"Sister Celeste!" Sister Osana hissed through her teeth, "Stop! It was only a joke! I didn't mean for you to climb."
Celeste smirked slightly, "Even so," she said as she crouched to tie her shoes tighter, "I think you might be on the verge of a wonderful idea."
Osana blustered, huffing and giving Sister Mary a sharp look forcing the shy young woman to speak, "Really...Sister Osana is right. It's too dangerous to climb beyond what is-"
Celeste straightened quickly, shoving the sleeves of her long white dress to her elbows, "Oh that is of no worry, I'm a wonderful climber." Celeste stepped forward looking up the high walls of the castle. Though the castle was a dizzying height with sections that were all but floating in the air save small buttresses that secured them the main body of the building there was no wall around it. Celeste squinted up the side to a narrow glass window well above her head.
"Celeste," Osana said, grabbing her arm tightly, "this is foolish. Let us just go on back to the church."
Celeste looked over her shoulder at Osana, calm but determined long enough that Osana released her though the horrible creases in her forehead persisted, "You're a fool, sure and simple."
Celeste smiled as she began climbing speaking over her shoulder loudly, despite the urgent hushing of the women below, "Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting," her fingers ached, turning red from the effort of holding the whole weight of her body on the stones, her foot slipped and she gasped sliding against the wall until her other foot, holding strong on a jutted stone, managed to stop her fall.
"Celeste!" the girls below shouted.
For a moment she clung to the wall catching her breath and letting her racing heart calm before she continued her climb and her sermon, "In this self-confident boasting, I am not talking as the Lord would but as a fool."
She gripped the window pain hand fumbling under the scapular of her robes to get to the pocket of her dress. The key to her room was just thin enough to slide between the panes, lifting the clasp that help the window shut. Pushing the glass in she heaved herself somewhat inelegantly onto the pane, straddling it proudly and looking back to her Sisters far below, "Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise!"
Mary blinked at Osana who looked back at her. Then they both looked to Celeste again, Mary somewhat more honest in her confused expression than Osana's tight-lipped annoyance.
"Second Corinthians. 11:16 on, I believe," Celeste smiled down at them, foot happily swinging against the edge of the castle.
"Yes, well," Osana huffed, "You've had your small boast. Will you come down now?"
"Certainly not," Celeste said, swinging her leg up and into the room. She turned to look back out the window at the girls.
"Oh please, Celeste. You've heard the rumors!" Mary yelled.
"I indeed have. I've heard the rumors that Dracula's castle has long been empty. Should I find it so, we can have a lovely place for the children to come and live."
"And should you find it not?"
Celeste thought for a moment. It did cause a cold chill to rush down her spine. No one had seen Dracula in person in years and the stories that came from Targoviste seemed almost too wild to be true. For a moment she faltered; she wanted to provide better lodging for the children in their care and a castle of this size could be a hospital, a place of education, a home, and so much more but the unknown was frightening. She took a deep breath and straightened, "I feel I must look and see what I can find. If you can, please wait for me there, but if not, I will see you back at the church."
She turned quickly, not wanting to lose her resolve to the pleas of her Sisters, and quickly receded from the window into the dark depths of the room. Though the window was large and relatively clean it did very little to brighten the room. Celeste blinked trying to force her eyes to adjust faster. Carefully she made her way forward through white sheets drawn over large pieces of furniture. When she reached the door she felt her heart lurch. It had a keyhole, if it were locked from the outside as shut up rooms sometimes were she'd have to climb right back out the window to the teasing of her sisters. She put her hand on the large brass knob and twisted it easily, pulling the door back an inch before she paused once more.
She'd be able now to explore the castle. She truly did hope to find it empty, waiting for them to claim it for the children and the ill but she couldn't shake the thought that it wouldn't be. What if he was there. The looming figure of the famed vampire himself. She swallowed through her mouth had gone painfully dry. She took a deep breath, drawing her shoulders up and letting her head drop back, "Dear Lord, please guide my hands and feet so I might do my best work," she muttered softly. Then she breathed out and let her head fall forward and she pulled the door open wide.
The hall outside the room was built of the same stone but appeared to be far more used than her entry point and the sudden brightness in the hall made her eyes water. Cautiously she stepped out, looking in either direction as though she was trying to cross a busy path in the city. There were bright lights running along the walls, equally spaced apart and mounted to the stone half a foot above her head. She narrowed her eyes to try and see it better, It looked as though someone had captured a tiny sun and placed it in a glass and then put a metal cage over it. She reached out for it, extended one finger toward it but she stopped when she could feel the heat pouring from the strange light.
She pulled back, marveling at it for a moment before the realization struck her; why would anyone light an empty home?
The castle was a lonely place. Adrian spent his days in the library or training with his sword in one of the long halls. Often he would go days or weeks without even laying his eyes on his father much less speaking to him. Perhaps that was for the best. Though weeks had passed he'd yet to find a way to speak of his mother's death with his father nor his father's plans for humanity now that they'd taken his wife. He knew he'd have to go to him soon. Beg him to change his mind and see reason.
In truth, he wanted revenge too. He often daydreamed of running his sword through the chest of that priest or letting him burn to death the way his mother had. But even with all the cold rage that rattled through his chest, he didn't want to hurt all of Wallachia. The gentle souls who'd loved his mother but feared for their own lives and even the lost ones who cheered as she screamed, none of them were responsible. Only the priest. Only the church.
He pushed up from his desk. He couldn't sit any longer. He'd find his father immediately and talk it through. He didn't know what he would say to convince him and his mind raced with possibilities but he feared losing her nerve so he moved quickly, long legs carrying him rapidly through the halls.
He walked, though teleporting through the huge castle was far faster. He walked because it connected him to his mother. It reminded him of walking in the garden with her as she collected plants for her studies. Walking gave him time to think of how to talk to his father, a man who became more of a stranger every day now. He walked to delay the inevitable and in walking, he moved just slow enough to notices the black and white-robed figure that stood in the hall. He paused, staring into the corridor in disbelief. He wondered if it was a specter. Some sort of omen, a foreboding sign of what his father would soon do to humanity. But she was too solid to be a vision. To human in her curiosity over the sconce on the wall to be a specter.
She turned then and walked toward him but she didn't seem to see him. Else she was confident or stupid or some combination of the two. Adrian was dumbfounded. The woman moved quietly, she kept her hands close to her body, and though she seemed very curious of her surroundings she was surprisingly polite for someone that had broken into the building in the first place.
Far ahead of him in the main corridor, Adrian heard the study door unlatch, the heavy wood scraping over the stone. He looked back at the nun and imagined her neck rent open, red blood pouring down her white gown. He launched himself at her, grabbing her throat to stop her from screaming and rushing them through a door. He shut it behind him swiftly and rushed her to the far wall, pressing her back to the stone with his hand tight around her neck.
She kicked, feebly, not at him he realized but in a desperate attempt to loosen the pressure on her neck. Her hands were gripped around his forearm and her wide eyes were trained on his face. He loosened his grip but didn't let her go. He turned his head slightly, looking over his shoulder but keeping her in his periphery. She was still, seemingly aware he was worried about something else and she stayed quiet and still in his grasp. He could feel her pulse racing through her neck.
Outside in the corridor, Adrian could hear the sound of his father's cape dragging rapidly across the stones. It didn't sound as though he turned. He didn't even pause. Adrian breathed a sigh of relief. Perhaps his father had gotten so used to the smell of humans in his castle he hadn't noticed the scent of the young nun. Adrian waited until his father had long been gone before turning back to the woman, hand squeezing her slightly in frustration.
"Why are you here?" he hissed.
She stared at him fearfully for a moment before her eyes dropped to his arm, she patted him softly, opening her mouth like a fish but making no noise. He released her and she folded coughing and tenderly touching her neck. She looked up at him though she stayed bent, "Dracula?"
"You would ask me a question before answering mine?"
"I-I," she stuttered, standing and pressing back to the stone.
"Answer me!" Adrian hissed again, louder this time and leaning toward her face making her flinch.
"I wanted to see if the castle was empty, no one has seen you in so long I thought-"
"Thought you would take it?"
"Not me," she lifted her hands in defense, "I just...if it were. I thought we could use it."
He frowned. He imagined townsfolk running their dirty hands over his mother's gowns that still hung in her room. He thought of the filth and clutter they would have brought into his home, the disrespect they would thoughtlessly cast to his family after all they'd put them through, "Fowl woman."
Her eyes widened, watering slightly though she sniffed to stop herself from crying, "I...we have children. Living at the church. Young boys and girls whose families have died or who can't keep them any longer. And...sick. There are many sick people, too ill to stay with their families and beyond saving here on earth. I thought...if we had such a large place then. Where they are they are in danger."
He stared at her. He settled back, feeling ashamed for his judgment. He imagined his mother chiding him for seeing evil in a woman of the church due to the bishop's actions. He rubbed his forehead, "You knew this was the home of Dracula and you still thought it worth the risk?"
"M-My life is...meant to be used in service," she spoke quickly, "I don't mean to take your home or cause you any harm. I only wanted to see."
"Then...why not knock?'
She blushed then, eyes widening and quickly looking down. It made him smile in spite of himself.
"Even I may be tempted to sin," she said, fiddling with her robes, "my Sisters told me the stories and when I saw a window I thought I could reach…"
He raised an eyebrow, "I see. Now that you'd found it occupied what will you do?"
"I might return home, if I may," she said, squinting up at him.
"Why should I let you?"
"I must feed the children tonight, it is my turn to cook," she said simply, "though...I understand in coming here I've done you wrong. I hope you might accept my apology. I don't wish you any harm but...I have nothing to offer but my regret."
She appeared to be about his age. Her skin was clear and bright, her nose was strong and evenly shaped, sharp against the soft rounds of her cheeks that were highlighted by the coverings over her head, a white one that also covered her neck and the tip of her chin layered under a black shroud. She held her deep green eyes in a permanent squint.
"What if I were to eat you?"
"I don't know."
He blinked, drawing back to look at her, frowning when she squinted harder, "What do you mean?"
"I don't know what would happen if you ate me," she said, her voice wobbling at the end of her sentence though she tried to remain calm, "I would die. I hope I would be welcomed to heaven. I don't know what would happen though."
"You won't beg then?"
She paused to think. She folded her arms over her chest, cradling herself. She spoke in a strange way but from the fear she seemed to hold in her body, it didn't seem to come from a mocking place.
He sighed, "I won't eat you. But you should not break into people's homes. You are a nun, after all."
"I…" she flushed again, "I'm a Religious Sister, actually."
"...there's a difference?"
"...It may be unimportant at this moment."
He laughed. Very shortly. It was a brief chuckle but enough to make her relax. She smiled gently, a soft apologetic smile that made the harsh squinting of her eyes ease up briefly enough for him to find her expression charming.
"I…" she began, the fear seeming to settle back into her but she continued, "I am sorry...for what they did to your wife."
It shocked him. Stunned him silent as tears pricked his eyes, "She was my mother."
Celeste's mouth wobbled, "That must be...far more painful."
The man nodded, turning away from her and wiping his face quickly with his sleeve, "Yes well...thank you. It is...a comfort to know it wasn't a unanimous decision."
"It wasn't at all," Celeste spoke quickly, "The Bishop seems to think himself a vessel for God but only when he might have a chance to smite those he sees as sinners. He isn't a man of forgiveness or kindness. He does nearly nothing for our poor or ill. He's-" The man turned toward her again and she squinted realizing he was trying to stop from smiling as she spoke. She blushed quickly looking away, "I shouldn't speak like that, I'm sorry I-"
"No please," the man said, holding his hand up to stop her, "He killed my mother. If I may offer: fuck him."
She smiled instantly in spite of herself, biting her lip when the man laughed, "If you aren't Dracula but the son of his wife, then you are?"
"Adrian Ţepeş," he said, pressing his hand to his chest and bowing slightly, "their son."
Her mouth gaped. She never imagined Dracula would have a son but she could see the blond of the man's hair and recognized it from her nightmares. The same beautiful color of the woman she'd been forced to watch burn.
"I'm called Celeste," she blurted even though he hadn't asked.
"Should I call you Sister Celeste?"
"It is considered polite...but so is not breaking into people's homes."
"Well...barging into other's homes is a time-honored tradition in my family." She tilted her head at him in confusion and started to ask but he cut her off, "Never mind, Sister Celeste. It was only a joke."
"Why did you bring me in here?" she asked, looking around yet another room that appeared to have gone untouched for many months.
"My father was coming and I think you would have found him much...less willing to hear you out."
She shuddered, hand ghosting over her neck at the thought of fangs drawing the life from her body, "Thank you."
He nodded, "Yes, well...I'm not interested in causing any more death...tell me, Sister, do many believe the way you do?"
"...about God? Well I...many people come to-"
"No, I...about the Bishop. Did my mother have many friends?"
Celeste frowned, "I...of the townspeople, I can't know. They have been trained to be sheep in a flock. I don't fault them for the waywardness of their shepherd. Please...you must know so many of them can't read even if the Church looked favorably on those that read the word for themselves. I know of those of us in the Bishop's service many will do whatever he says...and just as many want for a better, kinder leader. Your mother...she healed many people. I can't imagine they could turn on her so easily."
Adrian listened attentively while she spoke, his calm posture, the thoughtful expression that she could make out spurred her to talk more. Normally when she began to espouse her ideas the other Sisters hushed her, warning her of the dangers of going against the Bishop. It felt good to be heard, to be taken seriously.
"That is a comforting thought…" Adrian mumbled, seeming lost in his thoughts for a moment, "Sister...my father...his warning for humanity? He means to make right on it. He will kill every human in Wallachia."
She shuddered at the thought. She remembered the fiery visage in the sky. She'd believed him then but it was bone-chilling to hear it spoken now so matter-of-factly.
"I'll do what I can to stop him but...can I ask for your help?"
"Me?" she sputtered, eyes widening, "How could I do anything?"
"My father sees all of humanity as traitors that didn't have love for my mother or respect for her life. You do. If you know of more who feel the same. Perhaps it will help me to frame my father's rage to the right person-"
"The Bishop."
Adrian nodded, "I will help you to leave. I ask that you come back. Speak with me again, Tell me anything you hear from people with like-minds."
"W-when should I come back?"
"Come two days from now. To the right of the castle there's a large tree. We can meet there."
"Day but-"
"Don't worry about that now," he spoke quickly suddenly lifting her into his arms, "I will take you out of the castle quickly and you will go on your way. Don't dawdle. Don't look for more windows you might climb through. Leave. Go right back to the church. You've been lucky enough today and there's not reason for you to test it."
He held her close enough she could finally see if face properly though her poor vision wasn't helped by the dim lights around them. He was beautiful as his mother had been. Pale and golden in hair and eyes. His features were strong and he seemed embarrassed by her serious study of his face, "Excuse me are you listening at all."
"Tree. Two days. Sun isn't a problem. Don't tempt fate. Stop staring," she prattled back to him making him smirk though he tried to suppress it.
"Now. Don't scream," he said.
"Why would I sc-"
Then she understood. He moved so fast she could barely feel the air. Her already blurred vision became a swirl of colors. It felt as though her organs were moving around though her body was stationary in the Adrian's cold arms. Suddenly, everything was bright and he carefully lowered her to the ground, placing his hands on her shoulders as she wobbled. She frowned up at him but she didn't dare to open her mouth for fear of vomiting.
"Consider it the punishment for breaking in," he coolly teased.
She pouted slightly but said, "Thank you. For protecting me and listening when you had no reason to."
He squeezed her shoulder, "No, I have all the reason in the world, Sister Celeste. I look forward to our next meeting."
The world around her had stilled and despite the baffling time she passed inside the castle she realized from the orange glow around them dinner at the church was quickly approaching. She wheeled back, quickly turning though she stumbled in the dirt, "Two days! I will see you, I promise."
She could see that he lifted his hand in the air but she couldn't make out his expression. She rushed to her home. To the hungry children and the nightly chores. To the prayers she must say for the sick and ailing and to those she would have to pass up for herself, for Adrian and his father, for humanity, and for her hope that she was truly doing what was right for them all.