The morning came suddenly. To wake up, our dormouse has warmed up and warmed muscles for half an hour. Only after that I washed the remaining water from the evening, dressed and went down to the common room to eat. There was quite free and incomparable with yesterday's crowd, only a few visitors and the host. When Artem moved to the counter, wanting to order something for breakfast, someone shouted loudly behind his back: "Eric! " Of course, our hero did not pay any attention to this scream and, reaching the counter, began to set out to the stranger, who was looking at him in surprise, what he wanted to eat. He tried to convey his thoughts in Latin, but apparently his companion did not possess it, so it was very slow and difficult. Artem tried to speak on the Middle Greek, but on the increased diameter of the concentrated eyes realized that this language he had not even heard, unlike the first. This already on the nerves of fun could continue for quite some time, but one of the visitors came up behind him, slapped him on the shoulder and said something to the owner of the tavern in the already familiar German dialect. Everything immediately began to move, and after a couple of minutes they were already sitting with strangers at the same table and having breakfast. This strange visitor, who introduced himself as Rudolph, was quite tolerant of Latin, so he could talk to him. It turns out that it was he who called Erica, that is, it. Artem decided to play a little and said that he hit his head badly, so he does not remember anything, even his name and his native language, only Latin. In evidence, he showed a thread where under the hair was a dissected section of skin in a crust of baked blood. In general, having eaten well, managed to talk interestingly. Rudolf was the friend of Eric's father, and wanted to meet with him yesterday in this tavern, located near the small town of Aarburg, on the banks of the Aar river. But it didn't work out The day before yesterday he was killed with all the children. So today, with the dawn, they were taken to the Munster Abbey, which is a few hours' journey to the southeast, in order to prepare for the burial. And his, youngest son, and his wife began to look for. They thought that they could escape from the killers, who, incidentally, had already been caught and hung in the trees near the village. His new acquaintance was very kind and, seeing the sour face of our youngster, decided to please a little. It turns out that he had an uncle who lived nearby, in the castle of Lenzburg. After the story of the kindness and responsiveness of a loving uncle, Rudolph suggested that they conduct there, of course, promising to return with him to the burial of the family. All this was surprisingly gracious, although alarming. But, alas, judging by the face of this solid white-bearded man, who was simply shining with happiness at the sight of his son, who was accidentally surviving his beloved friend, and neatly arranged people who performed the roles of visitors, they had no choice. So he also had to smile and say in the most joyful voice that he was immensely grateful to such a good and decent person and would gladly accept his help. Word for word, but after half an hour they were already moving slowly along the road with a small escort. Artem trotted on the mare next to Rudolph, and he told him with a good-natured smile some funny stories about the adventures with his father.

Lenzburg Castle met them with a vile, small rain. Careful Rudolph immediately ordered to feed the guy, and he drove off somewhere. Apparently, to report the arrival of the "valuable cargo". The further Artem went into his game, the more he began to dislike him. An unpleasant premonition tormented him. Only came to his senses after the injury, as he was dragged into an extremely dangerous adventure, probably dynastic. On the one hand, it was good, because to have a noble lineage in the Middle Ages meant to be a person, not a garbage. On the other hand, the relationship inside those seeds was extremely bloodthirsty - to slaughter his own son because of suspicion of trying to take away the throne was quite normal and ordinary. Well at least, do not stick to him about his Latin - the fact is that the servants in the castle turned to him out of habit in his, on the bird's, and he answered them in Latin. They probably thought that he was conceited or mocking them. It was funny that they recognized him, especially those two gay girls from the kitchen, they already squealed with delight when they saw him. Having eaten, he took a seat on the bench and decided to take a nap. Just did not get to sleep, because he was awakened by a messenger who suggested following him. Artem rubbed his eyes, stretched and yawned, followed the messenger, who led him to the big hall. They waited for him. In addition to Rudolph, there were seven other people, one of whom was sitting on an imposing chair from the far end of the table. The rest were scattered around the room: who was sitting at the table, who was by the fireplace, who was walking along the massive tapestry. Seeing the man who entered Artem, the man, who was seated from the end of the table, rose and with a cheerful face went to embrace him. Later he was introduced as Karl von Lenzburg, the baron of these lands. It is necessary to clarify the fact that the barony was formed quite recently. Uncle Carl's uncle Ulrich IV was the last representative of the count's house in Lenzburg, and, after his death in 1173, he bequeathed his possessions to the Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa, with whom he walked together on the second crusade. However, the castle with the land very quickly passed into the hands of the noble house of Cuburg through the acquisition of the allodial right to flax and the marriage of noble Richinza von Lenzburg, daughter of Ulrich IV, with Count Harman III von Kuburg. Initially, it was decided to use the seneschal to manage new lands, but he did poorly in his work because of uncontrollable and deft larceny. Old Harman was merciful and closed his eyes to it. However, when in 1180 after the death of his father Ulrich von Kubourg received a count of dignity, it was decided immediately to create a vassal barony in order to improve the effectiveness of management in these lands. Yes, and my mother's relatives were sitting on their neck for a long time - it's not a sin for them to work. Therefore, the brothers Charles and Henry were made from knights in the barons of von Lenzburg and received in joint management part of the land of the old county - the castle with the surroundings and the eight villages that are enclave, near the abbey of Munster. One misfortune - once amicable brothers fiercely hated each other and began to struggle for complete control over the ball. What they did not do, but the Count was inexorable - he was amused by their scuffle because of the scrap of what he threw at them. Well, that same Karl von Lenzburg turned out to be his own uncle, and therefore his radiant face did not inspire confidence at all, and Artyom tensed, expecting a dirty trick. Fortunately, the beloved relative tolerated Latin quite tolerantly, so their conversation did not cause any special problems - a quiet sweet talk with the family. Our hero was curious to see in the eyes of the interlocutor an uncovered desire to kill him, who fought with prudence, since such matters need nevertheless to be done more accurately. Therefore, he laughed heartily, squeezing out of himself all the available courtesy, cynicism and sarcasm. After sitting a little in the hall and chatting, they, at the invitation of the baron, with an escort from the faithful companion-Rudolph, went into the depths of the castle. Erica was very uneasy when they began to descend the spiral staircase to some kind of dungeon. But I tried to hold on, because immediately they did not zmordovali, then they will not, that is, they want something else. After descending, they fell into a long corridor, poorly consecrated by smoky torches. It was hot and stuffy, everyone began to sweat profusely. Passing almost to the end, the uncle went to the door and the key that hung on his belt, opened the lock. Inside, on the straw, sat a youthful middle-aged woman. Her green dress was somewhat rustic, but still spoke of the high status of the hostess, since peasant women did not wear such a dress-they could not afford it. The woman's eyes widened at the sight of our hero, she wanted to rush to him and hug him, but Karl hit her with a boot under his breath, so that she fell to the floor and, bending down, began to catch air.