Free Tale of the Century Bride Complete: Historical Vampire Paranormal Romance Box Set by Susan G. Charles

southern air. They were still growing near, but it seemed they had shifted in speed, now moving slower than before. They were now about 220 kilometers away from Castle Dalmar.
    “Lady Catherine, do you have any brothers and sisters closer to our age?” Cored asked Catherine.
    Catherine laughed at the question. It wasn’t a hearty laugh. More like a pleasurable, under the breath snicker that she did, knowing that the twins really wanted more playmates their own age, than to just know plain information or to just be making conversation. “Oh, and what kind of question is that? Are you two not fond of my company? Well, I’m simply appalled,” she said to the twins with false shock, rolling her eyes as she spoke.
    “No, Lady Catherine… we love playing with you. You’re always in a good mood and have time to play with us us. But we don’t have anyone else our age to play with. We were just wondering….” Cored said to her, swinging her hands in his, as they all walked along to the center of the castle.
    “Yes, everyone here so old. And they are all too serious… and no one hardly ever smiles. Why are they all like that Lady Catherine?” Alice asked, point blank.
    “Well, this is a working castle you know. The majority of the people here are hard at work and simply do not have the time to entertain you. They are always busy doing important things like sword fighting, welding, cooking and cleaning, weaving cloth for our clothes, training, studying and worshiping… and things of that sort. I know that may be hard for you to understand now… but one day you will. A castle really just isn’t the best place for children to run around and play. You could get hurt here very easily, so please be careful for me.” Catherine answered.
    “But we play every day, here, with you.” Cored admitted with an incriminating point of the finger to Catherine.
    “Yes, that is very true indeed. But what if there was a village of children here, running around causing mischief?”
    “Oh, we don’t cause any trouble.” Alice griped.
    “I know, I know. But imagine… the more children there are, the more likely it is to happen.” She patted Alice on the top of her head. “Hey, I have one sister about two years older than you. I suspect she will be delighted to play with you both. You two really might be the ones keeping her happy and satisfied once she arrives.”
    “We will, we don’t want to cause any trouble,” Alice piped up. Cored nodded his head in agreement.
    “I know that you just want to play.” She patted the twins on the top of their heads.
    Alice started clapping, happy in her new moment of discovery. Another little girl in the castle to play with; what excitement that would be.
    Cored, on the other hand, was not quite as happy as his sister with this new information. His neck straightened and his chin lifted. He looked to his sister and then to Catherine. His eyes grew for a moment before shrinking to a decimal. He looked to his sister and then to Catherine again – it was obvious he was trying to come up with a question before he asked it out loud. Finally he asked, “Don’t you have any brothers?” he grumbled.
    Catherine shook her head no in response to his question.
    He was upset at her response, realizing that he would not have anyone to play with but more girls. “That’s not fair. I thought you were the fair lady!”
    Both girls cackled to his notion of what a fair lady meant. His outburst was more comical though, even though it was meant to be taken seriously.
    Catherine looked over toward the well, where she’d caught sight of the new man, Deleon, filling a bucket of water. Her smile dissipated and the twins spun their sights in the direction she stared.
    “He’s taking it into the kitchen with papa.” Alice mentioned.
    “By the way, what has your father assembled for this morning’s feast?” Catherine asked. She waved a pointy finger side to side. “No games,” she said.
    “Girl soup and