Schism, page 48
part #5 of Crusader Chronicles Series
‘And the Sword Brothers, Holy Father?’
Gregory chuckled. ‘Bishop Albert created the Sword Brothers to fight for the Holy Church and they have proved most effective in that duty, so much so that they appear to have cowered their enemies into submission. If Baldwin’s campaign has proved anything it is that lions cannot be turned into lambs.
‘I think, William, that it would be best if Grand Master Volquin and his masters were encouraged to slay the enemies of the Holy Church rather than slaughtering fellow Christians. Inform him that we believe the charges against him and his order to be baseless and regard his order as the vanguard of the fight against paganism and apostasy. Indulge their arrogance.’
‘And the Marshal of Estonia?’
Gregory stroked his beard. ‘I desire him and his army to be fighting for the Holy Church, William, not against it.’
Epilogue
Conrad leaned forward and rested his hands on the top of the timber wall. His breath misted in the cold. Soon the snows would come to cover the land in a white blanket. He looked down at Odenpah’s inner compound where stable hands were leading horses to the blacksmith’s forge so they could be fitted with their winter snowshoes. Garrison life went on as normal. Guards stood sentry, brother knights and sergeants attended mass and novices mucked out stables, swept the battlements and were taught to use a variety of weapons. He turned to see Werner leading a batch of them through the outer gates, each boy dressed in boots, leggings and gambeson and carrying a shield and spear. He heard the faintest of footsteps and saw a figure attired entirely in black approach, a thick fur-lined cloak around her shoulders.
‘Lady Maarja.’
‘How are you, Conrad?’
Her voice was soft and kind. He wanted to tell her that he had never felt so alone, that he missed his dearest friend and felt cheated because he had not been allowed to kill the papal legate responsible for Hans’ death.
‘I am well. Thank you for asking.’
She stood beside him and laid a gloved hand on his, both of them staring at the great meadow in front of the fort.
‘I miss Hans too, Conrad.’
He pointed at the line of novices trailing after Werner.
‘There were five of us, frightened boys just off the boat from Lübeck. It seems like only yesterday when we were practising outside the half-built walls of Wenden. And now only I remain.’
‘If it is any consolation, Conrad, of my family I am the only surviving member.’
‘What about Kristjan, lady? He managed to escape from Dorpat when it was assaulted.’
Maarja shook her head. ‘That was nearly ten years ago, Conrad. No one has heard anything of him since and I fear he is long dead.’
He heard the sadness in her voice and gently embraced her. He had no love for Kristjan and hoped that he was dead but his love for Maarja would never allow him to say so.
‘And now, Conrad?’
‘And now, lady, we have buried our dead and wait for the next war to come.’
She sighed. ‘So much warfare and killing.’
‘Do you yearn for the old days, lady, before the Sword Brothers came to Estonia?’
‘There was still war before you came, Conrad, wars between the Ungannians, Saccalians, Jerwen and Harrien, and occasionally the Wierlanders. To say nothing of the constant raiding that took place between the Livs and my people. At least now Livs and Estonians live side by side in peace.’
They said nothing for a while as they watched Werner putting the novices through their paces. In the distance was Lady Maarja’s new home, an impressive stone structure still unfinished.
‘Bishop Hermann wrote to me recently,’ said Maarja, breaking the silence, ‘telling me that he has at Dorpat a fragment of the cross that Our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified on. He has urged me to visit it before the snows block the tracks and I intend to do so.’
Conrad remembered Leatherface’s words and raised an eyebrow. The bishop must have acquired it when the legate’s carroccio was captured.
‘The bishop also informed me,’ continued Maarja, ‘that he intends to set the holy relic on an altar in his new cathedral so that pilgrims may pray before it.’
‘And pay for the privilege of doing so,’ said Conrad caustically.
‘Conrad?’
He smiled. ‘Nothing, lady. It is a miracle indeed and will, I am sure, make Dorpat a destination for many pilgrims. Come, it is getting chilly.’
They walked along the ramparts before descending wooden steps to the fort’s inner compound.
‘Riders approaching,’ shouted a sergeant in one of the towers above.
‘How many?’ called Conrad.
‘Four, all Sword Brothers,’ came the answer.
The riders, all sergeants wrapped in thick white cloaks, thundered through the outer gates and dismounted at the stables where Ungannian boys led the sweating mounts inside so they could be unsaddled and rubbed down. The sergeants were escorted up the steps leading to the inner compound where they reported to Conrad. One held out a piece of rolled parchment to him.
Conrad took it. ‘Where did you ride from?’
‘Dorpat, master.’
‘Get some hot food inside you and your men. You might as well stay tonight and ride back tomorrow.’
They saluted and were shown into the fort’s main hall. Conrad broke the seal of the Sword Brothers on the document and unrolled it. It was from Grand Master Volquin.
Conrad
The winter will soon be here and I have no wish to repeat the disaster that befell us the last time we crossed the frozen sea to battle the Oeselians. But battle them we must in the spring. Their attack on Reval and upon the coast of Estonia has shown them to be treacherous and treachery cannot go unpunished.
In the spring, therefore, I request you to muster your army for a campaign on Oesel, which will involve the Sword Brothers and the Livs. I would also ask you to write personally to King Lamekins to determine whether he is willing to donate soldiers to said campaign. I was very impressed with the conduct of the Kurs at Reval recently so your efforts to recruit them will be appreciated. Bishop Hermann is eager for Oesel to be conquered speedily so the Oeselians are no longer in a position to harm Reval’s trading links and Dorpat’s revenues. He is most desirous that the campaign should be conducted with the utmost severity to show the world what happens when pagans violate an agreement with the representatives of the Holy Church.
Conrad rolled up the document and smiled to himself. The long weeks of winter would be taxing but at least he had something to look forward to instead of the possibility of unending peace. What was his purpose in this life if not to kill the enemies of the Sword Brothers?
Peter Darman, Schism
