August 23rd, 1868

I have wonderful news! Mari was able to save seven of the eight kittens! I now have one orange kitten, three white and orange kittens, one black kitten, and two black-white-orange kittens. I let Fae have the orange kitten, and I gave Mother the black one as a gift. I have named the rest Mozzarella, Cheddar, Gouda, Blossom, and Petal (Respectively). I love my new kittens. Fae won't tell me what she's named hers, but Mother settled on Midnight for her kitten.

It made me very afraid of Wilhelm the first few years I knew him. I’m on good terms with him now though, he was very understanding.

It had been a very hot day, so Mary tells me, and everyone was working hard on finishing up building the stables. Cory had been sent to fetch water multiple times that day. The fifth time or so, he came across a stranger at the well. Cory, being the very social person he is, spoke to the man. 

“Who are you?” he asked.

“Water… water… please…” the man croaked. That was when Cory realized that the man was extremely thin and dirty, and bleeding. His face was gaunt, his skin taut. He also had an arrow protruding from his back.

Cory handed him the water bucket, and the man chugged half the water in one sitting. He handed the bucket back to Cory and introduced himself as Wilhelm Ernest, a Lord’s son. Cory, of course, being a three year old, asked, “What’s a Lord?”

“A man of importance,” Wilhelm replied, in a quiet and raspy voice. “I was fighting in a war, and I and my compatriots were losing. Quickly. So I ran from the battlefield, and stumbled into these woods." (I asked Wilhelm about this fact and he turned a bit pink and admitted that it was a cowardly thing to do. He says that he's simultaneously regretful and thankful he ran from the battle. If he hadn't he wouldn't have met Mari, or John, who became a very dear friend to him.) Wilhelm, having regained most of his senses, asked, "Pray tell, do you know where I am, boy?”

Cory had just gotten the bucket back up a second time and said, “Obviously yes. You’re in the Valley of Ancients.” (Father dubbed it the Vellis Veternum after castle construction was completed.) Cory liked to talk about how shocked Wilhelm looked when he heard “Ancients.” Wilhelm claims he wasn't shocked, instead he was extremely confused.

“I’ve never heard of such a place.” Wilhelm said.

“Of course you haven’t,” Cory scoffed, “My Mother hid it from outsiders like you. But you should probably come with me because you look like you’re about to die.” Little two foot tall Cory then threw Wilhelm’s arm over his shoulder and led him on the hike back to our castle.

“Mother!” he shouted, and there she was, standing by the side entrance waving to Cory. (She is attuned to the world, and had sensed Wilhelm as he’d approached the Valley.) Cory led the now very faint Wilhelm to Mother, who put Wilhelm in a deep slumber and promptly levitated him to the infirmary, where Mari was waiting. 

The benefits of having a 43,000 square foot castle is that the library is massive, and there are at least 20 bedrooms, a whole guest wing we never use, a huge cellar, a larder, a kitchen, a dining hall large enough for thirty people, a very fancy sitting room, several common sitting rooms, an art gallery, and an astronomy tower and three other towers with bedrooms atop them. One of the towers belongs to Mother and Father, another to Wilhelm and Mari, and the other was Corin and John’s. The art gallery has exactly two paintings done by Boris, of Ellen, and the rest are all John’s. We’re not really sure how many he’s done, because only about fifteen are hung up in the art gallery. Some of them are hung in hallways throughout the castle. The rest are stacked in a closet attached to the art gallery. The infirmary is just a long hall with a few beds and a medicine and herb cabinet.

Now back to the story.

Cory says that Mari had been slightly overwhelmed by Wilhelm’s attractive features, but she’d pulled up her sleeves and ignored the butterflies in her stomach. (I don't really believe this detail is true- at the time, Wil was emaciated and hadn't bathed in several days. Even now, I myself don't see what she found in him. He's tall, still very thin, and pale with black hair and brown eyes. He's exactly how I imagine a true vampire to look like. He swears he's not a night-stalking bloodsucker though.)

Here is where the details of the story become a little muddled, but here's how Cory's version goes: Wilhelm was badly wounded when Mari got to work on him. He’d been stabbed just above his left hip and of course there was also the arrow wound. But because Mari has had years to perfect her abilities, he was completely healed in just under a month. A part of Wilhelm’s recovery included Mari convincing Mother to bless him with immortality. The only way to save him then was to make it so he couldn’t die. I don't why Mari had save him in such a way; surely she could have simply healed him? Ah well, Wil is still alive today. That's what seems to matter most.

Mari hadn’t been the only one to find Wilhelm attractive. Ophelia also thought so of him. Fee saw it as a bit of a competition to gain his affections; Mari didn’t see it that way. She chose to see Wilhelm as her patient. However, Mother said it was clear that Wilhelm was smitten from the moment he saw Mari. Over the next two years, Mari began to fall for him in return. Fee told me that the first time she’d ever heard Mari laugh was when she was with Wilhelm. Father was happy to see his daughter happy and gladly blessed their marriage.

Their wedding was a simple one: Wilhelm took Mother, Father, and Mari to a church so it would be an official wedding. Wilhelm pleaded with Mother to allow his parents to be at the wedding, but she forbade it, fearing for our safety. Eventually she gave in to Mari’s persuasion, so Wilhelm’s mother was there, but was sworn to secrecy and couldn’t tell her husband that their son was still alive. That was a bit heartbreaking for me to here. They thought he’d died in the war; the aftermath was so bloody it had made the dead’s features indiscernible. Aside from the fact Wilhelm had to say goodbye a final time to his mother, it was all around a joyous day and Wilhelm and Mari are still married now.

Still no letter from Corin.