"Remember, you promised never to deceive me again? "
"Yes, my lord, and I keep my word honestly. "
Well done,What I'm asking you now will be a test of my trust.
"Please, my lord, I am always honest before you. "
"Tell me, do you know the new Commander, Mr. de Morel? "
Yes, I do know
"Does he come to your place? "
- Occasionally.
"And why does he come? "
- Usually he meets with one person, they sit, talk about something, drink a little.
" How often? "Has it started for a long time? When was the last time? Do you know this second?
- About once a week. It all began a long time ago, probably five years already, as they have their meetings with me. Who is this last one, I do not know, but he usually stops by me when he comes.
"Edwin, be clever when he comes next time-send a boy to inform me. "
" Very well, my lord, I will do it. "And if you are not at home, then who will say?
"Or here it is," the baron nodded at Ostrogneg, "or the girl who lives with me. "
Ok. All will be fulfilled.
It did not take long to wait for them, because the next day a boy ran up to inform us of the arrival of a strange gentleman. Morrigan was immediately given the task of additional instructing the guys, which she ran hastily to perform. Actions began to unfold in an accelerated version. Closer to the evening came the information that the meeting took place and a mysterious stranger going to depart in the morning on his business. Eric decided to act quickly, nagging. Taking the Drevlyanin and a loaded crossbow, he headed straight for Edwin. When he saw the guests, he turned slightly white and slightly nodded at the staircase leading to a large and spacious room. The most expensive in the tavern. The door opened with the impact of Ostronega's foot, which, leaning in, immediately left aside from the line of fire. Next to him was a baron with weapons in preparation. The desired character was lying on a bench and completely not expecting an invasion. Eric stepped forward three steps and let his companion behind him, so that he closed the door. Then he began to slowly approach the frightened stranger, until he came close to him and sharply pierced the man in the face with a shovel of the butt. A came up the peasant added his fist, sending in oblivion. While he peacefully dozed, they stripped him naked, tied to a bench, they put a bench against the wall. To be able to interrogate, but he could not yell, they shook his mouth with a rag tape, cutting a small hole in the center. Much can articulate arrogantly, but it will not work. Then they started to do personal things. Nothing particularly interesting was found except for the encrypted letter, and therefore their ward was brought to life by a light blow to the crotch. The process of interrogation went quickly, productively, and when the esteemed Monsieur Gaspar had only three fingers left, and those on his leg, everything was already completely known about the incident that had occurred. It turns out that Baudouin had long been labeled for Jean's place, but he had good connections and he was confidently moving along the ranks of the order, unlike de Morel, whom he was dragging behind him. It was terribly insulting to be all the time on the sidelines, so he decided to remove his benefactor and take his place. For these purposes, links were established with the domain of Philip II Augustus, the King of France, who wished to have his people in the order. It was he who sent Gaspar to solve the existing difficulties. And then everything was easy. The fact is that Jean was looking for ways to circumvent the acute shortage of ships in the order and establish a permanent postal and transport connection with Cyprus. This is exactly what he was offered in his letters by Philip's attorney, interested and deprived of vigilance. And now, on a well-known day, he wrote that he was forced to refuse a favor, since a more interesting proposal came. De Rea, knowing where Gaspar is staying, rushed to him to swear and negotiate his personal gain in this project. But he managed to pass a little - literally next to the house, in the clothes of the beggar he was waiting for the joker himself and, as soon as he came up to him, he snatched a dagger from under the floor and put him in the back. Everything is done and the noise has subsided, so today, Baudouin brought a reward for hard work. It turned out to be rather big - a silver mark. Having learned everything that was necessary for them, they silently strangled our poor fellow, so that there would be less blood, because here it will be necessary to clean, it is not easy to wash it. It is necessary to respect the work of honest people. Then, after collecting the money and the encrypted letter, we went home. When they left, they asked Edwin to clean up, and ten denarii were put on the counter to compensate him for unpleasant troubles. He almost turned green, realizing what happened in the room, but not only did everything right, but he did not. So Monsieur Gaspard simply disappeared, along with his things. Just dissolved. With De Morel to understand it was necessary elegantly, because of his deed should learn the whole city, so much so that they would gossip without interruption. In this case, the guys who told about the small weakness of Baudouin to some Sabrina, the carpenter's daughter, helped again. The order was very strict with abstinence, but nature demands its own, so almost all its members had their own little secrets, which everyone guessed about, but kept quiet, for they did not see anything shameful about it. He attended the girl almost on schedule, so even her father knew the time when he needed to get some fresh air. Eric knew him, as well as the route. In general, the next morning, a patrol of city guards brought the body of Baudouin de Morel to the courtyard with a broken skull and a throat cut from ear to ear. To the body, with a knife, a purse and a note in Latin were attached. In the purse there were 30 silver denarii, and in the note words: "I return the damned money. Gaspar ". What has started in the city! The gates were closed, the city guards and the Templars began to search all the places where the murderer could hide. All the knights, led by the duke, constantly patrolled the streets, suppressing the discontent of the inhabitants. Our hero, as a person with a sincere sympathy for relating, and to the Templars, and personally to the accidentally deceased, even let a tear when he was informed of the death of a new commander. Of course, he ran around with everyone and looked for the hated killer, but, alas, the searches did not bring success, and therefore, a week later, turning the whole of Vienna upside down, I had to open the gate. Time heals, and after another week the events have subsided, but rumors have long been telling the story of a God-loving companion who ordered the murder of his master solely out of personal greed, and later himself died at the hands of a repentant hired killer. All affairs are over, all debts are dealt, so it's time to leave. There was a small, warm rain on the first day of August 1198, when Eric, accompanied by Ostronega and Morrigan, left for Venice.
A small caravan walked along the road to the south-west from Vienna. Only three riders and four clockwork horses with luggage. The first was Eric in a black Gothic armor, over which was a cornflower-blue cat with a silver cross on his chest, followed by Morrigan in a neat, discreet velvety-green woolen dress with small accessories of scarlet silk, such as the belt and edging of the edges. Closed the whole procession of Ostroneg in full chain armor - a haubek, on top of which was wearing a cat of the same color as the lady's dress. At the woman and the closing warrior two horses were tied to the saddle. In addition to the armor, there was also a weapon. The leader of the column was with an elegant blade and crossbow, and the warrior in his mail carried a spear, a round shield, put on his back, and an ax on his belt. Even a woman had a small knife attached to the saddle in such a way that it could easily be snatched. From the property they drove six high-quality Haubeks and the same helmets of the "pilot's" type, a couple of hundred bolts for the crossbow, a ten-liter barrel of "Commandaria" wine, several cuts of quality woolen cloth, a stock of provisions for a week, blacksmith tools, some of which were of jade, and still a lot of small things. In cash, they had 18 brands of the Vienna standard, six of which were in denarii and obol. But this rich prey did not deceive the robbers at all. A couple of times they even met openly on the road, but did not attack, but politely greeted them, they wanted a good journey and went further. The forest brothers were completely embarrassed and frightened of the armor that was worn on Eric, and the Baron himself seemed to them an animated statue, causing fear to interspersed with respect. The trip was quiet, calm, I would even say - peacefully. But such an idyll can not be eternal, and therefore, on the third day of the journey, they reached a strange village, where our heroes were waiting for new adventures.
