Queen of Twilight chapter 5

Chapter Five • Moonlight

Elsabett spent most of the next month trying on dresses and ordering servants, as Vlad was unwilling to, as he put it, 'tire her out' with the art of swordplay. Kikuchi, however, was much more willing to help her train, and despite the fact that she could still understand very few of his words, she made tremendous progress. The gardener brought to Carpathia by Aleera turned out to be from the nation of Portugal, and explained that Kikuchi was able to speak Portuguese as well as his native tongue. He often served as translator, and the vampires of the castle began using him as an intermediate when studying Japanese with Kikuchi (whose given name, it seemed, was Issei. Why was his surname before his given name?).

It was early in the morning when Elsabett went to Dracula's chambers to intercept him. He was sitting forlornly on the edge of his coffin/bed, one hand pressed against his forehead. She hurried to his side and sat next to him.

"What's wrong, my love?" she asked.

"I am tired," he said hoarsely. "I get very little rest these days. Up all night hunting, and spending my days ordering servants. Frankly, I didn't know it was even possible for one such as I to feel fatigue."

"Oh, Vlad, you don't have to do all that," Elsa stated imploringly. "You can sleep during the day. In fact, you should. I, as your Queen, order you to take a nap."

Dracula laughed. "I never thought I would be receiving orders from my own bride." She folded her arms beneath her breasts and fixed him with a firm stare. "I didn't say I wouldn't do it. Just that I never thought it would happen." He kissed her on the cheek, swung his legs over the edge and lay down on the icy-looking surface. "Good night, my love."

"Before you fall asleep, I need to tell you something," she said quickly. "I'm going to visit my mother today."

He sat up. "What? You mustn't. It's too dangerous—"

"Vladislaus, I need her advice on childbearing. Besides, it's daytime. She won't immediately think I'm a vampire."

"What about when she notices you swooping down out of the sky? That's not something humans do!"

"I was going to walk part of the way there," she explained. "I wouldn't want to spook the animals. Have you ever seen a stampede of sheep? It isn't pretty." She smoothed back his hair and gave him a peck on the cheek. "I'll be back before you know it."

*****

True to her word, Elsabett landed on the scrubby ground and retracted her wings once she came into view of her family's farmhouse. As she had expected, her mother and siblings were already hard at work, letting the large animals out into the pasture and feeding the chickens. It appeared that the various creatures had adjusted well after their harrowing overland journey from Weimar; last time she had laid eyes on them, the majority had been listless and depressed from being caged in wagons.

Soft hoofbeats in the grass caught her attention, and she looked around. Mounted on Moonlight, a fleet-footed gray-dappled gelding that had once been her horse, was her younger brother Karl. He noticed her picking her way through the gnarled brush and wheeled Moonlight to face her, setting into a canter. She unstuck her long skirt ('How impractical this finery is,' she thought disappointedly) and stepped out into the grass where he could better see her.

He drew rein only a few paces from her, eyes wide. "Unmšglich!" he muttered, crossing himself. Elsabett huffed and folded her arms.

"Cut it out, Karl. I'm here to see Mutti."

"H—how?!" he cried. "You've been missing for over a month now! How do you expect to convince Mutti that you weren't taken by vampires?"

"Because it's daylight!" she shouted, gesturing at the brightening sky.

"Not just yet," he muttered, giving her a shifty look. "You know, I've actually heard quite a lot from the villagers around here on how to deal with vampires. Like, for example…" He suddenly reached into his saddlebags, pulled out a small white object, and flung it at her. "…garlic!!"

Elsabett grabbed the clove out of the air without even thinking about it. She looked down at the bulb, then peeled away one side, plucked out a piece, and ate it slowly and deliberately. "Mm. Crunchy." She did her best not to show how much the overpowering taste filled her head and nearly sickened her, exactly as it had done the last time she attempted eating raw garlic as a human.

Karl's jaw dropped and he slumped in the saddle. Then he sighed and shook his head. "Okay, fine," he mumbled. "Mutti's over there, feeding the chickens."

"All the way over there…" Elsabett moaned. "Hey, could you get off my horse and let me ride?"

"Moonlight's not your horse anymore!" he protested. "You left him up for grabs when you…uh…disappeared." He looked at her out of the corners of his eyes. "Whatever it was you did."

"Just make room for me, Zwiebelnkopf!" she huffed, clambering up onto the speckled rump. Karl made a noise of indignation and scooted forward on the horse's back. 'At least I was able to convince Marishka to make this dress with a split skirt…'

Karl twitched the reins and Moonlight set off at a quick trot. Elsabett felt her belly clench into a knot and clamped a hand over her mouth. 'Ohh, how I hate birthing-sickness. I hope it goes away soon…'

Their mother, with hair the colour of rich soil and white wings at her temples, glanced up as the horse approached. Karl slammed his heels into Moonlight's flanks, finally shouting at the gelding to stop. Elsabett made a mental note to tell him how to properly handle Moonlight as she tossed her leg over the horse's side and strode toward the farmwife, who paled visibly and dropped the bowl of grain. The chickens flapped back and squawked in surprise, but quickly regained their avian composure and dived for the scattered feed.

"Wie—??" the woman asked rhetorically, stepping back. She fumbled with a chain around her neck, pulled a silver crucifix out of her blouse, and held it before her. "Elsabett, if you—you intend to—"

"Mutti, please," she protested, shooing the chickens away and tossing some of the grain around. "I'm not a vampire."

"But—how!?" her mother cried, tears filling her eyes. "You disappeared at night! And what did you really think, that there were no vampires here?! The villagers say there are more vampires in the mountains of Carpathia than in all the rest of Nosgoth! And their leader, Drac——" She cut off abruptly and mouthed a prayer, crossing herself.

Elsa sighed and dug the clove of garlic out of her pocket. "Look, Mutti. Garlic." Peeling back more of the skin, she pried a handful of fragments out and stuffed them into her mouth. "See, I'm eating garlic. Vampires don't eat, and certainly not garlic." She turned away to finish the mouthful with some semblance of dignity, and replaced the partial clove in her pocket. It took all of her willpower not to vomit.

"Why…? Why have you come back now?" her mother asked.

"I need your advice, Mutti. I'm pregnant." The older woman gasped and clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Oh, Liebchen! And you unwed! Es tut mir aber Leid—!"

"No, no. I'm married. —And to forestall your question—I, er, eloped, so you missed no ceremony. Please, just help me. You can keep doing your chores; I'll just follow behind you."

The sable-haired woman swayed, shaking her head in disbelief. "This is a great shock, mein Liebchen."

"I know, Mutti. I'm sorry." Elsabett was about to ask her first question when a delighted squeal echoed across the barnyard, startling a few of the chickens.

"Elsa! Elsa ist zurückgekommen!" shouted a little girl's voice. Elsabett looked in the direction of the cry and saw Emma, her youngest sister, rushing toward her at full speed. Emma's shout caught the attention of the other children within earshot, and within moments they were all descending upon her.

"Elsabett, your dress is so pretty!" "Did you get taken away by a prince?" "Where did you go?" "Do you know if Vatti's getting here soon?" "Where's Vatti?"

Elsa laughed. "Calm down, little ones! I can't answer everything at once!" Her mother looked at her sadly and sighed.

"Elsa-chen…whom did you marry?"

Elsabett was silent for a long moment, uncertain how to answer. "A…a nobleman," she said finally. "He has his own castle in the mountains, and lots of servants. I live like…like a queen, Mutti! It's wonderful!

"Why are you so upset?"

"Oh, Liebchen… I know it's you. I still love you dearly. But there are people here who would want you burned at the stake because of your disappearance."

"But I'm not a vampire! I thought the eating of garlic and the fact that I'm here in daylight proves that!"

Her mother shook her head. "Some still wouldn't believe."

Elsabett caught her breath. "Oh, Mutti. They'd harm you if they knew I came here." Her mother nodded. "Then I'll leave soon. I just need to ask you about some things.

"Is there a way to treat birthing-sickness? And what foods should I eat and which should I avoid? How—"

"Mein Liebchen," the older woman chuckled. "I wish I could write down a list that you could take with you. You must have so many questions, and there is so much to know. But since I cannot, I'll simply have to tell you as much as I can.

"The birthing-sickness is easily avoided by keeping a bit of food near your bed. Some bread or cheese, for example. Eat a little before rising in the morning and the sickness should not be a problem. You should try to eat a varied diet, with plenty of vegetables and fruits, if you can get them. Perhaps your noble husband can obtain some? Oh, and try to drink milk or tea rather than wine or beer if you can. If wine is all you have, then mix two parts of it with one part of water so that it won't be as strong. How far along are you, Liebchen?"

"Ah…" She thought for a moment. "A little over a month."

"Well, you won't be getting heavy for quite a while yet. But when you do, try to avoid strenuous work. Don't lift heavy objects. If you feel tired, sit or lie down. —Do you have a midwife?"

"…Yes, actually. I know of one."

"If you have any ailments, have her help you. I'd come to stay with you, Liebchen, but I'm needed here."

"I know, Mutti. It's all right."

"Mutti, look!" young Hans said, pointing away down the road. "Sarafan!"

"It's Vatti!" Emma shouted. "Vatti's here!" She took off towards the approaching soldiers, their white armour gleaming blindingly in the rising sun.

"Emma, no! Wait—!" their mother called. Elsabett's heart skipped a beat.

"Did they follow us here?" she asked. Before her mother could answer, a realisation hit her. "Ye'el! They wanted to slay the rest of us too, didn't they? That's why we had to come here, isn't it?!" Her mother choked back tears and nodded. Elsabett whirled around. "Sanctimonious knaves! I won't let them touch you!" Without a second thought, she rushed toward the advancing knights and leapt into the air, hurtling at the head of the column in a superhuman long jump. As she reached him, she slashed out with one hand, knocking him out of the saddle and sending him head-over-heels into the soldier behind him, who cried out in shock as he too was flung from his mount. The other Sarafan reacted quickly, drawing swords and dismounting to menace the golden-haired dhampir with their blades. She jumped down from the horse's back, tore out the throat of one of the lead soldiers, and whirled around into the next with a knife in each hand, stabbing and slashing him in a blur of motion. A sudden blaze of pain shot down her back, and she turned with a scream of agony to face the assailant, her hands involuntarily bursting into gold-hued fire. She clawed at his face and he ignited, scrambling back and flailing helplessly as his flesh turned to ash. She ducked under another sword, kicked the wielder's legs out from under him, and hurled a roaring bolt of flame at the soldier standing behind him. The pain from the wound on her back was already subsiding. The first Sarafan she had attacked, who (judging by the ornate plume on his helmet) was probably the squad leader, unsheathed a wicked-looking runed blade, vainly tried to brush the dusty scuffs from his tassets, and charged at her with a yell. She leapt into the air, gracefully flipped over, and landed on her feet as the captain skewered one of his own men. Before he could dislodge the sword, she reached out toward them and jerked her hands up, summoning flame from the earth itself. The horses screamed and shied away from the sudden heat, and the Sarafan rose into the air as if hanging as the fire engulfed and consumed them.

When the flames had died down, Elsabett poked through the charred remnants and found the leader of the group, still mostly intact. "You may have slain my father, but you'll never lay a finger on the rest of my family," she hissed, and sank her fangs into his throat. A faint scream sounded behind her, but she was suddenly lost in the bliss of feeding.

When she finished, half her siblings clung to her mother in terror and the other half peered out at her from the windows of the farmhouse. She took a step toward them, but her mother threw her hands up in front of her.

"Elsa…please…" she whispered, barely audible over the distance.

"You lied!" Karl said, a lone tear running down his cheek.

Elsabett shook her head and smoothed her hair back. "No, I didn't. I'm really not a vampire. I am, however, a dhampir—a creature that's only half-vampire, and still alive."

"I…perhaps it would have been better if you hadn't come back…" her mother said, fighting sobs.

"But if I hadn't, those Sarafan would have slain you all! You wouldn't have stood a chance, Mutti!" She sighed again, feeling a lump form in her throat. "I really am sorry. I…I wish you hadn't seen that." She walked toward the clump of people, and they only watched her in sad, shocked silence. "But you know now that the Sarafan know you're here. More will come. This place isn't safe anymore."

"But what are we supposed to do?" her mother whispered. "I cannot—I will not—live the rest of my life on the run."

"—Come with me!" she offered. "My castle is huge. There's room for everyone. There's even room for all of the animals. My husband has been looking for people to help out…to raise crops and animals, you know…" She giggled. "He really spoils me. You'd think I was the first woman in the world to bear a child."

"Even if we agreed to come to this…castle," her mother said, "how would we get there? You said that it is in the mountains. It was difficult enough getting here from Weimar; the animals might drop dead if I tried to get them through the mountains!"

Elsabett sighed and rubbed her cheek. "There is a way, Mutti. But…I'm not sure you'd like it."

"What would that be?" the sable-haired farmwife questioned.

"With my transformation into a dhampir came the gift of flight," Elsabett explained, sprouting and slowly unfurling her wings. "I…I could carry you, one by one, to the castle. I might need some help carrying the large animals, but I think I know where to find assistance."

"Fly…?" her mother asked feebly. "Oh, Liebchen, who hasn't wished for wings? But fatigue comes swiftly when one is with child. If you were to become tired and unable to continue—"

"Well, that's not the only way," she put in quickly. "One of my—my friends—has a special ability: She can move any distance instantly by stepping through shadows. If you were to wait until nightfall…"

"There are shadows inside the house now," Karl said. Their mother gave him a sharp look.

Elsabett clasped her hands together and tried to look pleading. "Please, Mutti. I couldn't bear it if anything were to happen to any of you. Please…come with me. You'll be safe. I promise it."

"So is the nobleman who took you away with him a dhampir as well? Or is he an actual vampire?" the older woman asked.

"Well, since the cow is out of the barn…" Elsa said with a shrug, "…why hide the truth? He's a vampire. In fact, he's Count Dracula himself. But don't worry—" Her mother screamed raggedly and looked as if she were about to faint— "He will not harm any of you. I won't let him."

"You think you can control a vampire?" Karl demanded, and Elsabett laughed.

"Control him? I have him wrapped around my little finger!" she declared. "He loves me, and he would never do anything to upset me."

"He's an undead monster, lord of the creatures of the night!" Karl maintained. "He can't possibly love!"

"Well, at any rate, he does a good enough job acting it that I'm fooled," she huffed. "And I'm certain that he can love. Why else would he do the things he's done for me so far?"

"What, besides drink your blood?" Karl spat. "And put his foul seed in you!"

"STOP IT!" she roared, and her eyes blazed. He jumped back with a yelp. "What would you know of love? You're still a boy!"

"Elsa, Karl, stop it," their mother directed. Sending another sad look at her eldest daughter, she wondered, "But why do the Sarafan want to kill us? What could Erik have done that would anger them so…?"

"I don't know, Mutti," Elsabett admitted. "I just don't know. That information hasn't come to me yet."

The dark-haired woman sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what to do, Liebchen."

"Well, you can't stay here!" Elsa protested. "It isn't safe. I won't be able to rest knowing my family are just sitting at home with the Sarafan roaming the land looking to kill them."

Her mother wrung her hands. "Well, undue mental stress during pregnancy can be very bad for the child…"

"But I don't want to live with vampires!" Karl shouted.

"Oh, Karl, mein Liebchen," the farmwife said sadly, putting her hands on his shoulders, "I don't want to either. But at least we might have a chance of escaping the Sarafan if we go with Elsa."

"But what if she's only trying to trick us, so she can kill us and drink our blood?" ten-year-old Rosa wailed.

"I would never do that!" Elsabett said. "You're my family!"

"Elsa-chen," her mother said, slowly approaching her, "I think…that we have no choice but to trust you. …But we will only stay with you until we know why the Sarafan are hunting us."

"Mutti, no!" Karl shouted.

"Which would you prefer, Karl?" she snapped over her shoulder. "Sarafan soldiers with unknown motives, or vampires whose reasons for killing we'd at least be able to understand?!"

"Mutti, I…it's just…" He sighed and scuffed his toe in the dirt. "It just doesn't feel right."

"Being dead would feel even less right!" Elsa pointed out. "Or if the Sarafan kill you, I could resurrect you as a vampire. Would you like that?" Karl's muttered reply in Teutonic was inscrutable yet easy to comprehend. "Then it's settled. I just have to—hmm…I didn't think of that…" Before anyone could inquire, she went on, "I'm not going to fly you over the mountains to the castle one by one. It's unlikely the Sarafan would send two squads in one day, but I refuse to take a chance and leave any of you alone. But on the other hand, I have no way of contacting Vlad or the others without leaving. I think the only choice I have is to wait until someone comes to see what's taking so long…" She shrugged. "But they, being paranoid (and rightly so, I suppose), may not want to risk coming to find me. In fact, Vlad might be the only one besides me who knows where this place is…"

"Count Dracula knows where we live!?" her mother screeched, clutching Rosa.

"Yes, he knows. He came here and found me the first night we were here!" Elsabett explained. "Oh… That didn't make you feel any better, did it?"

"If you tell me where it is, I can ride Moonlight," Karl suddenly offered. Elsabett considered for a moment, then shook her head.

"Moonlight can be a difficult animal," she told him. "You have to know how to handle him. He'd trust me to take him into the mountains, but I'm not sure he would trust you."

Of a sudden, the two cows began lowing agitatedly, the chickens squawked and scattered, and the sheepdog who had been curled up in a sunny patch of dirt leapt to his feet and began barking and baying. Elsabett was so startled she nearly fell over backwards, but managed to keep her feet—at least until Aleera dropped out of the sky next to her.

"Hello, sister," she said cheerily. "Ah, is that your family? How lovely they are." She glanced down at the dhampir on the ground. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I startle you?" Elsabett glared at her and took the vampress' proferred hand, angrily trying to brush grass-stains from her crimson skirt.

"Who—who is that?!" Elsabett's mother demanded weakly.

"This is…my 'sister' in vampirehood, Aleera. Aleera, that's my mother, and from oldest to youngest, my brother Karl, my sister Rosa, and my brother Rainer. The others are—where are they? Oh, they're in the house. The two young ones in the window closest to us are Hans and Emma, the taller one behind them is Florian, and Heidi is there in the other window with the barn-cat." She looked over to the red-haired vampress at her side. "And what brings you here, out of curiosity?"

"Curiosity," Aleera smiled. "I wondered what you were up to. Our lord can't sleep. He tried, but he's too worried about you. The poor thing was pacing the ceiling when I left."

"Oh, that—!" Elsa sputtered. "He—I told him to take a nap! But does he listen? …" Shaking her head and sighing in frustration, she changed the subject. "I need you to help me with something." Aleera gave her a look that indicated she should continue. "The Sarafan tracked my family here. Apparently, they weren't happy with just killing my father, and want to slay the rest of us too."

Aleera squealed and clapped her hands. "Ohh! You want me to wait here and fight them with you!"

"No, no! I already took care of the squad they sent today," Elsa said, absently gesturing behind her at the charred pile of soldiers. "But I figure they'll send more when they don't hear back from these Schufte. I can't wait here perched on the roof to deal with the next group that comes, but I want my family to be safe. Could you help me transport them to the castle? I'm sure there's room there for everyone, and Vlad mentioned wanting someone who knew about farming. Well…?"

Aleera looked cutely pensive for a moment, then smiled. "I'll ask Vlad about it."

"What—? But how long will that take??" Elsabett pleaded.

"Not very," the redhead answered. "The length of the question." She laced her fingers together in front of her chest, closed her eyes, and lowered her head. For a moment, Elsabett thought she saw a faint white glow around the vampress' head. "He says he has no problem with it, as long as you're content," she said.

"How—? How did you do that?!"

"Oh, you don't know how to Whisper?" Aleera asked. "It's very useful for long-range communication. I'll have to show you sometime."

"But what did he say about when? Is he going to ask Verona to shadow-jump them to the castle, or what?"

"Well, the two of us can fly," Aleera pointed out. "Couldn't we take turns carrying people there?"

"And the animals, and the furniture?" Elsabett chuckled mirthlessly. "Also, my mother worries I might get fatigued because of my condition."

"I suppose that is a concern," the inordinately-cute vampress mused. "Well, I'll ask. But remember that Verona doesn't like sunlight."

"She doesn't have to be in sunlight. There are shadows inside the house."

"But we can't go in someplace we're not invited," Aleera protested.

"Well, then, I hereby invite you. Enter my house and save my family."

The flame-haired woman laughed and spread her hands. "This whole altruism thing isn't something I'm used to. It's been a while, you know."

"I'm sure you can learn again," Elsa said confidently, squeezing Aleera's shoulder. Her 'sister' smiled and sent another Whisper to their husband, and within moments the two of them rushed inside to meet Verona and instruct her.