Vlad wanted me to return to the safety of the castle immediately but I refused. In the end we remained helping our Guards and the villagers to extinguish the fire until sunrise, when even the last flames were finally put out.

"Go home and rest, my lady," Father Boian, whose soot-covered face was as black as his robes, said. He approached me and Vlad as we watched in silence the thin wisps of smoke rising from the remains of the church like the morning fog. "And don't worry, this changes nothing. We will not surrender to them. The weddings in your chapel will continue as before."

"Thank you, Boian," I said, pulling him in an embrace, moved to tears by his resolve and courage.

"Are you sure, Father? Maybe we should wait a while, until things calm down..." Vlad suggested, voicing my thoughts.

The young priest shook his head. "No. I know that we are doing the right thing and as long as there will be those who need me, I will be there for them."

Vlad smiled at him even as he lifted me in his arms. "Add our names to your list then. And don't worry about the church, we will repair it in no time."

"Of course, your Majesty. Thank you." Father Boian smiled as I laced my arms around Vlad's neck and leaned my head against his shoulder, feeling exhausted.

I let him carry me home, the Guards and the wolf pack following us up the hill.

Father Boian may not have been scared of the Vampire Council, but the people were; a couple of weddings were called off. And so it was mine and Vlad's turn the following Sunday.

The day of the wedding was the last day of September, precisely one month before the time passage would reopen, making it hard for me to think of anything else. Soon I would be with Aurora... I let Katerina lace me into a brand new gown-- a breath-taking creation made of white silk and silvery lace, heavily embroidered with gold-- so unnecessary seeing that we would be leaving soon. But Vlad refused to listen to me when I argued that it was Clara, the new princess, who should be getting new dresses now.

The moment when even my hair was done as Katerina liked it, in a tight chignon permitting only a few curls to float freely around my face, someone knocked on the door of my chamber.

"Come in," Katerina called, smiling contentedly at my reflection in the mirror as she added one more pin to my hair.

"Wow. Not bad." Lucas grinned at me from the door as I turned towards him. "So, I'm supposed to take you to Lord Vlad..." he said, offering me his arm, his Guards' cloak fanning out around him as he bowed deeply when Katerina scowled at him for forgetting his manners.

I hugged and kissed Katerina who was staying in the castle with Clara, and let Lucas lead me out of the room and down the corridor and staircases.

It wasn't just Vlad waiting for me in the Entry Hall but even Junior, Radu, and a few guests who were supposed to wait in the castle for our return-- there would be a small celebration later.

All those eyes and smiles following my every move while Lucas led me down the stairs made me feel nervous. Why did I let Vlad talk me into this... I mused, angry at myself. I just couldn't refuse him anything.

Vlad ran halfway up the staircase to take me off Lucas' arm. He kissed me deeply, making me feel weak in the knees, and dispersing my previous thoughts successfully.

"We won't be long," he told our guests while Junior pulled me in a bone-shattering embrace, before we walked outside, into one of those rare, sunny, autumnal days preceding the long winter.

Radu, Lucas and some Guards were coming with us to the chapel by the lake, leaving Junior in charge of the guests and castle.

I let Vlad lift me into the saddle, then rode across the meadow next to him, leaving Frost to find his way towards the lake as I closed my eyes and offered my face to the weak sunshine.

The premonition came suddenly, the moment the first shadows cast by the trees of the forest dispelled the rays of the sun caressing my cheeks.

I pulled at the reins making Frost stop before we could enter the forest, and before Vlad noticed that I wasn't by his side any longer, I was summoning my wolves.

"What is it?" he asked, looking worried as he rode back to me, followed by everybody else.

"I... don't know exactly. A feeling..." Could this be it, the moment from my visions...?

"Let us go back." Lucas proposed.

I shook my head no. "Boian is waiting for us in the chapel. We must make sure that he's safe." The brave Father who never accepted any protection Vlad offered him was now in the chapel alone, or with only a handful of loyal villagers...

"I'll go, Samara." Radu offered. "You take her back, brother," he added, turning to Vlad.

"I'm coming with you. Lucas, you and the Guard take Samara back home..." Vlad said.

"No! I'm not going back without you!" I called, the vision of Vlad lying motionless on the ground I had seen so often lately, making me ill with worry.

"Take her to safety, brother," Radu repeated.

Vlad nodded, resigned, and approached me, taking Frost's reins from my hands and making both our horses turn towards the castle.

"We should go with them." I said, glancing over my shoulder at Lucas who now approached Radu, ready to follow him, even as the Guards surrounded us. "Please," I begged, looking at Vlad pleadingly, not happy about leaving either of them behind.

Vlad sighed, running his free hand through his hair. "I should. You should listen to me and return home..."

"No. I'm coming with you." I insisted, pulling Frost's reins from his hands and making the horse follow the two men already disappearing into the shadows under the trees.

"Samara!" Vlad called, reaching me in no time. "You..."

"I know. I'm stubborn. But I won't let anyone risk their lives for..."

Vlad snatched me off my horse so suddenly that it took my breath away. I only really noticed what had happened when I saw him pat Frost's side, thus sending him on his way home alone.

"What... why?" I asked, leaning back into him as he wrapped his arm around my waist tightly from behind.

"Whatever happens, stay close to me." He said simply as we entered the forest followed by the Guards, their hands on the swords they carried, just like the Knights, since the incident with the church.

We nearly reached the chapel when we saw the figures separating from the shadows pooling under the age-old oaks surrounding a large clearing. As the sunlight filtering through the canopy of leaves still holding on to the branches of the thickly grown trees landed on their faces, I recognized Rareş and Andrei. They approached us, the other members of the Council trailing behind them, while an impressive number of their armed guards remained standing still in the shadows, expecting their orders.

"So we meet again," Rareş said, shaking his head, looking... bored. Tired of us. "I see that Lord Andrei was right, our last warning was not sufficient for you," he added, his eyes scanning my and Vlad's clothes. "Oh well... I have bad news for you, your Majes... Pardon me, that title no longer belongs to you, I've heard... However, your friend, the young priest... is dead. We wanted to arrest him but... the humans who were with him attacked my men... " He shrugged indifferently.

"Nooo!" I called, trying to free myself from Vlad's arms, so I could run to the chapel and see...

"No, Samara." Vlad whispered, tightening his grip around me, before he spoke to Rareş. "Is that true? If you killed our friend, Rareş, then you and your Council will pay the consequences."

Vlad's voice was dripping with his long suppressed anger, I had never seen him looking so dangerous and resolved to act. Apparently, it did not impress Andrei at all.

"Oh? And what would you do to us, you and your handful of men... "

"Let us go through." Vlad said simply.

"By all means. Go." Rareş said, motioning to his men to let us pass.

They did not follow us as we neared the chapel, I noticed as I looked around. We saw the first two dead villagers lying on the grass outside the chapel.

"I must see if we can help them and find Boian. Please." I begged Vlad as he, like the others, did not seem to have any intention to dismount.

"We should go back." Radu whispered as his horse reached Midnight.

"But they might be alive..." Lucas said.

I looked at him thankfully before I tried again. "Vlad, please..."

He sighed deeply as he turned to the Guards. "Follow Lady Samara and Master Lucas inside. Samara, be quick, don't waste time. Go." He added, kissing me on the temple before setting me on the ground.

I smiled up at him, nodding, as I gathered the wide skirts of my gown and ran inside the chapel, letting Lucas check the two men lying on the ground.

He reached me even before my eyes could properly adapt to the cool tenebrosity reigning within the walls of the chapel. I spotted Boian even as Lucas said, "They are both dead. They... drained them... "

I shuddered, my hand flying to the scar on my neck. 'Those beasts...' Reaching Boian's body, prostrate and lifeless at the foot of the altar, I kneeled next to him.

He doesn't look dead... I mused, checking his pulse. He wasn't dead. But they definitely drank from him, I realised, noticing the wound on his neck. Whoever did it to him, he took his time to seal his wound. "Andrei. That abominable, disgusting... Can you see what he did?" I asked Lucas, voice shaking with anger, panic, and hatred...

"He is forcing you to take your choice-- either change him, or kill him if he won't accept it... " Lucas murmured. "Samara, I have never met someone as... bad as this guy..."

"Let's take him to the castle." I whispered, eyes filling with tears, mind reeling.

Lucas nodded, lifting the priest in his arms.

Vlad was waiting for us by the door, sword in hand.

"Is he dead?" he asked, looking at Boian's limp body.

I shook my head, tears running down my cheeks. I was... feeling exhausted. I wanted to be at home, with Aurora... It had been such a long year and everything was just getting worse...

Vlad pulled me into an one-armed embrace, "Hush. We will deal with this. Everything will be fine. Let us go home."

I nodded, wiping the tears into the sleeve of my gown. "Boian's other men?" I asked as my eyes dropped to the two corpses we decided to leave there for the moment.

"We found no one. They must have fled." Vlad said, letting his sword slip back into the scabbard as he lifted me on the horse, then sat behind me.

At least some good news. My subconscious whispered as we made our way back towards the clearing.

They were waiting for us there.