"Did she hurt you?" "No, other than interrupting my sleep."Did she hurt you?" "No, other than interrupting my sleep. But..." I hesitated, very aware of my wife's feelings about other female vampires and me. "I will -- forgive her this one time. She did not know you were a vam- pire. If she tries to bite you again, I _will_ kill her," Victoria said darkly. "I'd like an explanation --" I yawned involuntarily. "But I'm still tired, and I'd rather sleep now." I yawned again. Although Victoria's step- mother (!) had given me an erection, the energy associated with that lust departed when Marta left the room. I remembered exactly how tired I was. I headed back to bed. "No, you can not sleep there. Tourists will be here in few hours. I will take you to safe place," Victoria said, pulling me to my feet. I grumbled in mild protest. "But it is important that you not let Marta know that we may move about in the daytime. _Very_ important. Promise me, yes?" Her tone conveyed the urgency of the message. She walked over to a wall, pulled on the lighting fixture, and a secret passage opened. "Come. We will go into hiding." I followed Victoria to another bedroom, this one buried within the castle walls. It was fully furnished, and there was a large bed. I was struck by how clean it was, and by the electric lamps in the room. "This is where I began," my wife said as I lay down to go back to sleep. "This is where my father and mother conceived me," she smiled, curling up next to me. I don't remember much else except going to sleep warmed by Victoria's body. We woke up in the afternoon. There were voices all around us. They came from the tourists on the other side of the wall. Victoria sat up, and whis- pered to me. "We must be quiet, or tourists will hear us. Tonight we begin our reclamation of the castle and the town. Last night, I began the work that is necessary, but is too much for just me. Marta is no longer re- stricted to the castle and the close farmlands, so that will help." She paused, and trouble clouded her gorgeous eyes. "I feel very guilty because it is my absence that has caused this to happen. Without noble occupant, the state has claimed the castle and land. |