Blood oath 1

A Dracula: Untold fanfic

Blood oath 1

In the middle ages the Ottomans were on their crushing path to conquer the world. Every kingdom the Sultan of Turkey took had to gift him a hundred boys of around fifteen years who would be trained into brutal murdering machines that did anything to survive.
When the Sultan and his army came to Transylvania, their order was no different. The Transylvanian king, out of fear for the lives of his subjects as well as his own, gave the Sultan the requested boys. Among them was the king’s only son and to make sure the Ottomans would spare his kingdom, the king also offered his daughter to the Sultan. She would have to marry his eldest son and make sure Transylvania would be safe forever. But things don’t always go as planned…

Afina’s POV
The carriage shook heavily as we travelled over the poor paths that lead to the place I once called home. My blue eyes glanced towards my right where the only other person sat in the carriage: my brother Vlad. He was two years older than me, yet we often got mistaken for being twins.
“You sure this is a good idea?”I finally voiced the question that had been playing on my mind from the moment we had left. “It’s been ten years Vlad. Things change over ten years. People change. I changed.”.
Vlad sighed and seemed to ponder his answer for a minute before speaking. “We survived ten years in hell Afina. Of course we changed. There’s no way in heaven and hell we are the same kids of thirteen and fifteen that left a decade ago.”he said. “You mean FORCED to leave a decade ago.”I corrected him as I fixed my gaze onto the moving landscape.
“Fina…”Vlad replied, using my nickname in an attempt to soften my mind. “Father died three weeks ago. You can’t stay angry with the dead.”. “He just gave us away Vlad.”I argued stubbornly. “He send you away to die on a battlefield that wasn’t yours to begin with and he send me away to marry a sick bastard twice my age. If I hadn’t…”.
I stopped my speech since my voice was starting to tremble and I could feel how angry tears burned behind my eyelids but I refused to let them fall. They had learned me tears were a sign of weakness and when you’re weak, you die.
“We both got out alive.”my brother reminded me. “But at what cost?”I countered. “All the blood that’s on our hands, all the souls we took and scars we accepted…”. “We left our past behind in Turkey, remember?”Vlad spoke. “Now we’re going back home. It’s a new start Afina. Not many get that chance.”.
“Not many know at the age of fourteen thirty-seven ways to kill someone.”I muttered. “I know.”Vlad sadly agreed. The rest of the ride was filled with silence as ghost of our haunted past flew through our minds.

“Open the gates! The prince and princess have arrived!”a voice shouted and with a creaking sound the large gates opened slowly. The two black horses that pulled our carriage moved forward carefully in an effort not to trample anyone in the curious crowd that had assembled in front of the castle.
“Is it really them?”someone asked. “I thought they had died.”another commented. “The poor queen’s heart broke when her husband send them away as children. She died the same year…”an older lady recited the story to some of the younger spectators.
The carriage came to an abrupt stop and it didn’t take long before the door at Vlad’s side opened. “I present to you!”a voice loudly boomed as Vlad climbed out of the carriage followed by myself. “Prince Vlad and Princess Afina Dracule of Transylvania!”. To my surprise the crowd cheered. Truth be told, we didn’t look like royalty in our tattered battle armours and worn-out boots.
“With the passing of our father, Transylvania lost a great king.”Vlad started to speak and it took all my strength not to snort at his comment. Yeah… Great king he was, giving his children to the enemy to save his own skin. “I know you all have grieved just like my sister and I.”he continued and yet again I had to bite my tongue. “But know that even though we weren’t present these last ten years, Transylvania and its people were always on our minds. We promise to protect you with our swords and listen to you with our hearts. Because a kingdom isn’t strong without its people and neither are we.”. Again cheers erupted from the crowd before the head of the Transylvanian army named Dimitri lead us towards the castle.
“Nice speech.”I whispered to Vlad as we climbed the stairs that would bring us to the front door of Castle Dracule. “You think so?”he asked with a grin. “Yes.”I admitted. “Next time however, keep me out of all the sentimental-mushy-gushy stuff. Especially when it involves our father.”. “What would you say when I told you you have that stubbornness from him?”my brother remarked. “I would say that you should shut up.”I replied with a huff causing Vlad’s grin to widen even more.