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of it, but even so it was a trial.
"What makes it like this?" Annastashia said.
"Some trick of the winds I suppose, my love. Sir Conrad, do you know anything of
it?" Sir Vladimir said.
"Your guess is as good as mine. Maybe something about the way the hills around
here are shaped. This area gets very little rainfall."
"They say it never rains here at all!"
"I can believe it."
"Why would God make such a horrid place?" Krystyana asked.
"How should I know why God does anything? Even so, this area could be useful.
It would make a good place to store grain," I said.
"I think it's a waste of space," Krystyana answered.
That evening, we stayed at the manor of Sir Vladimir's cousin Sir Augustyn, and
his wife. They were a quiet, phlegmatic couple who talked little and went to bed
early. A relief after Cracow.
The next day we were in Okoitz.
Count Lambert wasn't as angry as I had expected him to be. His reaction was
more of the "my child, how could you have gone so wrong" sort of thing, which
was even harder to take.
"You know that by your actions, you have killed yourself. All the things we'd
planned together will come to nothing. All these mills and factories will halt
without your guiding hand. And the mission that brought you to Poland at the
bequest of Prester John, that too must end in failure."
Count Lambert had become convinced that I was an emissary from the mythical
king Prester John. My oath to Father Ignacy was such that I couldn't talk about
my origins, so I couldn't set him straight.
"It's not as bad as all that, my lord. Even if I do get killed, what we've started here
will continue to grow. Vitold understands the mill as well as I do, and the
Florentine knows more about cloth than me."
"Perhaps, Sir Conrad, but you are the fire behind all of them. Even if we do
prosper without you, it won't last. If you're right about the Mongols' coming, and
you've been right about everything else, this town and the rest of Poland will be
burned to the ground in eight years. With all the people dead, what use are
factories and mills?"
"The Mongols are a problem, my lord, but at least now you have been warned.
Something can still be done -Anyway, I'm not going to lose the trial with the
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Crossman. I'm going to win. I've won every fight I've been through in this land,
and I see no reason why I should stop doing that."
"Your confidence only exposes your ignorance, Sir Conrad. Killing highwaymen
and unsuspecting guards is one thing. Going up against a professional killer is
quite another. Truth is, you won't even make a good showing. I've seen your inept
lancework."
"You've never seen a champion in action, and perhaps you should. A trial by
combat is to be held on the first of next month at Bytom, a day north of here. It's
just over an inheritance, so it won't be to the death, but it'll give you an idea of
what you're up against."
"Very well, my lord, I'll go."
"Good. Sometimes you can get one of the champions to give you some lessons, for
a price. Speaking of which, I have some new orders for you. Sir Vladimir seems to
have attached himself to you, and he's one of the best lancemen in Little Poland.
From today onward, until your trial, you will work out with him every day for at
least three hours. That's on horseback and with the lance. You'll never become
good enough to win, but at least you won't die in quite so embarrassing a
manner."
Little Poland is the hilly area around Cracow, as opposed to Big Poland, the
plains area farther north and west.
"As you wish, my lord. I'd intended to practice the fight. But tell me, was the cloth
I requested sent Three Walls?"
"It was, and I haven't taken payment for it yet. I wanted to discuss the matter
with you. We made a wager on whether or not your windmill would work. Well,
you won. And you weren't interested in betting double or nothing on your second
windmill."
"My lord, would you want Duke Henryk to be owing you a vast sum of money?"
"Hmmm. I can see your point. It would be awkward, wouldn't it. Very well. What
say you to taking that cloth as payment for my debt?"
"if you think the price is fair, it's fine by me, my lord." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]