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as he picked up his chalice and called for his wine. I watched in horror as their heads rolled across the table while Vladimir dined as though the bloody spectacle was not transpiring before him.
    “You are mad,” Mordecai screamed, as he leapt from the table.
    “I am sensible. They shall steal from my kingdom no more.”
    With no emotion, Vladimir tore his bread, offering it to Nicolai and Velascon.
    “Truth is rewarded. Honesty is rewarded. You, Nicolai, and your brother, are honest men who served my brother faithfully and now you shall serve me. Take those who live from my sight to Poenari. Oversee the rebuilding of my home. Make ready the castle for the arrival of the Princess. Do not disappoint me.”
    Nicolai paused as though he wished to speak.
    “Never fear me, Nicolai, unless you have been unfaithful to the House of Baserab. Speak what you know is that which is in your heart.”
    “They will not be sufficient for the work that lays ahead, my lord. I know many stone cutters who serve the House of Nasady who would be honored to say they serve the true Baserab.”
    “You may hire as many as needed so long as they do not labor but to cut the stone. Am I understood?”
    “Yes, my lord.” Nicolai motioned to the Royal Guard to remove the remaining Boyars and their sons.
    “And, Nicolai, do not treat them well because they are Boyars. I expect them to be treated no better than they have treated those they had in their keep. Should they die in my service, then so be it.”
    “I understand.”
    “This is not the will of God,” Mordecai interjected.
    “You are not an anointed Soldier of God, Mordecai. You are a caretaker of souls. Do what you must and pray for their souls but know this: do not interfere in my affairs or that of my country. No man, be he a man of God or not, will stand between what God and I must do to cleanse Wallachia of the evil and sin bred here.”
    I stood as Vladimir left. Mordecai retched upon his leaving, sickened at the sight before him.
    “Pios must be told of this,” he whispered.
    “You will speak of this not, not to Pios, not to anyone. This matter you will leave to me.”
    “He will be our undoing. God save us.” Mordecai crossed himself as he backed toward the door.
    “God will save us, Mordecai, just as God chose to protect and save our Vladimir while he endured those devils. Yet in the darkness he endured, he turned not from God, and instead he turned toward Him, embraced Him, taking His words and commandments into his heart. His methods you find harsh. But I tell you, in this man who stood before you, there is the will of God; a will so strong, even the devil could not pull his faith from him. You may abandon him. You may turn your back on him. In my charge, you placed him. I will not do so. I will never turn from him.”
    I sat alone, without Vladimir, without the Guard, with only my prayers and the severed heads of the Boyars lying about the table as I prayed. Fifty-four of the Boyars lay dead. Their families soon to be exiled; their wealth soon to be seized. I spent the next four hours removing their bodies and preparing their souls, offering last rites to deliver them to their judgment . Hours later, when Vladimir returned, I sat alone, the hall now cleared of the atrocities I had witnessed.
    “You are not troubled by my actions this day, Ahbrim. I find this distressing.”
    I could barely turn my gaze toward him as the events of the day were still fresh in my memory.
    “Would it please you if I cowered at your feet?” I asked.
    “In my presence you should never cower, Ahbrim. I merely assumed your countenance would be shaken. You do understand, I hope, why this must be done.”
    My silence conveyed my displeasure. I did not condone it. As his spiritual guardian, I would support him, no matter the cost.
    “You worry so much, Ahbrim. Come, we shall pray for them to find peace and to know God in death, the way they did not know him in life.”
    I prayed with him