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In the drea and sharp and were shredding my dried lips My mouth was parched and my throat felt painfully dry As my voice rose into a shriek, I felt the flesh on my face crack and split

And in my dream, I felt a horrible despair that the man I loved had abandoned er ate atwas left, and I was filled with terror

It was then I had awakened

Rolling onto my side, I wept intoer seeping from him to infect the at," I finally dared to say "How can you do this to Cneajna?"

"Do not speak her name to me," Vlad snapped

"But she loves you She loves me I dreamed of her and-" I was cut off when he slapped ain Or of the other two," Vlad said in a low voice He lay beside ainst his body "Sleep and forget the softly, I covered my face with my hand and found no solace in sleep or wakefulness At last I rose to write this entry I cannot truly rest knowing that the sisters are in such dreadful agony

Later -

So o I a and terrified I can barely believe what I have just endured I aether

In such a short time all that I have known has been destroyed

I finally did sleep again after htmare of the sisters Vlad woke me a few hours later, and I rose up to see that he was already dressed

"The Baroness has invited us to join her at her hoht," he said in a low voice His hair and arded htfully

I made a face at this announcehts had been draining as Vlad and I spent hours planning our land Already he has our trip across the continent lish His accent is strange and he has a tendency to word things oddly, but he is i quickly

I never really had a moment to myself and Vlad seemed to deliberately stay at natius in the hotel garden so I resented that I was going to be forced to visit with Vlad’stoward me "You are so very contrary"

"You have no idea," I retorted

"Oh, I believe I do" He stood up slowly and ran his hand over my cheek "Dress in your finest Let the Baroness see your full beauty tonight"

I fear an evil little glint flashed into my eyes

"I did not realize you were so jealous, my dear wife," he said with amusement

I dreay from him and pouted "I would just rather she understand that she is not my competition"

"Of course she is not," Vlad chided me "Even if she does seem to believe that She could never cohtthe back of rowled at him irritably "If you wish me to dress then stop that" I dreay frohtas I beathis hands in ainst my lips "You are the first Remember that"

"Only when it servesme I stomped my foot at hida inout one of my favorite dresses "The Count told ht," she said nervously

With a bit of a frown, I fell into the chair next to athering with his an to brush out my hair

"It is unfortunate that he does not leave you behind," she said in a low voice, and I understood the hidden natius andtied to his side"

Magda began to twist n "He has been a bit possessive since his return"

"He suspects me," I answered truthfully

"And yet he is open with his mistress" She adorned reen ostrich feather

I shrugged "I really do not care about her" Unfortunately, I knew that was not fully true I actually despised the Baroness and felt threatened by her to soree Of course, she had also betrayed my family and I hated her viciously for that But, if I was honest withher into a vada hissed

"Why do you say that?" I glanced back at Magda She seeht you here He used to spend a lot of time with her before you becas to the servants and he would let her"

I saw that her hands were shaking "Magda, did she hurt you?"