Chapter 62
Episode 62
Why did Rudy turn against Prince Vlad the Impaler
The air in the room hung thick with unspoken accusations, a miasma of betrayal that clung to the heavy velvet draperies. Vlad’s gaze, usually sharp and unwavering, flickered with a pain so profound it seemed to etch itself onto his very soul. He sat across from his brother, Radu, the man who had once shared his every breath, his every dream, now a stranger clad in the silks of their captors. The gilded cage of Topkapi Palace had done its work, molding and twisting the boy Vlad had loved into someone he no longer recognized.
“You speak of loyalty, Radu,” Vlad’s voice was a low rumble, barely audible above the rustle of silk and the distant call to prayer. “You speak of peace. But at what cost? At the cost of our very blood, our legacy?” He gestured vaguely, his hand trembling. “They have fed you honeyed words, brother, while sharpening their knives against our people. And you, you stand with them, your eyes reflecting their false dawn.”
Radu’s face, usually so open and earnest, was now a mask of carefully constructed indifference. He shifted on the divan, the jewels on his robes glinting like mocking eyes. “Vlad, you misunderstand. This is not betrayal, it is… adaptation. Survival. The world has changed. We must change with it, or be swept away.”
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