Ch. 26

At the end of the street, tied up, was Susan, Bodoleck, and Medeleck. Standing next to them was none other than . . .

Goblins.

“Great. Just what I need. To fight royal goblins,” Rosemary complained.

“Wait. How can you tell they’re royal?” Michael asked Rosemary as she set him down on the sidewalk.

Rosemary smiled and replied, “They have dirtier, bigger, longer teeth.”

“Oh. O - kay then.” Michael was wondering if it was better off if he didn’t know that.

“Untie the others and stay back. This could get ugly,” said Rosemary, still smiling strangely.

“I thought you didn’t like to fight all that much. That you just did it because you had to. What happened to that Rosemary that I never used to fear all that much?” Michael asked her, fumbling over the knots. He had a shield around him, so the goblins couldn’t get at them.

Rosemary thought on that, and then replied while fighting off about five goblins, “I don’t particularly like goblins. In fact, I don’t like them at all. The only reason these aren’t dead yet is because I need a favor that they have to do for me. Their master is the father of Lord Iris. You remember her, don’t you? The goblin in the forest who almost ate us?”

Michael grunted because he had another blister on his hand, and then replied, “How could I forget? She bowed to you and everything. I still can’t believe that you’re royalty. I just can’t believe it.”

“Well, believe it, because it’s true. Ow! Why you little!” Rosemary punched the poor goblin that bit her in the nose and hammered his head with her heel. He and the rest of the goblins were tied up in their own rope, and Rosemary untied her family with the swift motion of her fingernails.

“Why didn’t you do that in the first place! My hands are so blistered I might not be able to have that ham tonight!” Michael complained to Rosemary.

Before Rosemary could retort, someone from behind them told her, “Come now, Bloodrose. You didn’t have to beat them to a pulp, even if they were trying to kill you.”

They all turned around and Rosemary exclaimed, “Dekanire! I can’t believe it. You’re hear? How?”

“Well, Oaksand owed me a favor from about twenty years ago, so those are my temporary personal henchmen. And now you owe me a favor. You can accompany me back to Prague as the favor to me. How about that?” Dekanire asked Rosemary. He was a tall, slim vampire with black hair that went to just above his shoulders. His eyes were black, and barely had any eyebrows at all. His voice, a little high for his height, could be compared to an out-of-key piano.

“Always with the favors, aren’t you?” Rosemary laughed. “Actually, you would be doing us another favor. Veripema is trying to kill me, and you would be fighting off many of her henchmen in the process. But -”

“Veripema? Did you say Veripema? That blasted witch. She’ll pay for what she did to my heart. I’ll let you come with me, and you can forget any favor you owe me for the next thousand years. Deal?” Dekanire asked Rosemary with a look of revenge in his eyes.

Rosemary looked shocked, but had a note of amusement that sparkled in her eyes when she said, “Are you really Dekanire? No favors for a thousands years? Surely you don’t mean it, but I’ll take it anyway.”

“You know how much I hate your aunt, so I’ll do anything just to put her in the extreme levels of unhappiness. So this works out good for both of us. We’ll get plane tickets and head back to Prague right away. Come come!” Dekanire told them. Rosemary helped the others up and they followed Dekanire.

Michael was unusually quiet, and when Rosemary asked him what was wrong, he just said, “I have a lot on my mind.”

Medeleck snorted and asked, “Like what?”

“Well, um, uh, Rosemary told me that I should go to Dekanire’s dinner - ball, or whatever - thing for my safety, but I don’t really know. I just don’t want to be stuck in a room full of thousands of hungry vampires. Besides, what would I eat? What would I wear?” Michael asked nervously.

“Oh, I can have that all arranged for you. Dear me, is that all you were worrying about? Yes, yes, I have the perfect suit for you, and I’ll have my servants get some human food for you. You will have a wonderful time at my ball.” Dekanire thought about what else he could offer before saying, “Oh yes. And I can arrange for dance lessons if you’re worried about that, too. But you really should do something about your hair. It’s an utter disaster, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Uh, no, I don’t mind you saying that - at all. But I thought that all the airports were crawling with vampires hired by Veripema. Are we still able to go there without being killed? What about me? I can’t fend for myself. And my feet hurt,” Michael complained.

“Oh be quiet. We can handle it. If Veripema is the leader of these chuckle heads, then she’s stronger. If she’s stronger, then we’ll be able to take them out in a heartbeat. Now let’s go,” Rosemary ordered. They took a taxi the rest of the way to the airport. Once there, Dekanire purchased the tickets and they headed towards the gates.

But on the way there, they spotted them. Twenty or thirty vampires all separated throughout the area. Dekanire whispered to Rosemary, “I can take them all right here and now.”

“No! Do you want the humans to see us? You can’t. You stay in the front. The Brothers will go in the back, and Susan and I will be on either side of Michael. How does that sound?” Rosemary whispered back.

“Boring but fine,” Dekanire replied as everyone got into their position. It seemed to work, because the vampires all left and went towards different exits in the building. By they time they were on the plane, not a single enemy vampire was in sight.

They took their seats (luckily they were right near each other) and sighed. Bodoleck said, “At least we got out of that one. I don’t know what would have happened if we had started a fight. The police would have been involved, and we would be exposed as what we really are. We wouldn’t be able to set foot in this country again. We might have to leave the continent.”

“Don’t be silly. We know some complex spell work, so I don’t think that would have been a problem. Certainly not. And I know my fair share of good fighters. We wouldn’t of had and trouble. None at all,” Dekanire replied. The rest of the trip was silent.

A few hours later, they landed in Prague and quickly got off.

Rosemary was having a panic attack.

“Oh no, oh no. I have to get so much ready for school. Did you know that it’s tomorrow?! I should have known that Veripema was going to follow us. Then we wouldn’t have left, and we would be happy and -”

“Rosemary! Can you calm down? We’ll be fine. Breathe. In and out. There you go. Now, go home and get your books ready and I’ll pick you up at seven for a movie. How does that sound?” Michael asked her.

Rosemary, almost calm but still having some trouble breathing, replied, “That sounds good. Just enough time for some sushi. I’ll see you later. Remember to wear the talisman that the goblins gave us. It’s supposed to protect you when I’m not there.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later. Bye!” Michael called as he ran down the street.

After a few minutes, Dekanire said, “Oh, I must go. So many things to prepare. Ta ta!”

The rest of the group went back to Rosemary’s and Bodoleck’s house. Susan and Medeleck stayed in the guest bed room, and Rosemary collapsed on her bed.

“It’s good to be home again.”