by Dave Duncan
Juozas said he’d been told that the agreement was the old man, two sons, the priest, and twenty knights. Arturas said there had been a change: it was to be only five knights and no priest. The sons were still all right, but everyone else had to go back down to the High Meadows and wait there.
Juozas walked back to Count Vranov, who muttered something blasphemous about meddling landsknechte, but sent him back to report that the terms were acceptable. The count chose five men-at-arms to accompany him, then urged his horse forward and led the way into the ground-floor chamber of the barbican. The inner gate on the far side was still closed, but a sally port beside it stood open. Arturas led them through that, into a roadway that flanked the cliffs of the mountain called the Hogback, and then, at last, through another gate into the town. There they were welcomed by Constable Sir Karolis Kavarskas.
Huddling beside Giedre in St. Andrej’s Cathedral, Madlenka Bukovany thought she had never known a Mass to last longer, yet she cherished every fleeting minute of it, because it was a calm before what might be a very bitter storm. Two weeks ago she had sat here in the family pew with Petr and her parents. Last Sunday Petr had been dead, and she had stayed home to watch over a dying father and a prostrate mother. Now she had only Giedre to keep her company.
She would have to be as stupid as the church gargoyles not to guess why the Hound had come to Castle Gallant yet again. She could not help knowing that she was a rich prize for any nobleman seeking a wife. She was too tall and too skinny to be a beauty, not plump and cuddlesome like Giedre, but her family tree was rooted back in the tenth century and she would bring her husband a very large dowry.
Now she was the only heir, so he would get it all. Vranov was the first of the ravens to land only because his nest was closest. Oh, how she needed her mother to send him packing! Yes, her legal guardian was King Konrad, far away in Mauvnik, but he could not even know yet that Count Bukovany was dead, and would probably not react for weeks. By that time, Count Vranov would have his claws firmly into Castle Gallant. Who could stop him? He had bought off that pernicious traitor, Constable Kavarskas. The German mercenaries would sell out to the highest bidder and likely already had. How much should she offer to buy them back? How much money did she have available?
“I must speak with your father!” she whispered to Giedre, who nodded.
St. Andrej’s was large and ancient, but Petr had called it small and old-fashioned after he returned from Mauvnik. Arches now were round, not pointed, he had said, and modern churches had domes. But Gallant’s other three churches were tiny and even older than the cathedral. All four were filled to capacity every Sunday, for anyone who missed Mass very often had soon been advised of Count Stepan’s displeasure. The count’s pew stood near the sanctuary and opposite the pulpit; from there he could keep an eye on the congregation just as well as the preacher could. Only the count and his family could sit in church; everyone else stood or knelt as the action required.
Bishop Ugne had almost reached the dismissal. Soon Madlenka would have to leave this precious sanctuary and face the world, the flesh, and the devil, with the flesh very likely being in the shape of one of Devil Vranov’s odious sons. She had met three of them, and each had been worse than the last. What pressure would the Hound apply to force her consent? To be legal, her marriage must be approved by the king, but legality had never bothered Vranov before. Why start now?
Bishop Ugne announced an unexpected prayer. She lowered her face …
“My lady!”
She jumped at the whisper coming from the end of the pew. Three men stood there, but they were not yet Vranov’s men come to get her. The speaker was Giedre’s father, Ramunas Jurbarkas.
“My lady, please come with us now!”
She rose with Giedre at her back, and followed the seneschal out of the cathedral by the side door. His companions brought up the rear, moving quietly. Perhaps no one in the cathedral saw them leave—except the bishop, of course, who must have arranged the diversion and therefore must approve of whatever was happening.
Jurbarkas was a small man, stooped and prematurely gray, but soft-spoken and universally popular, rarely without a smile for everyone. He had married twice, and was old to have a daughter of Madlenka’s age. But he had never disparaged Madlenka as a child and was unfailingly gracious to her now.
Just as Constable Kavarskas had been Father’s military officer, so Seneschal Jurbarkas ran the finances of the county. But he did much more than that, distributing the count’s alms, supervising the castle staff, arranging for road repairs, and many other things. If some tenant’s son in an outlying holding had reached an age to need a job, then the keep would suddenly want another kitchen brat or stableboy. Few people in the county had not sought his help at some time or other, and every petition had been swiftly handled or brought to the count. He was honest and loyal. Madlenka could trust him.
But he was no longer the man he had been. Father had said so many times, and had been looking for a man to take over at least some of Jurbarkas’s duties, but had failed to find one he considered honest enough before he himself had died. That blow had shaken the old seneschal more than almost anyone. He had found himself thrust into responsibilities he had never had to handle before, and he was looking older by the day.
In the cool winter sunshine, his companions were revealed as two hulking nephews. Madlenka had known them all her life and knew them to be sergeants in Kavarskas’s garrison, although they were currently wearing civilian clothing and armed only with staves. What was the town coming to if the seneschal felt he needed protection in the streets?
He started walking in the direction of the palace and she went to his side—his right side, because that was his better ear. Giedre brought up the rear, and her two cousins moved out in front as vanguard.
The narrow alleyways were almost deserted that Sunday morning and the few townsfolk they met all bowed or curtseyed as Madlenka went by. She barely noticed, eager to make the most of what must be a very brief word with Ramunas Jurbarkas.
“You know that Count Vranov is here, my lady?”
“Yes. And I think I know why.”
“You are ahead of me, then. I have left him and his entourage in the hall and provided a light repast. Your mother refuses to attend.”
“Seneschal, can I buy him off?”
The little man looked startled. “Buy him off? I very much doubt it. Havel Vranov must be one of the largest landowners in the kingdom.”
“But he wants to marry me to one of his sons to get hold of my inheritance, doesn’t he?”
“Maybe. But I doubt you have enough money to bribe him, and paying tribute to bullies just encourages them to come back for more.”
“But we might buy some time! I need time for the king to respond! Father told me we were rich.”
The little man tut-tutted. “He was rich, yes. Had your brother succeeded, then he would have been rich also. But I don’t know that you are. The tapestries in your bedroom are family heirlooms and now yours. But Castle Gallant and its town belong to the king. Everything else is debatable. The tolls your father imposed on travelers were a royal tax, strictly speaking, so who owns the gold in the money chest? What’s yours and what’s the king’s will have to be determined.”
She felt a stab of despair: was nothing to be left to her? “Determined by the king, I suppose?”
They climbed a steep stairway between two houses, only just wide enough for two abreast. The distance from St. Andrej’s to the keep was not far for a crow to fly, but she was no crow.
“His Majesty has officials called escheators to work the abacuses, but if he reveals in advance what sort of answer he wants, then that will be the answer he gets. As an orphaned daughter of one of the king’s tenants-in-chief you are in the king’s gift. He can marry you off to any man he wants. Of course you can refuse, but the results might be very unpleasant. You get a gold ring and your husband gets your dowry, carefully calculated, not a mite more.”
“Is that unfair, or am I just biased?”
Jurbarkas sighed. “I quite understand your dislike of it, but it is the law. You have never wanted me to lie to you, my dear. The easiest and most practical solution, from everyone’s point of view but yours, is to marry you off to a trusted and experienced soldier, who can be appointed lord of the marches in your father’s place. That way he gets everything except the king’s heriot and your mother’s dowry, so it won’t matter who owns what, and the Silver Road will be securely guarded again.”
“Some fat, battle-scarred, foulmouthed forty-year-old with the manners of a rutting boar?”
The seneschal did not venture an opinion on that. “An experienced soldier is usually old enough to have been married at least once. You can refuse the king’s choice, of course, but his second choice might be worse, and the terms harsher. The third suggestion will be a one-way visit to a nunnery.”
“No choice could be much worse than any of Vranov’s spawn.”
“Perhaps not,” the old man agreed sadly. They began to climb the wooden ramp to the door of the keep, which stood on the highest point in the town. “The townsfolk do not want Vranov as the next count of Cardice, but that is for His Majesty to decide.”
“Can they do anything about it?” she asked, thinking of all those landsknechte, and wondering which side they would choose. At worst, Castle Gallant might be sacked by its own defenders.
“The townsfolk? No.”
“How about the garrison?” she asked, eyeing the two broad backs ahead of her. The seneschal must trust his own nephews or he wouldn’t have brought them to the cathedral. Dare she plot a counterrevolution to drive out the traitor?
“Well, they’re hard to judge …”
“Tell me the numbers!”
Jurbarkas laughed gently. “Your father always said you would make a good warrior! The numbers that matter most are the landsknechte. Captain Ekkehardt’s contract calls for three hundred lances, which means six hundred fighting men plus four or five hundred boys and other supporters. The constable has about five hundred, mostly archers, but that’s only if you include the militia, some of whom may be away on their farms. And there must be a thousand or more able-bodied youths and young men in the town who can handle a pike, or a wood ax, or a scythe in a pinch.”
At the base of the stairwell the nephews stepped aside, their duty done. Madlenka gave them a smile of thanks before she remembered she was wearing her mourning veil. The seneschal was too engrossed to notice them.
Havel Vranov had a couple of hundred men at the gates. How many more were standing ready to come running when he whistled? Her blood chilled at the thought of battle raging in the streets.
“Why did you say that the landsknechte were the ones who mattered?”
“Because they’re trained warriors, my lady, and will obey their leader’s orders. Vranov’s hill men may be savage enough, and will certainly be loyal to their lord, but they cannot have the skill of mercenaries. Few of Kavarskas’s men have had any field experience, and many may refuse to follow him if he betrays his king and the late count’s daughter. The townsmen will be mowed like hay in any serious battle, but there are a lot of them. You see? Nobody can be certain who will come out on top if the swords leap out, but the landsknechte are the safest bet.”
It was horrible.
They halted at the door to the hall, and now it was Giedre’s turn to detach herself.
Standing with one hand on the handle, the seneschal said, “I will speak for you, with your permission, my lady.”
That was about the worst idea she had heard yet. “No! I can speak for myself. If you feel I am making a mistake, you may call me aside for counsel or even speak up and contradict me.” Better that than have her trying to interrupt him, like a badly trained child.
The old man shook his head. “I understand completely your concern about your future marriage, Madlenka, but that is not what the count came here to discuss. I spoke with him only briefly, but he never mentioned that subject. If it comes up, then of course you may speak. I hope you will pardon my saying so, but the worries he brings us are more urgent, and I think the constable will be doing most of the talking. After you, my lady.”
CHAPTER 8
The keep was the stronghold, an ugly stone oblong around a central open bailey. Most of the rooms were cramped and drafty. The great hall was the largest room in Cardice after the nave of St. Andrej’s, but when Petr came back from Mauvnik, he had laughed and said that he had seen privies there that were larger. It was a long, awkwardly narrow room, full of tables and benches, for it was where the castle staff and garrison ate their meals. A small dais at one end marked where the count held court and presided over major festivals; there was a fireplace in one corner. The door was in the center of one of the long sides; glazed windows opposite looked out into the bailey.
There were more people present than Madlenka had expected, because Count Vranov had brought his token bodyguard in with him. Five swordsmen in half armor sat on a bench at the end farthest from the hearth, their surcoats bearing blazons of a hound’s head. Dogs required handlers, so they were flanked by six landsknechte and six archers of the garrison, led by Deputy Constable Dalibor Notivova. It was more worrisome evidence of the divisions in the town.
So much for the chorus. The principals were grouped on two benches before the fire, and they began to rise to greet her as soon as they realized she had arrived. She was so intent on them that an unexpected voice behind her made her jump.
“Why’re you hiding?” The speaker was down on his hands and knees inspecting a mouse hole.
“Leonas!” she said. “You startled me.” She lifted her veil briefly.
The youth scrambled up and leered at her with the wet-lipped, slack-jawed gape of a simpleton. He was one of Vranov’s sons, built like a lance, all height and no width, with a beardless face reddened by windburn and all-over freckles that were much the same shade as his untidy thatch of hair. The count had brought him along to Castle Gallant on both his previous visits, explaining merely that the lad got picked on if he was left behind, a thoughtfulness that belied Havel’s ruthless reputation.
“I know you,” Leonas said proudly.
“And I know you. You’ve grown since you were here last.”
He chortled. “My da says I’ve got a spear I could take boar hunting!”
Um … yes. Unable to think of a suitable response and distressed at the thought of how the half-wit might start using that implement in a year or so, Madlenka just smiled and headed off toward the group by the fire, followed by the seneschal. She lowered her veil again.
There was Vranov, of course, and Constable Kavarskas—what treachery had he been plotting with the Hound? The odious walleyed priest, Father Vilhelmas, was not present. The third man she did not know, but she strongly suspected he must be another of Havel Vranov’s army of sons. Another suitor, third time lucky? He was a bulky man of around thirty, with a battered and scarred face.
The count limped forward to meet her, doffed his hat, and bowed. Despite his evil reputation, he was very ordinary-seeming, and had always been well-mannered when she was present, although Petr had referred to him as a foulmouthed blackguard. He seemed to have suffered no ill effects from a lifetime of raiding and rapine other than a twisted leg. His only concession to age was a beard, gray streaked with brown, and his most noteworthy feature a massive hooked nose. He wore sword and dagger, but not armor.
“Lady Madlenka, I grieve deeply for your tragic loss. Father and brother, and both of them noble men. I have ordered prayers said for them in all the churches in Pelrelm.”
She nodded her thanks, grateful that her face was hidden, regretting that she did not trust the veil enough to stick out her tongue at him. At least Father Vilhelmas was not here, loudly declaiming prayers for her father, who had disliked the squinty priest as much as she did.
“Thank you, Lord Vranov.”
“And today I hear that your lady mother
has been taken by melancholy. It is a heavy burden you bear.”
“Indeed it is,” she said. “Personally I suspect that some Speaker has laid a curse on us.”
“I could not agree more,” he said solemnly.
“You do? I mean, you couldn’t?” How dare he startle her like that!
“I believe it. Father Vilhelmas is of the same opinion. Pray, let us all sit down and discuss our mutual problems.”
He offered his arm, curse him, and escorted her to the corner fire, where the benches had been arranged in a V, separated by a narrow gap. He put her on the left one and sat on the other, across the gap from her. The seneschal moved swiftly to sit on her left, and the others arranged themselves and sat down—Kavarskas and Ekkehardt beyond Jurbarkas, with Kavarskas at the end next the wall. The second Pelrelm man, sitting beyond Vranov, was not introduced, but their family resemblance was obvious.
“Constable,” the seneschal said, “would you please advise Lady Madlenka on the present situation?”
The warrior’s nod of agreement displayed impatience at having to report to a slip of a girl who put on airs and sent for him. “My lady, Count Vranov has brought news that the Wends are planning an imminent invasion of Jorgary.”
“How imminent?” she asked, but it was an involuntary reaction, like a blink. Her mind was rummaging through memories of what Petr had said in the summer, when he returned from court. He had explained to her, summarizing what he had told Father, that the reason he had hired a troop of landsknechte to overwinter in Gallant was because Cardinal Zdenek had warned that Duke Wartislaw of Pomerania was mustering his army and Castle Gallant was his most likely target. So Havel Vranov might be telling the truth this time.