Tale of the Century Bride Complete: Historical Vampire Paranormal Romance Box Set (6 page)

Count August would be there every single night of the week. But no one ever saw him during the daylight hours, and as nightfall would arise; all the castle tenants would quiet down, and most would retreat into their own respectable quarters before his arrival.

“Good morning Countess.” Cored said.

He was only eleven. He was the son of Doran, the chef of Castle Dalmar.

“Morning fair lady…” Alice said as she appeared beside Cored. She was also a child of Doran. She was the two minute younger twin of her brother, Cored.

“Good day to the both of you.” Catherine said in a childish, sort of chirpy voice with a pat and rub to each of their heads. “And how are my two favorite twins doing on this bright day?” she said, looked back to the room thinking of the glare.

“Wonderful!” Alice excited, clapped twice in her enjoyment. “Papa cooked you up something I know you’re gonna love.”

“Is that so? Well what is it?” Catherine asked.

Cored said, “It’s a surprise, and we can’t tell you.”

“Okay, fine…” Catherine said, “Then I won’t spill the beans on a little secret I was going to tell you.”

She’d gotten to know the twins pretty well over the course of the weeks. Though they would occasionally prank each other, for the most part Catherine would find them being the first to greet her every morning since their arrival to the castle. She knew at any time she could catch them out and about playing in the courtyard or feeding the horses if she ever needed their assistance. They were good kids, not that much of a hassle like many of the other youngsters that now ran about the village.

“Eggs, garden veggies, cheese and fish, that’s it―” Alice snitched.

“Alice. You weren’t supposed to tell.” Cored said.

“The secret… what’s the secret?” Alice begged.

Catherine laughed, pointed a finger. There wasn’t any secret. She’d said that just to toy around with the siblings.

Both twins burst out in laughter.

“What’s so funny?” Catherine asked.

Alice said, “There isn’t any fish.”

“I knew you two were up to something.” Catherine said before heading into the courtyard.

The second she’d stepped foot outdoors, she noticed how just about everyone looked to the southern sky in a mystified wonder. Like a child that would admire – with oohs and ah’s – the sight of an airshow flying overhead. These caretakers were huddled together, pointing upward.

Two knights looked to our countess for a split second before pointing into the sky. Her personal servant, Colleen, hustled toward her from the servant quarters. Catherine and the twins gazed upward, but they could see nothing as of yet.

“Catherine,” Colleen said without haste, her head continuously turning toward the sky.

“Catherine, come quickly.” She grabbed Catherine’s hand and forced her a few yards into the courtyard’s center, by the well that now produced clean water. “Look!” she said, as she pointed toward the sky.

Catherine threw a shaky hand over her mouth as she gasped.

“What is it?” Cored questioned.

Colleen said, “I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

“This can’t be good.” Catherine said once she’d loosened up a bit.

The tenebrous clouds were still 240 kilometers out. Now, they lit up in different shades of grey, from the dimmest smoke grey to a southern grey, lightning bolts emanating from within, striking the earth in silence.

“A storm,” Catherine said. “A terrible storm is headed this way.”

“What’s that material dropping from the clouds?” Alice asked.

“I’m not sure. But something is not right about this.” Catherine responded.

She turned her sights to the blacksmith’s station. It was empty. She thought of her mother and sisters, and she feared for their safety if this dark storm was anything like the Black Plague – which she was not alive during the era. She knew that if she wanted them there with her, all she would have to do is make the request. She wanted to leave the castle and enter the village.

But she could not abandon her castle without August’s blessing.

“Colleen,” Catherine said. “I need you to go into town and see how my mother and sisters are doing. Tell them to pack their things and wait for my summoning.”

She then looked to the stables. “Take Percy with you,” she said of her mare.

A second later she added, “And a basket of fruit… Make sure you tell them that I am fine. I’m pretty sure they will see the storm coming. Tell them to find Rose and let her know that she too is welcome to join my family. Do you understand?”

“Yes ma’am. Right away,” Colleen said with a bow before running off toward the stables.

The twins stood on both sides of Catherine. Like they dwelled in each other’s thoughts, they both took her hands simultaneously. A cold feeling came over the three. It was easy to establish this by the grips of the children and Catherine together, the blank stares into the morning’s darkness more than a hundred miles away and the tentative moderations of the manly men that whispered of their soon to be shortcomings to the land they all knew as home.

Other tenants of the castle moved rapidly into the main hall. The mysterious dark clouds that carried with it a silent, thundering storm, was now on everyone’s mind, and the tip of their tongues. Normally the weather was not such a cause for alarm but one look at this storm had made all the inhabitants of the castle anxious and fearful.

Alice looked up to Catherine, tears filling her blue puppy dog eyes. “What are we going to do?” she quietly asked.

Catherine said nothing. She stood motionless, her eyes still turned to the dark cloud. The castle was sure to withstand the oncoming storm. Her only thoughts were of the wellbeing for her loved ones.

Cored tugged at her arm. “Lady Catherine… what should we do?”

She blinked three times, coming out of her subconscious thoughts. She said, “What can we do? We cannot do anything except prepare for the storm.”

She looked to Cored and then to Alice. Hiding her fear, she threw on a phony smile to the both of them. “Do not worry. So… how about that breakfast now,” she said. “Hungry?” she asked them both.

“Countess,” exclaimed a man’s voice from behind.

Catherine and the children immediately turned to see who this unfamiliar voice belonged to. Upon a quick examination it was plain to see the man’s face was completely hidden beneath a stringy, long but matted mound of hair and the scruffiness of his full mustache and beard. His eyes were of coal, low and beady.

He looked to Catherine with a flaming intensity, a sure look that exhibited an earnest concern. His lips were dry and cracked; teeth were rotted and brittle when he’d spoken. He was an odd looking fella. He wore the tattered rags and sandals of a peasant. Two knights of Dalmar stood on each of his sides. Never before had she seen this man in the village or the castle.

“Yes, how may I help you?” Catherine speculatively asked.

He bowed his head. “My name is Deleon, son of Mourn.” He said before looking behind her, to the tenebrous cloud. “I am a farmer from the south.”

“Sylvan?” Catherine asked.

“Mahesh… The town beyond Sylvan… It is a week’s travel from here.”

Catherine looked to each of the knights at the man’s sides. They said nothing, and she then looked to Deleon. “And what can I do for you, Deleon, son of Mourn?”

“Before the cloud appeared before Mahesh there was a big explosion from the other side of our mountainous land, Jotunheim. Later, a sudden darkness took control of the daylight hours. What remained of our forest had become the fires of hell, and with that came the broad attack of another nemesis―”

“Wait… hold on, you’re moving too fast.” Catherine interjected as she held her hand up motioning for him to stop his tale.

She looked to the twins. “Off you two. I will meet you two in the dining area in just a few minutes,” she said.

The twins hustled off, obviously panicked but wanting to follow orders too. Catherine watched their backs get small before they vanished in the cluster of townsfolk in the main hall. Once they were safely out of sight she turned her attention back to the visitor. “Please… now continue.” she advised Deleon.

“The pillagers… seeming they were a rouge force, a combination of both werewolves and vampires bound together as one, there was no way of combating our oppressors with a winning chance. With the blessings of the town priest and my family I fled to find aid.”

“Why did they choose you for the task?” Catherine asked.

“My family has a history of clerics.”

“And how did you end up here?”

“I stopped in Sylvan for allies but the cloud was directly behind me. I had an opportunity to speak with some of their townsfolk but it seemed they had their own problems and were not willing to assist us in any manner. However, they paid the cloud no mind and said it would blow over before reaching their town.”

“What is it in the cloud that threatens so many lives and brings with it death from a rouge clan of vampires and werewolves?”

“I honestly do not know. That question baffles me to the upmost disturbing thoughts. Maybe the gods are angry and sent the clouds to cleanse the people of our land. By the time I’d reached the outskirts of Mahesh I turned back to see ashes dwindling from the heavens, bails of ice crashing to the ground, the dire screams of my people dying in the distance, and the howls of the beasts that slew them as I escaped with only my life and a few days worth of food.”

“You look parched. You must be starving.” Catherine said, looked to the knight on Deleon’s left. “See to it that our guest is cleaned up and fed.” She turned her sights back to Deleon. “We shall continue this later in the dining area.”

“But My Lady will you help us?” Deleon asked.

The sun set and the cold night took hold of Dalmar. Catherine and August were seated at both ends of the finely carved rectangular dining table over a candle lit dinner. Though Catherine had nearly devoured a platter of pig, garden vegetables and saw timber as she sipped red wine from a golden chalice, August had only a single goblet of fresh blood that he’d been consuming while admiring the beautiful presence of his newly beloved.

“A cult of Vampires and Werewolves has joined forces and overrun the town of Mahesh.” Catherine announced.

“So I’ve heard.” August replied in a calm manner.

“A man from the town is here now, in the servant quarters. I allowed him to stay in the castle for the time being but if you wish him gone I can tell Colleen to dismiss him immediately.”

“There is no need for that, my love.”

“Have you seen the cloud to the south?”

“Yes, but it isn’t a cloud at all. It’s something more.” He said, took another sip from the goblet. “I wanted to inform you that I have requested your family to join us here in the castle―”

“What?!” Catherine said with excitement. “Are you sure?”

“Well of course I am. Did you think I would have them stay in town while the elements of nature consume the life of the ones you love?”

The elements of nature consume the ones she loves? This tenebrous cloud could not possibly be of the nature. As Deleon explained it was sent from the gods as a cleansing. Or could Count August possibly mean the rouge group that destroyed the townsfolk of Mahesh?

“When are they coming?” Catherine asked.

“They will be here by daylight. I’ve ordered two of our top men to bring them in. Your mother will have her own quarters, your sisters will share.”

“And what about their clothing and things from home?”

August laughed. “They can bring whatever they want, but I’ve already instructed a few of the maidens to begin weaving their new clothing, and the carpenters to build their beds.”

Catherine was caught by surprise. “When did you decide to do all this?” she asked.

“I’ve noticed that even with everything we have here at the castle, you’re still not fully happy. In the time it took you to bid your farewells the day you arrived here for the first time, I could sense that you were well loved and would be very much so missed.” He paused.

“And within my long days of slumber I envisioned this day would soon come. When the winter would arise and the sun would fall, I would be able to meet with your family in your tradition. I would only wish they could love me as you do. I will treat them as I treat you. And I will show them… that I truly love you… something that I have never felt before in this nightmare that will soon forfeit itself from my existence as long as we’re together.”

Catherine rose from her place at the table and made her way toward August. He remained seated until she was no more than two feet away.

“You are the man beyond my dreams.” she said to him, her eyes sparkling with joy.

August took her hands. “And you are the woman outside my own hallucinations.”

“The man I want to spend the rest of my existence with.”

“The woman whom I want until the cessation of eternity…”

“I think of you before I go to bed and the moment I awaken. Your love is always on my mind. When you are away from me I yearn to feel your touch. Though your touch is cold… it is sincere and benevolent. To be in the comfort of your arms, you make me feel so very fortunate and secure. The more we are together, the more I am in love. I love you August.”

“And I love you, Catherine.”

They mutually progressed toward each other in unison. As August made the advance to go in for the kiss, perhaps leading to amorousness, Catherine closed her eyes and puckered up, ready for her innocence to be conquered by her sensual desires in a long awaited ecstasy. Though they had been married for months they still had not had a real honeymoon night experience.

“Wonderful,” Catherine said as his firm lips slid away from hers.

August did not utter a word. He removed his hands from around her slim waist and scooped her up from off the granite floor. She wrapped her arms around him as she anticipated what was to come next. This night would be different. And within the blink of an eye, they were up in the master quarters. It was a night they would both remember for the rest of their lives.