Impaler

Ioana

Ioana stood silently as Angelina's words echoed throughout her mind. Angelina put her hands together as her fingers fidgeted to one another. "I-Ioana?"

The older woman looked around and walked closer to the young woman. "Who told you this?"

"P-Please don't blame or do anything to punish him; it was Bioan. I was in the library, and Bioan met me there; we spoke, and that was when the topic of Alexandrei turned up. He told me the reason why he was imprisoned. Bioan told me that when he snuck into the castle, he overheard Alexandrei and Lady Minah speaking about a certain mistake. There is a possibility that they had an affair." Angelina gulped, afraid of what she would say next, "Also, the child may not be Vlad's."

The older woman gave Angelina a deadly glare. "What you speak is considered treason! You-!"

"It's not treason if it is the truth, Ioana. Why would Bioan lie? He has nothing to gain since he is a poor soldier. He snuck into the castle to steal alcohol and heard Alexandrei and Lady Minah speak together in her room in the middle of the night. Bioan had to lie to keep his neck. Why on Earth would Alexandrei be at a woman's room at night? Would Vlad find this acceptable?"

Ioana looked over the castle walls and noticed the smoke coming from afar; she knew that Vlad had done something horrendous. Minah was married to a monster and couldn't leave or speak her mind of his wrongdoings. The older woman couldn't help but wonder how alone Minah felt and needed someone to speak to. Ioana couldn't forget when she caught Alexandrei and Minah speaking alone in her quarters or secret parts of the castle without witnesses. "Oh god..." She put her hand over her face and used the wall to support her.

"Ioana, are you okay? Should I call someone for help?"

"I should have known! I was closing my eyes from the truth! I didn't want to believe it! I wanted to believe that Alexandrei was trying to fulfill his duty to speak to Minah on certain political conversations! The child! Oh the child!"

"Please calm down! Take deep breathes! I don't want you to have a heart attack."

The older woman slowly slumped back on the floor, feeling light-headed. Everything was slowly getting too much for her. "Vlad was right to feel disdain for the child; he probably knew that the child wasn't his." 

Angelina flinched, and her eyes widened. "What?" The women remained silent, and Angelina tried to comprehend what Ioana said. "Are you saying that Vlad had a feeling that the child wasn't his?"

The smell of smoke slowly became imminent, and Ioana hugged herself. "He told me once in secret that he felt that Minah was having an affair but didn't know who the man was. He wanted me to see if I could find out the truth, but I hoped to prove him wrong. When Minah became pregnant, Vlad still had his doubts, but I assured him that he had nothing to worry about. Yet, the child was born and..."

"The baby was deformed, but it still didn't prove anything. However, with this new revelation, it would make sense why Vlad would feel what he did." Angelina sat beside the older woman, who looked dazed. "That is why, I need to see the baby, Ioana. I need to see if he has similar attributes to Alexandrei or Vlad. I have a feeling that Alexandrei is not who he wants us to believe. I feel that we are all in danger now that we know his and Minah's secret."

"Oh, young one. Even if Alexandrei and Minah are cast out, you will still be in danger. In danger to face Vlad."

The more Angelina thought about it, the more she noticed that the older woman called Vlad by his name. However, the older woman had known Vlad since he was a child, so she held warm feelings for him even though he did monstrous acts. However, Angelina then realized when Ioana mentioned the danger she was in even if Alexandrei and Minah were to be cast out. She hoped that with them gone, she would try to gain Vlad's trust to take her out of the castle. "What do you mean by that?"

Ioana sighed as she put the back of her head on the wall. "Vlad is pressured to produce a son to take his place. He doesn't want his brother, Radu, to take the throne since the Ottomans corrupted him. Vlad also killed many of the boyars and their wives, so he is already feared and hated. Also, not many noblewomen would want to marry him since he already has a terrifying reputation. With that, he may try to conceive a son in another way." The older woman looked at the confused Angelina.

Angelina gulped and felt a shiver of disgust. "N-No! I would never allow him to do that to me. Wouldn't he need to have a son with a noblewoman? I mean, children with servants are considered illegitimate and have no claim to a throne?" It was quiet again, but so many thoughts entered Angelina's mind. She thought her main threats would be gone, and she could have a clear plan for getting home. However, with Alexandrei and Minah gone, his focus would be on her; Vlad could try to force her to have his child. 

"It would be true in some cases, but noblemen have a history of posing their illegitimate children as legitimate as they could claim they had them with their wives." Tears slowly formed in Ioana's eyes as she hugged herself tighter. "Like how it happened to...me."

"Wh-What? What are you talking about?"

"There is a secret that I have kept within myself for so long. So long that it destroys me every single breath I breathe."

The young woman immediately took hold of Ioana's shoulder and gently shook her. "Ioana, what secret? What is going on!?"

Ioana let out a weep as she covered her face. "My secret! Oh Lord, ever merciful, grant me the strength! Vlad! Vlad is my son!"