Joan of the Sword Hand
Page 44
CHAPTER XLIII
TO THE RESCUE
But the late prisoner did not speak at once, though his captor stoodback as though to permit him to explain himself. He was still bound andgagged. Discovering which, Max in a very philosophical and leisurelymanner assisted him to relieve himself of a rolled kerchief which hadbeen placed in his mouth.
Even then his throat refused its office till Werner von Orseln handedhim a great cup of wine from which he drank deeply.
"Speak!" said Joan. "What disaster has brought you here? Is Kernsbergtaken?"
"The Eagle's Nest is harried, my lady, but that is not what hath broughtme hither!"
"Have they found out this my--prison? Are they coming to capture me?"
"Neither," returned Alt Pikker. "Maurice von Lynar is in the hands ofhis cruel enemies, and on the day after to-morrow, at sunrise, he is tobe torn to pieces by wild horses."
"Why?" "Wherefore?" "In what place?" "Who would dare?" came from allabout the table; but the mother of the young man sat silent as if shehad not heard.
"To save Kernsberg from sack by the Muscovites, Maurice von Lynar wentto Courtland in the guise of the Lady Joan. At the fords of the Alla wedelivered him up!"
"You delivered him up?" cried Theresa suddenly. "Then you shall die! MaxUlrich, your knife!"
The dumb man gave the knife in a moment, but Theresa had not time toapproach.
"I went with him," said Alt Pikker calmly.
"You went with him," repeated his mother after a moment, notunderstanding.
"Could I let the young man go alone into the midst of his enemies?"
"He went for my sake!" moaned Joan. "He is to die for me!"
"Nay," corrected Alt Pikker, "he is to die for wedding the PrincessMargaret of Courtland!"
Again they cried out upon him in utmost astonishment--that is, all themen.
"Maurice von Lynar has married the Princess Margaret of Courtland?Impossible!"
"And why should he not?" his mother cried out.
"I expected it from the first!" quoth Joan of the Sword Hand, disdainfulof their masculine ignorance.
"Well," put in Alt Pikker, "at all events, he hath married the Princess.Or she has married him, which is the same thing!"
"But why? We knew nothing of this! He told us nothing. We thought hewent for our lady's sake to Courtland! Why did he marry her?" criedseverally Von Orseln and the Plassenburg captains.
"Why?" said Theresa the mother, with assurance. "Because he loved herdoubtless. How? Because he was his father's son!"
And Theresa being calm and stilling the others, Alt Pikker got time totell his tale. There was silence in the grange of Isle Rugen while itwas being told, and even when it was ended for a space none spoke. ButTheresa smiled well pleased and said in her heart, "I thank God! My sonalso shall meet Henry the Lion face to face and not be ashamed."
After that they made their plans.
"I will go," said Conrad, "for I have influence with my brother--or, ifnot with him, at least with the folk of Courtland. We will stop thisheathenish abomination."
"I will go," said Theresa, "because he is my son. God will show me a wayto help him."
"We will all go," chorussed the captains; "that is--all save Werner----"
"All except Boris----!"
"All except Jorian----!"
"Who will remain here on Isle Rugen with the Duchess Joan?" They lookedat each other as they spoke.
"You need not trouble yourselves! I will not remain on Isle Rugen--notan hour," said Joan. "Whoever stays, I go. Think you that I will permitthis man to die in my stead? We will all go to Courtland. We will tellPrince Louis that I am no duchess, but only the sister of a duke. Wewill prove to him that my father's bond of heritage-brotherhood is nulland void. And then we will see whether he is willing to turn theprincedom upside down for such a dowerless wife as I!"
"For such a wife," thought Conrad, "I would turn the universe upsidedown, though she stood in a beggar's kirtle!"
But being loyally bound by his promise he said nothing.
It was Theresa von Lynar who put the matter practically.
"At a farm on the mainland, hidden among the salt marshes, there arehorses--those you brought with you and others. They are in waiting forsuch an emergency. Max will bring them to the landing-place. Three orfour of your guard must accompany him. The rest will make ready, and atthe first hint of dawn we will set out. There is yet time to save myson!"
She added in her heart, "Or, if not, then to avenge him."
Strangely enough, Theresa was the least downcast of the party. Deathseemed a thing so little to her, even so desirable, that though thematter concerned her son's life, she commanded herself and laid herplans as coolly as if she had been preparing a dinner in the grange ofIsle Rugen.
But her heart was proud within her with a great pride.
"He is Henry the Lion's son. He was born a duke. He has married aprincess. He has tasted love and known sacrifice. If he dies it will befor the sake of his sister's honour. 'Tis no bad record for twentyyears. These things _he_ will count high above fame and length of days!"
* * * * *
The little company which set out from Isle Rugen to ride to Courtlandhad no thought or intention of rescuing Maurice von Lynar by force ofarms. They knew their own impotence far too exactly. Yet each of theleaders had a plan of action thought out, to be pursued when the citywas reached.
If her renunciation of her dignities were laughed at, as she feared,there was nothing for Joan but to deliver herself to Prince Louis. Shehad resolved to promise to be his wife and princess in all that itconcerned the outer world to see. Their provinces would be united,Kernsberg and Hohenstein delivered unconditionally into his hand.
On his part, Werner von Orseln was prepared to point out to the Princeof Courtland that with Joan as his wife and the armies and levies ofHohenstein added to his own under the Sparhawk's leadership, he would bein a position to do without the aid of the Prince of Muscovy altogether.Further, that in case of attack from the north, not only Plassenburg andthe Mark, but all the Teutonic Bond must rally to his side.
Boris and Jorian, being stout-hearted captains of men-at-arms, wereready for anything. But though their swords were loosened in theirsheaths to be prepared for any assault, they were resolved also to givewhat official dignity they could to their mission by a free use of thenames of their master and mistress, the Prince Hugo and Princess Heleneof Plassenburg. They were sorry now that they had left theircredentials behind them, at Kernsberg, but they meant to make confidenceand assured countenances go as far as they would.
Conrad, who was intimately acquainted with the character of his brother,and who knew how entirely he was under the dominion of Prince Ivan, hadresolved to use all powers, ecclesiastical and secular, which hisposition as titular Prince of the Church put within his reach. To savethe Sparhawk from a bloody and disgraceful death he would invoke uponCourtland even the dread curse of the Greater Excommunication. With hisfaithful priests around him he would seek his brother, and, ifnecessary, on the very execution place itself, or from the high altar ofthe cathedral, pronounce the dread "Anathema sit." He knew his brotherwell enough to be sure that this threat would shake his soul withterror, and that such a curse laid on a city like Courtland, not toosubservient at any time, would provoke a rebellion which would shake thepower of princes far more securely seated than Prince Louis.
The only one of the party wholly without a settled plan was the womanmost deeply interested. Theresa von Lynar simply rode to Courtland tosave her son or to die with him. She alone had no influence with PrinceIvan, no weapon to use against him except her woman's wit.
As the cavalcade rode on, though few, they made a not ungallant show.For Theresa had clad Prince Conrad in a coat of mail which had oncebelonged to Henry the Lion. Joan glittered by his side in a corselet ofsteel rings, while Werner von Orseln and the two captains of Plassenburgfollowed fully armed, their accoutrements shining
with the burnishing ofmany idle weeks. These, with the men-at-arms behind them, made up suchan equipage as few princes could ride abroad with. But to all of themthe journey was naught, a mere race against time--so neither horse norman was spared. And the two women held out best of all.
But when in the morning light of the second day they came in sight ofCourtland, and saw on the green plain of the Alla a great concourse, itdid not need Alt Pikker's shout to urge them forward at a gallop, lestafter all they should arrive too late.
"They have brought him out to die," cried Joan. "Ride, for the youngman's life!"