5-Domnul a naibii

"Sound sleep by night; study and ease
Together mixed; sweet recreation,
And innocence, which most does please
With meditation.

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown;
Thus unlamented let me die;
Steal from the world, and not a stone
Tell where I lie."

Kya had been out riding for hours and now as the sun had set behind the magnificent mountains behind the castle that she will now be staying, she had yet to find the last homes on the map as they seemed to have dissapeared. No matter how hard she searched she could not find them so now she merely rode in the dark with only the moonlight to guide her as she wrote small things in her little leather book but found the poem that her father had written the day she was given it very comforting as she rode. As the woman looked away from the page she gently urged her horse to go to the left on the trail and found that as she did that she had made her way to an opening in the trees. Kya put the little book into the saddle bag and pulled her horse to a stop before dismounting and getting down so she can walk around. She took the reigns in her hand and walked her horse beside her as she followed the path. Where was this going to lead her? Before she could ask herself anymore questions she saw the largest castle she could imagine beginning to loom above her in the moonlight. As the trees fully parted she was able to see what looked like the stables for the horses that once lived there as well as the entrance to the castle. Kya carefully led her horse over to the stable walls and tied him there so she could leave once she was finished exploring.

Kya glanced around her to see if anyone was there that might live here, but saw no evidence that there were any servants or any one who lived here. It must be an abandoned castle, but who would leave such a magnificent place as this? The tallest two spires of the castle, creating large black shadows on the ground from the moonlight. The entire building seemed to be made out of some kind of old stone that had an odd and eerie feeling to it, but Kya pressed on. She had seen this castle just this morning while talking with Anna and Velkan, she was not going to let an opportunity pass her by to explore what she could of this place. However, the closer Kya got to the dark entry way of the castle the more she began to feel unsettled by the atmosphere around her. It felt almost as if someone were watching her. But that would be impossible, the castle had to be abandoned. There are no lights lit inside and no servants going in and out trying to keep up with their chores. A castle this size must take at least 100 servants to clean and work the entire house.

Just as Kya was about to place her foot inside of the dark entry way something inside her, told her to go back and to stay out of the castle. Her heart pounding away in her chest as if to warn the woman to stay away. Thinking better of breaking into a place like this Kya turned around and whent back to her horse and looked at the map under the moon light. It wasn't listed on the map as part of Anna and Velkan's territory, but just just outside of it. Kya now stood on grounds that were not protected by her cousins. Kya's breath turned into steam as she stood there in the cold night air, she should go back to Castle Valerious. Since the sun had set the temperature had dropped well below a comfortable level and if she stayed out any longer she might come down with some kind of illness. Kya took one last look at the castle behind her before untieing her horse from the stable and leading him back into the forest and back towards the town.

"Who would leave a castle like that?" Kya asked aloud to no one in particular. "Perhaps Anna knows..."

She turned and carefully led her horse back down the pathway they had come and found that the forest was very quiet, although it was relatively early in the evening Kya still felt uneasy about her surroundings. The feeling of being watched had gotten worse the further down the path she walked. Kya stopped and quickly mounted her horse and began to urge him to go a little faster so they could both get out of the cold night air as quickly as she could. Just as she passed by an old abandoned cottage something spooked her horse causing him to rear up and began to flail its front legs before going back onto the ground before doing it again. Kya tried her best to hold onto the reigns but she lost her grip and fell too the ground, hitting her back on a downed branch and she felt pain spider through her body and her breathing stop for a moment. Her horse neighed before running off behind the house almost as if it was trying to hide. She tried to quickly get up and go get her horse before he ran off but she couldn't move, she was scared to move for fear that she had injured herself some how.

"ow..." She whispered to her self before taking a deep breath and forcing herself to get up. Just as she managed to push herself up she heard her horse neigh again from behind the house.

She used the trees around her to keep herself upright as she slowly adjusted to the pain in her back. What had scared her horse so badly? Couldn't they have been near a patch of snow on the trail for him to do this? Of course not, though she couldn't entirely blame the horse for being frightened by something she did curse her own bad luck for being in the wrong place. As she walked around to get her horse she saw someone standing there holding the reigns and gently petting the horses muzzle.

"Oh thank you! I would have lost him if it weren't for your help. Thank you!"

As Kya drew closer she knoticed that it was the same man that had helped her find her way to her cousins castle. He stood there gently petting the horse but now in the moonlight Kya could see a little more of his appearance. His skin was very pale and his face was drawn into a relaxed expression as he calmed the frightened horse. His long black hair was tied back away from his face, save for a few rebellious strands that fell into his face. In both of his ears he had golden hoops, his attire was similar to what she had seen him wear last evening. The long black cloak fell back slightly to show that he wore an older looking formal black suit, black top and black pants all the way down to his shiny black leather boots that came up to his knees. On his hands he had black leather gloves that protected him from the cold air. Kya quickly bowed her head and curtsied to him.

"Oh... please forgive me sir. I did not recognize you for a moment."

The mans mouth turned into a tight lipped smirk before answering her. "You need not worry my dear. You needn't be so formal."

Kya looked at the man shocked and confused. His accent was even thicker than she remembered but then again she was riding her horse when she had first met him.

"You took quite the fall from your horse, are you alright?" The man in black asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Oh, yes sir. I am." She bowed her head again trying her best to show respect towards this man whom shed never officially met before in her life. Hes just a good samaritan who likes to walk in the woods...yeah.

She carefully walked over to her horse and gently pat his neck trying to gather some strength to get back up on her horse. "Thank you again for keeping him here Mr..." She trailed off not knowing what to call him.

"Ah... please forgive me. Allow me to... introduce myself. I am Count Vladislaus Dracula." He said with a short bow to her as a sign of respect.

Kya paused when she heard that name. So this is the man that Anna and Velkan believe has been trying to kill off their family. She was sure that he would not enjoy hearing her accusations of him and decided to keep her opinions to her self. Kya bowed her head before giving a very brief curtsy to him as her body now told her that she had perhaps taken TOO hard of a fall and her body ached from hitting the ground. She managed to keep her self calm enough to respond to the man before her.

"Thank you Sir Dracula." She gently scratched the horses neck making him neigh. "My name is Kya Albarn, and this is Hugh." She said as she gently patted the horse again.

She looked to the man beside her and saw that he had not stopped looking at her. His eyes were a very light shade of blue that appeared to be looking into her soul. The woman took a deep breath before moving towards the saddle.

"I should be going now sir. I am expected else where." However as she tried to put her foot into the stirrup to lift her self up she could not. Her body was now too weak form the fall to allow her to lift any part of her body.

"Allow me." Before Kya could protest she felt two firm hands around her wast gently lifting her up and onto the saddle to side side ways, the way a lady would. "If you would allow me the honor to escort you home my dear. It is far to dangerous to be out here alone, and you are injured from your fall."

"Oh no. Its quite alright sir, i can get back to the castle on my own..." She made a face that denied that she was fine and she did not see it but the Count smiled slightly at the sight knowing that she is vulnerable.

With out another word from either party the Count then slowly began to lead Kya's horse back onto the trail and towards Valerious castle. While riding Kya couldn't help but to look at the man that held the reigns of her horse. From the back she could see that his cloak was just as large as she had assumed it to be as it billowed behind him as he walked. His black hair, held back by a golden clip into a perfect ponytail stopping just between his shoulder blades. To Kya this seemed very improper and very odd. She would never allow a noble man to escort her any where especially one whom she was just introduced to. Perhaps the differences between Romania and London are just a bit to great for Kya to handle.

"Tell me my dear... what was it that took your attention from the road?"

Kya looked down to the man in black and saw that he had glanced back to her in order to give her his attention as best he could while guiding her horse.

"Oh...well... i-i was trying to get back to Castle Valerious sir. I did not wish to be out in the cold any longer than needed, so i decided to turn back after finding that old castle back down the trail." She explained.

"That, would be castle Frankenstein." His voice now became darker almost as if he had an unpleasant experience there or with the person who once lived there. "It has been abandoned for several months. You need not worry your self about going to explore that place."

Kya frowned at the name he had said the castle belonged to. "Frankenstein, as in the scientist turned grave robber?"

"The same my dear."

Kya felt sick upon hearing that. The man was a deranged lunatic who had gotten what he deserved by desecrating all of those graves. She could over look the portion about it being used to create life, however she did not belive that he had to use people who had died and not willingly allowed him to have their bodies after death. After a few more moments of silence, only broken by Hugh's breathing did KYa carefully manover herself to sit properly on her horse and begin to ask her companion to allow her to take her self home as she was sure that the townspeople would not wish to see someone who had caused them pain.

"Sir I-"

"Vlad."

Kya paused for a moment confused. "Excuse me?"

"Call me Vlad." Her escort stopped and turned towards Kya smiling almost to himself.

"Sir Vlad... Thank you very much for escorting me and helping me but i must go. My cousin's will worry if i am not home soon."

With that the man in black nodded and handed over the reigns almost reluctantly. "Perhaps we will see each other at another time?"

Kya looked down to the man and nodded. "Yes, i believe we will. Thank you once again, and i bid you good night sir."

She urged her horse to go into a run leaving the cloaked man alone in the woods. As her fading silhouette remained in his sight the Count couldn't help but to chuckle to him self. He had originally intended to kill the woman after she had fled from Castle Frankenstein, however upon seeing that she was reading while riding it had peaked his curiosity. IF she truly was a part of the Valerious family line then perhaps she could be of use to him. Though now he could see that she was a mere servant girl, one who always spoke with respect to anyone around her and showed no fear of him when told his name. Perhaps this woman was of a different caliber... only time would be the judge of that.