“Csilla is dreaming of wolves!” I would not be pacified by their words. I knew it was Vlad who killed Percy. I felt it to my core. He had found a way to strike out at us from beyond his entombment.
Adem’s man slipped back into the palace, the large door shutting behind him. Pulling his scarf down from around his face, he said, “The horses had their necks broken. It could be from the fall down the hill into the woods, but I cannot be certain. ”
“It’s Vlad,” I cried out. “It’s him!” I held Percy’s hand even tighter, wishing I would feel his warmth return to his flesh.
Behind me, Magda helped Laura to her feet. Cezar rushed to her side to help carry Laura back to the parlor. She was inconsolable, but I felt unable to rise and comfort her. I merely stared at Percy’s face making foolish wishes.
Later-
I stare into the storm and know that someone is watching me in return. I can feel it now. The dark shadow gaining in strength as it waits.
Death has come.
“I love you,” Ignatius whispered before kissing my cheek and smoothing my wet hair from my face as I sat in my slowly cooling bath. The scented water did not bring me the comfort it usually did. It was growing colder and the cold reminded me of Percy’s frozen visage. At least he was now out of the elements and tucked into the cellar with the dead driver.
Dragging his fingers through the water, Ignatius knelt beside me gently bathing me. I sat in silence staring at the tiny waves lapping up against my breasts. Percy had died after giving us our gifts. He was clad in the same clothing from that fateful night. The carriage and the bodies of the mortals and horses had been found a short distance from the gate. As I had lived my life in the walls of the palace, enjoying making love to Ignatius, Percy had lay dead outside in the cold.
“I love you,” I finally answered.
Ignatius reached into the water and lifted me out, not minding that I instantly drenched him. Resting my head against his shoulder, I let him carry me to the bed. He set me down and began to dry my limbs.
“It is not your fault. ”
“Vlad killed him because I loved him. ”
“We do not know that Vlad killed him. ”
“He did. ”
Ignatius wrapped me in a towel and sat next to me on the bed. His fingers intertwined with mine. “I’m so sorry, Glynis. I know you and Laura loved Percy very much. ”
“I sometimes felt like my father’s spirit was in him, watching me, making sure I was safe. ” I felt tears slipping down my cheeks, but did not care. “At times, Percy would smile and I would know that I was loved and part of a family once more. And now he is gone. ”
In silence, Ignatius touched the cameo about my throat I had refused to take off before my bath. “He is with you in other ways now. ”
“Are you certain?”
Ignatius nodded. “I may no longer be a true priest, but I do believe that. ”
The bubble of pain within me was so great I felt I could not contain it and I hunched over. Ignatius held me until I could cry no more. He wiped away all my tears and kissed me tenderly as I clung to him for comfort.
We were lying upon the bed, damp from my tears and bath, holding each other, when Katya burst through my bedroom door. “Come quick! Csilla is dying!”
I snatched up my robe and tied it about me as we rushed out. Adem joined us shortly before we entered Csilla’s bedroom.
For a moment I thought the baroness was already dead. Then I heard the soft rasp of her breathing and saw her hand move upon her chest. Her feverish eyes found me as I drew close to her. Slowly, she held out her hand to me. I took it. Her skin felt cool and I could feel the delicate bones. I had not realized how much she had wasted away in such a short time. The room reeked of illness, but her fever had given her eyes a brightness that was eerily beautiful.
“It is time,” she whispered with a smile. Her voice was raw, yet excited. “It’s time for us to truly be sisters. ”
I could hear her heartbeat slowing as I had heard Laura’s fading just before her death. I did not answer her, but gazed at her face wondering how such beauty could hide such a dark soul. How callously she had sent me and my family off to our doom. How easily she had poisoned Laura out of jealous spite.
“Glynis?” Her voice rose, fear lacing it when I did not respond in the way she anticipated. “I am dying. I feel it. ”
“I know. ”
“It is time for us to be sisters, isn’t it?” Her smile was fading as she struggled to grip me with her other hand and draw me to her. “Glynis?”
I stared into her eyes as I disengaged myself from her grip. Standing, I stepped away from the bed. Katya stared at me, her lips slightly parted. Ignatius stood silently next to the door. Adem merely watched and waited.