Katrina, The Beginning (7 page)

“Now for the reason you
have been summoned here.” He paused and then continued. “I, as High
Regent of all the clans, have served you now these one hundred
years; and I hope you think I served you well. But, it is now time
for new leadership”, he held his hand up against the outcry from
the chamber, “and as soon as we vote here today, I will step down
as High Regent and we will install your newly elected leader. I
nominate Baron Von Dracek as my replacement.”

“I second that nomination,”
shouted Philepe.

Then Count Marcus Devorak
of Romania shouted, “I nominate Damien Daminov.”

“I second that nomination,”
cried out his son, Demitrie.

“Are there other
nominations?” He paused. “If we have no other nominations we will
now vote.”

One by one the crowd filed
up and cast their votes silently, even somberly, until everyone had
voted.

“The Council will now tally
the votes. We will recess and meet back here in two hours,” The
High Regent rose and made his way from the chamber,

The room emptied, most
people went to the dining hall or back to their rooms. I, however,
needed to talk to Gunter. I knew he would be watching my father’s
back, so I asked Thomas to go with me to relieve him, while we
talked. I needed an update on everything. Quinn had told Thomas and
Simon the details of everything that had happened up until the
Council meeting and had a courier sent home so Avery, Gregor, and
Cedrik would be arriving soon.

“Any news on the
whereabouts of the girls?” I asked Gunter.

“Vampire trackers have been
sent out, but have not returned yet. If you are up to it Katrina, I
would like you to use your gift to try to find them.”

“Of course. I’ll do so as
soon as the results of this election are in. We should also be
watching Luena; she has as much at stake as Damien.”

“That shouldn’t be too
hard, since they are almost inseparable anyway.”

“Katrina, Quinn informed me
about his involvement with you. These things happen when you’re
young and together as much as you two have been; but as you found
out, he can’t protect you and you won’t be able to protect yourself
if you are distracted. Assigning a new watcher for you is for the
best.”

“I know, and that’s why we
told you. When we realized Damien was able to sneak up on us, it
startled both of us. But Gunter, that doesn’t mean we’ll be apart
forever. As for the present, what do you think of my plan to get
close to Damien?”

“It’s very dangerous, but
you’re right, I’ve seen how he looks at you. Using his lust may be
our only way to find out what he’s up to and find the girls. If he
lets his guard down we just might be able to stop him before he
starts a war.”

“Luena might be a problem.
If looks could kill I would have been dead at the ball. Her
possessiveness of Damien is a little —no, a lot—creepy.”

“I’ve placed Thomas as your
Watcher, he along with Simon, will be guarding you day and night.
We will make it known Quinn has been reassigned and his other
brothers will be arriving soon. He’ll get a regular Von Dracek
guard uniform and be keeping an eye on Damien, Luena, and their
Watchers. The girls’ fathers have each provided extra Watchers to
help him.”

“If we’re lucky, Damien
will try to comfort me. Father is sure to win the election, and
I’ll be ever so sympathetic about his losing.” I put on a simpering
look and my voice dripped with cloying sweetness.

As I headed back around the
front of the Council room, Damien stormed out through the side
door. He seemed full of anger.

“Damien, what’s
wrong?”

“Congratulations are in
order, my Lady. Your father will be the new High
Regent.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Damien.
I know you would have been a wonderful leader.”

His face softened upon
hearing these words.

“I had no idea you regarded
me so highly, my Lady.”

“Katrina. Please call me
Katrina.”

“What of your Watcher? The
feelings you have for him are not safe for you, you
know.”

“He’s been reassigned; alas
our closeness was not to be. He remains my friend, for we grew up
together, but we cannot be more than friends. It’s for the best;
such closeness is forbidden for a reason.”

Insincere, yes, but
necessary, I thought.

I tilted my head, smiled,
and gave Damien a sweet look. “If it were not so dangerous, I would
love to take a ride with you, to cheer you up.”

This prospect made him
stand up tall and give me a puzzled look.

“Maybe I can arrange
something later. I’m sure now you’ll want to see your father’s
appointment as our new leader.”

“Damien, I wish you would
be my escort. It would be comforting to me and a nice show of
support for my father’s election. The gesture would demonstrate
that you bear no hard feelings.”

“Of course, Katrina. Shall
we?” He offered his arm and led us into the Council room, our
entrance inciting murmurs from the crowd now
reassembled.

I was so proud of my
father; he would be a great leader. As he was receiving his new
adornment and seal, I whispered to Damien. “This will give us more
time to get to know each other, because my father and I will have
to stay longer so that he can complete all his new
duties.”

I didn’t look at him but he
squeezed my hand. “Indeed,” he replied.

The ceremony installing my
father as High Regent was followed by a dinner in the great hall.
The celebration was subdued because abductions of three of the
Council members’ daughters, especially when the trackers returned,
and reported they had lost the abductor’s trail along the river to
the west.

Father thanked Damien for
his graciousness and excused himself to attend the matters at hand.
“All this violence makes everyone so uneasy, no one will relax,
least of all me, until the girls are found safely,” and then he
left us.

“Let us take a walk in the
gardens,” Damien suggested. “It will do us good to rest our minds
from the troubles of the day.”

“I’d love to,” I answered
with a smile. “Thank you Damien for escorting me to the
installation ceremony, even though you were disappointed about the
election.”

“It was my pleasure,
Katrina. Your company helped to lighten my mood. Indeed your
friendship fills me with thoughts of a new future; one, I hope,
will include a lot more of you. I . . ”

“There
you are, Damien,” Luena broke in, possessively
taking Damien’s arm.

“Hello, Luena. How nice to
see you again,” I greeted her.

“May I speak with you
please, Damien?” she said without even acknowledging me.

“Will you please excuse me,
Katrina?”

“Of course.”

The brother and sister
walked away, either unaware of or forgetting my highly developed
sense of hearing.

“Younger brother, have you
lost your mind? Why are you wasting time with her? If we are to
take power, we need to act soon, before the Council disbands. The
families will be heading home soon and they will be
vulnerable.”

“An alliance with Lady Von
Dracek could be very advantageous, Luena. There may be more than
one way into power.”

He turned to me and smiled.
Over his shoulder I saw Luena’s face darken, and her eyes
narrow.

I smiled back at them both
and then looked away like a shy schoolgirl. “
Let
them think I have succumbed
to his
charms
,” I thought. “
He’s so pompous, but
also very handsome.”

His shoulder-length brown
hair was combed back and tied behind his neck, and those dark
eyes—yes very handsome. I found despite my misgivings, I was
strangely drawn to him. Then I asked myself, “
How
far are you willing to go to trap him?”

And, Luena, she was not
going to be so easy to win over.

“I’m sorry for the
interruption,” Damien rejoined me.

“Shall we continue our
walk, or must you leave with your sister?”

“I wouldn’t think of
leaving you.”

I could see a guard in the
background, and I was sure it must be Quinn, which meant Thomas was
nearby also. Damien’s Watcher was somewhere, I supposed, so it
wasn’t as if we were really alone. We sat in the garden for over an
hour speaking of our childhoods, our training, and why he and
sister were so close.

“I was so young when my
mother disappeared, Luena became like a mother to me. No one ever
talks about my mother or Luena’s for that matter. At least Father’s
current wife is agreeable and she makes him very happy. Now that he
won’t be burdened with ruling, they can be together more and
travel.”

“Why did you want to rule,
Damien?”

“I’ve had enough politics
for one day,” he responded. “I’d rather talk more about
you.”

He seemed at ease with me
and me with him. I had my guard up, but he seemed quite different
from the dark and angry man I’d seen earlier.

After several hours of
relaxed and interesting conversation, I rose, “Well, I’d better be
getting back. I promised Father I’d stay with him until we find the
girls. Will you walk me there?”

“It would be my
pleasure.”

He rose and he took my
hands in his. I turned to look up into his eyes.

“We could just run off
together, we’re faster than our keepers,” he winked.

We laughed, but I couldn’t
help thinking he was at least partly serious. Then he surprised me.
He bent down and whispered in my ear, “You could save me,
Katrina.”

When he straightened up I
heard myself say, “If I can, I will.”

“Did I
just say that out loud?”
I thought to myself?
“It was my voice, but did I mean it?”

He put my arm into his and
we walked on.

“Goodnight, Damien, and
thank you again,” I gave him my hand as we arrived.

He bowed and kissed my
hand.

“Goodnight,
Katrina.”

I watched him walk away for
a moment.
“How strange,”
I thought.
“He’s either really good or not at all who I
thought he was.”

Thomas was at my side in an
instant.

“I’ll change,” I told him.
“Check the perimeter, and I’ll meet you at the back
terrace.”

I rushed to get my dress
off and don my hunting attire. If someone should see us, we could
say I was going to hunt when, in fact, we would be looking for the
girls. On the terrace, Simon had joined Thomas, Quinn and the
guard.

“The trackers lost the
trail at the river, so we’ll start there.” The men nodded in
agreement with me

We started out on foot,
since leaving the compound on horseback would draw to much
attention. When we reached the river, I stopped in order to search
with all my senses, starting with scent. I closed my eyes. Women,
especially young women, have distinctive scents; their hormones
cause the release of distinctive pheromones. I took in a deep
breath; the breeze was freshening from the south. I could detect
deer, fox, many small animals, and something else.

“A fledgling,” pointing in
the direction of that scent. “At least one, and he’s traveling
fast. Let’s go.”

I could travel much faster
on my own, but I needed the Watchers; so I decided unless the
fledgling was about to escape, we would stay together. When we got
close enough, we spread out, making sure we didn’t alert the
vampire fledgling. Checking the sounds and smells again, I could
detect more of them than just the one we were following. We were
getting close.

“We should keep going, but
slowly. There are more of them up ahead,” I told Thomas as he came
up behind me.

About fifty yards further
on, we saw the remnants of an old fortress with a tall crumbling
wall. On its top we detected two sentries. Our subject quickly made
his way along the wall and disappeared around its side.

“It looks like we found the
fledgling hiding place, but can you sense the girls?” Thomas asked
me.

I tried again to pick up
their scent but found nothing.

“I see fledglings
and…humans, four or five men, but not the girls.”

“Let’s follow our friend
around the wall.” Simon looking to the group, motioned for us to
join him.

As we cautiously rounded
corner, we saw there were no buildings behind the wall; but instead
there was in the hillside at the back of the fortress’s crumbled
perimeter with a large cave-like opening. Since the fledgling we
tracked was nowhere to be seen, it was obvious the opening led to
what was either their quarters, or at least a meeting
place.

We observed for an hour or
so, but during that time no one either entered or came
out.

“We must get inside,” I
insisted.

“No, it’s too dangerous. We
were told to scout, nothing more,” Thomas strongly reminded
us.