by Kate Sheperd
"Condescending? Madam, I apologize that you've mistaken my intentions. I'm not purposefully being condescending. I just want you to know that in my world, talking to someone in their dreams isn't so odd," he replied in a soft tone, humbling himself slightly so that Aurora's anger didn't increase.
"In your world? You mean to tell me that you think that talking to someone while they're asleep is completely normal to you?" Aurora asked, not exactly willing to accept that.
"I mean to say, I exist in a world with a different set of norms than you do, my Queen. I meant no disrespect," Dracule said and bowed. "Now, if you would like, we can perhaps talk about the wager you agreed to?" Dracule asked, looking in Aurora's eyes now, though his glance was somewhat tentative.
Aurora hesitated for a moment. "If you think this wager is hedged in my favor, then it's worth thinking over," Aurora replied.
"That's a topic for you to decide. Come," Dracule said, and motioned for Aurora to follow him. At the end of the corridor was a stone table and a set of benches, for purveyors of this hall to ponder over what they have seen. Dracule motioned to the table and Aurora sat, her servant following her example. "Do you know about the curse of this castle?" Dracule asked, his voice lowering somewhat.
Aurora paused, then frowned at Dracule. "You mean that old phony myth about the Vampire King?" she asked, and as she spoke these words, she saw a real distressed expression come upon Dracule's face.
"Don't say that it's phony, Madam. He is not phony," Dracule replied in a hurried voice, looking around his shoulders to check and make sure no unwelcomed creature was standing close to him. Once satisfied with his check, he turned back to Aurora. She was not impressed with this little show in the least, however, and her expression showed that plainly enough.
"If he's not phony, then is that what you wanted to talk to me about? A vampire?" Aurora asked, sighing. She had always thought Dracule was an intelligent gentleman. A bit eccentric to be sure, but witty as could be when he felt that it was safe. Did her jester butler honestly buy into the myth of the Vampire King? Not even the dimmest peasant believed such malarky.
"Yes, Madam. I know how to get to his catacombs and release the seal, but it takes the sacred emerald on your tiara before the seal can really be broken," Dracule replied in a hushed tone.
Aurora was still obviously skeptical, but she put those feelings away for the time being to entertain whatever nonsense Dracule was talking about, just in case the nonsense could actually yield some results. It was doubtful, but not impossible. "And if I did break the seal, what exactly would happen?"
"The Vampire King ruled over Romania for 100 years before the peasants began to realize that he never got old and staged their uprising. His bust was broken in the corridor by the guards, but records show that he was one of the greatest rulers our country's history. If you could tap into his brain and have him help you, then you could put this country on the right path again," Dracule said.
"The records? I never came across anything of the Vampire King in the royal library," Aurora said, eyeing Dracule skeptically now. How could he know more about the country's past than her? Even if it was just over the particulars of one ruler, her history lessons were very thorough, and she was a diligent student. Under no circumstances would it be possible that he was more learned than she.
"The scribes would have destroyed the records of Neculai, if they weren't removed from the library," Dracule replied emphatically.
"Neculai?" Aurora asked, and she saw Dracule's face turn red.
"Neculai is the name of the Vampire King. Even that was lost to history," Dracule explained. "But, my family preserved his records, because we knew a time would come when he would have to be called on by the country, and so we've kept a place in the royal house, waiting for that time. It seems like the time is now," Dracule said.
That was a little much for Aurora to take in easily, so she just tried to grasp the concept of that. Dracule's family, who have worked in the royal house for many generations, actually only kept their loyalty to the throne for the Vampire King? A man that the last four or five generations, at least, had never seen or even been alive during his reign. How could they be so loyal to a monster?
"I've said more than perhaps I should have, Madam, but you have to understand. It's really important for you to consider this. If you free the Vampire King, and he still loves his country, he will help you regain its former glory," Dracule said.
"And if this King, should he still even be alive, feel bitterness towards the people for locking him up for a few hundred years, he will kill me and wreak havoc on my people? And then I will officially be the worst monarch in the history of the human race for unleashing an unholy demon upon my flock," Aurora said dryly.
"It's either Neculai or the Germans, but at least there's a chance that Neculai will play nice," Dracule said.
"A slim fucking chance at that," Aurora replied, grumbling under her breath.
"A better chance than none," Dracule replied.
Aurora clenched her fists and tried to concentrate on the situation that was placed before her. On one hand, she could gamble on whether or not it was possible that the Vampire King would actually help his country, or if he'd watch it crumble. On another hand, she could watch it be invaded by Visigoths and torn to shreds. As much as she hated to admit it, the slim chance that she had by being led by Dracule was better than nothing, as he had said.
"Very well, Dracule. I will entertain the suggestion. But if this goes wrong, I hope the Vampire King eats you first," she muttered.
Dracule didn't seem to hear any of Aurora's words after "Very well", as he just lit up and hopped to his feet.
"All right, my queen. Please, follow me," Dracule said, and he led the way to the broken bust in the corridor, and he pushed it forward. It moved just like a heavy door, and revealed a dark stone staircase winding down into the earth like a snake.
On the wall, Dracule grabbed an oil lamp and lit it. This wasn't his first time going down this staircase, that much was obvious. He led the way in the dim light with confidence, scaling down the stairs in no time. A definite excited stride showed his enthusiasm, and though they descended what must have been two hundred steps, he was not in the least bit winded as they reached the final plateau before a large and ornate stone door.
"There is a key here," Dracule said, picking up an equally ornate stone key and showing it to Aurora. "But even though it turns, the lock remains in place. That's because there's another key to opening the door. Look," Dracule said, and directed Aurora to a pedestal on which a faint glimmer from the moon shone through the cracked wall of stone. "Place your tiara here," he urged.
Aurora hesitated, unnerved by how quickly everything was progressing, and how imminent this reveal was. She half believed that nothing would happen, and Dracule would just tease her for being so gullible, but another part of her believed that this might be much more.
She put her tiara on the pedestal and delicately placed it so the moonlight was traveling through the prominently displayed gem, and thus refracting and shining upon a spot on the ornate stone door that looked like a great gargoyle opening its fiendish mouth to swallow a person whole.
When the light fell upon that faithful spot, the door slowly began to open, inch by grueling inch. Aurora was sure that if her legs didn't feel like lead, she would run as fast as she could back up those stairs, but she was glued in place as the stone door gradually slid itself away, and a faint blue light spilled out from the cavern that was previously sealed off from the rest of the world.
Chapter Two
Once the door was open enough for a human to slip through, Dracule scurried through it to meet the Vampire King, but Aurora was in no such hurry. She remained in her spot for what felt like a small eternity, but who knew how time passed in a dark cave underground. Sure, there was previously the light of the moon informing her that it was nighttime, but once the moon wasn't aligned with the hole in the rock, she had nothing to tell time
with in the least, though that was the last of her concerns.
Her waiting did come to an end eventually, though. A man who was tall and pale, with the darkest of black suits on, and a long collared cape walked out of the chamber with the same confidence as a man who owned the world. This confidence was perhaps increased by his silent disapproval of what he saw, as he frowned from the moment Aurora saw him walk out of the chamber, all while he surveyed the room, and even when his glance touched upon her.
"Thank you, woman," the Vampire King, Neculai, said to her in a flat and stoic voice. He took a few steps towards her--his gait was long enough that a few steps could cover the eight feet between them, and he was then mere inches from her.
"Why did you decide to take pity on me, mortal? None of your kind have thought to do that before. Well, besides the descendants of my closest friend, but that hardly counts," Neculai said, running his eyes over her.
Though she was terrified seeing that the very thing that she had mocked was standing right in front of her--and an imposing thing he was--she contained as much fright as she could and kept it out of her voice. "Dracule told me that it was possible that you would be willing to help me reclaim this country's glory?" she replied, being totally honest with her reasons for summoning him. It was the convention to tell demons why they were summoned after all, wasn't it?
"I see. No philanthropic urge pulling at your heartstrings, just pure greed. Then again, as a noble, I expect nothing less. I'm glad to see that's precisely what I received," Neculai replied, turning his nose up and then surveying the room again with the same from. Then, without another word, he began to climb the stairs.
Seeing Neculai leave so unceremoniously and go upstairs, into some of the commons where staff might see him, gave Aurora a great deal of anxiety. She rushed after him as fast as her legs could carry her. Despite that, catching up with Neculai was no easy task. His strides were as easy and rapid as if they were effortless. It almost seemed like he was floating rather than walking--then again, he may well have been.
"Neculai, please! Stop!" Aurora called out, and much to her surprise, Neculai did stop, and he turned around. His eyes were a piercing crimson, and his countenance, form what Aurora could tell in the faint light from the lamp that Dracule was lugging along, was very grave.
"Speak, human," he said, his voice as cold as ice.
"Neculai, you're heading into the commons area. People might see you," Aurora said through her panting.
"I see. Even though I'm free, you'd lock me away," he replied, equally unimpressed here, just as he was earlier.
"Neculai, if someone saw you, they'd scream. You don't look like a normal human," Aurora said, going up to Neculai and lightly grabbing his hand. For a moment, both of them recoiled. To Neculai, her touch was moist and hot, and to Aurora he felt as cold as ice. Still, it seemed almost as if a shot of electricity zapped through them for a moment that left both of them tongue tied.
"You did not scream when you saw me," Neculai pointed out.
"I expected you. Dracule did not take me to your chamber without informing me of exactly what I was doing by opening the door," Aurora asked. "I don't want you to get the wrong idea right at the start. If I can think of a way to get you to my room, we can sit down and have a talk about this," Aurora said.
Neculai seemed intrigued by the offer. "If you wish to speak in your room, then we shall," he said. "No one will see me, so don't fret," he said, and at that moment, he vanished. Aurora's mouth just hung open, and she turned to Dracule for an explanation. The butler's jaw was as wide as the queen's however.
"He just . . ." she began.
"Disappeared," Dracule finished. "Go to your chambers, I'm sure that he'll meet you there," Dracule urged.
"How would he know where my chambers are?" Aurora asked, forgetting for the time being that Neculai had also been a monarch in the castle, so all he would have to do is retrace the steps back to his old home. Still, there wasn't much time to waste, so she hurried to her room, and sure enough, there sat Neculai. He was on the stood in front of her vanity, looking into the mirror. There was no reflection of him, though his clothes were represented.
Aurora carefully shut her door and locked it. "Neculai," she began, her voice trembling slightly in fear of this new creature.
"Don't fear me, child," Neculai replied and suddenly stood. He was easily 6'5", making him quite the imposing figure. It was hard therefore to take his advice and not fear him. Still, if that's what he wanted, she would try to mitigate her fear, if only a little bit. "Tell me, if you knew that you were releasing the Vampire King, why did you proceed?"he asked.
"Well, because my most trusted servant told me that you would be able to help. Adrian Dracule," Aurora replied. "He's been my best friend since I was young, because he took care of me."
"He's not that much older than you," Neculai observed. "But, if he is of the Dracule family, then he is one of the spawn of my great friend, Vladimir Dracule," Neculai continued. "A powerful warlock, though he kept his trade a well kept secret from the peasantry. That's one magic trick i wished he would have shown me, to be honest," Neculai said with a grunt.
"There aren't very many records on you--none at all that I'm aware of. So, I had to take Dracule's word for it that you would be able to help me" Aurora replied. "That's why I undid your seal, but that doesn't mean that my plan is to just throw you away after you've helped. I'm not a cruel tyrant, I am just . . ." she trailed off, biting her lip as she thought of a delicate phrasing to explain what she felt and what she thought.
"You're just afraid that I will become a nuisance? That, after I'm used up, I'll have no place around the castle, and that I'll be in the way. Maybe I'll even tarnish your good name," Neculai suggested pessimistically.
"I don't have much of a good name to tarnish around here," Aurora grumbled herself this time.
"No? Have you been caught whoring about perhaps?" Neculai asked.
As soon as the words left his lips, her cheeks turned a bright red. "Excuse me!" she replied, mortified by the suggestion.
"Well, then, what is it? Don't leave me in suspense," Neculai replied, waiting to hear why his savior had such a bad reputation around the castle.
"It's because my father left the country in a very delicate diplomatic position, and now because things aren't miraculously fixed overnight, the problem is because I'm a woman that doesn't know anything," Aurora replied.
"What would the fact of your being a woman have anything to do with it?" Neculai asked, his red eyes just looking at her with an earnest curiosity.
"I would assume you would know," Aurora replied. Still, Neculai's confused expression didn't change, and he just kept looking at her. "I'm the first female ruler in five generations," she explained.
"I see. When my mother ruled Romania, she did it with more of an iron fist than any of the men before her could manage. I suppose she never had to suffer from being castigated as a woman thanks to that," Neculai replied in a very matter of fact tone.
"I can't simply rule with an iron fist. Barbarity will get me no where, when it's diplomacy I'm lacking," Aurora responded, quite annoyed if she was honest with the utter lack of concern that Neculai was displaying. Maybe he wasn't such a good role model. "Wait, hold on. Was your mother Sofia the Strong?" Aurora asked, just now drawing the lines together in her head.
"Indeed she was," Neculai responded with a nod of his head. "And I was known as Neculai the Gentle. Funny, huh?" he said, though he didn't smile, much less laugh.
Neculai the Gentle? Aurora thought. Surely Neculai the Gentle wasn't what she needed right now, with war boiling on the Western front, crops failing, and a slew of other issues on deck. What was Dracule thinking? Was this still some kind of drawn out, sick joke?
"A short Golden Age with increased art and commerce all went under the drain after the peasants decided to set fires to towns around the countryside in search for some "witch". God knows why they get such things into their head, but when my
secret finally fell apart, they locked me under the castle. I'm assuming they meant for it to be forever, but luckily you and Dracule finally saved me," Neculai said, sighing.
"A Golden Age? Why wouldn't that have been in my history lessons?" Aurora asked, a bit skeptical of the claim that Neculai was making.
"Simple enough. There's a very basic human emotion called embarrassment, and few things are more embarrassing that throwing a successful and kind king off the thrown solely because of some superstitious mumbo jumbo. So, to avoid having to admit their huge blunder, the Golden Age would be covered up. That's simple enough to guess," Neculai replied. "But perhaps there's another reason for it? I don't know what it might be, but that's my guess."
"I suppose that guess is as good as any," Aurora replied, starting to get frustrated at the holes in her education, which were becoming more and more prominent as the day progressed, it seemed.
"Tell me, what are your problems?" Neculai asked, leaning forward and looking into Aurora's eyes.
"Too many to count," she replied with a tired sigh. "The biggest problem that I'm currently facing is the lack of military prowess to deal with a Visigoth invasion from the west. But there's a drought affecting the crops as well, and starvation is becoming a common occurrence in the peasantry," Aurora said, beginning with the two most pressing concerns to begin with.
"The Visigoths are a simple enough matter. If they're a Goth, then they're a German tribe, a bunch of barbarians. It's easy enough to just bribe them, or get foreign diplomats on the same page with you and drive them out that way," Neculai said. "Foreign diplomats might be keeping their fingers out of the pot currently because of hopes that you will be able to deal with the forces yourself. Then, Romania will be in a compromised position for them to strike if they so wished," Neculai said. Aurora was amazed at what clear objectivity he was able to look at a situation when he was so removed from the time period. Then again, some things never changes, and a man who had ruled for one hundred years certainly would know his way around foreign diplomacy well.