Act V: The Prince's Expedition (Sixteen)
sixteen
"Tell me quickly, which tent is our horse in?" Yakov roared at Batur, grabbing him by the collar.
“Keep heading south, and you’ll find a stable that’s separated from all the other military tents.” Batur wore a peculiar smile. “Your luggage has already been loaded into the wagons, and the horses are harnessed.”
A guard passed by. Yakov grabbed Batur, and, with Yubi and Schumacher in tow, hid in a dilapidated tent. Schumacher grabbed a torch and lit it inside. A terrifying growl came from behind him—"My Lord!" The Jew collapsed to the ground in fright, "I'll be afraid of grizzly bears for the rest of my life..."
Yakov suddenly realized. He saw the bear tamer rushing towards them in a panic and immediately shouted at him to stop. "Release the bear!" he commanded in Slavic, "or I'll kill the Khan!"
The poor Slav was so frightened he couldn't speak coherently. He immediately opened the cage and pulled the grizzly bear out by the chain. The bear, still wounded on its legs, howled angrily as it walked out of the cage—the animal already understood that each time it left the cage, it would be met with new torture.
Yakov peered outside the tent and saw that the Tatar guards had already gone far away. He immediately led everyone out of the tent.
"You are free!" he shouted into the tent in Slavic before leaving. "Go!"
A commotion caused by a grizzly bear was enough to rouse all the remaining Tatars to fight. The four hurried on and reached the wagon without incident—where Yakov found his longsword, which he immediately hung back on his belt. They laboriously tied up Muse and let the braying donkey lie down in the wagon. Yakov flung open the tent flap, gave the reins a sharp jerk, and sent the creaking Tatar wagon rushing out of the tent, heading south into the dark steppe toward the Danube.
"Go drive the car." He shoved the reins into Schumacher's hand and tossed the Jew into the driver's seat.
"Ouch, if it were before, I would have definitely yelled at you and argued with you until we understood..." Schumer clutched his back in pain, "But now, I'll let you off the hook..."
Yakov lifted the curtain and returned to the pointed tent on the wagon. Yubi and Batur were sitting there.
“Tell me, how much do you know?” Yakov unbuckled his belt, pulled open his breastplate, and showed the engraving to Batur. “About this thing, and Anbichya.”
"Will you take me with you?" His former owner, no longer in his prime, still wore that repulsive smile. "If you promise me, I'll tell you."
Yakov stared at him, his eyes seemingly concealing an iceberg. "I promise you."
The wooden wheels sped across the rugged grassland, sounding like the hoarse cries of a swan.
“Your current master, his family, is some kind of deity,” Batur explained. “The marks on you are proof of the blessings bestowed by the gods.”
“See, this is just like what I told you.” Yubi was cradling his mother’s head in his arms. He shrugged. “I told you before, blood slaves all serve the noble Noctennias family voluntarily…”
Yakov pressed down on his shoulder, stopping him from speaking further. “What is a gift?” he asked seriously. “Why do you call them gods?”
"You didn't know?" Batur laughed heartily. "You received a small favor more than twenty years ago!"
Yakov's tangled thoughts were finally mostly untangled—all his conjectures were confirmed, and the clues were connected. "You mean, that Roman girl, Ambicea, saved my life?" he asked urgently.
“That’s exactly it,” Batur recalled. “It was like a small sacrifice, a sacrifice to please the gods. It could please the gods and make them perform her miracles… except that the gods rejected my offering and returned you to me.”
"However, it seems that you have been accepted by the gods, even though it was more than twenty years late."
"What did you wish for her?" Yakov gripped the swaying railing of the carriage, feeling as if he were being swept into a turbulent eddy. "You wanted her to cure your cough, to make you strong enough to lead troops into battle?"
Batur wore a strange expression, as if he had seen someone skipping gold coins on water, using agarwood to make charcoal, and cutting silk to pass off as cotton. He raised his finger, his nail digging straight into the mark on Yakov's chest.
“I wished for eternal life.” He stared into Yakov’s eyes. “It’s this thing on you.”
The carriage wheels shook violently, as if they had rolled over a huge stone.
"So Christina got old because of this..." Yubi's mouth dropped open, "because Mother removed her mark..."
The tangled ball of yarn vanished from Yakov's mind as if thrown into a fire. However, an even larger labyrinth appeared before him. He remained silent, unable to speak for a long time.
"Do you have any other questions?" Batur leaned back comfortably on the cushion.
“I have one last question,” Yakov looked up. “Are you afraid of bears?”
The light on Batur's face vanished instantly.
“You’ve been talking for a while!” Schumeer shouted from outside the curtain. “The horses can’t run anymore!”
“You heard me, there’s nothing we can do.” Yakov shifted his position, stretching his legs off the cushion. “Farewell.”
He gently lifted his foot and kicked the wailing Tatar out of the carriage curtain, sending him tumbling to the ground. In no time, the pitiful cries faded into the vast, dark grasslands, disappearing without a trace.
The carriage traveled across the steppe for a day and a night—still no sign of the Danube. It was clear that Batur had lied to them. "Are we going to be late for New Year's?" Yubi asked anxiously. "If we don't make it, will my sister's boat still be waiting?"
“If we can’t find it, we’ll try to enter the country from Ruse.” Yakov’s hand groped along the hilt of his ruby sword.
“Then we come back to the old question I raised earlier.” Schumacher fiddled with his map behind the curtain. “I have official documents from the Doge of Venice. Where do you need to get the passes?”
"I can fly now!" Yubi suddenly exclaimed. "If there's really no other way, I'll carry Yakov and fly across the river under cover of darkness, over the city walls!"
"Wouldn't that break your skinny arms?" Schumeer laughed for a moment before suddenly standing up. "...Look at that!"
Yakov and Yubi both poked their heads out of the tent.
A wide, swift-flowing river emerges from the vast grassland. Its color is azure, backed by exquisite yet ancient city walls, casting purple shadows in the afterglow of the setting sun, stretching as far as the eye can see. Countless boats drift on its surface, from small boats with lone sails to large ships with oars. Among them, one is the most magnificent, its wood painted with red lacquer, its prow adorned with beautiful sculptures. A flag hangs prominently on its deck, fluttering silently in the wind.
The flag bears a familiar symbol, like the inscription on Yakov's chest, yet symmetrical on all four sides.
Like a fancy cross.
Transylvania Chapter Complete
Tbc.
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