Vlad the Impaler Chapter 16

 The second reign.

16.

"When a man or a prince is strong and powerful, he can make peace as he wants to; but when he is weak, a stronger one will come and do what he wants to him" Vlad addressed the boyars there who came to offer their loyalty to him when he was made Volvode one more.

“List down that down and send to Brasov. Those independent boyars will need my protection in the case of a hostile move by the Ottoman on Transylvania. They are always on the concern of that, and of John Hunyadi who may one day invade them. A cornered adversary needs allies, and I am here to offer them that.”

“My Lord Vlad, the other boyars are still waiting outside for you.” Vlad heard the call from his advisers. The boyars outside were the supporter of Vladislav II and had a hand in the murder of his brother, Mircea II. He looked to his advisers and asked.

“Do you invite a bear into your home?” Vlad asked.

“Only if the bear is tamed and your sword near you, My Lord.” Vlad was told by one of his advisers. The line of advisers was from the court of Vladislav II and duly retained by Vlad. He was told that he needed counseling of the learned ones.

“Then invite them in, please,” Vlad told the advisers. The four boyars were invited in and they bowed to the new Volvode.

“Lord Vlad, we ----” The boyar was to speak when Vlad stopped him.

“All of you were supporters of Vladislav II, and for that, you have acted in treason against Wallachia. You will be impaled alive on the road to the city alongside with them.” Vlad motioned to the team of advisers. “Janus, take them away too and have my command done immediately.”

“Lord Vlad, we protest. We hold ---” One of the boyars resisted and Janus struck him down with a blow to the head with the hilt of the sword.

“Whatever, army and guards you have will either join me or be killed like you.” Vlad gave his command. The boyars and screaming advisers were dragged out to be impaled.

“My Lord, your punishment ---” One of the boyars who supported Vlad voiced out and was cut off.

“I am doing what was needed for years. Every Volvode seated here have treacherous men before him, and at the unexpected moment, they will remove or allied themselves to the enemy.” Vlad snapped in. “I will not be that whom I was before.”

“The impalement is ---” One of the loyal boyars cut in to save his deposed ranks.

“Fear stops undesirable thoughts.” Vlad looked to the boyar. “Serve me loyally, or be prepared to be impaled.”

“My Lord, that may ---”

“I care now how it's viewed but the sight of them will serve as a lesson to all who dares to defy me.” Vlad then stepped off the seat. He turned to look at the line of boyars. “Please take a seat there if you think I am wrong.”

Vlad had then moved to his chamber whole the boyars muttered to each other. None dare to approach the seat and then they dismissed themselves. However, the act of being impaled did not go well with Vlad’s mother. She saw him later that evening at her home.

“I do not expect you to understand it, my mother. I have grown up in a hostile condition that my life was threatened daily. My father and brother were killed not by the Turks or even the Saxons, but by his people. The same people that he swore to protect. I learned to do what is right.” Vlad told her and then left her alone.

“Do you feel remorse, my son?” The mother asked while his back was turned. Vlad does not feel remorse but anger in him. He felt the wounds that were inflicted on his body by Vladislav II aching then.

“You may ache but I won’t relent to it,” Vlad told himself many times. He also ignored his mother’s question and walked on. The killings did not stop there. The loyal subjects of the dead boyars had revolted and Vlad had to send his army in. He faced the ones defying him then.

“You are Wallachian, as I am but if you take arms against me, prepare to die like your masters.” The voice carried far the threat for the one who rebelled were put to death; impaled alive. “For every five of you, one will be punished. It may be a child, a woman, or men. I care not.”

“My Lord, you are ---” A woman holding the child to her chest voiced out.

“I am cruel and cruel are you to defy me when I am here to protect you.” Vlad looked at the woman. “How can I protect you if you are to stab me in the back? How can I be your Volvode when you don’t respect me as one?”

“Janus, do as I have commanded.” The smell of the dead and blood cured on the ground under the sun-baked condition. The passing traders took to a different route when they see the impalement.

“Even the Thrace warrior who rebelled against the Romans had a better death sentence.” The scholars discussed the act of Vlad to that of Emperor Crassus who had the slave Spartacus crucified. “How can you impale a living soul to the stake and left to die?”

“To the victors, the spoils of the war,” Vlad replied.

“My Lord, you are of the faith and ---” The priest reminded the Lord.

“And I did not crucify them as the Romans did. I impale them like the wolves we hunted. They are the wolves towards my sheep. I am the avenging shepherd.  Or the devil to the wolves.”

The wealth and lands that the boyars had were given to the ones that were loyal to him. His method then quickly effected a great change and utterly revolutionized the affairs of Wallachia. Lord Vlad III son of Dracul or Dracula in short, was feared by then people and also of the neighboring lands.

However, Vlad knew that his reign was precarious with the Hungarian watching his every move. He then turned to the one that will offer him protection; Sultan Mehmed II who was then promoted to be the rightful Sultan and Radu his brother was in the court of the Sultan. He reached to the Sultan once more out of the need to survive.

“Wallachia offered its loyalty to the Ottoman empire.” It was a simple gesture of restoring the tributes to the Sultan then.

“My previous Prince returns and now a Lord. I am impressed and your gratitude is acknowledged.” Sultan Mehmed II replied to Vlad’s friendly gesture. “One less foe is one less war to fight.”

The foe of the Sultan was still John Hunyadi, who at that time was under the reign of King

John Hunyadi under the reign of King Ladislaus V whose realms were administered by "three men": Hungary by Hunyadi, Bohemia by George of Poděbrady, and Austria by Ulrich of Celje.  However, Hunyadi's position gradually weakened, because even many of his former allies considered his acts to retain his power with suspicion. The once reveled hero of Hungary was alone. Even his longtime friend, Nicholas Újlaki made a formal alliance with Palatine Ladislaus Garai and Judge royal Ladislaus Pálóci, declaring their intention to restore royal authority then.

John Hunyadi knew that peace time was to invite dissent and his excuse was when the Ottoman captured Constantinople. It was to trigger John Hunyadi to go into war; I will call for a new army,

John Hunyadi formed a Diet and prepared for war. The Diet obliged all landowners to equip four cavalrymen and two infantrymen for every hundred peasant households on their domains. The King then countered with his Diet but John Hunyadi was against it.

“The King wants to curtail my war effort.” John Hunyadi openly declared. The difference of will was there till when the Ottoman invaded Serbia’ violating the truce agreed.

“I cannot delay. The longer I am delayed, we will lose more lands.” John Hunyadi retaliated by raising his army without the consent of the King, He was to march to Serbia to take it back. To his surprise, the Ottomans withdrew in force but left a column of thirty thousand to pillage Serbia.

“The Serbian are our allies. We will aid them.” John Hunyadi marched his army and routed the flanking Ottoman at Krusevac. He moved on and attacked Vidin in the Ottoman’s land before returning victorious to Belgrade.

“I defeated the adversary once more.” John Hunyadi was once more revealed but the King was upset.

“John Hunyadi does not look to me as the King.” The King then with the alliance of other Barons turned against and forced John to relinquish lands and fortresses.

The civil war was averted when the boyars took to negotiation, and peace once more reigned but the Ottoman resumed their invasion, and then it was towards Hungary. The newly assembled army by the Hungarian Barons was in disarray and John Hunyadi was called back to lead the army. It was war once more and John Hunyadi once more proved to be the hero to repel the Ottoman’s army.

“War is my message to the Turks.”