by Zara Novak
They all looked at me. If there was another vampire around here, then I didn’t feel too worried. For the first time since arriving at the castle I was actually glad to have the company of the three men. They were all powerful warriors. If someone was coming after me then I couldn’t be in a safer place.
Victor picked up his cue again. “You heard the man, Xander, let’s get back to protecting.” They both resumed their game and my eyes came back to Ronan.
“Now that you’ve decided to stay it’s probably a good time to show you your room,” he said. “Do you want to see where you’re staying?
I hadn’t anticipated having my own space, the castle was so big that I imagined there must be a spare room somewhere. “That sounds good. I didn’t realize I’d have my own room.”
We left Xander and Victor behind and I followed Ronan back through the hallways, snaking up staircases and onto a wooden walkway that went over the courtyard. In the sky above I saw the silhouette of a large dragon taking off. Shadow was off hunting.
A few minutes later we had arrived at my room, which was at the top of a spiral staircase in a small tower. The stairs opened into a large round room that looked like something out of a fairytale.
“Fit for a princess,” I mused. The room was in keeping with the castle’s décor, but its furnishings were modern and up to date.
“You have your own bathroom and there is a wardrobe which we can fill with clothes. If you write down some suggestions, I will see it done.”
“Thanks,” I said. “…What now?”
“What do you mean?”
“I guess I’m just wondering what happens next. If I’m going to be staying here, then I need to figure out my role. I’m not really the type of girl that can sit in the top of a tower and brush her hair all day. I’ll go mad.”
Ronan smirked. “There’s already enough madness in this castle. Tell you what, I’ll have a think about it and see what we can arrange. I know you have a lot to offer, Lily, fate wouldn’t have brought you to us if that wasn’t the case.”
“You believe in fate?”
He shrugged. “I believe in what I feel, and I know what I feel for you.”
I paused. That felt like a very sweet thing to say, and in a way, I understood what he meant.
“So, I just relax here for now?”
“Why not take a few hours for yourself? Things have been pretty hectic ever since you arrived. Xander and Victor will want to celebrate later of course. Shadow probably won’t be back, but he usually keeps to himself when he’s around anyway.”
My brow furled. “Celebrate? What are we celebrating?”
“Oh, I beg your pardon,” he said, laughing as he shook his head. “I’m assuming you know everything. Today is my birthday. Three hundred years ago today I became a vampire. I didn’t really want to do anything, but the others were quite insistent. It’s nothing big, just a quiet gathering between us later on.”
“I should get ready for that then.”
I’d never been the girly type. Hair, makeup, nails, dresses, these really weren’t luxuries one had in outland tribes. I felt an intense pressure to do something though. How did I even begin with this?
Ronan’s face turned white as he sensed my dread. “It’s really not a big deal, you can wear whatever you—”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Ronan,” a cold voice said from behind us. It made me jump, and I turned to see a young woman in a maid’s outfit. The light passed through her. She was silver all over, and… translucent.
“Is that a ghost?” I whispered to Ronan.
“Not just a ghost, darling!” she said. “I’m a woman… or was at least, and I understand your peril, even if this boneheaded man doesn’t.”
Ronan rolled his eyes at the ghost. “Lily this is Freya Gold, she lived in this castle many hundreds of years ago. Now she refuses to move on and sort of helps around here.”
“Sort of?!” she said, her hands against her hips. “This castle would be falling apart without me Master Ronan, now get out of here so I can help this girl prepare! Carry on and you might not see three-hundred-and-one!”
“Just tell her to leave if you’ve had enough of her,” Ronan said to me. “Ghosts have rules that they have to follow, and she can’t bother you if you ask her to leave.”
“She can stay,” I said. It might be nice to have some female company, even if she was dead. “What time are things happening later?”
He gestured out the window, pointing to a large clock on the other side of the courtyard. Bronze hands glistened against a black clockface. “How does four hours sound? That gives you enough time to chill out and get ready, right?”
“Not if you stand here talking all night!” Freya said.
Ronan laughed. “Message received. Just tell Freya to come find me if you need anything. Okay?”
“Okay. See you later.”
Ronan left the bedroom and the door closed behind me, leaving me with the ghost.
She let out a loud sigh and relaxed her posture a little. “Oh god, it’s good to finally have another woman around here. So those idiots found their vampire queen, eh? It’s nice to meet you, this castle is urgently in need of a woman’s touch. Where do you want to start first?”
“A bath sounds good. Maybe a book too? I wasn’t really expecting leisure time if I’m honest. Ronan and his brothers have been quite demanding so far.”
She laughed. “Get used to it. They’re a couple of brooding boys, but deep down they’re good men. They just need someone like you to set them straight.” She paused and considered me. “You really sure you’re up for it?”
I looked at a mirror on the wall across from me. Although I knew the girl in the reflection, she looked different now somehow. “I guess we’ll find out.”
Becoming friends with a ghost was another item on the ‘am I finally going mad list’, but as I settled down with Freya and got to know her better, I found she was really nice. I had to admit that it was good to have female company. Back in the village most of my time was spent with men as I was one of the only female hunters in our tribe. When we weren’t brewing Hangza we were out foraging for food and supplies to keep us alive.
Freya was lovely, and incredibly helpful too, not only did she run a bath for me, but she made herself scarce while I was getting washed, and when I finally stepped back into the bedroom, I found her there waiting with piles of clothes on the fourposter bed.
“Where did these come from?” I asked.
“They are some of my old clothes,” she explained. “They have been locked away in storage for the better part of two centuries, I figured it’s about time someone finally wore them. You look like you’re about my size.”
I approached the bed and admired the clothes. Freya had brought beautiful silk ballgowns that glittered with diamonds. They looked more expensive than my entire village.
“Freya, these clothes are beautiful. They must be antique!”
Her face fell. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry, are they out of style?”
“No, not at all, I mean… I haven’t the faintest idea in the world to be honest, but they look stylish enough to me. Isn’t this going to be over the top for a small birthday party though?”
“I’ve already got tuxedos ready for the boys, so it only makes sense that you’re well-dressed too. We haven’t celebrated much in this castle for a long time Lily. I think it’s about time we lifted the spirits with a party. Don’t you?”
Freya seemed so enamored with the idea that I couldn’t bring myself to let her down. How long had she been trapped here, trying to nanny four sulking vampires who were slowly losing their minds? If anyone deserved to see a little joy it was Freya.
“You’re right,” I said. “A party does sound like an excellent idea, and we should dress up. Does that mean you’ll be joining us?”
With a charismatic twirl the ghost spun on her heels and when she was facing me again her appearance had changed completely. Her hair was drawn up in brilliant sil
ver curls, and a beautiful ballgown poured down over her body. She looked like a princess.
“Death has its perks,” she said with a wink. “Now shall we get you ready?”
“I guess,” I said, a lump forming in my throat. “If I’m honest I’ve always been a bit of a tomboy. I don’t know how to do any of this stuff. Can you help me?”
Her eyes lit up. “Darling, I thought you’d never ask.”
Freya set to work on transforming me. The ghost girl had a brilliantly infectious positivity that had me smiling from start to finish. We started with my hair and make-up, which she styled for me while I sat at the dresser in a boudoir off from the main bedroom. Her ability to transform me from a drab village girl to a woman had my mouth hanging open.
Then we moved to the wardrobe.
“A good set of lingerie is a must for any occasion,” she said. “I even wore lingerie at my funeral.”
I about choked on a glass of wine that Freya had brought for me. “What?!”
“I know, I know, it’s terrible. I was a socialite though darling, I had to be prepared at all times. You never know when you might meet your next husband.”
“How did you die, if you don’t mind me asking?” Her face twisted, as though she had some naughty secret that she was keeping. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said. “My fourth husband had a rather bad case of the old green eyes. He couldn’t stand to see me in the company of another man. The thing was that he never wanted to touch me. He was a terrible bore, but also a very insecure fellow, he was always convinced I was cheating.”
“Were you?”
“How very dare you!” she said in a joking manner. “Truthfully? Yes. Lots of times. Lots and lots of times. He was away on business a lot you see, and I had a lot of young men on my staff who were very good looking. I should know, I hired them. The marriage was a sham anyway, it was arranged, like all my marriages. I came from a powerful family you see, but royal nonsense meant my choice of husbands was non-existent. The first three died, natural courses, I’m no black widow. The fourth one got me though.”
“What happened?”
“Franz got back one night and caught me in the act. He grabbed an axe and well… here I am!” She laughed. “I’ve been stuck here for the longest time now, by my own admission of course, I’m free to move on, but I’m afraid I’d run into Franz again. I’m rather done with him.”
“I’m sorry you got murdered.” It didn’t feel like enough, but I had nothing else to offer.
“Oh… it’s okay. I suppose I wasn’t entirely blameless in the whole affair. Ha, affair, get it? I always had trouble keeping myself to one man though. How do people do it? I must say that you’ve got it made. Mind you I couldn’t stand the idea of being attached to the boys, but I’m glad they’ve finally found someone. How are you finding it all?”
I took a very deep breath. “It’s… strange. But somehow I think it might be right for me.” I shook my head. I couldn’t have pictured myself thinking that a few days ago. “I haven’t really got many options to be honest. Every man, woman and vampire in the outlands knows that I’m a breeder now. If humans get a hand on me, they’ll sell me to the vampire covens in the big city. If vampires get a hold on me, they’ll lock me in some dungeon and keep me as a slave.”
“If it’s any consolation darling I don’t think a nicer set of vampires could have found you. Even if they are boneheads sometimes. That’s just men though.” She looked out the window to the giant clock across the courtyard. “Come now, I think we should finish getting ready. We don’t have long until the little soiree.”
I finished getting ready, picking out matching underwear—never worn, according to Freya—and one of her extravagant ballgowns. I let Freya pick the dress out for me, she chose a dark green dress with golden needlework across the bodice. I felt like a medieval princess in it.
She tied my hair up in a crown of braids, rouged my cheeks and made up the rest of my face. When it was all said and done, I had to stare at myself in the mirror.
“That’s… that’s me,” I gasped.
“It certainly is, those boys don’t know how lucky they are.” Somewhere across the courtyard the clock started chiming. “And that is our time done. Come, I shall escort you. It’s not far.”
I followed my ghost friend down the tower stairs and through the castle, trying to develop a mental map of the labyrinth on the journey. I felt like I hadn’t crossed the same hallway twice yet, learning my way around this place might take some time.
To my surprise our journey led outside, across a stone patio and down through elaborate gardens. The world glistened with the brilliant silence of dazzling snow, unbroken and covering the ground in a giant blanket.
The path we were on was clear of snow somehow, and Freya confirmed the stones were heated. It looked like everything had been taken into account here in the castle. I wondered where we were heading to exactly when I saw lights in the trees ahead. The maintained gardens thinned out into lawns which stretched down towards a single line of trees. Strings of lanterns arced through the branches, making the trees seem spooky and mysterious at the same time.
Then I saw a lake on the other side of the trees. Its surface was frozen solid, and lanterns had been placed all across it to light it in the darkness. As we approached gentle violin music floated up through the air. Snow was falling, but very gently.
Rounding the corner, I saw the music was not from a recording. Victor, Ronan and Xander were playing together. Their faces lit up as they saw us, bringing their music to a stop. They all let their instruments come to their sides and stared at me.
“God above,” Xander said, “I didn’t think she could get any more beautiful.”
“Lily, you look breathtaking,” Ronan said.
“Let’s skip the date,” Victor said. “I need to fuck you right out of that dress.” Xander punched Victor in the arm. “Sorry. I mean… you look beautiful, Lily.”
“You’re all amazing too.” I meant it sincerely. They were all wearing tuxedos and they looked completely ravishing. “What was that music you were playing just now?”
“One of Xander’s arrangements,” Ronan said. “It’s been some time since we’ve been able to play music. The curse had taken us into such dark savagery that we had forgot how to play. We thought it would be nice to welcome you with some music.”
“It was amazing, really. I guess I’m surprised that you all sit around and play violin music together.”
“You’ll be surprised what you learn when you’re alive for a few hundred years,” Victor said. “We’re all pretty into music. Can’t say the violin stuff is my favorite, but Xander isn’t half bad at writing it. I wanted to bring the guitars down and perform one of my punk rock songs. You know, rock your pussy with music.”
“I… that’s…” I simply burst into laughter. “Sometimes I don’t know how to respond to you Victor.”
“Join the club,” Xander said. “Several hundred years by this idiot’s side and he still befuddles me.” Victor sent a punch back in Xander’s direction.
“Anyway,” Ronan said, bringing the boys back on topic, “we normally sit around and get blind drunk on our birthdays, but tonight I thought we could do something different.” He stepped aside to reveal a table behind him. On it was a carryall. “Have you ever been ice skating before?”
I looked out at the frozen lake and gasped. Suddenly I felt very excited. “No! Is that really what we’re doing?!”
Ronan just smiled. “Told you she’d love it.”
Victor also pulled out a large bottle of misty liquid. “I did bring a bottle of Hangza too, just to help keep the cold away. We can still make room for the blind drunk part.”
I had always been physically coordinated; it was part of the reason I made a good hunter. Riding on horseback and hunting game with a bow and arrow took a lot of concentration and some people just couldn’t do it. I had taken t
o it from a young age, and I even liked to join in when our village played sports games in the summer. My mind just worked well for that sort of thing.
Ice skating was something I had never done before though, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Fortunately, it was another activity that Ronan and his brothers had perfected over the centuries. I was in the company of three well-informed teachers.
After a small drink to warm the bones, they helped me pick out a pair of skates and then we stepped onto the ice. Xander and Ronan held an arm each while Victor busted across the ice, moving around quickly and looping through lantern stands as he showed off.
I nearly fell several times in those first few minutes, screaming and laughing each time Xander and Ronan caught me. It was terrifying, embarrassing, and completely new to me, but the guys were good sports about it.
“All you have to do is hold on and we’ll take you around,” Ronan said. “Look.”
I braced my arms tight against theirs and they both picked up their speed until we were flying across the ice. I found it utterly exhilarating, even if I was making some terrified noises, and within a few minutes my feet started to feel surer on the ice.
“That’s it!” Ronan said, still holding onto me but skating away a little so I was doing more of the balancing. Xander and Victor were currently racing back and forth across the ice to see who was ‘fastest’. Xander won, obviously.
Then Ronan let me go and I was doing it all by myself. My natural inclination for sports played to my favor, and as my body relaxed, I felt myself starting to settle into it. I even managed to turn before hitting a lantern.
The night played out and we danced and laughed across the ice, coming back to the shore every now and then for another drink and some food which Freya had brought down. Before long I started to get cocky and even attempted some of the tricks that Victor was constantly taunting me with. Needless to say, I fell on my ass and felt the ice more than a couple of times.