The Sword Brothers (43 page)

The pyre was lit and
within minutes had become a raging inferno, the sergeants standing
near it sweating in their armour as the heat blasted them. The
flames snaked high into the air and the wood hissed and crackled
and the pyre became a huge red and yellow monster demanding to be
fed.

Grand Master Volquin
crossed himself and then nodded to the commander of the two score
of sergeants who had been detailed to carry out the grisly
business. Theodoric brought his hands together and began praying as
groups of sergeants, attired in mail but carrying no shields,
seized individual Oeselians and began throwing them into the
flames. The Livs erupted in wild cheering as the men who had raped
and murdered their friends and families were cremated alive, the
screams of Eric’s men being drowned out by the tumult of exaltation
celebrating their deaths.

The death throes of
some of the Oeselians was a hideous spectacle as they thrashed
around in the flames for a short period before their flesh melted
and they expired. Some tried to run away before they were hurled
onto the pyre, but the sergeants with swords drawn slashed their
hamstrings or stabbed them in the belly. They fell to the ground,
groaning in pain. Then they were hauled to their feet, dragged to
the edge of the flames and thrown into the inferno.

In twenty minutes it
was all over and the crowd quickly dispersed as the sickly smell of
roasting human flesh permeated the air. Grand Master Volquin
dismissed the assembly and walked briskly back to the castle
holding a cloth over his nose. Sir Helmold’s sons were retching and
complaining about the stench but their father had seen and smelt
roasting flesh before.

‘Will those who have
been baptised stay loyal?’ he asked Thalibald walking beside
him.

‘As long as no weapons
get into their hands.’

‘What will happen to
them?’

‘They will be given to
the king’s chief warriors as slaves,’ said Thalibald, ‘though some
might yet be killed if their new masters give them to the families
of those who have lost loved ones at their hands.’

‘The bishop allows
slavery?’ said Sir Helmold with surprise.

Thalibald shrugged.
‘He frowns upon it but turns a blind eye, hoping it will wither and
die as the new religion becomes more firmly rooted in this
land.’

‘And you, Thalibald,
do you keep slaves?’

‘I was a slave, or
near enough one.’

Sir Helmold was
shocked.

‘It is true,’
continued Thalibald. ‘The chief who ruled what is now the Sword
Brother stronghold at Wenden was a tyrant who treated his people as
slaves. He tortured, raped and stole from his people. He was feared
and despised in equal measure and demanded unquestioning obedience.
But when the bishop and his Sword Brothers arrived his people
turned against him.’

‘What happened to
him?’

‘I killed him,’
replied Thalibald with satisfaction. ‘The bishop delivered us from
an oppressor and for that he has my eternal gratitude.’

Sir Helmold nodded and
thought of the excesses he had committed during his days as a
tyrant. How many women had lost their chastity to his lust and how
many innocent lives had he taken? He had revelled in death and
destruction and now the aroma of decay hung over him.

‘The smell of death,’
he said aloud.

‘It will soon wash off
when the flames have died down,’ said Thalibald, hearing him.

Sir Helmold smiled.
‘It will take more than water, my friend.’

Thalibald looked at
him quizzically.

Sir Helmold gave him a
rueful smile. ‘It does not matter.’

A week later Bishop
Albert arrived from Germany with twenty ships filled with
crusaders. Upon hearing of the great victory at Treiden he created
Theodoric Bishop of Estonia and promised that he would be able to
assume control of his new bishopric within two years.

*****

Bruno was laid to rest
in Wenden’s cemetery, the other boys having dug his grave, washed
his body and buried him after Otto had said prayers over him.
Conrad and the others were ashen faced as they laid their comrade
and friend to rest. He had not known Bruno for long but his passing
affected him deeply. For days afterwards, when he and the others
had finished their early morning prayers and duties and were
walking to the training ground, he found himself looking at the
plot of ground that had been earmarked for the cemetery. Two things
prevented him becoming too morose: training and the presence of
Daina within the castle.

It had been viewed as
too dangerous for the women to return to their villages while
Thalibald and his warriors were away, the more so because Lukas did
not have any soldiers to spare for guarding the villages and no one
knew if there were any more Estonian raiding parties in the area.
It was unlikely but he was not prepared to take the risk. And so
all the women were accommodated in the mercenaries’ huts until they
and the others returned. The weather was getting warmer now and the
days longer, the air fresh and sweet with the aroma of flowers. The
forests were teeming with wild boar, bears, elk and deer, the
tributaries of the Gauja filled with hunting otters. The forest
floor was thick with soft, spring lichens, reindeer moss forming
carpets of white in innumerable pine groves.

Following a
particularly hard morning training session with their wasters and
shields, in which the four boys had paired off and fought each
other to a standstill, Lukas informed them that Grand Master
Volquin had won a great victory over the pagans. Lembit’s army had
been destroyed, as had an Oeselian force that had rowed up the
Gauja in boats.

‘In a few days Master
Berthold will return with the soldiers of the garrison,’ Lukas told
them. ‘Two of Wenden’s brother knights fell in the battle, along
with three sergeants. Thalibald will also be returning. He has been
elevated to become Caupo’s chief warlord and adviser and I am sure
he will be delighted to learn that you all helped to save the lives
of his womenfolk. God has truly smiled on us.’

Conrad cast Hans a
sideways glance and smiled with pride, Anton puffed out his chest
and Johann wore a stupid grin that made Lukas shake his head.

‘In the short space of
time that you have been here all of you have done well and have
applied yourself to learning swordsmanship and the uses of other
weapons. Well done.’

Though she was in the
compound Conrad saw little of Daina. Lukas ensured that they were
kept apart for though he liked the chief’s daughter, he knew how
tempting an attractive young woman could be to boys approaching
manhood. In any case hard training was an excellent cure for lewd
thoughts. He was partly thwarted in his plan when Berthold and
Thalibald returned and Daina informed her father about being
captured and rescued by Conrad and his friends. She specifically
mentioned him and requested that he accompany her back to their
village. It was a joyous day when the garrison returned and even
more delightful when Conrad walked beside the pony carrying Daina
the next day. The other Liv women were also riding ponies, Hans,
Anton and Johann walking ahead leading more ponies. For the journey
they had been issued with their swords. Rudolf and Henke rode
behind Daina, having been promised a barrel of
kvass
each by
the chief. They were both in a mischievous mood.

‘So, Conrad,’ said
Rudolf, ‘while we were away saving the kingdom from collapse you
were amusing yourself running around the forest chasing
Estonians.’

‘Fat, useless
Estonians, I have heard,’ added Henke.

Daina turned in her
saddle. ‘Conrad was very brave and rescued my mother and me, which
I have told my father about. He will surely reward him.’

‘Reward him?’ Did you
hear that, Henke? And to think when I first brought him here he was
a poor wretched creature who could not even hold a sword. Now he is
a hero.’

‘Daina,’ said Henke,
‘did you know that the sword Conrad wears once belonged to a great
knight from Germany who gave it to him on his deathbed.’

‘Of course,’ replied
Daina, ‘a knight’s sword for a knight.’

Rudolf laughed out
loud. ‘A knight, is he? Conrad, would you like to ride and I will
walk, for surely it is not fitting that such a great warrior should
wear out his shoe leather?’

‘And I will carry your
sword, lord knight,’ said Henke, ‘if it is too heavy for you.’

Conrad felt his cheeks
blushing as he stared directly ahead. ‘No, thank you.’

‘What reward do you
think your father will bestow upon young Conrad?’ Rudolf asked
Daina.

‘A few goats,
perhaps,’ suggested Henke.

Daina pulled up her
pony and looked around at Henke. ‘A few goats? Is that all you
think I am worth, Brother Henke?’

Henke winked at her.
‘All right, a cow then.’

She stuck her tongue
out at him and resumed her journey. ‘He might bestow a most
precious gift, one that is dear to his heart,’ she said
casually.

Rudolf knew where this
was leading. ‘You do know that Conrad is training to be a Sword
Brother, Daina. To be a servant of God who forswears pleasures of
the flesh. Is that not so, Conrad?’

Daina looked down at
him but Conrad continued to look ahead. ‘It is as you say, Brother
Rudolf.’

‘What if my father
asks that Conrad be released from your service?’ she teased
Rudolf.

‘Then we will have to
give him up,’ replied Rudolf. Conrad desperately wanted to be a
Sword Brother but at this moment, with the delectable Daina beside
him showering him with compliments, his heart was ruling his head
and he wanted nothing more than to be with her always.

‘Poor Conrad,’
remarked Henke, ‘thus does he consider entering a life of slavery
willingly.’

‘A veritable martyr,’
said Rudolf before they both began laughing.

Sadly for Conrad
Thalibald did not ask that Master Berthold release Conrad from his
service so that he could marry his daughter. He did personally
thank him and the other boys who had rescued his womenfolk and gave
Henke and Rudolf their barrels to take back to Wenden.

There was a great
celebratory feast that night in Thalibald’s hall, at which Hans
devoured a seemingly never-ending flow of roasted deer, wild boar,
duck and goose. Spits turned over great fires, cauldrons hung over
hearths and ovens baked bread. As was traditional the food was
eaten in silence to show respect for those who had gathered the
food – the farmers – and those who cooked and served it: the women.
But as the evening wore on the level of chatter increased as drink
loosened tongues.

The radiant Daina
served Conrad and the other boys
piragi
and filled their
wooden cups with a delightful beer called
medalus
– honey
beer – brewed from barley and hops and flavoured with honey.
Thalibald sat at the top table flanked by his two sons, Rudolf and
Henke, the chief in good heart notwithstanding that thirty men from
the hundred he had taken to Treiden had not returned.

‘The bishop will take
his army north into Estonia now that Lembit’s army has been
crushed?’ he asked Rudolf.

‘Yes, lord,’ answered
Wenden’s deputy commander.

Thalibald took a gulp
from his cup. ‘And will he cross the sea to assault the
Oeselians?’

‘That may have to
wait, lord,’ said Rudolf. ‘I fear it will take more than one
campaign to subdue the Estonian tribes.’

Thalibald sat back in
his chair as he observed Daina flirting with Conrad. ‘Lembit’s
defeat will have weakened his position among the other tribes. This
will make the bishop’s task easier.’ He pointed at Conrad.

‘I remember that boy.
He seems to be making a name for himself. What do you know of
him?’

Henke shook his head
ruefully. He knew that Thalibald was expecting to hear that the boy
was the son of a knight.

‘He was the son of a
baker from Lübeck, lord,’ said Rudolf.

‘His parents are
wealthy?’ enquired Thalibald.

Henke emitted a low
laugh. Rudolf cleared his throat. ‘His parents are dead, lord. He
came to Livonia a pauper to begin a new life.’

Thalibald’s face wore
a deep frown. ‘My daughter shows too much of an interest in him, I
think. He could not support a wife who is the daughter of a
king.’

‘Have no fear on that
front, lord,’ said Rudolf. ‘His destiny is to wear the white mantle
of the Sword Brothers.’

Thalibald seemed
comforted by this. ‘Good. Better that he uses his sword to protect
my daughter and her people rather than his body warming her
bed.’

‘Have you informed her
of that, lord?’ enquired Henke as Daina giggled girlishly sitting
herself down next to Conrad.

‘Daughters obey their
fathers, have no fear,’ said Thalibald sternly.

*****

Vsevolod picked at his
black rye bread. Not even its heavy fragrance could restore his
appetite. The fare he had been served was excellent: tender strips
of wild boar, chicken legs, cooked eggs, wheat flour pies and white
curd cheese. The hall was packed with Grand Duke Daugerutis’
warlords, all of whom were casting hateful stares in his direction.
He felt as welcome as a fox in a chicken coop. He looked across at
the fair faces of the
Vaidilutes
– virgins dressed all in
white who guarded the sacred groves and forests of the Lithuanians
and maintained the sacred fires – and was met with steely
expressions and eyes filled with disdain. Even the
Kriviu
Krivaitis
, the chief priest, was barely concealing his contempt
for the ruler of Gerzika.

‘I admire your
courage, Vsevolod,’ said Daugerutis. ‘There are many among my
people who say that you should be banned from my court for your
actions, or rather inaction, at Kokenhusen.’

It was the first time
that Vsevolod had crossed the Dvina since the abortive attack on
the castle. He had hoped that time would calm Lithuanian wrath,
which clearly it had not. However, his wife had begged him to go to
her father’s stronghold of Panemunis to dispel any doubts
concerning his allegiance. He loved his wife but did not tell her
that his primary loyalty was to himself, not her father and
certainly not to the Lithuanians. Nevertheless, he recognised that
he had to keep the goodwill of the latter if he was to retain his
kingdom. That said, the sea of unwelcoming faces made him think
that he should have delayed his visit for a while longer.