December 23, 1476
My dear friend Jakab Mendel,
What got into you? First you join the returning armies—who has heard of such a thing?—and then you cause even more trouble after your return. All throughout the royal dinner, the new Queen was complaining about you and the offence you caused at the beginning of the wedding march. Asking her to kiss a scroll! This might be a custom among your women, but definitely not ours—neither in Hungarian, nor in Italian lands.
Besides this, there is not much I can report—the rumours took a backseat due to the upheaval after the Queen complained about the seating and most of the guests were ushered out. I was allowed to stay, but the mood was definitely chilly after that. The sky was already dark when the Queen finally agreed to sit at the table. Queen Beatrix did not seem satisfied with the food, she barely nibbled on all those amazing fruits from far-off lands; she only seemed to show some enthusiasm about the game meats, if only to remark that they were overcooked. (I would have begged to disagree, had I not felt it would have been impertinent.) You missed a lot of delicious dishes, though I know you prefer not to show yourself in company where you might be expected to eat Gentile food.
I miss Vlad—he grew on me during the campaign, and I hope the earth will rest lightly upon him. I believe he would get along splendidly with Queen Beatrix, they have similar personalities. Then again, I assume you know the Magyar saying about two bagpipe players in one drinking-hole!
My best regards to your family, too, on this auspicious day. We might not be able to meet for a few weeks at least, as my duties keep me busy. I have Vlad’s estate to manage and his affairs to straighten, as I promised to him in his dying hour.
Long live the King and Queen,
Your friend Galeotto (who shall desist from wishing you a merry Christmas).
Letter from Majsi son of József to Jakab Mendel the Elder
The 21st of Teves!!! 5237.
To the Prefect it is very important.
I got this message from the Queen!! Who is probably not the Queen, or the Queen might not be as we know her. It is not signed but it came with her seal.
Do you think you might wish to get an audience with her?
I am a bit afraid but I have my trusty dagger still.
But besides!! I am really all right now and you should not always be so worried.
All the best! Majsi.
The following letter was enclosed with the above:
January 6, 1477
Dear Jusztina,
I am very glad you have assented to our plan, but I am also concerned. You are among a very small handful of people who know my secret, and I don’t know you very well. Mátyás trusts you, and so I should also offer my trust, but both my time in Wallachia and my time in this kingdom has made me wary.
Galeotto Marzio suspects but doesn’t know. He has been of great help to me in getting my affairs in order and also connecting me to you. He knows much of the plan, but he doesn’t understand my true nature—or that of the King, for that matter. This is good, but I am wondering how long it can remain so. Deception can only hold out for so long, and he is cunning.
None of my relatives are aware of this. I have been considering contacting my brother Radu; he might be able to offer help. It could be good to enlist him in our efforts.
Mátyás had a suspicion the Jewish prefect might know, and I tried to reach out to the prefect, but never received a response. I had a Jewish errand-boy on the campaign, and he promised he would deliver my letter to someone who would carry it all the way back to the prefect living in Buda, but maybe it was intercepted en route. I had no reason not to trust the boy, though he might also know; he always seemed to be favourably disposed toward me. At a certain time I thought he might be spying on me, but then I would certainly have heard from the prefect. He was a simple boy and I might have overestimated him. I wonder what he is up to now—I spared him when I got away. My current couriers are slow and unreliable, and I suspect they are also prone to bribes. I hope you will get this letter, at least.
I have a large favour to ask. Do you know of any other people like Mátyás and I? I have many questions to ask, but the King is busy or otherwise might not be the best person to interrogate on these matters; his mood is rather grim these days, with the news from the South. My absence from Wallachia has also created an absence of power, as we have feared—and I understand this was part of the plan, but I worry still.
If you could help me in this matter, my soul could rest easier.
Letter from Queen Beatrix to Jakab Mendel the Elder
January 10, 1477
To the Prefect of All Hungarian Jewry, Jakab Mendel the Elder,
I have been trying to reach you. I believe you might be my only possible confidante in this wretched land, yet my messages never return with a response. I have lost patience and sought out my former errand-boy to deliver this letter directly into your hands. He looked as if I was about to bite him, and flailed at me with his dagger, so I assume he knows the truth, and so do you.
I await your response after your Sabbath. Please tell him to keep that forsaken dagger sheathed; I have no plans to part with either my hair or my life.
Beatrix, for now.
Letter from Jakab Mendel the Elder to Queen Beatrix
The 27th of Teves, the year 5237 since Creation
January 12, 1477
To Queen Beatrix of Aragon, the rightful Queen of Hungary,
Blessings and felicitations!
I have received your letter with great alarm. I have not received your other recent missives. I will make sure Majsi, who is also one of my younger relatives, will hand-deliver this letter to you.
I would be glad to meet with you; or if you believe that such meetings might not be safe, I can be at your service, reachable by letter.
I promise (without a formal oath, whose sanctity in either case might aggravate you) that I will not make any attempts on your life, nor will I instruct anyone else to act in such manner. In return I ask that you preserve the life of young Majsi and do not act against the interests of Jewry in Hungary, whose interests in any case might align with yours; though this remains to be seen.
I also ask that you do not share our letters with the King if possible, though I do believe this also aligns with your own will.
With respect,
Jakab Mendel the Elder
Letter from Dracula to Jakab Mendel the Elder
January 13, 1477
To Jakab Mendel the Elder,
I will be brazen; I can afford to be brazen. I have so little to lose.
You know. How long have you known? You do not need to say. You Jews are cunning, or is it that Magyars are gullible? You know what the Magyars say about Wallachs, and what they say specifically about me. That’s not flattering either, so I will not adopt their attitudes. You are well worthy of respect, though I do not know yet whether you will prove to be an ally or an adversary. You might not know that yourself.
Yet, I think you of all people might understand the price I paid. I regained my freedom and retook the land that was rightfully mine, but in the end neither is my freedom mine, nor my land. All I have is this un-dead existence, where all I can do is pose as the Queen, or sneak out as a Magyar lout or in the shape of a giant rat or the evening fog.
I do make a fitting Queen, if I dare say so myself. My woman-shapes please me just as much as my man-shapes, but they do come with different sets of obligations. I do not yet know what the future might bring. I do not know what would be my own preferences, free of coercion. Mátyás is stronger than me. He has been living like this for much longer, and I can only hope that my own cunning will eventually enable me to overtake him. And to think I had feelings for him, once upon a time! I can only tell you this because you know it already. He had feelings for me too, but his feelings led him astray.
I shall be firm from now on.
I understand you are concerned for your people—I have known for longer than you might h
ave assumed. I have my sources and I am not below hiring a few Magyar lowlifes to reach my aims.
The Turks are certainly coming. I know that you have connections with Jewry in the Ottoman Empire, and your little Majsi certainly helped you with that during the campaign too.
Once I have grown stronger, I will deal with the King as I see fit. I believe he has already made attempts on my life. But I need you to help me plan my escape—either to Turkish lands or to Provence where your friend the mystic rabbi lives. I have noticed he is not eager to return, and lately he has even stopped answering you. It would probably please him to avoid me, but I might need his assistance, regardless of what he thinks of evil forces. I have not ended in this situation of my own volition, and I can already feel my newfound nature starting to influence my mind. His words are with me about the blood and the soul.
I have always lived a warrior’s life, and ruled with strength. But strength is one thing, and the needless application of it is another. More and more I struggle to maintain my restraint, more and more I feel overcome with rage even when it is inopportune. I have no idea where this road will eventually lead. I wonder who turned Mátyás; if I were to come face to face with them, could I see in their present my own future. I do not wish to become a mindless animal, and yet where are the other creatures of my kind? I can only assume they have fallen into the straightforward life of the beast—or are they hiding from me?
I only try to drink from the blood of my enemies. But my enemies are many and my friends are few. I have always guided my people with force, unlike you who lead your people with caution, and occasionally subterfuge. I am beginning to see what a great gift it is, to be able to openly yield power. For many years I had not given it a second thought; not even in prison, for I saw my captivity as fleeting.
I turn to your expertise now. As your Jews have flourished under the King, so shall I flourish, if you accept our alliance.
I do not ask for your trust. I could force you—I could tell you how easy it would be to turn the King against the Jews, how easy it would be for me to use his feelings for me against him and against you. It would not be beneath me, truly. But I do believe an earnest alliance based on mutual respect and the shared aims of persistence in face of the King’s power could work better.
I am neither Vlad nor Beatrix now; but I shall keep my father’s name, that he earned with his knightly deeds. Yet I feel little willingness to write it out in the Magyar way, for as much as my current situation ties me to Hungary, so much has my soul been liberated from it.
Eagerly awaiting your response,
Dracula
Letter from Ya’akov Mendel to Dracula
The 29th of Teves, the year 5237 since Creation.
Dracula,
I appreciate your trust in me. I will preserve the Wallachian spelling of your chosen name; in turn, you are free to address me as Ya’akov. We do not need to yield to the Magyars in everything, even when it is convenient.
It has been a long and difficult road to lead my people, and entirely different from your own. But I do understand the similarities in our situations.
There is one important difference, though, that I must discuss. The King’s death (I will not mention any sacred name that I would usually include) would set you free and enable you to act as you see fit. Yet you can surely see that it would make the situation of the Jews much more precarious. I have no guarantee that whoever follows Mátyás on the throne will be friendly toward my people—or, if the Turks take the Kingdom, that they will be any more merciful. I do know many of my people would welcome them, but others are already preparing to flee, digging tunnels just in case. I cannot speak in favour of either option. We need to be prepared, whatever may come.
If you are intent on ruling over Hungary yourself, I would need some guarantee from you of our safety—yet I know that you wish not to be bound in any way, and sacred oaths now no doubt create only revulsion in you. So how could you give me such a promise? Even I cannot make a promise to you, for that I would need to invoke sacred names. I remember your reaction to the Torah scroll.
I am willing to work with you. But I trust that you understand my caution.
With respect,
Ya’akov Mendel
Letter from Dracula to Ya’akov Mendel
January 15, 1477
Dear Ya’akov—if not my friend, then my co-conspirator,
How grim it is that the Magyars accuse Jews of drinking blood, and yet I am the one drinking blood! And you draw away from me even as we plan to work together.
I am not forcing you, am I? Is the situation forcing both of us? I would like to abstain from force—I have had enough of it. Yet I feel the pull of my new, monstrous nature, and it merges well with my old nature, the iron-fisted leader on the Wallachian throne. The only feeling I can fall back on that is distinct from this destructiveness is the desperation of my prison years, when I was shown to ambassadors like a trophy, a secret weapon to be unleashed upon the Turks when the King would see fit. Mátyás is cruel beyond measure—I have always been cruel only with measure.
You benefit from his rule—but for how long?
I need to learn more about the weaknesses of the bloodsucking monster, the one to which I am kin, even knowing that you will be learning about my weaknesses as well.
The King will die—he ought to die—but I might yet roam this earth for millennia more, and even I do not know what shape I might take. I would say, it is better for you to be on my good side, but I do not mean to threaten you. It is simply the truth.
Mátyás has taken even the words of humans from me. All that remains is the pull of the night, the taste of blood. Soon I will need to feast or I shall threaten you too, you who I would like to keep on my good side. You who still need to teach me about your ways.
If there are any rowdy Magyar louts you would not miss, just tell me and I will do you a favour.
Dracula
Letter from Ya’akov Mendel to Dracula
The 5th of Shevat, the year 5237 since Creation
Dracula,
I do not wish to have anyone’s blood on my hands; and I would prefer to stay on your good side. Do you think we can come to an agreement? You have plenty of time to depose the King. I understand the wait is hard on you.
If you can make do with animal blood, then as you know, we do not consume blood and bleed out our animals at the slaughter. Some accommodation can certainly be made.
While you are waiting for the right moment, I shall make arrangements to ensure the safety of my community. Would this be agreeable to you?
Let me know,
Ya’akov Mendel
Letter from Majsi son of József to Jakab Mendel the Elder
To the Prefect it is urgent!!
dear Prefect I do not know what is happening! I wanted to speak to you in person but again you were out!
I think V. / B. killed someone at the court and I think it was Galeoto Martzio or how ever it is spelled! Everyone is running around shouting.
No one blames the Queen of course.
Majsi.
Letter from Dracula to Ya’akov Mendel
January 22, 1477
My dear Ya’akov,
Thank you for your kindness. Animal blood does not satisfy for long. I tried this, many months ago, in distress.
I will not be in touch, but I will consider what you have said. I ask you to do the same.
I remain, as always,
Dracula
Letter from Ya’akov Mendel to Rabbi Izsák the Scribe
With the aid of the Heavens
The 29th of Nisan, the year 5237 since Creation
Esteemed Rabbi,
I hope you had a kosher and happy Passover season; here there has been a controversy over butter that kept the entire community occupied. I trust someone else will apprise you better as to the legal niceties.
I have summarized for you all the letters I had received. I haven’t heard from Dracula in months—the Queen has a
ssumed her duties, in the meanwhile. In spite of our fears, she hasn’t been hostile to Jews; though she has not shown particular friendliness either.
Many in the court complain of her temper. She avoids me and I have been obliging her wishes.
Galeotto Marzio is alive, but gravely wounded in mysterious conditions; he has fled back to his Italian home for the time being, where he is working on his further chronicles of the King’s court. People say he had aroused the ire of Heavens; some even claim he had been hostile to Jews and suffered some kind of divine retribution. How Gentiles can believe this and at the same time loudly claim we killed their Saviour is beyond me. In any case, he never told me anything untoward, Heaven forbid; I did see him make jokes at my nephew’s expense once, but that was mere verbal jousting and no one took offence. But I can certainly see how Galeotto in his jocular demeanor can take an anecdote too far, and I am sure that someone still remembers that slight on their person by one of Galeotto’s good friends, the learned poet Janus—may he rest in peace.
I will let you know if the Queen takes leave or engages in leisurely travel of some sort—I do believe that one night, someone might pay you a visit. You will not want to be overly friendly, but you do not want to alienate your visitor either. Mist might encircle your house and the eyes of rats and bloodsucking bats might stare at you from the darkness. Out of the mist a figure might step out, a stranger with long flowing hair, tired after the exertions of a lengthy trip. I know you can repel the forces of the Other Side with ease, but for now you might want to hear them out. We also have many enemies, and it might not be wise to needlessly add to their number.
Dracula Page 5
