Emeric had expected to find Ban Ilescu frightened and homeless… if alive. What he had not expected was to find Ban Ilescu, frightened, homeless… and sitting with a field army of his boyars and all their retainers, with intent to kill someone. Emeric had more troops-by far-than the Ban. What he didn't have was them right there.
"My castle. My jewel… has been taken over by… If I am to believe the idiots, blood drinking naked women from the the river," snarled Ban. "What sorcery is this?"
Emeric met question with question. "What are you doing here with an army?"
"I expect Prince Vlad. I had set a trap for him. I was going to make an end to him," said the Ban, grimly.
"Oh." That put a different complexion on the Vila having seized Irongate.
"He has stolen a march on me by sending his demons to take Irongate. And if these fools get to hear of it, he may defeat me yet. I had the survivors executed before the story spread." The Ban looked gloomy. "If he really has this sort of power, I had better make my submission. And you too, I think," he said to his overlord.
Emeric was shocked almost rigid by this forthright speech. It wasn't derogatory… it was just matter of fact. It infuriated him. And then he remembered where he was, and the small number of troops he had at his immediate disposal. He could kill this man… if he could reach him. The Ban was standing a good safe distance off. With difficulty, he controlled himself. "I have sorcerous powers at my disposal too. I will deal with these Vila. After you have dealt with Vlad."
The Ban gave a nod. But it was a very curt nod.
"I will await you in Orsova castle. Bring me his head," said Emeric, choosing to ignore what he did not wish to see.
'If you are going to a rendezvous with someone you don't trust, be there early,' Manfred had said. Well, they had two days in hand. So Vlad sent scouts, scouts whose ability to move in the dark and undetected was far better than most humans. They'd had warning. It appeared that the towns did not like Ban Ilescu.
"There are thousands of men camped in the forest," reported Radu.
"He has mobilized his boyars, Drac. Just as they warned us in Bucova."
"You can't believe everything you hear," said Vlad. "They also said he'd filled his fortress in the Dunrea with man-devouring drowned women, and that he killed everyone who tried to speak of it. They say worse things about me, up north."
"Oh, down here too," said the Primore, cheerfully. "They want you to be terrible Drac. To terrify children, or their enemies, depending on how close the enemies are, or how bad the children are being."
"What sort of forest is it, Radu?" asked Dana.
"Mostly pine." The gypsy's eyes gleamed wickedly as he said it.
"Well," said Manfred. "If he's sitting in the forest with his loyalists… He isn't guarding his towns and cities."
"Irongate might be a bridge too far though," said Erik, looking at the map.
"He can surrender that one," said Vlad.
Standing at the appointed time on a knoll-clearing above the meeting place, Ban Ilescu could hardly believe it. He'd expected an emissary, more conditions… Yet the man-that all the towns of Valahia were hailing as military genius, who had beaten Emeric at every turn, had ridden blindly into his trap. He was out on the open fields with a small contingent of knights, waiting for Ban Ilescu to come and make his submission. To escort Vlad to his castles, and present him with the keys.
Ban Ilescu shook his head. He turned to tell his trumpeter to sound the advance. He had no intention of being part of it. Vlad was apparently a demon of a fighter. It was probably as much of a rumor as his military skill.
Only… there was no trumpeter next to him on the knoll. Just a rather saturnine man in bright but patched gypsy clothes. "Lady wants to see you," said the gypsy laconically. "You have implied that she and her brother are bastards and that her mother is an adulteress. She's a little upset with you."
The Ban reached for his sword. His horse reared. He fell off in a most undignified fashion, and found that something standing on his chest. Hot breath that smelled of meat was blown into his face from between very white teeth. Big teeth.
"Call off your dog. I have eight thousand men in these woods."
The gypsy laughed softly. "In the woods, eh? In the pine woods. A very bad place to keep them. Leshy and his people are wild and bad tempered at being woken at this time. And making them bad tempered is nearly as bad as calling Miu a dog. I hear you've been hanging gypsies, Ban. It seems that you're a bit like a bad-tempered bull. Maybe you need a nose ring." Sharp white teeth touched on his nose.
"I wouldn't pull away. You have a fairly long crawl ahead of you. Or you can get up and walk, if you behave yourself. The Princess Dana of Valahia wants a good explanation. A nice walk will give time to think of one. And I think you may find you're better off than your men. It could take them a week to get out of the forest. A week in winter out there could kill some of them."
Ban Ilescu walked. He was unused to walking. And the woods seemed very dark, and very empty.
They got to the open field. His troops surely had to see him-he had very recognizable gold and white enamel inlaid half-armor-and charge. The woods had been jam-packed with them.
The forest looked a little different now. Unfamiliar, somehow. Was that a dragon-like shape above it?
A young woman and a group of men rode over to him. He remembered her face. He'd been very flattering to her last time they had met. Her father had been Duke of Valahia then. And then with shock he recognized the men with her too. They were the city elders from Mehadia and Herkulesfurdo. His towns. With a sinking heart he realized that that was probably not true anymore. "It is very odd that you should not have chosen to mention that your mother was married to my father when we met last, at the reception last year at Poienari castle," Dana of Valahia said. "Perhaps you would like to explain how you suddenly claim to be my father's legitimate heir, both to me and these good people?"
Her brother did not even bother to watch what she was doing. Vlad continued to stand and look at the forest. It appeared to be moving.
The Ban knew that he lived or died on a young girl's whim. And she did not look very sympathetic. He grovelled. "It's not true, Princess. It was not my idea, I swear. King Emeric did it, Princess. I… had to go along with him. He would have had me killed otherwise."
She did not appear impressed. She was quite young, but had the speech and diction… and sarcasm of a much older woman. "Really? Even in your impregnable fortress at Irongate, that you bragged about?" she said dryly
"You filled it with your monsters, and killed my men," he said.
She seemed mildly taken aback by this. "What sort of monsters?"
"Naked women with long green blond hair."
"I assure you," said Princess Dana primly, "if I had anything to do with them they would have been decently clothed."
She began to turn away. "What are you going to do?"
"Deal with them, I should think. I don't think I approve of nudity."
Ban Ilescu had realized that whatever else was happening, his army was not coming to his rescue. "I meant… what about me. I came to make my submission. If you have the power to take my best castle by magic… and to destroy my troops…"
"We had nothing to do with your castle. And your troops are merely lost. That can happen in the woods, especially with a little mist. As for your submission: Vlad and I do not deal with traitors. When we found the ambush you planned, we decided we'd had enough. You are stripped of all your titles and possessions," she said. "I would find a stick and start staggering for Hungary if I were you. I've been told," she gestured at the town elders, " that you are not much liked here. All we wanted from you was a public renunciation of your claims. We have that, now."
A nervous general interrupted his master's inspection of a river barge. Emeric was still in love with his idea of taking them down to flank the Mongol, and opening a route to the Black Sea and conquest of the east. Perhaps even Constantinople. It was a great city, but Alexis was a soft nut to crack. The general coughed. "Your Majesty. Some of Ban Ilescu's boyars have just reached the town."
"Excellent. I hope they have that upstart Vlad's head."
The general coughed again. "No, Your Majesty. In fact all they seemed eager to do was to buy more horses and keep running. I think we should retreat on your garrison at Resicabanya. We will have twenty thousand men at your disposal there."
Emeric stared at him in horror. Was this to be another Corfu?