Chapter 2

The trip from Lupu to Targoviste was not a short one. It would be well into midday before they arrived, even by horse. That left them with little to do as they rode. They couldn't push the horse at a gallop the whole way either. Not if they expected to ride without the beast collapsing. It was frustrating, but neither complained.

It was several hours after they left Lupu and nearing dawn before the young man finally calmed enough to speak. "Can you answer a few questions for me?"

Cora had been lost in thoughts of her own, so she jumped at the sudden sound of his voice. She hid the action by turning to look over her shoulder. "Why do you need to ask me questions?"

Adrian glared at her quick rebuttal. "Has anyone ever told you that you are extremely cagey?"

She didn't bother looking back again as she replied. "Well, that is what happens when ninety percent of the population you meet wants to kill you just for existing."

He scoffed. "Don't you think that is a bit of an exaggeration? Not even that much of the population wants to see my father dead."

Cora turned just enough to glare at him from the corner of her eye before she turned back around. She didn't bother responding, so silence descended once again. At least for a few minutes. Apparently, Adrian wasn't quite ready to give up yet. "You said my mother told the bishop that you were a boy that she let stay with her in exchange for your help. Is that true?"

Cora sighed as she looked back once again. "Which part?"

Adrian glared at her. "All of it."

She turned back around and shrugged. "Yes, she really told them that. Yes, I really stayed with her for most of the last week. Yes, she gave me a bed and food in exchange for my help with finding herbs and mixing compounds and such."

There was a brief silence after that before he spoke once more. "And the rest?"

She gave him a frown over her shoulder. "What rest?"

She barely heard him whisper the word 'cagey' under his breath. At least it was low enough that she could pretend she hadn't heard him. He didn't ask any more questions after that, so silence fell once again. It was not until dawn had crested the horizon that Cora spoke up.

"I don't know what the church will do if they think that anyone from the village is involved in this, so it might be best if you can find a way to hide that head of yours while we search."

"Excuse me?"

She could hear how affronted he was, but she ignored it as she continued. "Your hair is like a beacon. Plus, you look a lot like your mother. If they recognize you, it would be bad. Mostly, I just need you there to get her out of the city and to safety."

There was a long pause before he spoke in a harsh voice. "You sound as though you have a plan."

She finally looked back once more. "I do."

He stared at her for several seconds. When that was all she said, he finally growled. "Then what is it?"

Cora sighed. She couldn't blame the man for wanting to make sure his mother was in good hands. "Look, as long as I have a good idea of where they are holding her, I can get it without being seen, get her out of the cell, and then back out. The plan actually depends on them seeing me."

He sat back in the saddle with a start. "What? That's suicide! Plus, it endangers my mother!"

Cora ignored his outburst and shook her head. "I know you don't know me, but I'm not a fan of walking into a death trap, so trust that I want to keep my skin intact, at least. They need to see my face because they saw me at her house and know that I am nothing more than a vagabond. I have no connection to Lupu, so none of the villagers will be implicated. As long as you aren't spotted, you can take her after I get her out, and no one will get hurt."

There was another long pause before he finally spoke again. "You sound confident that you can get the both of you out unscathed."

She only nodded. By that point, she was once again going through a mental inventory of everything she had with her and what all she would need. When Adrian realized he wasn't going to get any more information from her, he shrugged and focused on the road once more.

Once they got within sight of the gates of Targoviste, Adrian stopped the horse and pulled out his cloak before they continued. He agreed with the waif in front of him enough to recognize the wisdom in not implicating the village. His mother would not want to be saved if their lives were cut short in the process.

They managed to make it into the city with little trouble. Once they were in, they made their way to the central square where the church was. It was an imposing structure that had several sections annexed onto the side with walkways or simply separate wings. Searching the place from the outside was not only daunting, but it could prove to be fruitless. He clenched his jaw as he led the way to an alley on the far side.

He then picked up his horse's hoof, as though to inspect it for stones while they looked around to see if any others were watching them. When they were both fairly sure that the rest of the crowd was too involved in their own petty troubles to pay the two of them any mind, Adrian tied the horse to the closest post before they slipped into the alley.

The one they used was not directly adjacent to the church, so they had to slip around before they could get to where they needed to be. Once they were behind the church, Adrian stopped and looked at his companion. He was about to speak but didn't get a chance to.

Cora had already headed off with her head low and focused on the base of the building. She wasn't sure if they would have traditional dungeons in a church, but given how often these assholes took in people to stone, or burn or some other archaic, bigoted bullshit, she was pretty sure they had to have something similar.

She only glanced back at the much taller man once when he came up on her heels. She kept her voice low. "Look for low windows or bars. Anything that might indicate an area underneath the buildings where they might be keeping prisoners."

He nodded once and moved to one of the buildings on the other side to do as she was. It was nearly a half-hour later before their search yielded anything. They had both found evidence of areas underneath the outer buildings, but none of them held the woman they were looking for. Not that they were empty. Most held half-dead prisoners, or others that were so despondent, they didn't even realize someone was looking down at them. The shadow over the small window was barely noted before Cora or Adrian moved on.

Adrian was shocked at the number of people they found. Though, he did have to admit that he at least felt validated in listening to this stranger's odd demands now that they found these people. That didn't keep him from getting frustrated when they still hadn't seen his mother, and it was getting later into the afternoon. The longer they spent looking, the likelier they were to be caught. That would accomplish nothing but trouble.

He was checking one more set of low windows when he heard a voice call out. He almost didn't recognize it due to the hoarseness. "Adrian, is that you?"

He was instantly on his knees and gripping the bars. "Mother!?"

Lisa stumbled up from the dirty straw, and Adrian snarled at the sight of her. Her beautiful hair had already been shorn unevenly, and she had a bruise across one cheek. There was blood on her chin from a split lip. Still, her voice was frantic as she called to him. "You must leave before anyone sees you! They will know you are my son. If they think anyone from the village has come to help, there will be trouble, and I cannot stand the thought of them taking you. Nor would I want you to hurt any of them on my behalf. They don't understand what they are doing."

Adrian fought back a growl. "They don't care. Why should I?"

Lisa shook her head sadly. "Because you know better. You know I would not want any lives taken. Not even for mine. I know what this will do to your father. You must go to him. Help him understand!"

They were both shocked when a third low voice interrupted. "Lisa, I don't want you to take this the wrong way, but that's bullshit. From what I know already, these bigoted assholes will cause a lot of innocent lives to be lost. That is what won't be worth it."

Lisa blinked up at the cloaked shadow next to her son. "C-Cora?"

Adrian looked at her from the corner of his eye as his mother called her name. "I knew you weren't a boy."

Cora gave him a look that clearly questioned his intelligence before she turned back to Lisa. "Look, I don't necessarily agree that these men don't deserve whatever is coming to them, but I will still make a deal with you. If I promise to get you out without killing anyone, will you come with me quietly and leave with your son? I swear I have a plan that will ensure no one from the village will get hurt."

Lisa gave her a confused look for several moments. "You can do that? You would promise me that?"

Cora nodded once. "On my life. I will kill no one. I will even keep injuries to as few as possible. The only thing I want is to get you to safety."

After a few seconds, Lisa's shoulders slumped as she gave the girl a sad smile. "I knew there was more to you than you let people see."

Cora pulled her hood further forward to completely hide her face from the other two, and her voice took on a gruffer quality. "It would be best if I could wait until nightfall. Do I have time?"

Lisa immediately tensed at her question. "I don't think so. I was told they are preparing the pyre now."

Adrian watched the entire exchange with interest. This girl was unlike any he had known before, but at the moment, he was more worried about his mother. That one sentence had his skin crawling, and the string of curses that came from the tiny woman next to him summed up what he felt well enough.

She looked up once, and then around before she dropped down to speak to Lisa once more. "It may take me about forty minutes to get back to where you are inside. I should be able to get the lock with no problem, it will be getting us both out that will be the hard part. I have a plan for that, though. I just need you to be ready as soon as I'm there."

Lisa gave her a nod. Cora then turned to Adrian. "I will bring her out the back. Be there with the horse, but keep your hood up until you are out of town. No one can see you. Got it?"

Adrian wanted to growl at this slip of a girl. He did not like the fact that he was ensuring his mother's escape to her, and he definitely did not like taking orders. However, he knew he could not go in, or men would die. That was the whole reason his mother wanted him to leave in the first place. She didn't even want to be responsible for the deaths of these pieces of shit.

He finally sighed and nodded. "I will be ready to take her to the horse and get the hell out of here. How long will you need?"

Cora thought for a moment. "Forty minutes to get to her, and less than half that time to get out. Any more and that means we're in trouble."

Lisa spoke up quietly. "If there is trouble, do not wait."

Cora clenched her jaw once but nodded. "She's right. I won't let them take me alive, and she's hell-bent on letting them live one way or another. If we aren't back in an hour, then you should leave."

Both of the Țepeșes looked at her as though she had lost her mind. She ignored them as she stood and secured her pack over shoulders, so she would have her hands free. Once that was done, she gave Adrian one last nod before she shocked him by jumping up and scaling the building using the small window ledges and outcroppings before she shimmied into a partially open upper window.

He stared at the empty space for several seconds before his mother spoke once more. "Have faith, Adrian. She is far more resourceful than you might assume, and I have only known her for a short time. I have a feeling there is quite a bit about that young woman yet to learn."

He knelt to see her one last time. She gave him a smile. "I'll see you soon." He didn't trust himself to answer verbally, so he nodded and turned to go figure out the best way to ensure they would be able to leave undetected once the women were out.

Cora kept to the shadows as she searched for the stairs to the basement. She had no doubt that it would have some sort of guard, places like that usually did. That meant she was going to have to figure out how to get past them. Getting out would be the easy part. She wanted to be seen then. Getting in was going to be the bitch. At least her cloak helped her blend in here as much as it did in the streets. The bishop had sneered at what he thought was a tattered rag, but Cora kept it that way on purpose. The mottled mix of greys meant she wasn't easily seen if she didn't want to be.

When she made it to the bottom of the stairs, she nearly panicked. The room that she had to pass through to get to the cells had no less than four men in it that were arguing. She hung back and listened for a minute as she tried to formulate a plan. Turned out, she got lucky. Sort of.

The pyre for Lisa was nearly finished, and one of them was trying to argue to go ahead and take the woman up. The rest wanted to wait until the allotted time, as they had initially been told by the bishop. Cora just needed them to leave. At least most of them. She could handle one, but not all four.

She was so worried about the problem that she almost missed it when the argument abruptly ended, and all but one of the men headed back up the stairs. She raced back up and hid around a corner until they were gone before she snuck back down. She was just glad the one left was more worried about the people in the cells than anything outside them. It made it easy to knock him out with the hilt of one of her daggers.

From there, it was quick work to find the cell that Lisa was being held in. Despite having told Adrian to have faith, Lisa was still a little shocked to see Cora outside her cell. Even more so when the young woman managed to work the lock free in less than a minute. That did make her wonder what the girl's usual profession was but now wasn't the time. She also made short work of the chains bound around her wrists.

Once Lisa was free, Cora helped her stand and steadied her. "Can you run if we need to?"

Lisa gave her a nod. "Yes, it's not even been a day. They haven't broken any bones."

Cora clenched her jaw. That fact shouldn't have even needed to be specified, prisoner or no. Still, she had promised to keep violence to a minimum. She grabbed Lisa's arm. "Alright, stay close to me. If I say run, then run like hell is on our heels."

Lisa watched with interest as Cora pulled her bag around and pulled out what looked like several clay containers. "What are those?"

Despite the tense atmosphere, Cora grinned back at her. "I did say I would show you later. I guess it's just a little later than I thought it would be."

Lisa wasn't quite sure how to respond but wasn't given a chance as the girl replaced the bag across her shoulders and headed out of the cell. By that point, a few of the others had noticed what was going on. Most of them gave the passing women looks that ranged from disgust to despondence. None of them thought they would make it far.

Only one of the prisoners made any noise. It was a young woman, not much older than Cora. She was gripping the bars and begging. "Please, take me with you!"

Lisa grabbed Cora's arm. The young woman looked back with hard eyes. "I can't get you both out. If I try, we all fail."

Lisa's eyes softened. She didn't need to say anything before Cora cursed under her breath and turned to the weeping woman. "Look, I need you to shut the hell up right now. I can't get you out. Period." The woman dropped to her knees and looked like she had been slapped, but Cora ignored her as she continued. "That doesn't mean you're helpless. I can open this cell and take off your chains. You're welcome to follow me if you can keep your mouth shut and your head down. After that, you're on your own. Got it?"

The woman was on her feet instantly, and Cora didn't waste any time. She set her little balls to the side as she worked open the cell and then the woman's bindings. She then gave the woman one last hard look. "Keep your mouth shut, and don't lose me. If you do, I can't help you."

The woman gave her a nod as the three of them fell into line. When they made it to the room where Cora had left the unconscious guard, Cora placed her finger over her lips and motioned for the other two to stay back while she checked. The man was still on the floor, but she doubted he would be for long. She motioned for the others to follow her with another motion to keep their silence.

Their luck held until they made it to the top of the stairs. Right after they all three were up, the other three men, along with two more, were headed back down the hall. Cora had no doubt it was to get Lisa. They were about to be sorely disappointed.

She pushed the two women toward the far end of the hall and told them to get back. She had purposely let her hood fall when she did so, and one of the men in the group had been with the bishop when they went to get Lisa. He recognized her immediately. "Hey! You're that little brat from Lupu!"

Cora just grinned at him. She hadn't spoken previously, and she didn't now. She knew her voice would give her gender away, and she wanted to keep them guessing a little, at least as long as she could. Instead, she took one of her clay balls and struck it against the stone wall. It wasn't hard enough to break it, but it caused a spark, as though the part that hit had a flint. No one but Lisa noticed that fact, as Cora then threw the ball at the approaching men.

She didn't stick around to see the results. When she turned and saw that neither woman had run, she nearly cursed again, but she just yelled instead. "Run!"

Lisa's eyes widened as a plume of smoke instantly filled the hall behind Cora, completely hiding the men from view. She heard them coughing as Cora held an arm over her own face and grabbed Lisa as she passed.

That was all it took to break the women from their stupor. They raced passed several more shocked brothers, most of which were too stunned to try and stop them. The one time any of them tried to follow, Cora once again threw down one of her clay balls that made smoke. It was a blessed relief when they burst out of the back doors.

As soon as they were out, the unknown woman turned to Cora and started crying. The girl didn't waste time peeling her off. "Look, now is not the time. If you want to thank me, then get the hell out of here and find a better place to live."

The woman looked taken aback for a moment but nodded as she ran off. As soon as she was gone, Cora was looking around for Adrian. She finally saw him coming in from one of the other alleys, but unfortunately, the brothers had rallied as well. Several of them came pouring out of the door, and Cora knew they didn't have much time. She caught his eye from across the way and pushed Lisa toward him. She yelled out so he would hear. "Get her out of here!"

Adrian saw it all unfolding in slow motion. He knew the girl, Cora, would not be able to fight off the brothers. He could already tell she was willing to make that sacrifice, so his mother could get away. He didn't understand why, but it was clear to see. He growled under his breath as he pulled his hood up tighter and flashed across to where both women were. He didn't even bother saying anything before he placed an arm around each of them and flashed away again. None of the men had time to realize they were even gone before they were several alleys over and being placed on a horse.

Cora's stomach was still back behind the church, as was her brain. It wasn't until Adrian was placing her on the horse with Lisa that she realized what he must have done. Her first instinct was to yell at him for touching her without permission, but as she saw the way he was looking at his mother, she swallowed that down. Instead, she pulled her hood up a little more and lowered her head as she spoke quietly. "Thank you."

Adrian stopped in his tracks as he was trying to lead the horse away from danger. He looked back with wide eyes that softened when he saw her posture. His mother gave him a smile that he returned before he finally answered. "It is I who should be thanking you. But we can worry about that once we are out of this city."

A/N: We get to see a little more about Cora, but I think it makes more questions, what do you think? :) We also get to see a little of how her relationships with the Tepeses will unfold. It promises to be fun. I'm just happy that Lisa is alive, how about you? Thanks for reading!