Nadine - The Beginning

12. Carry On

We walk around for a couple of hours just looking at everything. I finally spot my brother bobbing in and out of vampires with his bucket.

I point at him so Tre can see.

"Looks like the guards found him princess. He has guards on him again. Look." Tre points to a guard.

Sure enough he's following my brother around. My brother looks at me but doesn't tell the guard. He just walks the other way with his bucket. "He didn't give me up. He must have been enjoying the freedom as well. Didn't want to ruin mine."

Tre laughs and looks in the other direction. "Oh my dads coming this way."

"Do we run?"

"No he already see's us."

I just sigh.

"Sorry princess."

"No problem, at I got to see all this for a couple hours and no one found out who I am."

I turn around and give Dracul my best smile. "Good afternoon Advisor Dracul."

"Hello father."

"Good afternoon children. Are you here without an escort princess?"

I see my brother and his guard come up behind Dracul. "No sir." I gesture behind him.

He turns and looks at the guard and my brother with the bucket.

My brother walks up to me. "No luck sister." The guards eyes about pop out of his head when Clay says sister. "No one wants my fish. Do you want some fish Advisor Dracul?"

"No thank you Clay. I have no where to put them right now. I just wanted to make sure guards were present with you." He turns and looks at the guard. "Carry on." Then he walks off down the street.

The three of us look at the guard and laugh. He does not laugh back. He starts flagging for other guards. "I guess that means it's time for us to go. Everyone will know who I am if I have to drag them around with me."

Tre smiles. "It was nice for awhile though."

"Yes it was Tre. Thank you." I grab his hand and give it a little squeeze as two more guards show up.

A random man walks up to my brother. "Do you have fish in that bucket son?"

"Yes I do sir. I have a lot of them."

"I'll trade you half this pig for them son. I don't have time to get to the river anymore but I do like fish."

I smile as Clay makes his first trade.

Tre starts looking around as more and more people are noticing us now.

I notice the guards are starting to get anxious too.

"I think it's time for us to go now princess and prince." Tre kind of pushes us towards the exit our horses are at.

We get out with 3 guards.

Me, Clay, and Tre all look at the guards and say "Carry on." at the same time.

Then we all bust out laughing. Even the guard Dracul said it too was laughing.

"You kids be careful running around like that. It's not always this safe. And you seen what happened when they started to notice who you were. They all wanted a closer look. Make sure you always make your presence known with the guards first thing."

"We will sir. Thank you." I smile and look up at Star and then to Clay. "Clay I'm so happy for you. You made your first trade. Congratulations!"

"Yea your really a trader now. Good job! That was fast for a first time."

He gets a big smile. "Thanks sister and Tre. I bet mom will like this."

"I'm sure she will." I look around at the horses. "How are we going to do this? We only have 2 horses and I am not riding with a dead pig."

Tre and Clay both laugh at me. "Ride with Tre sister. I'll ride with my pig."

I just smile. Tre helps me up on his horse. I get to ride in his arms again. I settle back against his chest and just relax for the entire ride back. He seems relaxed too.

Half way back he hugs me and whispers in my ear. "I'm going to miss this most of all princess."

"Me too Tre."

We ride up to the front of the castle and jump off the horses.

Clay runs in right away. "I'm going to get mom to cook my pig."

"I think he may eat that whole thing princess."

I just laugh as we walk into the sitting area.

"YOU WERE AT THE MARKET ALONE?"

Tre and I both just freeze for a second. Mom is mad.

I think for a slit second before I start talking. "Of course not momma. The guards were there and Advisor Dracul. He left shortly after arriving though."

"Oh. I'm sorry I got mad Clay. I thought you meant you went by yourself. I was just scared. The thought of anything happening to either of you haunts me."

I smile at her. "He did good momma. You should have seen him. He made his first trade."

She smiles at Clay and gives him a big hug. "I'm proud of you son. So what did you trade?"

"I traded some fish for half a pig."

"Wow that was a good trade. Let me have that and we can get it cooked for you by dinner."

Clay is all smiles and proud of himself as he hands over his bucket.

"Ok children. 2 hours until dinner. Dracul and Asa will be joining us again. As well as Dipak, and Frode. Nadine will you please change that dress before dinner. It's very dirty."

I start pulling Tre back out of the sitting room. "Yes of course momma."

We get out in the hallway and he asks "Where we going?"

"I don't know but 2 hours is a long time to sit in there. Want to take the horses back to the barn?"

"Yea that's probably a good idea."

"Tre."

"Yes princess."

"I've had a lot of fun today and I know my brother did too. Thank you for making it possible."

"My pleasure princess."

"Good afternoon Zacier. We're just bringing the horses back. You were out this morning when we took them."

"Hello Hypatia. Yes I had to go and get some medicine. Shade isn't doing so well. I believe it's just a cold. But I gave him some medicine just in case."

"Oh no. Is he ok?"

"Seems to be doing a little better now. You can see him from the door but please don't go in." I give him a concerned look and he smiles. "It's a rather messy cold princess."

"Oh ok."

I look in and shade is getting a drink of water.

"Oh yes he's looking much better now princess. No need to worry about him."

"Thank you Zacier. Have a wonderful evening."

"You both as well."

We leave the barn and start walking back to the house.

"Why does he call you Hypatia?"

I smile up at Tre. "One time long ago, he was helping me brush a horse and he called me ma'am. I started to cry and said I wish I wasn't a princess. He promised to never call me ma'am again. He asked me what my full name was and I told him. Then he told me how much he loved the name Hypatia. It was the prettiest name he ever heard. He asked if he could call me that and I said yes."

"You do have a pretty name. Hypatia Nadine."

"I like the way you say it." I look at the ground. "But anyways, he still calls me ma'am on occasion but for the most part it's Hypatia or princess."

Tre opens the door to the castle and lets me go in first.

"I'm going to change quick Tre. The others may be gathering in the dining hall now."

Clay comes running out of some side room and grabs Tre's arm. "You can wash up in my room. Everyone's all fancy in there."

"I guess I'll get on a fancy dress and meet you guys in there."

I get to my dressing room and tell the servant to go get Mary for me.

She comes in a minute later with some water. "Let's get you washed up and in a fancier dress quick. You start with your face and hands little miss. I'm going to pick a dress."

"Ok" I start washing up.

"White or yellow? Both of these are pretty."

"Oh white please. I should be able to see through the white veil super easy." I finish cleaning my hands and face.

She walks over and unties a few things and the dirty dress drops off. She flips the clean one over my head and secures it. Then starts fluffing it.

"Wow we are getting really fast at this Mary."

She looks at me and smiles. "Yes I guess we are. Let me pin down the white veil and you are good as new princess."

I walk out about 2 minutes later completely refreshed and clean. I go over to Clays room and I can hear the boys inside. They are laughing and talking about making trades in far away lands. Seems like Clay really likes this trading idea. I'll just go to the dining hall and leave them to talk.

I walk in the dining hall alone and everyone looks behind me. I guess they were expecting Tre.

"Was Tre with you sweetheart?"

"No momma, he is with Clay. They are getting cleaned up."

She just nods.

I pick a seat that has an empty seat beside it. Maybe I should have waited to come in.

Tre and Clay come in a few minutes later. Tre walks over to me and sits down in the empty seat. It makes me happy but I can't help but wonder if he would have rather sat by my brother. I whisper to him. "You can sit by Clay if you wanted to discuss trading with him some more."

He winks at me with this little smile on his face. "I'm right where I want to be princess."

My father stands up and everyone else finds their seats. "We gather today because tomorrow morning Dracul and his family will be traveling to Galhurst village. They will be overseeing the construction of the new castle, vampire village, and wall around the human village. This is a huge accomplishment for our kind. We will now have 2 castles, 2 villages for trade and a human supply village for blood. Our people are safer now than they have ever been before. And our numbers are increasing daily. But this is not supposed to be a long winded speech. And as my mate says, I can be full of words at times. So I will keep it short. Dracul, I wish you the best of luck building the new castle. I will be sending 30% of the guards with you and 10% of the servants. I trust you and your decision making fully. I know you will do well. If you need help with anything just send word and we will be on the way."

Dipak stands up as my father sits down. "I look forward to seeing the progress Dracul. I know you will do well and I know that Asa will do well helping the humans feel at ease around us. Asa please don't let him around the humans. Also I have not forgotten about the werewolf bite I owe you Dracul."

Everyone is laughing by the time Dipak sits back down.

Frode stands up. "Yes, Asa good luck with the humans. Tre good luck with the trade skill. I heard you have taken a liking to it. Lots of things will be able to be traded there between the two villages. Plenty to learn about. And Dracul, just don't burn the place down." Everyone starts laughing again. "I'm joking Dracul. You'll do great. Good luck and if you get homesick come and see us."

Asa stands up next. "Thank you all for that. And I promise to keep Dracul on the vampire village side as much as I can. But I just want to thank you all. You have always made us feel like part of the family and I am going to miss you so much." She starts crying.

My mom stands up and hugs Asa. "We're going to miss you too and I'm sure we'll all be back and forth. It's only a 4 hour journey. I'll come in a week and bring the kids. I'm sure they'll love seeing it as much as I will."

Oh that makes me happy. A week isn't that long at all. Tre reaches over and squeezes my hand under the table. I look at him and he's smiling back at me.

My mom and Asa finally sit down and Dracul stands up. "Thank you everyone for the kind words. Dipak I didn't get you bit, you agreed to the plan. And Aurelia we look forward to seeing you in a week. I will make sure to get a house assigned to your family immediately."

My mom smiles while rubbing Asa's back trying to calm her down still.

My dad stands back up. "Ok let's eat."

"OH YAY LOOK GUYS IT'S MY PIG!"