Conrad Starguard - The Radiant Warrior Part 9

"That explains it, then. You probably don't see much of it around here because you all die so young of other things first. It's all too common where I come from."

"I see. Can anything be done for him?"

"Not really, my lord. In time, he may regain some of his faculties, but until then he must be tended like a baby. There are a few women back with my baggage. I'll send two of them up to the castle to tend him until someone permanent can be found. But beyond that, there isn't much that I can do."

I had the baggage train brought up and sent two mature women to tend the baron. Taking care of a stroke victim is hardly a job to dump on a squeamish young girl.

Our field kitchen was set up, and Krystyana got a meal going. Some of the carpenters dismantled a shed to make coffins for our dead and the burnt women. The Castilians were simply thrown naked into a pit, the general consensus being that they didn't deserve any better.

When we tried to find the village priest to hold the funeral services, we discovered that his was among the dead bodies in the pit. Somehow, he had gone over to the enemy. We had to send a man to the next village to get someone to do the burial services.

Sir Lestko said that he didn't want any part of the booty either, so I told my people that those who had killed an enemy would get first pick of souvenirs.

"Just weapons, now. Any money and jewels will be divided up evenly later. Tadaos, you did yeoman service today. You get first pick. Piotr, I saw your axe b.l.o.o.d.y. You go next. The rest of you, well, you know who you are. Get in line. The others will keep you honest."

Piotr took a handsome sword with silver mountings and a matching dagger, while Tadaos found a pair of weapons that had plain steel mountings but very good quality blades. The differences in their characters, I suppose.

I saw Piotr looking proudly at Krystyana, but she just looked away.

After they were through, I had the others, including those who had stayed with the baggage take their choice, and had to be reminded about the women tending the baron. Their husbands chose for them.

As for the rest, I kept the armor for myself, not being as proud as certain others, and we added their horses and mules to our own. They had a surprising amount of money with them, surprising until you realize that there were no banks or travelers' checks in this world. If you were traveling, you had to carry all your money with you in cash, which made for a highwayman's heaven.

Every one of my people got almost three month's pay.

But the real surprise was the church vestments and altar furnis.h.i.+ngs in their luggage. I began to worry that maybe these really were priests. But even if they were, they were still murderers, so I earmarked the religious things for our church at Three Walls.

Who knows? Maybe they looted a church.

By dusk, there was some semblance of order in the village and the villagers were starting to filter back in.

Some of them had been in the woods for days.

Krystyana, Natalia, Natasha, and I were invited to the castle for supper, only to discover that they were down to field rations up there. Dried meat and dry bread and not much of that. When the servants had run off, they stripped the larder.

There was plenty of extra food down at our field kitchen, many of the men not being hungry after their first experience with combat. I sent down for some, and none of the n.o.bility complained about eating the leftovers of the commoners. None, that is, except for Sir Stefan. But after insulting the food, he ate his share. I got to ignoring him as just a bad noise.

Count Lambert was unusually taciturn that evening, and that put something of a damper on things.

Questioning him, I found that he'd been notified by a boy from the village. A twelve-year-old kid had run from Toszek to Okoitz, a distance of four dozen miles, in a single afternoon and night, getting to Count Lambert at dawn. He had come immediately.

"In my land, that kid would get a medal," I said.

"And what might that be?" Sir Bodan said.

"It's sort of like a very large coin that is hung from a ribbon pinned to the tunic over the heart, or hung around the neck. It's given as an honor to those that have done some exceptional deed for the good of the community or state. They are of bronze or silver or even of gold, depending on the degree of the honor.

Each branch of our military has several of these, ranging from mere partic.i.p.ation in a campaign to one for outstanding valor."

"Interesting. So in your land a man may not dress as he chooses?" Sir Lestko said.

"Not at all. A person's clothing is up to him, except that certain professions and the military wear uniform clothing when on duty. It's just that someone wearing a medal that he had not earned would be a laughingstock when he was found out."

"You said, 'each branch of the service,"' Count Lambert said. "You have more than one kind of fighting man?"

"There are three, my lord. An army for fighting on land, a navy for fighting on the seas, and an air force."

"So you fight in the skies as well! Which was your branch?"

"I am an officer in the air force, my lord."

"Then you fought in the skies!"

"No, my lord. My duty was to oversee the maintenance of certain equipment, and during my four years of active duty, we were not at war. Not one man in a hundred was actually on flying duty."

"That must have been frustrating."

"The job had to be done. 'They also serve who only stand and wait."'

"Well. There is the question of Baron Mieczyslaw. Sir Conrad says that it will be long before he can again perform his duties, if ever."

"My grandfather raised the baron to his rank for valor, but the fact was that his lands were not enough to support any subordinate knights. And while outstanding in combat, the baron drank and gambled to such all excess that it was never felt wise to enlarge his lands. He would only have wasted them."

"Further, he never took a wife, and has neither child nor near relative. His lands therefore escheat to me, yet I would not have him deposed, for as I said, he served my grandfather well. Therefore, someone must act as caretaker here, to be lord in all but in name."

"Sir Lestko, you have been in my county for four years, yet you have not actually sworn to me or mine, but have merely attached yourself to Baron Casimir."

"Ah, my lord. In truth, I am more attached to Baron Casimir's daughter," Sir Lestko said.

"So I had heard. Being lord of a barony might improve your suit. If you would swear to me, I would put you in charge of the lands and castle here. Baron Mieczyslaw will be lord in name until his death. Should he die, you will be invested with his lands, but will not be made baron. That t.i.tle was in a way only honorary here, and dies with the man."

"Should the baron live and again be able to do his duties, I will see to it that you are rewarded with greater lands elsewhere. What say you?"

"I will do it gladly, my lord."

"Good. We'll swear you in tomorrow as soon as the sun is high. Do not be kind to the villagers here, for they have allowed harm to be done to their lord and to their fellows. The castle servants have robbed and abandoned their lord in time of his dire need. The least of them deserves a severe whipping, and you have my permission to hang those you see fit."

"Sir Conrad, you once talked of the manner of your people concerning trials. I would see how it is done.

You will be in charge of tomorrow's trial. I shall be judge and these n.o.blemen shall be jury. The other offices you shall appoint yourself. Have it ready by midmorning."

"For now, I am tired, and I wish you all good night. Sir Bodan will set up the guard schedule."

Later, I saw Natasha going to Count Lambert's room. The girls seemed to think that it would be most improper-and a waste-for him to have to sleep alone.

The next morning, after Sir Lestko was sworn in, I explained the duties of prosecutor and defender, and appointed Sir Bodan to be the defending attorney, since he was articulate and seemed to be the most sympathetic toward the prisoners. I removed Sir Lestko from the jury, since he was a witness, and found bailiffs among my own people. Natalia acted as court recorder.

I took the role of prosecutor myself, and Sir Bodan and I spent the morning interviewing witnesses, until Count Lambert sent down and told us to get on with it. In the Middle Ages, trials were often over in minutes, and justice suffered. We held it in the church, that being the only building big enough to seat everybody.

I arranged the seating like that of the usual modern courtroom, and we were under way by noon. I started by explaining what we were doing, and that each witness could only say what he had actually seen with his own eyes. Hearsay was not admissible, which surprised people. They felt that they should say what "everybody knew."

One by one, the accused were interviewed through an interpreter, and the witnesses were heard. I could see Count Lambert getting increasingly bored and fidgety, but I kept on with it. It was almost dark when the last had been heard, and some of the witnesses had to be excused to get supper going.

The story that came out was this. The prisoners said that they had been charged by the Inquisition to go and to root out witchcraft wherever it was found. They had performed this office through Spain, through France, and then through Germany over the last year, burning, by their own admission, over a hundred people. They had no written authorization from the church, and they did not feel that it was necessary to consult with local temporal or ecclesiastical authorities.

On coming to Toszek they found the baron stricken in a manner that was certain proof of witchcraft. On questioning the villagers, they found that seven old women lived in a cl.u.s.ter of huts apart from the others, proof that they were up to no good. One young woman had taken on the duty of supplying them with food, and so was obviously of their number. Performing their duty, they had cleansed the world of them.

Then they had been murderously attacked without provocation by Sir Lestko, myself, and my people. They demanded justice.

The villagers said that a year ago, there had been an argument between some old widowed women and their families. To smooth things out, Baron Mieczyslaw had ordered that some huts for them be built apart from the others, and had appointed one girl, the granddaughter of two of the women, to collect food and to take it to them. Some measure of peace had resulted from this arrangement.

Sir Lestko's story told what I have said above, and each of my workers confirmed it.

We met again after supper, and Sir Bodan and I made our closing statements. He said that the prisoners were only doing their duty as they saw it, and they should be released with all their property returned.

I think I showed that the women burned were innocent of any wrong doing, and that the girl's only faults were obeying her lord and simple Christian charity.

I said that the accused had no proof that they were working at the behest of the church, and even if they did once have such proof, they had no right to take any such action without the permission of the local authorities. The Bishop of Wroclaw was never consulted, nor was Duke Henryk. Only Count Lambert had the right of high justice here, and to kill, other than in self-defense, without his permission was murder.

I demanded that they all be hanged. I then suggested that the jury members discuss the matter among themselves, and tell us their decision in the morning. Count Lambert, bored to tears, heartily agreed.

That evening, he said, "d.a.m.n but this goes slow! Did you have to bring forth every peasant to tell the story that the one before him had told?"

"Yes, my lord, I did. What if one had said that all the others were liars? What if the truth was something different from what we had been told? The lives of twenty-three men are at stake, as well as who knows how many so-called 'witches,' if they are allowed to leave unmolested."

"It would have been simpler to kill them all out of hand."

"True, my lord. But would it have been more just?"

In the morning, Count Lambert's instructions to the jury were, "Are any of you fool enough to think these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had the right to usurp my justice?"

Sir Stefan started to say something, but Count Lambert glared at him and he shut up.

The foreman stood and said, "No, my lord. Hang them."

Not quite proper procedure, but an improvement over the usual way of doing things. At least the accused were allowed to have their say in court.

One of the peasants in the town had been a hangman in Wroclaw, so he was given the job.

The prisoners were permitted to say confession to their own priests while ropes were slung over he branches of a huge old oak tree. Most of the condemned swore at us, and the priest who spoke Polish swore that he'd see me in h.e.l.l.

"d.a.m.n foreigners," the hangman muttered. "You hang them with a new rope and still they complain!"

The sight of the Castilians being hung wasn't pretty. They weren't dropped, so as to break their necks, but were hauled up so as to strangle. Criminals were hung naked, their clothes going to the hangman as his fee *

It was an ugly sight. Most of the murderers urinated and defecated, and over half had an e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.o.n, which I thought curious. Some actually died with a smile on their lips. Perhaps hanging really is a merciful way to kill somebody.

It was brutal, yet it was necessary. People cannot be allowed to take the law into their own hands. Anyway, burning eight women wasn't pretty either.

We left them hanging as we rode out about our duties. I suppose that somebody buried them.

I expected to get a lot of flak from the Church over the thing, but there wasn't a word. And in later years, when the insanity of witchhunts was all the rage in western Europe, there were none in Poland.

The buck stopped here.

Chapter Nine.

Anna found the mine site without difficulty, and we went to work. We had temporary shelters up in a few days, and then the carpenters started felling trees, the masons collecting stones, the miners digging for ore.

The mules were sent back to Three Walls to get lime for mortar, the sawmill was set up, and word was sent to the surrounding towns and villages that we were hiring workers temporarily for the summer. If they did well, they might be sworn in permanently.

There was no lack of applicants, since word had spread quickly about how well my people lived. The winter before, I'd made up some blocks and puzzles of the sort that modem psychologists use, and tried to get some idea of the men's intelligence. I tried to hire the bright ones, because there was no hiring all the applicants. Thousands came and there was only room in the budget for three gross on a permanent basis and a thousand more temporarily. I hated to send so many of them away, but what could I do?

The ore was right on the surface, so tunneling wasn't necessary. We could dig it out of an open pit, which was much safer and cheaper.

The duke had sent six knights to take care of security, so that was one headache I didn't have to worry about.

In a week, things were progressing well enough for me to leave for Eagle Nest. I left Yashoo, my carpentry foreman, in general charge, and only nominally subordinate to the duke's knight, Sir Stanislaw. I took Natasha along, since she was handy to have around, and Anna hardly noticed her weight. By evening, Anna had us at Eagle Nest.

Vitold, Count Lambert's carpenter, was in charge there and things were going well. There were probably more men available than could be efficiently administered, but they were mostly logging and digging, which doesn't take much supervision.

Count Lambert had left the day before, and the setup was his idea, so I didn't change anything. We left for Okoitz that afternoon and got there in time for supper.

One of my miners was getting the coal mine dug without problems, and the cloth factory, with its two hundred attractive and available young ladies, was going full blast.

Count Lambert rather proudly offered me a cold beer. "You were right again, Sir Conrad. A cold beer is a wonderful thing on a hot day! I'm glad you talked me into finis.h.i.+ng the icehouse below the grain mill."

The next morning, I was at Three Walls and found that Sir Vladimir and Annastas.h.i.+a were the proud parents of a healthy boy.

Trivial matters delayed me a few days, and then I headed to Copper City again, this time with Yawalda riding Anna's rump.

The whole summer went that way, with me constantly racing from Three Walls to Copper City to Eagle Nest to Okoitz and back to Three Walls, the whole circuit taking us a week to run. Since many of my workers were separated from their families, and since they could read and write now, I was playing postman as well as roving supervisor. It was fun and exciting at first, but it got very old after a while.

By fall, things were settled down to the point that Copper City only needed to be visited once a month, and I tried to keep my traveling down to two weeks a month, staying at Three Walls as much as possible.

We had another good harvest in 1233, the third in a row. Everyone gorged on sweet corn and watermelon, honeydews and zucchini, pumpkins and muskmelon. The beehives were a great success, and the price of honey and beeswax dropped by a factor of twelve on the open market.

The grains, potatoes, and legumes I'd brought with me had done well, and I computed that in two years we would be eating them rather than keeping it all for seed as we had been. And glory be to G.o.d, we had sugar beet seeds, over a hundred pounds of them! Next fall, I'd have to worry about refining sugar.

The new plants were almost untouched by insects, which cut heavily into most crops since insecticides weren't available. Most insects are very specialized in their eating habits, and the local ones couldn't cope with the crops that I'd brought in. They'd catch up with us eventually, but for the time being we were getting a free ride.

In fact, the only sour point was the squashes. I hadn't realized that they could interbreed, and they had been planted too close to each other. The bees, or whatever pollinated them, had made a mess of things. We got veggies that were half b.u.t.ternut and half spaghetti squash, and every other combination possible. Lambert and I set up a breeding program at six widely separated manors to try to breed back to the original forms, but that would take time. I moved six varieties of beans to those same six manors just to be on the safe side.