Aurelia sighed looking out the frost covered window.
"Jessenia I have no clue how I am going to keep this kingdom. Lord Famin keeps sending me letters and it's been a two weeks now and I have no new ideas. I hate tradition!"
Jessenia nodded and put down her knitting. She was always so calm and gentle. Long red hair up in a bun of waves and gentle brown eyes that could calm a raging bull.
She was so much like Father. Always taking in the situation for what it was. Looking at things from all points of view.
Unlike Aurelia who had a temper from God knows where. She was always acting before thinking.
"Maybe someone will want to marry you. You have quite a bit to offer after all."
"You don't get it do you? This isn't about who will want to marry me! Lord Famin wanted to marry me! No this is about trying to save our kingdom without be having to marry some desperate old lord." She jumped up and faced Jessenia.
"Fighting won't save our kingdom Aurelia." She went back to knitting.
"Your right. I wish I could be as calm as you and Father were. Even Mother was calm." Aurelia slumped down into a reading chair and sighed.
"I'm afraid Lord Famin might be right...I mean I don't think I am doing a very good job with the 11 of you..." Aurelia's voice trailed off and she looked towards the window again dreaming that all her problems would go away.
Jessenia threw down her knitting and went to the front of Aurelia's chair looking her sister in the face.
"Now you listen here. You have been doing FINE. The girls are healthy,happy and you finally got Alana to stop carrying that horrible blanket around and you are up every night with Gretle always taking care of her needs. The kingdom is in order and in all of this you have managed to plan Carissa a ball. I think you are doing a fabulous job for being 17 and having no experience. If it wasn't for you Aurelia this kingdom would have fallen to Ralph months ago."
Aurelia smiled at her little sister realizeing how grown up Jessenia was now.She still saw her as a baby even though there was only a small age difference.
"Your the sweetest." She kissed her sisters head and left the room to go take care of more paperwork.
It was past dinner now and Aurelia knew it. She glanced at the clock one last time and sighed. It was getting darker and darker now and her mind was drifting in between sleep and reality.
Papers still piled high on her desk and her hands were smeared in black ink as was her forehead from hours of being reckless with her ink pen.
Then she heard it.
"Aurelia." A smooth deep voice seemed to be right in her ear and woke her up with a start.
"Who's there?" She got up slowly brushing the hair out of her now wide awake face. She grabbed the sword her father used to keep by the desk and slowly walked into the hallway.
Candlelight flickered and set a eerie setting in the hallway. Everything was quiet. Too quiet for Aurelia's taste.
"Girls? Jessenia? Violet?"
"No. My name is Kaspar." The same deep voice seemed to ring through the hall. A deep laugh taunted her as she tried to find it.
"Come out! I will find you and when I do I will kill you!" She ran up the grand staircase and to her bedroom.
"Girls! Girls!" She flung the door open and quickly scooped Gretel up from the rug and grabbed Alana's hand.
"Aurelia calm down! What happened!" Jessenia jumped up from her reading chair and grabbed Aurelia's sleeve.
"There's an intruder. I heard him first in the library then in the hall. We have to get all the girls to the shelter."
Jessenia let out what seemed like a relieved breath.
"Aurelia the castle is so quiet that if someone was talking downstairs we would have heard. Sound travels in this castle. You were probably dreaming and just woke up startled. Your working much to much and far to late. Go put the sword back and we can all go to bed before you give the younger girls a fright." She grabbed Gretel and took Alana's hand flashing Aurelia a angry look.
She couldn't believe it! Jessenia was actually mad at her! She knew she wasn't dreaming. The voice had been too real. Too scary.
It had made her blood freeze and her head spin out of fear. Surely a dream couldn't do that and if so why did she still hear it after she had woken up?
That name...Kaspar....it seemed so familiar.
"I am going to find who that voice came from if it's the last thing I do." She muttered as she got into bed.
She didn't know it but the person who belonged to that voice was watching her at that very minute.
