No L: ¡Gracias! I am so very glad you like it so far! (And I am glad you wish for more!) I always worried people would no like my story. Hope you get this and enjoy the chapter next!
Angel of Beauty: Thank you for being a constant reader! (I have always wanted to have one of those… I have read so many books where they say "Dear Constant Reader…" so pride!) ¡Más Gracias!
Chapter: 1461A Love To Stop Time
Your love has got a handle on my mind,
Sweet as cherry, fine like wine…
Gonna' love you till the end of time…
-Vanessa Paradis "Your Love Has Got A Handle On My Mind"
"Do you think they will do it again?" Shyriyh asked in deep nerves as she watched out the Count's dining hall window at his lovely land. She hoped it would not be destroyed… oh please Mother Nature… please, I beg of you, do not let it be so… She prayed silently. The Count looked over at her from his place at the head of the table. "Have no worry, Princess. I have spoken with many other Counts and Lords and they have already had many armies made to defend our land in the future," he said with a reassuring smile that pretty much said he knew what he was talking about. "Do you have an army, Count?" She asked in awe. "Indeed I do," he assured her again, "I shall not let our people be tortured any further." She smiled with heat flowing into her cheeks. She could not believe she was actually in the Count's home… at night… without "parental control" as her uncle called it. Hey… she was an adult now… right? She could do what she wanted now… r-right…? She also could not believe that she was… well… welcomed warmly into his home. How dream-like!
"Do you think your uncle will come looking for you?" The Count asked rather apprehensively. Shyriyh smiled warmly. "Probably not. He must stay with my little brother. The worst he will do is probably send some pages for me," she said, this time it is to be her assuring him. "Good. I shall admit I would rather like it if you stayed," he said with a smile as sweet as cherry and fine as wine. "I would rather prefer it that way as well," she admitted to him. She felt she knew him so well… even though she had only met him days ago… he was the reason she lived without contempt. He was the reason she lived. Lived without fear and misery. He was her all. Her Strawberry Spring and Midsummer's Eve wine shower. Her single rose she prayed was indeed as red as it seemed from far away. She was getting closer and it seemed to be… "Tell me about yourself, Count," she said. She realized that she needed to know him. She saw him, sure, but she wanted to know him. "I uh… do not know what to present," the Count said with an oddly timid laugh as he looked down at the golden table. Shyriyh giggled with admiration. He could be handsomely mysterious and adorable… how wonderful. "When, where, and by whom were you born?" She asked. "I am thirty-nine so uh… I was born in 1442. I am a native Transylvanian, and my parents were Count Vlad Dracula and Princess Vina Lisa Dracula," he said with another timid smile, as if he didn't like speaking of himself. "What do you enjoy doing?" She asked, her elbows on the table supporting her chin. She was enjoying this. "Umm…" The Count's pale cheeks turned a slight red as if he were under interrogation. "I enjoy… reading," he said pointedly as if proud he was actually able to think up an answer. "I enjoy… um… walking in the woods… and… the rain," he said as he looked out the window at the delicate shower that had begun to fall. "The rain?" Shyriyh turned to look too. "I like to walk in the rain," the Count confirmed with a smile. Shyriyh smiled as well, "I rather like it when it is sunny, but there are some circumstances when I like the rain," she said. The Count looked deeply at her. "Is this one of them?" He asked as he stood. "Indeed," she allowed him to take her arm and lead her outside.
"I do so like to walk under Mother Nature's gentle tears," she said as they walked under the sobbing sky. He looked thoughtfully at her. "Is that how elves view the rain?" He asked. She nodded as they walked around to the side of the castle and down the steep hill. "It is, we believe the sun is Mother Nature's smile and the rain is her tears," she explained as they walked down towards the small pond he wished to show her. Shyriyh felt suddenly rugged as her hair melted onto her face with the rain. She looked over at the Count whose hair seemed to stay in the same position as before, only a little matted. His raven-black hair was long, to the middle of his back perhaps. He had it tied at the very tip of his hair so it looked half up and half free.
He pointed towards the lake. "You are en elf. You must know how to swim, yes?" He asked. "Of course I do!" She said excitedly as her smile grew to comic size. "Race you!" She called as she began running towards the water. One of Shyriyh's favourite things to do: race people… she loved to run… especially if she could derive pride from it… The Count stood for a moment in confusion before running after her. She beat him by many feet so she stopped and waited for him. He ran up next to her and attempted to stop, but slid in the mud and fell directly into the lake. Shyriyh burst into uncontrollable laughter as she watched him poke his head out of the water. "You forgot to take your clothes off!" She said as she stepped in too, soaking her dress. He laughed with her and took her in as she walked closer to him, wrapping his arms around her willowy waist. She put her arms around his firm chest and squeezed tightly, holding him in an embrace. She could not believe how little time it took her to fall this deeply into her love for him. Perhaps it was all the years of waiting…? She looked up at him as he looked down at her. He smiled and kissed her forehead. She giggled as he moved down and kissed the tip of her nose. Her heart began to beat insanely between the moment he kissed her nose and her lips. She had never kissed anyone like that before… would she mess up? She suddenly was only afraid that she would bite him by accident. He kissed her gently and lovingly. Not too violent, but not too lightly. When he finished he backed up and looked down at her for an hopefully pleasant reaction. He got one. She shrieked happily and hugged him around the chest. "I wish it would rain forever," she said with a smile. "We could stay like this forever, I want time to stop!"