Haruka had expected they’d take a train from France to Romania, where Andrei’s ancestral home sat nestled in a remote region near mountains that only sometimes lost all their snow in the summer, but the distances were greater than she had expected, and they boarded a plane in Paris that reduced the trip from over twenty hours to just under three.
“We’ll have to be up at the butt crack of dawn, uh, pardon my French,” Andrei had said entirely in Japanese, despite being at a hotel in Paris. “But the only direct flight leaves just after six a.m.. Otherwise, we have to hit two different airports to change planes, and then we might as well take the train anyway.”
Upon arriving in at Maramures International Airport, they did board a train for several hours, during which Maiko slept and Andrei spent time on his laptop catching up on “family business”, leaving Haruka to alternate between writing in her journal and staring at the countryside passing by outside the train window. She finally fell asleep herself once they switched from the train to a passenger van driven by one of Andrei’s family’s employees.
“Come on, sleeping beauty,” Maiko said as she shook Haruka awake.
Haruka blinked in the late evening sunlight that shone directly into the open van door.
“We’re here!”
Haruka stumbled out of the van and took in the scenery. The sun still peeked over a mountain range in the distance, the forest tops poking out between low clouds and mists. As she looked out, the street lights in a village winked on, mere pinpoints, like stars in the distance.
“Wow,” Haruka exclaimed as she turned from the scenic view and took in the house, though it seemed more like a castle. “This is your ancestral home?”
“One of them,” Andrei said. “This was my great-great-something Grandfather’s mountain retreat.”
“It looks more like a castle!” Maiko exclaimed, taking in the crenelated rooftop and heavy grey stonework.
“You’re not far off. It did serve double duty as an armed outpost, though it’s not considered a true castle. There would have to have been outer wall defenses…”
“And turrets on the corners to provide cover for the walls,” Maiko interjected.
Haruka and Andrei both stared at Maiko.
“What?” she asked, taking in their shocked looks. “Like I can’t know anything about medieval warfare tactics? I did tour a couple castles on that trip to England my Freshman year.”
“I just figured you never actually paid any attention.”
“I usually don’t, but the tour guide was really cute.”
Haruka rolled her eyes. She opened her mouth to make a comment, but broke off at the sudden commotion.
From around the far corner of the house, the largest dog Haruka had ever seen was barreling toward them, barking an angry warning as it came. Haruka dropped into a defensive stance, not that any of her training would have helped much against such a large hound. Maiko lunged for the van, where she slammed the door closed behind her.
The dog was almost upon them, having covered half the length of the manor in seconds.
“Anghel! Stop!” Andrei called out.
The dog skidded to a halt and stood unmoving just a few feet in front of Haruka. A low growl still sounded from somewhere deep inside.
“Sit!”
The dog dropped on his back haunches.
“Down!”
Anghel shuffled his front feet forward until he lay on the ground.
An older man, read faced and out of breath, came around the corner of the house, trailing the dog. “Scuze, sir, he slip leash!” he puffed out between gasps of air.
“It’s all right,” Andrei called back. “Haruka, relax. Maiko, come on out.”
“Anghel, come!” Andre said, and the dog stood and walked over. “Haruka, put out your hand.”
Haruka cautiously put her hand out, still holding her fingers in a fist, and the dog stretched toward her to sniff. He let out another small growl.
“Anghel, Prieten!”
The dog took another sniff, and suddenly started licking Haru’s hand, his tail wagging.
“What does that mean?” Haruka asked.
“Prieten? It means friend.”
“And just like that, he’s okay with me?”
“He be best friend, now, for all lifetime!” puffed the older man, who had now drawn close. “Train him my own self. Smartest boy I ever see. Damn near human, this one.”
Andrei spoke to the older man in a language Haruka wasn’t familiar with for a moment, then turned back toward her as the old man walked off with Anghel.
“Let’s head on inside, I’ll give you the tour. Leave your bags, the boys will bring them up.”
“The boys? You have servants?” Maiko asked.
“We keep a few people on here to take care of the place. But they are employees, not servants. At least not in the sense that they would have been when this place was built. Though in truth, many of our people are descendants of those who were… involuntarily employed here back in the olden days.”
“Were your ancestors kings?”
“Kings? No, my direct ancestors never sat the throne, but they were counted among the royal class. I guess you could say they were cousins to kings.”
Later, once they had seen their rooms and had had a chance to relax after their journey, Maiko and Haruka found themselves seated in front of a fireplace in a large room with windows overlooking the wide valley on one side, and heavily laden bookshelves on the opposite. Above the fireplace hung a portrait of a man in military uniform, a stern, intense expression frozen in oil paint upon his features.
“My Great-Grandfather,” Andrei explained in response to their question. “At one time, portraits of many of my ancestors lined the great hall, but those were either pilfered or burned during World War II.”
“Burned?”
“This area has a complicated history, to say the least. We are in a small part of the Northern Transylvania territories.”
“Transylvania? Like Dracula?”
“Yes, and no. The site of Vlad the Impaler’s castle is far to the south and east of here, though we are still in what was considered Transylvania. At various times, it has been independent, or under the rule of Hungary, despite being largely populated by those who are considered culturally Romanian. During, and after, World Wars I and II, it changed hands a few times. When the fascists took over, my Great-Great-Grandfather was killed, but my Great-Grandfather took his family and went into hiding further in the mountains. He returned and offered support to King Michael’s ascent to Romanian rule. When these lands were ceded to Romania, this house, among others, was returned to my family.”
“Others?”
“We have a small estate on the outskirts of Bucharest. We spend most of our time there, and use this as my ancestors did: a summer retreat.”
“We?” Maiko asked, raising one eyebrow, a skill, Haruka knew, she’d worked hard to acquire. Haruka had walked in on Maiko practicing that questioning look in a mirror when she was thirteen.
“The, uh, family, of course. It’s still hard not to think of this as all my father’s, even though it’s been a little over two years since he passed.”
“Do you think he’s hiding something?”
Maiko was standing in the doorway of Haruka’s bedroom. They both had large rooms to themselves across the hall from each other. Haruka had hoped for a little time to herself to journal and catch up on things, perhaps unwind a little, but so far Maiko had floated like a ghost, haunting her every move. Or maybe like a mosquito that buzzes your ear when you’re trying to sleep, she thought.
Haruka sighed. “Maiko, it’s late, and I’m tired.”
“It’s not late, it’s only eight p.m..”
“My brain is still half on Japan time. It’s called jet lag. I’m tired!”
“Now you’re avoiding the question, too! What do you know?”
“About what? I don’t know anything!”
“Finally! My know-it-all older sister finally admits what I’ve suspected all along! She doesn’t know anything!”
Haruka sighed again and her head slumped down, sinking into her shoulders.
“You know nothing, Jon Snow!”
“Who’s Jon Snow?”
“You really need to learn some modern pop culture.”
“Maybe, but not tonight. Go to bed! I’m tired!”
“Fine, Jon Snow. See you tomorrow!” Maiko, ever the drama queen, slammed the door dramatically behind her.
“Finally,” Haruka whispered under her breath.
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