But I couldn't. Angel was all I could think about.
By noon, Angel was still in my head, an image of him in front of my daydreaming eyes. The feeling wasn't subsiding. It was intensifying. I had to ask the peasants about the handsome apple trader. The girls snickered first, knowing I liked him already, and then shocked me with the fact that he had ridden his horse back to Germany, and that he wasn't coming back until the next season to buy more apples.
However, something told me I was going to see him again. Whatever that voice inside me was, it also told me it wouldn't be an easy ride. Angel was going to change my life in the strangest ways.
Later that day, still thinking how I'd be meeting Angel again, I caught my parents in a tense conversation in the dining room of the castle. They were arguing about my father's quest to kill the vampires in Transylvania. My mother worried he was starting a war that would doom the Karnsteins forever. My father responded that none of us had a choice. The war between the Karnsteins and the Sorrows was inevitable. The name "Sorrow" sent chills down my spine. I had no idea why.
My father told my mother that Night Von Sorrow, the vampire king in Transylvania, had been hiding for years, planning on sending vampire spies disguised as humans all over Europe. The vampire king knew that in order to let vampires rule the world, the Karnsteins had to be killed first. It turned out we were the only family in the world that was destined to kill vampires. It was either the Karnsteins or the Sorrows in this world.
I ran back to my room that day, wondering what my role would be in all of this. Was I really destined to kill vampires? I realized that after I met Angel I didn't want to do any of it. I didn't want to please anyone or be the sum of expectations of my parents. And I couldn't bear being alone, either. All I wanted was to be with Angel.
***
A few days later, we were invited to one of Austria's royal weddings. I got to wear a fabulous dress that day, and the servants told me I looked fabulous in it. No boy dared look at me, as usual. The best I got was short and fast glimpses, stolen among the crowd. Nothing like Angel's daring eyes.
At some point in the wedding the girls went to a nearby pond to look at their wavy reflections in the water, pondering who'd be the first to get married next—legend had it that she whose face was fully reflected in the water, not wavy or blurred by the faint ripple of the surface, was the next bride.
My mouth went dry. I wanted to be with the girls. A firm glance from my mother cemented me in my place. The day went on as I faked happiness, fighting the urge to cry.
Back home, still in my new dress, I gazed out my window at the surface of the nearest pond glittering in the moonlight—I did glimpse my reflection in the glass of these windows a few times, but it was neither clear nor satisfying, and nor did it trigger the curse.
No matter how much I reminded myself of the consequences, I couldn't hold my desire anymore. I could either wait to meet Angel again or go see for myself. Impulsively, I climbed down the window behind my parents' back and ran toward the pond. They thought their guards would stop me, but I had secretly pondered the escape plan many nights before. I knew what secret route to take.
I ran across the castle's garden and passed by the fountains, holding the hem of my dress with both hands, my breath foggy in the still of the night. And right there before the gates, a couple of my father's guards appeared in their silver armor before me. I wasn't going to make it.
In my desperation, I didn't stop running, but they still caught me. I struggled and fought feebly for a few minutes. I even tried to stare at my reflection in their silver armor, but only saw a blurry face.
And then, in my darkest hour, something in the dark killed the two warriors, instantly and silently. I hiccupped as they dropped heavily beside me, only to stare at a wavy, dark figure a few steps away from me.
"Who are you?" I gasped.
There was no answer. I couldn't sense anything good in the presence of the dark figure. I had no idea how I knew, but it felt as if evil had a recognizable scent of perfume. This dark entity reeked of it. Though it had saved me from the soldiers, it didn't wish me any good.
Why did it save me? It didn't make sense to me.
I realized that I had one last chance to run past the gates. For one, I wasn't comfortable with the dark entity, and two, it was only minutes before my parents in the castle realized two warriors had been killed.
My heart beat faster as I crossed the gates and neared the Pond of Pearls. So many faces of other girls flashed before my eyes. I wondered if the pond's surface would be as beautiful as Angel's eyes.