Chapter One

Dark Ages, 1457. Wallachia, Romania.

We had just left Bucharest towards the north, my contingent of about five hundred men and I, and Târgovişte was up ahead, so it should be one of our resting stops. My enemies were all around me, and every single day I had to fight to be alive. 

I forced myself to build my reputation as a ruthless, cold-blooded bastard, because one thing my short existence taught me, it’s much better for you to be feared than to be loved, and believe me everyone feared me to the core, but that, didn’t stop my blood-thirsty enemies to hunt me down and try to overpower me, yet I was not about to let my beloved land and my people fall into their hands. 

I didn’t come through this route for pleasure; I had a purpose in mind, and some people would regret being alive. My foes had assassinated my eldest brother Mircea, and according to my informants, the boyars of Târgovişte were the ones to account for such a crime against my family. 

I didn’t want to believe in such treason, much less, they had buried him alive, but I traveled to his resting place, I dug him up, and I saw with my own eyes, the awfully scratched casket and his body laid on his stomach. They had stolen my childhood, my family, and my life from me. For years, I blamed my father for my abandonment, and a few years back the gruesome truth came to light, and I swore to my father’s dying breath that I would avenge them all.

The peasants, once they saw me riding inside town they scurried away and looked for shelter, I’m not proud that my people behave like that towards me, but if I need to enforce order and obedience, sometimes I also have to punish them as an example for the others.

“Anton, tell the men to find a place to camp and settle for the night, then meet me back at the entrance of the castle with fifty of the men.” Anton was my best and loyal man, he also had charge of this contingent. I had several ones like this throughout the land, always reporting back to me, and when the time needed, we reunited them all to make a powerful army.

“Yes, sire. We have a party to attend…” He assured me and his sarcastic smirk told everything. I knew he couldn’t wait to grab his sword and make some heads roll. He was a brilliant strategist and fighter, two of the reasons that made me choose him to fight beside me. We were both forged by the fires of hate and terror. We were the same, and he had his own battles and vengeance to deal with, and those made him merciless to the bone, as he loved the smell of fear and blood on his fallen enemies.

The town was quiet, and the only telltale of a party going on was the noise of music and loud orgies coming from the castle. Wherever I went with my horse, my peasants bowed their heads and never met my eyes. They knew who was in town that night and knew something bad was about to happen.

Female screams and men laughing out loud got my attention. I made my horse come to a halt and hid in the shadows. A door from one house burst open and a woman with a rare beauty ran to the yard, her dress torn and ragged, long, light chestnut hair flying all around her body like a halo, and her face a mask of terror. 

Right there, I felt my heart skip a beat. I’ve never felt such a thing for a woman before. Yes, I’ve had my share of them, but I’ve only used them to assuage my sexual needs, nothing more. I blinked several times to dissipate the feeling rising in me. Why was I thinking about this when I needed to pay attention to what was unfolding in front of me and not wasting time analyzing this foreign emotion… 

Two men followed her out and didn’t take too long for them to have her in their hold. Fury took me by surprise. How dare they touch her? A low growl escaped my throat calling to their attention, but they only saw darkness. Rage sizzled through my nerves like lightning, and my blood boiled in my veins.

“NO! Let me go, you won’t have me!”

“Your stepfather lost you in a bet, you’re ours now, we’ll do to you whatever we pleased!” She got slapped her a few times, and the only thing I could hear was the angry roar inside my head.

“No. I die first, but you won’t touch me!” She scratched his face like an angry cat.

I could see which was the leader of the two. The smaller one was there, just waiting for a bone, and I had to act soon. Once he shoved her against the wall. I reached for my bow and arrow and I aimed for the one eagerly waiting for his turn; I let go of my fingers and my arrow got in the middle of his guts. 

Oh, no, I didn’t miss it, I just couldn’t kill them straight away. I was going to have some fun with these two perverts later. He tumbled to the ground screaming in pain and his friend looked at me, but not seeing anyone. He grabbed the girl and threw her to the ground and ran for his dear life. As I heard the loud thud, she was out like a candle and the man when my next arrow flew through his insides. Then I left the shadows.

“The devil… the devil…” he said to me with wide eyes howling in pain.

“Yes, I’m the devil and I came to collect your soul. Are you ready to pay for your sins?” I growled at him and stepped on top of the arrow, making it dig deeper and break the flesh on his back. He yelled in pain, and I knew my eyes carried that promise. “Tonight you’ll know what the word pain means.” The worry for the mysterious woman invaded me, so I turned my back to them and walked to where she was. She had hit the back of her head on a big rock on the ground and blood was coming from the wound. 

Raising her in my arms, she was so limp, my chest constricted. She smelled like those wildflowers on the field; I couldn’t refrain myself and buried my face in her hair, inhaling her scent into my lungs.

“You! Woman!” I yelled once I saw someone peeking from another house. I walked to her, and she opened the door.

“Yes, sire?” She asked, head bowed and not looking into my eyes.

“I want you to take care of her, clean her wound, and dress her. See if you can make her wake up.” She nodded to me and I continued, “Do you have a husband, woman?”

“Yes, sire, I do.”

“Tell him to tie down those two sinners. My commander will return to pick them up later. Don’t you dare treat their wounds nor make them comfortable, or my wrath will fall upon you.”

“NO, sire, I’ll do as you wished me to.”

“I’ll be back for her.”

Jumping back on my horse, I galloped out of there, leaving two whining corpses on the ground. I was late, and I couldn’t let this event interfere with what I came to do here.

“Vlad, I was about to send some men looking for you, I worried something happened. I’m glad you are back.” At that moment, was my friend talking, not my commander. Yeah, we were friends, Anton was the only one I had, and I trusted my life to his hands. 

“I had a minor problem. Let’s get done with this at once.” I couldn’t take her out of my head, and I didn’t even know her name. I wanted to go back to her as fast as possible, and the only way was to finish what I came here for. “Follow me!” I shouted to the men and advanced inside the castle. 

Drunk people singing and dancing around the feast table. Lots and lots of food going to waste and my people working hard to feed these bastards. Most of the men were talking and bent over women in one of the big salons.

“Well, look who’s joined us tonight.” Who were they to talk to me like I was their friend? They may think they belonged to the nobility, but I was their prince, and they should address me as such.

“I didn’t! I came to give you a chance for you to confess your sins.” Then the whole room fell silent, and I loved the tension and terror-stricken faces of my enemies a minute before they realized there was no way out, and I was there to deliver their penitence. 

They’ve tried to run, but there was no escape. I drew my sword and my man followed suit. Unarmed and drunk, they were sitting ducks meeting their fate. My men surrounded them and mercy wasn’t in our dictionary, as our swords chopped off limbs and extracted hearts like they were cutting butter. 

Horrible screams and yells echoed throughout the land, and for each head chopped off blood splattered on our faces, I glanced at Anton watching his elated face every time he stabbed someone with his blade, and I smirked. He knew how to have fun at a slaughter. Then everything quieted down, and I peeked at the three betrayers trembling on the ground and trying to crawl away.

“Anton, impale them in the courtyard, so everyone will see what happens when I’m doubled crossed, then gather all the relatives and friends of these traitors who came to this blessed celebration, put them in one room and keep them guarded until we leave tomorrow.”

“With pleasure, sire.” I had already left when I heard his response. I had to see her and make sure she was alive, so I put my horse to the test that night, getting back there in no time and barging into the peasant’s house.

“Forgive me, sire. I couldn’t make her wake up, but I did what you asked me for, and my husband put the men in the barn.”

“Thank you, you did enough. Here, some coins for your troubles. My commander will come to fetch those two.” And with her in my arms, I got on the horse, snuggling her against my chest, and left for the camp. It was when her lashes fluttered and a pair of the clearest violet eyes stared at my face, enchanting me for the rest of my life.