Errant

by Armas, Florian

  For the first time in three days, Mohor took me aside and started a conversation that was not just platitudes. “What do you plan for tomorrow?” he asked.

  “To attack Mehadin,” I mocked, in the most serious tone I could gather.

  “I would prefer a different strategy than letting a wing stand alone.”

  “Of course it will be different. Mehadin knows that we are coming. We cannot set the same trap.”

  “Well, maybe you will convince some of his people to join us,” he paid back for my mockery.

  “Nobody guaranteed you that, Mehadin controls his vassals well. They did not desert him after the first defeat, but we still have a chance today or tomorrow morning,” I pointed to the castle.

  Early in the morning, the watchers woke us; a thirty strong column was approaching on the road linking us to the other army. They had the same banner as the one on the castle’s tower.

  “Your first vassals,” I told Mohor.

  In a half turn, everything was settled, the Knight agreed to pay allegiance to Mohor, and our army was now stronger. We met Mehadin’s army three turns later, and it was clear that more Knights had deserted during the night; there were less than one hundred and fifty soldiers in front of us.

  The battlefield was Mehadin’s choice, and it disadvantaged us because they were on higher ground, but we could not avoid the fight, time was pressing us and Mehadin knew it. Counting on our numbers and better morale, I set the wings to ride first, in large arcs so they could attack from the sides. The right wing was faring slightly better, and I led the center to meet the enemy closer to it. Already destabilized, and caught in the middle, their left wing cracked in minutes. This time I stopped the fight and offered them the chance to surrender – Mehadin and his last son were already dead. The Chief of the Guards kneeled, presenting his sword to Mohor, and a moment later, all the soldiers from Mehadia kneeled too, in silent surrender. I asked Vlaicu to take over and set the council for a half turn later.

  The defeated Knights were required at first only to declare their vassalage to Mohor. I picked the Chief of the Guards and another Knight to deliver Mehadins’ bodies to Mehadia. They presented the advantage of being strong enough to convince Mehadia to surrender, and both had sons that remained our hostages.

  “Big Mouth has just seventeen soldiers left,” Vlaicu whispered to me after the council ended. The Spatar was still strong, but he had lost twenty-three of his men.

  We arrived in front of Mehadia two days later, and the negotiators was already waiting for us. Surprisingly, Mohor kept his word, and vacated his tent, leaving me to deal with them alone. There was enough space; the team from Mehadia had just two members: Calin, the Secretary, who strongly resembled Cernat, and the Chief of the Guards. Once we agreed that everybody who wanted to leave could leave, and the city would not be sacked, there was not much to negotiate, and for the first time I signed an official document, on the forty-second day of our campaign. Covering the surrender of Mehadia, it was not a small paper.

  Chapter 22 - Codrin

  Emptied of people, Mehadin’s residence was tightly secured, our soldiers guarding the entrance and the Vistierie too, with all that treasure inside – the castle’s vault stored more than twenty thousand galbeni, as Calinhad told me. Mohor will be richer, I thought with some envy, knowing that he would still be a tight purse with me. There were six guards at the entrance, all chosen by Vlaicu; I did not trust Big Mouth’s soldiers, and there was none of his in the city yet; even the mercenaries were more trustworthy. I nodded to the guards and entered the residence in silence. From the round hall, I wanted to reach the Secretary’s office, andreadsome diplomatic exchanges, mostly the ones between Mehadin and Orban. On my left, a slight movement caught the corner of my eye, and I turned fast, unsheathing my long sword. Someone tried to enter the hall and stepped back in a split second. I ran, entering the corridor just as a door closed silently, thirty pacesaway from me. In front of the door, I rotated the doorknob and hit the wood with my boot. The door opened with a bang, and I pushed through it with the long sword in front of me, and the short one over my head. There was no one in front, and I turned fast, left and right. A woman crouched, trying to hide in a corner, her arms embracing her knees in a futile gesture; there was nothing there to hide her.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, annoyed, because my mind was still in fighting mode and she was not supposed to be here. All Mehadin’s people had left the residence, the day before, and the rest would leave the fortress in another three, allowing Mohor to become, for a short time, the master of the city.

  “Don’t kill me,” she pleaded, staring at my swords.

  “I will not harm you,” I tried to be gentle despite my anger. “Let me escort you outside the residence; my soldiers might hurt you in some ways, even if I ordered them to behave peacefully.” She did not have the striking beauty of Jara or Saliné, but she was a beautiful woman too, in her mid-thirties. An austere beauty I might say; there was a deep sadness in her features and eyes. She is just scared; I shrugged. “You are an attractive woman,” I tried to encourage her, and I sheathed the long sword.

  “Do you lead the soldiers watching the residence?” she asked, unsure how such a young man could be their leader.

  “Yes. Let’s go.”

  “Please help us,” she pleaded.

  “Why should I help you if you don’t listen to my orders?” I asked, before realizing that she was not alone in a residence I had supposed empty.

  “My father is wounded, and my little children are scared. We are in danger. Please,” she pleaded again. “I will do whatever you want.” She stood up and came closer, offering a good perspective on her body, to underline what a man could want from her.

  How awfully troubled you must be... “What’s your name?” I asked, to gain time.

  “Mara. Will you accept?” Sitting in front of me, she gently touched the hand that was still holdingthe small sword. “We can go to my room, and I will please you. But you have to promise…” Her fingers were now pressing harder. With all that tension, there was a kind of serenity in her eyes, as if her offer ‘to please me’ was not touching her, she was sacrificing herself for her family.

  Like Saliné… “What do you think I am, woman?” I rumbled, both because of her proposal and remembering Saliné, pushing away the hand that was gripping mine. “Let’s get your father and children.”

  “He … he is wounded,” she whispered. “He can’t walk right now.”

  “Take me to him.”

  We left the room, and she led me to the Secretariat area, a thing that prompted another question from me. “Who is your father?”

  “Calin,” she said, stopping abruptly, her eyes staring at me. “He worked for Mehadin, your enemy, but he is a kind man, and helped you to take the city without a fight. Please do not think wrong of him.”

  “The Secretary?” I asked incredulously. Who would wound Calin?

  “Yes. Do you know him?” she asked, trying to understand if my knowledge was a good thing or not.

  “We negotiated your surrender together.” Staring at Mara, I realized she resembled Calin: the shape of her lips and nose, black eyes and hair over a white face. “You look like him,” I smiled to calm her. “I should have recognized earlier who you are. Don’t worry, I will get you out. Let’s go, Mara,” I touched her shoulder, to encourage her, then I retracted my hand in haste, feeling the tension in her body. “Sorry,” I said swiftly. “It was just a friendly gesture. You have nothing to worry about. I am Codrin.”

  “The commander,” she spoke again after some time, and I realized how mistaken I was to think that she had accepted, with some kind of serenity, to offer herself as payment for saving her family.

  Despite all that tension, it seemed that she trusted me, as she turned slowly, walking in silence, until we entered Calin’s room. He was sitting in bed, his head bandaged with a blue scarf, spotted with scattered red patches.

  “What happened?�
� I asked after my brief evaluation told me that he was not in immediate danger. His breathing and voice were calm, and his face looked normal. “I thought you left yesterday.”

  “Someone threw a stone when I was trying to leave.”

  “They consider you have betrayed them. I should have thought to give you some guards. It doesn’t look so bad,” I encouraged him, pointing to his head. “I will escort you out tomorrow.”

  “It will not be so easy,” Calin said, staring at me for an unknown reason, and I did not react, waiting for him to clarify. There was a kind of strain in him; perhaps he was just expecting me to answer, and a minute of silence filled the room.

  “We have an enemy in your army,” Mara said when the silence went too long. “It’s better if we tell him, father.”

  “Twenty-five years ago, I was S’Severin’s half-Knight,” Calin sighed, and things looked more complicated than I thought. “One day, there was a quarrel between my young brother and Aron, who was drunk. Aron’s elder brother killed mine, and I answered in kind. Both Aron and I had a brother less, and I had to run to Histria. That’s why we tried to get away from here hidden among the people leaving the city. It went wrong,” he pointed to his bandaged head. “I know what you want to know. Why did I sign without more guarantees?” he stared at me, and I gestured to him to continue. “I had no choice. They would have surrendered the city without me. At least I had a chance to prepare people’s departures and to sneak out hidden among them. It went wrong,” he repeated, without realizing it.

  Mohor told me nothing. That’s why he let me negotiate with Calin. Big Mouth could not do it. And I thought... “There is bad blood between you and Aron, and Mohor chased you from his lands,” I tried to reiterate how great our position was – by signing the capitulation treaty for Mehadia, covering Cernat’s fate too, I was responsible for his life. Mohor did not sign, he may not feel bound by the agreement.

  “Mohor was too young at that time, it was his father who chased me.”

  A little bit better… “Where did you hide from my soldiers when they searched the building?” I asked, something that could be more important in short term.

  “I have a secret chamber with the door masked in the wall,” Calin answered, after pondering a while about exposing a place that could hide him again if things went wrong.

  “We have a treaty and you will leave safely,” I assured him. “While you are still here, I will need some help. It may be not so easy for you to accept, but I want to read the diplomatic correspondence between Mehadin and Orban, to know what happened in the last few months. The most important letters in the archive will go with me.” In fact, I wanted him to explain Orban’s plans for Severin, but going in small steps was easier for Calin to accept – he could consider my request a betrayal even now, when Mehadin was dead.

  “Mehadin’s Seigneury no longer exists,” Calin shrugged. “I would have done the same in your place.” There was a short exchange of glances between him and Mara, and I pretended not to observe it. “I feel too weak right now, but Mara knows everything, she was my second Secretary.”

  “Do you mind if we go now?” I asked Mara, and she nodded in approval. I opened the door, letting her pass, and after a few steps, I decided to go the fast way – in my view, she could not be as attached to Mehadin as her father, and she was a mother ready to save her children. “The easiest way is to recount Orban’s plans for Severin.”

  “It was quite simple,” she said. “Orban wanted Mehadin to weaken S’Severin in a prolonged war of attrition, and take over his city.”

  “Mehadin was too weak for such a war,” I tested her.

  “Orban promised to help, and kept his word. Fifty soldiers of his fought under Mehadin’s banner in Severin.” It seemed that she knew nothing of the one hundred we had fought before destroying Mehadin’s army.

  “That was clever,” I involuntary used the same words I said to Cantemir, and I almost smiled. “There is now blood between us and Orban,” I continued.

  “His men fought under our banner,” she reminded me, probably thinking that I was not the cleverest man in the world. “He can’t claim anything.”

  “You may be right,” I shrugged. “How many soldiers did Orban lose in our battles?” I laid another trap.

  “Not many,” she answered, not understanding why I was still insisting on that – Orban could not claim anything. “His soldiers went home after the first battle that S’Severin lost.”

  “Interesting,” I gestured for her to continue.

  “Orban did not want Mehadin to continue the fight.”

  “Orban wanted to weaken S’Severin,” I countered.

  “The war between Mehadin and S’Severin was planned for next year. Orban had in mind some negotiations with Duke Stefan for his neutrality in the south. Something changed two months ago – we don’t know what – and Orban asked Mehadin to attack this year, with the condition that he stay away from Severin.”

  “Why did Mehadin ignore Orban and go into Severin alone?”

  “Mehadin felt that it was his time, and he wanted to avenge the death of his son. S’Severin’smen killed him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Who else could do it? Someone spread the word that we attacked S’Severin’s embassy. We did not.”

  “Maybe the one that killed Mehadin’s son spread the word, too,” I shrugged.

  She stared at me, and this time I no longer looked stupid to her. “Then someone wanted this war now.”

  “Maybe. The war would have started anyway.”

  “Next year, in plain view,” she said thoughtfully, and I wondered if I had said too much. “Orban?” she whispered, as if asking herself. “Devan?”

  “Who knows?” I said in a neutral tone. “How close were Mehadin and Devan?”

  “Not very. Mehadin was afraid of Devan. He was afraid of Orban too.”

  “Mehadin would have chosen the stronger one as his ally.”

  “He did not have much choice. The marriage between lady S’Severin’s daughter and Devan’s son scared him.”

  “Who told you about the marriage?”

  “We received news from two sources: Aron and Cantemir.”

  “Mohor’s Knight?” I asked, surprised.

  “Yes, the normal courtesy announcement of a marriage. Nothing special.”

  I need to see that letter. Is Mohor aware of it? The marriage was supposed to be kept secret. “What chance do you think that marriage would have?” I asked, from pure curiosity.

  “You should know better,” she shrugged.

  “But what do you know about it?” I insisted, my voice a bit tougher than I wanted.

  “I ... I don’t think that Orban would allow it. Sorry,” she added hastily. “I don’t want to interfere in your politics.”

  “I asked for your opinion.” I tried to calm her.

  “Here,” she pointed to a large door. We had arrived at Calin’s office, and she was happy to escape my questions, at least for a while.

  “I want to see the letter about Saliné’s marriage,” I said, without thinking.

  “Who is Saliné?” she asked.

  “Lady S’Severin’s daughter. Aron’s letter.”

  She went to a cabinet with many boxes, and opened one named Severin, searching for some time among the gathered papers, and came back with an envelope. “Aron’s letter,” she handed the envelope to me, and I had to fight hard to hide my eagerness.

  To Sir Mehadin, I read, we have the pleasure to announce the marriage of… Dated a week after my embassy left for Deva, the letter was signed by Big Mouth, yet it had Mohor’s seal on it. Big Mouth wanted to stop the marriage too… To make place for Bucur. And that stupid Jara allowed Bucur… But why a letter? It could fall into the wrong hands. It had happened already. In silence, my fingers were playing nervously with the paper, and Mara was staring at me, unable to understand why an insignificant courtesy letter was getting so much attention. I forced myself to smile, just to hide my r
eal feelings.

  “Do you have a letter from Cantemir, too?” I asked.

  “No,” she said after a while, “his embassy told us.”

  “Who was first? Big Mouth or Cantemir?”

  “Who is Big Mouth?” she asked; for the second time, I used an unknown name.

  “Aron,” I smiled, and she smiled back, the pejorative nickname obviously pleased her.

  “I don’t remember. Let me look in the register. The letter came two days after the embassy,” she said, after closing the register. “Why is it important to you?”

  “Please show me every important letter from Orban.” I avoided her question and she did not insist, going back to the cabinet.

  After several minutes, she came up with eight letters, and we spent some time, me reading and she answering my questions. Then I had more questions and she found more letters; there were so many interconnected things.

  In the silence of the night, the door suddenly scraped open and Mara’s son came in the room, it was late. “Mother,” he complained, before any of us could react. “It’s late, I want to sleep.”

  “Mihai, go to your room,” Mara said, gently. “You are a big boy and can fall asleep without me.” She smiled. “Tomorrow, I will tell you two stories instead of one.”

  “I am hungry,” he complained meekly.

  “Go with him, Mara,” I said, before she could react. “I have enough things to read myself.”

  She came later with some food, but I sent her away again, and I did not realize how late it was until the roosters announced the coming of the new day. There was a sofa in the office, and I slept there until Mara woke me up. It was late in the morning and I was still tired after the night spent there.

  “Are there any surviving Mehadins to claim the Seigneury?” I asked, after I ate in haste what she brought to me.

  “His two sons died, one in battle, the other one...” she shrugged, not knowing what to say about him. “There are no grandchildren. His daughter died a long time ago. His two nephews died in the last battle, too. One of them had a son, but he will not claim the succession.”