Bathory's Secret: When All The Time In The World Is Not Enough (Affliction Vampires Book 1) (6 page)

“Katalina Bosko where are you?” The shrill of her voice was unmistakable.

Kati leaned out of the window again to see the Countess standing underneath it calling out to her with a furious look on her face. She looked magnificent in the blue dress she had been wearing when she left and a silver and ultramarine diadem resting on her temples over her loose hair.

“You should know better than to not be here when I return!”

“Yes mistress, I’ll be right there!” Shouted Kati, dropping the brush in the cup of water she was using to dilute it, and wiping her hands on her apron. She quickly locked the door behind her, making sure to put the keys safely in her pocket, and ran downstairs to greet her mistress certain she would be reprimanded.

When she reached the courtyard, she was greeted by the sight of four girls who appeared to be aged between ten and fourteen, standing in a line in front of the carriage, eagerly listening to the Countess. The driver was the same one who had brought her here, and he looked just as unimpressed today. His sallow cheeks were marked by a singular vertical wrinkle denoting his age, and his oily matted hair hung loosely to his shoulders which were speckled by dandruff.

“There she is,” commented the Countess through gritted teeth as soon as she saw her. Grabbing her, she discreetly pinched the top of her arm as she maneuvered her into position in front of the girls. Kati suppressed a cry and forced herself to smile at the girls who were all also sumptuously dressed in silks, velvets and furs despite the warmness of the day.

The Countess looked the image of the eager hostess. She was grinning from ear to ear though she appeared to be straining under the day’s fading light.

“As I have already said before Katalina arrived, you young ladies have the privilege of being the first arrivals at the castle to receive your noble education.” Pointing to Kati she continued, “Katalina will be your carer during your time here, escorting you to lessons and cleaning your chambers etc. You will speak with Kati for everything you require.”

This was news to Kati, who had barely gotten used to being at Csejthe herself. How could she help them if she didn’t know where anything or anyone here was? With the exception of Miloš, the only other person she had spoken to officially in the entire castle was the Countess. Kati looked up at her with questions in her eyes but Erzsébet ignored her and continued to address the girls. When she was done she turned to Kati and smiled broadly using just her mouth, her eyes were somewhere else.

“Don’t worry little one, you’re a fast learner; you’ll manage just fine. All you have to do is bring them to me for lessons in the afternoon and clean up after them when they’re in class.”

What about the binding?
Wondered Kati.

“Why the afternoon Your Grace?” She was having difficulty adjusting to this evening-dominated schedule the Countess kept to when she was at the castle.

“I am noble my dear, my day is occupied by other activities. I can only dedicate the necessary time in the afternoon and evenings. These girls are the first to arrive and, as there’s only four of them, I trust you will be able to manage just fine."

“But what about the binding? When will I do that?”

“You will find the time!” Answered the Countess with a steely look that allowed for no negotiation.

“Yes mistress,” said Kati looking down before thinking of something else. “Will I have to bring them food too?”

“No, that has been arranged for them as it has for you. As you have already been instructed, you will speak to no one except these girls and myself. You will now help them settle in and bring them to class in two hours.”

“Yes mistress,” agreed Kati nodding.

“Now show them to their lodgings.”

Without further discussion, Kati approached the first girl in the line and, helping her with her small bag, headed towards the newly built barn that she had cleaned and prepared not so long ago. The coachman followed behind with the rest of their luggage. It seemed to Kati that irritation was his only expression.

As the girls ushered into the room they all looked up, impressed by its size before quickly scrambling to pick a bed from the dozen or so available ones. The one Kati had helped with her belongings picked the one closest to the fireplace, which she thought was wise considering the size of the room. Despite the mild weather she rushed to light it in order to warm up the large stone and wood structure. Spring was a long way coming. The barn's beamed roof loomed high overhead making her think it would be hard to keep the space comfortable whatever the season.

“I’m Oriana,” said the girl as she sat on the bed watching Kati put kindling underneath the large logs.

“I’m Katalina,” she said turning back a little awkwardly and smiling.

The other girls were busy chatting amongst themselves and transferring their clothing from their assorted cases and bags into the trunks that had been brought for them.

“What’s it like living in this big castle?” Asked Oriana, slightly ill at ease.

“I haven’t been here very long, but it’s alright.”

“What’s the Countess like?” She seemed more enthusiastic with this question.

“I haven’t really spent that much time with her to be honest,” answered Kati, knowing that it wasn’t a good idea to tell the girl that she was afraid and quite uncomfortable here.
It’s probably going to be different for her anyway, she’s of high birth
.

“My parents sent me here to be educated by her, but I didn’t really want to come,” she was looking at the floor now and dangling her feet from the bed.

Even though there was only four years’ difference between the two of them, Kati didn’t fail to see the frightened child within this elegantly dressed and coiffed girl. Her skin was rosy pink and her hair was a dark blond common to girls in this area. Her eyes, like her hair, were honey in color and warm and inviting. Her features were elegant and though her mouth was small and unremarkable, when she smiled it lit up her entire face. Kati sat on the bed next to her, though she knew it was a breach of protocol. The other girls didn’t fail to notice and commented about it amongst themselves.

“You’ll get used to it, you’ll see. All these girls will become your friends and you’ll have so much fun learning new things about becoming ladies that you won’t even think of home. I promise.”

“I don’t want to become a lady!” She was pouting now.

“Don’t say that. You’re very fortunate to be receiving this education and advancing in the world. I wish I could learn what you'll be learning. I can’t even read, while I bet you have so many books with stories and poems that you couldn’t possibly live without.”

Oriana looked at her with a look of absolute wonder.

“You can’t read at all?”

“Not a word,” said Kati shaking her head from side to side.

“That’s terrible! Maybe you could come to lessons too!”

Her innocence made Kati smile. For a noble child this girl seemed to have none of the arrogance her new classmates were exhibiting, which was typical of the rich.

“I can’t due to my rank, just as I shouldn’t really be sitting on this bed and treating you like my equal, please forgive me." She stood up and curtsied to Oriana and the other girls.

At that moment there was a knock on the door and someone simply said the word, “food” before leaving. Opening the door Kati was greeted by a large trolley filled with tea, spice cake and other delicacies which she wheeled inside the barn. Serving them all what they requested she left them to rest informing them that she would be back shortly to take them to evening classes and returned to her binding duties. When the time came, Kati returned to the barn and escorted the girls to the Library like she had been instructed to and left them to the Countess’s able hands. Oriana was the last to enter the room so just before closing the door Kati leaned down and whispered into her ear, “It’s all going to be fine, you’ll see.”

Oriana smiled and entered the room a little happier than she had been on the way. Closing the large library doors Kati couldn’t help but admire the sumptuous room fitted with large mahogany bookshelves lined with rows and rows of books she wished she could read. She pictured herself sitting underneath the elaborate tapestries that hung from the wall reading a book while being comforted by the warmth of the fireplace and the seasoned smell.

At the end of the class she escorted the girls to their dormitory while the Countess gave Kati express orders to continue binding into the night without fail. She could sleep in the morning but the binding must continue. Sleeping was to be restricted for the day. Once again the unusual time schedule made Kati wonder but she didn’t question the Countess, who disappeared to her chambers for the rest of the evening. As she was instructed, Katalina returned to the binding room where she was now on the third book. All her finished work was in the vice setting and she was happy to be making some progress despite the tedious nature of the work. It must have been a couple of hours before dawn when her body won the battle it had been fighting against her fatigue all through the night and she fell asleep on top of a few of the pages she had folded. She was woken by a chilling scream coming from somewhere in the castle which made her sit up immediately. In her sleepy haze she was uncertain if she had really heard it or if it had been her imagination but the goose pimples on her arms told her that something had happened.

Peering into the corridor from the door of the binding room she saw nothing but some very large blow flies caught in a spiderweb behind one of the family portraits struggling to break free.
More horrible flies.
The beeswax candles were almost depleted but the flame still flickered a little at the base. By dawn they would be completely gone. Seeing nothing suspicious around her, she returned to her wing of the castle where the tallow candles had long expired. Guided only by the light of the moon she noticed that her bedroom door was ajar and walking inside she hoped to find Miloš waiting for her.

On the bed, with her knees folded up to her face, Oriana sat crying. Puzzled, Kati quickly lit her bedside candle, approached the girl and sat next to her placing a comforting hand on her back.

“What’s the matter, Oriana?”

“I couldn’t sleep; I kept having the same nightmare over and over again, so I came to find you.” Her eyes were red and her nose was running.

Dipping her face cloth into the bucket of water that was by the now inoperative fireplace Kati wiped the girl’s eyes and nose.

“What dream did you have?”

“I dreamed I was never going to see my parents again and started to cry in my sleep.”

“Of course you’ll see your parents again. Before long, the Countess will be sending you home for Easter, I am sure of it. I’m hoping to be able to see my mother then too."

Having stopped crying Oriana blew her nose into the dirty face cloth.

“How did you find my room anyway?” Asked a puzzled Kati.

“I watched you leave our dorm earlier and saw which part of the castle you came into. When I couldn’t sleep I thought I could come teach you to read but you weren’t here so I fell asleep and then I had the awful dream.”

Kati looked at the book Oriana had placed on the bedside table, its golden letters twinkling under the flickering flame. It was bright red and beautifully decorated with squiggles and letters and a large cross in the middle.

“You want to teach me to read?” Kati was very touched by the little girl’s gesture.

“Yes, I thought about what you said today and realized that everybody should know how to read the words of God.”

“You are such a clever girl,” said Kati squeezing Oriana into an uncomfortable cuddle. “I would like you to teach me to read very much but the Countess will not like you doing that. We’ll have to be careful and quiet so no more screaming the castle down when we have bad dreams, understood?”

“But I didn’t scream; I just woke up in your bed crying.”

Kati’s skin crawled again. “You’re certain you didn’t scream, not even in your sleep?”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“And you didn’t hear a scream?”

“No,” answered the girl.

Kati realized now that the distance between this part of the castle and where the binding room was, was quite long, and the thick walls would’ve no doubt muffled the sound if it had been Oriana.
Did I really hear someone scream or did I dream it?

She turned to Oriana, “I think it’s time you went back to your own bed, because we’re both very tired and it's affecting us. Take your bible so that no one finds it in here and if the other girls ask, say you were in the chapel praying. Tomorrow we’ll come up with a good time to do this. Alright?”