Of Princes and Dragons: Book 2 (Lords and Commoners)

by Lynne Hill-Clark

  “They may have noticed her uncanny healing ability. This would explain the witch accusation. It most likely scared them so they executed her straightaway, before she could be fully healed,” Elijah said.

  “I should have stayed and tried to save her. I was sure we had plenty of time to rescue her. There should have been a long-drawn-out trial, giving us plenty of time to free her.”

  “Please, Mary, stop berating yourself. It is not your fault,” Val said.

  Elijah put an arm over Mary’s shoulder. “Besides you may have been burned with her if you had not come for us first. We have done everything we could.”

  Val placed an arm around Mary’s waist. “Let’s go home.”

  Chapter 20 Wallachia 1262 A.D

  Teller, or rather Vlad, did not return to the smithy shop until early the next morning. Having to kill the man in the street the previous day had set him back. But he would not allow himself to be addled again.

  When Darius came into the shop, Vlad had been working for hours.

  “Glad to see you are feeling better,” Darius said.

  “I often find it difficult to be in confined spaces with lots of people.”

  “I have never heard of such a thing. Bit of a loner, are you?”

  “Aye, something to that effect. You know, we desperately need more space. I could use a larger work area and we need room to stockpile supplies. We should invest in the vacant building next door.”

  “I don’t know. That would be quite an expense. I must think of my family and their needs. Perhaps in a year or so all of my daughters will finally be married, then I could expand.”

  Vlad narrowed his eyes at Darius. A little man thinking small. Vlad forced a smile. “Of course, all in due time.” Inside Vlad was fuming. No one will hold me back.

  A few days later Vlad noticed a girl watching him out of the corner of his eye. Begrudgingly he stopped pounding on the metal before him. “Yes?” His voice was full of irritation. Where was Sergiu? He always dealt with the public and Darius was out cutting wood for the furnace, which now rarely cooled.

  “Hi. My name is Sabina. I’m Darius’s youngest daughter.” The girl peered up at Teller with a shy smile.

  “Aye, I remember. What do you want?”

  Sabina seemed flustered by his short tone. She had a tiny girlish face and mousey brown hair; yet she was attractive enough. “I wanted to introduce myself since we did not properly meet the other day. You know, you are greatly helping us. Mother thanks God every day for you and Sergiu coming into our lives. Father is no longer exhausted when he comes home from work. He takes walks with us in the evenings and —”

  “Tell your mother that it is nothing. Now I must get back to work.”

  “Don’t you ever take a break?” Sabina smiled playfully and took a step closer.

  Oh no, Vlad thought. “No, not usually.” He turned to stoke the fire.

  “Are you hungry? I can get you something to eat.” She moved to stand even closer.

  Sabina’s words reminded him of Vallachia and now he was doubly irritated. He stood to his full height and towered over her. “You seem like a nice girl. You need to stay away from me. I really don’t want to hurt you.” With that he walked out of the shop in order to get away from her mouthwatering scent.

  “What do you mean — hurt me?” Sabina said to Vlad’s back.

  Once outside the shop he spotted Sergiu and headed straight for him.

  “Where are you going?” Sergiu asked.

  “I’m trying to get away from Darius’s daughter. Keep her away from me, will you?”

  “Ah, I see. Sure thing, my friend. Wouldn’t want you to kill that nice young lady now, would we? That would mess everything up. After all, we have a good thing going here.”

  With that Sergiu headed for Sabina who was now standing at the front of the shop. He put his arm around her shoulder and led her away. She looked back at Vlad; clearly not wanting to leave.

  Vlad could hear Sergiu telling her, “You really should not waste your affections on Vlad, my dear. You see, he is infatuated with a princess, a foreign one, no less. I’m constantly telling him that he needs to forget about her but he is vastly stubborn. He simply will not listen to me.”

  For the next month Vlad easily kept up with orders. Flying was an enjoyable way to pass the nights. Vlad continued to avoid Sabina. Sergiu would intervene most of the time. She invited them to dinner and Sergiu politely refused. A time or two she managed to catch Vlad alone — which truly said something of her determination. Vlad would quickly exit the shop when she refused to leave.

  Surely, she will get the hint, he thought.

  The next time the monster stirred from within, Vlad was ready. He had been patiently biding his time. It came late one evening while Vlad was in the shop with Darius and Sergiu.

  “When will you two young gentlemen marry and start families of your own?” Darius asked.

  “That life is not for me,” Sergiu said in his usual cordial manner.

  “You know, Sabina has grown quite fond of you, Vlad? You two would make a lovely pair.”

  Vlad appeared behind Darius. “You don’t want me for a son-in-law,” he whispered in Darius’s ear.

  Darius started at Vlad’s sudden closeness.

  Vlad bit deeply into his neck before he could turn around.

  Sergiu jumped to his feet. “Have you gone mad?”

  Vlad let Darius’s body fall to the dirt floor. “He was holding me back. This is my shop now. We have a lot of work to do.”

  For the first time since they met, Sergiu’s smile was gone. “I was actually starting to like the old man. What about his family? Who will care for them?”

  “They are my responsibility. They will be well cared for.”

  Sergiu nodded. “Very well — but it is your job to get rid of the body.”

  Vlad left Darius in the street not far from the shop. That way everyone would know he was dead. His family could mourn and Vlad could carry on with the business.

  Vlad and Sergiu attended the service three days later. Afterwards Vlad informed the family that he would continue to run the shop and gladly provide for them. Darius’s wife and Sabina proclaimed that they were indebted to Vlad. The oldest of the daughters was named Martina. With two young children in tow she simply glared at Vlad.

  The very next day, Vlad took most of the money they had and bought the building next to the tiny shop. He hired two young boys — whom he could pay next to nothing — to sharpen finished products, keep wood stocked for the furnaces and take the cart to get supplies. Sergiu was in charge of money, orders, sales and the like. With his ready smile and uncanny way with people, he was the face of the new shop.

  As Vlad spoke with the carpenter who was to build the addition to the back of the shop, Martina marched up to Vlad and jabbed her finger in his chest. “This was my father’s. It was his life’s work. You can’t simply show up, from God knows where, four days after Father’s death and change everything. He always wanted to keep his business small and after only two months of working for him you think you can simply take over!” she was yelling at this point.

  The carpenter shrank away. Vlad gave Martina a devilish smile and closed the space between them. “And who is going to stop me?”

  Martina backed away. “I tell my sister all the time that she is a fool for falling in love with you. You very well may be the devil himself!”

  Vlad smiled with pleasure as he completely agreed. “Your father lacked vision. I will make you and your family wealthier than you could have ever imagined.”

  Sergiu stepped in between the quarreling pair and addressed Darius’s daughter, “Honestly, love, I would not antagonize him. He has quite the temper, not to mention we are all upset over your father’s death.”

  Martina glared at him. “I am not your love and Vlad does not appear to be upset in the least. He is only gaining from Father’s death. In fact, he is probably the one who killed him.”

  “Now,
now, dear, those are strong accusations. You are simply upset. We can discuss this matter when you are not so distraught.”

  “Don’t patronize me! I am not a child!” Martina said.

  As she stormed off, her fiery red hair swayed in time with her hips. She was spirited and intelligent although not overly pretty — Vlad liked her.

  Sergiu’s heart sank when he saw the look on Vlad’s face. “Oh no. Don’t get any ideas. Leave her alone. You have done enough damage as it is.”

  Chapter 21 Wallachia 1262 A.D

  The business flourished. Soon every noble far and wide came to Vlad for their metalworks. He had the best products and a remarkable delivery rate. He received orders from as far as Constantinople and Venice. Two more smithies were hired, yet Vlad was still the main smithy, as he was by far the best and the fastest. He ran a high-production outfit that turned out high quality work quickly. He had more money than he knew what to do with. Ironically, they did not need much living in a cave.

  By the year’s end he started construction on a manor not far from the shop, as well as three slightly smaller homes for Darius’s family. One was for his wife and unwed daughters and the other two were for his married daughters. He also gave the widow a hearty stipend every week. This was more than enough for food, clothes and the like.

  Sergiu tried to teach Vlad to read. Vlad despised it. Reading was as boring as sitting around doing nothing during the long nights. Irrespective, due to Sergiu’s persistence and possibly a high functioning vampire intellect, Vlad was reading quite well by the year’s end.

  Once Sergiu was confident in Vlad’s reading ability, he turned his attention to teaching Vlad different languages. Sergiu was ancient. He could speak most any language. His favorites were ancient Greek and Latin. These languages were close to the dialects Vlad had grown up with, so they were relatively easy to acquire. It was similar to speaking with an accent in some ways. Soon they moved on to some of his other cherished languages, which were Turkish and Arabic. Sergiu had spent much time in the near east. These were completely foreign to Vlad and much more difficult to understand, let alone speak. Still, having Sergiu endlessly repeat odd sounding words and phrases to Vlad was better than reading Homer’s massive works for the hundredth time. Overall, it was not a bad way to pass the long nights.

  Sabina held on to her infatuation with Vlad. Late one night while he was going through supplies next door she managed to catch him alone. She simply smiled with affection and moved in close.

  “What are you doing here?” Vlad asked. He noticed that he was more in control. Sabina smelled tempting but he thought he could refrain.

  “You know why I am here. Stop pretending that you don’t.”

  “I have never been kind to you, so why do you keep coming around?”

  “You provide very generously for us. What could be kinder than that?”

  “That is simply out of duty, nothing more. I feel contrite for what happened to your father.”

  “And why is that? It is not as if his death was your fault.” She was close enough that she rolled up on her toes and kissed him.

  Vlad let her. Will I lose control? When he did not, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gently pushed her away. “I cannot do this to you. You are so young and innocent.”

  Sabina’s eyes filled with tears. “I’m not that much younger than you. It is because you don’t love me, isn’t it?”

  Vlad nodded. “It would not be fair to you.”

  “Because you have some childish dream of a foreign princess!” Her heartache gave way to anger.

  He glared at her and she stepped back a pace.

  “That princess will be mine someday and you will do well to never speak of her again.” Though Vlad had no idea how, he knew this was true. Someday, perhaps when he was wealthy enough or powerful enough, he could win Vallachia back. He took a deep breath to calm himself. It dawned on him; as Sabina’s caregiver he had responsibilities other than simply paying for that fancy dress she wore. “In fact, as your provider, it is high time I found you and your remaining unwed sister suitable husbands.”

  Sabina blinked, causing a tear to roll down her cheek. “No, please. I only want you.”

  Vlad spun on his heel and was off on a new mission — to be a matchmaker. Also, feeling more in control of his lust for blood gave him the urge to want to test it. He knew Martina’s husband would be out all day in the fields, as it was harvesting season. It was the opportune time to pay her a visit.

  Martina was surprised to see Vlad, as he had never come to the home since it had been built. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

  “It is a small matter I wanted to discuss with you,” Vlad said.

  “Well, my husband is out, so why don’t you come back when he is here?”

  “My business is with you.” He swiftly moved past her into the home.

  “I see. ... Can I ... get you something to drink?”

  “Can you make up a brew?”

  Martina’s brows came together in confusion, so Vlad continued. “Say some mint leaves or the like, steeped in hot water.”

  “I have never heard of such a thing. I can offer you ale, wine or mead.”

  Of course, the only things humans ever drink, Vlad thought. He had grown quite fond of Sergiu’s brew. Perhaps it was because it was served hot, reminding him of blood. “An ale will do.”

  Martina poured ale into a stein and placed it on the table. She gestured for Vlad to sit.

  He did not sit or take the ale.

  “So what is it that brought you here?”

  “I have been thinking,” Vlad said, “it is about time your two youngest sisters wed. I wanted to know if you had any ideas regarding who might make good husbands for them?”

  “You should speak with Mother about such matters. She will know better than I. Although, I suppose it is time they married.” She fidgeted nervously with the front of her dress.

  This made Vlad smile. “Where are your little ones,” he inquired.

  “They are lying down for their mid-day rest.”

  Perfect, he thought. This was just as he had hoped.

  “If that is all, then I must get back to the cleaning. I must make the most of my time while my children are asleep.” Martina turned, as if to leave the room. “I am sure you can find your way out.”

  Vlad appeared behind her. Martina jumped as he whispered in her ear. “There is another reason I came here.” He gently brushed his lips across her neck and ran his fingers down the length of her arms. The large vein in her neck pulsed — enticing him. He had to resist, as there was something else he needed.

  Martina turned to face him with wide eyes.

  He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against him. She tried to push him away but could not escape his unyielding grip.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  Reminding himself to be as gentle as possible he placed his lips on hers. His mouth moved to her cheek and down her neck.

  Her body relaxed and she kissed him back. She gave a shiver. “Why are you so cold? It is the middle of summer.”

  “It is simply the way I am.” Vlad pressed his lips to hers, harder this time and ran a hand over her breast.

  Martian let out a soft moan.

  This time, when she pulled away, he let her. Vlad knew he had her. She would not refuse him.

  She took him by the hand and led him upstairs.

  When it was over, Martina shivered beneath Vlad. He quickly rose and placed a blanket over her naked form. “I had better be getting back to the shop. If you have any ideas about suitable matches for your sisters, do let me know.” He pulled his tunic over his head.

  She glared at him. “You truly are the devil.”

  He smiled. “You have no idea.” Then he was gone.

  Chapter 22 Wallachia 1262 A.D

  The following day, Martina barged into the shop demanding to speak with Vlad in private. Once alone in the warehouse she whispered, “What
was that about ... yesterday?”

  With his arrogant smile, Vlad crossed his arms over his chest. “I am afraid I do not understand.”

  “Was it to prove something — to put me in my place?”

  What is she talking about? Vlad shook his head to indicate his confusion.

  “I challenged you after Father’s death and you wanted to prove that you are in control — that you can seduce me whenever you want. Is this some sort of manly game to you?”

  Vlad chuckled and placed his hands on her shoulders. “You are overthinking this entirely, my dear. I am an unwed man and men have needs. There is nothing more to it than that. Is it not better than breaking a young girl’s heart?”

  “Perhaps it is you whom we should find a bride for. But not my baby sister, you stay away from her ... and me!”

  Vlad’s smile broadened, as he had the feeling that she did not truly want him to stay away.

  Martina growled in frustration. “You and that boasting smirk. You are infuriating. I hate you!” With a flash of bright red hair she stormed away.

  Sergiu appeared at Vlad’s side. “You seduced Martina?”

  “It wasn’t too difficult.”

  “You cannot do that to a married woman!”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Serg. With my long list of sins that one is nowhere near the top. As a matter of fact, I thought you would be pleased.”

  “And why is that?”

  “She is still alive.”

  Both men stared at the door where Martina had exited.

  “Do women truly ponder everything in such a strange manner?” Vlad asked.

  “Aye, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. They are baffling and mysterious creatures. I have found that life is much easier if I leave them alone.” Sergiu looked at Vlad as if he were a proud father. “You are in control of your thirst. I am afraid my work here is done. You are doing well for yourself. My faith in you was not misplaced.”