Hey everyone!
Okay, I need to tell you something. This chapter is not my favorite. Honestly. Truth be told, half of it I had to wrote in a state where I was nearly asleep, just so I could get it down. It's kind of shooting to all directions chapter, but you know, I need to go through this things fast because there are centuries ahead of us. So, stay with me.
Thanks for the great reviewers: Irena, BigKwell, rosiepops, KURRYdaJIGGAmonkey, BlackTiger6593, ImaLamia, Miss Kapri, Lord Makura, Tsuki Tamahoshi, VampyreVixen16, Fleatcher and Fraulen.
Btw, to those interested in vampire movies, last Monday I saw a new Swedish movie called "Let the Right One In". I recommend seeing this movie, it's one of the most beautiful and original vampire films I have ever seen.
Disclaimers: see previous chapters.
CHAPTER 14: COLD FIRE
Buda, Hungary 1462
Vlad didn't see, hear or feel. The world didn't exist. The friends, the enemies, the countries, the glory, the honour. Nothing existed anymore.
Isabel was gone. Dead. Fallen.
He couldn't believe it. Didn't want to believe it. The idea was absurd. She, the strongest woman he had known, stronger than most men also, gone because of one arrow. He expected it all to be some terrible dream, a nightmare about to end. When he'd have time to stop and breath he'd find her again.
But he couldn't stop to mourn, to grieve, to cry or even try to find his wife's body. He had to save his son now. His and Isabel's son. Only that mattered now.
Hardly had an hour passed after Vlad and his men escaped to the forests, when they were ambushed. Not by Turks, but by Hungarian army.
"Vlad Dracula!" their commander spoke. "His Majesty King Matthias Corvinus has demanded your presence in his court. Please, follow us".
And thus Vlad found himself once again in the court of Hungary. Matthias Corvinus, the second son of Janos Hunyadi, was not even twenty years old yet. As a child he had often made both Vlad and Stefan nervous with his high intellect. Now he calmly sat on his throne and listened as Vlad told the situation he was in. Not a slightest resemblance of an emotion appeared on his face.
Vlad spoke unnaturally humbly. "King Corvinus, I ask of you… no, I beg of you to secure my son's safety as I must return to fight Wallachia back for myself".
"Yes and no" was the only answer Matthias gave.
"Excuse me?"
"I said yes, for I will give protection to your son. I shall take him under my custody for as long as needed. Rest assured, Hungary will not give him to the Turks or your other enemies".
Vlad wanted to feel relieved but couldn't. "And no was for…?" he asked.
"You will not return to Wallachia".
Vlad took a step closer to the throne. He felt like he was about to drown to his own rage. "And why is that?"
"We have discussed about you and your position as the Duke of Wallachia for a long time. Although it is acceptable of having someone like you defending us from the Turks, it is only a matter of time before they will destroy you. And then all who supported you will go as well. Therefore it is wiser to choose our own fate before you do so" Matthias spoke with a calm voice.
Vlad was seeing red.
"You should consider yourself lucky, Dracula. We have managed to come to a deal that leaves you alive. All we had to do was to give Wallachia to your brother".
An animal like shout came from Vlad as he started running towards the younger ruler. However he found himself pushed to the floor by five guards. He couldn't even move, only clench his teeth and damn them all.
Matthias rose from his throne and walked to Vlad. He leaned closer and spoke softly. "We have made sure that you will be comfortable in your new location. If you behave in time you might be given your freedom back. But for now you must keep low profile. And truthfully, I am fed up with news of impaled bodies all around the neighbour country".
Matthias rose and spoke louder to someone Vlad couldn't see. "Take him".
The guards roughly pulled Vlad up to face even more guards and their leader: Istvan Bathory, now a general of Hungarian army. From the looks of it, he was having a very good day. He walked right in front of Vlad and smiled.
"God is kind towards the patient ones" he said, smiling. "I have waited for so long to see the great Vlad Dracula, man who survived from the clutches of the Turks, being utterly defeated".
"I am not defeated, Bathory. Not as long as I still live. And do not think that your talk impresses me. You are only a pathetic man who still can not get over the fact that Isabel chose me" Vlad spat.
For a moment Bathory looked ready to hit Vlad but then smiled again, like a cat before eating a mouse.
"Tragic what happened to Isabel. To kill herself like that" he said.
Vlad's eyes winded. "What are you talking about? An arrow hit her, I told you all!"
"Yes, yes, it is natural that you must have made yourself believe that than face the truth of how she plunged herself from your tower to her death. At least, that is the official story. That is the story that the future generations will learn. That she was a coward".
The five guards had to use all of their combined strength to keep Vlad from getting loose and ripping Istvan to pieces. Bathory decided to help them by knocking Vlad unconscious.
--
Visegrád, Hungary 1472
10 years…
For ten years Vlad had now been enjoying the hospitality of Visegrád Castle. It really wasn't all that bad when compared to his years in Adrianopole. He wasn't beaten, starved or tortured. He had servants, good food and received the latest news of Wallachia, which had been under the rule of Radu for a decade now.
On the other hand he was bored and angry. It was no longer the kind of anger he was used to, the hot fire burning inside of him. In ten years fire had become cold and it demanded to have a satisfaction. It demanded blood, pain and screams.
Vlad looked at his reflection wearily from the mirror. He was forty years old and could already detect some grey hairs. He had moustache and a small beard now too. His eyes were that of a dead man's. He saw his son Mihnea regularly, but as years went by the two started to become strangers to each others. Vlad couldn't blame the boy. He wasn't an ideal father or a ruler anymore.
Tap Tap Tap
Vlad blinked. It sounded like someone or something was tapping his window. He didn't bother to turn around, instead just glanced his mirror to see the window. Nothing. I must be drowsy or finally lost what little sanity I have left…
Tap Tap Tap
There it was again. Vlad looked at his mirror once more and saw nothing outside his window. I need to get a sleep. Or maybe it is some ghost that haunts me without casting a reflecti-
Vlad stopped. His heart beat became faster and he felt cold sweat on his forehead. It couldn't possibly be… Slowly he turned around and looked to his window.
Outside was a woman looking at him. She had dark hair and hazel skin. Her eyes were purple and they glowed a little too brightly for normal eyes. Vlad figured woman's true nature. Quickly he summoned all of his memories from the time of Scholomance. Every single little thing he had ever learned of vampires.
He smiled. She can not enter uninvited. As long as I will not summon her she stays outside… But what would stop her from tricking one of the servants from letting her in?
"I will not enter unless you yourself invite me in, Dracula" the woman spoke, a touch of foreign accent in her voice. When she moved her lips Vlad could see the pearl white sharp teeth in her mouth.
Vlad didn't know what came over him. Maybe the vampire outside was trying to manipulate his mind or maybe he just enjoyed the change this made to his otherwise boring life now. He started talking to her.
"What brings you here, nosferatu?"
The woman smiled giddily. "You have learned about my kind, very impressive. Usually when a human meets one of us and survives they make themselves believe it was only a nightmare and continue with their lives".
"Weak man's way of handling things. I am not weak".
"I know. A decade ago then I heard about your achievements. You defended your country against forces far larger than yours and you did it without any aid from God or the Devil. Very impressive indeed".
The talk was refreshing. Since Isabel's death there hadn't been a person who would talk to him like that. Not looking down on him, seeing a prisoner or trembling in fear. But talk to him like to an equal. It almost made Vlad forget what she was. Almost.
"So you just wanted to see what the said defender looked like. You must excuse me for not appearing at my best".
"I think you appear just fine to me. I have wanted to meet you since Matoba told me about you".
Vlad blinked. "Ma-who?"
"You met him one night many years ago then. He said he owes you a horse".
The face of a vampire with foreign features and red hair appeared to his mind. "Oh…him".
"May I ask you something?"
Vlad didn't say anything.
"Have you given up?"
"I…what?"
"You have been in here for ten years now. How many attempts have you made to get your throne back? Or to get at least out of here? What is the matter, Dracula? You haven't given up, have you?"
Vlad lost his entire good mood. He suddenly felt like woken from a pleasant dream to cruel reality. The cold fire in him burned painfully.
"How dare you, monster? You think I give up? You think I surrender? Never, I tell you. I will never surrender!"
"Prove it" the vampire said and bit her wrist. She showed her bleeding to Vlad. "Prove that you will never surrender even when God has obviously abounded you".
Vlad was tempted but then he remembered Isabel's words to him.
You will put your hope in your country, in me and in God.
"I will prove it. I am still alive and I shall not surrender to you either! I shall become victorious again as human and not as your pet!"
The vampire woman seemed to be momentarily taken aback but then just smiled. "Very well. I am looking forward for you to prove your words. But make haste for events are already in motion and big changes will happen in next couple of years. And remember, should you ever change your mind, all you need to do is deny Him".
And then she was gone.
Vlad touched his old cross around his neck.
"God, do not let me down…please…"
To be continued…
Historical changes: I failed to mention in last chapter that Vlad's first wife, whose name is unknown, did commit suicide, like in Coppola's movie. However, I couldn't imagine Isabel doing that, so I chose for her a quick and shocking death. However, as you've read from this chapter, suicide remains as the historical fact.
Next time, Vlad's life as a human meets its end.
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