Vlad the Impaler Chapter 12

 The Return

12.

It was several days later when the Sultan gave his consent.

“Ride with my Janissaries. They will be your escort, and ---- protectorate as they did for your father.” Sultan Murad II looked at Vlad. “I am beginning to like you and I know one day you will be my biggest regret. Will you be mine?”

“I won’t be your regret, my Sultan,” Vlad told the Sultan. Inside of him, he told himself that he will not do to the current Sultan but he can’t assure the successor will be spared.

“Do you not fear me, young whelp?” Sultan Murad II looked at Vlad.

“No, I am not. Do you not fear me?” Vlad replied with his question. That line of his had the guards standing by the Sultan drew their swords but Sultan Murad II stopped them. He looked back at Vlad.

“I do not. My guards do however fear you.” Sultan Murad II laughed. “Ride onwards, young whelp. Bring me back tributes or your head in place.”

 The next day, Vlad rode to the borders with his assigned column of Janissaries. He bid farewell to his brother, Radu who was then seen holding the Holy Book in his hands. He was aged twenty then.

After being away for some years, Vlad took in deep breaths on the ride. It was a land of Romania is a country of medieval castles, Gothic churches, and charming towns, all hidden among some of the beautiful landscapes with the Carpathian Mountains and the Black Sea, the country's dense forests, and snow-capped peaks; it was the land of wonder. Trade was one of Wallachia’s advantages; It held vast amounts of them: salt, cereals, livestock or animal products, skins, wax, honey; mostly imported were expensive cloth or finer goods, much sought after by the local rulers and boyars. (extracted from https://www.medievalists.net/2010/03/on-the-medieval-urban-economy-in-wallachia/#:~:text=Raw%20materials%20were%20the%20goods,the%20local%20rulers%20and%20boyars.)

Tradesmen from local towns were joined by numerous Transylvanians; the likes of Brasov and Sibiu), but also the Balkans (Ragusa) or Poles (Lviv). The Transylvanian ones enjoyed some privileges, such as tax exemptions or reduced customs duties. It had flourished into true intermediaries between the centers of Central Europe, Transylvania, and South-Danubian land.

“The bastard rides to claim his rank.” Vladislav II was pacing the flooring of the hall of his palace. He was with John Hunyadi who was his mentor and person who supported his rank.

“I won’t worry about the boy.” John had more concerns then. “The Turks are marching once more. They are headed to Kosovo. We need to stop them.”

“Another war, you mean. Was Varna---”

“Varna was a bitter lesson to us but the war reigns on. This battle will favor us and give you more influence on the people, And the boyars too.” John Hunyadi argued for the battle. He wanted to avenge his humiliation then.” You will ride with me. When we win, the victory will belong to you.”

“If we lose---: John Hunyadi did not address that with Vladislav II when the other was to ask. The battle was named Kosovo. In the three-day battle, the Ottoman army under the command of Sultan Murad II defeated the Crusader army of John Hunyadi. John needed more than forty thousand men to defeat the Ottomans, the Hungarian regent sought to join up with anti-Ottoman Albanian forces. The Ottomans in their base at Sofia received word of the Crusader army's march route and subsequently began readying their men.

John Hunyadi was caught by surprise on 17 October when the Ottoman army appeared in front of his men at Kosovo Field. He constructed a tabor wagon fort at Plementina hill from which to fight the Ottomans, who built their stockade in response. Cavalry skirmishing on the flanks of the stockades during the first two days and a Crusader night-time attack using their wagons and guns against the Sultan's central position on the night of 18/19 October produced much bloodshed but no conclusive results.

On 19 October Murad II used his sipahi cavalry from Thessaly to envelop the cavalry on the Crusader left flank, along with a general assault all along the line to distract Hunyadi from the primary effort. The maneuver worked and the Wallachian, Moldavian, and Hungarian cavalry were cut down by the sipahis, who took no prisoners. Much of the Crusader army then retreated.

On 20 October, with Murad II personally observing the struggle, the Janissaries attacked and killed everyone left in the stockade.

“For Giurgiu!”

The battle ended any hopes of saving Constantinople from the Ottoman Empire. The Hungarian kingdom no longer had the military and financial resources to mount an offensive against the Ottomans.

John Hunyadi returned a defeated man.

“A defeat is only needed to wipe out all the previous victories. No one respects a defeated leader.” John Hunyadi told his men then on the retreat.

Meanwhile back at Wallachia, Vlad rode in at the head of the Janissaries column. The locals were silent on seeing the young man astride the mount with the Turks.

Vlad saw the reluctance in the locals, and he then asked the column to return to the border there to await him.

“Young one, we are to ---”

“It’s okay, Kolgasi. I am back home. I will ride on as my father once did. I will send the words to you two days from now. If I don’t, you may assume I am dead.’ Vlad told the officer. “And then you may invade the land.”

Vlad rode on alone and passed the villagers there. Some approached him with their arms stretched but their voices were silent. Vlad saw the discomfort and dismounted there. He walked to the locals.  

“I am Vlad, the son of Dracul, Lord Vlad II, and brother to Mircea II. I have returned to avenge their death---- no, it was murder. My kins were murdered.” Vlad raised his voice. He saw some of the locals were swaying to his words. “You can see behind me, the Turks who returned to the border. They are not here to battle you but to protect me. From whom, you may ask? The boyars who pillage your harvest and make a slave of you. I am not afraid now for I have you to protect me as I would protect you when I am the Volvode.”

“Are you to bring us war, Volvode?” A peasant called out.

“No, not against the Turks but the ones who took my land. Your harvest, and sons to fight their silly war. I come to give you back ---- your pride.”

Vlad drew on the peasants’ anger on the boyars. There were uprisings before then, and it won the hearts then. They soon warmed up to Vlad and the hugs and kisses followed by the bows were aplenty.

Vlad then voiced his claim as the Volvode again.

“Another pretender sits there. One that took our men to war.” That last word from Vlad stirred up anger and the locals there took to arms against Vladislav II. The guards at the palace were overwhelmed by the local crowds and soon Vlad was to take his rightful seat there. The first thing he did was to meet his mother.

“Mother, I am back.” Vlad went on his knees to greet his mother. His mother had grown frail over the years, with the death of her eldest, Mircea. She had lost all hopes since then, and thinking that Vlad and Radu were long dead. She had moved to the previous house where she was imprisoned before, and have with her the old adviser of her Lord. The adviser himself had aged and without his son, Janus next to him, he was also lonely.

“I am ---” The lady who had expected not to see her son was over-excited. “Vlad, are you ---- for real?”

“Yes, I am. I am back.” Vlad declared to his mother. “I have returned.”

“One son is better than none.” It was a momentous meet for the two but not of one other who was captured in the war.

Janus was wounded in the battle at Varna and taken prisoner by the Turks. His mentor and companion, Jan was missing in the battle and presumed dead.

Janus was treated and then imprisoned in the Ottoman camps as a slave. Life then was tough with the Turks resenting the mercenaries of the Black Army.

“Mercenaries, do you not have any decency?” Janus was mocked while working then; carrying the pails of water and stoking the fire to heat the huge baths in what was called the Hammam.

The significance of the hammam was both religious and civic: it provided for the needs of ritual ablutions but also provided general hygiene and served other social functions in the community. There will be an undressing room, a cold room, a warm room, and a hot room. The heat was produced by furnaces which provided hot water and steam, while smoke and hot air were channeled through conduits under the floor. Visitors undress, while retaining a loincloth, and proceed gradually into progressively hotter rooms, inducing perspiration. They are then usually washed by male or female staff (matching the gender of the visitor) with the use of soap and vigorous rubbing, before finishing off by washing themselves in warm water. Bathers are usually washed with running water rather than by immersing themselves in standing water.

“Felpofozzalak?” (Hungarian insult: Do you want me to slap you?” The Turk standing there in the bath called out to Janus. “I have waited too long for the water.”

Janus proceeded to do the task. He was used to the name callings and profanities by the Turks there. It was the treatment expected for a defeated foe. He then proceeded to the rear and retrieve more water. He saw then the other servant named Keran being punished for some errors. He ignored the cries of help by the servant and walked on. He was met later at the well by another servant.

“The escape is on tonight when it's near dawn.” Janus was told by the other. They had planned to escape from the bath house. It was all planned some nights ago.

“Is Keran joining us then?” Janus whispered back.

“If he can run.” The reply was given.

“We will all run ---together,” Janus said.