I was completely surprised by this confession. That thought never occurred to me. The thought that Lucia would no longer be happy with Ephraim. For me, they have always been a perfect couple. So Lucia's acting was very good.
“I'm sorry, Lucia. I didn't know it was so bad between you and Ephraim.“
“No, it isn‘t either. Don't get me wrong, I love Ephraim, I'll always love him. But he lost his passion, that glow from when I first met him.“
The approaching children interrupted our conversation.
“Emily, Emily, can you show us a magic trick?", Tim asked me excitedly.
“Of course. Be so kind and give me that stone over there.“
He picked it up and dropped it in my hand.
“Now look closely.“
I closed my hand around the stone and when I opened it again, a small brownish frog sat in place of the stone, croaking wildly.
“Great, how do you do that?"
“I'm a witch, I can do these things.“
I put the frog in Tim's hand. “You can keep him if you want.“
“Go into the house now, children. I'll be right behind you. I have a few things I need to discuss with Emily.“
Tim took his sister on his back and she wrapped her arms around his neck. The girl visibly enjoyed fooling around with her big brother. The intimate connection between the two warmed everyone's heart. Then I turned back to the mother.
“Your daughter is really amazing, barely a year old and she's able to jump in the air like a cat.“
“Yes, she's something very special. When will you teach her?"
“Be patient, there's still time. Now I'll let her be a child.“
I didn't like Lucia's behaviour, so distant and yet that questioning look, like she was asking for help; something burned on her soul and she broke her silence.
“One day my daughter will turn into a werewolf. Then what am I supposed to do? How should I behave? What if someone gets it out?"
“No one will know as long as you make sure she doesn't tell anyone.“
“Does she know?"
“No, the girl has no idea what powers she's got, and that's a good thing.“
“Do you want me to tell her?"
“No, not at all. The girl's gonna turn into a werewolf either way. She won't know what's happening to her, so she'll come to you and only to you. You‘re her mother, you have an influence on her.“
“And then what do I do?"
“Well, what do you think you must do? Tell her she can't tell anyone else about this secret, especially not her father. For one thing is certain, if your secret is ever revealed, then your status at court will be ruined, and hers as well. I wouldn't know if I could convince mine to ignore this and accept the child.“
She nodded weakly. “When will she transform?"
This ignorance got on my nerves. Did this woman know nothing but to make herself pretty and to live into the day? I can't believe this.
“Jesus Christ, Lucia. Don't you know anything about werewolves? You grew up with one.“
“I don't have much to do with them. Well, except for these few times.“
“The young werewolves first transform at the age of sixteen, then they‘re sexually mature.“
“I may not even think about it. Just the thought of someone touching my girl makes me go crazy.“
Lucia's fears of the future were unfounded, I tried to make that clear to her.
“Listen to me, you don't need to be afraid of it, it's perfectly normal. Your daughter may still be the cute doll in your eyes, but one day she won't be anymore. Then she's a young, mature, deadly vampire woman. In any case, you have to be there for her, even when it comes to issues you may not like.“
She took a deep breath. It would be hard for Lucia to let her little girl move once.
“Anyway, we still have some time until then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to.“
“Goodbye, Emily.“
I made a small, sweeping bow, of courtesy's will, and moved away.
Three times Spring came and three times it was gone again. And when Larissa was four years old, I decided to start her training.
First lesson
Every day Larissa came to my witch house, always from eight o'clock in the morning until three o'clock in the afternoon. Since I lived away from the other witches in the middle of the forest, we weren‘t disturbed. Her brother didn't understand at all that I was teaching only her and I was afraid it might drive a wedge between them. So I had Tim come to me, too. When he was with us for a while and noticed how exhausting the lessons were, he left us quickly and didn't come back. This morning I started with something light and asked her about the history of the vampires.
“What can you tell me about your ancestors? Do you know anything yet?"
Her sweet yet melodious voice filled the room and she began to tell.
“The vampires are descended from Farold and Gwendolin, who are the parents of my mother and therefore my grandparents. But they went into exile, but anyone doesn’t know why?"
“That's good, for the beginning. But do you know what was before Farold and Gwendolin?"
She shook her head.
“Well, once upon a time there was a giant bat in the Black Forest. He was the forefather of the vampires. In a fight, he lost his wings, which is why the vampires are no longer able to fly today. The bat finally begat a son before its time was up. This son is Farold, your grandfather.“
“What do you mean his time was up? Wasn't he immortal?"
“No, unlike the pure-born, he wasn't.“
“Then why are they?"
“Because a mighty witch gave them this gift.“
“And who was she?"
A lump formed in my throat, I stopped for a moment and my heart became heavy. I had taken on so much to erase this part from the past. Nobody knew about it anymore. I didn't like to lie, yet I only served the girl half the truth.
“Nobody knows, there's nothing in the history books about it.“
The little one had enormous knowledge. She could tell me anything worth mentioning about vampires.
“Vampires are cold creatures. We drink blood to fortify ourselves. We can see perfectly at night. Our eyes and ears are able to hear and see clearly for several miles and we can run very fast so that our movements can only be perceived by other immortal beings. Our canines are sharp, and that's how we rip our prey. If we aren‘t prepared for hunting, the teeth are as normal as those of humans. We don't shy away from daylight, we love it. The night is still our ally.“
“Good, very good. And what can you tell me about the wolves and their origin?"
“Unfortunately, I don't know much about them. Mother hasn't often put me in touch with them. What I do know, though, is that Stephan is their leader. He's tall and lanky, with hair as dark as ebony as mine, and angular features.“
“Well, I see we still have to work on that. Please take your nib and your book and write down what I tell you.“
Then I enlightened the girl about the wolves. Where they come from, how they stand with