Preparations

"Tell me, Ehrlich, what provisions have you made for our upcoming departure?"

Dracula's man removed his hat and lowered his eyes.

"If it pleases, sir, there are ten days in reaching the port of Constanta. We travel first to Bucharest, a journey of six days. From Bucharest, another four days to the port. A three-mast Venetian ship awaits us on the northernmost quay. The vessel is your property, maintained by a crew of nineteen sailors who are loyalists to the name of Dracul.

We arrive on the quay three hours before the sun rises. Loading times vary, forty-five minutes at most. I will oversee the loading. Our crates will be swung on, then lowered to the hold."

"Very well, Ehrlich. I'm curious, have you yet spoken with our gypsy? Quite the charming young lady."

"She charmed me with a slap this day and then gave me mutton. A pox on that blushing tart!"

"By the gods, Ehrlich, you're either a well-rounded rogue or a monk!"

***

Onyx slipped invisibly into Maria's shop while Desponia and her gypsy awaited the return of the seamstresses from a late dinner. No sooner did he arrive than he sat next to Luminita, pressing his nose to her backside.

"Oh, you dirty thing," giggled Luminita, straddling his back and slapping the top of his head, "I've made you my mount," she squealed.

"Get off at once!" Desponia said, hearing the seamstresses' approach.

"But I was promised a mount and have not yet received one," Luminita complained.

"Off, I say!"

But Onyx rose to his feet, and Luminita seemed to float on air as the seamstresses entered the room. They fell to their knees, making the sign of the cross.e

"Now, see what you've caused," Desponia said, "I'm forced to cast a spell due to your antics."

She waved a hand, sending the seamstresses into a deep trance, then pulled her gypsy from the wolf's back.

"Seek your master!" Desponia shouted at Onyx.

He trotted out of the room.

The tailors awakened moments later, gossiping and resuming their duties as if nothing had happened.

***

Meanwhile, in the yard, Dracula listened to Ehrlich's details.

"On Tuesdays, the great hall will be swept. But every other Wednesday..."

"Yes, yes," said Dracula, "enough. How goes it with your wife?"

Suddenly, Onyx materialized.

"What black art is this?" Ehrlich shouted. He grabbed a pitchfork and rushed forward in defense of his master.

Dracula warned him off. "Stand down, Ehrlich. Tell no one what you've witnessed." Vlad smiled. "So, what would you say to a battle between this creature and a Siberian tiger?"

"Of creatures like this, I know nothing. Do not imagine disrespect, Sir, but my money goes to the tiger. With that said, the sheer size of this animal makes me reconsider."

"It's necessary that you are aware of his presence. Like any creature, he'll need attention from time to time, but, as I've already warned, tell no one of his existence."

"As you command my lord."

"Not that it's more than an annoyance, but the roads between Bucharest and Constanta are for treachery. Ambushes and throat-slitting are common themes. There is upheaval in Romania. The outlaws murder, as a matter of course, whomever they can more than those they'd rather target. Any trick is fair play, and there are a hundred attack methods. Good sport for Onyx."

"Yes," said Ehrlich as he stared in astonishment at Onyx. "Zeus's beard?!"

"Good evening to you, Ehrlich," said Dracula, turning toward the great hall with Onyx in tow.

He found his lady in her gilt chamber, stroking Luminita's hair as she slept.

"You treat her as if she were your child," said Dracula. "

"If only she were," said Desponia, "If only she were. I have loved many mortal women, but none so childlike as she."

"Perhaps you would reconsider having me change her."

"And let her grow old as the others have? Let her grow sick and bitter, witness the loss of her beauty? Let her innocence turn to greed? Perhaps."

"We leave tomorrow night. All is prepared. Accompany me," said Dracula, reaching out. Desponia took hold of his wrist and pulled herself against him. "Accompany you where?"

"Our place is the Grotto."

"Then lead me."

They walked together through the corridors, descending to the shimmering grotto. She faced him and slipped out of her clothing.

"Lamia is upon us. Have your way with me," she whispered.

***

Later that evening, they climbed the battlements, scaling a wall together under the rushing moon. Gaining a cannon turret, they stood silently, overseeing the night realm of Transylvania, its darkened forest, and the mysteries within. She touched his hand, infusing him with Olympian powers as they spilled down the tower wall together, organic, viridescent vapor spreading across the forest floor, mingling with insects, swirling in fox's dens, settling on swamp ooze, pouring into underground caverns, and finally, rematerializing in a clearing where they called their wolf pack.

Desponia sat on a fallen tree, watching Dracula disappear in shadow with the pack's leader.

"He will hunt with no other," she murmured.

She called the remaining pack members to sit at her side and listen to her goddess songs in silence as she explained the meaning of the natural world to them.

Finally, she warned them against greed. "Dracula and I will be gone in the coming months. Keep to the forest. Leave the villagers to their own devices. Do not attack their animals even when they have strayed."

Dracula slipped out of the forest, carrying a deer carcass, the alpha male close at his side.

Desponia's wolves licked their chops and bristled. "I suppose this marks an end to my lecture," she said lightly.

Dracula placed the carcass on the ground, stepping back while waiting for Desponia to release the wolf pack.

She stood and approached the deer, looking into the film and glitter of its faded eyes, the reflecting white orb deep within. She turned to admire the source, glancing into the night sky at the moon passing overhead. She stepped backward, knelt before the carcass, blessing its body and the life it had known, then released the pack and watched as they descended upon it voraciously.

She turned to Dracula, "It is time we were on our way."

They ran through the forest, covering the distance more quickly than deer. The castle loomed ahead, silhouetted against an open sky. The two immortals hurdled over the crags, climbed the curtain walls, and tumbled over the parapets. Ehrlich waited in the open courtyard.

"Dawn approaches, sir."

"I am well aware."