Vlad noticed her hands were shaking and he could hear her heart racing.
“What is the matter? You need not fear me.”
She remained silent with her head down.
Vlad rose from his bed and moved toward her. She flinched away. “Come now. Am I that terrible?” He spoke softly.
Jusztina shook her head no. “It is ... just that I had hoped you would not call on me for a while longer.”
“And why is that?” He put his hands on her upper arms and her body went rigid at his touch. “Tell me, what is wrong.” He still spoke softly, trying to calm her.
A tear ran down her cheek as she moved her hand down the front of her silk brocade pulling it tight to reveal her now-large round belly. She was with child.
Vlad’s vision blurred as anger overtook him. He instinctively backed away. “Who did this?” His voice was louder but still calm.
She shook her head no and cried into her hands.
“Who is the father?” His rage was taking over. As he stepped toward her she shrank away, protectively clutching her stomach and the baby inside.
“Please, don’t hurt us!” she yelled. She sat on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs. “I had hoped that some of the other concubines would be large with child by now, so that you would not find out. But they are all talking. We wonder why none have become pregnant. As much as you fancy Ilona she should be with her second child by now, yet her belly remains flat. It is becoming apparent that you are not capable of fathering a child.” She knew that talking was the only thing keeping her and her unborn child alive.
“Who is saying this about me?” Vlad asked through a clenched jaw.
“Our servants have heard rumors that many people suspect that you are ... unable to have children or that you are ... fond of men. Which we concubines know is not true. So the former seems most plausible to us.”
Vlad had been mad before but now he was fuming. As he stepped toward her Sergiu appeared between them. Vlad’s bare chest slammed into the palm of Sergiu’s hand as he stopped his advance on Jusztina.
“What is going on?” Sergiu demanded.
Vlad growled at Sergiu and paced. “Show him!”
Jusztina slowly used her shaking hand to pull her gown tight against her round belly.
“Oh no,” Sergiu whispered.
“I’ve been betrayed by her, by my guard, by the father of the child and God knows who else,” Vlad spat.
Jusztina wrapped her arms around Sergiu’s leg. “Please don’t let him kill us!”
“Be easy, Teller.” Sergiu spoke too softly for Jusztina to hear. “Let’s be rational about this. Perhaps we should at least hear her story?”
As Vlad moved about the room like a caged lion, Sergiu was careful to stay squarely between Vlad and the girl.
“I will not take this lightly! This is treason!”
Sergiu gestured for Vlad to calm down with his palms facing outward and slowly moving his arms up and down. Sergiu knelt down on one knee so he could face Jusztina. “My dear, this is serious. Many a woman has lost her head for such betrayal. I will try to convince Vlad to let you live but first you must tell us how this happened.” Sergiu spoke soothingly as if he were a loving parent.
Jusztina nodded. Tears ran down her face. She began slowly. “I was betrothed to another, well secretly anyway. My love and I made plans to marry as soon as he could afford it. Then your men ransacked my city and I was forced into slavery.”
Vlad stepped toward her and Sergiu quickly stood and stopped his advance. “You are not a slave! You are a concubine,” Vlad yelled.
She kept her head lowered. “They are one and the same.”
Vlad let out a frustrated yell and returned to his pacing. “They are not slaves! I provide every comfort in the world for them!” The finest of silks, servants who do everything for them, tutors to educate them, if they so choose. Anything they ask for they receive. This does not make sense — most of my women appeared to be content with the life of leisure I provide. Why isn’t Jusztina?
“Please, dear, do not antagonize him. Continue to tell us what happened.” Sergiu’s peaceful and rational presence was the only thing keeping this situation under control. It lessened her fear and deterred Vlad from acting impulsively. Sergiu walked a fine line and he knew it.
“My ... love followed me here from Sibiu. He works in the castle. A man who often guards us was also taken prisoner in Sibiu. He was chosen to become a eunuch. This guard knew both the father of my child and me when we lived freely … in Sibiu. The three of us had grown up together. This was not how we thought our lives would turn out. It was this guard who allowed me to make occasional visits ... ” She was careful not to name the father or the eunuch who had betrayed Vlad. “We made plans to run away after he was able to save enough money.”
“What is his name?” Vlad demanded.
Jusztina shook her head. “I can’t. You will only have him killed as well.”
Once again, Sergiu stopped Vlad’s advance. “Who knows about this?”
“Only the three of us, the guard and the father. As well as my handmaiden.”
“You have not told any of the other women?” Sergiu asked.
“No, of course not. They are a jealous lot. Many would be glad to rat me out. I have been able to hide my growing belly under my clothes — until now. They think I am growing fat.”
Sergiu nodded, apparently believing her story. He placed both hands on Vlad’s shoulders and backed him a safe distance away from Jusztina. He spoke quickly, quietly and mostly in Turkish. “This is perfect. All we have to do is make sure no one else finds out. Banish the eunuch, the maid and the father.”
“Or kill them,” Vlad said through a clenched jaw.
“No, banish them and claim the baby as your own. You need an heir to the throne if you are going to be able to keep this human façade up for much longer. Plus this will stop the rumors that are quickly spreading that you are not able to have children. This is an excellent solution — for everyone.” Sergiu appeared to be proud of himself.
Vlad was skeptical; killing them still sounded like the best option.
“Her story is not unlike the story of your youth. You had once secretly planned to marry as soon as you were more stable. What if the Lady Vallachia had been captured and forced into a harem?”
“She was taken from me!”
“Fair enough. I ask only that you put yourself in Jusztina’s place. It should not be too difficult, since this is much like your past.”
Vlad studied Jusztina’s lovely tear-stained face. She glanced between Vlad and Sergiu with wide brown eyes — wondering what they were saying — wondering what her fate would be. She reminded Vlad of Mari, in some ways. He took a deep breath.
Sergiu heard Vlad’s heart slow. “Good. Let me speak with her. Please — stay back.” He knelt down beside Jusztina again. “We have a proposition for you, my dear. If you tell us the names of everyone who knows about your infidelity then no harm will come to them or you. The only thing you must do in return is to let it be known that the baby is Vlad’s. As long as you keep this nasty business a secret, all will be well.”
“What will happen to the father and the guard ... and my maid?”
“They will be banished, yet unharmed. You have my word.”
“I don’t have a choice, do I?”
“I am afraid not, my dear.”
Jusztina slowly got to her feet with Sergiu’s help. She looked Vlad directly in the eyes for the first time throughout this entire ordeal. “Do I have your word, none of us will be harmed?”
With his arms crossed firmly in front of his bare chest, Vlad nodded his agreement.
Chapter 53 Wallachia 1458 A.D
The following morning, after Vlad had fully calmed down, he decided that this was a grand opportunity. He was fond of the idea that people would think that the child was his. He and Sergiu sat in their favorite place, the tower at the Poienari castle.
“
How is it that you always know when to intervene?” Vlad asked.
“I have told you before. It is my job to keep an eye on you and that fierce temper of yours. I do not want you to do something out of anger that you will regret for the rest of your life.”
“Thankfully you have always been there for me. You are my voice of reason when all reason leaves me.”
It was back to work. Vlad had the sultan’s emissaries to drain of blood and impale on the front lawn — all in a day’s work. This would be the start of war with the Ottomans. By putting off payment as long as possible, Vlad had managed to postpone his true intentions until the fall. After today it would become clear to Mehmed that Vlad would no longer be his vassal. However, the sultan’s army was known to be fair-weather fighters. They would most likely not attack until spring at this point. It was entirely too difficult to feed a large army on the move in the winter. Not to mention, the sultan’s men grew more impatient and irritable when they were cold and hungry. They would not come in full force until winter had passed. This would give Vlad even more time to prepare.
After the sultan’s men were suspended in the air in front of the compound in Targoviste, Vlad sent Abdullah to take as many of the Janissaries as he thought he needed to Giurgiu. They were to take control of the strategic border crossing from the Ottomans. Abdullah was to leave a handful of vampires there to keep watch over the Ottoman lands to the south.
A couple of nights later Vlad summoned Ilona to his bed. One might think he would have learned that women are trouble — he had not. As soon as he bid Ilona to enter, she ran to him and buried her head in his chest.
“What is the matter?”
Vlad’s chest grew wet with Ilona’s tears. Something must be terribly wrong. Did someone die? “What it is?” he asked again.
“It is not fair,” she managed.
“What is not fair?”
“Jusztina, she is to bear your child, when it is I who wants your children more than anything!”
“Ah, I see. Well, God works in mysterious ways.” It seemed like the correct thing to say. Although Vlad knew God had nothing to do with Jusztina’s pregnancy or with why Ilona was not with child.
“I’m scared, Vlad. What if it is me? What if I can’t have children? You will lose interest in me entirely. You will find another Kadin and perhaps even marry her.” The tears fell faster and harder. Ilona buried her face in her hands and sobbed.
Vlad took a blanket and wrapped it around her to protect her from his coldness. He sat with her on the bed and held her tight.
“You have no need to worry about that. I will not lose interest in you. You are faithful and that is worth all the children in the world.”
These words slowed her tears.
Women are overly emotional about such affairs, he thought with no small degree of irritation.
“If I were to have your son, then perhaps you would make me your wife. Now you will marry Jusztina, especially if the baby is a boy.”
Oh no, not the marriage talk again. Ilona wanted very much to become Vlad’s new wife. “I promise you that I will not marry Jusztina.” Marrying an unfaithful woman who most likely despised him sounded like hell on earth.
Vlad held Ilona close and ran his fingers through her thick blond hair until she fell asleep out of emotional exhaustion. He, of course, was wide wake. His thoughts strayed to the fact that he should allow Ilona to marry another, so that she could have the children she desired. She was a lovely woman and still young enough, barely twenty. Surely a widower in town would gladly marry her. Since she was a concubine and therefore no longer a virgin, her choices would be limited. But still Vlad could find her a man who would provide for her. He grew tired of thinking about women and all the problems that came with them. Being careful not to disturb Ilona, he slipped away and headed for the armory. Pounding on metal always helped to clear his head.
While he made a handful of scimitars it became clear that he would not let Ilona go. She was his. Unlike Vallachia, he did not have to compete with the Prince of Vampires to win her affections. With or without a eunuch guard, Ilona was devoted to him and he could not stand the thought of her married to another.
Ilona was still wrapped tight in the blanket on his bed when he returned. He gently lay beside her. When he woke she was staring at him. A smile crept across her face.
“I’m glad to see you are feeling better,” he said.
“It is because it has come to me.”
Vlad shook his head in confusion.
“I know what we must do. We must pray! If we repent for our sins, then perhaps God will be merciful and give us a child.”
Vlad rolled away from her. He had not prayed since he was a human and even then it was because Vallachia seemed to think that it would help ... somehow. Even as children she would guide him in how to “properly pray.” What a terrible joke — it had all been for naught.
Besides, what could young, innocent Ilona possibly have to repent for? Perhaps she had impure thoughts about a boy next door when she was fifteen. That would require extra days of fasting at Pascha. Vlad could almost hear a bishop telling her this. What a load of shit. No amount of praying would ever give him the ability to have children. Though for the first time, he wished he could, only to make Ilona happy. He would do most anything to please her.
“Please, Vlad! This is why we have not conceived. We must have done something to anger God.”
Vlad rolled over to stare at her with his devilish smile. “I am afraid, my dear, that my sins are too great to ever be forgiven.”
“No. That is not true! God forgives all sins.”
In that instant, Ilona reminded him of Vallachia more than ever — her beautiful innocence and her religious rhetoric. Vlad had had enough. He rose to his feet. “God does not exist!”
A tear ran down her cheek. “How could you say such a thing?”
“If there was a God, then He would never allow creatures such as us — me to exist.”
Ilona held her hands to her face to hide the tears. Her shoulders jerked with each sob.
Thankfully Abdullah barged in unannounced, interrupting this conversation that was only growing worse by the moment.
“I’m terribly sorry, Master but it is the sultan’s men — they are marching toward Giurgiu.” He spoke low and in Turkish so Ilona would not have understood even if she could have heard him.
“How many?”
“Only a couple hundred. It does not appear to be a full-scale attack. Mehmed is most likely concerned with reclaiming the strategic border crossing before winter is fully upon us.”
“Inform all my Janissaries that we will take flight for Giurgiu at once — it is feeding time.”
With a smile and a nod Abdullah was off.
Vlad moved to the chest that held his armor. He fastened a shiny dragon-embellished breastplate to his chest
“You are going to war?” Ilona whispered.
He kissed her forehead. “I won’t be long. Don’t worry about me.” As he left, her sobs turned to grief-stricken wails. He disliked leaving her in such a state.
Chapter 54 Wallachia 1458 A.D
As the sultan’s men approached, Vlad stood at the top of the Giurgiu tower with Abdullah on his right and Cosmin and Costel on his left. The already-cool fall breeze blew across them. Costel’s fangs protruded from his lips.
The sun was setting when the sultan’s army finally drew near. This was ideal, as not having the sun in their eyes would make the vampires more comfortable. When the enemy reached the border crossing, Vlad and his small band of men were waiting at the southern entrance. There were over sixty in Vlad’s vampire army. Some held torches and some held crimson flags inlaid with the white Draculesti family dragon. The previous Ottoman guards, who had manned the tower before Vlad took control, had been impaled along the main road as a greeting for the approaching army.
As soon as the enemy was within human earshot Vlad stepped forward and yelled in a powerful voice, “Why d
oes this army march on my border crossing?”
The man who stepped forward as the leader wore a large black mustache, much like Vlad’s. He moved gracefully — too gracefully. Vlad gave Abdullah a knowing look.
“They call me Mustapha,” the Ottoman leader declared. “I am the sultan’s new seraskier. We are here to see to it that this fort remains under the sultan’s command, blessings be upon him. It is a relief to see that you are here in the flesh, Vlad the Impaler. That way when I kill you, your people will easily be subdued under a new voivode. One who will, of course, serve the mighty sultan. This will also save us a full-fledged war in the spring. Think of all the lives I will save by killing you tonight?”
“Only a coward of a ruler does not personally lead his men into battle. Why is your precious sultan not here? Is he hiding behind his harem, or perhaps the little boys he truly favors?” That was enough talk. With a hand signal from Vlad his archers rained arrows down upon the enemy.
Many of them were able to take cover under their shields. They had expected this predictable first line of attack.
Vlad advanced and his men followed. His sights were set on Mustapha. Without a doubt he was the biggest threat. Only the best became seraskiers of the sultan’s army and he was young and new. Vlad had a growing suspicion he was not human. It was easy to find Mustapha amongst the colliding armies, because Mustapha was also seeking Vlad. Their swords rang out as they met with great force. No human could have stopped such a blow. Mustapha’s and Vlad’s eyes met briefly in a moment of recognition — neither of them was human. Worry flashed across Mustapha’s face.
Vlad issued his wicked smile. “Finally, a real fight.”
Vlad’s attack was fierce. It took Mustapha a moment to gain his footing but eventually he was able to do more than simply block Vlad’s mighty swings. Mustapha was not bad but Vlad was better. Their swords collided numerous times until Vlad found his opportunity. He thrust his sword deep into Mustapha’s side. It was the perfect swing, landing between the front and back plates of his armor. Vlad kicked his opponent’s sword out of his hands as Mustapha fell to his knees. Vlad removed his sword from Mustapha’s side with a kick to the chest and a twist of the wrist. This was so the sword would do more damage on the way out. Mustapha landed hard on the ground with a moan. He grabbed his side. Vlad moved in to sever his head, as two men attacked Vlad from either side. They were human and Vlad easily thwarted their advances.
Of Princes and Dragons: Book 2 (Lords and Commoners) Page 21