Page 248 of Dragon Slayer

44

DOWNFALL

Decisiveness, Vlad had long since learned, was a trait often called for in kings and princes and sultans, but rarely ever admired. Smallfolk loved a brave leader…but his fellow leaders never did.

Reckless, vicious, dangerous, without reason – these were the things said about him. Accusations he could see now in the eyes of the man who sat before him; who slowly rose, the silk of his robes of office rustling together.

“Vlad,” Matthias Hunyadi, now Corvinus, said, tone that which he would use on a wayward child. “You know this isn’t something I wish to do, old friend. But you must see reason.”

“Reason?” Vlad bristled. “You didn’t care aboutreasonwhen you were all cowering inside your castles, letting me face Mehmet alone.” He looked at Matthias, and at Stephen, the traitor, standing with hands folded, and brow pinched in disapproval. “I sent the Conqueror running back to his lair to lick his wounds. Not you, not anyone else. You should be toasting me. And here you point lances at me instead.”

He and Cicero stood alone, surrounded on all sides by Matthias’s men-at-arms, a ring of spear-points hemming them in. This was to have been a celebration, a meeting between friends. Instead, it was an ambush.

Cicero growled, low and unmistakably lupine. Several of the soldiers gaped, but they didn’t waver, or lower their weapons.

Vlad put a hand on his arm, and the growl cut off.

Matthias had noticed it, though, his head cocked to the side. “So the rumors are true, then. Stephen told me” – Stephen ducked his head – “but I didn’t quite believe. Whatareyou, Vlad? What besides a warmonger?”

“I am the only thing standing between you and something much, much worse than me,” he snarled in answer. When no one responded to this, he said, “Fine. If this is a lecture instead of a feast, I won’t prolong it.”

He turned to go.

The spears shifted in, closer, tighter.

“Vlad,” Matthias said behind him, voice heavy with something like regret. “You’re not leaving. You’re under arrest.”

~*~

A moment’s stirring was all the warning Vlad got before Cicero’s good eye flew open, and he tried to launch himself upright, hands lifting, fingers already trying to shift to wolf claws.

Vlad was ready, pinning him down by the shoulders, keeping his head in his lap where it had been resting while he was unconscious. “Shh, it’s alright, it’s just me.”

Cicero’s eye darted wildly another moment, and then finally settled on Vlad’s face, and recognition dawned. He subsided with a gusty sigh. “What happened?”

“Well, let’s see,” he said, dryly. “You flung yourself in front of me, and tried to attack an entire regiment of guards. Got stabbed. Got hit over the head. They were about to kill you before I surrendered us both. And now here we are, locked in a tower.”

“What? No!” He lurched upright, swaying, and Vlad had to catch his shoulders to keep him from toppling over. He scanned their surroundings, frantic, panting.

All told, it was a tower, yes, but a lavish one. The solar where they now sat was furnished with two four-poster beds, a long table and chairs, and a massive fireplace, flames crackling merrily. Wardrobes, and tables loaded with cups and pitchers and jars lined the walls. Fine tapestries, and heavy shutters could be used to seal the windows that now stood open, flooding the chamber with light slatted by the heavy silver bars anchored in the ledges.

But Cicero twisted around to look at him with horror blooming across his face. “Vlad. Why did you surrender?”

“Because they were going to kill you.”

The wolf groaned and looked away. “You should have let them.”

Vlad had stood, spear-tips pressed all down his back, pricking through his clothes, drawing blood. He could have fought them; could have survived the injury and blood loss. But he would have eventually passed out, and then need to be revived. Would Mother have come when she heard the news? Would she have been able to?

And in the meantime, Cicero would be dead. And that was unconscionable.

“No,” he said, and put his hand on Cicero’s shoulder. “I don’t regret it.”

But he had no idea how they would get out of this place.

~*~

Val couldn’t stop shaking.

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