The Sword Brothers (118 page)

All eyes were upon the
bishop as he drank from his mazer before speaking. His hair was now
heavily streaked with grey and his face thin and slightly haggard.
Nearly twenty years of keeping alive the crusade in Livonia had
taken their toll on the prelate.

‘This year I intend to
defeat the rebel Lembit once and for all and subdue the Estonians.
His continual resistance insults the Holy Church and brings mockery
upon my bishopric. Grand Master Volquin, how long before an army
can be assembled to march against this servant of the devil?’

Volquin stood and
bowed his head to the bishop. ‘I anticipate that in two months’
time we will be ready to launch your campaign against Lembit, lord
bishop.’

‘That long?’ said
Count Albert.

Volquin remained
standing. ‘Unfortunately, my lord, the order’s winter campaign was
most taxing and resulted in the loss of numerous siege
engines.’

‘Very remiss of the
Sword Brothers,’ smirked Stefan.

‘The campaign was very
successful and resulted in one of Lembit’s allies deserting him and
also in the retreat of the Oeselians and Russians,’ continued
Volquin, ignoring Stefan’s condescension. ‘We are still waiting for
replacement horses from Germany.’

‘They will be arriving
within the month,’ said the bishop. ‘Thank you, grand master.’ He
looked at the row of lords.

‘How are matters along
the Dvina, Sir Helmold?’

Sir Helmold rose as
Volquin took his seat.

‘All is quiet along
the river, lord bishop. The reports that we have received indicate
that the Lithuanians fight among themselves. However, we know that
Prince Vsevolod is resident at Panemunis, just a short distance
across the river from his former stronghold of Gerzika.’

‘You think he will
cross the river this year?’ asked the bishop.

Helmold looked across
to the castellans of Holm, Uexkull, Lennewarden and Kokenhusen. ‘We
have no way of knowing, lord bishop.’

‘We have many soldiers
tied up along the Dvina,’ said the bishop, ‘soldiers that would be
put to better use fighting Lembit. Yet to strip the garrisons along
the Dvina is to invite the Lithuanians to raid Livonia.’

Archdeacon Stefan
leaned over and whispered something to the bishop, causing him to
raise his eyebrows.

‘And you are confident
that this will bear fruit?’

‘I am, lord bishop,’
replied Stefan.

Albert smiled at Sir
Helmold. ‘It would seem that you and the masters of the garrisons
along the Dvina may yet be able to join in our crusade against
Lembit, Sir Helmold. Thank you for your report.’

Sir Helmold took his
seat but the castellans were far from happy and looked at Volquin,
who was also disturbed.

‘Lord bishop,’ he
said, ‘may I enquire as to why you feel confident that the
Lithuanians will not cross the Dvina if we weaken our forces along
the river?’

‘Archdeacon Stefan has
just informed me of certain developments that hopefully will work
to our advantage.’

‘And which for the
moment have to remain confidential,’ added Stefan, smiling
triumphantly at Volquin. The grand master was far from amused.

‘Nothing should be
withheld from the Order of Sword Brothers, lord bishop, for we are
the defenders of Livonia.’

‘I thought God was the
defender of Livonia, grand master,’ said Stefan casually, ‘unless
you believe that you and your knights are higher than our
Lord.’

Volquin jumped to his
feet as his castellans shot hateful stares at Stefan. ‘How dare
you!’

The bishop raised his
hands. ‘Calm yourself, grand master, I am certain that the
archdeacon meant no offence.’

‘Of course not, my
sincere apologies, grand master,’ proffered Stefan, his voice laced
with insincerity.

‘Let us move on,’
ordered the bishop.

‘I would hear about
the archdeacon’s plans concerning the Lithuanians,’ insisted the
grand master.

‘And you will be the
first to be informed when there is anything of import to relate,
grand master,’ said Stefan.

Volquin was fuming but
the bishop would hear no more on the topic and asked Caupo to
report on matters to the north of Livonia, as he and his warriors
had been raiding deep into Estonia during the winter and spring.
Now nearly fifty years old, the Liv king still cut an impressive
figure, though his hair was thinning slightly and his beard was
flecked with grey. He rose and bowed his head to the bishop. Stefan
rolled his eyes and began toying with his cross. He made no secret
of the fact that he disliked and distrusted Caupo and his people,
even if they professed to be Christians. Lembit made the same claim
and everyone knew how that had turned out.

‘It has been a year
since Nigul was killed,’ reported the king, ‘and I hear that
Rotalia has been wholly taken over by the Oeselians.’

Count Albert,
perplexed, leaned over to speak to Sir Helmold who explained to him
who Nigul was and where Rotalia was located.

‘Doubtless,’ continued
Caupo, ‘when we march against Lembit we will also have to fight his
pirate allies.’

‘But not the
Russians,’ interrupted Volquin, ‘thanks to Bishop Theodoric.’

‘Still held captive in
Novgorod?’ asked Stefan, examining his fingernails.

‘Still conducting
negotiations,’ insisted Volquin. ‘He is quite safe, the Russian
commander gave his word.’

Rudolf raised an
eyebrow but said nothing.

‘Do we believe the
word of an Orthodox,’ remarked Stefan, ‘a man who follows a false
religion?’

Volquin was nearing
the end of his patience. ‘It was the bishop himself who volunteered
to travel to Novgorod. The prince of that city has no wish to see
his fur trade interrupted or harmed. And if I may add, lord bishop,
we have also gained the allegiance of Chief Kalju and his
Ungannians.’

‘A pagan and his log
fort. Riches indeed,’ sneered Stefan.

‘King Caupo,’ said the
bishop to halt the verbal duel between Stefan and Volquin, ‘do you
think that the Oeselians will fight beside Lembit this year?’

Caupo’s brow creased.
‘It seems highly likely, lord bishop.’

The bishop smiled at
the king as he sat down. ‘In two months’ time, then, we will march
against Lembit to put an end to his rebellion once and for all. I
will write to the Prince of Novgorod requesting that he escort
Bishop Theodoric back to Livonia, otherwise I will halt all Russian
trade on the Dvina.

‘Our aim is the
subjugation of all Estonia to the Holy Church so that Theodoric may
practise in his bishopric. Let us pray for God’s help in this great
enterprise.’

‘Before we end the
meeting, lord bishop,’ interrupted Stefan. ‘I have something else
to say.’

There was a groan from
the Sword Brothers and Volquin steeled himself for another bout of
verbal jousting. Stefan picked up a parchment and held it towards
Volquin.

‘This is the list of
supplies that you submitted to the bishop’s office two weeks ago,
grand master. I am happy to report that within six weeks a flotilla
of ships will be arriving at Riga carrying all that is on this
list. A token of appreciation from the citizens of Riga to the
Order of Sword Brothers.’

Volquin was stunned
into silence, his mouth opening and closing but no words coming
out. The other masters were likewise taken aback. Until now the
grand master had had to wage a constant battle with the
archdeacon’s clerks to release funds from the treasury to supply
his garrisons. Indeed, Stefan seemed to have taken a perverse
delight in obstructing every urgent request. But now, before the
war council itself, he was promising everything Volquin had asked
for.

‘You should have
doubled the quantity of everything on your list,’ said Rudolf under
his breath.

‘He’s up to
something,’ whispered Master Aldous.

‘A word of
appreciation is in order, I think, grand master,’ said the
bishop.

‘Yes, well, I am
indeed grateful, archdeacon,’ stuttered Volquin. ‘As are my
masters.’

Stefan spread his arms
magnanimously. ‘It is the least I could do, grand master, seeing as
you lost all your equipment during the winter.’

*****

Olaf stood on the
shingle beach and admired the carpenters working on the new
longship. Like most Oeselian vessels it had been constructed during
the winter after the crops had been gathered during the autumn.
Whenever possible vessels were made of oak, the shipbuilders being
fortunate that Oesel produced enough tall oaks trees to provide the
keels for the king’s longships. The shipwrights did sometimes use
other materials – ash, birch, alder, linden and willow – for
various parts of a ship, but oak was the desired material. And no
ship put to sea without an ‘old woman’ – the timber block on which
the base of the mast rested – fashioned from oak.

Olaf looked to his
right where two other ships were nearing the end of their
construction, carpenters working furiously with chisels and hammers
to carve the serpent heads that would be mounted on the prows.

He heard the rustle of
mail armour behind him and footsteps on the pebbles. He looked
round to see his three sons approaching.

Olaf continued to
admire the work of his craftsmen. ‘It must be important if all
three of you have come to see me.’

‘Lembit gathers his
forces, father,’ said Sigurd, ‘and requests my presence by his side
once more.’

‘I wish to accompany
Sigurd, father, to fight the crusaders,’ stated Stark.

Kalf was similarly
bullish. ‘As do I, father, to take my place in the shield wall
beside my brothers to avenge Eric.’

Olaf sighed. ‘It is
time to end our cooperation with Lembit. His wars have cost too
many Oeselian sons.’

‘We do have an
alliance with the Estonians, father,’ said Sigurd.

Olaf turned to face
his sons. ‘And I now choose to end that alliance. Lembit uses us to
further his own ends.’

‘He gave us Rotalia,
father,’ said Kalf.

Olaf smiled at his
eager young pup. ‘Only because its leader was dead at the hands of
the crusaders. Rotalia is an empty husk. No, we are done with
Lembit.’

‘You said that we
would be stronger allied with the Estonians rather than standing
alone, father,’ said Sigurd, disappointment in his voice.

‘You did well forging
an alliance with Lembit, my son,’ agreed Olaf, ‘but times have
changed. The Estonians are being slowly crushed between the
crusaders from the south and the Russians from the east. Even his
chiefs are deserting him, those that are not dead, that is.’

He looked at their
eager faces. ‘You have all heard the reports of our captains. Every
month more and more ships dock at Riga full of warriors and
supplies. You think that Lembit will be able to withstand such an
onslaught?’

‘With our help he
could, father,’ boasted Kalf.

Olaf saw Eric in his
youngest son more and more.

‘No,’ said the king
firmly, ‘it shall not be.’

‘Then what shall I
inform the courier who waits for a reply to take back to Lembit?’
asked Sigurd.

Olaf turned and looked
at a carpenter fitting pivoted shutters to oar-holes to the topmost
strake of the nearest ship. These shutters prevented water from
coming through when the ship was at sea.

‘Tell him that a
thousand Oeselian warriors will march to fight by his side against
the crusaders.’

Sigurd looked at his
siblings in confusion. ‘I do not understand, father.’

‘You will command the
warriors, Sigurd,’ said Olaf. ‘You will march at their head across
Rotalia at a very slow pace, so slow in fact that you will reach
Lembit only after he has fought the crusaders. His scouts will see
your army and will report back to their leader that Oeselian
warriors are on their way, thus fulfilling their terms of the
alliance.’

‘But father,’ said
Stark, ‘we will not share in the victory over the crusaders.’

Lembit went to his
son’s side and place an arm round his shoulder. He pointed at the
ships under construction on the beach and others moored in the
bay.

‘The gods gave us this
island, Stark. They bestowed it with iron so that we could forge
ploughs to grow our crops and make weapons and armour to defend
ourselves. They covered it in forests so we would always have
enough timber to build ships and they filled the seas around it
with fish so we would not starve.’

He looked at the
others. ‘We have strayed from what the gods desire, which is to
protect this island, and have suffered as a consequence. The death
of your brother, the defeats at Riga and Odenpah; these things were
divine retribution for ignoring the gods. I will not make the same
mistake again.’

‘But we now occupy
Rotalia, father,’ said Kalf. ‘Perhaps we may march east and occupy
other Estonian lands.’

‘No,’ said Olaf. ‘If
we were meant to live in Estonia we would be called Estonians.
Sigurd, tell the courier what I have instructed and make your
preparations to lead the thousand men.’

‘I ask to accompany
Sigurd, father?’ asked Stark eagerly.

Olaf shook his head.
‘You will stay here to conduct sea trials for the new ships when
they are finished.’ He glanced at Kalf. ‘As will you.’

*****

At the beginning of
August a great army began to assemble at Wenden. Ships from Germany
brought a large quantity of horses and military supplies for the
Sword Brothers and Archdeacon Stefan and Bishop Albert escorted
Grand Master Volquin to Riga’s docks to observe their unloading.
True to his word the archdeacon signed them over to the grand
master, who was forced to apologise for doubting him and then, to
add insult to injury, was required to kiss his ring of authority as
a sign of his piousness. Volquin seethed silently but the bishop
was delighted to see his two senior subordinates being reconciled.
Albert declared that he would not be accompanying the army north
into Estonia as he had no wish to lay eyes on the heretic Lembit,
and in any case he was still engaged in negotiations with the
Novgorodians regarding trade and trying to secure the return of
Bishop Theodoric.