Philip brought simply excellent news. Emperor Alexei, when he learned about his successes in the eastern Crimea, decided to make him a prince's dignity, and declare the lands that he had beaten to the glory of Byzantium for the principality of Bosporus. To this end, Eric was invited to Constantinople to conduct a rite of production for the princes in the cathedral of Hagia Sophia, in the face of the people and God, who certainly helped him in his affairs. Of course, such an idea did not arise in the Emperor's head. The great master and prince of Antioch, mindful of the baron's contribution to their prosperity, made every effort to ensure that the right thoughts were not only at the right time in the right place, but also at the right person. The emperor as a whole was and is not against such a step. But his surroundings resisted with all his might. Entering not only an outsider, but also a heterodox in the upper light of the empire was completely unacceptable for them. But de Plesier showed himself as a very flexible politician and was able to convince the emperor of the correctness of such an act. His move was very simple - or Alexei gives him this title, or Eric himself takes it, proclaiming his land as a county or principality. In the first case, the emperor retains the vassalage of an active baron, in the second case - no. The last straw was the disinformation launched by Philip, that the Tsar of Bulgaria is going to offer the title and allegiance to the famous German. Ambitions and common sense won a victory over prejudices, our hero was too interesting and active figure. Also, Philip brought a detailed report on financial receipts. After the sale of property stolen in Feodosia and Sugdey, the baron's account was estimated at twenty thousand marks in silver. This is the fourth part of all the means that the Order had! And this is even taking into account the fact that a significant part of the property did not go on sale, and crossed to Bosporus. All these funds were a dead weight, since they could be demanded at any time for presentation. It was completely wrong. Therefore, it was necessary to discuss the participation of Eric's means in the financial operations of the bank, that is, speaking in a simple way, de Plesier offered the baron a share and, accordingly, a change in the terms of the contract. Discussion of this issue was decided to continue after the construction of our hero in the dignity of the prince, as it was necessary to develop a general scheme of equity participation, which would prove to be not only mutually beneficial, but also effective, that is, bring in revenues. From the Slavs also the news came the most rosy. Princes Rurik and Vladimir, having collected a squad of seven hundred soldiers, and even up to two thousand armed husbands, attacked the winter camps of the Lukomorye Polovtsians, who, like Erik, warned, were left without protection. There was an ordinary carnage. Only young girls aged 12-14 years were left alive. You ask why? Yes, everything is very simple. In the Middle Ages, women very often died during childbirth, and therefore men often remained widowers in their reproductive years. Such polonnyanki were understood on hurray not only in the Slavic lands. It was a common tradition not only for Europe, but also for Asia. Corpses, of course, turned out a lot, but the extraction was colossal. In total, two Lukomorsky winter huts and one North Crimean were killed. Herds of cows, horses, fur, weapons, fabrics, crafts of masters, coins. And now the princes Rurik and Vladimir not only offered expensive gifts to their friend, but also offered to strengthen friendship. In particular - to exchange embassies and repair trade.

On the evening of the third of December, when Eric was sitting on a bench in a small but cozy garden that was located in the backyard of his temporary residence, Rudolph approached him and sat quietly beside him.

" Good evening, my old battle friend. "Agree, the beautiful weather is a light frost and silence. Only fresh, crisp snow is missing.

"You know why I came. "

"Dear friend, why did you come, you have written on your face," the baron smiled.

"Is this so obvious? "

Of course. Yes, and does not fit with your character the desire to sit in the evening on the bench and look at the night sky and the moon.

Right? But let's go back to that conversation, which began at the carcassed city. The longer I am near you, the more I get stronger in my doubts. You're not Eric. At least, certainly not that fucking little boy, that he could not see anything around except horses and women. Who are you?

- What led you to such conclusions?

"You do not want to answer? "

" We're in no hurry, so I want to talk. "Are you really against this?

- No, not at all. When I met you after that terrible night, I could barely keep my fright. At first, I thought that you were a rebel dead man - a descendant of hell, but your peaceful and calm behavior changed my mind. I decided to talk to you. And what did I find? Instead of a naive teenager, a completely unfamiliar person with a big and quirky mind spoke to me.

" Why did not you tell me about this uncle? "He would immediately use this to execute me, accusing, for example, of witchcraft.

- I was scared.

Why? Just why? ? I would not say that you are a timid man.

"It's one thing with enemies to fight and it's quite another matter to resist what you do not understand and even do not guess what the goals are. I remembered the old curse that I was lying on the family crypt, and therefore I decided that one of the founders of the family had revived in you.

" Dear friend, there are a lot of superstitions in you. Do you think that long-dead people will be able to reborn in foreign bodies?

" It does not matter. "The important thing is that I then believed it. Later, I changed my mind. I decided that I had faced something truly terrible and terrible.

"And what made you think that? "

" Your uncle, or rather, what was left of him, after the ritual that you somehow prepared your mother for an eerie deed. "She was all broken - legs, ribs. She was left only with her left hand so that she could eat. She was completely incapable of representing a threat even for the mouse, and here such an event. The knife is just predictable, but her behavior is still in my head. I thought it was some kind of monstrous coincidence, exactly until I saw those unfortunate people who, having lost their mind, threw themselves at us with only one desire - to kill, kill and die. I've never seen this. It's really scary and I do not want to see this anymore.

"Do you think I kept my mother up for four days? "

- No, I have no idea what you did there and, frankly, I do not even want to know.

And in vainI just talked to her. Why are you so shy?

- With you will. I've never seen people go crazy after a conversation.

- Come on, she was completely in the mind and clear consciousness, well, or almost clear.

"What happened to her? "

" Have you ever heard of warriors who fell into a battle rage? "So, you do not know that I wanted to pull her out and run away at first. But my mother refused and decided to die, as she could not survive in the state she was in by that time. I invited her to leave, as they say, "with songs and dances" and explained how to do it. And when my dearly loved uncle came to her, she was already in a trance of fighting rage and felt neither pain nor fear. Scary a mouse if you corner it.

"Especially when this mouse has a knife and foam from its mouth. "

- Now, you're already joking. You have nostalgia, you are all in your thoughts. And you do not care who I am anymore. Am I right?