In Augsburg, they spent a total of about a week. All the iron and aketons were successfully delivered in bulk. Of course, without bargaining was not done, so instead of a hundred and thirty denarii, which gave the smith from the beginning, Eric received from him one hundred and fifty. Together with the coins that they already had, it turned out a fortune - almost a silver stamp! On it, for example, you could buy a very solid scaly armor, made for him personally, still remain. But such purchases were irrelevant, therefore all week has left on quite ordinary things, like gathering of hearings about road and inns. From the equipment was sewn new clothes for our baron and Morrigan. The clothes were made of wool and silk, while silk went to underwear, and wool to almost everything else. After all, the gang should look neat and fresh, so that it would be trusted and respected at the first impression, and Eric's worn clothes and torn his companion would not at all contribute to this. The saber was also put in order - she was made a normal sharpening of the blade and replaced the worn handle, so that now it was easy to hold and use. Among other things, was bought a new round shield with an umbon and a suspension on his shoulder. The shield was divided into four equal parts, which were painted with white and red paint in checkerboard pattern. Well, finally, a dense, crested cat of linen, without sleeves, was purchased, white with a black cross on the belly as a symbol of going on a campaign to liberate the Holy Land. They gave eleven denarii for everything, so that when they left the city, they had one hundred and seventy denarii and twenty-three obols. The day before he departed, Eric noticed his old acquaintance, Rudolph, who was leaving the armory shop. Pointing to him Morrigan, the baron ordered her to track down this man, and then return to that tavern where they stopped. He quickly went to the market, where he bought a small piece of parchment, a little ink and a few feathers. The next morning Morrigan went into one private house, where she asked the servant about the residence of a certain Sir Rudolph, the faithful knight of Baron Karl von Lenzburg. Receiving a positive response, she asked to call such a respected gentleman, since she had a letter for him. Alas, he slept and the servant was afraid to wake up and swearing assured that if she sends a letter to him, then she will certainly reach the addressee. After a little wriggling, the girl agreed and, giving a folded piece of parchment, quickly left. The venerable sir, waking up only for dinner, learned with curiosity that in fact the letter was addressed not to him, but to his suzerain (by the inscription on the outside of the parchment). But, since there was no seal, Rudolph decided to read this curious piece of parchment.

Chapter 2

"Good day to you, my beloved uncle. Sincerely I hope that your health did not shake the wet holes of our ancient castle. Taking the opportunity, I hasten to please you with my successes and excellent health. The other day I joined the venerable knights of Aquitaine on their march to the Holy Land, where we should soon depart from the wonderful city of Venice. All of us here are inspired and sincerely hope for the success of the enterprise. I will try, as you advised, to protect yourself and, carrying the cross of the holy warrior, not to perish in the ancient sands, so as to fill with joy and pride the heart of your adored uncle.

With a good memory, a loving nephew, Eric von Lenzburg. "

After reading the letter, our faithful companion Uncle Karl mysteriously grinned. Next was the questioning of the servant about how this woman looked, what else she said and where she went after. Eric decided to cheat and, foreseeing that the old friend would decide to fidget, left through the gate leading to the Italian coast. Few of this, he poured out a whole denarius to the guards at the gate, so that they prayed for him in his difficult affair to free the grave of the Lord. Of course, introducing yourself. The guards were delighted and for a long time shouted blessings to the departing travelers. In fact, the young baron, having driven off so as to completely disappear from the eyes of the city guard, turned north-east and by the time he was on his way to Vienna. But the owl was worth the candle, because because of such a feint with beautiful ears, Venice literally in five days joyfully met completely out of breath Rudolph at the head of a detachment covered with road dust into twenty amazing snouts. From where they, without any positive results, were forced to return to the castle of Lenzburg for a report. They ran certainly noble. Well, what do you want me to do? That is life. After all, not for buns with milk, they got right up to Augsburg itself? It was quite obvious that his beloved uncle was very upset by the fleeting departure of his dearest nephew, and therefore decided to attend to his fate, and sent to search an armed detachment led by a sensible officer. It is easy to guess that the joy of meeting so many colorful figures with our hero would have come to him not only sideways, but also other, no less interesting parts of the body.

I must say that the horseback crossings caused one, rather unusual, difficulty. Not everyone, even a highly experienced rider, will get to climb into the saddle and, humanly, go, pre-wearing a lot of skirts. Since the street is warm, some Morrigan skirts were forced to take off, remaining only in the short lower, silk, and the strongest, road, of wool. And, for the time of the equestrian crossing, a long outer skirt was tied up with ribbons so that improvised pants were made. Wretched to the extreme, but still, allowing our girl more or less independently to climb into the saddle and go there. Of the modern analogues, the closest in appearance will be trousers in the Afghan style.

The way to Vienna was not close, but our hero was in no hurry, and therefore not only did not drive the horses, but also tried to choose an inn in such a way as to settle there before dark. To the pleasure of Eric, her companion was not particularly scrupulous about the issues of robbery, since she often starved and did not burn with a special love for the people who so often humiliated and tormented her, so that she could be relied upon. After noon on the third day, the robbers tried to attack them. Making a volley with arrows from the ambush, they jumped out of the bushes and rushed with axes on the travelers. Reasonable ambush - the archers missed the riders and gave a volley to them in the back, and the infantry came out on the forehead. But the archers were inexperienced and almost all the arrows went "into the milk," only one with a buzzing buzz hit the baron in the shield hanging behind him. Without lowering the course, the guy grabbed the crossbow and drove the bolt into the robber, walking with a big spear, along the most dangerous trajectory. After the baron, he fixed his throwing unit on the saddle and pulled out a saber. Morrigan reacted quickly and adequately - by clear movement having unhooked the horse's horse of his suzerain from his saddle and holding a bridle in his hand, she got attached to him in a wake. After receiving the freedom of maneuver Erik, with a completely wild and strange roar "For Mamuja! " rushed to the nearest men. He himself did not understand why this stupid motto from the old toy Anril Tournament came to him. His opponents were completely stunned by this turn of events. The fact is that usually the selected victims, seeing a strong numerical superiority, retreated, or fled and got almost a volley of arrows from a few steps. And then everything went wrong. But no one was going to give them time to enlighten the mind, and therefore the first robber flew to the side and lost consciousness, being knocked down by a horse, and the second collapsed with a head cut like a ripe pumpkin. A considerable gap was formed. Eric turned his horse to the left, giving way to leaving the girl with the baggage, and attacking the next batch of unlucky robbers. Our Irish completely justified his trust and, not hesitating, rushed into a breakthrough to retreat to a safe distance. Seeing the approaching baron, the loggers, who were not particularly brave, turned to a completely natural flight. But, alas, the chopping blows of the sword on the body closed only by the cloth do not contribute to the strengthening of health. This would continue until the final destruction of the infantry, but the archers realized and rushed to the rescue. Three arrows flew into Eric's shield, still hanging on his back, another arrow hit him in the arm and hurt heavily, but did not break the chain mail. He began to maneuver and zigzag move away, sharply changing the direction of movement in an arbitrary order. In general, broke. It was his first natural fight in the new body. He was exhausted so terribly that after reaching an hour-by-hour tavern, he decided to stop and rest, without waiting for the evening. Although it was quite possible to go quietly for three or four more hours.