The Sword Brothers (98 page)

‘Thank you, Conrad,’
said Rudolf. ‘That is enough swearing for one day.’

Berthold, relieved
that this inconsequential matter had at last been brought to an
end, rose from his chair. ‘You may go, novice Conrad.’

Conrad bowed to him
and all the others, desperately trying to conceal the wide grin
that was creeping over his face. He felt as though he was floating
as he left the master’s hall and went to tell his comrades that he
was going to marry Daina. His time with the Sword Brothers was
over.

He left Wenden two
days later, saying his goodbyes to those who worked in the
kitchens, the surly armourers and leather face. In the armoury he
handed back his mail armour, gambeson and kettle helmet, unbuckling
his sword belt and, with a heavy heart, handing it to the chief
armourer, along with his axe and dagger.

‘Hold,’ came a voice
behind him.

He turned to see Lukas
approaching the armourer. ‘I’ll have those.’

‘Make your mind up,’
said the armourer, who like the others believed that the weapons
and armour kept in the blockhouse were their personal property, to
be jealously guarded.

Lukas took the belt,
scabbard and sword and handed them to Conrad. ‘Sir Frederick gave
this sword to you, Conrad, so it should accompany you wherever you
go.’

‘It’s the property of
the Sword Brothers,’ grumbled the armourer.

‘And I say it belongs
to him,’ said Lukas firmly, ‘unless you would rather I bring the
master to confirm my order.’

The armourer mumbled
something under his breath but did not protest.

‘The axe and dagger
too,’ said Lukas.

The armourer sighed
deeply and handed him Conrad’s weapons. Lukas passed them to
Conrad.

‘Come Conrad,’ he
said, ‘the air is objectionable in here.’

They walked into the
courtyard, Conrad bucking his belt as they made their way across
the cobbles, through what would eventually be the gatehouse and
across the bridge.

‘It will be a
drawbridge when the gatehouse has finished,’ said Lukas. He held
out a hand to Conrad.

‘Thank you, Brother
Lukas,’ said Conrad, taking the outstretched hand.

‘You are a fine
soldier, Conrad, and would have made an excellent brother
knight.’

Conrad felt a pang of
remorse. ‘I hope you do not think ill of me.’

‘Of course not. You
have followed your convictions, and there are few men in this world
who do that. I will see you at your wedding.’

Conrad walked down the
track that led to the outer perimeter, through the ever-increasing
spread of huts towards the open gates that led out of the castle
and south to his new life. Spearmen and crossbowmen were practising
drills and on his right two riders in full armour were galloping
towards each other, lances couched. There was a bang and one of the
riders toppled from his saddle, the other bringing his horse to a
halt and removing his helmet. Conrad recognised the broad shoulders
and powerful body as Henke drew alongside the brother knight he had
just unhorsed and spoke a few words to him.

Conrad continued on,
children and geese crossing his path as the wind brushed his face
and the sun shone on his back. This summer had a glorious feel
about it. He heard hooves behind him and looked round to see Henke
approaching, drawing his warhorse alongside.

‘So, you are to be a
farmer.’

‘I will battle the
land now, Brother Henke, instead of the Estonians.’

Henke looked at
Conrad’s sword. ‘I wonder what Sir Frederick would say if he knew
that his sword was going to hang in a village hut?’

‘I hope he would
respect me for choosing wisely.’

Henke pulled up his
horse. ‘I remember that night when I first saw you, in Lübeck with
your sister.’

Conrad stopped and
looked up at him. ‘As do I. I will always be grateful for your
help, Brother Henke.’

Henke waved his hand
at him. ‘That is not my point. Afterwards Rudolf was convinced that
you were sent to us by God and he has always bent my ear ever
since, saying that your actions in battle are proof that God has
marked you out to be one of His chosen warriors.’

‘God has given me
Daina.’

Henke leaned forward,
his cold eyes fixing him. ‘
You
chose Daina, Conrad, but God
has not finished with you yet, mark my words.’

He tugged on the
reins, dug his spurs into his steed and went back to lance
practice.

Despite his
indifference in the master’s hall Thalibald made Conrad welcome in
his village. He gave his daughter away at the marriage that took
place two weeks later where Otto was the priest. Conrad was
delighted that Anton, Hans and Johann attended, all now brother
knights and wearing the insignia of the Sword Brothers on their
white surcoats. Rudolf, Lukas and Walter also attended and brought
Ilona along, who gave Daina a silver necklace with silver ingots,
upon which were etched good luck symbols: the Lifetree that
celebrates the dawn, the crescent moon, the protector of warriors;
Zalktis, the ancient serpent that brings well being; and Laima, the
goddess of destiny and prosperity. Rameke and Waribule smiled when
they saw it and Daina’s eyes lit up at the beauty of the piece.
Rudolf and Lukas saw it but said nothing, though they did advise
Daina to hide it from Otto who might take exception to a display of
devilry and pagan superstition on God’s holy union of two of his
lambs.

Conrad embraced Ilona
and thanked her for her gift. He had grown immensely fond of her
during his time at Wenden, this tall, raven-haired woman who had
brought Rudolf back to life. Otto never spoke to her, believing her
to be sent by the devil to tempt the brother knights. But for their
part the sergeants and brother knights loved her and held her in
high esteem, seeing her as a sort of lucky mascot, which increased
Otto’s wrath even more. But today his brutal features were all
smiles as he stood before the couple in his white habit and sandals
and read the sacred words from a bible.

Most Livs wore varying
shades of brown or green but Daina, being the chief’s daughter,
wore a blue skirt and a white shawl adorned with bronze ornaments.
Her white sash was also decorated with bronze and next to her
Conrad looked like the poor farmer he was: a simple brown woollen
tunic over a white linen shirt, brown leggings and boots. But he
felt more prosperous at the feast afterwards when Thalibald gave
the newlyweds the hut of a warrior who had been killed at Lehola.
His childless wife was evicted to a smaller widow’s hut in the
village, Thalibald instructing Conrad that it was his
responsibility to feed her from the produce of his animal stock.
When Conrad enquired what stock, Thalibald informed him that he was
giving him two cows, six pigs, four goats and a dozen chickens. In
addition to the crops that the villagers harvested from the fields,
a portion of which went to Wenden, which was shared out among the
inhabitants, Conrad would also supplement his household’s diet with
what he caught hunting. Thalibald also gave Conrad a shield and a
hunting spear so he could stalk boars.

Normally Otto
restricted his diet to coarse bread, vegetables, herbs and beans in
accordance to the rules set down by the Cistercian Order, though at
Conrad’s wedding he consumed vast quantities of pork, boar, duck
and chicken, all washed down by copious amounts of
medalus
.
His booming voice announced that as it was a special occasion it
would be uncharitable to refuse Thalibald’s hospitality. He
eventually passed out and Rudolf and Lukas had to carry him outside
where they dunked his head in a water trough before leaving him to
sleep off his stupor.

The next morning, as
Otto sat outside Thalibald’s hall nursing his sore head and
swearing never to partake of alcohol again, Conrad said his
farewells. As they were not marching to war the brother knights
wore their swords but not mail armour. Instead all of them sported
tunics of dark cloth and on their heads wore dark-coloured soft
caps. They could all have been mistaken for merchants had it not
have been for the white lightweight cloaks – mantles – draped round
their shoulders. On the left shoulder on their cloaks they wore the
red cross and sword of their order. This was to symbolise martyrdom
for they fought and died in the service of God.

Thalibald and his sons
also gathered to say goodbye to their friends and allies, knowing
that they would no doubt be marching to war together in the
future.

Rudolf shook Conrad’s
hand. ‘The next time we will be fighting together you will be one
of Thalibald’s warriors.’

‘I hope that there
will be no more fighting, Brother Rudolf,’ said Daina, her arm
tightly round Conrad’s waist.

Rudolf nodded
knowingly to Conrad. ‘Let us hope that it is so, child.’

He kissed Daina on the
cheek, said farewell to Thalibald and mounted his horse. Lukas
shook Conrad’s hand. He pointed to the sword at his hip.

‘Keep it clean and
sharp and do not forget how to use it.’

‘I will not, Brother
Lukas.’

‘And treasure your
wife more,’ was Ilona’s advice as she kissed them both on the
cheeks before mounting the pony that she had been given by
Rudolf.

Walter embraced him
and then Daina, placing a hand on each of their shoulders and
asking God to bless their union. It was a solemn moment and Conrad
believed that one day Walter would be a saint of the Holy Church,
such was his piety and purity. Walter walked over to where Otto was
still seated on the ground, gently lifted him to his feet and
escorted him to the waiting donkey that would take him back to
Wenden. Conrad embraced Anton and Johann, both of them proud and
strong in their new garbs. His embrace with Hans was the most
earnest.

‘We have come a long
way since we first met in Lübeck, my friend,’ said Conrad.

‘Who would have
thought that we would end up as we have,’ grinned Hans.

Conrad was genuinely
pleased for Hans, the orphan and thief whose neck had nearly been
snapped on the gallows, had it not have been for the bishop’s
intervention. He had been dealt a cruel hand in life but had
overcome adversity to become one of Christ’s warriors. He was a
living example of how good could triumph in the world.

‘We are waiting,
Brother Hans,’ said Rudolf as the others sat on their horses. Hans
grinned, embraced Conrad and Daina and mounted his horse. Otto
weakly made the sign of the cross as he and the others trotted from
the village to leave Conrad to begin his new life.

*****

Mindaugas was taller
than Aras now. It was apparent as they stood beside each other and
observed the scene of carnage that stretched out before them. Piles
of twisted, bloody corpses littered the ground. The stench of death
was already filling the air, crows were circling overhead and had
taken up position in the surrounding trees in expectation of a gory
feast. Aras’ warriors were going through the dead, searching for
anything of use that could be taken back across the Dvina when they
returned to Lithuania. The smashed shields, broken spears and
dented armour and helmets would be left behind but swords,
functional crossbows and complete mail armour would be transported
over the river in boats that were waiting less than a mile
away.

Aras began walking
among the dead and dying, the majority of the latter either trapped
under their slain horses or wedged under piles of dead. Mindaugas
followed him, aware that he was very much a spectator to the
triumph that had been his tutor’s. And what a victory it had been.
Vsevolod had known that eventually the bishop would turn his
attention to Gerzika. He knew that he would not be able to retain
his stronghold in the face of a determined crusader assault. Years
of peace had resulted in its defences being neglected and it would
take a huge outlay of money to restore them to their former glory.
He had neither the resources nor the time to do so, and in any case
his army was small in comparison to the army that the bishop could
send against him. So, despite Rasa’s initial hostility, he had
taken the momentous decision to abandon Gerzika and evacuate its
population across the Dvina. Some had refused to go, especially
among the outlaying villages where there was great hostility
towards the Lithuanians. Many of the merchants had also refused to
leave and so had been left behind to form a council that hoped to
barter with the crusaders when they appeared before the walls.

Vsevolod had been
denounced as a coward and a traitor by the Orthodox priests in
Gerzika, but when the crusader army arrived the merchants found
that the only terms acceptable to the bishop’s servants was
immediate surrender. And Gerzika’s priests discovered that the only
religion acceptable to the crusaders was that practised in Rome and
so they were expelled from Gerzika and their houses of worship
plundered.

Following their
disappointment at Lehola the crusaders, led by Count Horton and Sir
Jordan, had petitioned the bishop for a continuation of the war
against the Estonians. They had reluctantly agreed that the
Saccalians had sued for peace but there were other tribes. Surely
they could despoil their lands? The bishop had strictly forbidden
it. However, Grand Master Volquin had raised the matter of Prince
Vsevolod and Gerzika. The prince’s duplicity and support for
Daugerutis meant that he had to face punishment. Why not let Count
Horton and Sir Jordan take their men and storm Gerzika? And so it
came to pass.

The two nobles led
their forces south instead of west towards Riga, guided by Liv
scouts provided by Thalibald and accompanied by Volquin’s five
brother knights and ten sergeants from his office in Riga. Sir
Helmold and his knights accompanied the two bishops and their
‘guest’ Lembit but the force that attacked Gerzika was
considerable. Not only did it comprise the bulk of the troops that
had fought at Lehola, it also included the knights and foot
soldiers who had besieged Fellin. The latter had suffered no
casualties due to a lack of siege engines, which meant there was no
assault. Count Horton and Sir Jordan had arrayed their forces
before Gerzika’s wooden walls, demanded its surrender and had been
surprised when the gates were opened. After a week of rapine they
had left a garrison to secure the stronghold and begun a leisurely
march back to Riga with a host of wagons loaded with treasure.