Chapter 7
Okay so… sorry for the delay in updating, blame it on the accursed mixture of writer's block and poor internet connection. Here's the latest addition!
"So… I was thinking" Lukas spoke slowly, as he picked up Arthur's spare wand from the table "maybe we shouldn't mention the troll to Master…"
"Well I hardly think there'd be any need in pointing out the obvious" the vampire replied as he too grabbed a wand and cast a repairing spell. One by one, the various recipients, instruments and whatnot began mending themselves and flying back into their place. "A big fat ugly troll running amok around the castle is somewhat hard to miss, so he will most likely know about him before he even gets here!"
"Hey I know!" the Norwegian exclaimed, rummaging into his pocket and producing a bizarre shaped phial containing a blue iridescent liquid. "We will use this and everything will be ok!" He pressed the small button at the top of the recipient, issuing two small blue puffs in Dragos' direction and then two more onto himself.
The vampire instantly began to cough as a nauseating scent of roses invaded the room. "Phewww! What the hell is this?" he asked in a suffocated voice, about to gag.
"Oh, it's a very powerful love potion" the blonde explained excited. "Now everyone who lays eyes on us will instantly adore us. Therefore, when Master walks in here he will fall in love with us at once and won't think of punishing us for the troll!"
Great! I suppose that a fucking love potion was the last ingredient that was missing in this positively sinister concoction of events! the Romanian thought, but before he could reply he suddenly caught sight of Arthur standing in the doorway, his thick eyebrows furrowed into an ominous scowl. Unfortunately, they hadn't finished cleaning and fixing everything yet and the door was still hanging.
"What the hell have you done here, you bloody idiots?" the wizard demanded in a menacing tone, examining the state of his Laboratory.
"That… the… experiment you asked for last night… well… it w-went wrong, Master…" Lukas explained in a shaky voice.
"So, not only fruitless but down straight disastrous!" the Englishman concluded. To the surprise of his two assistants, he seemed clueless about the troll. "I should have imagined that your head is filled with stupid fairytales, but otherwise you are utterly and totally incompetent!" he yelled, clenching his fists. "Well, in any case both of you are lucky that I don't have the time to deal with tales of your stupidity as more pressing matters await me! Say, you wouldn't know what in bloody hell could have happened to Alfred, do you?"
Dragos felt his stomach cringe and his hand involuntarily slipped to the incriminating letter in his pocket. "What exactly do you mean, Master?" he asked.
"What exactly do I mean? He's fucking high, that's what the hell I mean!" the wizard yelled again. "He didn't happen to stick his nose around here, did he?" he then wondered, pointing at the cupboards of magical supplies.
"Well M-master you know that there could also be a non-magic explanation for your brother's state…" Lukas ventured. "It's called dru-"
"SHUT UP! Now get your ass to work, both of you, and finish cleaning this mess!" Arthur decided, and waved his wand also making a sky-high mountain of paperwork appear on each of the assistants' desks. "Oh, and take care of these by tomorrow morning, will you?" he shouted with a clear hint of menace, and stormed out of the room, black robes swirling behind him.
"Well, he's definitely not in love" Dragos observed, eyeing his stack of documents reluctantly. "Can't say it's a bad thing though... God knows what the hell he would have done then…"
But Lukas seemed thoroughly disappointed. "But how can this be, how can this be? I don't understand! I've tried it before on… well… other people and it worked fine… The effect only lasts about two days, but still… How could it not work on him?" he cried.
The Romanian did not find befitting to ask who had made subject for Lukas' love potion experimentation. Better not to know, he had enough on his mind already. "Well maybe Master just doesn't have it in him. You know, this whole love thing…" he suggested instead. "Anyway, I think that now we should rather focus on how to get rid of the damned troll before he wrecks havoc around here. So how do you kill a troll?"
"Well that's the thing!" the blonde said a bit exasperated. "You can't kill the troll… but there are circumstances under which he could be controlled. In fact, it's quite simple: all you have to do is sincerely, genuinely… um… love him"
"ARE YOU INSANE?" the vampire jumped, causing the pile of papers on his desk to collapse and scatter. "Who the hell do you think could love the fucking troll? He's big, ugly, smells bad and eats people!"
-x-
Well, another thing I'll have to take care of later, ugh!
The vampire had had a bad feeling abandoning his work again, but he at least had to know the whereabouts of the damned troll and tell those whom he trusted to keep out of his way. But crazy enough, although he searched for several hours, from the dungeons to the towers, the troll was nowhere to be found. It was like the Earth had swallowed him or like he had vanished into thin air. Fat chance of that though…
It was already late when he made it down to the kitchens. He was tired and hungry and decided to postpone the paperwork no matter the consequences. Arthur would no doubt be mad about it, but there were worse things to happen if, for example, he discovered his unwanted affair with his younger brother – which he positively suspected it was the source of the latter's unusual state of euphoria – or, God forbid, he was to find out that somehow Feliciano had not made it into his stew and was very much alive.
Speaking of which, well, at least tick one item off the task list…
Elizabeta's room was next to the kitchens and as he knocked gently and received no answer, the Romanian reckoned that since she was not there it would be a good time to have that talk with his cousin as she'd asked. Not that he hoped to make much of it, at any rate. Feliciano looked to be in a better state and was now sitting cross-legged on Elizabeta's bed, rummaging through a box that clearly belonged to the Hungarian. There was a whole mess of buttons, pieces of unfinished embroidery, and various other trinkets around him, as he picked each item from the box and examined it briefly before casting it aside bored.
"Hey cousin Dragos!" he greeted cheerfully, which was in itself an improvement. "I was wondering when you'd come to visit, veh!"
The Romanian sat down a bit awkward at the end of the bed. "Well, of course… I had to see how you were…"
"I am sorry that I've been a bit rude earlier, you only wanted to help me… And you're not that scary, veh!"
"Yeah, well, I guess I shouldn't have yelled at you either…" Dragos replied sighing. "Anyway… actually there was something that Elizabeta wanted me to talk to you about…" he added uncomfortable. And he quickly delivered a muttered account of the Hungarian's complaint.
Feliciano pushed the box aside and scratched his head, looking a bit puzzled. "I see but what is the problem?"
"The… problem?"
"Yes. What exactly it is that she did not like, veh?"
The vampire had no idea, he had failed to get the message in the morning altogether. "Well there could be several possibilities… One is that she likes you, but since you have mentioned Ludwig… Or she might like Ludwig, but you mentioned him… Or she might not have liked it at all due to entirely different reasons…"
The Italian had picked a piece of bright red silk ribbon and twisted it between his fingers with a mischievous smile. "Oh cousin, I see where you're getting, veh!" he laughed softly. "But there's no reason for you to be jealous, trust me!"
As if Elizabeta could really fancy any of you idiots! Dragos thought scowling, but he did notice that his cousin was looking at him in a funny way. However, before he could further analyze the situation, Feliciano moved swiftly and pushed him down on the mattress.
"I admit that it must have been really confusing to you I mean all this me in bed with her and calling him, but on top of everything you've always known that I love you, right?"
"Eh…no…WHAT?" No! No! NO! That stupid love potion can't just work now of all times, can it? The damned thing!
But the Italian wasted no more time and pressed his mouth on his, pulling him into a fierce embrace. The Romanian pushed him away as gently as he could and slid off the bed.
"No, listen Feli, we can't do this, even if I'm so hungry…"Dragos let it escape and instantly kicked himself inwardly. "But you do love me, right?"
The amber orbs took him in adoringly. "You know I do, veh!"
"Then you will do what I say! No more messing with Elizabeta and… just… do whatever she tells you to do. We'll figure a way to get you home"
Saying that, he quickly darted out, slamming the door after him. Pheww!
Hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think… :)