The time arrived for the festivities; Angelina was nervous but was excited to see how people celebrated in the past. She would also meet nobles and other people of high influence. Ioana gave her a simple mustard-yellow dress with a dark brown belt. She was also braided with simple white petunias. "Are you ready?"
"Yes and no. I'm nervous. What happens if I fail?"
Ioana finished putting the last flower in the young woman's hair. You will not fail; I can sense that you are an intelligent woman. It is one of your most vital attributes." She finished decorating Angelina's hair and looked at their reflection in the mirror; they were alone in her room. "Although you have intelligence, it is best to be careful how you display and use it. When you work in a castle with powerful people, you can make unnecessary enemies."
Angelina also looked in the mirror and noticed Ioana's concern. She knew that Ioana was spying on her, but blame couldn't be put upon her. There would be consequences if she disobeyed Vlad. She stood and smiled. "I will keep that in mind. What time am I expected to go?"
Meanwhile, other servants, including Sorina, welcomed the guests into Vlad's castle. The guests were boyars and their wives. The boyars were of higher nobility and held some political influence. The boyars and their wives wore their extravagant clothes as they tried to outshine the other. Some of the servants showed the guests to the dining hall, where many long tables were put in a rectangular manner. There were many food dishes, such as chorba, tripe, calf feet, nicely cut raw and cooked meat, meat and vegetable soups, fruits, and cooked potatoes. Wine and mead were in jars.
The boyars and their wives were impressed as they entered the dining room. Their voices echoed, and servants served them their drinks as the guests waited for their honored host. Angelina and Ioana eventually arrived. The young woman was motioned to wait in the corner of the room and not to interact with the guests. However, the view astonished Angelina and excited her to see how people in the past lived their lives. While waiting, many of the guests noticed her and would then ignore her.
Angelina felt out of place when she remembered her situation and her place. She was made a servant. People like the boyars and of other nobility didn't hide their disdain for people they disapproved of. Her thoughts were interrupted when a trumpeter walked forward and played the instrument. Everyone slowly became silent as they saw Vlad in his best attire with his wife, Minah, walking behind him. As Vlad and Minah walked, everyone cheered for the couple. The duo got to the main table, sitting in their seats but not alone. Angelina noticed that Alexandrei was also in attendance and sat next to Vlad. "That ass!"
The cheers stopped, and Vlad motioned everyone to sit in their seats, and everyone did so. Vlad looked at his guests and smirked. "These fools, they don't know what awaits them." While looking at his surroundings, the servants were ordered to leave the room, and his guards surrounded the walls. They were on watch and waited for orders. His eyes reached one of the room's corners; Angelina stood silently. She looked curious while watching the festivities. He was curious about what tale she would tell. Vlad then stood up. "My honored guests, I thank you for coming today. I am certain you all were curious about the festivities. Well, I will tell you all after we had our fill and for our main event. So please, enjoy yourselves."
Everyone then began to put food on their plates. Vlad watched as everyone ate and drank. Minah motioned herself closer. "Husband, why is that woman here?"
"Because I will it. She is the main event."
"Yet, I was not informed."
Vlad slowly looked at his wife, blinking not once. His eyes were emotionless and still, making Minah look away. "Be careful how you speak to me; you can be easily replaced."
Minah bit her lower lip while looking at her food; she said nothing. There was nothing she could do to convince her husband to kill or send her away. However, it didn't mean she couldn't make her miserable; that was something she was willing to do. Minah and everyone ate and drank to their hearts' content until the sun slowly set down. Vlad then stood, and the chatter eventually quieted down. "Now, I invited one of my servants to tell us a tale. Word spread that she has a gift for storytelling." He motioned Angelina to walk to the center.
All eyes were on the young woman as she slowly walked to the center of the festivities. Her heart pounded rapidly and roughly. "It will be okay! I will be okay!" Once in the center, Vlad sat down on his seat, smirking. She quickly glimpsed at him and felt annoyed and nervous about what would happen if everything didn't go well. There was nothing but silence; she took a deep breath. "H-Hello, honored guests. I-I am grateful to our Voivode and Lady Minah for the honor of speaking to you all today. Please give them a round of applause." To her relief, everyone cheered. "So far, so good." Once the cheers died down, she continued. "I have heard many stories during my travels. Many of these stories were said to be true and have happened to unfortunate souls. This story I will tell you is called 'The Black Charro.' The Charro is an entity that was once a living man from a humble family who loved him. However, even the love of his family was not enough for Charro. You see, he was a man who had expensive tastes; he would even skip meals to save money."
Everyone was slowly getting intrigued by the story; some whispered now and then, but Angelina continued: "Now, the man wasn't entirely lazy and worked hard, but he grew tired and hardly had enough for himself. Sometime later, his parents died, and his misfortune grew, and his living situation worsened. That was when he decided to do the unthinkable. He summoned the Devil himself."
Gasps and whispers were among the guests. Vlad couldn't deny that he was intrigued by the story. "No one knows how he could, but now the Charro had the Devil before him. Since he was young, the Charro asked for wealth, which the Devil agreed to grant him. However, there was one condition: The Charro had to give his soul as payment. Once the deal was agreed upon, wealth was given to the man, which he spent on clothes, houses, and women. However, wealth didn't bring him happiness as he grew older. It only brought loneliness, and he remembered his deal with the Devil. He feared going to hell, so The Charro got on his best horse took some bag of coins, and tried to run away. The Devil figured out what the man was up to and appeared before him."
Many women whispered to one another and asked what would happen next. "Just as the Devil was about to take The Charro's soul, the horse reared up and tried kicking the Devil. The horse's loyalty astonished the Devil, but he then turned the man and horse to bone, but the man had his Charro outfit. However, the Devil asked the man for the favor of being a debt collector for all those who made a pact with him. If the Charro did his work well, he would allow any man who took the bag of gold coins that the Charro had to take his place." Angelina smiled as she put her hands back. "Legends say that the Black Charro wanders the Earth at night, collecting the souls who made a pack to the devil but also finding a greedy man to take the bag of gold and take his place."
It was silent when Angelina finished her story, but everyone eventually cheered. Vlad stood and slowly clapped; Minah and Alexandrei reluctantly did the same. Angelina felt relieved that everyone enjoyed the story was told. "Thank you, YouTube!"
Suddenly, Vlad stopped cheering and motioned everyone to stop. The room quieted down. "We must thank my servant for such a wonderful tale. Word is true of her talent. Now, I propose a final toast before the end of this celebration!"
"To our Voivode!" Everyone lifted their cups.
"To Wallachia! To God! For I will smite all my enemies and the traitors who wished to harm my homeland!" Then, Vlad poured the wine out of the cup, confusing everyone. Angelina stood in the center; she noticed the guards changed their stance. "Heh. All of you are traitors. Did you all think that I invited you here for the goodness of my heart? Bah! Don't think I have forgotten what you all have done to my father and brother! You betrayed them to gain wealth from the Ottoman savages!" The Boyars and their wives became uncomfortable; some tried leaving the room, but some guards blocked them. Vlad smirked. "Alexandrei, make certain that these traitors get the point."
Alexandrei whistled, and everything became chaotic. Guards immediately grabbed the nobles and motioned them out of the room. Angelina watched everything unfold, and the nobles' screams echoed. She didn't know what to do, but Vlad walked toward her as the chaos ensued. "You will meet me in my study. We must speak. You will meet the same fate as these traitors if you are not there. Go."
The young woman didn't argue and did what she was told. The room was empty, but once she got out, she saw some nobles being dragged away to an unknown destination.
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