Hello all nice readers! Thank you for the many reviwes, I became so enthusiastic, that I decided to update today! The action will begin soon...

By quarter past eleven, all the guests have left, and Elizabeth was getting nervous about her sister.

„Would you go and see her in her room now, Ferenc?" she asked „ You said you wanted to talk to her!"

„ Alright love, she must have calmed down by now a little"

„ She didn't seem nervous to me at all" said Elizabeth as they were walking towards the dining hall.

„ Well darling she may not have been nervous, but I'm sure the events have upset her very much! I will come down to you once we have finished talking. Will you stay here then?"

„ Yes of course, I will have some chocolate pudding if there is some left! Good luck with her, she can be tough sometimes!" said Elizabeth as they parted, and Ferenc went to the first floor to Agnes' room. He knocked on the door politely a few times, and then he opened the door, looking inside with a worried expression on his face. The room was neatly put in order, and it could be spotted that it has no dweller now.

„ I should have known!" he said, and rushed downstairs, out to the forecourt, and then left to the equerry. He found Agnes in one of the corners, standing by Midnight's side, wearing travelling clothes: trousers, riding boots, and a long coat. Midnight was saddled already and Agnes was lashing down her gear upon Midnight's back behind it. The interior of the equerry was shady, only the light of the Moon had penetrated though the breaches. Agnes noticed Ferenc as he was approaching, but didn't turn around.

„ I knew I would find you here Miss Agnes!" he started „ Elizabeth will be very disappointed if you leave."

„ She will also be disappointed, if I screw her wedding up with a scene like this" she said, and went on with her work.

„ You shouldn't leave because of that man."

Agnes turned around, with a sceptic expression on her face.

„ Look my Lord, if you care as much about my sister as I think, then give my apologies to her in my name. I had not the heart to tell her that I'm leaving. But don't hold me back. I bring shame upon you all. I'm sure she'll know what I mean."

„ Just ignore what he had said, he--" Agnes interrupted.

„ Ignore? You haven't seen that man's eyes. He didn't even know me, and had such hatred towards me, which I couldn't even see in my worst enemy's eyes. Sorry, but I cannot ignore that. There will always be people like this, who regard me as the foe of the social order. And I will remain the same and tell them what I think, and bring shame upon you, just like he said. It's better if I left."

„ You are our living conscience Miss Agnes" started Ferenc „That man was known for his ill nature by all of us. Yet, we kept inviting him due to the respect towards his father. But you alone had the courage to put him in his place, to kick him off his high horse. We all knew what he said and thought about others, but never told him our opinions, never stood up for ourselves." he said, and quiet descended upon the equerry. Agnes lowered her head.

„ We would lose much if you left" went on Ferenc „ The man's father has apologised to me after you left, and asked me to tell you that you are welcome for a visit in his mansion once, to make up for all the trouble." Tears filled Agnes' eyes, but she refused to let them fall.

„ You are everything to Elizabeth, she would be broken if you left." said Ferenc, and they both became quiet for a while. Finally Agnes turned around, unfolded the straps on her gear, and dropped it on the floor of the equerry. She removed the saddle from Midnight, and led him back to his resting place. She walked back to Ferenc, and grabbed her gear. She looked into the count's eyes.

„ Thank you Lord Ferenc." she said, and walked away towards the exit of the equerry.

„ You're welcome." murmured Ferenc to himself, and waited a while before leaving.

Agnes was walking up the stairs towards her room with her head full of all kinds of thoughts, when she saw Marton and Richard, the latter pushing his brother against the wall, with his back towards Agnes.

„ I told you we shall talk about what you did later!" said Richard menacingly, puckering his bows. He was holding Marton's shirt by its neck.

„ You knew how badly I wanted her, didn't you? She had the scent of orchids, which I wanted to kiss off her neck! Then you came and screwed everything up!"

„ Yuk!" Agnes thought upon hearing this, and getting closer to the two guys.

„ I-I-I-I really didn't mean to, you should understand that I wanted to dance with her as well. And she chose me."

„ You don't think that I'll believe this, do you?" he asked arrogantly, and started lifting Marton up from the floor.

„ Such a lady would ne.." Richard stopped as he felt something touch his back.

„ This is the barrel of a pistol!" ran through his mind.

„ So, you're the seducer who took my daughter's virginity!" came a low, husky voice from behind him. Marton made a surprised face. Richard wanted to turn around.

„ Don't you dare to turn around!" ordered the voice „ I don't even want to look at you! You're such an arrogant and impolite bastard!" Richard's hands started shivering, and he let Marton go.

„ I know you're the right person to shoot, nobody else would ill-treat his brother like that!"

„ Please sir, don't kill me sir, I will do anything! Anything! I'll marry your daughter I promise!" he said, in a begging tone, his whole body shivering with fright.

„ So now you want to marry her! To condemn her to an unhappy marriage! You're the most shallow man I have ever met!" came the answer, but by the time the sentence was finished, the low and husky voice turned back to a lady's gently tinkling one. Agnes' voice. She burst out laughing, as she removed the perfume bottle from behind Richard's back, who turned around with a confused face.

Marton was the next to start laughing, and Richard felt totally humiliated. He raised his head and wanted to say something, but he decided to leave instead, nobody would have listened to him anyway. Agnes and Marton were laughing for long minutes after Richard's figure had disappeared behind one of the rooms' doors.

Ferenc returned to the dining hall to Elizabeth who was nibbling some cakes and mignons happily.

„ Finally you're back! Well, what happened? „ she asked with curious eyes. Ferenc sat down next to her.

„ She will be fine, don't worry. I think we shouldn't disturb her today anymore, a long sleep would certainly do her good!"

„ I'm so glad she's alright, I was very much worried about her. But we still have tomorrow to talk everything over!" she said, with a smile on her face „ Would you like some cakes too? They're really delicious!"

„ Oh, well, why not!" said Ferenc happily, and took a piece for himself.

Meanwhile, in Castle Dracula, three demons were waiting in the grand hall for their master to arrive. All three were at least 2 meters tall, with muscular legs and arms, brown skin and small eyes, and huge leathery wings. They had elonged heads like dogs, large fangs lolled out from their mouths. The creatures' size was nothing compared to that of the hall. Stone pillars like giants stood by two walls of the room, where the light was given by countless torches and candles. All was covered in either wax or ice. The air was freezing cold, and its smoothness was often disturbed by the flapping of bats' wings. The giant doors of the hall suddenly burst open, and Dracula walked in with slow steps. Firs he looked at the demons, and then at Igor.

„ My power and you can still amaze me Igor! What one can make up of a few drops of blood!"

Dracula said, and walked closer to the demons, eyeing them substantially.

„ Especially if it is my blood!" he continued „ We seemed to have reached perfection Igor!" he said, and looked at his servant.

„ Yes Master, thank you! I believe they're just suitable for this task!" said Igor

„ We'll see!" he said, and turned to the demons „ I welcome you to my ice kingdom! You were all born from my blood by my will, and owe me respect and service." he said, walking slowly from the first demon to the third.

„ Here is your chance to show your compliance. Bring me Elizabeth Desewffy here! Try not to hurt her.... too much. If anyone stands in your way, kill them! Here is your opportunity to taste the coppery flavour of human blood!" The demons bowed their ugly heads and knelt down before their master.

„ Leave now, and don't even dare to return without her!" Dracula shouted, and then watched the demons spread their wings and fly away above his head. He gave an evil smile at the thought of easy success. The thought of having Elizabeth didn't thrill him much though.

„ Anything is better than boredom!" he thought as he started walking up the wall for fun.

In the meantime Elizabeth Desweffy was sitting on her bead in her nightgown with Julia, looking at the beautiful pictures of the book, which she got from Agnes. They were whispering and giggling quietly not to disturb anyone. Agnes was wide-awake too in the neighbouring room. She didn't unpack her gear yet; her large gripsack was by the vanity table. She was in her white nightgown as well, and sitting by the tea table reading Homer's Odyssey, and the belt with her weapons hung from the other chair. She always read that book when she needed comfort and wanted to get lost in something. She was fond of reading about the adventures of Ulysses. The book was worn already, and always opened by Agnes' favourite part. She was reading with delight, when she heard the breaking of windows and a loud crash from Elizabeth's room.

Well? Well? What did you think? Thank you for reading my fic. Please review and tell me what you think about Dracula, and whether I make him talk properly! Thanks!