A Grey Night

The enemy of my enemy

Vlad leaned in to dead the blade of the sword to take a look. He was terrified: someone else's eyes were looking at him, the face of a stranger was showing him an expression of confusion and shock. He ran his finger though the brown hair, the same color as the woman's braid.

'The stima did this, Tudor clarified the mystery. It's because of the uniform, it makes you look like the last person who wore it, nobody can recognize you as long as you're in this disguise. I've seen this type of mischief before, usually they would only change your face, but you are taller and you've been writing with your left hand. You are right-handed. And you're limping, even though when I would meet you in the city and when we met in the forest your leg was just fine. Was your brother limping?'

'When he left he was, he said he had had an accident while practicing.'

'She knows what she's doing.' Tudor concluded on a serious note.

All this information was puzzling for Vlad and he couldn't believe it, but the discussion was so much more absurd to the woman who had not seen in her entire life manifestations of the supernatural as he had seen in one night.

'What are you here for? ' She asked, visibly confused. 'Are you here for the nobles? ' She spoke while heading towards the door of the cell where Tudor was held, to unlock it. 'I'm here for them too. Come on out, I won't hurt you. ' She laughed at him.

'You, woman, how did you get in the city's guard?' Tudor, who was not used to seeing a female warrior, asked.

'I took whatever job I was offered, I had to get in the castle, it was in the interest of the organization, and I'm telling you this because I see I can trust you...'

'How do you know? ' Tudor, whose hands had just been untied, asked.

'I left my sword next him, ' she turned to Vlad 'and he did not try to attack me. ' She smiled. 'You're not with us, but you are against them. My name is Sorina. ' She said reaching for a handshake.

Tudor shook her hand and thanked her.

'Who are you?' Vlad got up from his seat.

'We're citizens, citizens who have had enough of the taxes, of the prices of marchandise and of their indifference. We're taking care of the ill by ourselves; they don't get involved in the least!' She responded on a solemn tone, her back straight. 'We've had enough of all the conflicts they've dragged us in. We want to eliminate them! Those light-headed princes will follow them. They are two marionettes.'

'And who are you going to put on the throne?' Tudor's question remained unanswered.

'If you're here to assassinate the nobles,' she said after a pause, 'I will help you, they're responsible for my brother's death. He went to escort a noble out of the city and he never came back. Maybe had learned something terrible, or they learned he was a spy... I don't know what to believe. They say that the outlaws attacked him. I'm telling you, the outlaws were not all that bad, yes,' she spoke on a less formal tone, almost lamenting, trying to convince them of the outlaws' kindness 'they were robbed the carriages which came through the forest, but only those belonging to the nobles.' Tudor smirked and looked at Vlad with pride. 'They kept the money for themselves, but they did not hurt the common people.' She added.

Vlad was looking at Tudor with reproach, and then he came closer to her.

'What if I told you that the nobles are some unnatural creatures? That they don't belong in this world. They are not like me, nor like you, and not even like him. No, don't laugh, I'm not joking. I did not believe this either. I wanted to fight on their side without knowing their true nature and they betrayed me twice: when they wanted to kill me on the spot and when they took over my righteous place. They sacrificed the city in order to gain more power to eliminate the outlaws who had been causing mayhem in and around our home. At night, the outlaws attacked us, they knew what monsters they were facing! After the battle, I saw a lot of nobles dead, the snow had become their grave. The outlaws thought that they had done what they had to, they gave their lives to rid the world of evil, but the strigoi raised stronger. A few days later, the epidemic broke out and they came to my castle and put me under arrest for treason.'