Bessarabia winter 1093.

Howling winter storms were sweeping the hillsides of Bessarabia as small group of less then 30 horses and men were struggling North, inland along West side the Black Sea. Everything was frozen. Their armor,tunics, the tunics of their horses, even food supplies were frozen stiff, while the harsh wind from steppes threw snow on their frost bitten faces and covered their already frozen garments. The small party seemed more like a pile of snow and ice moving slowly but steadily to the North.

Last summer they had crossed the Danube, passed Bucharest and continued North. The weather had been good and the hills and steppes of the West coast of Black Sea had offered easy path towards river Dniestr, while there was plenty of game to hunt along the way, which nourished the small group of men as they rode North.

Now everything was different. As the weather got colder, the game vanished out from sight. There was still reserves of food and the men were able to catch a rabbit here and then, but the abundance of food for the men and horses was long gone.

Ioannis had left North with his men, with a single thought in his mind. To make name for himself. He had joined the Basileos in the siege of Sofia. Afterwards he had stayed in Sofia, garrisoning it with small party of local peasants recruited as militia to defend the castle. Ioannis had served loyally the Basileos and had not tried to bother him with suggestions to promote his personal glory. He had kept his silence when Anna had passed Sofia, meeting his father, but not even leaving a note to Ioannis before she left to Hungary. Ioannis had swallowed his pride and thought that there was nothing that he could do to the situation. Anna knew that he had been in the army of Basileos and Ioannis himself had made very clear to her, what his feelings towards here were.

During his time in Sofia, Ioannis had met an Astrologist, called Hynyadi. The men was locally famous of horoscopes he had made for the town people and one day Ioannis had called for him and asked the older man to compile an astrological chart for him. The old man, who was long in his stature, but very thin and had narrow face with long nose, had returned after few days to the Sofia castles keep and started explaining.

" I see much contradiction in your future,young master. There are many roads that can lead you to multiple destinations. I see a woman that your heart desires. A strong, powerful and beautiful woman, who is surrounded by suitors of many kind. I also see that stars have given lot of ambition to your own nature and that you come from a family, with long and proud history. As a son of this family, you have to thrive or perish, there simply isnt any options for ordinary and simple life for you. It is in your own hands to make your destiny. The only thing the stars will tell is that if you are looking for a great destiny, you should go North."

The horoscope had been lot longer, but the essentials were there. Ioannis had been stunned how well the old man had seen his life and after the initial meeting, many more meetings followed, where the two became friends and Ioannis started believe more and more what the old man said to him.

After writing his annual report to Basileos, Ioannis had made his decision. The answer from Basileos had been cordial. Ioannis could remain in Sofia, or go to Anatolia and join his house members, Basileos had also wrote that if needed, he could join the Imperial army in the North. It seemed like Basileos didnt really have any use to Ioannis, but as a refined man, didnt want to insult the young strator, by ordering him back to Constantinopol.

The following evening Ioannis once again met with Hunyadi. He asked the older man, what was up there in North that he should pursuit, in order to find a path to glory. The old man watched Ioannis straight to the eyes, with his piercing gaze, then moved his eyes to an flame of a candle standing on a table between the two man and started speaking with a low voice.

"North from Bucharest, there is a land between rivers Dniestr and Prut, called Bessarabia. In Ancient times this was home of Scythians,r Getai and later Dacians. When the Roman empire defeated the Dacians, the area became known as Roman province of Scythia Minor. This is the area from where Goths,Huns, Bulgarians and Magyars entered the Europe and many others before them. It is a fertile land of plains and hills between the two large rivers. Whom ever controls this area, controls the door to Europe. There you should go young Kantakouzinos and claim this ancient Roman province back to Roman Empire. From there your path to glory will begin."

After week from the cryptic augury of the old man, Ioannis had sent lan letter to Basileos that he was riding North. With only his personal retainers and the old man who had explained that his faith was bound to Ioannis faith, the small party started traveling North.

Ioannis had thought many times that he had been crazy to listen to the old man, as the conditions around their little party had gone from bad to worse. Luckily they were still all alive, all were more or less of the cold, but still the small group pushed forward with rugged determination.

After three more days in the blizzard and three nights,sleeping in a holes dug on a ground and covered in snow, the weather became better. It was still freezing cold, but the blizzard was over and sun showed its light to them after weeks of darkness. The party moved trough a small forest and on the other side they were hit by a vision, they had never anticipated.

From the side of the forest, a valley opened up and in the valley stood a wooden castle. Iasi as Ioannis had learnt from Hunyadi. But there was also something else. small fires, men and horses were surrounding the castle. After bit of observation, one of Ioannis men had spotted a flag and with further inspection the men agreed it was infact the flag of Poland. The number of mounted besiegers didnt look large, but then also it was impossible to tell how many men were inside the castle. Ioannis ordered his men inside the forest and spoke to them briefly.

"Men. We did not come this far to turn back now. We will stay here in the forest and remain hidden from the both parties. I want to see how this siege will turn out."