demanded in a very annoyed voice.
“You know perfectly well where I’ve been, or you wouldn’t have known where to send someone to find me.” I responded in the same tone of voice.
“You know what I mean. What took you so long to get back here? The other girls have already been escorted down to the great hall.”
“Sarah, calm down. Next to the others, I will simply disappear anyway. They make me look like plain white bread next to pastry.”
“That’s not true, Katrina,” she said, as we hurried to get my sheath off and the new dress on. It was my favorite red silk, with puffy sleeves to the elbow, which then were fitted from elbow to wrist, and with beautiful silk-covered buttons adorning the sleeves. The same buttons appeared again on the corset front which pushed my breasts up and out made my waist look even smaller.
“Good thing we did your hair earlier,” Sarah grumbled.
She pinched my cheeks and whisked me to the door. I smiled and then stopped dead when I saw that Quinn had changed into formal attire and looked soooo handsome. I felt my heart skip a beat.
“No time to gawk at each other now. Go, go,” Sarah said, as she pushed me out the door.
“You look stunning Kat.”
“Thank you. You clean up nicely yourself,” I said, looking up at him.
We laughed. Here we were, just two people in love, walking into the unknown; all we knew was that we were going there together.
Father was waiting for me at the door to the reception room.
“Finally,” he said. “We are one of the last to be introduced. Almost all the others have already arrived and have taken their places.”
When we got almost to the top of the stairs I looked back for Quinn. He smiled and at once I felt better.
“Baron Fredrik Von Dracek and Lady Katrina,” the liveried herald announced in somber tones.
My Father made a head bow and I a slight curtsey and we started down the stairs. Don’t trip, don’t trip, smile, don’t trip, I thought.
I surveyed the room, hoping to find a friendly face and located Eleanor, Rosa, and Letta with their fathers. All three looked stunningly beautiful.
Eleanor was in blue gown, the color of a night sky. Rosalinda in teal, her black hair braided around her head and down her back; and Letta wore red satin, trimmed with black lace around the collar and down the front and at the edges of her sleeves, her hair still the way I saw it earlier. Of course with their beauty, all three could have worn sacks and would have made them the new fashion. But having them all smile at me helped me feel at ease.
Philepe and Gerhardt gave a head bow of acknowledgement as we passed. My face burned as I noticed Gerhardt’s gaze didn’t leave my chest. It is my best asset, but it would be polite of him remember I had a face. As we took our place, I thought that Father had been right; we should have been here sooner. Being one of the last to be announced was a big disadvantage, because now I didn’t know who anyone else was. Except for the three I’d already met and Philepe and Gerhardt, everyone else in the room was a complete stranger. I’d have to meet up with the girls later in the evening so they could help me put names to faces.
“Ladies and gentlemen, let me now introduce the High Regent, Count Petrovich Daminov, his wife, the Countess Margarite, and his son, Damien, and daughter, Luena.”
All eyes turned to the top of the stairs. The Count was quite old, and his pure white hair made his skin look even paler, but he was regal and handsome and in no way frail looking. From one of the oldest known clans, Count Daminov has been ruler of the vampires for over one hundred years, since the clan wars ended and the Council began. Both feared and respected, he’s ruled the clans with an iron fist and swift justice. Some say it’s time for a change, but fear if his son Damien came into power, that the alliance between clans would break and the ground would again turn red with the blood of both vampires and
“You know perfectly well where I’ve been, or you wouldn’t have known where to send someone to find me.” I responded in the same tone of voice.
“You know what I mean. What took you so long to get back here? The other girls have already been escorted down to the great hall.”
“Sarah, calm down. Next to the others, I will simply disappear anyway. They make me look like plain white bread next to pastry.”
“That’s not true, Katrina,” she said, as we hurried to get my sheath off and the new dress on. It was my favorite red silk, with puffy sleeves to the elbow, which then were fitted from elbow to wrist, and with beautiful silk-covered buttons adorning the sleeves. The same buttons appeared again on the corset front which pushed my breasts up and out made my waist look even smaller.
“Good thing we did your hair earlier,” Sarah grumbled.
She pinched my cheeks and whisked me to the door. I smiled and then stopped dead when I saw that Quinn had changed into formal attire and looked soooo handsome. I felt my heart skip a beat.
“No time to gawk at each other now. Go, go,” Sarah said, as she pushed me out the door.
“You look stunning Kat.”
“Thank you. You clean up nicely yourself,” I said, looking up at him.
We laughed. Here we were, just two people in love, walking into the unknown; all we knew was that we were going there together.
Father was waiting for me at the door to the reception room.
“Finally,” he said. “We are one of the last to be introduced. Almost all the others have already arrived and have taken their places.”
When we got almost to the top of the stairs I looked back for Quinn. He smiled and at once I felt better.
“Baron Fredrik Von Dracek and Lady Katrina,” the liveried herald announced in somber tones.
My Father made a head bow and I a slight curtsey and we started down the stairs. Don’t trip, don’t trip, smile, don’t trip, I thought.
I surveyed the room, hoping to find a friendly face and located Eleanor, Rosa, and Letta with their fathers. All three looked stunningly beautiful.
Eleanor was in blue gown, the color of a night sky. Rosalinda in teal, her black hair braided around her head and down her back; and Letta wore red satin, trimmed with black lace around the collar and down the front and at the edges of her sleeves, her hair still the way I saw it earlier. Of course with their beauty, all three could have worn sacks and would have made them the new fashion. But having them all smile at me helped me feel at ease.
Philepe and Gerhardt gave a head bow of acknowledgement as we passed. My face burned as I noticed Gerhardt’s gaze didn’t leave my chest. It is my best asset, but it would be polite of him remember I had a face. As we took our place, I thought that Father had been right; we should have been here sooner. Being one of the last to be announced was a big disadvantage, because now I didn’t know who anyone else was. Except for the three I’d already met and Philepe and Gerhardt, everyone else in the room was a complete stranger. I’d have to meet up with the girls later in the evening so they could help me put names to faces.
“Ladies and gentlemen, let me now introduce the High Regent, Count Petrovich Daminov, his wife, the Countess Margarite, and his son, Damien, and daughter, Luena.”
All eyes turned to the top of the stairs. The Count was quite old, and his pure white hair made his skin look even paler, but he was regal and handsome and in no way frail looking. From one of the oldest known clans, Count Daminov has been ruler of the vampires for over one hundred years, since the clan wars ended and the Council began. Both feared and respected, he’s ruled the clans with an iron fist and swift justice. Some say it’s time for a change, but fear if his son Damien came into power, that the alliance between clans would break and the ground would again turn red with the blood of both vampires and
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