The Sword Brothers (113 page)

The gates were closed,
the Ungannians cheered and whooped in triumph as the womenfolk led
by Eha came from the inner stronghold to tend to the wounded, of
which there were a great many.

The crossbowmen filed
back to their positions as Conrad slid from his horse and took off
his helmet. He immediately looked for his friends. He saw Hans and
Anton, then Johann whose shield was hanging in two pieces from his
arm. They embraced each other and grinned sheepishly at having
survived another battle unscathed. Conrad saw leather face.

‘Excellent
shooting.’

‘Don’t look too
pleased with yourselves,’ he retorted, ‘that little bit of sport
used up the last of our ammunition.’

‘Don’t worry,’ said
Hans, ‘Master Thaddeus stockpiled bolts in the inner
stronghold.’

Leather face smiled.
‘I know, we just used them all up.’

The four knights
looked at each other and then at the wounded being helped from
their horses. Other men took off their helmets and slid from their
saddles, barely able to stand so weakened were they. The horses of
the garrison and relief force were also exhausted. With no crossbow
bolts, arrows or ammunition for the mangonels the enemy was now
free to approach the walls unmolested.

Grand Master Volquin,
who was wintering at Kremon when word reached the castle from
Berthold that Odenpah was besieged, had led a scratch contingent of
all the brother knights, sergeants, crusaders and anyone else he
could collect. Caupo had given him fifty of his best warriors, most
of whom had been killed outside Odenpah fighting the Russian
horsemen. He had also brought all the novices from Wenden, Segewold
and Kremon, half of whom had also fallen during the fighting. In
addition, Bishop Theodoric had accompanied him, stating that
Estonia was his domain and he should support those fighting to
preserve it from the heathens. Less than two hundred men had made
it into the fort and half of those were wounded. There had been no
time to muster soldiers from those garrisons along the Dvina or at
Riga and so Volquin had gambled that the appearance of a relief
force, albeit a weak one, would be enough to break the siege. It
was a gamble he lost.

Rudolf had embraced
Master Berthold after the fort’s gates had been closed and the
master had collapsed into his arms, his stomach ripped open by a
Russian lance. He was taken to Kalju’s hall but lapsed into
unconsciousness soon after and died later that night. For the men
of Wenden it was a devastating blow. Berthold had been appointed
castellan when the hill fort had fallen to the Sword Brothers eight
years before. Conrad had been right. God had exacted a price for
Wenden’s taking of slaves, claiming the life of the man who had
authorised it. As the news spread of his death among those
sheltering behind Odenpah’s walls a pall of gloom hung over the
fort.

Otto said prayers over
the body of Berthold as the Sword Brother grand master and masters,
Theodoric, Master Thaddeus, Sir Richard, Kalju and his chiefs
gathered in a cramped stone hut near his hall. The latter was
filled not only with the elderly, women and children but also the
wounded of the relief force, Eha and other women tending their
wounds as Otto went among them to administer absolution. Thaddeus
had searched out Conrad and once again asked him to be his
translator.

There was a bench and
a single bed in the hut, two candles providing a dim light to
illuminate weary, filthy faces. Kalju ordered more stools to be
brought so everyone could be seated.

‘Apologies for the
cramped conditions, bishop,’ said Volquin.

‘Our lord was born in
a stable, grand master,’ replied Theodoric, ‘so what was suitable
for Him is more than adequate for me.’

‘We might be living in
something far worse, or not living at all, if our predicament is
not sorted,’ complained Thaddeus, squashing a mite in his
beard.

Theodoric frowned at
the old man.

‘This is Master
Thaddeus, lord bishop,’ said Rudolf hurriedly, ‘Wenden’s chief
engineer and the man who has thus far masterminded the defence of
Odenpah.’

Kalju looked at Rudolf
and pointed at the stern-looking figure in the surcoat that bore
the insignia of Riga.

‘This man is your
commander?’

Rudolf explained that
he was a holy man, a bishop, and equivalent in rank to the Bishop
of Riga himself.

‘And yet he brings few
warriors with him,’ remarked the chief.

‘Well, Master
Thaddeus,’ said Theodoric. ‘How would you extract us from the
predicament we find ourselves in?’

‘A larger relief force
would have helped,’ replied Thaddeus without a hint of irony. Kalju
laughed and slapped him on the back.

‘However,’ continued
the engineer, ‘we must work with what we have, which is not much.
That said, the enemy has lost hundreds of dead and probably many
more wounded during their abortive attacks and they too must be in
a weakened state.’

‘That does not help
us,’ remarked Volquin glumly.

‘It might,’ said
Thaddeus. ‘They do not know that we have no ammunition left and
that our food supplies are dangerously low.’

‘So?’ said
Bertram.

‘So, Master Bertram,’
answered Thaddeus, ‘we request a parley and bargain with the
enemy.’

‘Out of the question,’
said Kalju. ‘I will not bend my knee to the invaders of my
kingdom.’

Thaddeus waved a hand
at Conrad. ‘Translate for me, young Conrad.

‘My lord, what would
you say if I told you that we can persuade the enemy to leave your
kingdom?’

‘I would say that you
are a miracle worker, Master Thaddeus,’ replied Kalju, ‘and if you
made such a thing happen I would give you a young virgin girl to
warm your bed, two if you so desired.’

Theodoric looked most
uncomfortable when Conrad translated what Kalju had spoken, while
Thaddeus smiled politely and Rudolf laughed.

‘It is simple, lord,’
said Thaddeus, slightly distracted by the prospect of a young woman
to fill his lonely bed, ‘give the enemy something he wants.’

‘He wants Odenpah,’
said Volquin in irritation.

‘Then offer him
something more,’ replied Thaddeus.

Mathias scratched his
lice-filled beard. ‘What?’

Thaddeus shook his
head. ‘My lords, I am just an engineer not a diplomat. There must
be something you can offer to tempt the enemy, especially one that
has been mightily mauled before the walls of this fort.’

Theodoric clasped his
hands together, making everyone jump. He offered his hand to
Thaddeus.

‘The Lord himself must
have decided to bring you here, Master Thaddeus, for truly your
words are full of wisdom. You are right, we will offer something
that the enemy desires.’

Rudolf translated the
bishop’s words to Kalju, who remained sceptical.

‘I will not yield this
fort or any of my kingdom,’ he growled.

The bishop smiled at
him. ‘I swear by Almighty God, lord, that Ungannia will remain free
and undiminished.’

‘A parley it is,
then,’ said Volquin.

They all stood and
filed out of the hut. Thaddeus got Conrad to ask Kalju if he had
been serious about the offer of the virgins.

The chief smiled. ‘You
can select them yourself, my friend.’

Kalju looked at
Conrad. ‘What about him?’

Conrad, mortified,
translated the chief’s words.

‘Oh, no, lord. He has
taken a vow of chastity. He is not allowed carnal relations with
women, or men for that matter,’ replied Thaddeus.

Kalju looked
horrified. ‘Never?’

Thaddeus nodded. ‘I’m
afraid so.’

‘You are happy with
this?’ Kalju asked Conrad.

‘Yes, lord.’

‘Than you are a better
man than I am.’

*****

‘Another two hundred
have deserted.’

Domash looked to see
Yaroslav standing in his tent’s entrance. Mstislav had sent his
son-in-law to keep an eye on the mayor of Pskov and at first he had
resented his presence. But Yaroslav had shown himself an excellent
officer and, more importantly, had not questioned his orders. For
the last five days increasing numbers of the
Voi
had
absconded during the night, deciding that only a slow death in the
snow or a quick death at the hands of the Sword Brothers awaited
them at Odenpah.

Domash waved Yaroslav
in and pointed to a chair opposite.

‘Do you wish me to
organise parties of horsemen to hunt them down?’

Domash closed his eyes
and sighed. ‘Send out a small mounted party. We must maintain the
appearance of discipline.’

‘The army is
demoralised,’ said Gleb. ‘I have been among the
Voi
and they
say that the appearance of the Sword Brothers was an ill-omen that
you ignored.’

‘Do they,’ snapped
Domash. ‘And what would you suggest, Gleb? Crawl back to Pskov with
our tails between our legs?’

Yaroslav looked at
Gleb but said nothing. He had found the blue-shirted mystic amusing
and irritating in equal measure, but he knew the power and
influence he held over the simple-minded villagers who made up the
bulk of the
Voi
. And even among the militia of Pskov he held
great sway.

‘Meet with the leaders
of the crusaders,’ said Gleb, ‘tell them that you will retreat if
the Sword Brothers do the same. Our strength diminishes by the day.
What if the crusaders send another relief force, what then?’

‘He speaks sense,
lord,’ said Yaroslav.

Domash smiled wanly.
‘The prince would take a dim view of losing so many men for
nothing.’

‘He would take a
dimmer view of knowing that the Sword Brothers have taken control
of Ungannia,’ replied Yaroslav, ‘for it would mean that the
crusaders are on his border.’

They heard a horse
coming to a halt outside the tent, then voices and the tent flap
opened and a guard entered. He stood in front of Domash and
saluted.

‘A horseman from
Odenpah, highness, rode from the fort and spoke with our guards
under a flag of truce. The garrison commanders wish to speak with
you. The horseman waits at our siege lines for your response.’

‘It would appear that
the crusaders wish to bring hostilities to an end too,’ observed
Gleb. ‘Now the question is, which side is the most eager to be away
from this dreadful place?’

‘Will you agree to
talk with them, lord?’ asked Yaroslav.

‘I have little
option,’ replied Domash. He looked at the guard. ‘Tell the
messenger from the fort that I will meet his commanders tomorrow,
at noon, halfway between our lines and their gates.’

The guard saluted and
exited the tent.

Domash groaned and
rose to his feet. ‘Now I shall inform our Estonian allies of my
decision, and no doubt feel their wrath for doing so.’

‘Do you wish me to
come with you, lord?’ offered Yaroslav.

‘No need. Organise
that hunt for the deserters. We will hang a few as an example.’

‘It would be better to
hang a few Estonians,’ remarked Gleb. ‘I think you will find that
once friend Lembit learns of your plans to negotiate with the enemy
he will skulk back to his homeland, like a child who does not want
to play any longer.’

‘War breeds strange
allies,’ observed Yaroslav.

‘And even stranger
enemies,’ said Gleb.

Gleb was right about
Lembit, though far from flying into a rage the Estonian leader
merely shrugged and told Domash that he must do what he had to. It
was of no consequence to him, though he would take no part in the
negotiations with the Christians, stating that they would probably
try to kidnap him and take him back to Riga. The narrow face of
Jaak, who sat with Lembit in his tent, had become more gaunt and
his eyes were full of resentment when he could bring himself to
look at the Russian leader. No wonder he was bitter: half his men
were dead in the snow in front of Odenpah.

Domash asked that the
Estonians array their men before the western ramparts of the fort
the next day to impress the garrison, while his Russians would be
drawn up to the east and south of the fort. He felt sure that the
crusaders wished to surrender and seek passage from the fort.
Lembit scoffed at such a notion and told Domash that he would be
taking what was left of his men back to Saccalia. Jaak muttered
that he would also be returning to his homeland. Domash pleaded
with them to stay but to no avail. He therefore asked them to
depart that night so that the garrison would not notice their
absence. He rode back to camp hoping that he would never again have
to fight by the side of Estonians.

*****

It snowed that night
as hundreds of Estonian warriors dismantled their tents and trudged
disconsolately west towards Saccalia and Jerwen. Three thousand had
marched full of confidence to Odenpah; less then fifteen hundred
made the return journey. When the dawn came it had stopped snowing
and a bitter easterly breeze blew away the clouds to bathe the
white land in brilliant sunshine. The heaps of dead around the fort
were covered in snow and hidden from view as the gates were opened
and the delegation rode out to meet with the enemy.

Since dawn riders had
been sent to and from the fort to work out the details of the size
and composition of both delegations to the parley. Eventually it
was agreed that each side would comprise ten individuals. From the
fort rode Bishop Theodoric, resplendent in mail armour and red
surcoat emblazoned with golden keys, Grand Master Volquin, Kalju in
mail armour, helmet and green cloak, Sir Richard, two brother
knights of the Sword Brothers and three of Kalju’s most senior
officers. The last of the party was Conrad, who attended as
translator. At the last moment the bishop and grand master realised
that they had no knowledge of the Russian tongue. They sent a
courier to the Russian lines to ascertain whether Domash or one of
his officers spoke Estonian, to which the reply was yes. Rudolf
offered to be the translator but Volquin reminded him that he was
now master of Wenden and as such it was unbecoming for one of the
order’s castellans to serve as a translator. So it was that Conrad
was selected to be the official translator in the first
negotiations between the Sword Brothers and the Principality of
Novgorod.