Ostroneg slowly raised his head and looked with his own, sky-blue, cold in the eyes in green, burning with indomitable, boiling energy Eric's eyes. They watched for a long time. Silently. Their faces were calm, and their posture was relaxed and graceful. Ten minutes passed. Dryagovich stood up without looking away, put his hand on his shoulder and said.
EricMy life and destiny are now in your hands. I swear to you in faithfulness, that in life, that in death. I swear before the face of my ancestors, before the ears of the glorious Dazhbog.
After that, he took a step back and bowed to the belt. And our hero got the second man in the team. And the next day on the fit of one of the French Haubeks, that they were never put up for sale. There was enough money, but useful things could come in handy.
Here comes the end of the second year, that the Baron lived in the glorious city of Vienna. A lot of things happened to him - good and bad. But he fulfilled the main task, so now he is prancing in brand new armor, leaving for a horse ride. Although he was not famous for his special kindness and affection, he was respected in the city. Ask for what? For the fortitude of the spirit, the sobriety of the mind and determination. Not everyone can fight off an assault by a band of robbers, and even fewer people can beat off a wounded man from a crowd of furious knights. Blood and death. He was in them by the elbow, but time was like that, and a person who can not kill in battle, was considered insignificant. And what about Christian virtues, you ask? Indeed, the role of our hero was associated with the glorious institution of chivalry. I will be forced to disappoint you, alas, noble knights had a place to be only in courtly novels, as well as later apocryphal dreams. Well, of course, in obituaries, because how, in his time, someone joked while reading the obituary, you can in all the details find out who the man was not. Are you upset? The image of the beautiful Ivanhoe was a beautiful fairy tale? Yes, yes, gentlemen, alas, this world is very cynical and rather dirty, and therefore we believe in fairy tales, in order to nurture a withering dream in one's soul. The times of Richard the Lionheart are very close to the times described in this book, so the institution of chivalry was about the same stage of its existence. What was he like? The key was that the knights were an internationally closed corporation, not subject to ordinary court, only their lord could judge them, and, with rare exceptions, it was so. An ordinary person in these times could no longer be elevated to knightly dignity except as having the right to be born. That is, his father should already be a knight, and this status could only have nobles. The descendants of the Vikings and the Normans, who plundered Europe for centuries, absorbed such habits of behavior and preserved them, even enveloped in a kind of aura of virtuous images. Their ancestors rushed into battle with shouts of "One! " on the lips, and the descendants, who did not escape the influence of Christianity, dedicated the blood that had flowed by the river to the Christian saints. Life practically did not lead, as to be engaged in something productive was considered unworthy of a noble knight. Therefore, all the free time they drank, walked, fought anyway with anyone, participated in tournaments, collected a tribute for the "protection" of the villages and plundered the same settlements, but already neighboring, when the money became very bad. The only noble cause was considered to be martial art - so they lived. By the way I want to note that human life was worth something only for someone who could not take it away, and therefore had to hire someone from outside. Agree - this completely does not coincide with those images of the noble defenders, which we paint in films and romantic books. Do you think it's fiction? And remember the wonderful right of the first wedding night, when all the girls, when they were getting married, were to spend the first night in the nobleman's bed. What, also does not fit with the image of the beautiful Ivanhoe? Just imagine - already a middle-aged wife is sitting in his turret, and our maturing noble knight is entertaining in his room with young peasants. And it is absolutely legal. Gryaznenko? Against? What is there to do? That is life. Although if you pack all this in armor and polish, you will get a noble knight in glittering armor, who elegantly will pass along the pavement and leave in the windows of houses a lot of beautiful ladies with oily eyes sighing about such a fascinating image. But we were dreaming. So, in the courtyard June of 1198, Vienna, our noble knight goes escorted by Ostronega to the market to ask for price and buy him a good horse.
Chapter 3
In the market they were waited with a surprise - on a small round patch between the rows the arriving troupe of stray actors arranged a small performance. Of course, a crowd gathered around them. After all, life in those days was pretty boring and the entertainment was rare and not very diverse, so the new stream that the guys brought was very useful. They sang, danced in a rather bizarre way, juggled with knives and played musical instruments. Nothing particularly surprising, but for Eric, who spent two years in the new world, such a view was enjoyable and not least. It was too gray here. Oddly enough, even clergymen, who officially condemned such things, rejoiced as children. But the performance came to an end and everyone dispersed. Our couple also went further on their own affairs, throwing around the actors. The mood was elevated, and the weather was good. Konya Ostrown found immediately, it was quite expensive, but they had an idyll - they liked each other right away. So much so that the horse did not need to lead the bridle, he himself followed our Slav. Walking past the Templar courtyard, Eric heard a noise and decided to go there, find out what had happened. In the courtyard there were twenty people crowding around the corpse, which lay face down. It was de Re. Noticing the baron, the knights turned and greeted him. Comrade Jean, knowing about the friendly relations between the deceased and the guest, decided to tell about what happened. It turns out that someone Gaspard, appearing as the commissioner of the doge himself, signed with the commander of the farmstead about an interesting deal related to transport for the Templars between Europe and Cyprus. Today this man's messenger came and said that Monsieur Gaspar had arrived incognito in Vienna and was waiting for Jean at Edwin's inn. Mr. Commodore went out the gate of the courtyard and literally a minute later returned with a pale face. Here he fell, and in his back stuck out a dagger.
Coming out of the Templars, Eric was sad - a man who saved his life, was killed in broad daylight by some kind of brazen killer. And the worst thing was that there was no one to take revenge - the killer is unknown. Monsieur Baudouin de Morel - in the past, assistant and associate de Re, and now - commander of the courtyard, was not at all inclined to talk. Our hero was obsessed with the obsession that he was told the official version, and not how it really was.
"Listen, Ostroneg, I've been meaning to ask how old are you? "
"About thirty, I can not say for sure, since he himself is from the peasants, and we do not exactly think of anyone. "
"Tell me from the height of your years, what do you think about what happened at the farmstead? "
"They lie, but I do not know what. "
That's what I think too. Okay, let's go home, think about it and figure out what's what in this matter, or else someone else will overhear on the street.
Drevlyanin nodded, and they went on in silence. In the house they closed the door, shutters and sat down with the girl to discuss the event. They decided to watch Baudouin and wait, but watching himself was very dangerous - he knew them very well. Therefore, mindful of the old films about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Eric decided to take advantage of the kids. Morrigan was instructed to find street children of small age and hire them for espionage. Everyone who brings useful information, relied denarius. The children were delighted, and therefore there were always a lot of them around the compound, so our suspect was under round-the-clock surveillance. I did not have to wait long. Literally a week later, DeMorel's connection was established with some strange gentleman. They met in the already mentioned tavern Edwin. It is necessary to shock the acquaintance, otherwise he too often began to figure in this matter. So early in the morning of the next day a young baron entered the door of his establishment, accompanied by a strong peasant. In the general hall it was completely empty, as the guests and visitors were mostly asleep. Therefore, it was decided to talk to him here, and the guy with a happy smile approached and, putting his hand on his shoulder, said:
