“Not a problem, my Tribune,” Polo conceded. “I will pay for the other two ships as well. No need to go chase them.”
Polo re-boarded the ship, and while the others awkwardly waited in silence, he came back and handed Tribune Stefanos the sixty gold solidi he had demanded.
The other two ships arrived and docked at Olivolo. Families were gathering to greet the returning seamen, and most were ready to leave for their dwellings in Rivo Alto, or Canareclo for Adalulf and his Longobards.
“Adalulf!” Primo called the Longobard warrior over. “I know that you are in a hurry to go to back to Canareclo with your crew. You must have missed Hermetruda, Fabia and Aldo… But before you go, can you meet Marcello and me at the emporium? We want to split the gains according to services provided… and you obviously provided a great defensive service for us, both at sea and in Kerkyra!”
“Sure!” Adalulf replied. “Let me tell my men to go ahead without me, and I will see you and Marcello at the emporium in a few minutes!”
Soon after, Adalulf entered the emporium and saw Primo rearranging cases of Istrian produce that had been unloaded.
“Primo… where is Marcello?” Adalulf asked.
From behind the door, Marcello appeared wielding a wooden club. He swung it violently on the back of Adalulf’s head and the Longobard fell to the ground unconscious.
It was night, and Adalulf was starting to regain consciousness, awakened by the rhythmic rowing of an oar. He was lying down in the center of a small keelless boat. His hands and feet were tied, and his mouth was gagged. He looked up and could see reeds from what appeared to be a riverbank. He had a tremendous headache and he moaned as he tried to move.
Marcello was standing at the stern rowing, while Primo was sitting at the bow. Primo noticed that his prisoner was now awake.
“Adalulf… I just want you to know that this is not personal…” Primo began to justify himself. “It has nothing to do with you killing my uncle, my aunt, my cousin… I have come to terms with that. What you did for us in Opterg settled that old score… In fact, you have become a good father to my cousin Fabia, and you and Hermetruda are now part of our Venetian family, believe it or not.”
Primo paused. He was looking ahead, not at anything in particular, but he was more absorbed in his own thoughts and in memories of his unlikely escape from Adalulf’s men when he was still just a teenager. He then continued:
“In fact, I don’t only consider you part of our Venetian family, after the great time we had down in Kerkyra, I also consider you a good friend! You looked after us in that foreign port. Nothing bad happened, but that’s because we had Adalulf covering our backs! Don’t think that I am not grateful to you for all that…”
Primo paused again. Now it was because he could see the reeds becoming scarcer. The Brint River was turning into a very familiar spot. They had almost reached Patavium, but it was not dawn yet.
“Adalulf… I just want you to know that we will look after Hermetruda, and your men are welcome to remain in Canareclo. We admire them as valuable blacksmiths, and we keep them in high regards as enforcers when we are in need. Also, I promise you, my dear friend, I will personally look after your son Aldo. I will make sure that he won’t suffer the lack of guidance and protection that a father can provide. He will have great opportunities to become what he wants to be, and to lead a good life. I promise you that. I will be there for him. This much I owe you.”
Adalulf was listening silently. He realized that they had tied him up really well, and he would not be able to get up and murder both of them with his bare hands. The first morning light was beginning to shine on Patavium, and even Adalulf realized where he was now. He heard the boat docking and Marcello tying it up at the riverbank.
“The thing is, Adalulf…” Primo continued, “…the thing is that our safety from a Grimwald invasion came with a price. And you are the price. I am sorry. You will be remembered as a hero, because it is your sacrifice that will allow us to thrive in peace. Your martyrdom is giving a prosperous future not just to us Venetians, but also to your son and your people… I am sorry…”
A voice in the darkness interrupted Primo:
“Who’s there?”
Primo answered the voice requesting to see King Grimwald, saying he had a present from Duke Polo. They waited a while and finally Bertwalt appeared.
“Look what we have here!” Bertwalt exclaimed. “This must be the infamous Adalulf, betrayer of the Longobards!”
“As promised by my brother Polo,” Primo answered, “we brought him as soon as we heard of King Grimwald’s return.”
“Yes, we have returned from a glorious war!” Bertwalt answered. “This has been by far the most satisfying victory we ever had. Believe it or not, this is more than the defeat of the Byzantine Emperor down in Beneventum!”
“Fine, give King Grimwald my regards!” Primo replied.
“Well, our dear Adalulf over here is in luck! King Grimwald had to leave for Papia. His wife Giselberga has given birth to a baby boy! She is a devout Catholic, so King Grimwald is going back to assist at the baptism and name his son.”
“Good for him! I just had a baby daughter myself…” Primo answered. “If King Grimwald is away, I guess you don’t need Adalulf anymore…”
“Oh, no! We need him!” Bertwalt immediately replied. “Don’t think that King Grimwald forgets or forgives! Ha, ha, ha! Oh, no… I will keep him as prisoner until King Grimwald’s return. It should not be more than a month, and then… then it’s wolf hunting season! Ha, ha, ha!”
“Since you will keep him as prisoner for at least a month, I would like to ask your permission for Adalulf to be able to receive visitations…”
Bertwalt was looking suspicious. No prisoner ever had this kind of privilege. In fact, usually prisoners do not last this long. But Adalulf was a special case. He needed to be kept alive for Grimwald’s personal revenge.
“I am just asking that his wife, and only his wife, should be allowed to come visit him,” Primo explained. “She did not have a chance to say goodbye. At least as a decent gesture toward a Longobard noblewoman who does not share Adalulf’s guilt and fault.”
“Fine… but only his wife! Now if you don’t mind, take your boat through that canal over there. It takes you straight into town, and right in front of the jail. This way we do not have to carry this fat bastard for hundreds of yards.”
Marcello and Primo entered the canal on boat, and Bertwalt and his guards followed them on foot on the canal bank. As they unloaded Adalulf, Primo noticed the other prisoners in Patavium’s jail.
“Bertwalt… Are these your prisoners of war?” Primo asked.
“Yes, we massacred all the Avars we could find, women and children included. These instead are Slavic people. They shared the same land as the Avars. Unlike the Avars, most of them are peasants instead of warriors. So we took them as prisoners, but I regret that now…”
“Why?”
“We took too many! It is expensive to keep them in jail! I guess we can put them to work somewhere, but it’s not that we need laborers… we have you Latins for that! Ha, ha, ha! So, I am not sure, and I have to wait for King Grimwald before I make some major decision about them…”
“Well, if you need to get rid of them…” Primo offered, “…rest assured that we are here to help. I can take them off your hands free of charge!”
“Ha! Very funny! You would have to pay for them, Venetian! Don’t think we are not aware they would have some value as slaves…”
“I did not mean to insult you. We will pay a fair price for them, of course. When King Grimwald comes back, we can talk about it. I will be back again in Patavium very soon with many spices and cloths form the Orient!”
Bertwalt and his guards had finished talking to Primo. It was too early in the morning to talk commerce with a merchant. They took Adalulf by the arms, wh
o gave a long frightful stare at Primo before being shoved unceremoniously into the dungeon.
Chapter 17
WOLF HUNTING
The leaves were turning color in Patavium, but the town’s prison was a constant gray. More than a month had passed since Adalulf had been taken prisoner. Among a sequence of prison cells with blond Slavic men holding onto the bars, a woman was crying. Deep in the prison, Hermetruda was weeping in front of a cell. Adalulf was standing on the other side of the bars.
“Lulfy! I can’t believe this awful day is here! I can’t believe this is the day they want to execute you!”
“Trudy… you must be strong… You have to take care of Aldo. You need to be there for him. Do this for me… I can accept my fate knowing that you and Aldo are safe and have a future ahead…”
“No! No! No! There is no future for me without you, Lulfy!”
As Hermetruda and Adalulf were hugging through the metal bars, Bertwalt arrived with three guards.
“Adalulf! The time has come,” Bertwalt stated firmly.
One guard held a screaming Hermetruda back, another opened the gate, while the third one pointed a spear at Adalulf and told him to exit. Adalulf emerged from the dark cell. He was much skinnier, and pale. Prison life had made him lose a lot of weight, but it had also given him focus. In some way, he regained a little bit of youth, a little bit of the hunger he had before he became lord of Patavium. He walked out barefoot, wearing his Longobard pants, but bare chested. His hair and beard had grown long.
“I love you Trudy, be strong for me…” Adalulf told his wife.
As Hermetruda cried even louder, Adalulf followed Bertwalt with two guards behind him pointing spears at his neck. They arrived in the prison’s courtyard and, as Bertwalt moved to the side, Adalulf found himself in front of a horse without saddle. He looked to the side and saw King Grimwald on his horse, together with five other horsemen and Bertwalt, who was mounting on his horse.
“Adalulf! We finally meet again!” Grimwald said.
Adalulf fell on his knees and leaned forward. It was his only chance, and it did not hurt to try.
“My dear King, please forgive me. I had made a despicable mistake seven years ago. Please forgive me, my King. You will not regret it. I will be your faithful servant and with my experience and knowledge, I can be of great use to you, my merciful King. Please forgive me…”
“Adalulf…” Grimwald replied. ‘You are pathetic! Get up! You betrayed our people, and because of you, my two brothers faced an inglorious death. You almost killed me too! I will not forgive you…”
Adalulf slowly got up, keeping his head down. His shoulders were slouched down indicating that he was resigned to his fate.
“What I will concede to you is an honorable death,” Grimwald continued. “Not because I think you deserve it, but because that’s the death you had planned for me. Hunting me down in a wolf trap, to be slaughtered together with all those Longobard warriors you murdered that day, in front of my very eyes…”
King Grimwald was becoming angrier as he recalled that shocking day. But he had methodically liberated himself of almost all the ghosts from his past. He avenged his two brothers by giving the same fate to their murderer, Tribune Gregorios. He massacred thousands of Avars, making them all regret that day a small group of them had pillaged his father’s land and happened to kill in battle Duke Gisulf. Now the last nightmare was standing in front of him. He was only twelve when he had to escape on horse one of the most feared Longobard warriors: Adalulf. Now the tables were turned. Grimwald was the strongest warrior the Longobards had ever seen, and Adalulf was older and far past his prime.
“Now get on that horse,” Grimwald commanded. “I will give you no more than five hundred yards of head start. Please make it challenging. Do not make me kill you right outside Patavium’s walls, with your wife watching. Make it thrilling for me, and gallop as far as you can. I will hunt you down, but I don’t want to slaughter a sheep today, I want to kill a wolf!”
Adalulf turned around, swung his leg up to mount on the horse bareback, and once he was on, the courtyard’s gates opened. Adalulf dug his heels into his horse’s sides and made it gallop swiftly outside. Grimwald smiled as he saw Adalulf run. He was going to enjoy this. It was going to be slow and painful to Adalulf, but it was going to be soothing for Grimwald’s soul. A few moments passed, and a fully armored Grimwald kicked his own horse’s flanks and galloped out, closely followed by Bertwalt and the other five horsemen.
Adalulf was galloping bareback across a vast prairie directly north of Patavium, bare chested and at full speed. Several hundred yards behind were Grimwald, Bertwalt and the other five horsemen. They were riding at a more restrained pace. Grimwald just did not want to lose sight of Adalulf. He was not in a hurry to catch him. He would let Adalulf’s horse run until it died of exhaustion, and then he would continue hunting a desperate running man.
Adalulf found the old Roman road that headed north toward the mountains and it was perfectly straight. He kept on sprinting, but he did not have a clear plan. Once, when he looked back to check the distance he had between himself and his executioner, Grimwald, he noticed that the five horsemen were no longer in sight, and only Grimwald and Bertwalt were visible. He had been riding all morning, and the sun was now at the peak of this equinox day. Adalulf thought that perhaps his pursuers were finally moving to strike. He looked to the right side and, in fact, he could spot a couple of horsemen behind the trees holding bows and arrows. The other three had to be on the other side, he assumed.
Eventually the Roman road ended, and Adalulf found himself swerving his horse through the woods. Each time he cut too close to a branch, sharp protruding twigs would whip or even cut his bare torso. It was then that the first arrow was shot toward him. He dug his heel into the horse’s left flank, to turn the horse away from the incoming arrows. They were making him change direction, he realized. He tried to avoid turning the way they wanted him to. He was making it difficult for them, as he imagined they probably had a trap up ahead. Undoubtedly Grimwald had set up a wolf trap the same way Adalulf did that day he ambushed Grimwald and his brothers’ horsemen.
He kept avoiding being trapped. He was managing his horse to the best of his capabilities, but there was no escape. He had prolonged the chase for at least a couple of hours, and he was now exhausted. Not physically tired, but mentally drained. He had been on constant alert since leaving Patavium in the morning, and he had had a restless night. They were closing in on him, and he was entering a narrow and steep valley at the foothills of the Alps. There was a creek down below, and he was attempting to hedge up one side of the valley. He was essentially trying to climb up a dead end, an unclimbable wolf trap. He could sense that. He was sure of it. That had to be Grimwald’s plan all along.
He thought he could make it, but an arrow hit his horse’s hip. The poor beast neighed and fell to its side. They both tumbled down the steep slope, and rolled over a couple of times. They came to a stop and Adalulf felt a sharp pain on his left leg. It might have been broken, but he could not tell because the rest of his body was in even more pain for all the rocks he had tumbled over on the way down. His arms, his head, his chest and his back were bruised and bleeding.
Adalulf might have briefly lost consciousness, because as he opened his eyes his sight was temporarily somewhat blurry. He had to move fast, because Grimwald would soon be closing on him. He tried to move, but the weight of the dead horse pinned his legs down. As he struggled to move, he heard a threatening hiss. He slowly turned and noticed a viper staring straight into his eyes.
Adalulf kept calm as he stared back at the viper. His arms were free, and with one hand he distracted the snake, making it turn away from his face. With his other hand, he lunged at the viper and grabbed it by the neck, holding its mouth shut with his thumb over the snake’s nose. While holding the snake, who had twisted its body around Adalulf’s for
earm, he managed to free his legs from the weight of the horse. He now attempted to get up, and it became clear that his leg was, in fact, broken.
He heard Grimwald and his men advancing through the woods. He had to think quickly, and his weapon-making Longobard skills kicked in. While holding the deadly reptile in one hand, with his free arm he broke off a long branch. He ripped out all smaller side branches, and using his knee, he then broke it into two sword-length sticks. He sharpened the broken ends of the two sticks the best he could with his teeth. He then grabbed the snake by its neck, giving the viper enough room for its jaw to open wide. He placed each sharp end of the two sticks inside the viper’s mouth. The irritated snake repeatedly bit, pouring all possible venom on the sharp edges of the two sticks.
Adalulf then threw the exhausted viper down the steep slope, and as he turned, he found Grimwald, fully armored and holding a long sword, just a few yards away. Grimwald lunged at him, and Adalulf could not run, but he hopped to take cover within the thick woods. Grimwald advanced taking swing after swing, more to open a gap through the woods and reach Adalulf, rather than to directly hit him. He was finally close enough, and Grimwald’s blade wounded Adalulf’s broken leg. Now the leg was also bleeding. Adalulf had to take a stand or die as a trapped hog. He turned around holding the two sticks. As Grimwald advanced, Adalulf swung the sticks.
Grimwald laughed, but he admired Adalulf. ‘He is attacking me with wooden sticks,’ he thought. ‘How adorable’. Grimwald lunged forward and Adalulf dodged the blow. The old warrior was not fast enough to avoid the hit, and Grimwald had cut him on the side. However, thanks to the close proximity, he managed to hit Grimwald. One of his two sticks had pierced the King of Italy on top of his shoulder. It was sticking up right, so he must have penetrated at least a full inch in.
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