‘Holy Water!’ Ivy whispered to Olivia.
As they drove up the semi-circular gravel driveway, Ivy realised that the Queen’s estate made her grandparents’ house look like a shed. The two of them peered up at the sculptures of eagles with their wings spread, perched on the top of the stone turret above the entrance.
‘It’s incredible,’ Olivia whispered back, but she wasn’t really looking. Ivy wondered if her sister’s mind was somewhere else.
Horatio pulled to a stop and climbed out to open the car door. Ivy emerged to see four uniformed staff waiting at the ornate iron doors to greet them.
As she stepped out of the cold wind into the grand entrance, there was no sign of the royal family, but an older woman was calling out to a man who was adjusting light kits and reflectors at the bottom of a sweeping gilded staircase.
‘Perfect, daaahling!’ she said and swept her floor-length blue coat behind her. The golden flower embroidery on it flashed in the light. Her stark white curls were tamed by a wide clip with an enormous blue and green peacock feather.
Ivy knew that incredible style. ‘Georgia Huntingdon!’ she said.
The woman whirled around and her blood-red lips split into a wide smile.
‘Ivy, darling!’ She floated over and air-kissed her on both cheeks. ‘And Olivia!’
Olivia looked startled to see the editor of VAMP magazine.
‘As soon as I heard you two were in Transylvania, connecting with your noble roots,’ Georgia purred, ‘I simply had to capture the event.’
‘And we were happy to let her,’ the Countess said, air-kissing Georgia.
Mr Vega cleared his throat. ‘I wish you had consulted me first, Mother,’ he said quietly.
The Countess looked horrified to have upset her son. ‘Oh, darling, I –’
But she was interrupted by a voice from the top of the red-carpeted staircase.
‘I thought the palace would be the perfect backdrop for a photo shoot,’ said Prince Alex, who was watching them from above. He bowed to his guests before stepping lightly down the stairs. He wore a black suit jacket over a white T-shirt and jeans – he somehow looked modern and classical at the same time.
Ivy realised that everyone else had dropped into a little curtsy or bow and she hurriedly followed suit.
As usual, one step behind, Ivy thought. At least Georgia is familiar, like a little piece of home.
‘Welcome to the palace,’ Alex said to everyone, his glance lingering on Olivia.
Olivia curtsied again. ‘It’s an honour.’
‘The honour is mine,’ he said and reached out to kiss her hand.
Georgia leaned in to Ivy. ‘Looks like your sister has herself a royal admirer!’
The realisation hit Ivy like a stake in the gut. Alex likes Olivia! A second thought followed almost as quickly. But Olivia has a boyfriend.
Alex started pointing out features of the gardens at the back of the house, framed by enormous windows. He kept looking at Olivia intensely.
‘Oh yes,’ she said, ‘how pretty.’ Her breath misted on the glass as she gazed out at the garden. She had no idea how closely Alex was staring at her.
Georgia clapped her hands and three assistants with racks of clothing hurried out from a side room. ‘This feature is going to be even bigger than your first! I simply must have you on the cover of VAMP again.’
‘Oooh, costumes!’ Ivy breathed, wanting to grab a rack and run away with it. Georgia had fabulous taste.
‘Of course, this rack is all in your size.’ Georgia winked.
‘Ivy.’ Mr Vega motioned her over. ‘Are you OK with all of this?’
‘Are you kidding?’ Ivy replied. ‘A chance to play dress up with the VAMP magazine closets? As long as someone nudges me when I’m putting my foot in it – which I know is pretty often – this might be the best part of my trip!’
Mr Vega nodded. ‘If at any time you feel uncomfortable and wish to stop, or leave, just say the word. We are not obligated to stay.’
Ivy felt her heart sink. She understood that their dad wanted to protect his daughters, but couldn’t he just go with it for once? ‘I want to stay,’ Ivy said. ‘I want you to want to stay, too.’
Mr Vega looked away. ‘I am here for you and your sister.’
Ivy sighed. That wasn’t the answer she was hoping for.
Georgia called, ‘We’ll save the dresses for later, girls. First, I thought we would start with a group photo on the stairs? We’ll just wait for Her Majesty –’ The older woman suddenly stopped mid-sentence and dropped into an elegant curtsy.
Ivy turned to see the Queen walking down the hallway with two attendants. She was wearing a long-sleeved navy-blue fitted dress with lace detail at the open neck. She looked just as intimidating as she had in her formal gown.
‘Welcome,’ she said and nodded to the twins. ‘Please enjoy your time in my home.’ She turned to the magazine editor. ‘Shall we?’
Georgia immediately began gently coaxing the Count and Countess up the steps.
‘Wouldn’t Prince Alex and Olivia look good standing next to each other?’ the Countess suggested.
Alex moved instantly to Olivia’s side. ‘A fabulous idea,’ he said.
The Queen raised an eyebrow and Ivy could tell she did not like how much attention her son was paying to the only human in the room.
‘No, no,’ Mr Vega was saying. ‘I don’t need to be in the photo.’
‘Please, Charles,’ Georgia said. ‘This is a celebration of togetherness.’
Ivy realised what she was saying: as much as anything could, being in a photo with the Queen was a chance to show the vampire community that times were changing.
‘Come on, Dad,’ she said. ‘You can stand next to me.’ She grabbed his arm and pulled him up on to the third step.
As the photographer moved around the group, holding up a light-capture device in front of everyone’s faces, Georgia asked, ‘Ivy, Olivia, tell me, how are you finding Transylvania? Do you feel like you’ve come “home”?’
Ivy bit her lip. She wasn’t about to let slip how out of place she felt.
Luckily, Olivia came to her rescue. ‘We love Transylvania so far; and everyone here is very nice. Of course, we want to thank Her Majesty and the prince for their gracious hospitality.’
Ivy spotted that Olivia had side-stepped the home question neatly and wondered if anyone else noticed.
Georgia nodded and then turned to the Queen. ‘Your Majesty, may I ask what it feels like to open your house to a human for the first time ever?’
The Queen’s ruby earrings clinked as she tilted her head. ‘It is unusual, to say the least, but this is a very special circumstance,’ she replied. She nodded at the twins’ grandparents. ‘The Count and Countess are my closest friends.’
It was a very diplomatic answer, but Ivy sensed she was also saying that she wasn’t going to make a habit of inviting non-vamps into her circle. There were plenty of vampires who felt very strongly that vampires and humans shouldn’t mix – her own grandparents had made that clear to her father, all those years ago. But the Count and Countess had been nothing but loving to Olivia since she arrived.
‘I think,’ Prince Alex put in, ‘that it shows how well the monarchy is coming to grips with the modern world. I, for one, look forward to these special circumstances becoming more regular.’
The Queen’s earrings clinked again as she sat up straighter and drew in a breath.
Two people and one row down, the Count said, ‘Times certainly are changing.’
Mr Vega cleared his throat. ‘But not everyone wishes to change with them.’
Ivy wanted to say something to cut through all the tension, but the photographer called out, ‘We’re ready.’
‘Smile, my dears,’ said Georgia, clasping her hands in front of her chest.
‘Stakes!’ called the photographer.
‘Stakes!’ everyone cheered back.
But Ivy suspected that underneath the smil
es, conflict was brewing like a bad potion.
Olivia was exhausted but happy. She’d worn eight phenomenal dresses, from an Elizabethan-style full-skirted dress to a sleek, asymmetrical gown. Ivy had loved being dressed up and, for once, didn’t mind being the centre of attention.
The adults had left at least an hour ago for coffee in the ‘presence chamber’ as they called it, while Ivy, Olivia and Prince Alex had posed in various luxurious rooms all over the palace.
The Grand Ballroom was truly grand. The windows stretched from floor to ceiling and six crystal chandeliers twinkled over the dance floor. Georgia had wanted them to take turns dancing with Alex – but Ivy had two left feet when it came to ballroom dancing. Olivia was so good at remembering the moves; it turned out to be a photo shoot of the two of them.
Finally, she had the twins pose, one on either side of the prince, in their ball gowns.
‘That’s the one,’ Georgia said, clapping her hands as the photographer finished. ‘Next week’s cover! I’m going to go look through these on the computer; just hang the dresses up, girls, and I’ll send someone back for them.’
‘Um, Georgia?’ Ivy asked.
‘Yes, darling?’ she replied.
‘Could I borrow this dress for the Valentine’s Day ball please?’ Ivy knew that she had nothing suitable to wear, and all these dresses had been so wonderful . . .
Georgia considered for a moment. ‘No, no, I don’t think so.’
‘Oh,’ Ivy replied, feeling deflated.
‘Because I’ve something better.’ She whispered in an assistant’s ear and left the room. A moment later, she returned with a big garment bag.
‘Wear this.’ She winked at Ivy and then produced a pair of Victorian-style lace-up boots. ‘With these, and have a faaabulous time.’
‘Thank you so much!’ Ivy said and started to unzip the bag.
‘Ah, ah, ah!’ Georgia said. ‘Don’t spoil the surprise. No peeking until the night of the ball.’ She turned to Olivia. ‘Would you like a dress as well?’
‘I was a little more . . . thorough . . . with my packing,’ Olivia replied with a teasing smile at Ivy.
‘Then I say: ciao, my lovelies!’ Georgia gave a little wave and hurried away, chattering with the photographer.
As Ivy went behind a screen to change, Olivia sat happily on a chair, her silver lace dress spilling over the floor around her.
Alex came to stand beside her. ‘Would you do me the honour of accompanying me on a tour of the castle grounds?’
‘I’d love to,’ Olivia replied. ‘We don’t have places like this in Franklin Grove. Probably not anywhere in America!’
‘Wonderful,’ Alex said. ‘I’ll find us some snow boots and be back momentarily.’
As soon as he had left, Ivy poked her head out from behind the screen. ‘What are you doing?’ she hissed.
Olivia struggled to stand up without damaging the dress and held up the skirt as she walked over to her sister. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean,’ Ivy said, zipping up her skirt, ‘have you broken up with Jackson and not told me?’
‘No,’ Olivia replied. ‘Although Jackson might have broken up with me.’ Olivia felt her headache from the car ride coming back. ‘He sent me this weird text message that just said “See ya”. And I haven’t been able to get a signal again to see if he’s sent anything else. What if that’s Hollywood speak for, “I want to dump you but am so busy I have to do it by a two-word text”;?’
Ivy gave her a don’t-be-silly look. ‘Your taste in guys is much better than that. You’d never choose one that would do something like that.’
Olivia sighed and turned to let Ivy pull down the zip on her dress. Then she quickly threw on her pink turtleneck. Her mind flashed to Alex. ‘But even if Jackson and I are going through a bumpy patch,’ Olivia said as she sat back down on the chair to put her tights on, ‘Alex and I are just friends.’
‘Be careful, Olivia,’ Ivy replied. ‘His mom is acting so sniffy because she thinks he likes you.’
‘A vampire prince wouldn’t date a human,’ Olivia pointed out.
‘You can’t say that,’ Ivy countered. ‘Since you were initiated, most vampires have accepted you. Like the Count said: times are changing.’
Olivia had too much to think about at the moment with Jackson. She couldn’t deal with this, too. Besides, there wasn’t any spark between her and Alex.
It’s not a problem, Olivia decided. I’m sure of it.
Just then, Prince Alex returned with two pairs of muddy leather snow boots.
‘Milady.’ He bowed and held out his arm for her to take. ‘Shall we?’
Olivia giggled at his pretend formality and nodded. ‘We shall.’
Crunching through the snow and looking up at the tree branches, Olivia thought the royal garden was like a winter wonderland.
She stepped carefully along the slippery stone path. The frosty wind wasn’t helping.
‘Up here,’ Alex said and began climbing a narrow path ascending a hill. Olivia had no choice but to take his arm.
‘There is a legend about this hill,’ he said when they were about halfway up and Olivia was running out of breath. ‘A princess was being forced to marry a man she did not love, to marry for money.’ Alex paused in his climb and looked at her sadly. ‘On the night before her wedding, she fled the palace and climbed to the top of a tree on this very spot. She hid there all night, crying. When the sun rose and her parents came into the garden, shouting for her to come and be married, she flung herself from the highest branch and died. They say this hill grew from her tears.’ Alex turned away and kept walking up the hill.
Some parts of being royalty must be awful, Olivia thought. Having to marry someone you don’t love.
‘Is it still like that?’ she asked gently. ‘Will you have to marry someone your mother chooses?’
Alex’s face darkened. ‘My mother tends to get her way.’
Olivia gulped. She remembered the Queen’s tone with poor Tessa during last night’s dinner. She certainly did know how to get what she wanted.
At last, they reached the top of the snowy hill and Olivia caught her breath.
There were mountains on three sides, beautiful peaks, covered in white. Pockets of tiny villages nestled among the trees, their red roofs poking up through the snow.
‘It’s so beautiful,’ Olivia whispered. ‘You know, I was worried that I would only feel out of place here. But somewhere inside of me knows that I belong.’
‘I’m glad. Look over there.’ Alex pointed to a picturesque frozen lake twinkling in the bright winter sun. ‘That lake is on your grand-parents’ land.’
Olivia looked from the lake to the tops of the stone mansion that she could see through some trees. Her family’s estate was enormous.
‘And the reason I wanted to show it to you now is because of the poem I mentioned: “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird”,’ Alex went on. ‘In the summer, blackbirds thrive around that lake, singing their love songs for all to hear.’
He took a breath. ‘The poem is an intense study of one thing, analysing it from every angle – almost obsessed over.’
‘I know the feeling,’ Olivia said. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Jackson. She didn’t know what to think any more. Right here on this beautiful mountain top was the type of Valentine’s Day she’d wanted with Jackson – not waiting in line for a paltry two minutes with him.
She sighed.
‘I think the poet wanted to show that you can’t judge something, or someone, at first glance.’ Alex took her gloved hands in his. ‘There is so much to see beyond that.’
It was quiet for a moment. Was the prince trying to tell her something? All this talk of poetry and meanings . . . It’s like we’re talking in code, Olivia thought.
Then Alex grinned. ‘But right now, all I can see is a fireplace and a hot drink!’
Olivia chuckled. ‘It is really cold and a hot chocolate sounds perfect.’
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As they started to walk back down the hill, Olivia wondered, What if Jackson has started to see me differently? Maybe that explains why he doesn’t seem to care any more.
Ivy sat next to her father on a plush white sofa, not daring to touch the drink that a maid had placed on the glass side table.
Cranberry juice plus white silk fabric equals utter humiliation, Ivy thought, keeping her hands firmly in her lap. There was a delicate glass bowl on the coffee table that could spell disaster as well.
The Queen was sitting across from her, stroking a small white ferret, while her grandparents sat together on a couch to her right.
‘And you shop in the basement of this . . . Food Mart?’ The Queen had been asking about Franklin Grove for at least twenty minutes.
‘Indeed,’ Mr Vega replied. ‘Our community thrives alongside the human community, in harmony but in secret.’
‘Mmm,’ the Queen said. ‘It does seem rather . . . unrefined.’
Ivy was glad that she hadn’t had to grow up always worrying what the ‘refined’ thing to do was.
‘We have a happy life among humans,’ Mr Vega said. ‘Many vampires do.’
‘My understanding is that you had your own doubts on this matter,’ the Queen challenged.
Mr Vega coughed. ‘It is true that I thought once that vampires and humans together could only bring harm; I was proven incorrect. Of course humans and vampires can live together happily. My daughters are proof of that.’
Ivy got the sense that the Queen would not tolerate Alex having similar thoughts, despite the fact that he was at this moment escorting Olivia on a private tour of the palace grounds.
‘Do tell me the story, Charles,’ the Queen commanded. ‘Your parents have spent years talking about it in your absence.’
Mr Vega glanced at his mother, but said nothing. Ivy wondered if one of the windows had been left open, as cold air seemed to chill the room.
‘Ivy, my dear,’ Mr Vega said, ‘you must be eager to join your sister exploring the delights of the palace gardens.’
06 Love Bites - My Sister the Vampire Page 6