This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the
products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Jimmy Loong
September 2025
1.
The
land stretch of Bulgaria then was as breathtaking as it was for generations.
Traders ply routes from the West to the East regions. It was mapped by one
traveller, named Marco Polo, but his route was partially by sea, and some
traders took the overland route across Bulgaria to the Ottoman Empire. It was
risky, but the many stops along the routes allowed them to trade their wares
and to accumulate new wares. They will store the bought wares there or have
them shipped by sea lanes. It was the trader’s life then.
Bulgaria
occupied the territory between the Black Sea, the Danube,
and Stara Planina, including a part of
eastern Macedonia, Belgrade, and the valley of the Morava.
It also extended to Wallachia under Tsar Kaloyan (1197–1207) and
waged wars on the Byzantine Empire and (after 1204) on the Knights of
the Fourth Crusade, conquering large parts of Thrace,
the Rhodopes, Bohemia, and Moldavia, as well as the whole
of Macedonia. The empire grew under the next ruler, Ivan Asen
II (1218–1241), occupying Belgrade and Albania.
Ivan
Asen II had a reputation as a wise and humane ruler and opened relations with
the Catholic West, especially Venice and Genoa, to
reduce the influence of the Byzantines over his country. Tarnovo became a major
economic and religious centre, the “Third Rome”, with the decline of
Constantinople.
Soon
after the death of Asen II, political instability continued to grow, and
Bulgaria gradually began to lose territory. This led to a peasant rebellion led
by the swineherd Ivaylo, who eventually managed to defeat the Tsar's
forces and ascend the throne.
A
weakened 14th-century Bulgaria faced a new threat from the south,
the Ottoman Turks, who crossed into Europe in 1354. By 1371, factional
divisions between the feudal landlords and the spread
of Bogomilism had caused the Second Bulgarian Empire to split into
three small tsardoms—Vidin, Tarnovo, and Karvuna—and several
semi-independent principalities that fought among themselves and with
Byzantines, Hungarians, Serbs, Venetians, and Genoese.
The
Ottomans faced little resistance from these divided and weak Bulgarian states.
In 1362, they captured Philippopolis (Plovdiv), and in 1382, they took Sofia.
The Ottomans then turned their attention to the Serbs, whom they routed
at Kosovo Polje in 1389. In 1393, the Ottomans
occupied Tarnovo after a three-month siege. In 1396, the Tsardom
of Vidin was also invaded, bringing the Second Bulgarian Empire and
Bulgarian independence to an end.
With
this, the Ottomans finally subjugated and occupied Bulgaria.
A Polish-Hungarian crusade commanded by Władysław III of
Poland set out to free Bulgaria and the Balkans in 1444, but the Turks
emerged victorious at the battle of Varna. Turkish authorities destroyed
most of the medieval Bulgarian fortresses to prevent rebellions.
It
was from here that the tale was to begin.
Lord
Dante Montague, in his late thirties, had travelled by horseback on the
traders’ routes; the earliest was with his father, the Lord of the Montague
family. He was a trader like the generations before him; he sat on his father’s
side while the negotiations on the prices to be paid were taking place. His
father was shrewd in the bargains, and the level of the voices does not denote
conflicts but mutual disagreement on the bargains.
“Everyone
has a price, my son.” The young Lord was told. “It is what you are willing to
sacrifice for it.”
The
Montague caravans, numbering two dozen, are handled by the servants and guarded
by the forty-armed mercenaries; they are regarded as such for the coins that
determined their loyalty. The Lord held his own personal guards, loyal recruits
of the family who stood by their lord’s side for years. They numbered a dozen
and were led by Abram of Montague, personal guard to the Lord, who once served
with the Venetian army. He is a renowned swordsman and ruthless in his command.
The
traders tried to travel in groups; the bigger they are, the better protected
they will be from the bandits on their travels. The stretch of Bulgaria under
the occupation by the Ottoman Empire was still plagued by bandits. The Ottoman
Empire army was stretched thin there, but the traders over the generations had
never been frayed by the threats along the routes.
“If
we are to cower in the cities, we will face a drought on our wares, and profits
will be low. We will take the caravan and fill it full, with our fighting
skills to be our protection of it.”
Hence,
the caravans were to travel in groups.
“The
Polos are staying back.” Reynard rode to the front of the caravan’s line. He
approached the Lord there.
“They
are, for they are still haggling on the price. Old Piotr is not an easy man to
negotiate with. I much prefer the Ottomans to those Wallachians.” Lord Dante Montague
smiled. He had taken over five trips on the route since he was ten years of
age. He had dealt with Old Piotr twice and did the deal only once.
“The
Capulets are here,” Abram told his lord. “They are smaller than ours; eight
caravans and …… I counted twenty guards.”
“The
Capulets are lean on their spending. They will do their association with any
caravans to consolidate their strengths.” Lord Dante Montague saw the other Lord
riding towards him.
“Hush
your tongue, Abram. He approaches. He rides with his guard, Reynard.” Lord Dante
Montague pulled the reins on his horse to move it in the other direction.
“Hail,
Lord Capulet. Are you traveling with us?” Lord Dante Montague knew the other
well. Their families had been rivals in trade at Venice and Genoa. No love was
spared between them for the best buyer, but they remained friends on the
routes.
“Aye,
Dante Montague. I am to see Mehmed II. I was told you are going there.” Lord
Gencio Capulet addressed the other by name. He was not a novice on the route,
having done two before in his lifetime. He was about the same age as the other
lord, but he took on his father’s business later in life. He was a scholar who
spent his time teaching philosophy to the younger scholars.
“What
do you want to sell this round, Gencio? Your thick volumes on the ……”
“Astronomy
is of interest to the Sultan. I am to gift him some of my works. And of course,
the fine Venetian silks, and ……” Gencio cut in and, in turn, was cut off by the
other lord.
“I
have with me the wines, olive oil, and some of Genoa's best spices from the
southern continent.”
“I
am sure Mehmet II has his own spices from the Far East.” Gencio smiled. “I am
sure you are to trade for his jewels.”
The
rare stones were valued highly in Genoa, and the Ottoman was one good source.
“Are
you to join me?” Lord Dante Montague raised the question.
“If
you are Mehmet II, then I am.” Gencio smiled. “However, you are not, but a
fellow Genoa. That I can also share my meat.”
It
was how they put aside their differences to travel together.
2.
“Tell
me, Gencio. I heard you are getting a wife.” Lord Dante Montague asked. They
had stopped at the bottom of some hills to evade their fires being seen from
afar. It was a practice taught to the traders. Open land with the fire burning
could be seen from a distance. Predators will pay a visit then.
“Me?
I am not sure where you got your news.” The other Lord laughed. It was
their third stop to rest and eat their meals. Riding for over a day in the hot
sun tires the riders and their mounts. Reynard had seen to the perimeters,
organizing the guards, and secured the caravans for the night. The Capulets have
their own guards, but it was supervised by the Lord in the arrangement.
“News
travels fast in Venice. It may be the waters there. It flowed faster than our
oars.” The Lord Dante Montague laughed. “When I was to be wedded, the other
family had already prepared the feast. I was not prepared, and who I was to wed
was untold to me.”
Dante
Montague's betrothed wife was brief. She died while giving birth to a
stillborn. He was away and only told of their deaths when he returned to
Venice. It was one season past soon after when he moved to Genoa, and he found
no grief then. He had hardly known his wife; his conjugal visits were few, and
he had doubted the child was his. Words were spoken, but no one dared to tell
him in person. There had been rumours.
“I
am not unsure of whom. It was arranged by my mother and her cousin, and another
cousin. God, I could be marrying another Capulet. Maybe they learned from the
Egyptians. The pharaoh married his own sister.”
“That
is good, Gencio. You do not need to know her better. She probably knew of you
from when you were young.” The Lord of Montague laughed. “Me? I am to learn how
she talks and walks.”
“Probably,
but when I make love to her, I will be …….” Dante hesitated.
“Hey,
it is just another fuck. You turned her around, and she looked the same as the
others. You just must match your thrusts and be done.” Both men laughed and
drank their wine.
Sleep
came easily with food and drinks, and it was waking up that dragged their body.
It
may be so, but when the waking was to the yells of alarm, the body stood up
faster, and hands reached for the swords.
“Bandits!”
The call reverted at the camp. The lords held out their swords. The schiavona
is a type of Venetian basket-hilted broadsword, popular then and known for
its robust blade and intricate guard, designed for both cutting and
thrusting. The personal guards rallied to the Lord and surrounded him.
“Half
of you to the caravans. That is their purpose.” Lord Dante Montague called out.
“The rest, follow me to the caravans.”
Abram
was there at the caravans organizing the mercenaries. He saw the Capulets’
guards had formed a cordon on their caravans. Some were armed with crossbows,
and they were notched to shoot anyone unfriendly. He saw the bandits charging
towards them. He could not make out the numbers with the morning dawn lighting
the bandits. The bandits chose to charge from the east, with the sun behind
them, camouflaging their numbers.
“Pick
your rider,” Abram called out. “Kill without mercy.”
Abram
held the Venetian blade and the round shield on his left arm.
Reynard
was also busy killing. He wiped the blood off his blade on the dead bandit’s
shirt. The bandit had on a simple blouse with the skirt design called the
fustanella, and some wore the straw slippers. It was their blade that intrigued
Abram, the kilij, the blade made of patterned welded high-carbon crucible
steel, generally with long, slightly curved blades with one sharp edge. It was
a weapon of the janissary mounted on the horses, for when they charged, they
would slash with the sword at their enemy. The curvature makes it easier to
deliver the powerful cuts.
A
hundred bandits descended on the caravans; half were mounted on horses, while
the others were on foot, having hidden in the cracks of the hill. The ones
mounted were mostly ex-akinji; the mounted carried swords, lances, shields,
battle axes, and maces as well, so that in a field of combat, they could face
the enemy first and fight melee. Unpaid, they lived and operated
as raiders on the frontiers of the Ottoman Empire, subsisting on
plunder. They were the first to charge before the other units of the Ottoman
Empire. The others were a compilation of peasants or serfs, as they were called
then, and some mercenaries looking to get a share of the plunder.
A
hundred was a huge number, but the caravan was a treasure trove, seen and heard
in the market, to contain jewels bound for the palace.
The
bandits’ riders were met by the armed mercenaries; bows and arrows were
released to halt the attack. Some held the crossbows, and the heavier arrows
were shot at close range. Dozens of riders and their horses went down, and the
ones not dead charged on their feet. Shields were raised, and the melee began.
Reynard,
armed with one blade in each hand, was at the forefront, and he took his first
bandit with the thrust of the right blade into the left waist, and then he drew
out his blade to thrust once more into the left shoulder. He kicked away the
dying bandit and stepped towards the next in line. It was the training he had
under his father, who was a condottiere, the commander of mercenary companies.
Condottiero
in medieval Italian means 'contractor,' and condotta is the contract
by which the condottieri put themselves in the service of a city or lord. The
condottiero had been in service for many generations, but in the past few
years, the influence waned, and Reynard was reduced to serving his family honour
by leading the caravans.
“Stay
at your positions, serfs,” Reynard called out to the caravan handlers. He knew
that they would get into the battle, but their lack of skills in fighting was
not welcomed. They are armed with makeshift spears or lances and a dagger at
their waist, but without armour on their chest, they were easy prey.
“Aargh….”
A serf called out when he was slashed on the right shoulder. Reynard rushed
over and killed the bandit with a double thrust into the back. He kicked away
the dead bandit and looked to the serf.
“Get
back in line. You may still live.” Reynard then turned to the melee ahead of
him. They were equal in fighting skills; the bandits were driven by their greed
for plunder, and the mercenaries were there to earn their coins. It was
balanced, but Reynard wanted the winning edge.
It
arrived when Reynard saw the riders approaching.
“Janissaries!”
The cries went out. They were members of the elite infantry units
that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first
modern standing army and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to
be equipped with firearms, adopted during the reign of Murad II.
Janissaries began as an elite corps made up through
the devşirme system of child levy enslavement, by
which indigenous European Christian boys, chiefly from the Balkans,
were taken, levied, subjected to forced circumcision, and forced
conversion to Islam, and incorporated into the Ottoman army. They
became famed for internal cohesion cemented by strict discipline and order.
Unlike typical slaves, they were paid regular salaries.
Forbidden
to marry before the age of 40 or engage in trade, their complete loyalty to
the Ottoman sultan was expected.
The
Janissaries were expert archers, but they began
adopting firearms as soon as such became available during the 1440s.
The siege of Vienna in 1529 confirmed the reputation of their
engineers, e.g., sappers and miners. In melee combat, they
used axes and kilijs.
They
rode in formation and attacked the flank of the bandits. Their skills were
displayed in the melee, with the Janissaries attacking in pairs, slashing at
the enemy from the sides, and then pairing up for the next. The axes were swung
like pendulums at the necks while the kilijs took off the threat of the arms.
“Retreat!”
The bandits called out, and they scattered. The ones that were slower to react
were met by deadly slashes.
Reynard
halted his men to regroup at the caravans. He saw the Montagues had also done
the same. They are cautious too, for the value of the caravans may drive any to
revolt or be the deadlier bandit.
“I
am Boluk Bashi Tarmak, of the Fifth Regiment. I was assigned to bring you back
to the city.” The Janissary officer dressed in a combination of rich fabrics on
their tunics and pants with the thick boots, elaborate headwear called the
bork, distinctive chest armor, and the two kilijs on the waist belt. There were
two hundred of them in the command of the Boluk Basi.
“The
Sultan had concern for your safety and assigned us to escort you.” The officer
sat up on the saddle and looked to the guards. “I was in time to save you.”
The
pride of the janissary will not admit to his delay in arriving. He was
not delayed but took off on an errand of his own. He had escorted a rich
landowner to the fertile valley and was delayed. If that was reported to the
sultan, he would be punished, and had ridden hard to meet the caravans. “
“Thank
you, Boluk Bashi Tarmak, of the Fifth Regiment. We will need some time to ……
collect the wounded and bury the dead.” The Lord of Montague looked to the
complement of guards.
“You
may do so, but hurry. We are to ride on soon.” The Boluk Bashi made his demand.
It
was a quick count of the dead: fourteen to be exact, with another fifteen
wounded, but five will not make the ride to the city. The ones who survived
were given their moments to regroup and pillage the valuables of the dead,
including the bandits. Any items worth a coin were collected and stored on the
caravans.
The
Janissaries watched from the side and did not partake in the plunder. They are
paid by the Sultan with a salary, and their real plunder was at the conquered
cities.
The
caravans took to the journey soon after the dead were buried, while the bandits
were left to the predators to devour. They marched on with sighs of relief that
they were escorted by the Janissaries.
“Gencio,
we were lucky to have the Sultan concerned about us.” Lord Dante Montague
smiled. “But how did he know?”
“I
may have a hand in it. I did send words to the Sultan that I was bringing to
him the jewels valued by him.” The Lord of Capulet smiled. “The eye of the
desert; the Empress Stones. They come in a pair, one red and the other black.”
“You
bastard!” Lord Dante Montague glared at the other. “You bought the jewel from
the Saharans while I was negotiating. And then they stopped.”
“All
is fair in the trade.” Gencio laughed. “I offered them a good price and added
to it; the fifty serfs they could trade on the return to the dry lands.”
“Serfs?
They were Nubians, I presumed.” The Lord of Capulet was known to trade in
slaves from the dark continent. It was frowned on by the Montagues.
“Yes,
they dug up the stones and will be of use to the Saharans to dig more. If they
could find the mine again.”
The
mine was rumoured to have collapsed after the dig. The mine was deemed
unapproachable to the locals since then.
“Gencio,
the jewel was one of the rare ones. The Nubians may not find another.” Lord Dante
Montague looked to the escort they had acquired. “I …….”
“Dante,
I lost some good men to get the jewel, too.” The Lord of Capulet motioned to Reynard
and his guards. “We doubled the numbers before the snatch.”
“And
I may have lost the trade here.” Lord Dante Montague was upset.
“Do
not be unhappy, Dante. There are many other buyers for your wares.” The Lord of
Capulet smiled. “We are brothers in trade.”
Lord
Dante Montague kept his silence. Lord Gencio Capulet was a good friend, but at
times, he felt that betrayal lay in that man. He was not to be trusted to honour
his words.
“My
Lord, we shall reach the city by nightfall tomorrow,” Reynard reported. “The
men are weary and ……”
“We
will camp here tonight. Tomorrow, we will make haste and be there by late
afternoon. I long to see the Sultan and share his love for lamb.” Lord Dante Montague
smiled.
“The
Janissaries want to ride on.” Reynard expressed his real concern. “The Boluk
Bashi ……”
“He
may ride on to announce our arrival. His failure to protect us will depend on
his behaviour.” Lord Dante Montague looked at the Janissary officer leading the
caravans. “Tell him we will camp here tonight. Do not take any abuse from him,
or he will be reported to the sultan.”
The
Boluk Bashi was unhappy, but he knew that the trader held a friendship with the
Sultan. He was obliged to follow the orders. His men were unhappy, for they
wanted to go back to camp to trade their plunder, but the discipline was
instilled in them to follow their commander.
The
caravans arrived just before dusk, and a feast was underway then. The Boluk
Bashi had sent scouts to alert the palace, and the Sultan was delighted. He was
more than delighted when he saw the gift from the Lord of Capulet. Lord Dante Montague
was sidelined, and Lord Gencio Capulet took himself to enjoy the splendour of
the palace. He chanced upon a young lad then by the garden.
“Who
are you?” Lord Gencio Capulet looked at the young man who was dressed in a
loose tunic and skirt, seated by the pond. He does not look like an Ottoman
lad.
“I
am Vlad Tepes. I am a Wallachian.” The lad looked at the trader. Lord Gencio
Capulet was familiar with seeing the few nationalities there, mostly hostages
of the Sultan. The kingdoms, small and easily intimidated by the Ottomans,
pledged their oath of allegiance to the Sultan. It was customary for the ones
sworn to serve to send one or two of their sons to the palace to be treated as
hostages or, in better words, guests.
“Who
are you?” The lad asked.
