Hey!
Sorry, it has taken this long to update. I first had that awful math test I needed to study, then I made a little Batman one-shot fic, and then I had a writer's block! But now I am back and hopefully things will go smoothly again.
Big thanks for Lord Makura and Irena for reviewing the last chapter.
Disclaimers: see previous chapters.
CHAPTER 8: JOURNEY
The journey to Scholomance was long and hard. Transylvania was rumoured to have spies from both House of Danesti and the Sultan's court. Since the existence of Scholomance was to be kept secret, it wouldn't do good to have any of the spies to follow them. Which was exactly the reason Istvan Bathory disliked Vlad's presence.
"The Sultan wants to kill you for escaping from his father's grasp. Danestis want to kill you because you are from the Basarab line. Having you with us is like carrying a bloody pile of meat in a forest full of wolves and bears" the young knight of Bathory line muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear.
Vlad often entertained himself with images of Istvan falling down from a cliff, being surprised by a hungry wolf while relieving himself behind some bush or just accidentally walking right through his own sword. The idea made a strange smile on Vlad's face.
"Lord Bathory, you should not speak of such things. I think Lord Dracula is being tempted to see you walking right through your own sword" spoke a female voice from the carriage.
For a moment a face of a young woman peeked out of the carriage, mischief smile on her face and her eyes always so shockingly blue. Since the beginning of the journey Vlad hadn't know what to make of Isabel Mortte. The young woman had a remarkable way of seeing things. Just looking someone's face was enough to reveal to her what the person in question was thinking or what kind of a mood he was having. Vlad wasn't at all comfortable with the idea of someone being able to see so much about him.
Especially since the woman in question was five years younger than him, and acted like a child sometimes.
"Lord Dracula, will you not speak to me? You have hardly said even two words to me during our journey. It is very rude to ignore a lady" Isabel said, still smiling innocently, though her eyes spoke volumes of other stories. Besides her in the carriage was only Isabel's personal maid; Monica.
"When a little girl who likes to taunt people around her grows up to be a lady, then I will speak to her" Vlad said, not turning from his horse to look to the carriage.
Isabel gave a dramatic sigh. "Fine, fine. Play the lonely wolf then, you boring old man" she said.
"Old?" Vlad couldn't help but speak out loud. That girl has no matters at all! And is Bathory laughing now? Damn them all…
--
Vlad and the others were only a day away from their destination, when the inevitable finally happened. A small group of Turks, who had secretly arrived to Transylvania, spotted them. Thankfully Vlad and Istvan noticed the Turks also and were able to take a lead in getting away.
Which of course did not buy them much time.
"Dracula! Those infidels are soon going to catch us. There is no way that with the carriage we could outrun them!" Istvan shouted from his horse.
"Can we fight them?" Vlad asked.
"No, there are too many. Just a two of use would not last long!"
Vlad's mind was making up ideas quickly. The years in Thrace has trained him quite well in being cunning. "Try to find a spot where we can stay hidden for a little while and get off our horses" Vlad instructed.
Istvan looked horrified. "Are you insane? They will no we are hiding! They are following our footprints!"
Vlad smirked. "I hope so! Otherwise this will not work!"
The group managed to find a place to hide themselves to behind a wall of rock. Vlad immediately jumped down from his horse and spoke to both Istvan and the driver of the carriage. "Quickly, get down and remove the shoes from your horses!"
"You are insane, Dracula. That will not help us anyway, it will only slow us down" Istvan sneered.
"Do you think I am stupid? Now get down here, take the shoes off and nail them backwards back!" Vlad shouted, already out of patience.
Although Istvan looked like he wanted to continue arguing, he realised that Vlad's plan was the only way to get out of this situation.
The shoes were taken off and put back faster than humanly possible. The two men sat on their horses again and with the carriage started moving forward, first making sure that the Turks were not able to see them. When they were positive it was safe to go on, the group moved with a speed that would make anyone believe the Devil himself was after them.
They didn't stop until the nightfall.
"Well, Dracula, it seems your crazy plan did work. If Turks were after us they would have catch us hours ago then. They must have gone to an opposite direction thinking they were following our tracks" Istvan said, while feeding his horse. "Still, if it was not for you, they would not have come after us in the first place" he added.
Vlad was tired and did not feel like listening to Istvan. He pondered for a moment if hitting Istvan would be worth of the trouble it would cause.
And once again, as if reading their mind, Isabel stepped in. She walked right in front of Vlad. Vlad had not realised how much shorter she was of him; Isabel's eyelevel was on his chest. The young woman raised her tiny hand up.
"Your plan saved us today, Lord Dracula. As a token of my appreciation, please accept this humble gift" she said, speaking very differently from before.
Vlad looked down to see that the humble gift was a very expensive looking diamond ring. He was about to refuse it, saying he had no use for such things, when from the corner of his eye, he noticed Istvan's expression. Although he tried to cover it, the young knight looked like he wanted to chop Vlad to pieces.
He is jealous, Vlad realised, jealous that she would thank me.
With a smile Vlad accepted the ring. "I shall treasure it, lady Mortte" he said while bowing a little.
And then it happened: Isabel, before turning back to her maid, gave a tiny smile. And Vlad suddenly felt like he had been truly rewarded.
--
During the sundown of the following day, the small group finally reached the School of Scholomance. The school was a military fortress hidden deep in the mountains, very hard to be found unless you knew what you were looking for. If someone discovered it by accident, the facility would claim that it is a former military fortress turned to a monastery.
When the group arrived to the fortress' yard they were greeted by an elder man with big beard and bigger waist. He commanded his servants to immediately take their horses to stables. Then the man, now with even bigger grin on his face, approached Isabel, his arms wide open, as the young woman walked to embrace him.
This was Professor Heinrich Mortte, Isabel's father.
Vlad watched the two of them for a while. The two of them looked nothing alike. She must be more like her mother, he thought.
Heinrich Mortte turned from her daughter to the two young men. "Which one of you is Istvan Bathory?" he asked pleasantly.
"I am, sir" Istvan said confidently.
Mortte turned to a man with priest's robes. "Escort Lord Bathory to inside and show him around. His room, facilities and so on…" he waved his hand. The priest nodded and went inside, followed by Istvan.
Then Mortte turned to Vlad. "And you must then be Vlad Dracula. I have heard quite stories of you, young man" he said.
Isabel smiled and whispered something to her father's ear. The older man's grin just grew bigger. "Oh? Saved you all from Turks, did he? It seems that you are indeed right man to look after my little Isabel" he declared.
Vlad stared the man for a moment. "Pardon, sir?"
"Why, yes, of course! You understand, don't you my boy? Isabel is going to spend the next couple years here with me, but I do not have time to watch after her constantly. That's why I needed someone trustworthy as you to do so" Mortte said.
This…Surely he is not serious…
"But, sir, you hardly even know me" Vlad said.
"True, boy, but that can be fixed while we spend much of time together. And Isabel already has faith in you. Besides, you are not here as one of the students like Bathory. You need an excuse if you want to stay around, so to speak" older man said cheerfully.
Vlad thought for a moment. He certainly had not envisioned such a role for himself but if it was the only way to stay and learn about what goes on in this fortress and what midians truly are, then it was not that much of a price to pay. Besides it will make Bathory look cross again.
"Very well, sir. Watching your daughter is an honour" he said, hoping his voice sounded honest enough.
"Good! And remember, if anything happens to her, you are responsible. If it comes to that I shall cut in half and send you to both Danestis and the Turks!" Mortte said, still grinning happily.
To be continued…
Historical changes: it is recorded that at some point of time, Vlad Dracula fooled some Turks who were chasing him by nailing his horse's shoes backwards and thus creating footprints that go to other way. I thought that adding such an interesting thing about his cleverness should appear in my story too.
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