year, so far she has
been normal, when I check up on her she seems thoughtful and happy,
though I know her parents were talking about having her betrothed
to one of the Voivodes of Transylvania” Nea stood up, it was time.
Anna’s parents had not made this easy on Nea, Anna had already
outlived three sisters, two of which had died, and one fell prey to
the curse.
“Ugh, use plain language, just call them what they
really are, a glorified warlord…I miss Scotia.” Sabine sneered.
“It’s a respected title. More revered than Hospodar,
Voivode is more of a …Prince.” Mihail defended, since most of the
men in his family had held one or both titles.
“Again, fancy word for War Lord.” Sabine snickered,
“at least one thing never changes, in Scotia, Warlords come and
go…you can be leader of a clan one minute and thrown over the
next.”
“This is very true, Vlad ruled more than once; I
hope the future does not hold quite as much blood shed.” Nea
sighed.
“Back to the subject on hand.” Mihail said, he
didn’t like to think of his father and didn’t like the sad gaze it
brought to his mother’s eyes.
“Yes, Anna…hopefully this time will be
different.”
“So you’ll be going again then?” Sabine rolled her
eyes.
“You know it is my task. Will you stay and keep an
eye on Mihail and the house until I can get back?”
“I do not need a baby sitter, I am a grown man.”
Mihail sniffed. Nea looked at him and couldn’t help but laugh. He
had paint in his hair and on his clothes. He was never gone
from her longer than a week or two and she had grown accustomed to
having him at the castle.
“Sometimes I forget my darling. Something has been
slinking around the house these past few years, always outside my
vision, but I worry when I leave it will take up residence.”
“It did not dare when I left for Beth.” Sabine
pointed out. Elizabeth, or Beth, Bathory had been born in 1520; her
painting now resided in the gallery. After poisoning half of her
friends at a birthday party she had committed suicide at the age of
twenty; leaving behind Anna to be raised alone by their
parents.
“It didn’t dare because you, Mihail and your current
lover were here tending to things.” Nea laughed, “I wish I had been
able to save Beth but it is difficult enough to deal with a normal
girl who has been habitually raped by her father, let alone one of
our line.”
The girl’s father was one of the many Transylvanian
Dukes, Nea wanted to kill him but it wasn’t allowed. Instead she
had given him a mental command that any time he thought about
touching any woman he got a sharp pain in his genitals. His wife
and mistress had been happy about that. Nea had been
masquerading as an older countess at the time and became a close
friend of the family and had been privy to some gossip about what a
bad lover The Duchy of Nyirbator actually was.
“There has to be something mentally wrong with them,
mother, why does Bendis think you came save them if they are all
just crazy?” Mihail asked.
“Something makes her think so, my mother and I are
normal, she believes love and kindness might be the answer.
Thankfully I can be young forever, so Anna has befriended me.” Nea
left the room to pack so that she could go to the home she owned in
Nyirbator, Hungary.
She had been to that area of Hungary too many times
in the passing years. Once in 1535 because of Clara Bathory who had
been caught killing one of her children and eating their flesh.
When questioned by her family as to why she had done it, her answer
had simply been, “to see what it was like.” Nea had sent a
Strigoi to kill her immediately afterwards. Her portrait was now in
the gallery, and Beth’s had followed within five years.
She visited there every year to watch Anna and she
was able to integrate herself into the local society as her own
daughter. In the last two years she and Anna had become best
friends. Nea didn’t look much older than
been normal, when I check up on her she seems thoughtful and happy,
though I know her parents were talking about having her betrothed
to one of the Voivodes of Transylvania” Nea stood up, it was time.
Anna’s parents had not made this easy on Nea, Anna had already
outlived three sisters, two of which had died, and one fell prey to
the curse.
“Ugh, use plain language, just call them what they
really are, a glorified warlord…I miss Scotia.” Sabine sneered.
“It’s a respected title. More revered than Hospodar,
Voivode is more of a …Prince.” Mihail defended, since most of the
men in his family had held one or both titles.
“Again, fancy word for War Lord.” Sabine snickered,
“at least one thing never changes, in Scotia, Warlords come and
go…you can be leader of a clan one minute and thrown over the
next.”
“This is very true, Vlad ruled more than once; I
hope the future does not hold quite as much blood shed.” Nea
sighed.
“Back to the subject on hand.” Mihail said, he
didn’t like to think of his father and didn’t like the sad gaze it
brought to his mother’s eyes.
“Yes, Anna…hopefully this time will be
different.”
“So you’ll be going again then?” Sabine rolled her
eyes.
“You know it is my task. Will you stay and keep an
eye on Mihail and the house until I can get back?”
“I do not need a baby sitter, I am a grown man.”
Mihail sniffed. Nea looked at him and couldn’t help but laugh. He
had paint in his hair and on his clothes. He was never gone
from her longer than a week or two and she had grown accustomed to
having him at the castle.
“Sometimes I forget my darling. Something has been
slinking around the house these past few years, always outside my
vision, but I worry when I leave it will take up residence.”
“It did not dare when I left for Beth.” Sabine
pointed out. Elizabeth, or Beth, Bathory had been born in 1520; her
painting now resided in the gallery. After poisoning half of her
friends at a birthday party she had committed suicide at the age of
twenty; leaving behind Anna to be raised alone by their
parents.
“It didn’t dare because you, Mihail and your current
lover were here tending to things.” Nea laughed, “I wish I had been
able to save Beth but it is difficult enough to deal with a normal
girl who has been habitually raped by her father, let alone one of
our line.”
The girl’s father was one of the many Transylvanian
Dukes, Nea wanted to kill him but it wasn’t allowed. Instead she
had given him a mental command that any time he thought about
touching any woman he got a sharp pain in his genitals. His wife
and mistress had been happy about that. Nea had been
masquerading as an older countess at the time and became a close
friend of the family and had been privy to some gossip about what a
bad lover The Duchy of Nyirbator actually was.
“There has to be something mentally wrong with them,
mother, why does Bendis think you came save them if they are all
just crazy?” Mihail asked.
“Something makes her think so, my mother and I are
normal, she believes love and kindness might be the answer.
Thankfully I can be young forever, so Anna has befriended me.” Nea
left the room to pack so that she could go to the home she owned in
Nyirbator, Hungary.
She had been to that area of Hungary too many times
in the passing years. Once in 1535 because of Clara Bathory who had
been caught killing one of her children and eating their flesh.
When questioned by her family as to why she had done it, her answer
had simply been, “to see what it was like.” Nea had sent a
Strigoi to kill her immediately afterwards. Her portrait was now in
the gallery, and Beth’s had followed within five years.
She visited there every year to watch Anna and she
was able to integrate herself into the local society as her own
daughter. In the last two years she and Anna had become best
friends. Nea didn’t look much older than
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