the rights to Van Helsing as of yet...but my birthday's in less than a week so let's just cross our fingers, shall we?
Chapter Twenty-One: Royal Calling
People stared curiously as Catherine and Carl walked side-by-side through the streets of Bucharest, Romania's glittering capital city. Perhaps they found it queer, to see a young woman and friar walking side-by-side, seeming together. Or it may have been Catherine's all-black hunting attire and the revolver holstered at her waist.
After Van Helsing had discussed his startling vision with everyone, recounting every last horrific detail, they-Van Helsing, Catherine, Alexsei, and Gabrielle- had spoken until dawn, plotting to battle Sirius in the next few days. Just as they were finishing their discussion, Carl-who had gone to bed several hours earlier-had wandered into the library, asking what was going on. Van Helsing quickly filled him in on the situation, and once Carl had heard the entire story, he insisted upon cabling Rome to "apprise them of the situation", as he called it. Catherine offered to accompany him to the telegraph office in Bucharest, which was less than half a day's journey from Van Helsing Manor.
Catherine led Carl through the crowded streets to a small wooden building, tucked away and easy to miss if one wasn't paying attention. Inside, the building was nearly empty, and Carl was able to step right up to the counter-only to find that the man behind the counter was fluent in Romanian, not English. Meanwhile, Carl's Romanian was a little rusty-he hadn't yet spoken Romanian to anyone because everyone they had encountered so far could speak understandable English.
"Telegram!" Carl said loudly and slowly, as though the man was hard of hearing and rather witless. "I need…to send…telegram…to Rome!"
The man behind the counter cocked his head curiously at Carl, who was now making exaggerated hand gestures in addition to speaking loudly and slowly. "Vatican!" Carl said. "You know…in Rome? The Holy See? The Pope?"
The man's brow knit in confusion, and he murmured something in Romanian. Carl sighed, and Catherine did too. A moment later, she gently nudged Carl aside from his spot before the man. "This is getting us nowhere, Carl," she scolded gently. "Let me talk to him…"
She turned to the man. "Scuză-mă , domnule?"
"Da, domnişoară?" he responded, looking relieved that she spoke Romanian.
"Eu am nevoie la spre a trimite un telegramă la Vatican"
"Is that ce el was saying?" the man laughed, gesturing to Carl.
Catherine nodded with a grin. "Da. Esta o anyone spate acolo cine speaks Englez?"
The man nodded. "Da ce, da acolo is. A permite eu energie a lua pe el."
"Mulţumesc , bun domnule," Catherine said as the man disappeared into the back. She turned to Carl. "He says there is someone here who speaks English. He's gone to get him."
"I didn't know you spoke such fluent Romanian," Carl commented in surprise.
"I was born and raised in Romania," she said. "It's my native tongue."
Just then, the man came out from the back. "El says el voinţă a voi a vedea tu acum."
Catherine nodded. "Iar , mulţumesc , domnule."
They stepped into the back, and quickly gave their message to the English-speaking man operating the telegraph: That they planned to find-and fight-Sirius within the week. After the man had finished with the message, they left the dark backroom and went back to the bright front room.
"Cît de mult voinţă a voi this a costa?" Catherine asked the man.
"That'll a fi şapte leu , domnişoară," the man responded. Catherine reached into a pouch on her hip, pulled out seven coins-Romanian leu, which she and Van Helsing had received from the Vatican before they departed-and handed it to the man. He grinned as she did.
"Have un drăguţ zi!" he called cheerfully as they left, waving.
"There…now that we've cabled Rome, back to the manor," Catherine said matter-of-factly. "We need to leave for Strenotia at sundown if we wish to make it to Vaseria before sunrise."
---
The group led their horses into Vaseria's town square as the sun began to appear on the horizon. Many of the windows of the buildings were dark, but the windows of the tavern were alight with a slight glow, suggesting that some of Vaseria's citizens still had yet to end their night. Van Helsing gestured to the tavern-which Gabrielle had told him was also an inn-and they led their horses over to it, dismounted and tied up their horses, then entered the tavern.
Many of the tables were empty, but a few tables still were occupied by men, drinking and laughing cheerfully amongst themselves. A few more men were seated at the bar, flirting shamelessly with the barmaid, who flirted just as shamelessly right back. Carl caught sight of the barmaid and paled slightly. She was the very same barmaid he had slept with the last time he was in Vaseria-but their night had ended on a bad note, due to Carl getting spooked by the painting in the tower of Valerious Manor that suddenly came to life. He had stumbled backwards into the couch, sending it-barmaid and all-tumbling backwards.
As the group entered, the noise of the tavern faded away, and all heads turned their way. At the bar, the barmaid gave a gasp, then stepped out from behind the bar and walked-slowly, as if she were in a trance-towards their group.
Carl flinched, fearful that she was going to come and strike him across the face, but she passed him without even a glance. Instead, she stopped before Gabrielle, staring at her as if she was an angel that had suddenly appeared amongst them.
"P-Princess Gabrielle?" she asked softly. "I-Is that r-really y-you?"
Van Helsing's eyebrows rose in surprise. Wait…did that woman just address Gabrielle as a princess?
Gabrielle groaned softly. "I was hoping to avoid this…"
The barmaid turned to all the other patrons in the bar. "It's her! Princess Gabrielle Valerious! She's alive!"
Pandemonium erupted within the tavern. After the barmaid's outcry, all the patrons abandoned their seats and swarmed Gabrielle, talking loudly and excitedly in odd combinations of English and Romanian. Gabrielle looked this way and that way at the crowd; her grey eyes were wide with panic.
After a few minutes, Van Helsing-who had been pushed away from Gabrielle by the chaotic crowd-fought his way back to her and grabbed her arm, pulling her in the direction of the staircase. A few minutes later, they emerged in a narrow upper hallway, followed by Alexsei, a very startled Carl, and Catherine, who was holding two keys to two rooms in her hand. Obviously, despite all the confusion, she had managed to purchase two rooms for the day from the barmaid. She quickly unlocked one, and everyone rushed inside.
"All right…" Carl said as soon as the door was closed, "what in the name of all that's good and holy just happened down there?"
Gabrielle sat down on the edge of a bed, looking on the verge of tears. "It's a long story…" she sighed miserably.
Catherine sat down next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting manner. "It's all right, Gabrielle. You can tell us…"
"Very well…" Gabrielle said reluctantly. "As I'm sure you're all aware, my family…we are the monarchs-so to speak-of the Gypsies. My father, Boris, was their king. As the only son, Velkan was to inherit the throne upon Father's death. In the event that anything was to happen to Velkan-"
"-You were next in line for the throne," Alexsei finished.
Gabrielle nodded. "Yes. But after I was turned and I ran away, everyone thought me dead. In that case, the throne would have passed to Anna. But then…Anna d-died…" She paused, took a deep breath, and continued. "This left no heir to the throne, as I was assumed dead. But now they know I'm alive…"
"And how exactly is that a bad thing?" Carl asked, confused.
"Don't you understand?" Gabrielle asked. "They want me to take the throne now! They don't even know that I'm…that I'm a vampire, and still they want me to take the throne!"
"All right…I can see why your being a vampire is a problem," Carl said. "But I don't see why your people wanting you to take the throne is such a horrible thing!"
Gabrielle gave Carl a look, then, she stood up and grabbed one of the keys from the room's desk.
"Where are you going?" Catherine asked.
"I'm going to the other room," Gabrielle said shortly. Her voice sounded choked, as though she was fighting back tears. She left the room, slamming the door behind her as she did; a moment later, another door slamming rang out across the hall. The entire door sat in silence, staring at the door through which Gabrielle had made her abrupt departure.
"Was it something I said?" Carl asked.
Van Helsing stood up. "I'm going to go make sure she's all right…"
He quickly-and quietly-crossed the hall and knocked lightly on the door. When Gabrielle didn't yell for him to go away, he opened the door and slipped inside, thankful that Gabrielle hadn't locked the door from the inside.
To his surprise, Gabrielle was lying on her side on one of the beds, her legs drawn nearly all the way to her chest, her face buried in a pillow. Her dark hair fanned out over her back and shoulders, hiding most of her face. Her back moved up and down sporadically, her shoulders shook, and a soft sobbing noise escaped her. He approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Gabrielle, what's wrong?" he asked.
She lifted her head to look at Van Helsing. Long red streaks of blood tears she'd cried stained her face, while more tears shimmered in her eyes.
"Nothing," she said softly. "I'm fine…"
"I doubt that," Van Helsing said, a small smile pulling at his lips. "If you were fine, you wouldn't be crying…"
She sighed as she sat up. "Touché…all right, I'm not fine…"
He sat down next to her. "What's wrong?"
"I…I'm scared…" she admitted softly. "I'm scared to take the t-throne. M-My people expect me, as a V-Valerious, to t-take the throne…b-but I don't know i-if I can d-do it…"
She took another deep breath before continuing. "I always t-thought that i-if Father died, Velkan w-would t-take the throne…even a-after I ran a-away…but now he's d-dead and they k-know I'm a-alive…I don't t-think I can r-rule over them…"
Van Helsing watched her swipe at her tear-stained face with the sleeve of her blouse, then he put a strong hand on her shoulder and turned her so she was looking at him.
"You can, Gabrielle," he assured her. "You can rule over your people, and I'm sure you'd do well at it. It's in your blood…"
"You don't understand," Gabrielle sniffled. "I'm a v-vampire, remember? I-If I told that to them, I k-know they w-would hate m-me and fear me. A-And it's not a-as if I c-can hide it f-from them…"
More tears trickled from her eyes. She moved to wipe them away, but Van Helsing stopped her movements by reaching over and brushing away a few tears.
"Gabrielle," he said. "Your people wouldn't hate or fear their own queen. And it's not as being under the rule of a vampire is anything new to them…"
Gabrielle looked confused, so he elaborated. "Think about it: Even though your family had ruled these lands for over four centuries, there was always Dracula. He had a presence, didn't he? And in a way, he ruled more than anyone in your family did."
She couldn't help but help smile at Van Helsing-he made a fair point. And when she smiled, Van Helsing couldn't help but stare.
She looks so beautiful when she smiles. He wanted to tell her that. But instead he put a hand back on her shoulder again. "Don't doubt yourself, Gabrielle. I think you'd make a fine queen."
He stood up and headed towards the door, planning on going back to the other room. However, as he reached for the doorknob, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around; it was Gabrielle. With no warning, she threw her arms around him in an embrace. After a moment, Van Helsing returned the embrace. And there it was again…that scent that reminded him of Anna…
She pulled away after a minute, looking shyly up at him through her long, dark eyelashes. A soft smile pulled at the corners of her lips.
"Thank you, Van Helsing…" she said softly.
Translations
Excuse me, sir?
I need to send a telegram to the Vatican
(points to Carl) Is that what he was saying?
Yes. Is there anyone here who speaks English?
Why yes, there is. Let me go get him
Thank you, good sir.
He says he will see you now How much will this cost?
Again, thank you, sir
Awww...I'm sensing a little something-something between Van Helsing and Gabrielle
Van Helsing: (blushes and looks away)
Gabrielle: Heh...we're just friends, Aurora...
Alexsei: That's what they all say...
Catherine: Alexsei, that's not very nice...but it is funny...(breaks down into giggling fit)
Gabrielle: No, seriously, we're simply friends.
Mmm-hmm, sure you are...
Van Helsing: Um...(tries to change subject) Hey, Aurora, I didn't know you knew how to speak Romanian.
I don't. I only know two words in Romanian...one of which I really shouldn't repeat lest I offend someone...
Catherine: Then where'd you get all that?
From the modern marvel that is free online translators. I went on a free translations, entered "English-to-Romanian" in the search bar, and boom, there's a free English/Romanian tranlation site!
Alexsei: That's nifty.
Very much so...
Van Helsing: Hey, didn't you have something for these guys..?
Yes, indeed, I did! All right-I have a song to put here! It's called "Evil Angel" by Breaking Benjamin...I love this song to bits, and every time I hear it, I think of Gabrielle. As always, personal opinion, you don't have to agree with me. The lyrics are below, and I hope you like it!
Hold it together, birds of a feather
Nothing but lies and crooked wings
I have the answer, spreading the cancer
You are the faith inside me
No, don't
Leave me to die here
Help me survive here
Alone, don't remember, remember
Put me to sleep, evil angel
Open your wings, evil angel
A-ah
I'm a believer, nothing could be worse
All these imaginary friends
Hiding betrayal, driving the nail
Hoping to find the savior
No, don't
Leave me to die here
Help me survive her
Alone, don't surrender, surrender
Put me to sleep, evil angel
Open your wings, evil angel
Fly over me, evil angel
Why can't I breathe, evil angel?
Put me to sleep, evil angel
Open your wings, evil angel
Fly over me, evil angel
Why can't I breathe, evil angel?
Now can you guys see why I love this song so much? Thanks for reading, review, please!