Ivy didn’t need asking twice. She nodded and leaped up, almost knocking into the glass bowl, grateful that her father was giving her an excuse to leave – especially because she didn’t trust herself to keep her mouth shut if the Queen was dismissive of her parents’ story.
She dropped an awkward curtsy and hurried out of the door.
In a hallway lined with tapestries of wolves hunting, Ivy asked a maid where the cloakroom was. She pulled on her crushed velvet coat and headed out into the cold. She could see the footprints where Alex and Olivia had been, and wondered if she would be able to catch them up.
Ten minutes later, Ivy was regretting it. ‘This hill is impossible!’ she said as the freezing wind whipped her hair into her face.
Two steps after taking a left fork in the path, her foot hit a slick patch of ice and caused her to do the splits. Good thing she was flexible enough not to feel like she’d been ripped in half.
As she picked herself up, she heard a male voice above her. She was almost at the top and realised she could hear Alex speaking, but couldn’t quite catch the words.
The voice was coming from a direction that took Ivy slightly off the path. She stepped on to some stones that led up the hill in a natural staircase.
She poked her head over the crest of the hill and saw her sister talking to the prince by a tree. She could just make out what Alex was saying.
‘. . . I think the poet wanted to show that you can’t judge something, or someone, at first glance.’
Oh my darkness, Ivy thought. He’s talking about poetry!
Then Alex grabbed her sister’s hands but a gust of wind prevented Ivy from hearing what he said next. Uh-oh, she thought. Picturesque views, clutching hands, poetry, Olivia looking wistful. Ivy knew exactly what was going on here. It was the day before Valentine’s Day and Alex was milking the romance for all it was worth. The vampire prince has fallen in love with Olivia!
Just then, her foot slipped. She tried to catch herself, flailing her arms and staggering, but it was too late. She twisted over, landed on her backside and slid down half the hill, right into the bushes. A pile of snow fell on top of her.
Ivy wiped chunks of ice from her face. I should have asked for snow boots!
She climbed to her feet, brushing the snow off her sleeves.
‘So much for my vampire skills,’ she muttered. Vampires were meant to be extra-specially agile, but that hadn’t stopped her from falling on her behind.
Back to the warm, she decided, marching towards the palace doors. And after that? She’d find out once and for all what the prince was up to.
Chapter Six
‘Welcome back, Miss Ivy,’ said Horatio as he opened the car door. Ivy breathed a sigh of relief.
Compared to the Queen’s estate, this is almost as ‘at-home’ as the Meat and Greet, Ivy thought.
‘Right over there,’ Prince Alex was saying to Olivia. He leaned in close to show her where he was pointing.
‘That fountain was where I broke my arm, trying to prove to Tessa that I could balance as well as she could,’ Alex said. ‘I couldn’t.’ Alex had insisted on accompanying them home.
‘I remember that,’ the Count said. ‘We had to send you off home in an ambulance. You were only eight.’
Alex smiled at the memory. ‘I got into lots of trouble.’
Ivy watched carefully, trying to see if Olivia had realised that Alex seemed to be into her, but Olivia was as relaxed and happy as ever.
Lunch at the palace had involved even smaller portions than last night’s dinner so Ivy decided to sneak off to the kitchen for the half hour before they were going to meet in the games room for a darts tournament.
Ivy pulled open the kitchen door and saw Tessa. She was washing plates in the deep ceramic sink. ‘Good afternoon, miss,’ she said and curtsied, her hands full of soap suds. Strands of dark hair had come out of her long braid, framing her pretty, heart-shaped face.
Ivy felt guilty for interrupting her work. ‘No, no, please, don’t be so formal,’ Ivy insisted. ‘I’m just sneaking in for a snack.’
‘Of course, what would you like?’ Tessa replied.
‘I can make it myself,’ Ivy said. ‘Please don’t stop what you were doing.’
Tessa smiled so that the freckles on her cheeks crinkled up. ‘Honestly, I’m happy to do it, and I know where everything is,’ she pointed out.
Ivy couldn’t argue with that, and she was pleased to see that Tessa had recovered from her crying fit last night. ‘OK, you can help, but you aren’t allowed to laugh when I put my smiley face of honey on my Platelet Porridge.’
Tessa grinned. ‘The Countess does that, too.’
Ivy was glad to learn that there was a fun streak to her grandmother.
‘Have you always worked here?’ Ivy asked. She didn’t know how to ask Tessa about the crying; she didn’t want to embarrass her.
‘My father was Horatio’s right-hand man before he passed away five years ago, when I was eleven. I grew up here,’ Tessa explained, reaching for a saucepan. ‘I’ve only been working since I turned sixteen.’
As Ivy pulled down the box of porridge, Tessa started to speak: ‘Er, excuse me, miss. If you don’t mind my asking, is everything OK for you? I mean, you’ve seemed a little upset since you arrived.’
Ivy looked at Tessa, wide-eyed. But you were crying the other night! she wanted to say. Still, if Tessa wanted to pretend that had never happened, Ivy would just have to go with it.
‘It’s been hard to adjust,’ she stuttered. ‘Especially when my sister fits right in. Everyone loves her – even Prince Alex.’
Tessa stopped stirring the milk into the porridge. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Olivia’s the human. I’m the vampire,’ Ivy explained.
‘No, I mean, about Prince Alex,’ Tessa asked.
‘Oh. That he seems interested in Olivia.’ When Tessa blinked in confusion, Ivy said, ‘You know – romantically.’
‘He’s not,’ Tessa stated.
Ivy put down the honey. ‘But I heard him spouting poetry on the hilltop at the palace.’
‘I’ve known him my whole life. He’s like that,’ Tessa said, turning back to the stove. ‘He’s just trying to irritate his mother as much as he can. Trust me.’
A warning sign flashed in Ivy’s mind. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘Over the past year, Prince Alex seems to take every opportunity to annoy her.’ Tessa shook her head, and put Ivy’s bowl of piping hot Platelet Porridge on to the counter. ‘Flirting with a human girl will certainly do that. The Queen would burst into fog if the heir to her throne was in a romance with a non-vampire – or anyone she deemed . . . unworthy.’
Ivy felt her blood boil. Could the prince be pretending? Is he just using Olivia? Well, no boy is going to hurt my sister! I don’t care if he’s a movie star or a prince!
But before Ivy could ask for any more details, the kitchen door was flung open and Olivia burst in.
‘There you are!’ she said. ‘Come on! Alex and I want to go to the frozen lake to ice-skate. I already asked the Countess, and she said we can borrow whatever we want.’
‘There are plenty of pairs of ice skates in the shed,’ said Tessa.
‘What about playing darts inside where it’s warm?’ Ivy said, wanting to avoid anything that involved her sliding around on ice. Her behind was still throbbing from that fall outside the palace.
‘Oh, I’ve already proven that I can beat Alex hands down,’ Olivia said, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl. ‘Let’s skate! Tessa, will you join us?’
Ivy wanted to say something about Alex, but the last time she’d become involved in Olivia’s love life, she’d made a mess of things. She sighed. I’ll have to wait until I’m absolutely O-positive that Prince Alex is up to no good.
‘Come on, Ivy!’ Olivia was bouncing on the spot. ‘Tessa is coming.’
This could be a chance to watch Alex with Olivia, Ivy thought. I can see what he’s tryi
ng to do.
‘OK,’ she said, ‘I’ll come, but not until I’ve eaten my porridge.’
Wow, these Transylvanians are good, Olivia thought as she skated along steadily.
A few of the prince’s friends had arrived on the frozen lake, joining Olivia, Ivy, Alex, Tessa and Nadia, the other young maid. A blond guy with a buzz cut was skating backwards in sync with a red-headed girl, both with one leg out in an arabesque. Another two girls were practising spins in the middle. One of them had her black hair slicked back in a high, long ponytail and her dark silver coat looked almost metallic. Her friend had on a black-and-white patterned coat and a black beret. They looked like Olympic gold medallists who had skated right off the catwalk.
Except, Olivia thought, it would be cheating if they actually competed in the Olympics because of the whole vampire super powers thing.
‘Come on, Olivia!’ called Alex. ‘Show us what you can do!’
Olivia smiled and looked at the red-headed girl, who was now doing a fast spin. ‘I can’t compete with that!’
She sped up a little bit and let Alex take her arms to push her even faster. Olivia hadn’t icestated much, but her cheerleader’s balance and grace helped her to at least keep up with the vampires.
As they sped across the ice together into the wind, the white of the snow, the brown of the trees and the blue of the sky smeared across her vision. It was another moment that she wished Jackson could have been a part of.
Jackson, Olivia thought. I’ve got to tell Alex. Ivy’s warnings had spooked her; it was best that she explain to the prince about her boyfriend back home. But just when she was about to say something, Ivy skated over with Tessa.
Or Tessa skated and Ivy sort of shuffled and fell forwards, clutching Tessa’s arm. Tessa was wearing a cosy-looking, well-loved wool coat with big black buttons.
‘I thought you vampires were supposed to be good at all things athletic,’ Olivia teased Ivy.
Tessa grinned. ‘It’s not her body; it’s her mind. She’s got the Fear.’
‘After my episode in the mall, and a little slip earlier today –’ Ivy grimaced – ‘I don’t want to fall on my already sore butt.’
Olivia chuckled but Alex didn’t seem to be listening.
‘Hello . . . Your Highness,’ Tessa said.
‘Uh, h-hello, Tessa,’ he said. Olivia was surprised to hear Alex stutter. It sounded as though he was going to say something else but was holding back. He offered a quick nod that was almost a bow. ‘Excuse me.’ Then he skated away towards his friends.
‘I should go, too,’ said Tessa. ‘I’ll get back to the kitchen.’
Why is everyone leaving? Olivia wondered.
Ivy frowned and called after Tessa, ‘Don’t go!’ But she was already zooming away.
‘Alex was so rude to Tessa just then,’ Ivy declared and started awkwardly skating after Tessa towards the edge of the lake.
Olivia hadn’t noticed. ‘What? How was he rude? No, I’m sure he didn’t mean anything.’ When Ivy wobbled she held out her hand for her sister to hold on to.
Ivy shot a look over at Alex and his friends.
The girl with the slick ponytail was sniggering. ‘And did you see her ancient coat?’ they overheard the girl say.
‘See?’ Ivy hissed. ‘Alex and his friends don’t want to be around Tessa because she’s a servant.’
‘That’s too harsh,’ Olivia replied, as they neared the frozen mud and grass that surrounded the lake. ‘Alex didn’t say anything bad about her. He probably just wants to spend time with everyone equally.’
Ivy almost collapsed on to the ground and started unlacing her boots. ‘You saw how his mother acted towards Tessa last night at dinner.’
Olivia looked back at the group, laughing and playing tag. It definitely wasn’t OK with her if they were being mean to someone just because of their job.
‘And are you sure you should be spending this much time with Alex?’ Ivy asked.
‘I don’t know,’ Olivia replied. She didn’t want to think that her friendship with Alex might be wrong in some way.
Ivy narrowed her eyes. ‘Well, do what feels right. Don’t let me stop you from enjoying the skating.’ Ivy waved her sister away and back on to the ice. ‘I’ll wait here.’
Olivia hesitated. ‘You sure?’ she asked.
Ivy patted the log she was sitting on. ‘Firm ground and me, we’re good friends. Besides, how often do you get to skate on a frozen lake?’
Olivia pushed off and skated smoothly round in a big loop. When she looked back over her shoulder, Ivy was watching her intently.
When Olivia turned back to where she was going, she just had time to realise she was skating straight towards Nadia, the younger maid. There was no time to change direction!
‘Move out of the way, quick!’ Olivia shrieked, waving her arms madly. But it was too late. She and Nadia crashed into each other.
Olivia landed on her backside while Nadia ended up on her front.
‘Oh my goodness,’ Olivia said, scrambling up to make sure Nadia was all right. ‘I’m so sorry!’
‘Don’t worry, miss,’ she replied. ‘I’m fine – oh!’ Her hands flew to her neck. ‘My necklace!’
Olivia scanned the ground and saw a gold chain, broken at the clasp, lying on the ice. She held up the necklace to get a closer look and was relieved to see that the clasp was just bent out of shape. ‘I can fix this,’ she declared.
‘Olivia!’ Alex called. ‘Come over here with us.’
Olivia wanted to, but she’d practically just tackled poor Nadia. She shook her head and called back, ‘I can’t, not now.’
Alex frowned but Olivia turned back to Nadia and helped her up. ‘Come with me and we’ll get this fixed,’ she said.
She skated Nadia over to the edge of the lake. Ivy was watching Alex with a scowl as she held her arm out for Olivia to hold on to. ‘That had to hurt,’ said Ivy. ‘I wonder if we’ll have twin bruises.’
Olivia rubbed her rear. ‘I’d rather not know,’ she joked.
Ice-skating on the lake was supposed to be fun, but instead it had turned into a slippery situation with Alex and Ivy and Tessa – and poor Nadia.
Plus, she still hadn’t managed to tell Alex about Jackson.
An hour later, Ivy didn’t recognise herself.
She was wearing a pink shirt with frilled sleeves, a knee-length white skirt, white woolly boots and a good layer of Santa Monica Sun in a Bottle on her face. The shirt wasn’t Olivia’s most flattering – the frills looked like jellyfish blobs – but it was pink so it would do.
There was one final touch she couldn’t go without. She picked up Olivia’s Blush and Bashful lip gloss, took a deep breath and applied it.
This could get me into batloads of trouble, Ivy thought, but I need to know what Prince Alex is up to.
The idea had come to her as she was watching Olivia and Alex on the ice. She had to find out Alex’s motives. I can’t do that as Ivy. Alex barely seemed to notice that she existed. But as Olivia? She could find out a whole lot of information.
And when Olivia had rushed off with Nadia, Ivy knew it was now or never.
She practised a hair flip in the mirror, careful not to knock the feathery pink hairband. Yup, still got it.
Olivia was busy fixing Nadia’s necklace in the servants’ quarters and Ivy knew that Alex had already come back from the lake.
As long as I don’t run into Olivia, I’ll be fine, Ivy thought.
She started trudging down the steps to the ground floor, but then realised who she was supposed to be. She forced a little spring into her step and bounced the rest of the way.
Being Olivia takes a lot more energy than being me.
At the bottom of the stairs, Horatio was waiting, like he knew she was coming.
‘Horatio!’ Ivy said, glad she’d decided to perk up on her way down. ‘Have you seen the prince anywhere?’
Horatio frowned and peered at her, like he could sense something was
wrong. Ivy guessed she had about three seconds before her cover was blown. Ivy did the only thing she could think of to do: she flipped her long brown hair.
‘I last saw him heading towards the kitchen, Miss Olivia,’ Horatio said and bowed.
‘Thanks!’ Ivy said and squeezed past him.
She hurried into the hallway, looking around for anyone but seeing only the landscape paintings of the Carpathian mountains on the walls.
Pausing at the kitchen door and taking a deep breath, Ivy told herself, Think pink, think perky. She put her hand up to push open the kitchen door, but it swung open before she even touched it.
Ivy looked at her hand. Did I do that? She wondered if she’d manifested some crazy new vampire power, but then Prince Alex stepped through, leaving the kitchen.
Ivy just caught a glimpse of Tessa leaning against the counter with tears streaming down her cheeks. Alex’s mouth was set in a scowl, which turned to a smile when he saw Ivy – well, when he saw ‘Olivia’.
‘Hi!’ Ivy said as brightly as she could, but really wanted to shout, What have you done to poor Tessa, you big, mean snob!
Even if he wasn’t trying to use her sister, Ivy didn’t want Olivia being friends with someone who made servants cry.
‘Hello, Olivia,’ Alex said, hastily shutting the door behind him and offering his arm. ‘Just the person I wanted to see.’
Ivy plastered on her biggest, bunniest smile and hooked her arm through his. ‘I was looking for you, too,’ she said.
Operation Royal Reveal has begun.
‘There is a book that I want to show you,’ he explained as he led her along the corridor, looking nervously over his shoulder back towards the kitchen. ‘Come with me.’ He was virtually dragging Ivy along now, and she gently freed her arm from his.
‘Lead the way!’ she said.
He pushed open a door to a room that Ivy hadn’t been in yet. It was a dimly lit, cosy library with wood panelling, red leather chairs and books from floor to ceiling. She breathed deeply, taking in the smell of leather and dust.
Ivy touched the dark wood of the ladder that was attached to a railing high above her head. ‘This room is beautiful,’ she said.
06 Love Bites - My Sister the Vampire Page 7