A/N: yes please read on
thanx to immortal, Barbayat and Dracula's-Poison, for reviewing... now, I present to you:
Chapter II
I turned quickly around.
"H-hello... I'm sorry, but, uhm, am I dead, and-... and where...?" I said in a small, slightly hoarse, voice, which made him smile, though not in mockery.
"No, you are not dead. And you are in my castle... well, actually, it is my father's castle. I'm just his soon-to-be Holy Knight of the Vatican's Order-son,"he said smiling brightly at me, taking a step forward, me taking a step backwards and hitting the glass window, smiling embarrassed.
I looked up and remembered something about the Holy Knights. My mother had said they were of the kindest warriors to be known, though ruff and tactic in their proceedings, and because of that, they usually won their wars and battles. This boy's father must be a war hero! I stared at him in disbelief: a son of The Holy Knights stood before me. He had even slept next to me! Why he had slept next to me, I had no idea of. What was I even doing here? How did I get here? Thinking about it, this young man was superior to me and I suddenly felt very small. He looked questioning at me.
"Miss?" he said.
"Excuse me, sir, but how did I get here, and might I ask who you are?" I ask sweetly.
"Uh, please, call me Vladislaus, no make that Vlad," he said flashing a huge grin, as if he was being bold to give himself nicknames. "And the answer to how you got here," he continued, "was that I was playing involuntary hide-and-go-seek with my mother and her servants, till I, eh, found you."
I looked mischievously at him; "What do you mean, found me?"
"I, eh, fell over you in the garden bushes. I mean, one can hardly expect to find a girl lying about in bushes that one would choose to pass through in games of "play"," he said earnestly.
I couldn't help but smile and a kind of laughter shook my body, which gave a pain I hadn't noticed when I laughed before. I took myself to my right-side ribs.
"Oh, you shouldn't touch that. Saw your big bruise there. It was like your skin had had a change of heart about its colour," he said with a pitiful expression.
I nodded, looked down, but my face snatched up and stared incredulous at him at a realisation.
"Excuse me? You looked?! You've seen me?!" I said, feeling the same kind of fear I had for my father, and drawing sideways away from him.
"Well they wouldn't let-," he started but I cut him shouting a big fat "WHAT?!" at him. He smiled an incredulous smile.
"Look, miss, I didn't see anything! Even if I didn't have the courtesy to look away, I was thrown outside before they hardly lifted your shirt... Jesus, girl! I am not a pervert!" he said defensively taking a few more steps towards me.
The same second, the door opened and a woman, in a simple Bordeaux velvet dress with a blue silk cord around the waste, entered. Her fringe was made into two small braids pulled into a long, auburn-coloured ponytail together with the rest of her hair. She had a slim beautiful face with deep green eyes, like a forest floor. I jumped back at the sound and nearly fell into Vladislaus' arms.
"Young sir, your mother and father requests your appearance at the breakfast table, together with the young lady, if she wishes to come?" she said with soft voice and smiled at us both. Her smile got wider as she took in the view before her: me struggling in Vladislaus' arms, trying not to fall over. When the scene was over I started pouring out apologies to him, for grabbing him on inappropriate places. I turned to ask who the woman was, personally, but found her doubled up, trying, and failing, to stop laughing.
"That sure was "handling" a boy," she roared with laughter, and tears of joy rolled down her cheeks. "nice audible "ouh", too, sir," she continued and laughed on. Me and Vladislaus joined in on it and the room resound with laughter. I felt so happy. It felt like my mother had come to visit me, alive. When the laughs died out she asked,
"So, what about the breakfast, young man?"
He sent me a questioning expression and I looked down myself and declined. The servant smiled and said,
"Oh, yes, you must come, dear. I have just the dress for you, if you like to try it?"
I looked at the woman, puzzled, as if she was making fun of me, pushing my buttons for a good laugh. Why would anybody give me a dress, upon intrusion on their grounds? I had, of course never met, only heard of Transylvania's royal family, so I didn't have any knowledge of their kindness. I was about to say no again, but Vladislaus saw the hesitation in my expression.
"Well, would you do it for me, as your rescuer from the cold of the night? It is a rare treat to se my father home, and you must meet him, while you can," he said sweetly, with a charm that even the most rock hard wench could not resist. Even his mother's maid began to smile. I sighed.
"Yes please, miss," I said, feeling immensely stupid for having to talk this way. I had practised this talk for the day I might meet "decent" people, and lucky me. At my father, there wasn't need for talk, fancy words or accents. The most reappearing sounds that came was his lustful grunts and bottles of wine falling over on the floor. My expression changed to that of anger and disgust, and at the look on their confused expressions, I excused myself. The maid said she would leave shortly for the dress, from a place, which I did not know where was. She was back and sent Vladislaus away to the dinner table. As soon as the door closed, she went for me and said,
"Let's try this," and she pulled at the clothes I wore and I snatched away from her, looking at her warningly.
"Take it easy child, I am just going to help you undress and put on the dress," I did not want to push curfew and answer questions for my behaviour, so I bit my tongue, hoping she would not rake me like my father used to. She pulled my clothes of gently and put on the dress afterwards, which was a silver coloured one with golden-yellow cuffs, lace and bosom. She closed the back of the dress and asked, with a smile on her lips, if she should do something with my hair. I smiled and she took it as a 'yes'. My mother used to do my hair, sometimes crazy and sometimes fit for a Queen, and that the servant, whose name was Koloretta, did this, was a strong reminder of my mother. And that made me smile as she fixed my hair with a sideways clips that tied the outer layer of my hair on the back of my head, while the rest of the hair got a few braids knitted with blue silk ribbons. I turned around when she was done and said,
"Thank you," she had no idea how happy this little thing made me.
"Excuse me, Koloretta, but how long have I been sleeping?" I asked, trying not to push the good moment.
"You've been out cold for a fortnight," her reply came. "Now, get on and get out. You really should eat something," she said smiling.
I went out through the door, without Koloretta, and found that I had no idea of which way the dinning hall was, but then an arm snaked around my waste and I saw Vladislaus standing there with a gleam in his eyes, but I drew away from him, looking him daringly in his eyes. He looked confused about what to do, and offered me his arm, saying,
"May I?"
I looked from his eyes to his arm, and, watchfully, took it.
On the way to the dinning hall, and that was a long way, we talked, and acquainted with each other. I learned he was 15 years, soon to be 16, charming, intelligent and a very good entertainer, too. When ever his father was here, he'd go hunting, and he loved it. He usually never killed anything, but just enjoyed the thrill of having power, which didn't really concern me, back then. Eventually we got to the dinning hall, and I had him suspected to have taken several detours just to have the chance to talk with me.
He, nonchalantly, opened the door and led me in. It was just... an overwhelming sight. The place didn't look like a simple dinning hall, but a huge ballroom, which it probably was, too. I was so awed by the loft paintings of The 12 Archangels and fat, half naked cherubs, which made me smile and distracted me so much that I nearly bumped in to the table, if Vladislaus had not grabbed my upper arm before collision. He pulled out the chair and went all the way around the table greeting his parents, though his, now penetrating, eyes never left me, and I could still feel them burning on me, when I looked down into my plate. I greeted the Lordships, without having a clue of what to say to them. I was feeling the old fear kicking up on the sight of the Lord.
I eventually got the courage to ask the woman what I was doing here, why they had not just thrown me back outside the castle walls.
Valerious the Elder looked at his wife, waiting for her answer. Truth be told, he didn't know why I was even here either, though his warm expression showed I was more than welcome to be so. My father had often made such a face, too. Did he mean it?
"Well, I, uhm,... You ask very direct questions, miss. But before I continue, might enquirer you name?" Vladislaus' mother asked.
"Yes, of course, m'lady-..." I started but the Lady Valerious told me to drop the official charts and call her Amadae, which made me soften up towards her, though Valerious was a different matter. He was a man. A grown man. Much the size of my father, too, though better built. His hair and beard was long and black, though shards of grey had started to stain his yet youthful look. He looked like a nice man, though a bit weathered.
"Amadae, Lord Valerious, Vladislaus, my name," I took a slight pause and noticed Vladislaus rolling his eyes, "is Cassandra," I said, taking a bite of buttered bread, eating it too slow to be allowed.
"Really?" Amadae said, lighting up, making her face look as young as a 20-year old, she looked ever-so beautiful. Her hair was dark brown, it was wavy, though sleek. It sparkled with a kind of natural blond and cobber stripes. Her brown eyes were happy and very intense. It was obvious that it was her eyes Vladislaus had inherited; Valerious' was grey and hard, though they still managed to look like they were happy, somehow. Her features were those of laughter in a good life. This observation, made me smile along with her.
"My Grandmother, on my mother's side's, name was also Cassandra, and she was very beloved," her face fell slightly at the memory, "She died a few months ago," I sent her a consoling and cheering smile.
"I'm sorry. She must have been very old, seeing as it was Your Grandmother? I lost my own mother about 7 years ago, but I can't remember anything about it," I lied.
"Oh, yes. 103 years. But, alas, it was her time, and she had long deserved the blissful peace the afterlife God gives to the true ones," she said, without the least trace of sorrow.
"Now, about you staying here... that is, if you want to stay here?, Amadae asked.
I looked at her with incredulousness written all over my face. They wanted me to stay?! I got all speechless and my eyes changed directions between Amadae, Vladislaus and the Lord Valerious.
"Casandra, of course I and others will understand if you would rather have us help you find your way back home...?" Amadae said, eyeing the look on my face.
"Oh, no! I would be more than happy to stay. I have nothing to return home to," I replied.
"Then you are quite welcome to stay, Dear. Now, run off you two," she said smiling.
