The sun was setting when Vlad awakened from a thankfully dreamless sleep. His wife was still resting peacefully, worn out from their activities of the previous night so he decided to continue his discussion with the baby. He shifted until he was face to face with her belly, putting his hand on top of it.

"Hello child, it's your more sensible parent."

That got him a kick on his palm.

"That was good, but aim for the nose next time and put more energy into it. You're a Dracula for crying outloud," he scolded but was only rewarded with more kicks, this time closer to his face.

"When your papa speaks, you listen. You don't try to poke his eye out. You can kick Alexander and every other man but papa's face is sacred, your mother loves it too much, okay?"

More kicks.

"Okay, clearly you're an angry child. But anyway, as I was saying to your mother, I hope you're a boy. She thinks I'm being ridiculous but I know I'm right. Things will be much easier if you're a boy and this is not me being sexist. Girls are just mean. Why, you'll ask me. Your mother is the reason. Do you know what she used do to me when she was ten and I visited her in the prison the bad man, your grandfather put her to keep her away from papa? She used to throw all these boys in my face, well not physically but her mind was always filled with the names of these boys from books. Prince Charming this, Prince Phillip that. I had been waiting for her for 2000 years and that was not enough. She had to make me jealous with these love sick fools as well. Does that seem nice to you?"

A giggle sounded from above him and he looked up to see his wife wide awake.

"Eavesdropping again, Countess?"

Couldn't a man have alone time with his son?

"I read our baby Cinderella yesterday but here you are already defaming Prince Charming to them. Couldn't you at least wait a day?"

"There will only be one charming prince in our baby's life," he told her.

"And who will that be?"

"Me of course."

The baby moved in Erinna's stomach.

"See? Even the baby agrees."

Her reply got lost as Alexander's voice jarred into his mind, ruining any chances of him continuing the important discussion he had been having with his son. Well, his wife had already done that to be honest. No one wanted him to have bonding time with his child in that castle.

"What is it?" Erinna asked, sensing his distraction.

"It's Alexander. Shadow is causing a ruckus. He ate Timothy's hand."

It was probably his fault. It had been long since he had taken his horse hunting. Animals when turned, switched their diet to flesh rather than blood. Usually Shadow and Alex were content with being fed a carcass of one of the animals the hunters caught at least once a fortnight but they got restless if he didn't take them hunting for an extended period of time.

"I should come with you then," Erinna offered.

"He'll probably heal. I'll call you if it's anything serious. But I do need to take Shadow hunting. Alex too."

"Hunting? Are you sure that's wise?" She asked, a worried look on her face.

"What do you mean? I always take them hunting."

"But Lierian is still out there. What happens if she comes at you and I'm not there?"

Her worry was endearing and it made Vlad love her even more so he kissed her before replying.

"I will be careful, promise. I'll even stay within the boarders if that'll make you feel better."

"I'll feel better if you didn't go at all," she confessed.

"I'll need to keep them on track. They can hunt on their own but at the end of the day they are just animals and have lesser moral concerns than humans. They would attack a person if they saw one in the woods," he explained.

Not to mention that hunting was an important bonding session for him and the two animals he most close to. He figured that day he could also take Alexander with him since he hadn't actually gotten a chance to thank his right hand man for his hard work in all the days he had been incapacitated after Lierian's attack. If he intended to also use the opportunity to wheedle the secrets that Erinna had picked out of his mind from Alexander, then no one could blame him for multitasking.

"Will you at least check in with me every fifteen minutes?" Erinna asked.

"I will."

She walked down stairs with him. Alex who had been waiting outside their door joined them and they waited in front of the castle for Alexander to bring Shadow around. Erinna greeted him but it was awkward because of all the secrets she had stolen from him. She asked Vlad to give her a moment with him and he did.

"Alexander, I want to apologize for what I did. I shouldn't have looked inside your thoughts."

His friendship meant a lot to her and she had already lost a lot of people who had been close to her. She couldn't lose Alexander too.

"I don't want to talk about it, Erinna."

"And we don't have to. I just, I want you to know I understand and that it's okay."

He looked at her for a long time then nodded.

"Are we friends again?"

"We can't be friends until I make your husband mad," he said then lifted her in his arms and twirled her around in circles.

Erinna laughed, unable to help it, "Put me down, Alexander."

"What do you think you're doing?" A dark voice asked from behind them.

Neither of them needed to turn to know who it was.

"Now we're friends," Alexander grinned and kissed her cheek.

Tristan arrived just as Vlad, Alex, Alexander and Shadow were about to leave. A slightly betrayed look crossed his face ad Erinna's heart went out to him. She knew he felt left out but he masked his face quickly. The raw emotion she had glimpsed quickly disappeared, leaving the easy-going smile they were all used to seeing.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

Vlad raised an eyebrow, "It's now Count Tristan, is it?"

"No?" Tristan frowned in confusion and Erinna wanted to laugh at how adorable he was.

"Then why are you questioning me?"

Shadow brayed in impatience and Alex roared. They were getting antsy.

"I wasn't! I just- can I come?"

"No!" Alexander and Vlad answered at the same time.

"Oh come on, he can come with you," Erinna said.

"Yes, listen to the pretty princess," Tristan smiled triumphantly at getting Erinna on his side.

"One, reword that sentence before I throw you at Alex, two you are not coming."

"But why?"

"Because you'll slow us down, duh?" Alexander rolled his eyes.

"Is it my fault you all refuse to turn me? I'd be faster if I was a vampire."

"And this conversation is done," Vlad said, turning to Erinna.

"Go inside and wear something warm," he kissed her.

"Can't you really go with him? He really likes you." She whispered.

"Things get confused when we begin running. Alex and Shadow are animals, instincts come first. I can't protect both him and Alexander at the same time," he explained.

"Alright, be safe."

Alexander, child he was, made silly faces at Tristan before they left.

"Come on, we'll have more fun than the four of them," she said, taking his hand and pulling him with her into the castle.

"Yeah fun, doing what? Combing each other's hair?"

Erinna grinned, "Well we can do that later. But I was thinking more like opening presents."

Tristan's eyes lit up a little and the trodden-puppy look left his face.

"Presents?"

"Yes, from the wedding. You can even keep the exciting ones."

That idea apparently appealed to him, because a wide and uninhibited grin broke across his face.

Erinna asked Chase to take them to where the presents had been put. As they walked down several hallways, Erinna realized how much of the castle was still unfamiliar to her. She was going to have to do a lot of exploring later. Part of her was excited and the other part terrified of what she would find.

"A lot of them were livestock, so Lloyd and I had them sent to the kraal," Chase explained as he turned the keys on the locked room.

Erinna remembered on the day of the Gol, a lot of Vlad's people had brought them chickens, goats and cattle. She was not yet quite sure what to do with all of them yet, but the gesture warmed her. It was a symbol of acceptance and well-wishing.

"That's alright. We'll see them another day," she smiled.

Her jaw dropped the moment the door opened. It was not just full with presents; it was packed, overflowing with the gifts that had been forced in there. They ran from wall to wall and almost touched the ceiling. She could identify some of the things but most were still wrapped and Erinna's hands already hurt before she touched anything. But there was also a keen excitement, that of one who had not received a lot of gifts growing up.

"Sweet," Tristan smiled, obviously holding none of her concerns about the task at hand.

They began opening the presents which ranged from hand-woven baskets to jewelry, china, bathing oils, pots, mats, sacks of grain (one which came complete with its resident rat), various herbs, exotic finger foods, cocoa sweets (which she of course fought over with Tristan), beautiful seashells to join her growing collection, books (most running along the theme of 'how to keep your vampire happy' 'fangs-duction', 'how to know it's the right time to get turned' -no thank you to that one- a lot of carved objects with phallic shapes (surely that could not be suitable for public decoration?), raunchy outfits that she blushed just by looking at and many other miscellaneous items (which she would prefer to remain anonymous.)

Before they had even gotten to the half of the room, Erinna could see Vlad had been right, his people were indeed shameless. The amount of sexually suggestive and blatantly obvious items there made her regret bringing in Tristan. Poor child, he was never going to regain his innocence.

"So which one of you is supposed to wear this?" Tristan frowned holding a –

Erinna's eyes widened and she snatched the obscene thing, throwing it across the room. This made Tristan burst out laughing.

"Your face," he clutched his stomach.

"Your mother is going to kill me," she face palmed herself.

"I'm seventeen you know. Same as you were before you were bumping nasties with Count D."

It was true, but Erinna still felt like he was a baby, probably because humans took much longer than elves to reach maturity and they counted years differently from elves.

It turned out River, Tristan's mom had sent Erinna a set of china that she had painted herself. It was so beautiful that her eyes teared up. Alexander had given them a jeweled knife, which came with the instructions, "Use this on hairball and I'll be your slave forever". The silly goose, Erinna thought with a laugh. By midnight, only a quarter of the presents were done but Erinna was tired so they decided to end there.

*****

Vlad found Erinna with Tristan, sitting down before the fire on a thick, very comfortable rug. He kissed her on his way to take a bath. Alex followed, launching himself at Erinna, making her fall backwards.

"Missed you too?" She laughed, scratching his mane.

He looked cute but she could still smell blood on him so she sent him away after Vlad to take care of his hygiene. Alexander was the last. His hand was on his waist and he was limping, his clothes shredded. Tristan immediately burst out laughing, making Erinna flick his forehead.

"Tristan stay behind, Tristan you'll slow us down," he mimicked in a silly voice that was meant to be an imitation of Alexander.

Alexander glared at him and went to collapse on the rug but Erinna reacted quickly and broke his fall telekinetically.

"Not on the rug, Alexander."

"I'm so tired. That ragamuffin chewed me up and his coconspirator made me into a human football," he complained.

Erinna sighed. She had hoped that the hunting session would improve Alexander's relationship with Vlad's animals but if the way he looked was any indicator, then they still had a long way to go.

"Go and take a bath then I'll heal you. Okay?"

He looked like he never wanted to move again but eventually agreed. When they all returned, they were clean and smelt much much better.

Alexander sat next to Tristan facing Erinna and Alex lay with his head on her lap until Vlad displaced him, although it was more like plucked him off because he put up his own fight.

"What do the two of you think I am, an elf pillow?" Erinna asked after Vlad's head took Alex's place on her lap.

But she couldn't even be angry, she had missed him and had been worried whilst he was out of her sight. Alexander fetched his chess board and they began playing although Vlad staunchly refused to join, more interested on the sketch he was working on. He was laying on his back with his head on her lap and using his raised knees as a table.

Erinna smiled as she saw him bite his lip in concentration. He was not involved in their conversation, his attention completely focused on his sketch. She ran her hands through his thick hair, unable to resist playing with it. Alex roared sleepily from the corner of the room where he had gone after Vlad had kicked him off her.

"When are we eating?" Tristan asked with a tired yawn. He had given up on helping Alexander a long time back since Alexander did not trust anyone's opinion except his own when it came to chess.

Vlad turned from his sketch to frown at Tristan, "Don't you have your own home?"

Erinna popped his lip, "Be nice."

But Vlad's teeth latched onto her finger before she could pull her hand away. He winked at her as he sucked it into his mouth and probably fried every nerve ending she had. Erinna's eyes widened and she gasped, a fierce blush spreading from her face, down her neck to her chest.

"There are kids in this room, you know," Tristan moaned.

Erinna blushed more but lucking Vlad released her finger. But only after he wrapped one arm around her neck and drew her down for a long, deep kiss.

"How do you ever think you're going to be a vampire?" Alexander frowned at Tristan in disgust.

"Forgive me for not realizing it was synonymous with exhibitionist."

"I would invite you to our next Gol but like you said: kid," Alexander smirked.

"What does Gol mean?" Erinna asked.

They had had one after their wedding and Miya had dressed Erinna in the most flimsy outfit she had ever won. She had thought the feast only happened after weddings.

"It translates to Blank because it's a feast of vampire excess and no one ever remembers what they did the next day."

"I remember what I did." She frowned, making Alexander laugh.

"Because you only attended the beginning of it before Prince Not-Charming whisked you away."

That earned him a pencil on the forehead from Vlad.

"Ouch, do you mind? There are many who have written odes about this forehead, you know."

Erinna laughed at Alexander's dramatics. She was happy that he was back to himself and they had salvaged their easy friendship. He threw the pencil back to Vlad who returned to his drawing.

"What else happens at a Gol?" She insisted, still curious.

She remembered a lot of dancing and food. There had also been vampires feeding on humans in the crowd after Vlad had opened the ceremony by feeding on her.

"Things get wild, little tiger."

"That's his euphemism for orgy. They all basically have a giant orgy where they get drunk and bump nasties in public," Tristan rolled his eyes.

Erinna's eyes widened.

"Be respectful, you little urchin," Alexander said to Tristan, "It's a celebration of being alive. What better way than giving in to our most carnal desires and partaking of all the pleasures that earth has to offer. Warm blood, delicious food, good music, decadent wine, beautiful women and virile men."

Erinna did not know if she would ever be able to do that. At least Vlad had not forced it on her. She understood the concept but it was still foreign to her. In Ellingsdale, carnal matters were not talked about at all, let alone celebrated in public the way Alexander described.

"Still sounds like an orgy to me," Tristan snorted.

"Can't you celebrate in private?" She asked, making Alexander laugh.

"What's the fun in that? That is as sad as getting drunk alone. Besides, legend has it that a lot of mystical energy is released when supernatural beings mate. Why not enjoy it together?"

They eventually had dinner before Vlad ordered Alexander to walk Tristan home. Erinna was sad to see him go; it had been a good evening. The head castle guard called Vlad aside as they walked back to their rooms but he told her he teleported Erinna to their room first before he went to speak to the vampire. Erinna decided she might as well take a bath whilst she waited for him.

****

After discussing accommodation issues Foster, the man who Alexander had appointed as official Head Castle Guard after Jasper's death, Vlad headed back to his chambers. Foster still new to his position, was eager for Vlad's approval and tried to consult him on everything.

What the four hundred year old vampire failed to see was that doing his job properly meant consulting Vlad as little as possible especially not about where to put the Provincial leaders who were arriving in the coming weeks to touch base with him about the Awakening. All four of them had their own rooms in the castle which were locked when they were away. Logic said whoever came along with them could be settled in the guest suite. But no, Foster had needed Vlad' stamp of approval on that as well.

When he teleported back to their bedroom, he smiled when he heard the sound of running water. It appeared his wife was taking a shower. She had struggled against the concept of water appearing seemingly out of nowhere she turned a knob but the shower had grown on her, as the many inventions in his castle.

Her voice was carrying sweetly over the air, no words in the song but still the most melodious thing he had ever heard. He had never really taken the time to appreciate music but he could listen to Erinna all day. There was an undeniable happy and light tone that was usually lacking in her voice. He liked to think he had put it there because her songs could be chilling, haunting or downright depressing at times.

Shedding all his clothes, Vlad materialized in the shower behind her. He was expecting the chill of cold water but was glad to note that she had mastered the trick he had shown her to heat water. The way their magic worked was different but the concept was the same, it was all a matter of will. Vlad manipulated matter to achieve what he wanted and Erinna had to consciously think about it and it would come to pass.

Erinna jumped when she felt him appear behind her.

"Don't you knock?" She asked.

Her senses were getting better, expanding to compensate for the loss of her second sight.

Her head was bent as she tried to wash soap out of her long dark hair. Her preoccupation gave him time to watch her. She looked so beautiful, her skin glowing something fierce as the water cascaded over her head, shoulders and marked back. The marks he had given her in the throes of their passion had faded in three days, not leaving any scars but the twin spots where her wings had tried to exit through were still visible, as was the scar she had gotten as birth from lightning.