GISELLE

A frightening facade lingered over Bran Castle as the companionship exited their carriage in front of it. The deep snow covered everything, the pathways, rocks, trees. In the whiteness of the surroundings, the castle's dark stone seemed even more dangerous. This place, as macabre as it looked, made Giselle's heart flutter with joy. The weight on her soul was bigger than ever, but the sight of the castle made her somewhat relax. Vlad was here. He would know what to do.

They travelled by ship all the way to the Adriatic Sea, where they entered the Habsburg territory – a safe zone. All through the trip, the only ones that talked to Giselle were Alacaris and Sergey. Not even Octavia or Andryj spoke a word to her. She had done a lot of things wrong in her life, but one thing she wasn't responsible for and that was the werewolf rebellion. She hoped at least Vlad would understand. Then again, she invited possible enemies straight to his home.

"Well, this is charming." Lerra stood next to Giselle and looked at the castle with a smirk on her lips.

Octavia rushed past Giselle straight to the huge, iron gate and knocked like she demanded the gate to open. She was immediately let in and the others followed.

"Hey, don't worry about her. She gets mad sometimes for no reason." Alacaris offered a reassuring smile.

"I thought she liked me." Giselle murmured as they walked together towards the inner gate, where they would finally enter the inside of the castle.

"Octavia is... complex." Alacaris' smile was stiff.

"She's a bitch." Sergey commented as he walked past them. "But I don't blame her. I would be a bitch too if I were that gorgeous."

"She didn't let me explain." Giselle said and Alacaris simply shrugged her shoulders.

They reached the inner gate and Vlad opened them. He somehow seemed older now and Giselle immediately knew something happened while they were gone. His beard was much longer and circles under his eyes darker. Octavia didn't even greet him, she marched inside the castle leaving them out in the cold.

They agreed Lerra and Devan would wait and let Sergey talk to Vlad first.

"Please, tell me you're bringing good news." Vlad said, his voice desperate.

"We're bringing something!" Sergey smiled nervously.

Giselle opened her mouth to start explaining, but Lerra stormed towards Vlad right in that moment, thus ruining their plan.

"God, this one really can't keep a low profile." Sergey mumbled under his breath and Giselle couldn't help but smile a little.

Lerra walked with confidence of a thousand soldiers, her dark red hair in a mesmerizing contrast with the snow around her, the black dress she wore gracefully swaying around her. She walked straight up to Vlad and offered her hand. Vlad's face turned to stone, but he managed a stiff, polite nod and took her hand.

"Voivode Draculesti, the pleasure is unmeasurable." She said and offered a wide smile. She would've been charming if she didn't radiate so much power; it ate through the charm and left nothing but intimidation.

"I'm not revolted." Vlad said, his face unchanging. A nervous giggle escaped Sergey's lips and he quickly jumped in.

"Vlad! We should welcome our guests politely!" Sergey tried.

That was when Devan decided it was time to walk in on this uncomfortable rendezvous. The witch, Luciana, and her little girl followed. Vlad's face turned from stone into pure disbelief. He scowled at Giselle.

"I will explain." She whispered.

"Devan Roua, long time no see." Vlad offered his hand to Devan. Unlike while greeting Lerra, a dose of respect shone in Vlad's eyes as their hands collided.

"Life got in the way. I'm glad to be here, Voivode." Devan answered and Vlad nodded and switched his gaze to the witch.

"I fetched a witch." Giselle smiled. At least she did one thing Vlad wanted. Luciana bowed in front of Vlad.

"My name is Luciana Flour, my Lord." She said.

"Get inside. Servants will find chambers for you." Vlad gestured towards the castle.

"We must talk, Voivode." Lerra demanded.

"First, you must eat. No business should be done on empty stomach." Vlad said and looked at Giselle again. "Go rest. After that, tell Heksa to escort you to Anton's study. Him and Codrin want to talk to you."

Not saying anything else, Vlad turned on his heels and disappeared within the castle.

"You made him angry." Sergey whispered and Alacaris' laughed out loud.

"It's not a huge change from his usual state." She said and grabbed Giselle by the hand. "Come on, let's find Octavia."

Giselle was surprised when she entered Bran Castle and found disciples running around, caring all sorts of ribbons and accessories. Giselle looked at Alacaris but she simply shook her head and quickly stopped some girl.

"Veronica, what's going on?" She asked the brown-haired girl. So that was Veronica, Giselle thought to herself remembering she was the girl Alina wanted to introduce her to when she first woke up. Alacaris was right, Veronica's whole demeanour seemed boring.

"We're celebrating. It's 500 hundred years of Bran Castle as the educational centre in three days!" She answered. 500 hundred years, Giselle thought to herself. Vlad was as old as time.

"Oh, God, that means something happened. Vlad never throws any balls." Alacaris whispered, a hint of fear showing on her face.

"Don't you know?" Veronica asked. "Voivode's army general Dinu was murdered by the Unknowns."

Giselle and Alacaris stared in shock. Suddenly, it all seemed so real, the werewolf rebellion, the attacks of the Unknowns. Without a word, they left the hall and proceeded to the dorm rooms.

"So, it's real." Alacaris commented as they walked towards Octavia's room. Disciples seemed happy enough, but Giselle guessed they didn't even meet Dinu. She didn't know him, as well. But the idea that one member of Vlad's inner circle was murdered left a strange feeling of instability in her. If someone like that died, what would happen to the rest of them?

"If there's a vampire war, what happens to the humans?" Giselle remembered Rosa all of the sudden.

"Nothing good." Ala murmured.

They reached Octavia's room and entered. She stared through the window, Jelena sitting on the bed next to her. A flagon of blood mixed with wine was on the table and Giselle reached for it immediately. What happened with Devan's wife would never happen again, as long as she lived. She would not be like Jack.

"It's not good. The blood isn't fresh." Octavia said when she noticed.

"That's fine." Giselle said. "What's going on?"

Octavia sighed and turned from the window, she's been crying. Her beautiful face was pale and her eyes red.

"You brought her here." Octavia said. "You let her come to this... sanctuary. The only place I had ever called home."

"Look, I don't know what happened between you and Lerra, but..."

"This isn't about her and me. What happened between us doesn't matter. What matters is that everyone that interacts with her ends up dead! Didn't you stop for one moment to think about what happened to Jack? Where is he? What you told us made it seem like he disobeyed her and now he's suddenly gone. He wasn't at the most important ball Lerra threw. Where is he, Giselle? Did she kill him? Like she killed Bryce's son?"

"Aren't we glad Bryce's son is dead?" Alacaris interrupted.

"Yes," Jelena added, "Bryce's son was a monster, even bigger than his father is. He murdered small werewolf children for fun! He tortured baby vamps! I know the law says you aren't supposed to turn children into vampires because they cannot be taught control, but you aren't supposed to torture them either!"

"Don't you get it?" Octavia snapped, her eyes filling with tears. "It's not about the fact she killed Bryce's son! Someone should've done it. It's the way she killed him!"

"Alright, how did she kill him?" Giselle tried to keep calm because the tension in the room grew with every moment. Octavia stared at Giselle, fear and rage mixed in her eyes.

"She seduced him, made him believe she loved him and accepted him. The man was sick. He was a monster, but he was sick, insane. She convinced him to stop drinking blood, any blood! Told him he would reach purity if he did, that he would become better. And then, after he hadn't drunk anything in weeks, she pushed him out of the tower. He burnt in the summer sun, too weak to move!" Octavia's voice cracked and Giselle was certain this doesn't happen very often.

She stared at Octavia, her heart beating with fear. What the hell did she bring to Bran Castle?

"How do you know this? When was this?" Alacaris asked.

"A hundred and something years ago! Right when she was turned into a vampire, which honestly, is unclear to me. She claimed it was the immortality kick, but when that happens, it's usually random and disorganized. The vampire doesn't know what he's doing. But this, it was too elaborate." Octavia relaxed a little bit, almost like her mind took control over her again and she seemed deep in thought.

"How do you know this?" Alacaris repeated her question.

"Roberto Faliero told me. He said he made a mistake, that he never should've let her claim the right over Cardona. Two months later, he's dead!" Two tears escaped from Octavia's eyes.

"Well, shit." Jelena murmured.

"Tell me this, Giselle. What sort of a mind does that? Who plays a game this elaborate? Is it an angel sent from above, or the devil desiring to pull the strings?" Octavia asked.

"What does Vlad think?" Jelena asked in return.

"Vlad doesn't trust her. And I'd be disappointed if he did." Octavia said.

Deciding these girls were the sort of people she could trust, Giselle sighed and drank deeply straight from the flagon.

"She wants the werewolves on her side. She wants to create chaos within the Monarchy, have them drown in threats from all sides. Almost as if she wishes for herself to be the only solution." Giselle said.

"She's going to create problems to appear like the only one that can solve them." Alacaris thought out loud.

"She didn't want to come to Bran at first, but then she received a letter. I don't know what it said, but it came from Siberia." Giselle remembered.

Octavia sat on the bed, staring into nothing. The wheels in her head seemed to spin and Giselle patiently waited.

"That's very odd." Octavia finally said. "There is no one important in Siberia. I doubt anyone from the Monarchy would be sending a letter from Siberia."

"What's in Siberia?" Giselle asked.

"Literally nothing." Alacaris said.

"What about Devan?" Giselle asked, feeling awkward as she said his name. She didn't tell anyone what happened between them, because she herself wasn't sure how to interpret it.

"I don't trust him, either." Octavia simply said.

"I don't know." Alacaris interrupted. "Dracul trusts him more than he trusts Lerra."

"He did help Vlad rule, I mean, even Vlad admits it. Well, him and my mother, apparently." Giselle remembered.

"And," Alacaris added, "he seems like a good fuck."

"Here we go." Jelena rolled her eyes. Giselle laughed out loud, unable to help herself and after a few moments, Octavia laughed, too.

"Subtlety isn't your strongest suit, Alacaris, you literally jumped him!" Octavia said and Giselle confirmed by nodding.

"What? I've never been with a werewolf!" Ala defended herself.

"He kissed me." Giselle said suddenly without a warning. Girls stopped laughing and looked at her. Weirdly, it made Giselle giddy, like she had a rumour to share and they wouldn't judge her.

"What?" Octavia whispered, her eyes wide.

"Why?" Alacaris asked in the same time.

"Why?!" Giselle countered and laughed.

"No, I mean, I know why, obviously. I believe no one would mind kissing you. But why? Was it like a casual 'I'm drunk and want to get in on with someone,' or like 'I know I shouldn't, but I really, really want to kiss you?' You get me?" Alacaris explained and Giselle giggled against her will.

She never giggled. She felt like Sergey.

"Like he really, really wanted to." Giselle said.

"Oh, Lerra's not going to like that." Alacaris said. "Especially if they're fucking."

"Not everybody's fucking, Alacaris." Octavia laughed. Giselle laughed again, feeling herself loosening up.

"I beg to differ." Ala said.

Giselle tried to keep her face still, but she couldn't help but smile. Everything was falling apart and it would probably get even worse, but there she was, smiling. Girls kept on talking, asking her what it was like to kiss a werewolf. But for a few moments, Giselle couldn't hear them. Because in that moment, she finally felt something she hadn't felt in a while.

A feeling. One might even call it happiness, but she didn't dare to go that far. She was satisfied simply by feeling this exquisite tingle in her heart. It meant she could still feel, she hadn't lost it all. For the tiniest of moments, she felt free.