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CHAPTER 11: RULE OF TEPES

Targoviste, Wallachia 1456

Vlad III Dracula, Prince of the house of Basarab and Duke of Wallachia, looked at the people in the same dinner table he was sitting at. They were all men of wealth and power, rulers and boyars in Wallachia and Transylvania. It had been few days now since he had taken control in Wallachia. He had people's support with him and also powerful men in Hungary were vouching for him. King Janos Hunyadi had died and Hungary was currently under power struggles. Stefan had moved with Vlad to the court of Wallachia. Most of Danestis had been killed and the remaining ones had fled. And in a couple of days his wife Isabel would be joining him. But first there were many things to be settled.

Vlad rose from his seat. "Gentlemen, thank you for accepting my invitation for this humble dinner" he said, while indicating the impressive amount of food on the table. Some of the men laughed. "Most of you probably knew my father, Vlad Dracul. Most of you were his supporters back in the days".

One boyar raised his goblet of wine. "Dracul was a great man. And we expect his son to be a great man also. To Dracula!"

Other men raised their goblets also and declared loudly "To Dracula!"

Vlad had a small smile on his face, that of a child who knows he will get something good. "Thank you. But before you all start to celebrate, there is a certain matter I think we need to discuss. Loyalty. You supported the Danestis, my father and before him my uncle. Now, when your loyalty changes so much, I am finding myself with a difficult time of trusting you" he said.

The table was suddenly very quiet.

One man chuckled uneasily. "Our lord jests with us. If he would truly have any doubts about us he would not have invited us to his home" he said, trying to sound merry.

"True as that might be", Vlad said softly, "I must admit that I feel great uneasiness. I am going to raise Wallachia back from the mud Danestis sank it and to do that I must get rid of all the dirt. You are boyars, earls and dukes, the men of wealth and power. You have managed to keep your position through at least three different rulers because you bend to their will. However, as the case of my father proved, you also know when it's better to bend to the next rulers will even when he still has to get the power. And I can not take such a risk".

"Prince Dracula, what are you-"one of the men started to ask, but never finished.

With a snap of his finger, Vlad had called his men from their hiding places in the room and they were now standing behind the quests, one man behind each boyar, with their swords uncovered. The men at the table were too shocked to even say a word.

"Do not think too badly of me, but my wife shall arrive in a day or two, and I really want all the state related concerns settled by then" Vlad said, still speaking with a very soft voice.

As he sat down and started eating the delicious dinner in front of him, he didn't even bother to raise his eyes to watch as his quests were slaughtered.

--

A few days later, a carriage arrived to Targoviste, escorted by guards Vlad had sent. Lady Isabel, her maid Monica and Father Sandor were sitting inside the carriage.

"Ah, Targoviste!" Father Sandor exclaimed. "How good it feels to be back here, and without having to fear when some Danesti would want to send me to my maker".

Monica looked startled by the idea of someone powerful enough to just kill them all. Isabel gave a reassuring smile.

"Do not worry, Monica. My husband said in his letter that by the time we'd arrive all the Danestis and their supporters have been, and I quote, dealt with" she smiled playfully, as if the choice of words would have amused her greatly.

"God Almighty" Sandor suddenly gasped. He was looking out of the carriage and something he saw had made his face pale.

Monica turned to look as well and gave a scream and raised her hands to her mouth. Her face had suddenly turned somewhat green. Isabel looked out also, and although the sight that greeted her made her eyes wide, she didn't scream nor look away.

Outside were three long wooden spears and in each of them was an impaled body of a man. The bodies had been stripped naked and by the damage done by the birds, they could conclude that they had been there for some time already.

Sandor put his head out of the carriage and spoke to one of their guards. "What is the meaning of this godless sight?"

"These are the bodies of criminals, sir. They were put here when we came to meet you. One of them violated a woman, other one killed and third one was a pickpocket" the guard said.

"Why have the murderer and the thief suffered a same punishment?" Sandor asked.

"It is the new law in this country. No crimes are tolerated. Everyone receives the same punishment. Such is the word of our Prince Dracula".

Sandor's eyes winded. "Vlad…Vlad did this…?" he asked weakly.

"I knew it. I have always known it, ever since I saw his black eyes. A monster. He is a monster…" Monica suddenly started to babble but was cut off by Isabel giving a sharp slap on her face.

"Do not speak of my husband with such insolence ever again, Monica. My husband has made sure the Wallachia will be a safe country for us to live. You should hold your tongue. Judging his methods might also be seen as crime worthy of impaling" Isabel said firmly, though teasingly the final part.

Monica's eyes went round and she started sobbing apologies.

"But, Lady Isabel, surely you can not mean that you approve this. There must be a mistake that Vlad would do something like this" Sandor said.

"On the contrary, Father, I believe this makes a perfect sense. My husband has realised the power of fear and is using it. He truly is a great man" she said fondly.

Sandor looked disbelievingly. "I can not understand…"

Of course you can not, Isabel thought in her mind, he has not confined to you like he has to me. You do not know what he has gone through. You do not know of the things he discovered in Scholomance. He is tempted by darkness, yes, but this is nothing compared to what might have happened. He has gone through hell and survived.

--

In 1457 Vlad helped his long time friend Stefan to finally achieve his dream to take back the throne of Moldavia. Together they gathered 6000 horsemen as their military assistance and attacked to Moldavia. They battled against Stefan's bastard uncle Petru Aron at Doljesti and were victorious. Vlad couldn't remember seeing Stefan looking more satisfied and proud when they watched Petru Aron and what had been left of his troops to pull back. Petru Aron desperately tried to pull more troops together, but after loosing to Stefan again at Orbic, he fled to Poland. Deciding that he would deal with his uncle later, Stefan took his place as Prince of Moldavia, and became known as Stefan III cel Mare, the Great.

"Cel Mare sounds far better than Tepes, anyway" Stefan joked.

Tepes was a nickname Vlad had earned very early on. Despite Father Sandor trying many times to make Vlad change his mind about the nature of punishments, Vlad kept them very painful and life shortening. He cut of limbs, boiled them in oil, sew their lips together, but most of all he impaled them with a wooden stick. He would then place the stick with the bodies, or in some cases still dying people, to the towns square and country roads. This earned him a nickname Tepes, the Impaler, which Vlad wasn't against. In fact, he thought it must sound terrifying to his enemies.

So, he wasn't that troubled that people feared him and called him a monster. He wanted them to fear him. Wallachia seemed to change overnight. After only few months of watching criminals impaled all over the town, people had got the message. No more crimes were reported, no more people suffered because of injustice. Although impaled corpses did not make the best decoration to the town, people were, especially when the memories of being repressed were still fresh in mind, glad for the changes. Also Wallachia was doing better then ever, having a close and good relationship with Moldavia. Of course this had come with a cost. The killings of Danestis and many influential noble men had made him a very unpopular person amongst the nobility.

And then there was Isabel, his wife. She was, in all honesty, the most amazing woman he had ever met. She saw through him. She saw the things that had been done to him and things he thought in his head. She knew how little torturing and executing people bothered him. She knew that he always thought new ways to make his enemies suffer. She knew how in Scholomance he had envied vampires for their great strength and powers.

And yet…she stayed with him. When he had asked her hand in marriage there was no hesitation or fear in her eyes. She too had seen the other world in Scholomance and therefore did not fear the darkness in him. She had certain darkness in herself also. It showed when she could walk through the garden of the impaled bodies without feeling sick. She kept him from slipping too deep in to the darkness. When he rested his head on her lap while they were enjoying their few free times, he felt that everything he had gone through had been worth it. To her, he never showed the cold, cruel ruler.

In 1459 Isabel gave birth to Vlad's son and Father Sandor baptised him as Mihnea. He was born with his father's dark hair and his mother's startlingly blue eyes.

For couple of years Vlad felt great happiness in his life, as father, husband and ruler of Wallachia. But only for a couple of years.

To be continued…

The reason I am going through Vlad's life so quickly: his historical life alone provides enough material for a full-length fic and we have centuries go through yet so…I think you get the picture.

Till next time. Keep reviewing!