Preys and Predators 3 Love Binds, Family Destroy Chapter 45

 45. 

 

Vlad Tepes stood in the yard of the house where Katharina resided at Genoa. He was escorted there by Chorbaji Tarmuk, with the personal entourage of six Janissaries. “You are free of your name and reputation, but your safety is not secured.” Chorbaji Tarmuk told the ex-Voivode. “We have been assigned to protect you for now.”

“I have guards here.” Vlad Tepes looked to the Turk. “I have my three personal guards, and Katharina held six others who assisted her. The Capulets have their own guards around the house.”

“Nevertheless, we are assigned to secure your safety. We will reside at the house nearby.” Chorbaji Tarmuk smiled. “Your movement will be monitored.”

“Then I am a prisoner here too.” Vlad Tepes sighed. “Tell me, Chorbaji, why did you offer me freedom and yet deprive me of it?”

“I am just doing my duty.” Chorbaji Tarmuk bowed to the other. “You and your brother held a place in the Sultan’s heart. When your brother passed on, I was assigned to you. You hold many enemies and more to it; you …….”

“Tell me of the Empress Jewels.” Vlad Tepes pushed the new subject on. “I have never seen it.”

“Yet you will give it away without a thought.” Chorbaji Tarmuk smiled.

“Did I do that? It was not mine at all. It belonged to the Sultan and then Radu’s. Tell me of the value here.”

“Value? Priceless, but the true value of the jewels was that they may bring great power to the holder. It may rally others to the cause of the beholder. The trail of the jewels was ancient to the era of Alexander the Great, who was given it as a token of his supremacy and leadership. It was said that the jewels belonged to Naamah, the main wife of King Solomon, who was to birth his heir, Rehoboam. The jewels survived the lineage and were eventually handed to Alexander. Upon his death, the jewels were lost to whom he was custodian.”

“The vast empire was divided among his generals, known as the Diadochi. This led to a period of conflict and eventually resulted in the formation of successor states, such as the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt, the Seleucid Empire in Persia, and the Kingdom of Macedon. Eventually these states were to end, and the Roman Empire was founded. That eventually ended, and the Roman Empire was split into two states: the Western Roman and the Byzantine. Eventually, it collapsed, and other states emerged.”

“The talks of the people were that Helen of Troy was the custodian of it in one era, and it brought the war that was documented but not of the jewels. It was eventually lost in passing the custodian.”

“Successive kings, emperors, and sultans were named, but behind the thrones, there was the possession of the jewels, which were passed between them and to their successors. It assisted in the influence of power there. And then it was lost for generations. Some say it was in the hands of the Romans, but when the Visigoths overran Rome, it went missing.”

“Till that day, the trader brought it to the Sultan, claiming it had been traded over the years by traders and bandits. The trade of the jewels came with many favours and was granted in gratitude, but it also strengthened the Sultan’s empire. Other kings offered their alliance to the Ottomans. Wars were raged to expand the empire on those who does not, and the fate of Constantinople was set to it.”

“The Walls of Constantinople were known as perhaps the most formidable defensive walls of antiquity. It was something like a thousand or more years until they were finally breached. Many armies marched up to the Walls of Constantinople only to shake their heads and turn around, but not the Sultan then. He did the so-named impossible and won the city over.”

“The Ottomans also aimed to capture Constantinople for several key reasons: the strategic importance of the city, economic benefits, cultural significance, and political motivations. Strategic Importance: Constantinople was located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, making it a vital hub for trade routes.”

“The fall of Constantinople shocked many Europeans, who viewed it as a catastrophic event for their civilization. Many feared other European Christian kingdoms would suffer the same fate as Constantinople. More of such wars were fought before, and then, including the Wallachia conflicts, they saddened the Sultan. Lives were lost, and families were separated. The Sultan felt the pain of it all, which was why he sent your brother back to Wallachia to end it all. His desire was to call off the conflicts. He entrusted the jewels to Radu as his final parting gift.”

“Do you really think the jewels will end all conflicts? Or restart a new one?” Vlad Tepes asked.

“I do not know. I am a servant of the Empire. I will serve my duty as requested.”

“Yet you are here to protect me. Why would I need to be protected if the jewels were to aid or stop all the conflicts?”

“I am a Janissary like you were before. We do our duty. As they do for me as their commander. I serve no King but myself, and my care.” Chorbaji Tarmuk smiled. “Our previous duties did not stop the conflicts but may have created more. I was hopeful that, with your death, all that would be buried and soon to be forgotten.”

“Which was why you made me dead and told the whole world I was. The Impaler is dead. So, end my era of killings.” Vlad Tepes looked at the officer.

“True, the Tepes saga must end, but Radu’s parting gift to you was ……” Chorbaji Tarmuk sighed.

“Unprecedented, and… what would you have me… or should I be done with it?”

“I do not know. I was given the duty to protect the two of you.” Chorbaji Tarmuk looked down to the flooring.

“And why do you tell me of the jewels? You could have ……”

“Kept it? First, it was not mine to keep. I am merely the … servant to the beholder, as I was with your brother and before that, my Sultan. Second, you asked me about the jewels. And I told you what I knew.”

“Chorbaji Tarmuk, you knew much of it.” Vlad Tepes looked at the officer.

“I will admit to that. My family has been the protector of the jewels since then. We have traversed the generations to be with it, ever faithful and sacrificial to ensure it was… not lost, but bidden by our oath not to own but to protect the beholder.” Chorbaji Tarmuk spoke of his heritage. “Somehow, we were drawn to that duty. From the era of Naamah, our ancestor.”

“Yet I gave it away.” Vlad Tepes said.

“You did not give it away. You had it entrusted to one in Genoa, and you are here. The link with the jewels is in you.”

“Or in you, Chorbaji. The jewels are never far from you. You are also the link to it.”

“Perhaps… Do you want to collect it back from Lord Dante Montague?”

“No, not yet. I want to spend time with my family and my new found freedom.” Vlad Tepes walked back to his home. The Chorbaji looked to the man he was to protect. He was in deep thoughts; the words of Vlad were disturbing. Maybe, it was all fated that he was there.

Not for Vlad but for the jewels.

“Chorbaji, I have news.” The Janissary he assigned to spy on the situation in Genoa. “Lord Dante Montague is back in Genoa, but he remained silent. Nothing to report on his movements. However, I found out more.”

“In the household, I found out there are issues troubling them. His daughter, Juliet Montague, is involved with the heir of Capulet, Romeo Capulet. The latter is in hiding, for he was to have killed a Montague member.”

“Most troubling……”

“There is more. Count Paris is in Genoa with Lord Gencio Capulet. Rumours that they are looking to find more on a shipment by one named Andre Bassanio Tito. The talks were to do with the Empress Jewels that are in it.”

“So, our ruse may have worked, but the timing was miscalculated.”

“More to it. I had some news. Prince Escalus is on route here. He travels with personal guards to Genoa. And I met an old acquaintance, whom we once recruited to be our spy. His name is Lamin Tarik; he is a man of another faith here, but his servitude is still there for us. It was he who told me of the information here.”

“Good, he may be of more service now.” Chorbaji Tarmuk smiled. “Tell the others to keep their kilij on them.”

“They all carry the kilij with them, or within grab, the jambiya.” The jambiya is a personal weapon used by the men from the Ottoman Empire. It is a small dagger, with a handle, a blade, and a sheath in which the blade is held. It is made of a certain sort of wood to hold the blade that is fixed to the waist from underneath with an upward curved sheath. “Do not display that in public. We are not in our empire but at the enemies’ lair.”

Chorbaji Tarmuk dismissed the loyal soldier.

A small distance from the house, in the grove of the olive trees, two figures were standing there, watching the house. They were met by another.

“Master Reynard, the guest is in the house. The servants told me he is protected by a group of Ottomans.” The newly arrived person told the Capulet’s guard.

“Leave us.” Reynard told the person soon after. He then faced the one other standing at the back. The spy for Reynard took leave.

“It will seem that the new guest is Vlad Tepes, whom many had assumed was dead.” The one who stood next to Reynard looked at the house.

“It is obvious that the death of the Impaler was exaggerated. The lady there is his lover, and his children reside there.” The other said. “The question remained: why did Lady Sofia take the responsibility to house the Tepes? I doubt the Lord knew of it, but I could be mistaken. Lord Gencio Capulet does not really share all his works with me.”

“Benvolio, Lord Gencio……”

“Do not patronize me, Reynard. I am fully aware of my standing with the Capulet. I am his cousin, but my father is the bastard. Like Lorenzo, I do not hold the blood of the Capulet in me except that my father was the son of an illicit affair.”

Benvolio reflected on his background; he had no real standing in the Capulet clan. He joined the mercenaries at an early age and made his name as a warrior and his fortune there. His appearance at Genoa was to see Romeo, but that did not stop his other task. He was sent there by Prince Escalus to find out more of the Montagues, who have a beautiful daughter, whom Count Paris was infatuated with. Benvolio was not keen on the other gender with his war wounds that took his desire away.

His current task was to find the Empress Jewels. That he revelled in, for it was said to be priceless and highly valued by the royalty.      

“It was good that you told me of this. Prince Escalus will be pleased to know this.” Benvolio smiled.