by Gayla Twist
Mortal servants began circulating through the crowd, distributing drinks. I was offered a goblet right away, but Charles Frederick Worth came plunging out of the crowd and hissed at me, “Think of your dress. Do you know how hard it is to remove bloodstains?”
I immediately withdrew my hand from the glass. “Sorry.” I somehow found myself apologizing.
“If you get too hungry, we can sneak off to the powder room and tuck a cloth under your chin.”
“Okay,” I said, starting to feel grateful that it wasn’t a mortal reception with actual mortal food. I would have been sad to miss out on my own wedding feast. As it was, I knew I couldn’t make it through the night without asking for Worth’s assistance. I was too new of a vampire to go very long without quenching my thirst.
I noticed Jessie scanning the room and then I realized that his mother was nowhere to be found. Had she left? Had she even bothered to stay for the ceremony? I felt bad for her. She loved her children very much and I knew she was hurting.
“Did she leave?” I asked, squeezing his hand.
“I’m not sure,” was his reply. “She might be speaking with Braxton.”
After most of the crowd filed into the room, Lord Vagnar offered me his arm. “Allow me to escort you to the wedding table,” he said, giving me a dazzling smile.
I would have much rather preferred to be on Jessie’s arm. I was his wife, after all. But there didn’t seem to be any way to convey this to Vagnar without insulting him. “Thank you,” I said, accepting his offer. I turned my head to catch Jessie’s eye and conveyed in my look that I truly wished to be with him. I wanted nothing more than for the reception to be over. Then we could go to our room and start our life together as husband and wife.
But it didn’t seem like a party that was going to end quickly. In fact, I doubted any of the guests would call it a night until it was very close to dawn. But there was always a chance Jessie and I could sneak away. It wasn’t like any of our wedding guests actually cared about us. They were just using our marriage as an excuse to keep partying.
A dinner of sorts was served. It was just different types of blood that had been “flavored”. Maybe the mortal who donated the blood was from Zanzibar, or maybe the mortal had only survived on only oranges for two weeks. The hope was that there would be subtle, yet noticeable changes in the flavor of the blood. And with the way people were exclaiming over the various courses, maybe it was true, but I wasn’t enough of a connoisseur of blood to know the difference, even if I’d been allowed to consume any of it.
Much to my surprise, there were wedding toasts. Most of them were more directed at Vagnar for staging such a splendid event, rather than saying anything about the bride and groom, but we were included tangentially. But even the toasts eventually petered out. Jessie reached for my hand under the table. “Maybe now’s a good time to slip away,” he whispered.
“Yes.” I nodded, quite eagerly.
But as we were scooting our chairs away from the table to try to make a discreet exit, Lord Vagnar drew the attention of the crowd. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said. He’d barely raised his voice, but the room immediately fell silent. “I hope I’ve provided you with a wonderful wedding,” he continued. The crowd cheered and applauded. I felt myself bristle. I wasn’t a bridezilla or anything, but I did want my own wedding to be at least a little bit about me.
Vagnar went on. “The quality of the bride and groom is beyond compare,” he said, gesturing to his left, where we sat. There were more applause, only not quite as enthusiastic. “The bride in particular, I think,” Vagnar said. And then he addressed me personally with, “Stand up for a minute, sweetie.”
Feeling like a complete ass, I got to my feet. The crowd all looked me over from top to bottom, freely exchanging comments about my appearance. Lord Vagnar reached over and clasped my hand quite tightly. “I think, after putting on such a magnificent event for this couple — whom I barely know — that no one could begrudge me the right of droit du seigneur.”
The room fell dead silent for a moment and then burst into peals of laughter. Jessie jumped to his feet, knocking his chair over. “You can’t be serious!” he shouted at Vagnar, his face like a thunder cloud.
The lord shrugged. “Can you blame me?” he said, flashing a mischievous grin.
Jessie gave me a panicked look and then shouted, “Aurora! Run!”
“What?” I tried to ask. I had no idea what was going on. But then Jessie lunging across the table in front of me to punch Lord Vagnar in the face.
I guess Vagnar wasn’t expecting such a sudden and forceful attack because he let go of my hand as he crashed backward. People were laughing and cheering and clapping their hands. Vagnar tried to get up, but Jessie socked him in the face a second time. “Run!” he shouted at me again. “Don’t just stand there, run!”
“But...” I stammered before turning on my heel and fleeing the hall.
Chapter 21
No one tried to stop me as I ran. Not really. A few guests made half-hearted attempts to lunge for me, but with no real conviction. I easily dodged their efforts. And most of the guests seemed to be made helpless from their uncontrollable laughter. I hated them for it. I hated every single person in the room except for Jessie and maybe Yvette. And the fact that I had no idea what was happening made my flight even more terrifying and humiliating. What had Lord Vagnar announced? What the hell was going on?
My dress was so voluminous that I had trouble wedging myself between tables as I ran for the door. The peals of laughter all around me felt like physical blows. It was something out of a nightmare and I couldn’t wake up.
Finally I flung myself out of the room, and fell to the floor in the hallway. A glance over my shoulder showed me nothing of Jessie, but I could see that there was a furious battle raging at the bride’s table. I had no idea what to do. I didn’t know why I was running. And I didn’t want to just leave Jessie. But he had said that I needed to run… It was all so confusing and terrifying.
“Why are you still here?” a voice asked in a loud hiss. I looked up to see Rebecca staring down at me. Darting forward, she bent over, grabbed me by the arms, and hauled me into a nearby room, quickly and silently shutting the door behind us. “You have to get out of here. Right now,” she said in a whisper.
“Get away from me,” I said, leaping to my feet and then giving her a smart slap across the face.
Rebecca didn’t react to the slap; she just smiled and said, “Whatever have I done to deserve that?” in a slightly bemused voice.
“You know what you did,” I hissed at her. I was furious — and more than a little freaked out — but I did realize that, for the moment, I was hidden. It was unlikely that anyone from the reception would think of looking for me in the small room just next door. From the mirrors and toiletries lying around, it looked like a place where ladies came to fix their makeup.
“No,” Rebecca said to me, “I don’t. As far as I can tell, all I’ve done is try to help you. With great risk to myself, I might add.” She wasn’t acting like a guilty person. In fact, I think she was a little hurt by my accusations, although trying to hide it.
“So you didn’t tell Vagnar that we were hiding in the family crypt?” I asked.
Rebecca shook her head.
I found that I believed her. “Then who did?” I wanted to know.
She shrugged. “Probably someone who had something to gain by revealing your whereabouts.” Rebecca cocked her head, lifted a finger to her lips, and then tiptoed over to the door.
My stomach clenched as I waited for Vagnar and his minions to burst into the room. God only knows what he wanted from me, but it was obviously something pretty damn unpleasant for Jessie to have reacted the way he did.
After listening for what felt like several minutes, Rebecca turned back to me. “Vagnar’s put a search party together. They’ve fanned out in every direction. But fortunately, they think you’ve left the castle.”
“Did he say anything
about Jessie?” From the battle that was going on at the bridal table as I left, I was almost afraid that he might have been staked.
“They have him in the dungeon,” Rebecca said. “But I don’t think they’ll hurt him. They just want to ensure that he’s contained until… Well, you know.”
“No.” I shook my head rather vigorously. “I don’t know. I don’t have any idea.”
“Droit du seigneur,” Rebecca said. “Lord Vagnar wants to claim the right to droit du seigneur. But it’s all just bullshit. First of all, Cornelius Vagnar is not a feudal lord. And secondly, there’s no real proof that droit du seigneur was ever really practiced in feudal times. It’s all just some male power fantasy fueled by Hollywood, if you ask me.”
I was still confused. “But what is it?”
She smiled at me in a rather pitying sort of way. “You are very new to being a vampire, aren’t you?” I had no idea what she expected me to say, so I said nothing. After a moment, she went on. “In medieval times, it was supposedly a tradition that a lord had the right to have sex with a new bride before her husband.”
“What?” I couldn’t take it in. “So you mean… Lord Vagnar… What?” My head was spinning.
“Lord Vagnar wants to have sex with you before Jessie does,” she informed me.
“But…” I still couldn’t quite wrapped my head around the idea. “That’s ridiculous.” I thought about it some more. “And disgusting. Do you mean to tell me that Lord Vagnar snatched our coffins from the airport and staged this whole wedding just so he could try to nail me before my husband?” After Rebecca nodded her head, confirming the whole thing, I added, “But that just so creepy.”
“I know,” she said with a sigh. “And, like I said, there’s no real proof that droit du seigneur even went on in medieval times. It’s this stupid idea that guys find titillating. If you ask me, it’s just plain pathetic.”
“Does Vagnar seriously think I’m going to cooperate?” He was going to be seriously disappointed, if he did.
Rebecca pursed her lips. “I think the problems is that he’s got Jessie locked in the dungeon. And I’m pretty sure he’s not going to let your husband out until you hand over the goods.”
I felt my stomach churn. “That is sincerely disgusting.”
She rolled her eyes. “I know.”
“So what I really need to do is sneak into the dungeon and get Jessie the hell out of there.” It was a simple plan, but I doubted it would be easy to execute.
“Or,” Rebecca suggested, “you could just get the whole thing with Lord Vagnar over with and then move on with your life. Things might be a little awkward with your husband for a while, but I’m sure if Vagnar enjoys himself, he’ll continue to offer you his protection.”
I took a moment to consider her advice. Lord Vagnar was probably one of the handsomest men on the planet. And he probably had a great body. And he could be very charming, when he wanted to be. Plus, I had to assume his ego would ensure that he was skilled in the bedroom…
But no, I just couldn’t. First of all, it was just plain sleazy. Secondly, Jessie was the only man that I even wanted in my bed. The thought of being with anyone else — even someone as good looking as Lord Vagnar — made my skin crawl. Finally, I shook my head. “I just don’t think I could,” I told Rebecca. “I’m too in love with Jessie to even consider it.”
She nodded once or twice, looking grave. “I’ve never known a love like that. I envy you.”
“But will you help me rescue Jessie?” I asked. I knew I was really pushing the envelope — especially since I’d recently slapped her across the face — but I didn’t have any idea of how I was going to manage Jessie’s escape.
Rebecca stared at me for several seconds, blonde tendrils framing her face. She was really quite lovely, I noted. I had to wonder how someone as seemingly together as her ever got involved with a psycho like Daniel Vanderlind.
“I can’t,” she finally said. “You almost had me with your whole talk about true love, but I really can’t put myself at risk more than I already have. Not that I would mind helping the man who staked Daniel Vanderlind but…” Her words broke off in a jagged little gasp. After a moment, she went on. “Tell you what,” she said, forcing her voice to be steady. “I’ll stage a distraction to get the guards out of the dungeon. The rest is up to you.”
“Thank you,” I said. It was more than I’d hoped for. A big part of me wanted to ask what Jessie’s brother had done to make her hate him so much, but it was none of my business and we really didn’t have the time. “So how do you think we should do this?” I asked.
Blotting at the corners of her eyes, Rebecca said, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this isn’t actually an old building. It’s practically brand new, even by mortal standards.”
“I thought so,” I said, unwilling to voice my real opinion of the castle.
“I’ve always thought it was incredibly ugly,” Rebecca went on. “In fact, some undead refer to it as Chateau Bourgeois.” She glanced at me. “Not when Vagnar is around, of course.”
I nodded, wondering when she would get to her plan.
“Anyway, there’s no actual video monitoring, but there’s a lighting system that signals the guards to assemble.”
“Lighting system?” I asked.
“It’s really not that complicated. Lights flash in specific rooms or in all of the rooms, letting the guards know where they’re supposed to go. Three flashes means go here, two flashes means go there. I guess Lord Vagnar thought it would somehow be more historically accurate than if he actually had video monitors and a speaker system.”
“Maybe he just thought it was more aesthetically pleasing,” I suggested. After all, nothing screamed modern like a bunch of cameras and speakers.
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But anyway, if I can signal that the guards in the dungeon should report to the north tower, then that should give you a good five minutes to do whatever you’re going to do to save Jessie.”
“Okay,” I said, my head spinning. “That’d be great.”
“Just so you know,” Rebecca went on, “the bars in the dungeon look old, but I have it on good authority that they’re silver.”
I nodded. “Got it. Thanks.”
“And there’s an escape hatch of sorts,” Rebecca added. “It’s really just because Lord Vagnar likes to over-decorate his grounds for Christmas. Just off the dungeon, there’s a lot of storage rooms. Instead of hauling all the decorations through the house, the groundskeepers access the dungeon through some storm doors. When the doors aren’t in use, they’re covered over with what looks like a tool cabinet. But tools for torture, of course,” she added.
“That’s good to know,” I said, wondering how Rebecca knew so many details of the castle. I was also wondering about the fact that Lord Vagnar enjoyed decorating his lawn for the holidays. That sounded completely un-vampirely. But then again, most vampires desperately clung to the mortal habits that they weren’t forced to give up after becoming members of the undead. I briefly wondered what eccentric habits I would cling to from my days amongst the living.
“Do you know how to get to the dungeon from here?” Rebecca asked.
I shook my head.
I could see her restraining herself from rolling her eyes with annoyance. “When you leave this room, turn right and then take the first hallway to the right. It’s a small one; a servant’s hallway that leads to the kitchen.” Rebecca glanced at a clock ticking on a vanity table. “There shouldn’t be anyone around. I’m sure all the servants have been ordered to search the grounds for you.”
“Great,” I grumbled. It was nice to know that both mortals and immortals were on the hunt for me just to satisfy Lord Vagnar’s kink.
“Go to the very back of the kitchen and there’s a little spiral stairway that leads to the basement. The staff sometimes uses the dungeon as a cold cellar. Stay hidden on the last steps until the lights flash and the guards leave,” she told me. “Then it’s all up
to you.”
“But how are you going to manage the signal?” I asked.
Rebecca gave a modest, one shouldered shrug and bobbed her head a little. “I have a way with mortals. But you’d better get going.” Then she abruptly grabbed me by the hand. “By the way, if you get caught, then you don’t know me. I’m just the bitch who threw a drink in your boyfriend’s face.”
“Got it,” I assured her. “And thanks.”
She gave me a flat look that I couldn’t read. “I’ll go first. If I don’t come back in, then wait a minute and head for the kitchen.” With that she slipped out the door and was gone.
Chapter 22
I was too freaked out to actually estimate the length of a minute, so I tried to keep calm and force the passage of time by singing the fifty-states song. Singing every state in the United States took about a minute and that was good enough for me. “Alabama,” I began, “Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas…” Why did everything always have to be so weird with vampires? Was it just that strange people were the ones who usually ended getting turned into vampires? Or did becoming immortal make people strange? “Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana…” Or was it like the internet, where most people who posted things online were normal, but there was a healthy percentage of dillholes who felt the need to spread their obnoxious or creepy or pervy messages on every comment board and forum they could find? “New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York…” Was there someplace in the world with normal vampires? Ones who had figured out civilized ways to fill eternity? And would Jessie and I ever be free from our troubles and allowed to live peacefully among them? “Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.”
I cautiously opened the door and peeked out. Still wearing my enormous wedding dress, I wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. Fortunately, no one was around, so I slipped out the door, hustled down the servants’ hallway and snuck into the kitchen. It was also free of people.
