Chapter 4
"Meeting Your Hero"

Celestia's blood ran cold as she watched Prince Vlad Ţepeş Dracula ride into the courtyard. She compared his face to the little boy's face on the night that her father was killed and it was a perfect match.

It was him.

She watched him closely as her heart pounded in her chest. With each pound her mind raced. "OH MY GOD IT'S HIM!" Pound. "OH MY GOD IT'S HIM!" Pound. "OH MY GOD IT'S HIM!" Pound.
Her heart wouldn't slow down as she continued to watch him. It was really him. Her savior, her hero, her life... well more like the life of her career. She watched him dismount and ducked when he looked up at the balcony. Vlad noticed that the doors were open which was strange for that room was empty a few hours before. He shrugged it off and went inside the castle. Celestia peeked out from her hiding spot and noticed that he was gone. She quickly ran inside her room and closed the balcony doors.

"He must be inside! I have to find him!" her mind exclaimed as she crept out of her room and down the hallways trying not to make any noise. She heard talking in the great hall so she quietly made her way near the balcony that overlooked the hall and hid to listen in.

"Is someone staying in the room that overlooks the forest and courtyard?"
"Yes my lord, a young woman is staying there."
"For how long?"
"Temporarily my lord."

Celestia continued to listen in hoping that the conversation would continue, but one of the men left. "Dammit! Maybe he's gone to find me!" She quickly ran back to her room and waited for someone to knock but after thirty minutes of silence, no one came. Celestia groaned. If he wouldn't come to her, she would go to him. Her inner fan girl squealed at the chance to track him down but she paused. "Hold on Celi this isn't 2009, this is 15th century Moldavia. While it may be not as frowned upon in modern society to stalk someone here it's extremely frowned upon. Perhaps you should 'accidentally' bump into him."  "Good idea.." she whispered and made her way out of her room and down the hallways to search for Prince Dracula.
As she walked down the hallways, Celestia noticed the medieval architecture of the castle. "If only Billi was here to see this." she whispered.  She continued down the hallway and hid when she heard two men talking.

"So you found about the girl, did you cousin?"
"Of course. If there's a girl around I will find her."
One of the men laughed.  "Of course. No woman can get past you."
Celestia recognized the voice of Stephen, Vlad's cousin... which meant that Vlad was speaking to him! She peeked out to see that it was indeed Vlad speaking to Stephen. She ducked her head back just in time as Vlad looked to the hallway.  He looked back to his cousin and she kept listening in. The discussion ranged from what the girl looked like to whether she was Romanian or Moldavian to which they couldn't agree on.  "Why does that matter?" her mind asked.
Eventually they parted ways and Celestia peeked out to see if someone was coming her way. No one was; they were gone. She sighed and leaned against the hallway. "You blew your chance you idiot!" her mind yelled at her. She had to go back to the drawing board. "What could attract his attention?" she thought. "Well.. without involving me stripping naked... or... you know what? Screw this."

She decided to wing it and just let it happen. They were in the same building; they were bound to bump into each other sometime.

The next morning, Celestia got up bright and early after a deep sleep and dreaming up schemes to meet Prince Vlad. She got up out of bed and chose a red and gold dress that covered almost every aspect of her body except for her bust and her wrists. After sitting down and braiding her hair again she got up and went down the grand staircase for some food. Walking in to the dining room and hoping that Prince Vlad would be there, she found only the king and Prince Stephen there. "Dammit!" They caught sight of her before she could turn and leave. "Eff my life.."
"Why don't you come join us Celestia?" Stephen asked. "Of course your highness." she said as she swore nonstop in her head. She sat down with them to eat and picked at her breakfast. She was anxious to go find Prince Vlad. Father and son spoke of matters that didn't matter to her as she picked at her food. "What am I doing here?" she wondered. "I don't belong here." "Lady Celestia?" She looked up from her plate. "Yes?" "My nephew has expressed interest in you." "OHMYGOD."

"Really?" she asked. "Yes. He should be in the library if you wish to see him now."  It took every ounce of Celestia's self control to keep herself from jumping up and running to the library at warp speed. She kept her cool and ate the breakfast no matter how much she wanted to just not eat and sacrifice perkiness for meeting Prince Vlad.
After breakfast, Celestia made her way to the library. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she reached the doors to the library. Her hand was trembling with excitement as she rested her hand on the doorknob. She opened the door and looked inside to see him, Prince Vlad standing in front of the large stained glass window, looking out at the courtyard. She swallowed her nerves and walked inside shutting the door behind her. Prince Vlad heard the door close. He turned to see that the girl had come after all.

"Good day your highness." she said with a curtsy. He bowed in return to her. "The king said that you wanted to meet me." she said nervously. "Yes I have been curious about the new guest." he replied. She nearly blushed but she held it back. "It is an honor your highness.." she said, lowering her eyes to him.  He nearly smirked at how submissive she seemed to be but there was a fire in her eyes that said otherwise. "Please sit down." he gestured to a chair near her. She sat down in the chair and he sat down near her. Her inner fan girl was having a seizure as she watched him sit down near her. He was so close to her… almost in reaching distance, yet he was so far away.
The prince watched the young woman near him. She was nervous for some unknown reason. Celestia cleared her throat nervously. "I don't mean to intrude my lord but why are you here?" "I am waiting to claim my throne." he replied. "That's right... Ladislav is in charge right now."
"Oh?" she asked trying to make conversation but he didn't respond. She shifted nervously in her chair unnerved by the silence surrounding them. He kept watching her carefully analyzing her face and body. She definitely wasn't from Moldavia, Romania, or any other nearby country. Her face was strong like theirs but yet soft along her jaw and chin. She was different from them but she still seemed to fit in.

Celestia eyed the prince carefully. She was so excited to meet him but she knew what he would become and that bothered her. She remembered clearly that he had an almost photographic memory and could hold a grudge for several years, meaning that she would have to watch her tongue or else she may find herself on the end of a stake. The prince kept eyeing her which was making her nervous. "Is there something wrong my lord?" she asked. He snapped out of his thoughts and made eye contact with her.  

"No nothing is wrong." He said.
"Then why do you keep staring at me?" she replied.
"I find you quite interesting."
"But I haven't really said anything yet." She stated.
"It doesn't matter." He answered. His eyes on her were beginning to freak Celestia out. She didn't know what the hell he was thinking behind those venomous green eyes of his. For all she knew he could be imagining her on a pike. Just the thought of her on a pike dying slowly with blood gushing out of her mouth made her shudder, which unfortunately the prince noticed. "This is not my day..." she groaned inwardly. A game of "try to avoid the future impaler's eyes on you" commenced. Celestia did everything in her power to avoid looking at his eyes, those eyes that could snap a photo and put it away for future reference.

After a period of silence Celestia was just about ready to stand up and run out of the room when Prince Vlad asked something strange. "Would you do me the honor of coming to my room tonight?" If Celestia was drinking something at the moment she would have done a spit take. "Did he seriously just ask me that?" her mind whispered. "No. That's just... R-ridiculous. My Romanian must be rustier than I thought."
"Pardon?" she asked to make sure she didn't hear him wrong. "Would you do me the honor of dining with me tonight?" he restated. "OH SWEET JESUS I HEARD WRONG."
"Yes I would love to have dinner with you your highness." She answered gracefully. "I thought I heard something else earlier.." she rambled. "And what did you hear?" he asked curiously with his dangerous eyes trained on her.
"Umm... I'd rather not say."
"Then why did you bring it up?" he questioned coolly.
Celestia nearly glared at him but remembered the stake. "Celestia remember: PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY." "Well my lord.. I could have sworn that I heard you say, 'would you do me the honor of coming to my room tonight'." Celestia swore she could hear him chuckle at her answer. "So that's why I looked... well.." "Like a cow seeing the butcher's knife?" "Y-yes.. exactly like that..."  "That was a... disturbing simile"

The prince stood up and Celestia followed suit. "Well it is goodbye for now miss until dinner." he said. "Yes until dinner." She responded with a curtsy and turned to leave the room.
"What is your name?" he asked, his voice resonating against the stone walls of the library. Celestia turned to him.
"Celestia Wulf your highness." And with that she opened the door and left, gently shutting the heavy door behind her.