Fifty

ROMANIA 1780

"I hear his skin is a russet of red and brown," Countess Wilhemina heard her servants whisper as she knitted to kill time. Her throat could not help but itch as they continued to describe the strange foreigner's distinct features. They talked about his wooly hair, his exotic accent, and swooned over the color of his eyes. Not once did they describe him in a manner that might suggest that they were afraid of him. Their gossip made Wilhelmina want to see this strange foreigner for herself.

"And where is this foreigner?" Wilhelmina chipped in, successfully hiding her curiosity.

The maids who were unaware that their mistress was listening in on their conversation went gaunt. Wilhelmina stood her feet and approached the looking glass. She looked porcelain white from malnutrition and her shoulder blades were practically shooting out. If she did not go hunting for food tonight, Wilhelmina wasn't even sure she would be able to function the next day.

"Mistress, He is a prince from Africa. He came by dawn to speak to the Count."

Wilhelmina knew her husband to be extremely hateful of visitors–especially the vampire kind–so she found it strange that he was actually discussing with one and considering the entire court had not turned into a house of mass hysteria, Wilhelmina was sure the visitor was alive and well.

"Dress me," Wilhelmina ordered. "I would like to see this man for myself."

Her maidservants immediately got to work, fastening the buttons at the back of one of the Countess's gowns and retouching her makeup. When they were done, Wilhelmina cast her gaze into the looking glass, She looked perfect.

"You look plump, Mistress." One of the maids gushed as she cherry-picked and smoothed out the imperfections that remained in Wilhelmina's head.

"Of course I do." Wilhelmina smiled, strutting out of the room and down a flight of stairs that led to the Count's court. As she closed in on the most dreaded rooms in the castle walls, she heard a tidbit of what was transpiring inside.

"They fear you Count Vlad, you can end the sufferings of my people. As a ruler, I cannot bear to see them continue to suffer endlessly."

"And why should I help scum like you?" Wilhelmina had heard her husband spew those hurtful words. "What good could cockroaches like you do me?"

"Your curse," The prince had retorted. "I know a shaman from my place capable of breaking it."

Wilhelmina had made her presence known at that moment. A cure. The Prince's statement had piqued her interest so bad that she pushed past the giant oak doors, ignoring the will of the guards stationed in front to allow her presence to be made known before entry. Both men inside had shot her an indulgent look and Wilhelmina had taken it all in. Her beauty did stupid things like that to men. Striding over to her husband, Wilhelmina kept her eyes glued on the foreigner. It was just like the maids had whispered, he was different. They however forgot to add that he was incredibly handsome and Wilhelmina meant that. It was near impossible to admit that someone's face–let alone–a human's ace could rival Vlad but it did. Wilhelmina made it to her husband's side and continued to listen in on what the conversation about the cure entailed.

"And why would I want to kill my gifts?" Vlad spewed ultimately shocking Wilhelmina. She could not understand why he would refuse an offer that would allow them to end their eternal thirst and hunger. It just did not make sense. Vlad has claimed he hated himself for forcing the curse upon her when she became his wife. He had promised her that if he could find a loophole, he would exploit it, and right when the loophole walked to their doorsteps, he was pushing it aside. "The reason you are here is to convince me to make use of my curse to your advantage and when you are done using me, you want me to take some mixture your voodoo practitioners concoct? I have to disappoint you Prince Mamuwalde but I am not interested in your fights or your struggles. I suggest you leave while I am still in a good mood."

The prince neither argued nor visibly showed his disappointment. He simply gave a bow to the Count and Countess before heading outside. Wilhelmina could tell from his gait that Prince Mamuwalde was a defeated man and she despised her husband for it and more.

"He mentioned something about a cure. Vlad," Wilhelmina muttered once the man was outside. "You promised me you would go through heaven, hell, and worse to ensure I was happy. Why would you toss away the one thing that would make me happy? Are you not after my happiness anymore?"

"Quiet woman." Vlad retorted sharply. "The Ethiopian Prince could be lying for all we know. He was a desperate man and we both could see that."

"They call you the impaler for a reason. I'm certain he wouldn't dare take such a risky bet if he had not the slightest clue what he was doing. I'm going to him. If he has a solution to rid us of this horrible curse, I will swear by your name that you will aid him in his quest." Wilhelmina was certain that the words from her mouth could tame the beast. Her husband had never been able to refuse her after all. So despite how flustered, the Count looked, she ran for the door in hopes of finding Mamuwalde and returning his hope. How painfully wrong she was.

"That is enough," Vlad practically hissed when she reached the door. With speed akin to the gods, he appeared in front of her and took her by the arm. "We won't be breaking any curse, Wilhelmina."

Her eyes went blind with hot tears as a gradient of anger and bitterness filled her up. "Why?" She managed to croak.

He leaned in and took in her scent like it was a drug he could not get enough of. "I did not curse you. No, I gave you a gift Wilhelmina and it is about time you appreciate that you are not a monster. Wife, You have evolved. You are no longer human so there is practically no use crying over split milk."

It took only a sentence for Vlad to break her. It took only that sentence for Vlad to destroy her carefully constructed reality. The hard pill to swallow was that Vlad Dracula had lied. He had deceived her from the very beginning. As her heart could not bear it anymore, Wilhelmina tore her hand from his and ran out. Burning hot tears blinded her as she made her way back to her quarters. The emotions that rushed through her worsened the hunger. She could practically hear the blood of countless workers present in the castle calling to her. It felt like her head was going to explode and Wilhelmina was almost certain it had already shattered when she hit something or someone. The force of it sent her flying to the ground and there were no maids present to rescue her this time.

"Are you alright?" Somebody close asked. Wilhelmina could make out their figure. It was a man and from his accent, She concluded it was the Prince from earlier.

"I..." She tried to say but She could not find the words. He leaned in and took her small hands into his larger one, linking them together as he pulled her to her feet. Wilhelmina cleared her eyes not minding how unladylike she looked in front of the man at the moment. "Thank you," She curtsied, unable to keep her eyes off of him. He was far spectacular in person. Wilhelmina could almost drool. Almost.

His expression softened when he realized who he had bumped into. "You are the Count's wife."

"Wilhelmina Dracula." She supplied.

"Mamuwalde." He smiled back and at that very moment, Wilhelmina's undoing began to tick.