My senses returned the moment we reached the meadow separating the forest from the castle. The sun was beginning to set; its long, orange rays made me close my eyes again the moment I opened them.

"Stay with me, Samara. We are nearly there." Junior said, urging his horse into a canter.

We rode past the Guards and Knights accompanying us and soon reached Radu's horse and the wolf pack at the head of our group.

"How is he?" I asked as my eyes found Vlad on the same horse as Radu, propped up against him. His eyes were closed, but he did not seem to be bleeding any longer.

I looked at my own wound-- I could only see a tiny blood stain on the white bandage improvised by Junior. Vampire healing is incredibly fast...

"He's... resting." Radu's voice scattered my thoughts. "He will be fine, I'm certain, but it will take time."

Fresh tears welled in my eyes-- Radu did not sound more sure than Junior before.

"You mustn't worry, Samara." Junior said, letting his horse break into a gallop, leaving our group behind.

We reached the castle first. While he sent the valet we found in the courtyard to inform everyone about our return, I released my wolves, patting each one on the head as they approached me before disappearing towards the drawbridge, then sent the first maid reaching the courtyard back in for Katerina. I didn't know if my old nurse could help Vlad, but I wanted her near.

She appeared the moment the others arrived and while I explained as well as I could what had happened to Vlad and Father Boian, Katerina directed the maids, valets and Guards as efficiently as Junior.

In no time we were all inside, Vlad lying in his bed and Father Boian in the next chamber. I let two maids supervised by Clara take care of the priest but I let no one but myself and Katerina touch Vlad.

"He's sleeping. It is quite normal." Katerina assured me and I forced myself to believe her.

He did not regain consciousness while we peeled the blood-stained clothes off his body, washed him and inspected his already closed wound.

"Oh good." Katerina spoke again as she ran her fingers dipped in some ointment she brought from her room over the long cut running along Vlad's side and chest. "It doesn't look dangerous."

I did not agree. "Can we send for the healer? The one who took care of me when I was injured? You said she's Sorina's mother..." I tried to remember the woman's name but couldn't, my mind could only focus on Vlad right now.

"Maria." Katerina said. "As you wish, my lady. I don't think she will be able to help us much with Lord Vlad, she heals humans. She might help us treat your friend, the young priest, unless..."

It's already too late. My mind produced the words she had left unspoken.

"What if it is?" I breathed, squeezing Vlad's cool hand, as white as the sheet covering him, in both of mine.

"In that case," Katerina said, pulling me to my feet, adjusting Vlad's blankets then making me walk down the steps of the wooden dais, "you'll have to make a decision. Unless he wakes up and decides for himself, which I don't think will happen, his fate will be your choice..."

"What? No!" I protested, struggling against her arms leading me away from Vlad. Does she expect me to decide whether we should try to change Father Boian, or let him die? Do they all...?

"Let go of me, Katerina. Let me stay with him!" I called finally, tears threatening, when I could not free myself.

"Your husband does not need you now. He needs to rest. And you need to take a bath and eat something, then attend to your other patient, at least until the healer comes..."

She is right. You must keep moving or you'll go crazy. My subconscious announced.

Ordering myself to stop thinking I nodded, letting her take me to my chamber and help me clean up. I refused the lunch a maid brought for me after the bath. There was no way I could eat.

I made my way back to Vlad then, only to find him the same way I left him, perfectly motionless apart from the faintest flutter of his heart that I could perceive only when I laid my head on his chest.

"It's normal for them." Katerina said, looking at me. "Vampires..."

"Stay with him, Nurse, until I return. Please." I begged, kissing her on her wrinkled cheek before I left them to go check on Boian.

I found him lying in the bed in the chamber next door, as disturbingly still as Vlad, but burning with fever. He was clad in a clean, white shirt, covered with blankets, and the wound on his neck was dressed.

"Did you give him some willow bark?" I asked one of the two maids I found with him in the room.

She curtsied, looking uneasily at the priest as she replied, "We tried to make him drink some wine... Lady Clara went to prepare the concoction but it will take hours before it's ready."

I nodded, then, seeing that the two girls were apparently scared of the priest, said, "Thank you. You may go. I'll stay with him. Just tell Katerina that I'm here and send someone with the willow bark tea the moment it's ready."

They curtsied in unison then hurried out of the room immediately.

I sat on the chair placed next to Boian's bed, watching him intently. He looked like Sorina when I first saw her. I was sure he was already in transition...

Noticing a water-filled bowl and a pile of small towels on the table standing by the bed, I dipped one in the cool liquid, and spread it on the priest's forehead. Lucas and Junior entered the chamber then, confirming my suspicions.

"It might take weeks, or even months, but... we will have to decide for him..." Junior said.

"No. No!" I protested. How were we, any of us, supposed to make such a decision for him? Will you let him die, or make him a vampire? My subconscious hissed, making me bury my face in my hands. How could I... change a priest...?

"Don't think about it just yet." Lucas said, kneeling at my side and wrapping me in an embrace. "There is time. We shall do what seems the best thing when the moment to decide comes. Go to Vlad if you want, rest... I'll stay with Boian."

"Thank you, Lucas," I muttered, returning his embrace before I stood up, leaving him my chair. "I sent for the healer, will you accompany her to us once she has seen Boian?"

"Of course." He agreed, sitting down.

Junior walked with me to Vlad's room.

We let Katerina go to her usual duties and he brought another chair to Vlad's bed and sat with me for a while. He's so still... I mused, my hands adjusting his blankets, my lips finding his cool forehead, my heart swelling with sorrow, my ears deaf to Junior's words.

"Samara." he repeated and my eyes finally left Vlad to look at him.

The room was getting dark and Katerina was standing at the foot of the dais, a tray with my dinner in her hands.

"I must go. Clara will be worried... Try to eat something and rest. It might take weeks for him to heal, you can't live like this the whole time." Junior said, helping me to my feet.

I felt awfully stiff from sitting on the chair the entire afternoon.

"You must look after her, Katerina, or she..." Junior spoke to my nurse.

"Has the healer arrived?" I asked, interrupting him.

"Not yet, my lady." Katerina replied even as Junior headed for the door.

"I'll see you in the morning, Samara." He said, leaving me with Katerina who had set the tray with my meal on a small table which someone had placed by the fireplace.

Only now that I saw the lively flames and felt their heat did I realise how cold and tired I was.

I drank a cup of mulled wine, enjoying its warmth spreading through my body, but I could not eat, my stomach was in knots. Frowning at me, Katerina watched me picking at the food, moving it around the plate for a while, before she took pity on me and collected the various dishes on her tray again, refilling my cup.

Sighing, she said, "If you won't eat, my lady, go to bed. You must rest."

She walked towards the door leading to the library, and my chamber, expecting me to follow her.

"I want to sleep here, Katerina." I announced.

She shook her head decisively. "That would not help either of you. Your husband needs to heal and it will take a long time before he wakes up. And you must rest. Should the healer arrive at night, she would wake you up if you stayed here. You must be reasonable..."

There is no way you will win this battle. My subconscious said, making me capitulate. Feigning resignation, I followed Katerina into my chamber, let her help me prepare for bed and laid down obediently. I even waited for a long while after she said good night and left, before getting up again, wrapping my fur-lined blanket over my shoulders and tiptoeing back to Vlad's room.

There is more than enough space in this bed for both of us. I mused, snuggling as close to him as I could without disturbing him.