Not Everything Dies (Princess Dracula) by John Patrick Kennedy

Author:John Patrick Kennedy [Kennedy, John Patrick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Press
Published: 2017-03-05T18:30:00+00:00

RUXANDRA LOOKED BACK at Elizabeth. The woman followed Lady Czobor out the door of the hall. Her back was straight and proud, and she didn’t look back.

She trusts me. The thought made her at once proud and afraid. She believes I will not do anything wrong.

Ruxandra smiled, put her fingers on Ulrik’s, and dropped into a deep, formal curtsy.

“I will happily join you,” she said. “I hope you will take care of me this evening.”

“We most certainly will,” Ulrik said. “The finest care, in fact.”

“This is no good,” Harman said. “A young woman alone with three men? It is a scandal.”

“Not nearly as much as a young woman alone with one young man,” Dedrick said.

“True.” Harman put his hand to his chin and looked thoughtful. “There is only one solution. We need two more young ladies!”

Ulrik laughed. “One of those wouldn’t happen to be Miss Glerisher, would it?”

Harman put on an innocent look. “You know, I had not thought of her, but that is a capital idea. She is over here, I believe.”

“You will excuse Harman,” Dedrick said. “He thinks of exactly three things: horses, swords, and young ladies. In that order. Since he can’t find either of the first two here—”

“Oh look,” Herman called. “She is with Miss Widhoezl.”

“Then we should go greet them at once,” said Dedrick. “Come along, Ulrik. Don’t dawdle.”

Ulrik laughed. “Would you be so kind, Miss?”

Ruxandra laughed and followed.

The girls curtsied, introduced themselves, and insisted Ruxandra call them Edda and Griffelda. When Ruxandra told them she’d never been to such a grand house before, they insisted on leading her on a tour of the mansion. The young men accompanied them. Dedrick and Harman took the opportunity to link arms with Edda and Griffelda whenever they were out of sight of the older members of the court.

“Do tell us about your home, Castle Csejte,” Edda said as they went through the upstairs rooms. “Is it as old-fashioned as they say?”

“I do not know,” Ruxandra admitted. “It is very much a fortress, though. It has high walls and towers.”

“What a place to have a gymnaesium,” Griffelda said. “Where do they hold their classes?”

“In the great hall.”

“How strange. What do the other girls think of it?”

They never talk to me. “I only joined the school recently, so I did not have much chance to get to know them before we came here.”

“It is strange how she brought you, then,” Griffelda said, “if she wants to show off how well her students do. But never mind. Have you been to any galleries in the city yet?”

The conversation turned to the galleries and the concerts the girls had seen recently. Ruxandra mostly listened, though when they discussed the singer, Ruxandra gushed with praise about her voice. She realized it a few moments later and at once felt awkward.

Edda came to her rescue. “The first time I heard it, I felt the same way. Though Griffelda doesn’t like it at all, do you?”

“It is too screechy for me,” Griffelda declared. “Like a cat being stretched.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.