Angel of Beauty, thank you so very much! (¡Muchas Gracias!) I hope you like the coming chapters! And I think I am to read your stories as well! (I am a big Van Helsing fan to!… Dracula )

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SpeedDemon315, ¡gracias a ti, tambien! I am so excited that people actually like mi stories! And my combos (I was afraid people say things bad combo! Bad combo! Elves and Vampires? Please…) so ¡muchas gracias a todo!

Chapter Four: 1461

A Single Rose

I'm really Rosie

And I'm Rosie Real

You'd better believe me

I'm a great big deal…

-Maurice Sendak

"Hello!" Shyriyh could not believe she was seeing him again… so soon. She always imagined that she would remain single for all her life. For some reason she thought that no man would ever love her (despite all the eyes she got in the village that she never noticed…). However when she looked into the Count's eyes she thought maybe she saw a tint of… of… joy? She thought as she approached him. "Relief?" The Count said. She jumped. "How did you know…?" She felt her heart beating hard in excitement and a bit of apprehension. "I have my ways," he said with a smile. She could not think of anything to do or say to one she wanted to keep forevermore. "Would you like you come in out of this ferocious sun, Princess?" He asked with a slight bow and a motion towards the large, wooden front doors of the castle. She giggled nervously. "P-perhaps for a moment," she said as she followed him in. She felt like screaming in joy and frustration. Her thoughts were spinning… was the Count as crazy about her as she was of him? Was he really the wonderful man she thought he was? What would her uncle think if they did fall in love? Her mind chattered endlessly. "Perhaps you would like some tea?" The Count asked. Shyriyh smiled. Good start, she thought, I love tea. "I would love that, thank you much," she said. He bowed slightly again before exiting the room. She took the initiative to sit down at one of the chairs near the door. The Count poked his head delicately out from the doorway. "Advance many paces directly straight and you shall be in the dining hall. I am to meet you there," he said with another smile that Shyriyh was afraid she would never see.

She nervously began to walk forward. When she hit a set of large, oaken doors she pushed them open and walked into the dining hall. The table was huge! (Something only the extremely rich could afford to fit in their homes… she didn't think it would even fit in her palace…) She was amazed when her mind stopped talking to see that the room was brightly lit with many golden torches and silk hanging from the walls. "He has a graceful taste," she muttered to herself as she sat down in one of the large chairs at the end of the table. The cushion, she swore, was pure satin. "Why thank you kindly," the Count said as he walked out holding a tray of tea and biscuits. She giggled in humiliation. It seemed to be a curse that she held… people always seemed to walk in when she was talking to herself. Maybe I should stop talking to myself, she thought with a snort. "You are very welcome. I wish to thank you for treating me," she said with a smile. The Count smiled as he placed her tea in front of her. "You are very welcome, anytime… I get very lonely up here," he said. "So please feel free to visit whenever you wish," he said. She felt her heart skip at least two beats. He wanted her there? "I-I will come certainly," she said. "My palace gets very lonely as well," she assured him.

As they sat drinking their teas, Shyriyh (whose mind worked quickly but madly) tried to think of something to break the silence. "How old are you, my darling?" The Count asked. She smiled: he broke the silence. "I am sixteen, well… I am actually thirty-five… just… Elven body stays young forevermore," she said. "Thirty-five eh? I am thirty nine, we are not very far apart, yes?" He said with a tilt of his head. She giggled madly, "No, no we are not," she said with a smile that was anything but empty. "How would you like me to show you around the grounds someday? There is a beautiful lake just around back and the woods are lovely," he said. Shyriyh felt her heart might explode with all her excitement. This was the first time anyone had actually asked her for a courting… "I would love that!" She said with more stimulation in her voice than she intended to bring out. "Tell me though, when would we do this?" She asked. The Count tilted his head again, "Mayhap this evening? If you are not in occupation," he suggested. She nearly burst out of her seat. "Indeed, I am free!" She cried happily. "Meet me here when the sun is not yet asleep," the Count said before finishing the last of his tea. "I will," she said. Her tea was already gone. "Oh my!" She cried randomly. "What is it?" The Count asked as he walked closer to her. "I am to be home soon, my uncle thinks I am on nothing but a walk," she said. She summoned all her courage before she ran out. Using the recently acquired courage she reached up, kissed the Count on the cheek and ran out. "Good day!" She cried. "Good day," the mesmerized Count said as he waved rather nonchalantly.

The Count cleared the table and walked into the kitchen. He touched his cheek lightly. No one had ever done that to him… not even his mother. His parents were far too strict to ever show affection. Sure they would whack him into place when he did wrong, but never a hug when he did right. His father was a Count, and his mother was the Princess of Transylvania. They were both very strict.

"Vlad! Vlad!" the senior Count roared as a five-year-old Vlad Dracula ran bouncily into the room, his tiny face lit with a smile. "Father, father look!" The young child cried excitedly as he ran towards his father holding out his hands. In his mini palms he held a small green lizard that he had found in the woods. Young Vlad always loved animals. "What is that?" His father asked angrily. "It is a lizard, father. His mommy was killed so I adopted him. Isn't he sweet?" The child asked as he looked hopefully up at his glaring father. "It is repulsive. Get it out of my house. Now or I shall whip you!" He roared angrily. Little Vlad cringed as his father swiped at him. He turned and ran out the door sobbing lightly. The poor creature had no mother… what else was he to do?

Shyriyh skipped happily into her palace that afternoon. "Why are you so giggly?" Her uncle suspiciously asked as he looked up from his book. "It is just so nice out," Shyriyh lied. "I get very happy when it is nice out," she pointed out the window at the moderate sun. Her uncle raised a brow at her before she ran upstairs.

She sat back down at her mirror and continued to comb her long, chocolate coloured hair endlessly. She felt that is was too messy when she first saw the Count today. She continued to fancy herself up before she heard a creak from her door. Jumping she turned to see Renolyn standing in her doorway. "Renolyn, what is it?" She asked angrily. "There's a man at the door to see you," he said. He got the little brother delight when Shyriyh's eyes widened… just to cause a reaction is bliss in a little brother's head. "Who is it?" She asked, although she thought she knew who it was. "I do not know, he says his name is Vlad," Renolyn said with a disgusted emphasis on the Count's name. "What's the matter, you do not like that name?" Shyriyh asked as she followed her little brother down the stairs. "It is a weird name," Renolyn concluded.

"Shyriyh, why is he here?" Her uncle asked as he led her to the front door. "I-I don't know," Shyriyh said innocently as she approached the Count who was standing in the doorway in a very concealing black cloak. "Count Dracula, what a lovely surprise!" She said as she took his hand and led him into the palace. "How did you get in here?" Her uncle asked hatefully. "You are a human," he said. The Count looked out the door before Shyriyh shut it. "The guards let me in… I told them I had very important news for the Princess," he said. Shyriyh could tell her uncle was cursing his foolish guards as they led the Count into the kitchen. "Would you care for something to drink?" Shyriyh offered. "No thank you. I have actually come with dire news," the Count announced. Her uncle glared at him before speaking. "What news is this, Count?" He asked with a perpetual scowl on his face. "The Turkish army has invaded Rumania, they are planning a second siege," The Count said. "Oh my!" Shyriyh cried. "They are planning to storm the Kaernian forest as well," he said. Shyriyh took his hand again. "Is there anything we can do? Anywhere we can hide? Count, I wish not to be taken again. It was terrible!" She cried. The Count nodded. "Do not worry, my Lady. I shall not let them take you again," he said. Shyriyh's uncle suddenly broke and grabbed his niece. "No!" He shouted. "I shall watch over her. She is my responsibility!" The Count looked oddly at the Elven Lord. "Your majesty I—" he began before the Lord interrupted. "Be gone!" He shouted, "and shall I never see you near my niece again! Be gone!" The Count looked terribly surprised. "Uncle!" Shyriyh cried. "No!" She grabbed the Count before he could exit. "Let him go, Shyriyh! Good riddance! He is a horrible man who will do nothing but use you for your riches and beauty!" Her uncle scolded. The Count looked rather amused at this. "I beg your pardon?" He said with a raised brow. "That is correct!" The Elven Lord cried, "you are a terrible human who will hurt my niece in many ways. You leave her be!" The Count looked more surprised this time. "Uncle! How racist!" Shyriyh shouted. She felt as if she were disobeying her Elven placidity. "Count!" She called as the lovely man began to exit in anger. "I am going with the Count, Uncle!" She called as she ran out with him. "Shyriyh no!" Her uncle attempted to grab his niece but she was too fast. "If you are smart you will hide our people from the oncoming siege! And do not speak of the Count that way!" She called as she followed the ghostly Prince out.

"My dear, perhaps you should stay with your people," the Count said as they walked down the path towards his castle. "No, Count… I cannot bear to lose you again. I shall protect you," she said as she took his hand gently. He looked at her before wrapping his fingers around her hand. "You are the only elf I have ever met who is not afraid of humans," the Count said quietly. "Well… I am not just any elf… I am the only one in bloom apparently… the rest cannot see what splendor a man such as yourself can hold." He smiled at this. She glanced a quick look into the river as they passed it and saw a happy couple walking hand in hand… how lovely.

The Count led her towards his palace. "Your garden is beautiful," she said as she admired his flowers. "That is not a garden, they just grow there… I cannot seem to get any of my herbs to grow there however," the Count said with a slight smile. "Look, here is some thyme," she said as she pointed to a tiny green plant growing next to a rambling rose bush. "Hmph," the Count stared at his stubborn plant. He still couldn't see roses on it. "Still no roses," he muttered. The roses seemed to make his eerie castle look more livable. "No, look. There is one," Shyriyh said as she pointed to a single little rose blooming near the thyme. "The only one in bloom," the elf said to her human love with a smile.