Night closed in, and dark shadows cloaked the narrow streets. Gina’s escorts scrutinised them. They never dropped their guard, not even for a moment. A carriage approached them from the opposite direction. In the narrow street, the man at the helm had to slow the team of horses.
It gave the driver a bad feeling. The soldier beside him felt the same, and he moved his cape to one side to place a hand on the hilt of his sword.
Two men sprang up from under a cover on the top of the other carriage. Both held bows in hand with an arrow at the ready. The soldier could not react in time, or avoid the arrow that ripped through his larynx. His hands flopped to his sides as he fell from the carriage. He crashed down onto the road, his skull smashing against the stones before one of the heavy wheels from the carriage crushed his spine.
The driver fell in the same moment, the missile intended for him striking him in the right eye. It sliced through the soft jelly of his brain and exploded out through the back of his head. He fell down too, but in the path of the oncoming team from the other carriage. The horses trampled him into the road.
Gina cried out. Both she and her escort felt the wheels run over the other soldier. They heard two thuds on the roof above their heads before the carriages crunched against each other as they passed. The horses in both teams whinnied out loud and bolted.
The jolt knocked both Gina and her escort from their seats. They landed on the floor in a heap, Gina lying on top of him. He tried to push her clear. The thuds on the roof, he knew, were hostiles jumping onto their carriage.
The two men climbed down it on either side. By the time Gina’s escort had regained his feet, they were upon him. With a blade in hand, one of the men drove it into his lower back. He climbed into the carriage, and drove the blade into the escort a second time. Gina screamed as she watched her escort fall.
The second man tried to enter the carriage from the other side.
“Go and control the team!” the killer shouted at him.
Gina froze when he looked in her eyes. His companion climbed back onto the top of the carriage to try and grab the reins.
“It is good to see you, Signorina,” the man said, grinning.
She reached out with both hands to claw at his eyes. He grabbed her wrists and pushed her down again.
“Do not touch me!” she screamed.
“There is someone who wants to meet you.”
When she looked up again, he punched her hard in the jaw. The blow knocked her out cold.
“HOLY Father, there is a man here to see you.”
Pius looked up at his guard. He had expected Gina some time ago, and her failure to show left him anxious and agitated. “Tell him to call back another time. I am not seeing anyone right at this time. I am waiting on Gina.”
The guard hovered for a moment. “He said he must see you, that he has a message from Signorina Orsini.”
“What is this message?”
“He would not tell me. He said it is for your ears only.”
Pius thought about it a moment. Has something happened to Gina? He grew worried. She should have been there, and he needed to know what was wrong. “Send him in, then.”
The man entered the room. He had the appearance of a soldier of fortune. Although dressed like a noble, he had a brash look about him. It suggested he was not born into his status.
“You have a message for me?” Pius asked him.
The man looked around at the guard. “It is a message I must deliver alone.”
The guard stepped forward. “So you can harm the Holy Father?”
Pius laughed at him. “You cannot hope to see me without the presence of one of my guards.”
“Then I shall leave.”
Pius’s mood turned to one of anger. The stranger was taking a great liberty here. “I can have you arrested and thrown in a cell.”
“I have come in good faith,” the man said. “I do not mean you any harm.”
“Then deliver your message in the presence of my guard.”
“I cannot. The message I have is for your ears only.”
Pius sighed with frustration. He wanted more than anything to hear what the man had to say.
“I owe allegiance to no man,” his visitor said. “If any guard raises a hand to me, then I shall defend myself. And I am well able to do so.”
“Then would you swear an oath on the Holy Bible?”
The man nodded. “Yes, that I can do.”
The guard picked up the Bible from a nearby table. “Put your hand on it,” he ordered the man.
The man did as instructed.
“Swear you shall not harm the Holy Father in any way.”
“I swear it,” the man said.
Pius looked to his guard. “You can leave us, but remain close at hand.”
The guard could not believe that the pope would entertain the stranger. Still, he had to do as ordered and left the two of them alone.
“Very well,” Pius said. “Speak.”
“You need to know Signorina Orsini shall not be coming this night.”
The pope looked worried. “Why ever not? What is wrong?”
“My people have her.”
“What? You have kidnapped her?”
“We are holding her, yes.”
Pius flew into a rage; he was so incensed that a trickle of blood escaped his nose.
“Sit down, old man,” the stranger said. “I do not want your heart to give way.”
Pius sat down, his face sunken. He looked totally jaded. They had him where they wanted him. He knew right there and then that his time left in the world was short. “Old man? That is a fine way to address your pope.”
The stranger remained unmoved. “You are nobody to me.”
“And the oath you swore?”
“Mere words. It means little to me either.”
“So you are going to kill me?”
“No, it is not my place.”
“Then what is to happen next?”
“That would depend on you.”
“Why does it?”
“How much do you love your mistress?”
“So you would use her to lure me away from the palace?”
“I use any means I deem necessary.”
“You are Lucifer’s henchman!”
“What? I fear you are losing your mind, old man.”
“If not on his account, then why are you here?”
“I am following orders.”
“I should have your insolent tongue cut from your mouth.”
“Then you would lose.”
Pius sat forward. His eyes widened as he drew on the last bit of courage he had left. “Why? Your tongue would go well with a dish of potatoes.”
“Then I would not be able to lead you to your lover.”
“And why would I want you to?”
“If you are not there within the hour, then my men shall each have her, one at a time? When they are done, they shall cut her throat.”
The threat horrified Pius. He could not bear the thought of another man touching her. The threat, though, was real. He did not doubt it for a moment. If he did not go, then his beloved Gina would die.
“I did not think that idea would appeal to you,” the man said, showing no emotion.
“To where is it I must go?”
“You shall see. My master wants to see you.”
“Lucifer!”
“What are you saying? You need to hurry. The clock is ticking.”
ROME PROVINCE. THE VATICAN ENCLAVE
IN ROME.
OCTOBER 15, 1503.
The guards watched Pius walk out with the stranger. “Holy Father?” one of them asked. “Is all well?”
“Yes,” he answered. “I must go with this man.”
“But, Holy Father, you cannot.”
“I am not debating the issue. I am going with him.”
“Then let us accompany you.”
“No,” he said in as firm a tone as he could muster under the circum
stances. “I must go alone. Prepare my carriage.”
Pius did not speak when they left. The man sat in the seat across from him. Two of his own men took the helm up above. Soon after, they turned into a quiet street and drew the team to a halt. Several riders drew alongside to the left and right.
“Jump down,” one of them ordered the pope’s men.
Pius stood up to lodge an objection.
“Sit down,” his escort warned. “And remain quiet.”
“We cannot leave the Holy Father,” one of the guards shouted back.
The same man who had issued the order drew his sword. “You can jump down, or you can die,” he told the guard in no uncertain terms. “Your journey ends here.”
The guards had no choice but to comply. They looked to each other and jumped down onto the road.
“Return home!” the man warned.
The guards went on their way. One of the riders climbed atop the carriage. He took the reins in hand and geed the team forward.
“You are a cur,” Pius said to his escort.
“And you are not?”
“I would not use a woman to lure my prey.”
“Oft times, it takes more than a piece of cheese to tease a rat from its hole.”
“You would liken me to a rat?”
“Would you prefer a snake, then?”
Pius growled under his breath. “You shall burn in Hell for this.”
“Mind your tongue, old man.”
“You shall burn in Hell for this!”
“Then I shall burn with you.”
Pius thought back to his earlier conversation with the man. A cold sweat had broken out all over his body when he received the ultimatum. He had no choice but to go. Gina was the one good thing in his life, and he could not see her harmed.
He realised in leaving, he was signing his death warrant. In his heart, though, he accepted his own welfare did not matter next to hers. He had lived his life. She was still young and beautiful. He had to make the sacrifice to ensure she was safe.
The rest of the journey did not take long. They led Pius to the Jewish Quarter, an area of the city with which he was not familiar. The carriage drew to a halt outside a house that looked run-down and derelict. One or two flickering lights from inside indicated that it was not uninhabited.
The man opened the door and climbed out. “Come,” he said to Pius. “The clock is still ticking.”
Pius did not waste any time, and scrambled out of the carriage and onto the street. His only thought was for Gina. He looked up and down, but saw no one. The street was deathly quiet.
“Follow me,” the man said, leading the way.
Pius paused for a brief moment. He knew these men were going to kill him. Three of the riders moved in behind him. Only then did he follow the other man inside. Those already in the house knew he had arrived. Gina still lay unconscious in a back room.
One of the men threw a jug of cold water over her face, and she awoke with a start. She shrieked out loud, not yet having gotten her bearings. The same man stood over her. When he reached out with a hand, she cowered away.
“Come,” he said. “I am not going to harm you.”
Gina did not want to go with him. She trusted no one now. The murder of her escorts remained fresh in her mind. As well as that, these men had assaulted her. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the other room. Several strands of her dishevelled hair stuck to the side of her face.
Pius walked into the room moments before her. He looked to the man who sat in a chair in the centre of the room. The man looked up at him, his expression not too welcoming. Pius squinted his eyes to make sure they had not deceived him. They had not.
“I hope you value the life of your woman,” Petrucci said. “If you do, you should not utter my name.”
Gina entered in that moment. “Franc!” she cried out when she saw him.
A tear escaped his eye when he heard her. “Gina!” he said, his voice trembling. He was just relieved to see her alive and well.
They allowed her to go to him. She ran across the room and into his arms. He noticed at once the hefty swelling to the side of her jaw. “You brutes! What have you done to her?”
The one who had brought him there, stepped from the darker recesses of the room. “She is alive. Be glad of that much.”
Pius held her close, but kept his focus on Petrucci. “I kept my word, and I am here. Let her go.”
His captor nodded to two of his men. “Take her home.”
One of them stepped up behind her and placed a hood over her head. She let out a muffled cry and clung onto her lover.
“What are you doing?” Pius asked them, the alarm clear on his face.
“It is for her safety that she does not know where she is.”
That in itself told Pius he was going to die. They had made no attempt to hide the location from him.
“Go home, my love,” he urged her. “You shall be safe.”
“I shall not leave you!” she screamed from under the hood.
“You must, Gina,” he said, his voice starting to break. “Go, I beg you.”
The men led her away, and bundled her into the carriage. Pius heard her cries for him for some time before they disappeared into the night. His heart sank. He knew he would never see her again. She sensed it too.
“Yours was the last face I expected to see this night,” he said to his captor.
The governor of Siena grinned at him. “When you dabble with the Dark Side, you would be surprised who you might find there.”
“I wondered how you reached the heights in so short a time. This explains much to me.”
Petrucci shrugged. “In truth, I am not surprised to see you at all.”
They had known each other for more than fifty years. Pius was born and lived in Siena for all of his early life. The two had looked on each other as friends a long time ago. He knew Petrucci as one of those men who lurked on the fringes, but never amounted to anything. Then Petrucci had shocked them all with his rise to power, and his fame and fortune. Now Pius knew the means Petrucci had used to achieve it.
“So, what are you planning to do with me?” Pius asked.
“You failed him. He is very upset with you.”
“And you have come to mete out his justice?”
“Yes, you know the price of failure.”
“Then do it, and put an end to this. I am tiring of the charade.”
Petrucci stood up. Pius looked down and saw the glint of a blade. He tensed himself as his old friend drew close. Petrucci raised his arm to strike. Pius threw his arms out in front of him out of instinct. When he did, his nemesis crouched low and ran the blade across the back of his leg.
Pius gasped and fell down. He lay there, waiting for the fatal blow. To his surprise, it did not come. Petrucci knew what he had done would prove enough. He had laced the blade with a deadly poison.
“Come,” Petrucci said to the others. “We must go. Leave him here.”
They left him there alone in the old house. Pius managed to find a way out when they had gone. He felt sick and stumbled over many times. After an hour, his guards found him in a lonely street, and brought him back to the Vatican.
Over the next two days, he fell seriously ill. The wound on his leg ulcerated and festered. He died in his bed only twenty-six days after becoming pope.
WALLACHIA. THE VLACIA FORESTS.
NOVEMBER, 1503.
Radu hid away in the Vlacia forests, where he had stayed in the time since his resurrection from the grave. The thought that someone might look upon his face, filled him with dread. He was glad of the solitude the forest afforded him.
The scars from that night eight months ago ran deep. His brother had taken the worst revenge against him. The physical pain had lasted a long time. Worse still, for Radu, was the psychological pain of the act. The scars of that would stay with him for all eternity.
Dracula destroyed the one thing that had seen him through his mortal life.
He had taken away his brother’s looks. Radu had possessed no great talent. He had enjoyed a rich life only because of a favour of birth and for his striking appearance. The loss of his face left him terrified of the future. He was beautiful no more, and his brother had condemned him to an eternity in the shadows.
Radu struggled to come to terms with what he had become. The joys of the daytime no longer existed for him. Each night, he fed on the wildlife in the forest, but the taste was not to his liking. After he had drunk the blood of an animal, he would often feel unwell, and in need of more. As time passed, he felt his body growing ever weaker.
He knew he needed human blood. Sometime soon, he would have to venture down to the towns on the edge of the forest. Perhaps then he might begin to feel better. When he did, he could look for a way to heal his face. It was this idea that kept him going.
His new powers did excite him, though. He loved to fly, and the great feeling of freedom it gave him. But most of the time, the forest felt like a prison. Although he remained there by choice, he needed a release from it. The night skies gave him this.
The night hid nothing from his sight. Though little more than charred stumps, his ears picked up the faintest of sounds. Even the heartbeats of the people who slept in the nearest towns, caught his attention. The more he heard them, the greater their lure.
With each night that passed, he edged closer and closer. Some nights he found a spot in a tree on the edge of the forest to watch and listen. It was rare that he saw anyone out that late. When he did, his heart raced. The scent of blood came through strong and clear; human blood.
In time, he chose his first human victim. He eyed a merchant leaving the town late one night. For more than an hour, he tailed him at a safe distance. The merchant had two riders with him. Radu realised that the man had to have a fair degree of wealth. Because he had never been in this position before, he felt nervous. He did not know the full extent of his abilities, and wondered if he could overpower three men, two of whom seemed very able. The need for blood, though, dictated his course of action. Every sinew in his body craved it.
The Dracula Chronicles: Bound By Blood Page 34
