Für Sarah

Angst

Alfred awoke the next morning, a painful headache already formed. Sometime that night he had heard the most horrid clashing sound as if someone had been hammering the wall...

The young man groaned and sat up, having slept on the wooden bench beside the bed (Albronsius had claimed he deserved the bed since he was older and had back pain, while Alfred had retorted that he should have back pain now if the Professor forced him to sleep on the wood which didn't turn out in his favor).

The Professor was not yet awoken from slumber, he often slept in past sun rise, and Alfred didn't want to disturb him even if they had quarreled last night. Family was family and family fought. It warmed him to think of Albronsius as family even though the old man would die of a heart attack if Alfred reminded him that he was in fact his Godson.

  The light from the window caught his eye and he rose from the bench and tip toed over to it as quietly as he could, pressing a hand to the cool glass and letting the frost numb his fingers. Alfred was short enough that he didn't have to lean over or bend down to see out, he looked straight ahead and his eyes cast down to see Chagal, the woman who must have been his wife, and the pretty red headed maid who'd de-froze the Professor working and talking cheerily.

  He looked out further and saw many were outside chopping firewood, mending baskets and the like. The sun glistened off the snow making it sparkle in a warm and gentle glow. Beyond that, the forest which had seemed so terrible and dark had a purplish aura to it that was entrancing and calming.

In the daylight it was a lovely village, really.

But then Alfred's brow furrowed as he saw a creature bundled in rags, limping in a sort of run towards the Chagal Inn... the closer he got, the more people fled from it, hiding inside as the thing passed them. His eyes continued to narrow as he watched the fiery haired chamber maid and Madame Chagal run inside the Inn as the creature neared it.... stopping to point at Chagal as if to speak to him...

The creature was a hunchback!

"Professor!" Alfred nearly yelled, dashing from the window to wake Albronsius.

The old man snorted and opened one eye, glaring at the boy. "Hm... wh-wha-- ALFRED! What in God's name are you doing at this ungodly hour?"

The assistant took in a deep breath. "Professor- there is a hunchback outside speaking with the innkeeper. Everyone in frightened- running away from it. Er, him."

Albronsius closed his eye and groaned. "Is that all, you daft and foolish....." his eyes suddenly shot open and he bolted straight up in bed. "A hunchback?! People frightened? Why didn't you say so, you insolent boy!"

  The young man bit his lip, swallowing a defense as he helped the Professor out of bed and grabbed his coat.

______

Sarah sat in front of her vanity as she often did, brushing out her auburn curls. Her large, barrel roll ringlets were the only thing Sarah didn't wish different about her appearance. They came just barely passed her breasts, smaller waves framing her cheeks and forehead lightly. Her hair had dark undertones of chocolate brown and when the light caught it just right- streaks sparkled a reddish gold. Sarah was not a great Narcissi from the Ancient Greek folklore, but she was a seventeen year old girl who was ravishingly beautiful and to some degree she knew it.

  After all, if she hadn't been beautiful, would the Count even know she lived? Let alone wish her as his lover.

  That always made her blush fiercely no matter how many times she thought about it. And heavens, she thought about it constantly. As a woman, Sarah knew what... he expected, of course, but only in the simple and unsensational way her mother spoke of how a woman bares a child. But Elisa and Magda spoke of the process as rather... well, sensational at the very least. And it's not as if Graf von Krolock wanted her to have a child! So there must be something more to it.