November 16, Krujë, Albania.
Krujë was a mountain fortress overlooking the valley below. Its formidable terrain had earned it the name "Eagle's Nest," but its drawback was that tax revenues from its domain fell short of those from coastal Durrës (Dyrrachium) to the west.
This was Skanderbeg's hereditary domain. Even after the Roman Curia crowned him grand duke, he continued to keep his court at Krujë.
The limited tax revenues from his personal domain allowed Skanderbeg to maintain only a small standing army. Expanding it meant raising taxes throughout the duchy, which required the consent of the other nobles. In peacetime, that was almost impossible.
Recently, news from Kovács Castle had reached Albania. Tensions in the Balkans were mounting, and the nobles differed in their attitudes toward the two opposing sides.
The northern and coastal regions of the duchy followed the Catholic Church and leaned toward Hungary.
The southern and inland regions followed the Eastern Orthodox Church and felt more favorably toward the Eastern Roman Empire. Many nobles had long maintained secret contact with the empire. If Skanderbeg decided to wage war against it, someone would surely warn it in advance, and might even turn against him on the battlefield.
"Which side should I choose?"
Skanderbeg took out Hunyadi's letter, which had arrived that morning and offered numerous generous terms. If they won, Albania could gain Epirus, Thessaly, Attica, and the Peloponnese.
Skanderbeg had yet to receive a letter from the Eastern Roman Empire. A reasonable guess was that Vitus would offer the northern coast, including Ragusa.
"This really is a difficult decision."
The following day, in southern Serbia, Grgur received Hunyadi's second letter.
This time, Hunyadi offered explicit advice, asking Grgur to establish multiple defensive lines in the south and resist the enemy at each one, rather than