She walked towards the back door again, realizing she could see a strange object behind the open door. Closing it she saw that it was in fact an aged mirror and in its distorted tinted reflection she saw herself for the first time since she’d escaped. Her auburn hair was speckled with leaves and dirt and the formerly white chemise hung loosely over her skinny form. She looked tired and gaunt and disheveled and there was blood spatter across her face and under her nose. She gazed down and saw that her bare feet were muddy, as was the rim of her shirtdress. Her fingernails were broken and torn from trying to escape as well as blackened from digging the grave. The enormity of what she’d gone through struck her and tears filled her eyes again and began cascading down her face before she could blink. She screamed in anguish and frantically started patting the dirt from her hair. She went outside to the well and dipped her hands in the bucket, vigorously scrubbing them clean and rinsing her face. After she had calmed, she decided to warm some and take a proper bath.
When she was done she put on some of the old man’s clean but oversized clothing and crawled into his bed. She laid her head on his pillow and smelled him clearly. He had a scent of the woods about him: pine resins mixed with rosemary and apples with honey, which she found comforting. She buried herself deep under the covers and slept as well as she could manage. She was safe here; no one ever bothered with the ailing, blind groundsman. She doubted they would even notice he was dead.
She woke up at dusk, as was her habit, a little startled at first until she remembered what had happened and where she was. She sat up on the bed and wondered what to do next. She knew her only options were to either run away or return to the castle and find out what they had discovered about the Countess and about her. She wanted to get to the journals before they fell into the wrong hands.
Read the rest here.
Author’s Note
Erzsébet Báthory is one of the most widely discussed and studied persons in history and is surrounded by mystery, inaccuracy, myth and speculation. When I started this project I was somewhat apprehensive about tackling this great and often overused personality but her lure was too strong to ignore.
Under more mundane investigation Báthory was “simply” a Hungarian noble woman trying to play the hand life that had dealt her. Living in a very treacherous and ever-changing landscape of war and religious upheaval, she worked hard to run her family properties and make enough money to stay afloat. Despite my more flamboyant descriptions in the book, the truth is that Báthory often struggled with cash flow despite her vast landownership, especially after her husband Ferenc Nádasdy died and the proceeds from his wars dried up.
The 16th and 17th centuries were a tumultuous time in central Europe and Hungary in particular. Besides attacks from the Turks on account of their expansive policy during this time, the Countess also faced attacks from Hajduks (outlaws akin to highway men) as well as the Imperial forces sent to protect her lands. The Imperial armies would often loot and pillage the areas they were meant to be protecting thus depleting the Countess’s already scant resources. In terms of religion, this was also a time of upheaval as Protestantism was on the rise and many States were trying to break away from the hold of the Catholic Church. Báthory's indictment was probably a way of controlling the Calvinist and outspoken Countess who, though loyal to the Crown, did not shy away from voicing her discontent when she felt like it.
The money owed to her by the Crown, her enticing properties, as well as her unsavory religion were more than enough reason to want to do away with her and seize her land, especially in a time when a single woman was a relatively easy target, noble or otherwise. However, even if her demise was simply a conspiracy on the part of the Crown it seems a particularly elaborate one considering that at the time disgracing someone and appropriating their wealth was a common occurrence. By the time of her condemnation a total of over 300 witnesses had come forward and spoken against her including some from Vienna where she shared a house with another member of the nobility. Apparently, neighboring monks were upset to hear blood curdling screams coming out of her property.
It is more than likely that at the time of the attacks Erzsébet Báthory suffered a nervous breakdown which brought about her abhorrently criminal behavior. Whether she murdered 200 or 600 girls is unknown but I am in no doubt that she had a serious sadistic streak.
As for her accomplices, besides the ones I mention in the book such as Ilona Jó, Anna Darvolya (or Darvulia) and the boy Ficzkó, there were some others which I chose not to involve to avoid confusion. Katalin was also coincidentally the name of one of Báthory’s daughters and I thought it nice to give this name to my (fictional) Katalina who I see as her child in Affliction.
In closing I hope you will permit me the odd purposeful anachronism such as the precise time keeping by way of the chapel bells, the use of clotheslines or the fact that I neglected to mention the existence of the Manor House in Csejthe to name a couple. A certain artistic license is necessary in works of Historical Vampire Fiction and though I tried to be as historically accurate as I could, the story always had to come first.
I sincerely hope that you enjoyed this book and were enchanted by my world of Affliction.
About the Author
Thank your for purchasing and reading my book. If you liked it, I would appreciate it very much if you would take the time to write a glowing review on Amazon.
If you would like more information about me or to get in touch please visit www.bloodygoodfiction.com
For updates about future book releases and stories join my mailing list here.
You can find the second book in the Affliction Series here, and you read the first chapter on the next page.
Acknowledgments
My thanks go to my family and in particular my loving sister Marina Doritis for her enthusiasm for this project.
To my friends and beta readers and especially to my beta reader and friend Marinka Krel for her unending support and encouragement.
Special thanks go to my editors Stephen Parolini for making the book sparkle and Eve Merrier for making sure that no character was left sitting when they
should have been standing.
Rights
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form (including any digital form) other than this in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The right of Romina Nicolaides to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
ISBN: 978-0-9931090-1-0
Version 2.3
Published by Romina Nicolaides 2014
Copyright © Romina Nicolaides 2014
Bathory's Secret: When All The Time In The World Is Not Enough (Affliction Vampires Book 1) Page 29