Boyar

by Peter Darman Book 5 in the Alpine Warrior series.

First published 2023

Amazon

4.5(925)

In the mid-1450s, after the fall of Constantinople, Leon Muller and his mercenaries escape the ruined city only to find themselves without pay, patron or secure destination. Their fortunes change when Vlad Dracula, prince of Wallachia, offers Leon employment against enemies pressing on his unstable principality.

Ottoman power is expanding through the Balkans, while Hungary, Serbia and Wallachia remain divided by rival rulers and competing obligations. Leon and his Swiss soldiers are drawn into campaigns in which princes demand loyalty but seldom possess the resources to guarantee it. Service to Vlad therefore becomes part of a larger struggle over tribute, frontier defence and political survival. Leon must decide how far he can commit his men to rulers whose interests constantly shift, knowing that military success may make his company valuable while also making independent soldiers increasingly dangerous to the men who hire them.