Isabella jumped off the coach and looked up at the window, sensing she was being watched. Simon, who was still staring down at her, was startled as their eyes met. Simon’s fear was now confirmed. He knew that she knew exactly who he was and she had come for him. He let the curtain drop to block out her gaze and quickly tried to roust his family.
“Get up!” he shouted frantically. “We have to leave right now! She is here,” Simon’s wife looked up at him from her resting place and said through the tears that had suddenly started welling up in her eyes.
“Simon, it’s useless, we cannot escape from her.” Simon’s children, seeing their mother’s tears, started to cry themselves.
“We have to at least try, Tereza,” Simon said to his wife, “for the children’s sake,” he whispered.
“We will all die anyway if we carry on living like this.” Tereza’s conversation was interrupted by shouts and cries coming from downstairs. The family could hear pleas for mercy which were silenced as suddenly as they had begun. Simon slumped down onto the bed and placed his face in his hands. He knew his wife was right; their running was finally over. His wife crept over to the side of the bed where her husband was sitting and placed her arms tightly around his waist. She pulled her body in close to his back, and she laid her head against his shoulders.
“Come over here, children,” Tereza summoned. Simon’s two children climbed over the bed to where their mother and father sat. They too pulled themselves in close, hugging their parents in desperation, hiding their faces in their parents’ arms. Simon gently held his wife’s hand and looked up at the door and waited for Isabella.
A few moments went by and Isabella threw open the door and even though Simon had expected her, he still quaked at her entrance. Isabella stood, bloody sword in hand, and stared at the family that was clutching each other. Simon used Isabella’s hesitation to his advantage and threw himself at her feet.
“Please, Isabella…please I beg of you. Kill me, but spare my wife and children…they had nothing to do with the death of Vlad. They are innocent.”
In response to Simon’s words, Tereza threw herself at Isabella’s feet and also began to beg, “I want to die with my husband, but my children, spare them! They did nothing,” Tereza pleaded.
“You all did nothing; that is the reason you all must die,” Isabella responded venomously. Isabella had killed perhaps a hundred Slovaks in the past week, but none of them had begged for the lives of their children in such a heart-rending fashion. She admired the courage of this couple and their disregard for their own safety. Their only thought was for the lives of their children. Isabella was touched, but still her resolve was strengthened—all the Slovaks must die. “Not one of you will live,” Isabella said.
Simon’s wife turned to her husband, held his face in her hands, and whispered, “I will always love you, Simon…always.”
“Simon,” Isabella enquired. “Is that your name?” Simon nodded. “Did you try to save Anna?” Isabella asked. Simon nodded again.
“He is a good man,” Tereza affirmed.
“That information it is of no relevance to me. What sort of man he is does not matter, but Anna felt that it was important. You will all die, but not tonight. I promise you will be the last to die. You will have more time than anyone else.”
“Thank you, thank you!” cried out Tereza.
“Do not thank me nor believe that I will forget about you. I have not spared you; I have just delayed the inevitable.”
“Thank you, all the same,” Simon added.
“You might as well stay here and have time with your children. Running is useless. Live well, as I will be back for you, I promise.”
Isabella left the room and the children ran to their parents. The family was grateful for this reprieve, even if they knew it was only temporary.
Isabella slaughtered the rest of the Slovaks, giving no one else the slight consideration she had shown Simon and Tereza. She returned to the inn six months later. The land was at the full brightness of day when she eventually arrived there. Isabella watched the family from a distance; the children were playing outside and their parents were watching them. Tereza was sitting with her new child in her lap and laughing while she was watching the rest of her family play. Simon soon saw Isabella but he did not alert the rest of his family. He let them enjoy what he thought was to be their last day on this earth. Isabella waited for nightfall and then crept into the family’s room. Simon had let them fall asleep in an unsuspecting peace. Simon himself did not sleep, but waited for Isabella, fully awake.
“Thank you, Isabella, these last months have been the happiest for us. If I could just ask one thing?” Simon asked, when Isabella silently entered the room.
“I have been more generous to you than anyone else. I gave you more life than you deserve,” Isabella answered.
“I know and I accept my fate willingly, but I will just ask one last time for you to spare the lives of my family.”
“I cannot,” Isabella replied.
“Then I would ask you, if you could make their deaths as painless as possible?” Isabella nodded in response. She approached the bed silently and looked at the mother with her children sleeping around her, unaware of the danger they all were in. Isabella turned back to Simon and said.
“Anna was right, you are a good man.”
“I am no better than the next,” Simon responded.
“You are wrong if you think that you know very little about the other men that occupy this world. There are very few men like you.” Isabella stood in silence for a moment and smiled and said, “I will not kill your family; I think I would come to consider such an act beneath me.” Simon threw himself at Isabella’s feet and kissed the hem of her skirt. “Get up,” Isabella demanded, “or I will change my mind,” she added sharply.
“You are as merciful as you are beautiful,” Simon whispered.
“Do not grovel at me,” Isabella commanded. “Stand up.” Simon stood. “You will give me your life freely?” Isabella asked.
“I will,” Simon responded and he pulled his shirt from around his shoulder to reveal a bare neck.
“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, I am not going to take your life. However, you must be punished. I want five years of loyal service from you. Your family will stay here, but you will come with me. I will give you a day to say your goodbyes. Meet me a mile down the road tomorrow night and I guarantee no harm will ever come to your family by my hand.”
Isabella watched as Simon approached her. He walked with a spring in his step; he looked almost enthusiastic. When he caught sight Isabella he started to run and kneeled before her.
“Stop that, I will not have you kneeling to me every time you see me,” Isabella commented, Simon stood. “Your wife, is she amenable with this arrangement?”
“I would not use the word amenable but consider the alternative, she realises it is a reprieve and a chance for our children.”
“Very well.”
“If I may ask, Isabella?”
“You may ask but be careful…I did not let you live because I felt pity for you.”
“What do you want from me?”
“Your loyalty.”
“You have it.”
“We’ll see,” Isabella said.
“What else?” Simon enquired.
“I need another pair of eyes. My revenge is only half complete. The English who hunted Vlad across Europe will suffer their worst fears to be realised.”
“How can I help you with that?”
“You can’t.”
“Then why do you need me”
“You will be home with your family long before my revenge even starts. I want the English to believe that it is over. I want their nightmares to stop and them to be sleeping easy in their beds before a Vampire enters their lives again. We will have to leave soon.”
“Where are we going?”
“To the new world… You will be travelling as my husband.”
“Your hus
band?”
“If I have learned anything it is that it is better to travel with a man posing as your husband. A woman alone with money attracts too much attention and I need to attract as little as possible.”
“You need me for this?”
“I need you to help me find someone.”
“Who?”
“Someone who will help me with my revenge.”
“What is so special about this person? How can he help you?”
“He is the last Vrolok.”
ALEXANDRU
THE DEFENDER OF MANKIND
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
After they had both conspired to punish Erzsébet, Isabella and Vlad travelled back to the castle together. Vlad was totally at ease with the recent events. As far as he was concerned he had protected his own and Isabella’s anonymity, and he had ensured that Erzsébet would not talk, and even if she did, people would presume it was the lunatic ravings of a deranged and aging woman. The pair had also ensured that Katalin was perceived to be without blame. Vlad, of course, did not care at all for Katalin, but he knew Isabella took her promise of loyalty very seriously and so he was vicariously pleased.
Isabella, however, was far from at ease with recent events. When she was awake she was haunted by the face of the mother of one of her own victims. When she slept the image of the mother’s face awakened her. She had to do something to rid herself of this new feeling, guilt.
“We succeeded….” Vlad said a few days after they returned.
“Yes I suppose we did,” Isabella answered.
“You don’t seem pleased.”
“I am… but…”
“But?”
“I saw a woman in the crowd at Bytča; she was there because she thought Erzsébet had killed her daughter, but it wasn’t Erzsébet: I killed her.”
“That is only one you recognised, I am sure there were more,” Vlad answered.
“I didn’t ask you,” Isabella responded. She hated to be told the brutal truth.
“I think you did.” Isabella stood and walked to the fire. Vlad had just confirmed what she had feared.
“How many do you think you have killed?” Isabella asked, looking for reassurance, but she would not find it here.
“I couldn’t possibly even begin to count,” Vlad answered. “Hundreds, maybe even thousands, and that is just when I was alive.”
“Be serious,” Isabella scolded.
“I am being serious…Isabella, you are a killer. You know that. You have known that for over a century. What you are has never disturbed you before.”
“Did you not find Erzsébet’s actions abhorrent?”
“I found her methods and her reasons abhorrent but not her actions. The sooner you realise that you are a creature similar to Erzsébet, the happier you will be.”
“I am nothing like her!” Isabella declared defiantly.
“Well if it is more palatable for you to believe that we are higher beings and humans are lower than us, then so be it. After all, does a human regret killing an animal for food? They don’t, not for an instant. Consider also how they killed Dorottya—those upstanding members of society, those humans. They gave her to the mob and watched and cheered as she burned at the stake. Isabella, have you even come close to inflicting that sort of pain on anyone?”
“We both have inflicted our share of pain,” Isabella answered.
“Not anything like that,” Vlad responded.
“Perhaps not.”
“Then rest easy, your conscience can be clear.”
“It’s not clear. It is far from clear!” Isabella said, still in the throws of this new torment. “It will never be clear.” Isabella started to pace the room, her arms folded. “There must be a way to ease it?” she said.
“You could stop killing, become old, suffer the pain that comes with age and starvation. Could you do that Isabella?”
Isabella threw Vlad a virulent look. Vlad and Isabella both knew she couldn’t. “I am not going to stop killing,” Isabella said. “I couldn’t stop. You know I get too much delectation from it,” she stated honestly.
“I’m glad to hear it,” Vlad responded. Isabella was trying to think of some way to ease her conscience. Then she had an idea. As far as she was concerned, it was perfect.
“I can kill only those who deserve to die.”
“Isabella, you can’t do it. How are you going decide who gets punished and who doesn’t?” Vlad questioned, trying to warn her not to start down a path that would never lead to any Vampire’s salvation.
“People who are guilty of brutal and malicious acts will be punished,” Isabella continued, ignoring Vlad’s warning.
“You won’t be able to do it… you will drive yourself mad.” Vlad rested his hand on Isabella’s shoulder, and she batted it away. The intimate moment they had shared in the Erzsébet’s castle was obviously long forgotten by Isabella.
“It will work, I will make it work. I will kill no one unless they deserve to die.”
“Did you deserve to die?” Vlad asked.
“What are you talking about?”
“You killed a man brutally and maliciously before you died. Was death a fitting punishment for you?”
“I had a right to kill, Peter.”
“You know that. But how could you have proved it to anyone else.”
“You are making this far more complicated than it needs to be,” Isabella responded, getting impatient with Vlad‘s constant questioning of her perfect idea.
“No. I am trying to show you how complicated it is and will be. It is a foolish notion, Isabella.”
Isabella started to walk quickly towards the door.
“Where are you going?” Vlad asked.
“Down to the village,” Isabella said, without looking back.
“To see Katalin, I presume, if ever a person deserved to die!” Vlad shouted after her. Vlad knew Isabella was an impetuous creature, going from one scheme to the next, not able to sit still for a moment. He would placate her in her new purpose. Perhaps even help her, but he knew it was impossible. After all, he had tried it as well.
Katalin was sitting with her mother crying like a baby, relaying the story with a few very notable exceptions. Isabella interrupted her alerting the pair to her presence.
“I hope you are telling your mother the whole truth,” said Isabella.
Katalin was struck silent and stopped telling her version of the story immediately. She did not want to be caught in another lie, not in front of her mother. She could have convinced anyone else, even her husband, that she was an innocent victim in anything, but not Isabella. “I will finish telling you later, mother,” Katalin spluttered nervously and left the room.
“I will finish it for you,” Isabella interrupted. Katalin’s mother looked up at Isabella. The old woman looked so frail she was near her death. Isabella softened. What good would it do to tell Gizella what her daughter had done?
“What did she do?” Katalin’s mother asked.
“Nothing that she wasn’t tricked into doing,” Isabella answered.
“Thank you for bringing her home,” Gizella answered.
“This is the second time she has come home to you but I believe this time she will stay,” Isabella answered.
“I hope so; she is my daughter, no matter what she has done.” Katalin’s mother knew there was more to the story than what she was being told.
“Well, I hope you enjoy her being home with you.” Isabella left Katalin’s mother and went into the other room to see Katalin.
“Tell your mother what you like, for I will not interfere,” Isabella began.
“Thank you.”
“Keep your thanks, I do not do it for you…I want to talk to you.”
“What about?
“Dorottya’s punishment. I have seen it before. But I thought it was just a sporadic act used by men of religion. Is this usual way to execute people?”
“It has been for some time now.”
“I have
never seen anything so nefarious.”
“Coming from you I think that is saying something,” Katalin quipped.
“Don’t be impudent. I will not tolerate it, especially from you. What is it a punishment for?”
“Anything. Mostly they accuse people of necromancy, but that is usually not the real reason, I have heard that there have been whole villages in which all the women have been killed in this way.”
“Someone else told me that before. Is it only women?”
“Mostly women.”
“What about the surrounding villages in Walachia, Moldavia?”
“It has not spread that far as of yet.”
“It won’t; I will make sure of it,” Isabella said firmly. Katalin who was always primarily concerned with her own well-being, asked, “What will happen to me?”
“Nothing. But I am going to give you a chance to atone.”
“Atone?”
“Don’t worry. I am not asking you to do much. I just want you to listen and watch out for me.”
“Listen and watch out for what?”
“The wickedness in this world.”
“Wickedness?”
“Yes, I will not tolerate the wicked anymore, especially these burnings. I will not rest until I have rid my land of this maleficent punishment.” Katalin was bewildered by the Vampire that stood before her.
“Why are you doing this Isabella?” Katalin said now curious.
“I want to atone. Those villagers who burned Dorottya and Ilona—if they knew what I am guilty of—they would have burned me, not that it would have done any good.” Isabella sat silently for a moment and then Katalin began to speak again.
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