Bitten by Time (The Vampire Genesis Chronicles Book 1) by Lara Bronson

Author:Lara Bronson [Bronson, Lara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Tacit Press, LLC
Published: 2023-04-20T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

“I have learned from a tutor sent by my father. I know how to write not many words but enough to prove my royal roots.”

Vlad the Impaler hesitated maybe for a second but remained suspicious. In one last attempt, I ran to the musicians’ corner. The musicians were oblivious to what was happening and didn’t mind me borrowing their pipe. I had years of practice playing the recorder, but that happened many years ago. I hoped my fingers won’t clam up and I would find enough air in my lungs to produce a sound. I began wiping the pipe with the sleeve of my dress to give myself more time and try to figure out what to play. I only remembered Three Blind Mice, so I said: “I will play a tragic ballad about the same past meant to become our future.” I played the melody slowly and with as much emotion as I could muster. The stunned looks on their faces told me everything. A lady in the back even said, “what a touching melody, indeed.”

After I finished my performance, everyone clapped.

“You are indeed a noblewoman to be able to perform so well,” said Vlad the Impaler.

“I’m flattered by your kind words, Your Majesty,” I curtsied in the clumsiest way possible, but it didn’t matter. They already bought my story.

“You will receive an official invitation to stay at my palace. You will be called a princess in this voivodeship and addressed as Milady. I disapprove of the liaison between you and Boyar Dobre, for it is beneath your status to become a consort. However, given your Hungarian origin, you will be held as a royal hostage, similar to how I spent my youth in The Ottoman Empire. You will be granted all commodities in the castle, but you are not allowed to leave. As long as you reside under my roof, you will be granted protection. But remember, I trust only those who prove my trust. If you betray me and the Wallachian voivodeship, you will be executed.”

“So be it, Your Majesty,” I said and curtsied again, this time more elegantly.

“Now we will feast,” said Vlad the Impaler. “Mama Nica, please order your girls to bring food, as it seems our appetites have grown wild. Boyar Dobre, please take a seat at your table. Milady, you will sit next to me.”

I joined my hero at the dinner table, and being so close, I could feel the overarching power this man exuded. I felt protected by a fatherly figure, though he wasn’t as old as it seemed. It felt unusual that, for the first time, I wasn’t the one putting plates on the table. When the girls saw me sitting next to their ruler, they looked dumbfounded. Several times they glanced at me and then at Mama Nica. The elderly woman approached the girls fearing they would drop the plates and explained in a few words what had happened. A sense of guilt took over me. A few hours

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