In bed next to Vlad was where I was found at dawn, by Junior and Katerina who accompanied the healer into the chamber.

"Lady Samara!" Katerina scoffed while I greeted them, wrapping my blanket over my long shirt, then scrambled to my feet groggily to make space for them.

Feeling cold, I followed Junior towards the hearth where he added wood to the dying fire to disperse the chilliness of the night and make more light for the healer.

"Did you sleep here the whole night? Father is right, you really are the most stubborn..."

Katerina joined us before I could suppress a yawn and reply.

"If you intend to visit the young priest with Maria after, you should get dressed, my lady." she said, frowning, letting her eyes slip from my fur-lined blanket to my slippered feet.

"Hasn't she seen Boian yet?" I asked Junior.

"No, she has just arrived and I knew you would want her here first. Go put something on, it will take her a while..."

With an uneasy glance towards Vlad's bed I nodded, then followed Katerina into my chamber where she helped me dress and wash quickly. I got back just as Maria reached Junior by the fireplace.

"How is he?" I asked from the door.

"Lady Samara." Maria smiled. Pleasant and calming as her smile was, it wasn't exactly cheerful. "I cannot do much for Lord Vlad. From my limited experience with vampires, he should heal, on his own, eventually... Vampire healing process is not unlike the transition. I believe that... he'll be back when he's ready. But you must try to make him drink..." she added, looking from me to Junior, leaving the word 'blood' unsaid. "It won't be easy, nor fast, but once he will be able to drink, he'll recover in no time."

"Thank you. Shall we go to our injured friend..." Junior said, even as the woman turned to me again.

"Don't listen to Katerina, my lady. Your presence might help your husband recover faster, he might feel you near, waiting for him... who knows?" She shrugged.

I nodded. She might be right, my subconscious whispered as I ran to Vlad and kissed him on the forehead, whispering that I would be right back. Then we followed Junior out of the chamber.

Maria looked much more concerned and agitated at seeing Father Boian.

"Is he...?" Junior asked while I touched his forehead and seeing that he was still burning, reached for a fresh damp towel.

It took Maria only a few moments to reply, after she made sure that the wound on the side of his neck was the only injury he had suffered, "Yes. In transition."

"Then we will have to decide what to do next..."

"Does he not have a family? Someone who could advise you, help you make the decision for him? Deciding something like this for another person is not a simple task."

"He mentioned his parents once. And a sister, too!" I said. How could I have forgotten? "Vlad, send Lucas to the village... And ask the Guards, his sister should be married to one of them." I told Junior.

There was nothing more Maria could do after that. The moment a maid arrived with a fresh willow bark tea and I sent her for Katerina who would stay with father Boian, Junior accompanied the healer to Clara. She was seven months pregnant and Maria wanted to examine her before leaving.

Taking my leave from them in the corridor I returned to Vlad. That's where I passed the following weeks-- moving between Vlad's and Boian's chambers.

I spent most days sitting on a chair next to Vlad's bed, my wolves sleeping by the fire, embroidering a dress Clara had made for Aurora; leafing through the pages of my copy of Dracula and looking at the pictures of our daughter hiding among its pages; talking to Katerina, or Clara, Junior, Radu and Lucas who always joined me for meals; or whispering to the still sleeping Vlad about the latest news.

Even though I was not sure he could hear me I told him how we decided to change Boian-- how we could not find his parents who moved away from the village when their son 'joined the vampires'. But how his sister, now married to one of Vlad's ex-Guards appeared in the castle a few days after the fight, begging us to save him, to change him when the moment arrived. I told him how we agreed, how I hoped that she was right and this was what her brother would have wanted.

I told him how Rareş resigned and vanished somewhere with Jusztyna, and how the Council couldn't decide who their new leader should be, but how, without Rareş and Andrei, they were much more reasonable, often seeking, and following, Junior's or Radu's advice.

I told him how Halloween, the day when the portal opened was approaching fast, and how the fact that he was still unwell was making me anxious, how I could not imagine having to go back alone, leaving him behind not knowing when... or if he would recover...

"And... I think I'm pregnant..." I whispered one afternoon as I adjusted his pillows and brought a golden cup to his lips. Two weeks had passed since the fight, his wound had healed completely leaving only a thin, long, silvery scar running up his side and curving across his chest, finishing so close to his heart... He had been drinking for a few days now, making me feel hopeful, and happy, and impatient for him to wake up. Only a week and a few days were separating us from the moment when the portal would open again... "But I'm not telling anyone until you are back, not even Katerina. I want you to know first."

I put the half empty cup back on the table and made my way to the window. The nights were drawing in, it would have been completely dark outside if the first snow had not fallen so early this year, making the meadows glow eerily in the darkness.

I shivered at the sight and walked back to the fireplace even as Lucas rushed into the chamber without knocking.

"Boian," he called, "he's up, it's happening!"

I ran from the room after him, reaching Boian's bed in a heartbeat.

Junior was sitting next to the priest who was moving uneasily in his sleep, the sleeve of his shirt pulled up, the blade of a small knife gleaming in his hand.

"Samara?" He asked, looking at me for approval.

Taking a deep breath I nodded, hoping beyond hope that all would go well.

Junior cut his forearm swiftly and the moment his wound welled up with blood pressed it against Boian's lips. Nothing happened for a while. Then the priest stilled momentarily, and soon brought his hands to Junior's arm, holding it to his lips, drinking.

Lucas helped Junior to push Boian back among the pillows once he had had enough.

"Let someone bring some deer blood and stay here to help him drink whenever he wakes up-- he will feel starving for a few days. Don't let him see any humans for a while..." Junior instructed.

"I'll stay." Lucas offered.

"Thank you, Lucas." I said, looking at the young man now sleeping peacefully again. "I'll come to swap you after dinner then, and Katerina can help at night... Will he be all right?"

"Yes, he's out of danger. Let's hope he'll be happy with this decision..." Junior muttered.

I followed him out of the room and made my way back to Vlad's chamber. Needing to feel him close, I snuggled in the bed next to him. I laid my head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat as I recounted to him what had just passed.

Listening to the faint echo of my own half-whispered words fading, morphing into the low hiss of the fire brightening the darkness of the chamber, I realised that the weeks since the fight had been the longest of my life. Tears that I forbade myself to shed before finally spilled from my eyes at the thought that... Vlad might not wake up before I would have to leave.

"You can't do this to me... what do you expect me to do... how am I supposed to leave you here, like this...?" I sobbed, my tears falling on my hand closed in a fist around the fabric of his shirt, then spilling on his chest.

"Your dinner is ready, my lady, and Lady Clara is waiting for you." Katerina stood at the foot of the bed the moment I dried my last tears, making me wonder how long she had been hiding behind the dark curtains, waiting for me to compose myself.

Nodding, I kissed Vlad swiftly on the cheek, pulled myself up and walked with her into my chamber where we took our meals since the fight; remembering that I promised Lucas that I would stay with Boian after dinner.

Junior and Radu joined us even as we sat at the table.

"Good news!" Junior called cheerfully and from the content look in Radu's eyes I knew that whatever it was, he had heard it already.

Trying to shake off the lingering sadness, I drained the cup of mulled wine Junior had poured for me before I managed to ask, "What is it?"

"We just got a letter informing us that the Council had finally chosen a new head." Radu said.

"Oh? And who is it?" I asked, shaking my head at the food-filled plate Clara placed in front of me, and refilling my cup instead.

"A distant relative of Ioan and Florin." Junior replied this time, his eyes finding Clara's. "Dorin de Hunedoara. I only met him once; he had never been on the Council before, he disagreed with Rareş."

"The best thing is... that the castle will be restored to the family now. Florin left Hunedoara to the Council as a seat, and not to Rareş, as he wanted us all to believe. Now that he's gone, the Council will return it to the rightful owners."

"Where will they live?" I asked, thinking about Rareş and Jusztyna, hoping the men would understand without me having to pronounce their names. This is all their fault...

My eyes filled with tears again as I thought of Vlad and I turned away from them even as Junior replied, "They are in Sighisoara now. Mother asked if she may return to Poenari with him, but the Citadel is Father's castle. He will decide when..."

I wiped my tears in my sleeve and Radu, noticing, changed the subject.

"They want one of us to be present at the official ceremony. We decided that I shall go. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning but I promise I'll be back before you go, Samara..."

I stood up and walked to the window, dabbing at my tears. Radu's words made me think again about having to return home, about Vlad lying in the next room and only a week being left before the portal reopened.

"I'm sorry, Samara, I didn't mean to..." Radu said, approaching me.

I turned around and let him embrace me, feeling... lonely, lost and confused... "It's not your fault. I'm just... tired." That was the best word I could find to tell them how I felt. Weary, exhausted, drowsy and unable to think clearly as if I was living in a dream.

"You need to rest. It's been days since you have not slept properly." Junior said, joining us by the window, while Clara called a maid to take away our unfinished dinner.

"I must go to Boian. I promised Lucas..."

"No, I'll go. You go to bed." Radu said, not leaving space for argument. "I'll see you in a few days, Samara!" He called, reaching the door in a blink of an eye, then was gone.

Junior and Clara made me promise that I would really try to rest, then left as well. They met Katerina, coming in to help me get ready for bed, in the doorway.

I watched from the window as a couple of maids who followed her removed the table and prepared my bath, then took it away again the moment I was dressed, while Katerina brushed my hair. She removed the warmer from my bed then and I, feeling too weary to argue that I wanted to sleep next to Vlad, let her pull my covers under my chin, draw the curtains around the bed and blow out the candles, only pretending to listen to what she was saying.

I stayed in the bed for a while after she left, listening to the wind howling outside, to the fire crackling on the hearth, to the stones and wood whispering in the ancient walls, too tired to fall asleep.

There is no way you are going to fall asleep here, alone... I sighed, pushing the blankets away, all apart from one, then got up and headed for the library, where I pulled a chair next to the fireplace. Here I was closer to Vlad and could stay with my wolves without disturbing him.

A few moments after I thought of Shadow I heard a scratch, the door of my chamber opening in the distance, its soft creak followed by the patter of multiple paws on the stone floor. Soon they were all at my feet, Shadow, Mist and their cubs, already grown as large as their parents.

As they settled by the fire contentedly I quitted the uncomfortable chair and let myself slip among them, revelling in the calm and comfort their presence always bestowed on me.