Authors: Romina Nicolaides
“Do not think that because you read my journals you are worthy of knowing my story, child. You are not fit to make the bed he sleeps in or to even be in the same room as he,” she said still holding onto Kati’s wrist, squeezing it, contorting it, cutting it with her nails. She was looking into her eyes with an intense stare and yet she wasn’t quite in the moment, her soul was somewhere else. For a long time she faced Kati, her lips curled back from her fangs and her nostrils flaring like a dog just before he strikes. Katalina didn’t dare avert her gaze, the slightest movement would break the spell and release the beast inches from her face. Her heart was beating at triple speed and sweat was drenching her entire body. Erzsébet broke eye contact first when she lowered her gaze to look at Kati’s neck. She could hear the blood pumping fast and she could see the faint pulse of the skin as it ticked, ticked, ticked from the base of her neck to the base of her skull. Tick, tick, tick… The moment she looked down Kati knew that her invisible shield had been penetrated and she felt the Countess lunge at her throat just beneath her chin. She felt her hair caress the skin followed by the sensation of teeth cutting down the front of her neck like steel blades, destroying, emaciating. She saw the darkness come over her eyes and felt distance envelop her ears.
***
The knock on the door shook the Countess from her feast. “What?” The tension in her voice echoed throughout the large room. The basement was never locked but the servants knew better than to disturb her when she was in there. Bianca cracked the door but did not dare walk in.
“Your Excellence, there are banner men galloping towards the castle, I think you’d better stop,” she said quickly with a trembling voice before running down the corridor, the sound of her bare feet on the stone quickly fading away. The Countess raged with anger. She dropped the limp, cold girl and went to her chambers to quickly change out of her blood soaked shift.
***
The Palatine climbed off of his horse and proceeded to the door with four of his best men. His boots were muddied, his cloak wet and weathered. He had ridden furiously from Vienna in the harsh December cold. His thick leather gloves severely creased from years of wear. He knocked on the large wooden door with determination until one of the kitchen maids let him in. Brushing past her, he casually made his way down to the basement. The Countess was already there waiting in the corridor in a somber gown of navy blue velour. A smudge of blood lay just beneath the edge of her décolletage and all over her arms under her thick sleeves. She’d barely had enough time to rub down all the parts of skin that would be visible.
“What is the meaning of this, György?”
“News of your ‘work’ has traveled to the Emperor, Erzsébet. Your misdeeds and murders cannot be overlooked any longer particularly those of the young noble girls who attend your Gynaeceum. These people have entrusted their children to you for your knowledge and guidance and you torture and kill them? If it might have been possible, for argument’s sake, to turn a blind eye in regards to your depraved behavior with common girls, the same cannot be said about the higher born ones. Are you that far gone, woman, that you think no one would stop you? The Emperor is disappointed in you.”
“You tell the Emperor, he is a limp codpiece! I own the Emperor and all his kingdoms! He can tell me what to do after he has paid back the fortune he owes me! Deformed little prick! How dare he be disappointed in
me
? If it hadn’t been for me and my husband, half his so-called kingdom would be in the hands of the Turks by now and you’d be having this conversation with the Sultan!”
“We both know that since Ferenc died, you have merely been fortunate to not have been annihilated by the Turks! Without him you are nothing to King Mátyás, just a painful reminder of a bad debt he needs expunged and with your little shenanigans you’re making it so much easier for him. Don’t you see?”
“He can’t touch me! I have allies who would race to my defense in an instant! Do my sons in law know of this insolence?”
“Yes Erzsébet, but they are unable to help; no one is willing to go against the Emperor for you. Please cousin, be reasonable. There are reports from all over the region regarding the murders, the evidence is solid. You’d better start praying though I fear not even God himself can get you out of the mess you’re in.” Pushing her aside he stepped into the basement and towards the shapeless mass that lay on the ground. The girl was beautiful and serene in death. Her skin was smooth and alabaster in color except where it'd been cut. She couldn’t have been more than seventeen years old. György knelt down and caressed her hair. She lay face up and besides a fresh gash on her throat she was more or less unharmed.
“It would seem we arrived too late for this one,” he said.
A few steps to the left was another opened cage with puddles of blood on the ground. A pair of open cuffs lay to the side. He put his gloved fingers in the blood and rubbed them together to assess how fresh it was.
“Still smooth...What have you done to this one, Erzsébet?”
The Countess was clearly shaken to see the empty space but said nothing.
“Sire we’ve found more victims, and a locked barn with more than four girls inside,” announced an adolescent squire, struggling for breath as he reached his master.
“Are you still going to deny the murders, Erzsie? The evidence is irrefutable, you’re doomed.” Turning to his men he ordered, "Search the castle, all of it, leave no stone unturned, no room unexamined, no privy unchecked.”
Adopting a more official stance he produced a scroll from his cloak. Breaking the royal seal of red wax, he read it with a certain sadness. Even though he’d sworn an oath to protect his cousin’s wife, his duty to his King was forcing his hand. “Erzsébet Báthory, widow of Ferenc Nádasdy, you are under arrest on this day 17
th
December 1610 by order of the Holy Roman Emperor, King Mátyás and are being placed in custody in this castle until such time when you will be tried for your crimes. Those members of your staff which are under suspicion will also be detained and tried.”
“This is madness and you know it! Remember your promise to Ferenc! Do not let them influence you György, you and I are blood.”
“You can argue all you want, Erzsie. Saddened as I am by this I have my orders. It won’t make any difference to you but the Emperor was requesting that you be transferred to Vienna and tried publicly, on the basis of all the testimony. It was I who convinced him to hold you until I made further enquiries into the situation.” Leaning in so that he couldn’t be heard he whispered in her ears, “Do not make the situation worse for yourself by speaking against the Emperor, cousin. I will hold you here in as much comfort as I can arrange for you and try to see how this will play out, but for once in your life try to cooperate.”
Saying no more, her face straightened and, expressionless, she presented her wrists to the guard who was standing by with the cuffs and allowed herself to be led away proudly.
The Palatine was taken out to the locked barn. He put his ear on the door and heard the girls call out for help from inside. “Whoever is in there step back, I will attempt to break down the door,” he said and with the drop of an axe the lock and handle came off and the door swung open. Inside the dimly lit hall five girls sat in the corner shivering with fear. The light illuminated their terrified little faces and when the girls recognized the group of soldiers had come to rescue them, they all rushed out and congregated around the Palatine in gratitude.
“You’re safe now little ones. Gather your things, the men will be returning you to your families immediately.”
“Where is the Countess?” Asked one of the girls.
“She has been arrested, she won’t be hurting anyone anymore, rest assured.”
“What about Kati?” Asked one of them.
“Who is Kati, young lady? And who are you?” The Palatine asked the young girl with the dark circles under her eyes.
“I’m Oriana, and Katalina is my friend. She is one of the Countess’s personal maids. Have you spoken with her? Is she alright?"
“I’m afraid I’ve come across no one with that name, but I’ll ask the others after her if it’ll make you happy.” He said not wanting to tell them about the dead bodies that were being recovered. “Don't worry about anything else. You’ve been through a lot and need to get back to your families. Tell my men your names and they will take care of the rest immediately.”
He turned to his men, “Get these girls out of this room and give them a good meal right away. As soon as they are up to it, I want them escorted home on the fastest horses available.”
Visibly relieved, the girls headed for the Dining room and from there they were sent home, happy to not spend a moment longer inside Csejthe Castle.
Twenty-three
Entering Ferenc’s former study, the Palatine sat down at the desk feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. Removing a twig from the fireplace he lit his pipe and leaned back into the formidable wooden chair frequently used by Erzsébet’s departed husband in the past as well as her secretary in more recent years. It was a small room mostly filled with castle ledgers. The Palatine nodded at the guard by the door who stepped aside to let the waiting priest into the room. The Palatine bowed his head and pointed at the chair across from his.
“Won’t you please take a seat, Pastor Barosius?”
The Pastor sat down and without any delay produced a bunch of papers from inside his satchel.
“Thank the Lord you came when you did Palatine, with your intervention I am grateful we have saved those girls in the barn.”
“Indeed Father, I only pray we could have gotten here sooner. I’ve been gathering evidence for some time now, but I wanted to be perfectly sure the reports were correct.”
“Oh I assure you they were, sir.”
“I am saddened to say you’re correct, Father. I had several local notaries compile a series of reports after they questioned countless people in the area. Laymen, clerics and nobility from the surrounding counties were approached and interviewed earlier this year. The Emperor gave clear orders to all involved in the questionings that honesty be encouraged by means of severe financial penalties to anyone found to have lied under oath. After sufficient testimonies were gathered I had no choice but to prosecute the Countess.”
“Reverend János Ponikenusz and I had made repeated efforts to notify you of the events at the castle, but our correspondence was always intercepted by her staff. Thank God that at least one of our reports reached you and you were able to intervene at last!”
“Indeed,” his tone was monotonous.
“What will happen now?”
“We will begin questioning the staff, particularly the ones closest to her but I suspect they will all blame each other and we will get nowhere. Thankfully I don’t need much to execute them, there are already countless reports condemning a certain three individuals."
“And what of the Countess, Palatine?”
“Her I will keep locked up before I decide what her punishment will be. I’m under a lot of pressure from the Emperor that she receive a public trial before him and Parliament, but I will try to keep her under lock and key until I've gotten to the bottom of this.”
“But she must pay for what she’s done, Palatine!”
“She will Father, but a noble will not die at my hand before a thorough investigation into her crimes.”
“Surely you don’t believe her to be innocent?”
“No Father, I am almost certain of her guilt, but to execute a member of the nobility is a crime just as heinous as her own alleged indiscretions.”
“Indiscretions? Palatine, this woman killed countless girls for her insane gratification, she must be executed for her crimes immediately!” The Pastor punched the desk.
“That’s quite enough, Pastor,” said György standing and looking down at the seated priest. “I am aware of the gravity of the situation, but need to deliberate on it at length.”
The Pastor rose to his feet.
“Then if that will be all I will be going. My reports are here, do with them what you see fit,” and with that he left the room shaking his head.
Divided between his duty to the Emperor and his departed cousin, the Palatine could not bring himself to execute the Countess. Instead a compromise was reached by which she was allowed to remain alive, but bricked-up into one of the barest rooms in the castle and left with only one guard to supply her with food. There she was to remain in absolute isolation until her death.
In the days after her arrest the majority of the servants were released from their duties and the castle quickly acquired a well-deserved yet eerie silence.
***