Katrina, The Beginning Read online

CHAPTER TEN

  When I returned to the stables after lunch, a squadron of servants was busily loading our things onto wagons and Mother’s coach. Pack horses were strung together and waiting lazily for someone to pull them ahead and all our personal mounts were being saddled. I hadn’t seen any reason to change; after all, I was just going to spend all day riding anyway. I had eaten quickly and hoped to say goodbye to Damien, but he was nowhere to be found. On the other hand, I told myself, I could say goodbye to him - or anything else for that matter - any time I wanted.

  “Damien?” I called in my mind. No response. He was either too far away or didn’t want to hear me. I thought, maybe it’s for the best.

  “Hi, Nulla. Ready to go home, girl?”

  I scratched her neck and leaned against her shoulder. Everything in my life had changed; and now, even Nulla had even changed; she was going to be a mother. I could tell that already from her changing scent. All my life I had wished to do more, be more, and now what kept running through my head was my mother’s warning: “Be careful what you ask for.” Were the excitement, stress, and change finally getting to me? I walked over to say goodbye to Theo, but he wasn’t in his stall. No Damien, no Theo. I thought I’d see them one more time; otherwise I would have said goodbye this morning. What else was there to say anyway?

  “Let’s go, girl, time to go home.”

  I led her out of the stable into the bright afternoon sunlight.

  “Going somewhere?” I heard, and there, mounted on Theo, was Damien.

  “Time to go home,” I said.

  He laughed, “You’ll have plenty of company on your way. You won’t be lonely.”

  As I looked up at him, the sun silhouetting his face, I was overwhelmed with sadness. I was truly going to miss him.

  “I’ll be with you,” I heard in my mind. “Always.”

  Tears filled my eyes.

  “I can’t do this. I can’t say goodbye to you. I’ll see you in a month. We’ll talk then.” He turned Theo and cantered away.

  Grooms were leading the other horses out now. The time had to be close, and everyone would be waiting. I mounted and rode toward the front gate. I was right, everyone was gathered, the girls in their riding clothes, and now sporting new short swords and daggers at their waists. It was going to be so great to have them with me.

  “Katrina, good,” said Father. “It’s a long trip home, so let’s get started.”

  Everyone else mounted up. Father joined Mother in her coach, his horse tied on behind, and the drivers whipped up the horses.

  “I’m so excited!” exclaimed Kate. “Did you know Father sent word for our rooms to be prepared? They’ll be ready when we get home.”

  “No, I hadn’t heard. That’s great. You’re going to love it there, Kate. It’s so beautiful - open meadows, a large lake where swans raise their young, a forest full of game, but the best part is for the first time, we’re all going to be together, a complete family, right?”

  “Plus three extra sisters, don’t forget.”

  “Oh, I don’t think there’s any chance of that,” I laughed.

  When we got to an open place, I instinctively took a breath in, just to check our surroundings. I recognized a scent in the air right away, and looking around I spotted a black horse at the top of the rise on our right, mane blowing in the wind, his rider still, watching us pass.

  “Goodbye,” I said silently.

  “Soon,” his only reply.

  Rosa came back to ride with us.

  “Gunter was telling me after we set up camp tonight, we’ll have a chance to hunt, and he suggested we all go together for the first time.”

  “Rosa, that’s a fine idea,” I was excited at the prospect.

  “And we should find time each night to practice our skills,” Kate added.

  “You’re right; we can’t waste whatever time we have along the way,” I agreed.

  Eleanor was riding with Thomas, and Letta was riding with Avery and Cedrik. I looked around for Quinn; he was riding next to the coach with Gunter. I pulled Nulla to a halt.

  “I’ll talk to you later,” I called to Kate and Rosa.

  “Hi,” I greeted Quinn as he caught up to me.

  “Hello,” he said dismissively. “I haven’t seen much of you today; I’m sure that means Damien did.”

  “Quinn, what do you want me to say?”

  “You don’t have to say anything. It’s really none of my business.”

  “So why did you bring it up?”

  He looked at me for a long time before his expression evolved into that ‘I wish I could stay mad at you’ look. At this point I couldn’t help it; I started to laugh, and finally, so did he. Then he shook his head, “What am I going to do with you?”

  “I’ll try to think of something.”

  We talked the rest of the afternoon about the girls, our training, and how we couldn’t wait to be home at last. It was effortless, relaxed, like old times. Finally we arrived at the place Gunter had chosen to make camp for the night, a nice open area. I was always amazed at how efficient the men were at setting up our camps, each on task until the job was complete: tents set up, horses cared for, fires made, and cooking started. Gunter gave orders for a hunting party to be formed, tasked with finding small game for dinner.

  “Okay, girls, it’s all right for you to go hunting too, but stay to the west and don’t stay too long,” cautioned Gunter.

  Rosa mocked him in a singsong voice, “Yes Father.”

  We gathered in the meadow to plan our first hunt together.

  “First, let’s figure out how to use our gifts to get the best look at our surroundings,” I looked to the others for suggestions.

  “I’ll bring the wind so you two can ‘see’ even further away.”

  “Good, Letta, go ahead. The rest of us will hold hands; it’ll enhance our sight and scent.”

  The breeze blew and Kate and I closed our eyes. I took a deep breath and held it for just a moment. I couldn’t believe how many things I could pick up - deer, rabbits, a fox with three kits, and a bear. Looking further than I ever had before, maybe five or six miles, I sensed there must be a cottage. I could smell its fire, the family that lived there, a man, woman, a little girl, and their animals, a dog, horses, and sheep. It was amazing. The land had so much game and no danger that I could detect. I opened my eyes.

  “That was great!” Kate exclaimed, “I could see with such detail, a little white cottage with a small barn and sheep, horses, a dog, and three people. I didn’t detect anything dangerous to us, did you Kat?”

  “No, but I could detect things so much further away than I ever could on my own. Let’s go out and hunt. I saw lots of deer. Letta, Rosa, you go to the right; El you go straight in, and Kate and I will go left. We’ll circle and meet in the middle.”

  In a flash we were off. With our speed and strength, no animal was much of a challenge, and in minutes we had all taken down prey and fed. As I started to head to the circle’s center to meet everyone else, Kate raced by me. My first thought was something was wrong, but I didn’t sense any danger. She circled and as she came close this time she reached out, tapped me on the shoulder, sang out, “you’re it” and raced away.”

  I chased her over logs, around trees, swinging off branches. It was exhilarating, and we could see the others now.

  “Kat’s it,” Kate yelled to them.

  Now they all scattered, but I was too quick for El.

  “You’re it, El, I tapped her on the back and then zipped away.

  We regressed into childhood as we chased each other around the forest, tagging each other until everyone had been ‘it’ at least twice.

  “That was fun,” Rosa joined us as we collapsed on the ground. None of us had sisters growing up - at least not living with us - but we were making up for it now. We knew we should get back, but we wanted this time to ourselves. It was getting dark, and although we could see in the dark, we still asked Letta to start a fire.

 
“We’ll gather some wood,” El started to get up.

  “Don’t bother,” Letta said, and she held out her hand. A flame appeared right on her palm, we all gasped.

  “Isn’t it hot, Letta?” El was already thinking about the energy she would have to expend healing her.

  “It can be, but not if I don’t want it to. Like now, the flame is just for light, but let me show you what else I can do. I’ve been practicing.”

  Letta grabbed the flame and threw it at the tree next to us. As she intensified her stare, the flame grew, engulfing the entire base of the tree. We could feel it getting hotter and hotter. Then Letta closed her eyes and the now roaring fire disappeared, leaving the trunk smoldering and black. She then pointed her finger in the air, a flame appeared on the very tip, and with flare she wrote her name in the air with the fire. We all clapped and shook our heads, our mouths agape with awe.

  “Wow, you’ve come so far in just a few days,” I was astounded at her progress.

  “Wait until you see what Rosa can do,” El said, piquing our interest.

  We turned our attention to Rosa then.

  “All right, give me your daggers.” She asked, holding out her hand.

  Rosa reached out to receive our weapons and took hers out as well; then laid them all out on the ground. We could see her start to concentrate and to our amazement the daggers began to rise, continuing to do so until they were head-high. Next, at a speed we could hardly see, she sent them one at a time, straight into the still smoldering tree. They landed within millimeters of each other, as if in the center of an invisible target.

  Rosa beamed with pride. “I’ve been practicing too.” She winked at El.

  “No kidding,” Kate said. “Wow.”

  We continued to practice every night of our journey home and found the five of us could now enhance each other’s gifts without having to hold hands. It was enough just to concentrate collectively on whatever we were trying to do; but holding hands or placing our hands on whoever was the source of the gift gave it the ultimate enhancement. Between travel, swordplay, and skill training, the days flew by, and in a week we were within sight of Castle Mormont, our home. The stone walls glowed in the fading sunlight, and the dark slate tiles of the turrets gave off hues of purple and blue. I had never seen anything so beautiful.

  “Welcome home, Elizabeth,” Father helped Mother out of the coach. I could see the emotion on her face and tears filling her eyes.

  “Oh, Fredrik, I had forgotten what a magical place this is.”

  Father hugged her and kissed her forehead.

  “Now, girls, why don’t you go and see if your new quarters are to your liking.”

  I had forgotten all about our new rooms being prepared while we were gone. We hurried excitedly up the stairs. Instead of my two rooms on the left, there was now a door where a hallway used to be. Opening the door, we found my two rooms were now two separated bedrooms, with another three across the wide hallway. Each bedroom was lovely. Mine had remained the same, just as I wished. Kate’s room was next to mine, and the others were across the hall. The once empty turret room at the end of the hall was now a common room, with lovely overstuffed chairs, a stone hearth and fireplace, and a wood table with five chairs, so we could dine in if we wished. It was even lovelier than our quarters at the palace. We even had doors on each side of the fireplace, which opened onto a private balcony. While the others were exploring their rooms, I went out onto our balcony, closed my eyes, and concentrated.

  “Damien, are you there?” I thought to myself.

  After a short while I heard.

  “I’m here.”

  “We’re home… I miss you.”

  “I’m right here,” he said.

  Then I heard Kate calling me.

  Our link was broken; so I decided I might as well see what she wanted.

  “What is it, Kate?” I asked as I came inside.

  “Sarah is in your room. Do you want to have a bath now or later?”

  The thought of taking a long bath sounded so good.

  “Now, please.” I went into my room

  “I’ll let you have a nice long soak, and then I’ll wash your hair. Would you like something to drink?” asked Sarah.

  “No, thank you, but could you see if the rest of the girls want to eat here? I know I do.”

  “I’ll ask them. Isn’t it grand each of your rooms now has one of these beautiful copper tubs? There are even copper pipes to let the water drain to the outside.”

  “Yes, it’s lovely. Father really out did himself this time.”

  “I’ll be back in a little while then,” she said as she left.

  I sank down as far as I could without going under, the hot water soothing my muscles and the soft scent of lavender soothing my senses.

  “Katrina?” I heard in my mind.

  It startled me at first, because I was so relaxed.

  “I’m here,” I replied. “I’m taking a bath,” I smiled, thinking of his reaction.

  “Now I wish I could see, not just hear you.”

  “I bet you do. I wasn’t sure we’d be able to communicate this far away. I’m glad we can.”

  “Have you told anyone we can hear each other?” he asked.

  “No, that’s just for us.”

  “Just for us,” he replied, “Father just arrived, and I’ve got to go.”

  Sarah came in to wash my hair and comb it out with sandalwood oil, then helped me into a clean outfit.

  “There was a beautiful young lady under all that dirt after all,” she stood, hands on her hips, looking very pleased with herself. “The other girls want to eat here as well. Is there anything special you’d like?”

  “I think Rosa is missing her Italian food, so maybe her people could make something for us. And some dessert please; not fruit, but Bavarian cream pastries.”

  “I’ll see to it right away.”

  It felt so good to be home. I snuggled down in one of the new overfilled chairs.

  Now that we were back, I needed to get to the library and start my regular studies again.

  “Hey Kat, I could have stayed in that bath all night,” El said as she came out of her new room.

  “How’s your room? All settled?” I asked her.

  “It’s great. Sarah had everyone buzzing around like worker bees, getting everything unloaded and put away, but that bathtub has to be my favorite thing.”

  “Mine too,” sighed Letta as she came in, “and I must be least a pound lighter after washing off all the dust and dirt.”

  “Sarah, that smells fabulous,” sniffed Rosa, as she followed her into the common room.

  “I smell dinner,” Kate called. “I’m starving.”

  We had pasta with chicken, a fresh salad, tomatoes, cheese, hot bread, red wine, and of course my favorite dessert.

  “I couldn’t eat another thing,” I took my last bite of pastry.

  “Thanks for ordering pasta tonight, Kat. That was just what I was craving,” Rosa gave me an appreciative smile.

  “I think we all enjoyed it, didn’t we?” I looked around at the contented faces at the table.

  “What does everyone want to do tonight?” I asked.

  “Can we just sit by the fire and relax, talk, drink wine - a girls’ night in, no training at all?” Kate suggested.

  We were all for that, so when Sarah came in to clear the food away, we asked for some additional wine and snacks for later, then settled in around the fire, some of us in chairs and some on the floor.

  “Is there anything you need or would like to have changed? I really want you to feel at home.”

  “I can’t think of a thing, Kat,” Letta said. “This”, she indicated the rooms and the common area with a sweep of her arm, “is beautiful.”

  “I agree and can’t think of a thing that I need,” El added.

  “Well, I for one think Father outdid himself getting this done ahead of our arrival; I can’t wait for you to show us the whole castle and gr
ounds, Kat.”

  “That’s just what I told Sarah earlier, the part about Father - twins really think alike. We can look around right after breakfast if you want; Gunter gave us half the day off.”

  Letta laughed, “A whole half-day, he’s too kind.”

  “Kat, you haven’t talked about Quinn at all the last few days,” El commented.

  “You know, you’re right. I haven’t even thought much about him lately. That’s strange, isn’t it?” I wondered what it meant.

  “Not really,” Rosa explained, “When you fed directly from him you began a very powerful connection for both of you; but it wears off gradually, unless it’s renewed, so maybe what you thought was love was just a blood-lust bond.”

  “Mother mentioned something about that. So, you think it’s probably worn off for him too?” I asked.

  “While it’s true you both care for each other, the recent intensity of your feelings was probably due to the feedings.”

  “I’m so glad to have all of you; I’ve never had anyone to talk to like this before. You all at least had your mothers.”

  “True, but mine isn’t that interested in me,” Rosa revealed

  “Mine has two other children by her new lover,” Letta said.

  “My mother is lovely, but wants to be my sister more than my mother. She’s probably trying to get Father to come and get me as we speak,” El laughed.

  “I guess I’m the only one that had a Mother to really talk to, and all I could think about was how much I missed having my father around,” Kate shared.

  I understood then, it wasn’t just the availability of a mother but her ability to be a mother. In that matter Kate and I were lucky.

  “Well, we have each other now, and that’s what matters. Don’t you feel this is our destiny or something, that we’re together for a purpose, but we just don’t know what it is yet?” I asked everyone.

  El looked at me, “I’ve been thinking about that too. We seem to have a lot in common, but more important have personalities and gifts that mesh with each other. It came to me when we first discovered we could enhance each other’s gifts. We’re like parts of something that, once assembled, makes a totally different thing.” Seeing Rosa’s eyebrow raise, she continued. “Like beautiful colors - when seen separately are just pretty, but when put together to form a rainbow, are breathtaking”.

  Rosa nodded, “Of course you’re right, I thought about it too.”

  “Me too, we were meant to be together,” Letta added.

  “In Sanctuary this would be described as an ‘event of portend’, a warning of things to come.”

  “Kate, I know you can’t tell us where you and Mother were, but can you tell us about the others there and what your hosts were like? It’s all so mysterious.”

  “Well Kat,” she was now very serious, “I was an infant when we arrived there, so of course I just accepted my surroundings, since I had no idea there was anywhere else in the world to be. Now looking back, it almost doesn’t seem real to me. So much has happened in the last few weeks to all of us. I’ll tell you about it, but we must agree to keep it to ourselves, all right?”

  We agreed and she began.

  “I grew up among a very large population in a vast city. The city was filled with unique buildings, some homes were four or five stories, carved right out of sheer canyon walls, others were located in the underground caverns and carved into dwellings, there were also grand chambers underground, used for meetings and festivities. The inhabitants, from all races including human, came from all over the world.” She paused to look into each of our faces. We were all leaning in with anticipation.

  “What I tell you now, will seem like pure fantasy, a made-up story, but it’s all true, I swear to you. As stunning as this sanctuary is, the knowledge that many of us live by hiding in plain sight, is as much of a shock as seeing them all together - leaf fairies, wood nymphs, pixies, to mention a few, and of course vampires and witches. Of the people inhabiting Sanctuary, our group; the vampires, was the smallest. Elves, as our hosts, had the largest population, followed by dwarves, gremlins, wizards, and Minotaur. Many wizards and healers make up the rest. We also accepted into sanctuary, rare animal species like my favorite, the unicorn, and we even had griffins. People or animals, we shared our existence, and all lived in peace.”

  “I remember reading our history in the library and fantasizing about the world as it once was,” El voiced her envy, “and now you’ve seen that world, you’ve been there and you lived in it…how amazing.”

  “Remember, I didn’t know it was unique, it was just my reality. It was a challenge for all the different species and races to live together in peace, until everyone realized our only way to survive was to get along with each other, or at least be tolerant.”

  “Tell us more about the elves themselves; what are they like?” Rosa asked.

  “Just like anyone else, each elf has their individual personality. On the whole they are a lot like us, very long-lived of course but generally the race is tall and slender, with reserved, formal natures. They tend to keep to themselves, and they’re smart, very disciplined, and graceful. The women are beautiful, the men handsome. They have slightly pointed ears, most wear their hair very long, and except for eyebrows, they don’t get body hair of any kind. Like us, the women don’t have children until they’re in their mid-hundreds, when they look more like twenty-five. As they have all the time in the world, they never rush anything. Decision-making is a slow, almost agonizing process, filled with discussion, and contemplation. This trait sometimes frustrates other races, so everyone has to have a lot of patience. It was a magical childhood I suppose, but knowing I had a father and a sister on the outside made it hard to stay, so Mother finally agreed it was time to come home. Especially after I’d felt an urgency to come here.”

  “Do you think we could ever go back with you someday?”

  “If there was once again a need, they would take us back. The elves truly believe their time will come again, because from our behavior, they think eventually humans will kill each other off. You realize, of course, not only peaceful races are in hiding. Evil elements of all the races also exist, they live along with demons in the underworld, and they seek to destroy not only the humans, but all peaceful races. Someday a call may come to return, not to save ourselves, but to join the fight to save all the peaceful races of Sangustae.”

  Kate was right, it sounded like fiction, a bedtime story told to children; but we vampires exist, so how could I not believe her? Besides, I already knew these different races had existed, I just didn’t know they still existed. The thought they were secreted away in Sangustae made me happy. We talked for several more hours about what Kate had told us and then dragged ourselves to our rooms and into bed at last.

  We all slept in, had breakfast. Then I took the girls on a tour. I began with the grounds, then took them to the stables and gardens. We walked and talked as I pointed out my favorite spots and told stories of the childhood I’d lived in these places. Then we came inside, had something to drink and I showed them the castle itself. We went from floor to floor touring the ballrooms, meeting rooms, beautiful guest wings, dining hall, and the chapel, before entering, at last, the pride of Mormont, the grand library. I heard the gasps as we came into the room. It was my favorite room. I’d grown up in this mammoth playground and had never given much thought as to its grandeur. Now I saw it through fresh eyes. The soaring thirty-five-foot ceiling was done in a panoramic fresco of angels fighting demons. Its shelves were filled with row upon row of books, manuscripts and scrolls. A spiral staircase to the walkway, gave access to the room’s second-story level and the bookshelves lining the walls encircling the room. On the library’s floor, oak tables sat on top of hand-tied Persian rugs. The girls exclaimed its magnificence; and although I’d always taken it for granted, I had to admit it was a magical room.

  Letta sighed. “No wonder this is your favorite room.”

  “We’ll be spend
ing a lot of time here working on our studies.” I told them.

  “I know what I want to study,” Rosa piped up. “I want to study plans for our birthday party; it’s less than a month away.”

  “We need to ask Father when the meetings are scheduled. Your families will be coming, along with members of the Council,” I continued. “The envoy to the Americas will begin as soon as the meetings end.”

  “Girls, come on, we’re going to be eighteen, and this party has to be fantastic,” Rosa encouraged, warming to her topic.

  “Are we going to have a theme party, a dinner, or a ball?” asked El, her hand to her chin as she thought.

  “How about all of the above?” suggested Letta who was growing more excited.

  “Why not? Okay, any ideas on a theme?” I asked.

  “I always like a masquerade ball,” Rosa held two fingers of her hand to her eyes, simulating a mask.

  “Let’s just have a family dinner,” Kate recommended.

  We stopped and looked at her like she had just gone crazy.

  Kate held her hand up in the attitude of ‘stop’ and continued.

  “Then instead of a big party, we’ll get Father to let us go to Paris. Remember, Gerhardt said the World’s Fair is going to be held there, and we could make the journey along with those traveling to port. I’m sure Philepe will let us stay at his chateau.”

  “Kate, that has to be the most brilliant idea ever. We can shop, and you know Gerhardt will love showing us around,” I was excited now.

  “So that’s it then; we’ll ask Father soon,” resolved Kate, now beaming.

  We all agreed, and then left the library to find something for lunch before starting the afternoon sessions. The training that Gunter had set up for us today was one of my favorites. We would be strengthening our horsemanship skills and I was looking forward to it.

  I was also looking forward to seeing Quinn, but I was more curious to see how he reacted to me, more than seeing how I felt when I saw him.

  We were still excitedly talking about our birthday celebration when we arrived at the stables. Our horses were ready and waiting, but before we could get to them, we were rushed from both front and rear by at least a dozen ‘enemy’ soldiers.

  “Swords!” I yelled.

  “Circle!” yelled Rosa.

  Then they were on us.

  “Thought you could surprise us, did you, Gunter?” I shouted defiantly, still panting after we’d successfully defended ourselves.

  “You looked very distracted earlier, but you have proved your readiness, girls. Good job,” Gunter said. “Now mount up and we’ll meet you at the training grounds.”

  The Watchers’ little ambush put us in the right frame of mind, and we had a great session. Quinn didn’t seem to pay any special attention to me, so I guessed Rosa was right about the feeding causing what we had felt earlier.

  We decided since we were already on our horses, to take a tour of the castle grounds outside the walls. Here, there were beautiful fields planted with vegetables, oats, hay, wheat, and sunflowers and the vineyards and fruit trees that seemed to stretch on forever.

  “Since we’re out here, we might as well hunt,” suggested Letta looking at me for approval.

  “Okay,” I closed my eyes and took a long, slow breath. “There’s a herd of deer about a half a mile to the west.”

  We dismounted, secured the horses and ran into the forest. In minutes we had achieved our goal; downing a buck and several does, feeding until we were full. As we raced back to our horses, we placed several flags on the trail to help the Watchers retrieve the kill. I had just placed a final marker at the perimeter of the forest, when without warning it started to rain, not hard, but a light spring shower that was beginning to soak us.

  El called out, “Letta, try to stop it.”

  We could see Letta look up and concentrate; and to our surprise the clouds cleared above our heads and showed us blue sky, while all around us it continued to rain. Instinctively, the rest of us concentrated with her and gradually the area of blue sky became larger and larger, until the rain had completely stopped. Letta closed her eyes then and when she opened them, looked around at each of us and we started to laugh.

  “That was great! I wonder what else we can do?” We could see how excited Kate was by our intercession with the rain.

  It seemed every day we discovered something new to do with our gifts. Kate and I practiced speaking to each other with our minds. We could do it, but it was nothing like what happened between Damien and me, which seemed strange. We tried it with the other girls too, but none of them could hear us.

  We left our horses at the stable, where I gave the groom instructions to keep an extra eye on Nulla and to include more grain into her diet, since I was sure she was in foal. As mad as I was at Damien at the time, I had to confess I couldn’t wait to see what I was sure would be the most beautiful little black colt in the whole world. I wouldn’t be disappointed if it was a filly, but for some reason, I was sure it would be a colt. I was starting to have more and more feelings like that these days, sensing things before they happened. I made a note to myself to look up such things in the library. Enhancing that trait could be very helpful, especially now with five of us helping.

  “Let’s change for dinner. I can’t wait to ask Father about our birthdays,” I winked at Kate.

  “I can’t see why he wouldn’t let us go, do you?” asked Kate, now serious.

  “Maybe we should ask Mother first, to make sure she’s on our side,” I looked at Kate for agreement.

  “Couldn’t hurt. Do you want to go right before dinner?”

  “All right,” glad for the chance to talk to Mother in any case.

  “I can’t wait to slip into that copper bathtub,” Rosa moaned.

  “Sarah is going to grumble about our hair again,” El warned.

  “What’s new?” I rolled my eyes, “At least she’s letting your maids help her more now.”

  “That’s true, but she’s still rules the roost,” Letta chuckled.

  “That’s never going to change, but I can tell she loves taking care of all of us,” Rosa added.

  When we got back Sarah was busy filling tubs. She grumbled about how bad we smelled and of course how awful our hair was. There was the most amazing perfume in the air from the oils and bath salts; it was exotic, with lavender and sandalwood, hints of vanilla and mint. I undressed and dropped my clothes outside my door as ordered. As I walked naked by the mirror, I glanced at myself. The girl I used to see looking back at me was gone, and in her place was a strong, lean, but very shapely woman. I sank into the steaming hot water, got my sea sponge nice and soapy, and washed over my face and neck. It felt so good; suddenly a smile came to my face - a devilish one at that. Last time I was in the tub, Damien was here with me, at least in my mind. Why not try to contact him again? I closed my eyes and tried to picture him, his handsome face, dark eyes, sexy smile, and then I called out with my mind.

  “Damien, are you there?”

  “I’m here.”

  “What have you been up to?”

  “Oh I’ve been out every evening with a different girl; I just hate to disappoint any of them.”

  “Glad you’re having fun. We’ve been working hard, no spare time at all.”

  “No time for your Watcher boyfriend…or should I say, no snack time?”

  “Very funny, and he’s not my boyfriend, just my friend. Once the blood lust wore off, we realized that’s all it was.”

  Silence…

  “Damien, are you still there?”

  “I’m here; I’m just in shock. No boyfriend?”

  “Well I wouldn’t say that; there is someone special in my life.”

  “That didn’t take long. You moved on quickly.” I heard a hesitation in his otherwise confident voice.

  “Actually it took me a while to realize how much I cared about him.”

  “Does this someone, know how you feel?”

  “He does
now.”

  There was a pause as the implication of my words sunk in. Then I heard, “Me? You’re talking about me? Because I was convinced you were right, our involvement was just in the moment. Wasn’t it you who said it was ‘pure lust’, as you aptly put it.”

  “So perhaps we should just both move on then, I guess. Well, I’d better let you go; I wouldn’t want any of your conquests to be kept waiting. Goodbye, Damien.”

  He laughed. “You didn’t really believe all that did you? I swear I’ve been in love with you since that first night.”

  Then, as if on cue, Sarah danced in to do my hair and I couldn’t concentrate enough with her talking to keep ‘talking’ to Damien. Damn. As soon as she finished the washing, rinsing and complaining, I was alone again at last.

  “Damien?”

  Nothing. He must have been otherwise engaged as well. I sighed and reluctantly rose from the tub.

  “Katrina?”

  It sounded as if he was right next to me and I jumped.

  “I’m here; Sarah came in to wash my hair again.”

  Then a wicked thought came into my mind. I stood in front of the mirror once again; a much cleaner image of me was there. I concentrated as hard as I could, both on my reflection and on Damien.

  “Katrina! Did you just send me a…picture?”

  “Hope you liked the reflection you saw in my mirror.”

  “How’d you do that? And yes, I liked it, but I was surprised and couldn’t quite focus on it because it didn’t last long enough. Try it again.”

  “Sorry, that’s all you’re going to get. When are you coming? I was hoping for a few extra days before your meetings and our birthday dinner.”

  “Only a dinner? Not a week of parties?”

  “We decided going to Paris with your group and staying a few days in Philepe’s chateau would be more fun. The World’s Fair is there and we can shop.”

  “Sounds exciting, I’ll come as soon as all my plans are complete. There’s a lot to do; money must be transferred and I am sending as much ahead as I can. Maybe I can arrange some time in Paris as well. Our family has an apartment overlooking the river.”

  “That would be wonderful.”

  We didn’t need to say anything more. We could be alone.

  “Everyone is waiting for me, I’ve got to go.”

  “Soon then?”

  “Soon.”

  I dressed quickly and came out to meet Kate.

  Kate stopped in mid pace, “About time,” she said impatiently.

  “I’m ready now. Let’s go.”

  “I told the others to meet us in the dining hall.”

  We arrived just as Mother was finishing dressing for dinner. Father was still in his office. Perfect timing.

  “Oh, girls, it’s so nice to see you. We haven’t spent five minutes alone together since we got back,” Mother smiled at us fondly.

  “Sorry, Mother; we’ve just been so busy,” Kate explained. “Can we talk to you about our birthday plans?”

  “Of course. I can’t believe you’re going to be eighteen. After this landmark birthday, since you won’t age much for several hundred years, other birthdays from now on won’t have much of an impact. What do you have in mind?”

  “We’d like to scale down the party to just a dinner celebration with all our families, because we would like the real celebration to be in Paris. The girls’ fathers will be traveling to Paris to join the envoy leaving for the Americas from there. We could accompany them to Paris. It would give the girls some extra time with their fathers before they board their ships. We would like to stay in Paris for a few days to shop and see the sights,” Kate was hopeful.

  “The World’s Fair is there, Mother, and I just know Philepe will let us stay at his chateau, and Gerhardt can show us around,” I said, pleading our case.

  “And you want me to help you convince your father to let you go, is that it?”

  “Would you, Mother?” I asked, now sure we had her blessing.

  “You’ve been working very hard, as you said, and have proven you can take care of yourselves. I think I can persuade him. He’s all ready let you drop your personal Watchers; but I’m sure he’s going to insist you take some with you on this trip, so you’ll have to be ready to agree to that.”

  “We won’t need them, but that’s fine by me, and I’m sure it’ll be fine with everyone else too,” Kate said, willing to make this concession in order to gain her mother’s support.

  “Very well, then. I’ll speak with him and find the date for your celebration dinner.”

  We both hugged her.

  “Thank you, Mother. We knew you’d understand. Are you meeting Father over there, or is he coming back here?”

  “He’s coming back to escort me. I’ll wait; you go ahead. I know you probably can’t wait to tell the others your news.”

  “Thanks again, Mother.”

  One last hug and we were out the door. We hurried over to the dining hall, where the girls were waiting for us outside.

  El couldn’t contain herself. “Well, what did she say? Is she on our side or not?”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said, with an exaggeratedly sad face, “but I think you’re just going to have to pack for Paris!” I threw my arms up over my head and laughed.

  We all squealed and jumped up and down like little children.

  “She’s going to talk to Father, but if she’s happy about it, he’ll be fine with it. We’ll have to take Watchers along, but that’s no problem,” Kate said.

  “She’s also going to find out what date we can have our celebration dinner,” I informed them.

  “You don’t think your fathers will have a problem with it, do you?” asked Kate.

  “I don’t think so,” Rosa agreed.

  “Definitely not,” Letta added.

  “My father might need some convincing,” El was apologetic.

  “Well, when everyone arrives, we’re going to show them our training progress. If that doesn’t convince them we can take care of ourselves, nothing will,” I was emphatic.

  “It’s not that,” groaned El. “I used to go to school in Paris, an all-girl boarding school for our kind of girls, vampires and witches. I was fifteen at the time and shy. I was popular enough, but I kept to myself, which made me an easy target for a group of girls that supposedly ran the place and who, for some reason, decided I was a threat. Since their group was a combination of witches and vampires, they terrorized me in different ways, like spells for spiders in my bed, or chasing me and roughing me up. I received no help from the headmistress, since the leader of the group, Marna, was the headmistress’ daughter of. Finally, when I’d had enough, I begged Father to let me come home.” She sighed, “Those girls must be in their last year now.”

  “Well it’s obvious to me they were jealous of you, and we all know bullies are cowards when they’re by themselves. Maybe we’ll just look them up when we get there,” I was serious.

  “I think I know this Marna. Is she tall, thin, flat-chested, with black wavy hair?” Rosa asked.

  “That’s her,” El confirmed.

  “Whenever my father has business in Paris we attend parties and help raise money for these private schools throughout Europe. She would be at the get-togethers, trying to impress the boys and insert herself into our conversations, and it turns out she did become quite popular with some of the boys, if you get my meaning.”

  We did.

  “Let them see you now, El - beautiful, strong, and confident,” I told her.

  “With four sisters who have your back,” Kate said with an evil smirk.

  “Thanks. There’s something else I’ve been meaning to ask you. I need to continue practicing my healing, and I heard the local mission has a hospital. I’d like us to volunteer there a few hours a week. What do you think?”

  “I’m in,” I said.

  Everyone else agreed.

  “Father sends food once a month; we might as well take it ourselves,” I suggested.


  “You all are so wonderful. What would I do without you?”

  “You’re not going to get the chance to find out,” Letta, put her arm over El’s shoulders. “Now let’s eat. I’m starving again.”

  At the table my father smiled at Mother, “Your mother has just informed me that I will be allowing all of you to make the journey to Paris with the Americas envoy - of course pending the approval of your fathers. You have made excellent progress in your training, and Gunter assures me your fathers will be very impressed when they see for themselves. You will have to take Watchers with you, but they will be discreet. I want you to have a good time, and even though I know you can take care of yourselves, I’ll feel better if your Watchers are there with you. They have been around for centuries for a reason, and they see, hear, and watch in a different way than we do. Are we all agreed on these terms?”

  “Yes,” all five of us said at the same time.

  “Thank you, Father, Mother,” I said, exchanging a look with Kate.

  “Now, it has also been decided the Council will begin on the twenty-second of June, so your father and I thought the party could be between your birthdays on the nineteenth. Meetings are to end on the twenty-fifth, with preparations to be completed no later than the twenty-eighth. You should be on your way to Paris then.”

  Father laughed, “I’ve sent a message to Philepe, asking him if he can accommodate all of you at his chateau, and I expect he will reply tomorrow. Gerhardt will, I’m sure, be very happy to entertain all of you with parties in the evenings and tours and shopping during the afternoons. You may look forward to your training after this trip; it will seem much less tiring.”

  “I think we’re up to the task, Father, and as long as we’re taking our Watchers, I see no reason not to fit in some training while we’re there,” I conceded.

  With our plans complete, we finished our meal and headed back to our rooms.

  “We need to go to the library tomorrow. We need to study,” Kate said.

  “Considering what El told us of her experiences with witches, it appears we will have to know how to counteract spells,” Letta added.

  “I know several books and scrolls that can help us,” I offered.

  “We can ask Mother. She had a lot of experience with witches at Sangustae.”

  “Good idea. We’ll need all the help we can get. Time isn’t on our side; our trip is only a couple of weeks away,” Rosa said.

  “You forget how much better we are together, than we ever were apart. So far, anything we try seems to be easier as long as we’re together, and I’m sure this will be no different,” I knew I was right.

  “I guess we’ll find out,” El said with a shrug.

  “We also have the advantage of surprise. No one but us knows we have the gifts we have, and how, together, we can enhance and strengthen each of those gifts,” I said.

  Rosa added, “True, the whole purpose to our training is to be prepared in every way we can, so as individuals and as a race we can survive.”

  “That’s why the envoy to the Americas is being sent, to make sure we establish ourselves early on in this new land,” I said. “I hope when they return we can be a part of this new clan.”

  “Absolutely,” Rosa said. “I think we all agree on that.”

  “I wish we could go on this first trip,” Letta said longingly.

  “We’ll be ready as soon as they get back; I just hope they don’t take as long as they’ve predicted,” I said. “They will be sending messengers back and forth as often as possible, to keep us informed. That’s the advantage we have as vampires; speed. Unencumbered, we can cover hundreds of miles in a short time.”

  Of course I hoped to have more personal updates from Damien; we had our own secret, he and I.

  “I’m going to bed; I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I changed into a simple nightgown and combed out my hair.

  “Katrina?” I heard.

  “I’m here; I was just getting ready for bed.”

  “Me too, but I wanted to tell you that I’ll be arriving on the fifteenth.”

  “Good! We’ll have a few extra days. We are to leave for Paris no later than the twenty-ninth.”

  “I’ve sent Ivan to make all my arrangements in France and Portugal, where we are to disembark, so I can spend some time with you in Paris…that is, if you still want that? . . . . . Katrina?”

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Very funny.”

  “Of course I still want that. I know the girls will understand if I’m not around for a few hours.”

  Then I closed my eyes so I could remember what he smelled like; when it came to me it was like he was right next to me, it was so real.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Remembering.”

  “I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

  “I know but…”

  “It’s a long time for me too, but we’ll both be busy and we can ‘talk’ whenever we have a chance.”

  “Our lives are so different now, with so many changes in such a short time. And that trend is going to continue. You’re going to the New World without me.”

  “I’m only going so when the time is right our new clan will have everything in place to be successful and safe. We need to make sure those who would jeopardize our safety, trying to take advantage of this New World by establishing an evil and dangerous clan, do not succeed.”

  “You’ve see signs of such evil making its way into this New World?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is why Father pushed for so long for a delegation to be sent there, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, and why he has been a target.”

  “Luena - is she part of this, Damien?”

  “I’m positive it’s what she wants. Without the power she sought here, it’s likely she’s looking for new kinds of power.”

  It was nearly morning before we stopped talking. I couldn’t stop thinking about what this all meant. Would Luena try to stop our envoy? I decided I wasn’t going to be able to sleep, so I got dressed and headed over to the library.

  “You’re up early,” Quinn said, as we met in the courtyard.

  “So are you.”

  “I’m on duty at least for a few more hours.”

  “I couldn’t sleep.”

  “Still thinking about me all the time? You have to just let it go unless - ”

  “Hate to disappoint you, but I have other things on my mind.”

  “So you’re in denial, then?”

  I stopped and turned towards him. He was smiling that mischievous smile of his, and those beautiful blue eyes reflected the moonlight. I just had to laugh and so did he. We hadn’t seen much of each other since we got back, so we caught up on the way to the library.

  “Quinn, I want you to send someone ahead to Paris and to the port cities. Post them to observe, see if there’s anything suspicious going on. If there are other vampires heading to the Americas, we need to know about it. Send someone who is familiar with Luena. And Quinn, can you keep this just between us? Remember how evil she is, and she’s probably not alone.”

  “Consider it done. You know your father has people looking for her already.”

  “I’m sure she’s aware of that fact, too. I just want a new set of eyes to look, as we say, look in plain sight.”