"I'm sure it works," Katherine replied as she perched on the counter to watch her friend. "You got breakfast yesterday, right?"

"Yeah." Leila shrugged and turned it on, starting to cook. It worked well enough, and it didn't blow up on her. So it didn't take her long to finish cooking and plop down next to Katherine again to eat.

Katherine stretched a bit.

"I chatted with Uncle for a while last night," she said. She grinned. "Asked him about the wolves. His pet pack, really. He likes to run with them every so often."

"Pet pack of wolves." Leila shook her head. "That is both slightly terrifying and very awesome. I kind of want to meet them, or at least take a look."

"We'll have to ask Uncle," Katherine replied. She grinned a bit. "He said there will be pups in the pack soon."

And that just made Leila have a moment of pure "awwww!" Because really, who didn't love little squirming balls of fur?

Then she sighed. "Damn I miss my dog, the one who died a year or so back."

Katherine put an arm around her friend's shoulders.

"I'll ask Uncle if the pack will let you see," she said. "It might be possible."

Leila nodded and poked at the remains of her food for another minute before she sighed.

"So what are we doing today? Besides plotting Carlos's death or dismemberment."

"What do you want to do?" Katherine asked in return. "I'm fine with whatever you want."

Leila shrugged. "Nothing stressful. I'm still kind of tired. Maybe just wander around the manor today? There's probably quite a few things in here that I haven't seen yet."

Katherine nodded. She figured it would be something like that.

"Sure," she said. She grinned. "I might have some old ball gowns in my closet upstairs, if you're interested. I asked Uncle if I could keep them here, since they won't fit in my closet back in the States."

Leila laughed quietly. "Playing dress-up with me now are we?" she teased, knowing it was all in good fun. "Those would be neat to look at, at least."

Katherine giggled a bit, too.

"Dress-up circa 1750, yeah," she replied with a bit of a grin.

Leila laughed quietly. "Sounds fair to me." She grinned and got up to go clean her dishes. And then they could explore the castle as much as they wanted.

Katherine grinned back and finished the last of her breakfast. Then she rinsed out the glass and set it aside to dry, then waited for her friend.

Leila was feeling better as they started to investigate, not quite so tired or worried. Although her energy levels were definitely still below normal, but she figured that was to be expected, really.

Katherine trailed along behind her friend, offering commentary as needed. She'd explored the castle once or twice before, but there was always something new to see, so she didn't mind.

Leila took her time, especially going up the many flights of stairs in the place, until they were up in one of the towers, looking out over the land.

"Wow. Talk about a photo op."

"Uncle makes sure the surrounding land is left alone," Katherine said as she went to the window as well. "It makes for a better home for the pack, and it's easier for the family to slip in and out if they need to."

"That makes sense." Leila stood there for a few minutes, just looking out at the land. She had to admit, it was beautiful.

"Careful, ladies," Vlad said quietly from the doorway. Leila jumped, having not even heard him come up the stairs. "Wouldn't want you falling out the window, now, would we?"

"Uncle, you shouldn't startle her like that," Katherine said, turning around. She hadn't heard him, either, but she was more used to him coming up behind silently.

Vlad shrugged, looking at Katherine with a little smile. "You know I can't help it, little night bird," he said quietly. "And I don't mean it."

"I know," Katherine replied. She gestured to the window. "I was just telling Leila why the land around here is still wild."

Vlad nodded. "The village hasn't changed much, either. Oh, they added electricity and cars, but it hasn't expanded much. Most of this land is the same as it was when I was human." He looked between the two girls. "As is this castle."

Katherine grinned. She knew how rare it was for a place to be so unchanged. She couldn't say the same thing about her own hometown, however. But she was alright with that. She glanced at her friend, knowing Leila tended to chomp at the bit when faced with that much preserved history.