Шпак Марина Владимировна. Eric

Chapter 1

Frozen a warm mushroom rain. Rare rays of the sun seemed to say goodbye to the leaves and grass, caressing them at last with neat touches. A dense fog was already flowing light, milk haze between the mighty trees, trying to fill the entire district. A blonde boy of about fourteen was flying along a forest path, touching the ground a little. Behind him, picking up his skirt, his mother was in a hurry. They fled the last of their strength, but it was impossible to stop, because the killers were chasing them. The guy wanted to stop and meet the offenders with dignity, as they killed his father, his two sisters and his three older brothers - his whole family - before his very eyes. The hatred and lust for revenge soared, bursting out of control, but the mother's strict look forced her to keep her prudery and continue her flight. They were heading to the old family crypt to hide from the chase. There were rumors that he was fascinated to safely store those who had blood in their veins, it is possible that this is fiction, but they have nowhere to hide. When the entrance to the crypt was just a few steps away, her mother screamed. Eric turned around and saw that she was sitting on the ground, and her pale face reflected fear, but what is there - a real horror. Seeing that her son hesitated, she yelled angrily: "Run! ". The guy wanted to rush to her, but two arrows whistled just next to him and had to hurry to hide behind a tree. Fear, pain, hatred - all mixed up in the body of this still very young man and seethed, issuing silent tears that quietly and helplessly rolled down his cheeks. Fortunately, to amuse himself with self-pity, the beloved did not give him-an arrow hit the trunk of the tree, and the mother crawled away, trying to distract the pursuers. He wiped his tears and, taking advantage of the moment, rushed to the side of the crypt to hide there. A jump, another jump and now a spiral staircase. Flying into the hall, he rushed past the resting ancestors to the far wall - there was in the corner a small niche near the floor, sufficient to hammer in and safely hide. Literally at the very wall, not noticing something on the floor, Eric stumbled, waved his hands and, knocking down some dust-covered stone from the ritual support, flew to the floor. The murderers who came next found a guy who was no longer breathing, apparently breaking his head in a hurry. His life was interrupted in May 6704 from the creation of the world, that is, in 1196.

The warm April days of 2006 were going on. All of Russia was preparing to selflessly drink vodka in honor of the May holidays, a miniature salary and zero prospects. Our hero did not consider it necessary especially to stand out from the crowd in this honorable cause. Prepared to prepare Artyom for everything thoroughly. That is why, first of all, I bought everything necessary in advance, and secondly, I chose a place on the shore of a small river near Moscow, where, due to natural silence, Bacchus will be paid due tribute. Yes, it is him, since no other ancient deity is in our honor, as this merry fellow and joker. But, alas, this time his plans were not destined to come true. Yesterday an old friend called Jean, whom they met at a historical festival in the distant 2001. They there managed, having typed "for acquaintance", to fall down in a cesspool near to a cowshed. The process of swimming in the fragrant pond and the selfless struggle for getting out so close to them, that the guys became friends. In fact, his name was not Jean, but Ivan Kolodka, but the nickname so attached to him that all friends and friends just so his name. He was known as a good master of art forging, but this is more for the soul than for the cause. He also lived by the fact that for the last seven years he had been making armor for lazy lovers waving a halberd or falshion on a bougurta. If you do not know, then the correct bugurt is a massive staged battle in authentic equipment. His affairs were going very well, and the armor was sorted out like hot pies, and for quite expensive. And in the spring of 2003 he moved to live in Switzerland and buys there a small country house with a plot of land in a remote countryside in order to enjoy the smithy crafts for wealthy lovers of armor exclusives from around the world in a pleasant and quiet environment. Last year, the idea came to expand the range of its activities and master the production of alcoholic beverages for authentic medieval technologies. Why alcohol? So in fact the bachelor's life obliges - though it is pleasant, but sometimes unbearably boring. And here not only its own, natural and quality, as they say, "without chemistry", so also authentic wine and mead. And the soul is nice, and health is not in harm. So, he found materials describing the ways of making such drinks, figured out the technologies and began to build working premises, starting with a spacious cellar for storage and aging. The basement was built in the regime of not hitting a recumbent, that is, without hurrying anywhere, with your own hands. And then - in his spare time from work in the smithy. All would be nothing, but just a week ago, during the digging of the cellar, our newly-born Swiss stumbled upon some ruins - either the roof of the old house, or something else, but clearly something medieval. Quickly having realized that it's better to keep quiet (is there not much that is valuable there? ), And quickly completed the barn over the place of the failed basement (for hiding from prying eyes), he called, as you already guessed, our hero. So, let me recommend - Artem Zhilin, 30 years old, associate professor at the department of medieval history in a major Moscow university. He teaches three medieval languages: vulgar Latin, Old Russian with its artificial church form (Old Slavonic) and Middle Greek, which, however, is also called Byzantine. He is also the organizer and participant of many visits to archaeological excavations and the permanent head of the club for military historical reconstruction at the university, where he teaches the children historical fencing and making replicas of equipment. For what "struck" a small room under the workshop and for several hours every day in the university gym. Agree - an interesting characteristic. At first glance it seems that he is "a member of the Komsomol, an athlete and just a beauty. " And if you dig deeper? Let's start with the nickname, because it often very well characterizes the person, and our sophisticated intellectual in certain circles was called just like the Mustang. Agree - uncharacteristic for a quiet and smiling dandelion, who lectures on the medieval world from the university department and occasionally, sweating from overexcitation, wipes his pince-nez with a handkerchief. Our hero was born into a poor family and from the very childhood had to literally gnaw out from life what he needed. Parents, of course, tried, but, alas, not everything was in their power and capabilities. Therefore, Artyom grew up a strong, energetic and very energetic man, who was used to trying to achieve his own without long discussions. While still studying at the institute, he started his own business, but all of us, dearly loved by us, came in 1997, and left him in almost the same family shorts, completely burned out. This lesson, received in the twenty-first year of life, affected the style of his work, as he did not even think of retreating and dropping his hands. Pritorgovyvaya every possible counterfeit goods - from disks with software to polished skulls and other extravagant crafts, he lived to the end of his training. Not very nice, but it was necessary to live somehow and for some means. And eat smelly, and sleep softer. 2000 was a turning point in his life - it was at this time that he was fond of military historical reconstruction and fencing. Studenthood came to its finale, and on the horizon, the prospects of enlistment in the Red Army squads of the name of Kashchenko began to be clearly outlined. Of course, on a budget department. No, he was neither lazy nor weak, but the service in the army did not bring him any personal benefit at all - some problems. Yes, yes, yes - many will resent what they say, but what about the Fatherland? Or put forward the theses, like "only service in the army will make you a real man. " Alas, all these arguments are empty, as he had to achieve everything in his life solely on his own, and when he began to rise, his beloved Fatherland threw him and deprived him of everything. And he was not engaged in any trade or other heresy, but deployed a small service to repair household appliances, that is, he did a useful thing for people and the Fatherland. As for the physical training, it was better for him than for most graduates, since one can and should achieve one's own and need differently. Sometimes it does not interfere with the eye, for understanding the words. Therefore, as a very pragmatic person, he considered service in the army as a waste of time and effort, and therefore applied for postgraduate study. Combining the passion and the forced measure, he was able to achieve a very good result and defended his excellent thesis. At the same time he pierces the experimental laboratory for the department of medieval history, where he is engaged in creating replicas of equipment and armaments and exploring them comprehensively. In the second year of training, using the equipment that he bought for the grandee he won, he began to produce a variety of thematic crafts for sale - primarily cast bronze and tin items. It went well, and not bad. Having realized what is happening, he not only turns around the laboratory a circle of military historical reconstruction, which, under cover of which, seriously increases the volume of production, but also begins to use students in the technological processes of the workshop itself. In general, in the spring of 2006, he operated a small workshop, in which enthusiastic students worked "for thank you", and he, selling through these acquaintances in one large store these articles, received up to 120-150 thousand each month. In total, his monthly income went for 300 thousand. True, for the sake of cover, he was forced to teach students, leading some ridiculous seminars and lectures. After such a recommendation, it remains only to add a few touches. The fact is that Jean of the serious archaeologists and historians in friends was only Artem, who from the graduate school diversified his leisure not only with official excavations, but also with black archeology, and therefore had vast experience in such matters. So there were few options, more precisely, there was only one named Zhilin. Our assistant, of course, agreed, took a two-week vacation at his own expense and flew as quickly as possible to Switzerland at the invitation, to meet with his intrigued friend. Fortunately, he already traveled more than once to Jean, so that he was given a visa very quickly and easily.

Jean met Artyom at the airport in Zurich. All problems at customs were quickly settled, and the guys moved forward towards the village house of our blacksmith, where, gloriously "pogudev", fell into a coma deep deep in the morning. And you thought that such a worthy and enthusiastic history of the guys will start right away to the point? Too bad. The guys at us have appeared romanticists, and to what romance the champagne of vodka in the company of the friend is alien? So it turned out that only by the evening of the second day they were able to walk, in an embrace with a terrible headache, to the place of excavation. The next ten days it is especially meaningless to describe, since the time dragged on quite monotonously, and represented some kind of organic symbiosis from alcoholic discussions, excavations and comatose dreams. By the end of the eleventh day they shoveled the quite impressive pit and were able to completely open a small building, which, apparently, was the entrance to a certain underground hall, as the ceiling of a more massive structure said, which turned out to be two meters deeper. Judging by all the external signs, it was some sort of medieval family crypt. We decided to enter the next day.

"Why? I needed a quiet place to work.

- And we have that, so you were prevented from killing the cuirass?

- Yes, they interfered. Do you remember how I ran around the authorities for the last year?

"Of course, only I still do not quite understand what exactly happened there. "

- It's simple - I tried to legalize to get a bank account and work normally with clients from countries of rotten capitalism.

"I remember that you left here almost immediately after that fuss. "

Right? Just there, legalized as an individual entrepreneur, I got a terrible amount of hemorrhoids and serious losses in finance, that is, I realized that now I'm working for food. You understand it's funny.

"So they tore it up? "

- Yes, exactly, and these clever men turned out to be so weak mind that they tore more than they could. But now they are on horseback - they do not get anything from me at all. And if they had smaller appetites, they could continue eating.

- I had orders from Germany and Britain, and customers wanted guarantees, as the amounts were rather big. It was absolutely wild to them that some master in far-away Russia is engaged in the manufacture of such high-quality handicrafts on the sly.

- Okay, let's not talk about sad things. What do you think of our find? I, frankly, find it difficult to comment on it. According to the style of architecture, it should refer to the early Middle Ages, maybe even to the Viking Age, and settle much further north. And then - no family vaults were built in those days, it was not accepted.

- Yes, I am also completely confused - no understanding of where it came from here. Especially since there were no locks and large settlements near those times. Okay, let's sleep. Tomorrow will be a hard day.

When they neatly opened the door in the morning and entered the room, they almost squealed with delight - judging by the thick layer of dust on the floor, this room had not been stepped by a man's foot for several hundred years. Can anybody imagine? The center of Europe and such finds! Wearing gas masks, taking flashlights and neatly descending the spiral staircase of stone, the guys got into a spacious hall with an area of about a thousand square meters. It was evenly studded with completely marble columns that were not decorated, supporting the grid of arched vaults. Between them the entire hall was filled with granite tables on which corpses that had been drained by time were lying in full parade. Almost all of the deceased were dressed in armor, and only a few are wrapped in pieces of decayed rags. It was embarrassing. The fact is that in the Christian tradition to bury with weapons is not accepted, and judging by the symbolism, this crypt was just that. In general - a completely incomprehensible and inexplicable phenomenon. At the far end of the hall was a free platform with a round bronze table of a strange kind in the center. While Jean was interested in picking chain mail on the nearest corpse, studying the shape of the rivets, Artem moved to this strange place. The table was in diameter of all centimeters thirty and had in the center a round support with a small notch in the form of an inverted pyramid. Through the dust, some letters appeared, so he gently cleared the pad and was able to read a passage of the phrase in Latin: "Animus intra manium ", the rest of the edge is destroyed along with the inscription, probably from time. A completely strange meaning, which, apparently, was some esoteric formula, alas, partially destroyed, in Russian it could be read as: "A living soul inside the soul of the deceased ". In general, it is completely incomprehensible, as, actually, and in general the purpose of this strange structure of cast bronze. After thinking about it, Artem began to circumnavigate the table, examining it for advice or other interesting details. Something rolled beneath the foot. He bent down and pulled out of the thick layer of dust a pretty decent polished piece of lapis lazuli or a similar egg-shaped stone. From one end this piece had a ledge in the shape of a pyramid. The first thought, as you guessed it, was to put this stone on a stand and evaluate the composition. Artem blew dust from the stand, looked back, looked at Jean's watchful and interested look, who, after neglecting the study of chain mail, watched Artem's actions, and inserted the stone into the hollow. Then he took three steps away from the stand, smiled and, momentarily frozen, collapsed to the floor. And the stone on the stand behind him sprang to the bronze surface of a handful of bright blue dust. Jean ran to Artem, felt his pulse and began to convulsively massage his heart. But it was too late - our hero left for the country of eternal hunting with a smile on his lips.

Severe pain in the head and darkness. Artem tried to understand what happened to him, but the reality swam away, as if chuckling at him. Even to collect thoughts did not work - they, reptiles, ran and jumped like mad in the head. Strongly muddied. His head and arms were wet and sticky in something, and his ears were so buzzing that all the sounds around him were oddly intertwined in a strange echo from the working transformer. An attempt to call Jean was not crowned with success-only a kind of choked wheeze flew from his throat, and even that was very quiet. Lying on the floor and plenty of old dust, Artem realized that there was nowhere to wait for help, and slowly crawled to the place from which he was drawn by a weak breeze. The darkness was pitch-black, so much so that sometimes thoughts of loss of sight came to my mind. The body completely disobeyed and was greatly numb, because of this in the hall he crawled for about an hour, from time to time losing consciousness and bumping into tables and columns. Then a lot of time left for the overcoming of the spiral staircase. Having got out upstairs, exhausted and tired our poor fellow finally disconnected. However, he was lucky that he got out into the fresh air, so the loss of consciousness slowly went into a healthy sleep. The morning awakening brought freshness and bodily vigor. Opening his eyes and stretching, he twisted - his head shot from every movement, again began to vomit. Apparently, a concussion occurred to him, but he could not understand what he could do about it. And where did Jean go? Did this hero leave him alone to lie in the dust? It's not like him. Slowly rising and with half-closed, sleepy eyes, he went out into the opening of the house he had unearthed. He looked in front of him and froze. A couple of times blinked and, opening his eyes wide, fell on the ass with a surprised expression on his face. How could it be otherwise? Around, instead of a pit with a shed was a forest, and the house was not in a large hole, but level with the ground. Miracles! Was he so magically caressed on the head that he became so exotic raving? At that moment, his head shot back with pain, and Artem, reflexively, grabbed her hand. Instead of a small, neat "hedgehog" were long hair laid in a hairdress - the usual plague, dirty. Sharply yanking his hand away from his head, he examined it. The state of general surprise intensified with each new fact - and now his gaze wandered over the hand of a teenager who, for some reason, was all smeared with blood. Hastily examining himself, Artem issued a plaintive howl, more like the whining of a battered dog - after all, he even had no hair between his legs. And instead of a well and harmoniously pumped body was the body of an ordinary teenager. Not very flimsy, of course, but a teenager. Charming, just charming!

Yeah, business. Not every day and not every character is in a similar situation. Well, what should I do? Lie down and die? It is necessary to understand. So, we have a situation connected with changing the perception of the surrounding reality. That is, our hero suddenly began to feel that the whole world around him changed. This can be the result of three incidents. First, he can sleep and see a remarkably realistic dream, in which he fully realizes himself. Secondly, his brain functions related to the processing of information received by the receptors were violated, in other words, the surrounding reality remained the same, just a defect in perception. Or, as a version of this version - just some sudden mental illness. Thirdly, it really turned out to be in some other spatio-temporal continuum, and its material realization, that is, the body, differs from the original version. What is the conclusion of all this? Surprisingly, the conclusion is the same and universal in the current situation. That is, in order to feel comfortable and organic, he must act as if everything that surrounds him is real. To do this, it is necessary to establish the most harmonious and natural interaction with the surrounding reality, that is, to live a natural and harmonious life. The question of the method of return arises, and, alas, is immediately excluded, because the memory of our hero does not possess information about the conditions and the "point of entry" into the current state, which speaks either of a "one-way ticket" or some factors that personally do not depend on it. Such factors can be anything - from a parade of planets in some stellar system, something there focused on a specific point of space, and the excessive concentration of a unique mixture of gases before the devil does not joke, divine intervention. He, of course, does not believe in the gods, but the fact of their existence, still does not exclude. So, sat our hero, puffed, touched an itchy temechko with a very solid wound and, beautifully telling the wind about all close and distant relatives of some grandmother for all the good things, began to look around. Literally ten steps from the crypt, they found a silk belt, and scraps of some dress. A small stash was sewn in the belt, only seven denarii and a dozen obolov. The grass was badly crushed and dirty in the blood - obvious traces of the struggle. He carefully studied his findings and again went into a stupor. The fabric was quite rough, and coupled with the storage method and type of coins, spoke of a low technological level. What a wonderful start! He still did not have enough to be in the Middle Ages. About the guys from the reconstruction clubs, all the options swept the blood, because it was a lot and it was fresh - so much blood could be lost, only with a good wound. It is possible that the person who bleeds died. In general, everything is somehow strange and suspiciously obtained. Well, all right, conclusions early. The sun had already risen above the treetops, and Artem decided to return to the crypt to examine it. Even during the excavation, he discovered a system of old copper mirrors to illuminate the room, and he decided to use them. He went downstairs, leisurely, walked around the hall, examining the corpses of long-dead people for profit. Strange as it may seem, the goal that led him to this crypt until he lost consciousness, not only did not go anywhere, but also intensified. Looting, though ignoble occupation, but he did not have options - he needs at least some property. As the fact that he is waiting for him ahead, he did not even imagine, therefore he considered it important to take out all the useful things from the current situation (and the crypt). Little help? For survival, all means are good. There was a lot of armor and weapons in the hall, but almost all of them were either not in size or substandard, mostly, of course, the last one. Rummaging through the bodies, he was able to discover only one thing that delighted him - it was a small crossbow, a very simple dressing, with glued bow and primitive descent. The body of the owner of this sensible unit was quite fresh and still unsweetenedly stank, which indicated a good chance of its functioning, albeit suffering from long-term storage. The most unpleasant thing was to remove the belt from the corpse with a hook. What did you want? Not everyone can restrain vomiting, gently embracing a fragrant stinking corpse. Our gatherer of ownerless property roamed the crypt for an hour and a half and chose a crossbow with a belt, a dozen bolts and a simple knife with a hard, narrow blade in neat sheath, in fact a dagger. By clothing, of course, it did not work out - either decayed, or badly in size, or strongly smelled of decay and decay so that a man in such clothes could easily accept a rebel dead man.

Gathering all his hare, the guy went out into the fresh air. Gently laying, bandaging and putting it on his shoulders, Artem went to look for some brook or other source of clean water. Went randomly, that is, on the only path that led from the crypt. It's hard to say whether he was lucky or not, but half an hour later they heard a distant murmur of the brook, which was discovered in about twenty minutes, but with great difficulty, as it flowed in thick reeds and willow. A little climbing along the stream he found a couple of large boulders, where he settled himself, to wash himself of his own blood.

Most of the day passed before Artyom, in damp but fairly clean clothes, went out again to the path. The tests of the crossbow resulted in a completely satisfactory result - his toy was stretched tightly with a belt, but beat quite accurately by 50 steps. The pull, snap, was no more than 80-85 kg, in general, for such devices a bit, because because of the short stroke of the bowstring, not all energy was transferred to the bolt. Although, it was difficult to assess the tension force because of a new body, which is still not used to. He walked quite quickly, as the evening was approaching rapidly. Already at dusk, from behind the turn, some wooden houses looked out, surrounded by a wooden wall with a gate. Nearby, at some distance was a very respectable courtyard with a busy homon inside. It was like either a big village or a small town with a completely mesmerizing view, especially the rooftops covered with rotten straw and the almost complete absence of traces of a technocratic civilization. Neither a crumpled pack of cigarettes, nor a used condom. Even the road looked as if the car did not defile it with its tires. This greatly alarmed and increasingly reinforced the version of the assessment of the surrounding space-time continuum as a deaf Middle Ages. Having stood a little on the edge of the forest and crumpled, stepping from foot to foot, pondering what is waiting for him inside, our hero nevertheless decided to move to this yard and look at everything closer, since he did not want to sleep on the street at all. Inside was a lot of people who drank, ate and made noise behind simple wooden tables. They looked quite normal for the countryside in the Middle Ages, that is - dirty, primitive clothes from a homespun cloth. When Artyom closed the door almost the whole tavern, with pale, surprised faces, stared at him. Artyom chuckled, bowed to the audience and, ignoring the massive, unconcealed stupor among the Aborigines, approached the peasant behind the counter. There he in Latin asked him about the room for a rest and dinner. He something pomochal in some German dialect, scratched the back of his head and, seeing a misunderstanding, shouted to some Luka. A minute later, a young guy in a cassock approached them, and acted as an interpreter, although, of course, he knew Latin very badly. The room at night and dinner with breakfast cost one obol, and there was food - how much you eat. Having eaten in the room, Artyom took his place on the trestle, after barricading the door with the help of a shop, undressing and washing. About five minutes later, our new boy was already fluttering in the arms of Morpheus. The most unusual thing for him was that he had to explain for a long time about water for ablution. It was so unexpected for the locals that only the third time they realized what exactly he was asking. Apparently local humanoid living creatures are not at all accustomed to regular water procedures. Strangely enough, but the old jokes about the "European dirty" are quite natural. And these are trifles, in comparison with what awaits him in case it really is a natural European Middle Ages.

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.

" Here, look, nephew. "This is Berta - your mother. Do you recognize her?

" Uncle, I told you that I lost my memory. "I do not recognize anyone at all. But if she is my mother, then why are you beating her?

"This dirty beast hired assassins to kill your father, and she remained regent in front of you. "

It's stange You said that my brothers and sisters were killed, and I myself miraculously survived.

- It's all because this rubbish found bad performers, and they got carried away too much. They went so far as to even wound her.

"What are you talking about, you dirty pig! " The woman snarled, a little away from the blow.

aboutA bird's voice cracked. Said the uncle joyfully and, not in the least embarrassed, approached her closer, hit his face with his boot, pulled up his skirts and raped. Erica clearly led Rudolph, choosing such a position to neutralize and twist the guy, if he decides to do some rash acts. Yes, and for the reaction he watched, whether he does little to pretend and lies about losing memory. When my uncle finished, corrected the bre and kicked a couple of times to prevent the unhappy foot in the stomach, Artem asked:

- And why is this presentation?

- Heh. Nephew, you must learn how to deal with fallen women. She betrayed her husband, and therefore no longer needs to be respected. She is now a nothing, devoid of everything. Even life. She will be hanged at the gate of the castle, when she begins to disperse from suffering, so that everyone will see what happens to such wives.

" And Rudolf? "He was tense as a predator before a decisive leap.

- Noticed? Well done! Will come of you good. Even if you do not lose memory, it has changed a lot, it pleases. Here, - he turned to his comrade-in-arms, - see what my remarkable nephew is growing.

" Yes, I'm not smart for years. " - And they both laughed. And similar views with a visit to the camera were repeated more than once. He beat her, broke her bones, raped her. With the bones, he acted carefully, so as not to kill or strongly not to ruin by chance, and so he tried to inflict maximum pain on her with minimal damage. And every time these executions were obliged to attend our hero accompanied by Rudolph, who, from that very evening in the tavern, followed him literally on the heels, except that he did not go to sleep in an embrace.

From the hall, Eric went to his room. The next two days he spent in walks around the castle, going to the kitchen and a healthy dream. When he managed to escape from his eyes, he mastered his body, as his physical abilities were unclear for him. He jumped, pressed, pulled, tried to work with heavy objects and so on. This idyllic picture was only occasionally interrupted by campaigns to an unhappy woman, who was waiting for another portion of torture and bullying. The farther it went, the more Eric, it seemed that this most venerable uncle Carl himself ordered his brother with the whole family to remain the sole ruler. Forgive me, but this confusion with the names is completely unbearable, so in the future I will call Artem Eric, especially since all those around him believe so. On the third day, our hero, accompanied by a small retinue, advanced towards the generic vault of the Lenzburgs, which stood next to Halvilli Lake, to bury the relatives killed by hired assassins. Everything went quite calmly. They spent the night in a small tavern at the abbey. There he overheard the conversation of the peasants about what miracles are happening in these glorious lands, as the rumors of Karl's open and unconcealed joy, from the meeting of his living nephew, have already reached the enclave. Did he decide to give up his interests, of which he never made a secret? Business Alas, but there was no special mind to understand why Uncle so carefully met our hero. He was thinking of some combination, in order to wash himself off from fratricide in front of the count. And in this combination, an important role was assigned to Eric. The most obvious will be to write it off at a monastery or send it to a crusade. Itself is voluntary, because he is an intelligent guy and understands what he lacks goodwill. And then assign the rights, according to the will of an accidentally deceased, from some kind of fever or chronic constipation of the nephew, and get the desired flax into a complete and undivided possession. Therefore, all the way back to the castle, our newly crowned hereditary baron thought out ways to escape. In fact it is necessary to run with mind, and that will catch up and will make something terribly unpleasant. And then again catch up Returning to the castle, they made a ritual of visiting poor Bertha, who was once again raped and beaten, and then climbed into the hall for dinner. At the table, Eric spoke about the desire to go to the Holy Land, in order to glorify the memory of his father, that he fell from the hands of scoundrels and all that in the same spirit. This arrangement of the uncle completely satisfied, for his dream is not enough that it was finally implemented, but also implemented in a very clean and neat manner. Therefore, he supported the zeal of his nephew and asked Rudolph to take up the equipment for the guy. The old cunning man behaved so naturally that only the desire to impose on him a group of dozens of armed servants prompted suspicion of a dirty trick. Too hard he imposed them. Probably they will have to interrupt the way of the young baron, of course, during a heroic struggle with the infidels in the Holy Land, that is, in two or three days' journey somewhere in the forest. To give reason for suspicion Eric did not, but because they agreed on the fact that he equip horses, give armor, weapons, armed servants and money for the road, and he, in return, transmits, for the duration of the campaign, his rights to flax beloved uncle.

A week later, in preparation for the march, the young baron asked his uncle to give him a teacher, for training in equestrian combat. Since with his current skills he is more of an equestrian target than a warrior that is going to liberate Jerusalem. Uncle of this idea, of course, was not enthusiastic, but it fits perfectly into his scenario of a loving relative, and the people must remember how he, a caring uncle, prepared the guy, or else they would say that he said he was sending a guy as. So the teachers singled out. It is quite predictable that they turned out to be Rudolph. After two weeks of horseback riding, where they practiced landing and simple parts, they began to leave in full armor and learn how to maneuver, and with arms to wave in a cavalry fight. Of course, not to death. For Eric, this was all again, since in that life he always converged in the cabin only on foot, that on the bugurts, that in the tournaments. The science was good, although it was given away with extensive bruises, but a much rubbed booty, so after two months it became very nice to feel in the saddle. Of course, even to a satisfactory result, he was still very far away, but time was already running out, as his uncle began to strain in the nephew's company, all showing that it would be time for him to fall back to distant lands. The guy at us was clever and understood hints. Began to catch the moment. And now, three days later, my uncle left on business in Baden. It was decided to take immediate advantage of this - he went to Rudolph with the proposal that for the sake of learning, it would be possible for them to go on a campaign for a few days. His proposal was pleasant, and was favorably received. It is decided to advance at dawn. For a campaign in the Holy Land, his uncle used to dispatch 50 denarii to him. As a result, forty denarii he sews into the belt like a nest egg, and spends ten to ensure that his mail was brought to a proper state - that is, large holes were eliminated in it. He left the remaining coins in a leather purse to the waist, in order to show that he takes with him on the road not all. At night, the most difficult thing happened: it was necessary to get into the dungeon to Bertha, in this partisan raid he took only a small knife with him, which he stole in advance in the kitchen. She, of course, is not his mother, but this insidious peasant, who considers himself an uncle of our hero, needs to leave a surprise so that life does not seem to honey. The guards peacefully slept in their komorka, even without putting up a fast, and the door to the dungeon itself was open to allow for a little airing. Approaching the cell door, he quietly scraped it.

- Is there anyone alive? Asked the young baron in Latin.

EricSon. it's you. How did you get here? Answered the alarmed voice of the woman.

"Quietly? ! Shhh! Yes it's me. The guy whispered. "Do not wake the guards. "

" All right, I'll speak quietly "Is that really true? Have you really lost your memory?

- Yes, alas, it's true. I do not even remember the native language, I can only speak Latin. And to find out about what really happened, I could not at once, from the peasants. I'm still trying to pretend that I do not know anything and support the game of my uncle. But that's all - empty chatter, let's talk about the matter - how can I get you out of here? I do not know the dungeon device at all. Are there secret passages?

" Son, do not pull me out. "Do not risk so. Leave. I can not help you at all. This scoundrel has so exhausted me that I will no longer have life. My whole being is torn. One or two more weeks and I will die. What can you say, you saw everything yourself, - her voice became completely sad.

" If I give you a knife, can you use it to take revenge on your uncle? "I am constantly insured in his presence, so I can not even jerk.

"Give me the knife, I'll try to die with honor. "

Eric pushed the knife into the slot under the door and touched the fingers of this exhausted woman to his fingers.

- Go in peace with your son, may the Mother of God guide you. God knows, my father and I did not wish you such a fate, but the ways of our Lord are inscrutable

- Bert. My mother. Come to think again! What are you saying! ? We ourselves are forging our own lives. And if fate destined us to die - we must meet death with weapons in hand and a proud, bold look - let fate be suppressed. I do not even know if Walgal will take you. But go to the end, fight this insidious reptile until the last breath. We are not slaves in order to bow our heads to accept the fate of this weak and frail god - Jesus. If there is no other way, then go to death and accept this last battle as a warrior, even if weak in body, but strong in spirit. And let your enemy be afraid of you, even slain.

Son. Is that you!

- I'm a mother, I am this. In me much has changed after that blow. I already died once and my body was lying dead for 24 hours. I know what I am saying. Forgetting my past life, I remembered the ancient knowledge. We are not slaves of any God there. We - the descendants of ancient and proud warriors, that they cut their lives through the boiling waves of adversity. And you - a woman, going to meet your fate should not humbly wait for the death of someone. Or are you like a slave to endure violence against yourself and humiliation to the laughter of the crowd, not having the pride to fight even without a chance of success? Too much is forgotten, too much is etched out of us. But I say, fight, and let your last battle light the ancient Ass - One, and your hand will be as hard as the mighty hammer of the Torah.

" It hurts to hear this, my son. "But you're right. So right that in my chest everything is compressed from pain and grief. We were humble and cowardly in the face of the enemy, in fear we relied on God's will, not hardness of the hand and fled. For this and paid with their lives. You're right, my son - we all need to fight for every sigh, every moment and I'll fight - for you, for the sake of those who died, for the sake of those who will live. Now go, I need to prepare for death to meet her with dignity.

There was a long-awaited morning. Eric went on a hike, taking with him provisions for four days and with full armor, putting in addition to the sword, a dagger with a crossbow caught from the crypt. Rudolph regarded this as a whim of an inspired neophyte, and only smiled. They moved north not along the road, but along forest paths. The whole day passed fairly calmly. They spent the night on a picturesque edge with a gorgeous view, not a field and a small overgrown duckweed pond. In the morning, having left the parking lot in the field behind the pond, Eric was alert and began to peer into the distance, which extended beyond Rudolph's distant shoulder. He noticed the look and turned to look at what had so alarmed his young companion. Eric did not hesitate, snatched the dagger and slashed it on the girth of his master's saddle. And then, under the weight of a large man, it began to crawl swiftly, Rudolph, waving his hands, yelled, in his whole tinnitus, loudly and ornately swearing. Taking advantage of the satellite's confusion, the young baron rushed on his horse forward at full speed. When he disappeared behind the far turn of the road, Rudolph was already standing on his feet, holding the horse by the bridle, and smiling with a kind smile. He was a good student, smart.

Eric ran at a gallop on his horse for about a quarter of an hour and, only realizing that he was not being pursued, dropped speed and went easy trot. Toward evening, he met a small group of clerics and asked them about the area in which he is and what cities in the district. It turns out that in the daytime passage to the north-west, the border town of Basel was located. I went to him. At night he was able to stop at the tavern of a small town Olten, which stood next to Aarburg, neatly on the other side of the river. The next day I decided to go faster, and by trotting, by noon, I reached my destination. At the gate, surprisingly, they let him through without any problems, they did not even ask who he was or where, and did not take the fees. Apparently its appearance had affected - on horseback, in chain mail, helmet, with a sword and crossbow. So commoners do not go mostly, but noble people do not like it when they are stopped. In Basel, he did not particularly linger, just crashed on the bargain, where he was able to exchange his strange, massive sword of bicentennial aging, which he was barely pulling, because he weighed a half kilogram or so, on a comfortable Hungarian sword, weighing only eight hundred grams, why stale from the seller. And since there was much more in the sword of metal, and buyers for a sword for four years did not appear, the seller also paid Eric two denarii. Asking the price to new armor, our hero very quickly rolled his lips back, so much so that his teeth could be seen. He missed even half of the new mail, not to mention the smart and beautiful scaly and lamellar kits made in the lands of the Slavs and Hungarians. So he went for a couple of days on the market, licking on delicious devices. By the way, like the market, he learned about the most expensive coins in this region and their course. The most frequent guests were four coins, this is a stamp that is minted in Vienna, denarius and a marriageate that are equal to each other and obol. For one brand, 192 denarii or 412 obols are given. Although the rate may fluctuate, as coins may not be local, and therefore by weight and composition are different. It was funny that in the course were almost exclusively silver coins, and the few gold coins from the East that fell into Europe, very quickly went to the treasury and jewelry. About the people in general, almost nothing said, only occasionally smirking inexperience of the youngster and explained that the coins from such a despicable metal takes only a rare mole.

By the end of the second day, he realized that he was wasting his time, and decided to assess the situation, for starters. So - he is Baron Eric von Lenzburg and a legitimate contender for flax vassals to his very influential cousin Count Ullrich Kiburg. The hereditary possessions were an old castle, requiring serious repairs and nine villages of 50-100 inhabitants with the corresponding agricultural lands, eight of which stood far from the castle in a separate enclave. In the courtyard danced 1196, which means that the level of agriculture was absolutely terrible, and these lands gave very little income. What are his chances of capturing his hereditary possession? Honestly speaking - very small, since for the squad he is not an authority, even if Karl dies, Rudolph will take his place, most likely, as he is not only a knight, but also an experienced person. His cousin, although young, but clever, and therefore easily support a new dynasty of barons, especially since the previous one has some rights to his title and can potentially be dangerous. In short - he does not shine in the current situation. Of the property he has only a young mare, a worn aketon, chain mail, breathing heavily on the incense, an old helmet, a saber, a crossbow and a dagger. In total, less than a third of the silver mark is obtained, even with coins taken into account. As they say - for Athos it is too much, and for the Count de la Fere - too little. I will explain - the fact is that it is quite possible to start a good farm with this money and quietly, peacefully living huddled somewhere in the corner and working from dawn to dusk, in order to eat, however, for a nobleman, even such a small as he, this money is clearly is not enough. That is, there is also a nerd, although, as a "starting pistol" will completely come down . . What is his position? He is a strong young guy of 14 years old, who managed to escape from the clutches of a very dodgy predator - his beloved uncle. Now he is actually in a clean field, without a stake, without a court and without prospects. Unless to go as a volunteer to some petty nobleman. The situation is still obtained. So you need to think hard and understand what he wants here - in a new body, a new world and a new status? The first thing that comes to mind - it's good to live, that is, not strongly straining to eat delicious and softly to sleep. To achieve this goal, there are only two ways: the first - to become a trader, the second - to attach to the title of the land and live with them. Of course, being a nobleman at the land is a much more interesting prospect than just speculating with one or another property. To do this, you need to solve three problems. First, find a livelihood. Secondly, to put together a gang around itself, since ambitious loners do not live long. Thirdly, to feed the gang you need to find a permanent source of funding. So, for the first task the solution is simple - you need to steal a little. This is unaesthetic, ugly, immoral and completely non-curse, but was someone in history otherwise able to earn decent money for a short period of time? Robbery, slave trade and extortion are traditional sources of initial capital. The solution of the second problem is much more complicated. There are three problems. The first problem is the personal qualities of the candidates. Aby whom to take no meaning, and good specialists are always on the bill and they can not be caught in free swimming. The second problem is a matter of personal devotion. What will motivate these very gifted people to remain loyal to our hero? Money: This is unlikely, since in this case the devotion will end exactly when the money runs out. Here you need to think. The third problem is the problem of leadership. Having a strong, smart and enterprising people on the team, he might just not wake up one fine morning. Strangely enough, but usually these people also have ambitions and rarely they are small. With the solution of the third task in general, everything is vague and depends on how his life will turn out his life, as well as who and how much he will be able to assemble into a gang. Since it is very dangerous to loot in one territory for a long time, it is necessary to advance on a trip, and not to waste time and energy on unnecessary movements - to move slowly to the place where it will seize the land. The most reasonable in this matter was to go to the lands of the weakening Byzantine Empire, since the famous autocratic clown Alexei III was in charge there. The angel who can not grab a piece of land with only a blind and toothless rickets. Of all the territory that was under the control of this emperor, Tavria was the most tasty piece, that is, the modern Crimea, which has a very successful strategic position, both in the military and in the commercial sense. Yes, and the influence of Alexei there is almost equal to zero. But you can not go directly there, you need to collect resources and troops. For this purpose, Eric compiled a route and outlined, in general terms, work tasks that will need to be addressed in the course of the action. The very first task was to bring his equipment into working order, as it is very difficult to rob people with this garbage. From the next morning, he ordered three dozen crossbow bolts with faceted tips and went to fix the belt for the charging hook and the crossbow, or at the most crucial moment or the bow would break or the trigger would fall apart. By the end of the fifth day, he was ready to leave for Augsburg. And further to Vienna, where, according to rumors, there lived an intelligent master blacksmith, glorious in all the Austrian duchy with his chain mail and helmets. To him, Eric also wanted to go to the apprentice, in order to get used to this difficult matter in contemporary realities. From his thoughts, that he can again engage in a familiar and interesting business, he was completely excited. Of course, this will look very strange - a noble man learns from a simple peasant, but, in principle, this can be attributed to whimsy and courage. I bet I can not. Among the feudal lords will understand, but the opinion of the crowd is not interesting to him. Everything was ready, but it was unreasonable to leave on the night, so I had to spend the night in Basel. The most unexpected and, at the same time, pleasant news was that Bertha, nevertheless, was able to meet her tormentor worthily. Literally on the last day before his departure, rumors began circulating around the market, about how she not only injured his manhood with a knife, but also cut her face and neck well. He survived, although very sick, but it is still not known whether this is good or bad, since the well-known beauty and thunderstorm of women - Baron Karl von Lenzburg - was eventually not only terribly fearful but also empty as a man, having lost the most active part of his body. And this despite the fact that he is not yet married and childless! Berta herself took death from the ax, which she was hacked by the guard who ran to the baron's cries. Eric slept badly, now and then waking up - he was overwhelmed by thoughts. Yes, the Middle Ages proved to be the most natural with all its charms and customs. These are not the times to squeal about human rights with a nasal voice. Only a firm hand and an iron will are valued here, and human life costs only how much when you yourself can not take it away and have to pay a mercenary. All the rest is just the entourage, which for some aesthetics is adorned with all the filth and filth that here blossomed a riotous color under a wide variety of sauces.

In the morning, he jumped neither light nor dawn and conducted the last revision of his property, remembering whether he had prepared everything, whether he had taken everything. With money, he smoothly began to have problems, since after repairing the crossbow, buying new bolts and fitting a smart harness with a hook under him, Erik had only fifteen denarii left. If this goes on, then very soon he will have nothing to eat. But a man with a gun will always feed himself, so that our hero has only to choose food in the teeth. So - in the way. He moved along the road to Reinfelden and further to Brag, it was in dangerous proximity to the castle, but other ways were too far taken away. Toward evening, he overtook a group of travelers. Ten people, all in armor, with clockwork horses with luggage, but the guys are clearly not military. We talked, met, it turned out that among them there was not a single nobleman. Strange and curious. So they rode a dozen miles and a half, until the fork came out from behind the turn, and it turned out that they did not go to Augsburg. Say goodbye and went our way. Eric drove off just a couple of miles from the intersection. After all, it is curious - where and why they go in armor and with weapons. It's huge money! Who and why would they trust their commoners? In general, his doubts did not last long. Unfolding the horse, our hero decided to follow them up to the night, of course - without getting in their eyes. How long, shortly, but after two hours it began to quickly darken, and an hour later the trail sharply took to the forest, where half a mile, on the edge of the forest crackled a fire, glowing bright star in the thick darkness. Fortunately, there was a coppice behind Eric, and his silhouette was hard to see against the backdrop of a black massif, so his appearance was not noticed. Carefully dismounting, the young baron tied his horse to a tree about a mile from the fire, just in the copse. And he, crawling, with weapons, trying not to rattle them, went to spend the night strange travelers. Alas, it was given to him this very hard, well at least the chain mail, tightly stretched on the aketon did not make unnecessary sounds. After spending about two hours on this guerrilla, Eric, still managed to occupy a comfortable position in the shade of a large oak tree, which stood a little further from the forest on a small hillock, about ten meters from the fire. On the part of vacationers, this mound was not visible at all and looked like a solid, blurred black spot. Sitting in the shadows, our hero carefully watched. Ten armed men against one though strong, but a teenager is not a joke. But, finally, they figured out the supper and went to bed. It was noteworthy how uncomfortable they all do. Kind of like experienced guys, but the camp was also broken in a strange, easily defensible place, and the horses were dragged along for a long time. Doubts were fumbling for the soul, and fingers were pulling at the bed of the crossbow, which had already been cocked and loaded, just in case. The decision was prompted by them, leaving only one hour to peck on the log with their faces facing the fire. Then they went carelessly into the arms of a sound and healthy sleep. Now it remains to choose the moment. Immediately to attack it is impossible, it is possible to frighten away dozing prey. It is better to wait for the shift of the sentry, everyone will fall asleep more firmly, and the time for changing the guard will be known. The hour of observation of the snoring men was affecting our freshly burgled robber. He miraculously did not fall asleep and only an active stir at the fire, the dream was swept away. For about five minutes he shook his changer, who was drilling something, kicking and absolutely not wanting to step onto the post. At the same time, the rest of the travelers did not even break the snore's melody, completely unresponsive to the similar noise at their side. Somehow the holy mystery still happened, and now the honorable log warmed his booty with a new character. Fortunately, he was too slow to nod and fight with sleep, and so, settling on his improvised throne, and warmed up, he performed an extremely important act - a tenth sip was introduced into the night choir, which, tearing, sang a hymn to Morpheus on the forest edge. After waiting a couple of minutes, Eric slowly pulled his crossbow to him, squatted, aimed and fired at the sentry's face. The bolt lay gently and gently straight into the eye socket. The light sound of the bowed string remained unnoticed by the others, and the sentry man emitted a grunting sound and lifted his head silently and knocked over the log silently. From the outside it looked as if he had fallen in a dream on his back, and so he fell asleep further. Seconds flowed slowly, as if lazily, and with each growing tension, and fingers painfully dig into the box of the crossbow. A minute passed, but, alas, these strange people did not jump up, but shamelessly and brazenly snored. Our hero did not try to test fate anymore, it's not enough that the bolt will not lie so gently and tingle about some metallic object. So he put down the crossbow and very slowly began to creep up to the travelers, crouching and clutching a knife in his hand. The people at the fire lay in the bag, but either on their sides or on their stomachs. Therefore, not especially inventing, Eric slowly and gently walked from person to person and the chorus slowly lost its force. His knife neatly entered from the back of the head to the base of the skull at such an angle that the blade would go to the side of the brain, where the part that was responsible for breathing and palpitation was struck. Therefore, comrades died almost instantly . . Quiet and neat strokes that did not cause any screams or noise. Only a slight crunch of cartilage served as an indicator of a successful outcome. When he had finished, he sat down near the fire and clasped his knees. The whole body was chilling, and his throat was vomited - it was his first corpses. That's what the place of the night found - the ten corpses and one guy sitting motionless and looking with bulging eyes somewhere into the void. It's easy to say - ten corpses, and even their own hands. Of course, before breaking the level of the hero from the infamous novel Dostoevsky was very far away, but in the soul of this guy was rotten. How much blood has already spilled. First his family, and now these people too. And how much more will be spilled? Is the road to the place under the sun going along such a bloody path? From the trance Eric led a ray of sunlight, which reflected from the helmet, hit him in the eye. A little blinking and examining the clearing, he ran after the crossbow, and then to his horse. Returning to the parking lot, he busily began to deal with the property that he inherited from the accidentally deceased fellow travelers.

By noon the first results from the catch were summed up. It turned out not everything is as rosy as he supposed. The fact is that from under the cottages, with which they were covered, it was visible only the individual parts of the armor. However, the overall picture was not visible. The bodies were undressed and stacked neatly by the trees, twenty paces from the remnants of the fire. And before the cooled coals there was a bunch of various junk that Eric was trying to sort and evaluate. It was clear that it did not make any sense to take everything, and it was not possible to carry it off, because for a night the horseshoe horses fled, having felt the blood and greatly frightened. So he could only rely on his horse and the two that he could find in the ravine, from where they could not get out. Out of the armor he received a dozen helmets of the spangelhelm type in good condition, six rivet mail in a condition close to slippage, three aketons and two coifs from riveted rings. Of the weapons were six copies with leaf-shaped tips and eight axes. All the rest was in a terrible state, so it took a lot of time to remove the metal from these, completely killed things. For example, it was very tedious to cut off the sewn pieces of chain mail to the old, torn aketon. Spears and axes, by the way, were removed from the shaft and stacked in a bag, so that they did not take up much space. It was decided not to take clothes, as it was stained with blood, and, in general, could cause trouble. The money was not too thick, only sixteen denarii and a handful of obols. One of the deceased was found a letter to some Italian, which set out trading information with names, names, prices and some recommendations. Comparing the information from the letter with the property, Eric came to the conclusion that the guys were hired people, who was contracted by some trading house, he also equiped. One thing was strange - why did the mercenaries behave so carelessly? Is it possible that at night the bandits do not attack? Or were they just inexperienced? In bags on horse-drawn horses they carried food for a rather long journey. From the foodstuffs, jerky, salt and bread were taken for a week's journey, on which the sorting of the property was completed, and it was time to cover up the tracks. The young baron approached the corpses and began to look around. In fifteen steps, behind the trees, he saw a small ravine, quite deep, to accommodate both comrades and their possessions. At the bottom, he laid the corpses, put all their belongings on top, which he did not take with them. Above he planted leaves and branches. The desire to burn them, he dismissed quite quickly, since the smoke and stench of burnt meat, can attract other people. When he had finished his work in the parking lot, he packed the khabar with clockwork horses and, tying them with bridles, behind the saddle in front of him, again drove towards Augsburg.

The next two days, Eric moved extremely cautiously, stopping at night only in large inns, and on the road moved in fragments, avoiding any suspicious fellow travelers and protracted conversations. On the morning of the third day, a dozen miles of the road, a small village emerged from behind the turn. There it was very noisy and from the outskirts there was absolutely no people to be seen. Having held the horses, the young baron jumped to the ground and cocked the crossbow, sat back in the saddle, and, holding his weapon on the ready, moved to the village. Something strange happened there. In the square stood a crowd, in the center of which, on the barrel stood a priest, at his feet was a bound young woman. The sight of this poor thing was pretty sad: clothes are torn in many places, many abrasions and bruises, all dirty in mud and own blood. Eric drove up to the crowd a dozen steps away. The cries subsided and everyone looked at him.

" Who is this woman? " Asked von Lenzburg in Latin in a most heavy, almost buzzing voice. He said and almost did not flinch, because he did not even suspect that he had such a useful and loud voice if bellowed.

"This woman is a helper of Satan, Irish," the priest answered politely and bowed. "Forgive my impudence, but what made the noble gentleman visit our humble village? "

" I'm just passing through here. "I was attracted to the noise that you arranged. What exactly did she do?

"She poisoned the cows from the venerable husband Henrik.

"What are you going to do with it? "

"We want to sink her noble lord. "

"Who judged her? "

" We tried it with the whole world. "The decision was taken unanimously.

"And who owns this village? "

"To the honorable Sir Harald. "

"Why did you dare neglect his trial? "

Then a huge man with an ax jumped out of the crowd and, stepping on a pair of cases forward, stood in half-turned and roared with a thick bass:

He did not have time to finish the conversation, since the bolt lay neatly in his ear. Eric slowly lowered the crossbow, looked around the silent crowd with an evil glance and in the same buzzing voice asked:

- Who else wants to express his respect to Baron Eric von Lenzburg?

The crowd was frightened in silence. Yeah, the pressure and arrogance - the second happiness. And our hero, not wanting to lose initiative, practically growled, taking out his sword from its scabbard:

" Get out of the square! " Running Dishonor! Harald learns - everyone hangs on the branches!

And he moved forward. Latin, of course, they did not know, but the tone with which these words were uttered, and the naked blade very stimulate inter-lingual communication. So, after half a minute, only a nervously sobbing woman remained in the square, the abbot of the village church, pale with fear, and the corpse of the unlucky ruffian. Arriving nearer to the priest and not getting off his horse, he lifted his drooping head with the end of the sword so that he would look into his eyes. He watched it for about five minutes. And then he said:

" Good man, do not take it for work, untie the rope on this woman and take us to her house. "You're a kind person, will you help me? "

The priest nodded quickly.

Ok. And afterwards you will bring her horse to her house under the saddle and, tying him to the fence, will do what the good people of this village have done. After all, do you want to return to your house, and lie down a bit on your favorite trestle, thinking about the inscrutability of the ways of our Lord Jesus Christ?

The priest again expressed his full consent. And the baron smiled at him in the most gracious way, and then, suddenly changing his face to a completely furious and malicious expression, he roared:

Do it!

At the same time, just dipping the tip of the sword into the chin of the holy father, which made the blood run through a thin trickle along his fat neck. By itself such happiness our figure in the church apparatus could not stand and most naturally wet himself. But he quickly realized himself and began to follow very carefully and diligently all the instructions that Eric had given him. So forty minutes later our brutal boy was driving his small caravan in four horses.

They were silent for the first hour. Then the woman, slightly drove her horse, came up to him, put a hand on his shoulder and said something in her, in a bird's tongue. The Baron arched an eyebrow in surprise and, scratching his head thoughtfully, asked her in Latin, for he had not understood the words he had just uttered. In general, it turned out that she knows Latin, but it's bad, but he does not know the ancient version of Irish, even at the level of elementary phrases. The next two days of the trip were quite calm, only in the evenin, in the tavern, the host was indignant at the depravity of the young knight, who was dragging to his room some kind of indecent girl. But everything was decided very simply and graciously. Eric approached him with the slightest smile, drew his dagger and pressed them, completely superfluous to him, in the crotch of the talkative fat man. He immediately lost his talk and made a profuse sweat. Meanwhile, the baron, keeping the same sweet smile, told him that it was a sinful thing for such a venerable person to talk about absolutely indecent things in the presence of a lady, especially not knowing who was in front of him. Needless to say, the fat man assuredly assured that from tomorrow he would sit down on a fortnight's post to clear his filthy language, which uttered such an obscene muck, naturally, uttered entirely by stupidity, without evil and some kind of back thought. On this, all the surprises have exhausted themselves. Two days of the journey were filled with conversations that went with difficulty, due to some language barrier, but, nevertheless, with mutual interest. His new companion was only 18 years old, although he thought it was more, and her name was Morrigan. An unusual name, but also an unusual girl. As he understood from the story, this girl was the daughter of Dermod MacCarthy, the fourth ruler of the Desmond kingdom in southern Ireland. When nine years ago her brother sat on the throne, he decided to get rid of his numerous relatives in the form of brothers and sisters, in order to sit on the throne stronger. Therefore, in the same year, the Normans were hired, who raided his palace, during his absence for hunting. All were killed, even the servants' children, only a nine-year-old Morrigan was able to hide in a basket with a bunch of tattered rags. When the enemy left, she took her to her and nursed her along with her children, a devoted servant. As soon as she was 12 years old, the husband of the wet nurse blabbed about the fact that a girl from the Dermoda family was still alive. Guests visited quickly and immediately. This time the brother was not shy and came himself, along with his squad. He interrupted the whole village, but she managed to escape again. The most ugly thing was that this scoundrel defiantly hung all the villagers on the boughs of trees growing in the district, and she sat in reeds and sobbed. For a couple of days she fled in hysterics to the east, she turned out in pain and fear, but not to herself, but to those people who could die if they knew who she was. In tattered clothes, she fell on a small hillock, overgrown with moss, and when she woke up, she was in a hut with an elderly woman who had sheltered her. It was an herbalist. Three years ago, this kind grandmother died of some strange disease and the girl, afraid of getting infected, fled from there, and then on a rowing boat that she stole in a small village on the southern coast of Ireland, went across the sea. Oh, and she had a terrible fear when she crossed the strait to Normandy. Then there was a trip on some roads, until last year, she decided to settle in the village he already knew. But here everything was disgusting and wrong. Morrigan was young, beautiful, and was for them a stranger, so she struggled to climb under the skirt, sometimes by force, in places sweet tale, most of the male population of the village, strangely enough, primarily family. Of course, she fought back, as best she could and as she could. So I was able to preserve my virginity, which terribly irritated my neighbors. And so, the day before the well-known events, the same peasant whom Eric shot, receiving from her a yoke between his legs, decided to take revenge. He was a nasty person, and therefore accused her of dying, a week earlier, of the cow. Say, it was she, a sorceress, who poisoned her. The village took this decision with a bang, for almost all the peasants suffered from wounded pride, and all women were afraid that they would be taken away by the peasants. In short, word for word, they came to her house all crowd, beaten and dragged to the square. And there the priest began to publicly slander her, calling him a walking maid and an accomplice of Satan. In short - her fate was full of joy, happiness and family warmth. Eric also concluded for himself that he now has a potential candidate for the medical provision of the gang. She is thin, but small, it is true - in her eighteen years, she looks smaller than the baron at 14. But the Morrigan character is correct, it did not break down, well done. Yes, and she swore to him in loyalty until his death, which is important. So, in the solution of the second task, the first move and the move are very nice.

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.

In the morning his whole body ached, especially the left forearm, where the arrow hit, so they drove more slowly than usual. The end of the fourth day of the journey led them to a rather lively inn in the large commercial city of Regensburg. Everywhere there was a hubbub and noise. After talking with the people, Eric found out that Arab merchants were going through the city. Of course, he immediately went to look at them and assess their strengths and benefits from a small accident. Alas, but with the merchants there were four dozen well-armed equestrian warriors. Yes, and the wagon is huge - what to do with a whole column of carriages with valuable eastern fabrics was completely incomprehensible. In general - no luck. However, later, eating with Morrigan in the common room of the tavern, he found out that literally across the table from them sat the guys from the guard of a certain Mr. Stefan Solvati, who was going to Genoa with an order from one Krakow trading house. The guards were recruited from different nations, and therefore they communicated among themselves in broken Latin, often distorting it and babbling on their native dialects. If it were not for profound knowledge of vulgar Latin, it is still unknown - would understand what our young baron or not from their conversation. Having eaten, he went up to his room and began to explain that the young Irishman must learn by turning around in the hall. Her idea was not very pleasant, as robbing emissaries of trading houses is dangerous, but obeyed and left. After a couple of hours, when it was completely dark, she returned, carrying with her information on the protection of a curious Italian and other interesting details. In general, nothing particularly iridescent did not work. In total, our Stefan had one servant and a dozen guards. Guard experienced, sensible, in good armor and with quality, well-groomed weapons. At the same time, it was especially unpleasant that every guard had a good Hungarian bow. They were going to spend another day in the city, talking about something with the Arabs, and then leaving for Milan. They always stop exclusively at inns, move very carefully and in general the level of vigilance goes off scale. The only weak point was the storage of provisions, which they keep in the cellar of a tavern, because it's hot outside. If we summarize, then we get a strong and vigilant company, which we can not take by available forces. But the level of their equipment and vigilance was intrigued to the extreme, because only one armor cost not less than three or four marks, and about what they were carrying, it remains only to guess and to lick. After calculating the situation, the young baron began to torture Morrigan about her, extremely useful, knowledge received from a kind grandmother in the forest. By morning the plan was ready, and they went to the pharmacist for the ingredients. But they decided to stop by one by one. At first our young lady was going on, who talked for a long time about herbs, treatment and other interesting things with an elderly, esculapius. Having found out that he has the right amount of dried belladonna and hoof oil, she paid for everything without bargaining. The batch of grass was taken quite considerable, with a margin, according to our beauty's calculations, it is enough for a double lethal dose in each wineskin. The stock was taken with the expectation of an unforeseen situation.

Meanwhile, Eric himself went to the market and tried, quite randomly, to get acquainted with Stefan. Strangely enough, but such an interesting young man himself attracted the attention of the Italian. The fact is that after realizing what the Italian is following, the baron arranged a small bush with a tight-fisted merchant. Well, the poor fellow was not at all willing to give him a piece of parchment for half the price. The beauty and elegance of the designs that our baron weaved from the correct Latin language, in the process of invoking the head of the gargoyle of wrath of the most diverse Gods and body parts, amazed imagination, and therefore were duly appreciated by the Italian. He gladly joined in this fun and, together, they were able, in front of the gay audience, to repulse the parchment for the young knight. And got acquainted. They talked and were surprised to find that they live in the same tavern. So, swearing vowingly to wake up in the evening and talk about the hard life of travelers, they went about their business in an excellent position of spirit. From the market, our joker went straight to the pharmacist where, on the list compiled by his herbalist, he bought the ingredients for the additive and neutralizer. The main problem was that the trading emissary accidentally break out with the company, should be outside the city, preferably on a deserted road. Therefore, it was decided to poison the wine in the road wineskins, which they kept in the basement of the tavern, and that in the morning they all wanted to drink abundantly, in the evening with them to hike and drink wine with a small additive causing a strong and persistent dryness in the mouth and throat. Nothing dangerous and you can survive, but you will want to drink very solidly, so they sip their wineskins for a sweet soul. Until the first tavern is not reached, as a vyhlebayut. The concentration of poison decided to do a little, so that it did not cut down the people at once, but let it go away. The reason for drinking, in addition to the glorious acquaintance was mutually beneficial transaction for the sale of the letter, which was seized during the last catch. As it turned out, it was very useful for trade people. For the letter, ten denarii were poured, which were peppered to the undisguised joy of the guards. One misfortune, the additive causing dryness had to be added to all the wine that was in the tavern, so that the mass of people in the morning will simply be deceived with pleasure. Except, perhaps, our treacherous couple, which was prepared for itself by an additive neutralizer.

Evening came. We sat. We chatted. Stefan's guards were particularly pleased with the story of the escape from the castle and the battle with the robbers. The authority of the young knight in their eyes has grown significantly. Drank, surprisingly, modestly. But additives and from one glass should suffice, and have drunk not less than three mugs each. They sat there merrily, setting the tone for the whole room, but, alas, everything once comes to an end. So our craftsmen had to disperse. As usual, they said goodbye for a long time, shook hands. The Italian invited to visit Genoa and told in detail how to find his house. A little more and they would have started to fraternize, but Morrigan intervened in a timely manner, as she was observant of everything from a distance, because the woman was indecent to drink with men. All went to the rooms and went to bed. But our hero was not up to sleep - he was intolerably anxious for sex, as the young hormones played so violently that banally prevented him from falling asleep. At hand was the Irish, but she could not be touched, since she was subordinate and after such a precedent it would be difficult for him to keep a distance with her. You could always go down into the common room and seduce one of the girls that carry the food, but the chance of getting a good, good sore on your lower head exceeded all reasonable limits. It remained to look for young virgins and try to achieve success with them. Dirty, of course, but in addition to irritation mucous, nothing terrible will not work. But this is an idea! In general, after half an hour he flirted at the porch of one of the houses with a young special fourteen years old, who clearly had an interest in our baron. Whatever you say, but at the age of 14 he looked very solid and attractive: a soft bass, a stern face and a harmoniously built, strong body. As a result, an hour after he went hunting, he was already doing "gymnastics" in full swing in the collapse of the hay behind the city stables. Filling his bubbling physiology, he took a note on the note and subsequently used it more than once. When our young Lovelace returned to the room, Morrigan did not sleep, but carefully pretended. In the end, he caught her at the moment when she opened her eyes. Realizing that the conspiracy had failed, she looked condemnantly at our hero and, pressing her lips, pointedly turned to the other side.

The morning met Eric light and fresh. Broths that made his companion, worked just miracles - no headaches, no dryness, no lethargy. As if I did not drink in the evening. They had risen before the Italian, but they waited while the man, with enough sleepy guards, departed on his way to Milan. After that, at a considerable distance, they followed them. Although the plan was both risky and complex, but it worked like clockwork. Three hours' drive, on the shore of a small lake, surrounded by willow thickets, they found the emissary's camp. The only person who was still alive was Stefan himself. He grabbed the air hoarsely, trying to breathe, but the rapidly developing throat swelling surely killed him. Eric approached, crouched down and smiled sweetly. Stefan recognized him, pulled his hands to him and wheezed:

" The murderer! "Assassin!

To which the Baron replied, in the most affectionate tone:

- Sleep calmly dear friend, - and squeezed the throat of the poor fellow, speeding up the process. Tom sufficed enough crumbs, and, twitching for a few seconds, he fell silent forever.

Mindful of what happened last time, the embarrassment, Eric ordered the Irish to follow the horsemen's horseshit steeds, and he himself began to study the prey. At the same time, she had to follow the terrain and, in case of danger, to warn ahead of time. This time he immediately began to look for a place to accommodate bodies and excess property. I did not want to drown corpses in the lake, as this would spoil the water in the district for a long time, so I had to walk seventy steps along the coastal thickets before the ravine of the correct size turned up. Having squealed and pohav from anticipated happiness of rough labor activity, the baron began to undress the guys who had laid down their wild head for the glory of his purse. And now, when there were already twelve bare corpses lying on the beach, the idea dawned on him. The difficulty in implementing the idea was that it was difficult to load a horse on a horse, so it was necessary to build a kind of flimsy semblance of harness with a leg loop from the belt belts. Ten minutes of trouble with straps were fully paid for by the ease with which the bodies went to rest in the ravine. Having dealt with the company of the commercial emissary, Eric took charge of the property. Ten full Haubeks of riveted rings and a short mail made half chopped, half of riveted rings. Next came the lamellar armor of the emissary, ten late spangelhelms, one helmet of the "pilot" type and one Phrygian cap with a sinker and a barmaid. All armor is well-groomed and in excellent condition. Then there were ten Hungarian recursive bows, ten copies, twelve excellent swords, which Mr. Oakshot in his time would define as type XII. In addition to this, twelve round shields, a pair of sets of bracers of a "board" type, eight knives and a whole bunch of excellent arrows. Traditionally, I decided not to take clothes. With cash, too, everything was in order, even more so. In addition to ninety-eight denarii and one hundred and thirty-two obolov, which was shoved across belts, pads and purses, travelers found a bag containing fifteen stamps of silver and a pair of handfuls of quality river pearls, the total cost of the same number of stamps. All the property was difficult to fit on six horses. The entire small herd of twenty-four heads will not be able to lead them, so only the best horses were selected, which can then be sold. In general, and in general, if they do not themselves befriend good people, then you can live, there is little of it, now you can live well. They were able to pull out only towards evening. They did not stop for the night, and, having skirted the old town along the outer radius, set off towards Vienna. The two remaining days they quietly drove their own way. A couple of times they were harassed by the patrol, but unsuccessfully, because several denarii and a small speech about the local rulers, whose assignments they no doubt fulfilled, were very convincing. Although not for everyone. Already not far from the purpose of his journey, a small detour of four completely uncultured commoners so consumed with a desire to take away the stolen property that Eric had to put a bolt in the face of their leader and a sword to kill the horse under his brazen helper. Why he fell and broke his leg in his thigh. This very tonifying effect on the remaining rascals. Feeling extremely uncomfortable, these gallant extortionists decided to flee from him in the most insolent way. The horse of the first such turn of events could not digest and stumbled, just a few steps away, throwing the poor fellow out of the saddle, and the second himself fell out of the saddle when he tried to turn around quickly, for some reason he took his feet out of the stirrups. Only out of pity he finished off the woeful, so that they would not suffer. They did not take their horses, just like the ragged, old coats of mail, so as not to arouse suspicion. The axes and spears removed from the shaft added loads to the horses of the improvised convoy. Well, and bought a little coins, only three denarii in obol. Here the main thing is not to choke snatched piece of pie, and then the guys and so his too fatty took.

" Morrigan, why did you go with me? "I offered to continue on my own, and for a reason - you would have a horse and some money for the first time.

"I owe you my life and do not want to look in your eyes like an ungrateful bastard. "

- Come on, I told you myself. My path will be very dangerous and literally flooded with blood to the last extreme.

" Eric, do not you understand? "You are the only person in this world, a man who treated me kindly. Few of this, did not solicit. After all, you, Mr. Baron, perfectly understand that I could hardly resist your interest for a long time.

- Oh, what are you talking about? I'm only fourteen years old, what kind of interest?

- Little boys on girls do not run at night, and all the more in the hay after cute cooing does not return.

- Here's another. At least I am poor in exile, but of noble birth.

" But does that change the fact that you're a woman? "Admit it, you went with me, including because I liked you.

"I'm older than you. "

So what? Does it affect sexual desire so much?

- Eric, stop, please. I am ashamed to discuss such topics. You, in the first place, a person who can protect their people, and very decisively. And I'm tired of running and hiding all my life, because I want a little peace of mind and confidence in my future. You give confidence.

And what kind of brother is running after you? You're sort of like the throne Desmond can not claim.

- I - yes, but the one who will take me as a wife, through marriage will have all rights to the throne. That is, after the death of his brother, by our right, the crown will pass to him. And Donald wants to retain power for his children. Therefore, in order to eliminate misunderstandings, he decided to kill all relatives, which can create problems.

" How very nice of him. "And let's do him nice?

"InMeaning".

" Well, he's asleep and dreaming about dismembering you on the block. "Am I right?

- Let's admit.

- Therefore, you need to make sure that his dreams become more saturated and beautiful, but extremely short. On the nearest farmstead, I must send him a letter on my behalf, in which I will inform you that I, the baron von Lenzburg, is engaged to his sister. Well, what's with your eyes widened? Calmly, it will just be written in a letter, it's a joke that he can not test. A little such a dirty trick that will deprive him of sleep and appetite.

" Yes, my poor brother. You know, I even feel sorry for him.

- Morrigan, such a kindness is not to face a woman with such a name.

"Do you think she I ? "

- Yes, do not fret yourself. He laughed. "You see, the name devotes us to this or that um, a supernatural being. Astrologers and other mystics call it an egregor, it is engendered by our thoughts and emotions about it. Initiation establishes a connection between this being and man. As a result, a person begins to acquire the positive and negative properties of the one to whom it is dedicated. Of course, in a weakened form. And here there is some cunning - the stronger the egregor, that is, the more people think about it and experience emotions in this regard, the stronger the influence on the initiated. However, the more initiated, the weaker the influence, since the forces of this being are not unlimited. Understood what I mean?

Yes! It turns out that I was dedicated to the goddess of war and death on the battlefields?

"She was not a goddess. "

- Why?

- Morrigan became a goddess only with the advent of Christianity, which her so christened. Before that, she was a bath, that is, an ancient, wise being. Who she really was and whether it was at all, no one knows. Perhaps she was a strong and wise woman, perhaps a creation of the imagination of excited scribes. It does not matter, it's important that now it is what we think about and feel about it, because the material shell of this being, if it was, is now completely destroyed, which means that the opinion about it is exclusively in the hands of people.

- A strong and wise woman do you mean the tales of ancient, wise ancestors?

Yes! Which throughout the world acted as teachers and judges. But these are all trifles. If you talk about the case, then you are devoted to a very unmerciful egregor. And, apparently, very weak, since I do not think that many women in this world, bear a similar name. Why your parents did this, I do not understand, because if he was strong, then you would only bring death and battles to those around you.

" Eric, but that's it. "All my close people are dead, everyone who tried to protect me, died, and now those who hurt me also began to die.

" Hmm that's right. "So, we will assume that you are into the taste. The main thing now do not crash your own, try to focus on your enemies. I'll cover you with a shield, and you'll kill them with the eyes of your beautiful gray eyes. Or no, better than screaming that the Morrigan orders them to die, so you will not even have to look out for the shield.

"Mister Baron, stop talking nonsense. "

" Why are you so tense? "Remember - the influence of the egregor is very weak and can not kill people. It can not even cause diarrhea. And it affects only the character of a person. Okay, drove, and then with your sense of humor, not long and from a heart attack die.

Because of what?

" Hmmm heart stops. " - Erik made a clever face, rightly perplexed by her ignorance, then turned away, and they drove on. Well, do not tell my companion in real fact that nobody uses such word, because the phenomenon that it describes is not yet known to medicine.

And now, after so much toil in front of our travelers, a view of the glorious city of Vienna opened. When entering the city, the cat with the cross, which was worn on Erica, had a very great advantage. He just politely greeted him, was asked to introduce himself and quietly passed on. It turns out that there were decent institutions here, serving as a base for the crusaders, both moving to the Holy Land, and vice versa. Plus, in the city there was a large farmstead of the Templars. So the city guard was already accustomed to a large number of guests and was not surprised even by such strange caravans. Moreover, the young baron had everything neatly packed, tied up, there were no traces of blood on the property, and he himself, with his companion, inspired confidence with his neatness.

To begin with, we settled down in a small inn in the depths of the city. Discharged, ate. After that, leaving the Morrigan to guard things, the young von Lenzburg went to look for the famous smith master, of whom he had heard so much. Masters Gottfried could not be found right away, had to stray. There was a very bad knowledge of the ancient version of the German language that surrounded him in the last few months. He has already learned to understand more or less what he is told and even tolerated to explain (albeit with a notable accent), as being in the language environment is the most effective language teacher. But it concerned a simple language, but all sorts of jokes, built on the game context, and word games, in the spirit of the ancient skalds, he was completely incomprehensible. Alas, but they liked to joke like that, it was even considered to be quite fashionable, so regularly he just did not understand what they were talking about. Spending two hours on wandering and having accumulated a barely restrained desire to give a pumpkin to anyone who once again tries to flash a beautiful allegorical speech, our hero, has reached the required farmstead. There he found two guys behind the process of drawing wire for chain mail from small strips of iron. More precisely one forged these strips, and the second stretched out a wire. They were glad to take a break and enjoyed talking to a curious guest. The result of the conversation was encouraging - the Honorable Gottfried could easily take a student, by itself for a fee, and acted this way more than once. Moreover, one of the apprentices, who now spoke to him, was his disciple. True, the prices for studies were palpable. For example, working in favor of the farmstead, Ulrich paid a silver denomination every third Sunday, which allowed him to study for another three weeks. The young baron, conversing with the boys, walked around the smithy, examining and evaluating it. Nothing special could not be found, more precisely to say a lot of things, from the usual equipment, he did not find. In comparison with the university, the workshop of the extreme economy class, there was nothing at all. A hike, only having looked with own eyes on that in what conditions, experts worked in former years it is possible to start to appreciate modern conveniences. For an hour Erik spent at the farmstead, but, since the venerable Gottfried arrives only tomorrow, then it's time for him to move on. It's not good, you know, to tear off honest people from hard and tedious work for a long time.

The next few hours our traveler had a self-guided tour of the city. Once, even in that life, he was in Vienna, but they are incomparable. The ancient version looked somehow incredibly flawed, and only very remotely resembling that well-groomed pearl of German culture that he remembered. Dimensions, of course, he did not take into account, but he estimated the qualitative component. Visited earlier cities told him that here he was waiting for the same cesspool behind the fence, but he, nevertheless, cherished the hope in the soul for something more neat and stone. Yes yes " You are not mistaken. Except for a few public and ritual buildings, everything was wooden, though it was densely built up and often two-storyed. Stone-stoned streets were not everywhere, often there was an ordinary primer. The streets themselves are flooded with slops and heaps of rotting debris, especially closer to the city walls. There are very few trees. And the smell! Everything mixed here - from the fragrance of fresh stools and decaying remains to the smoke and the killer ambergris of horse sweat in the heat. It remains only to add a touch on public toilets, or rather their complete absence. Now our hero finally realized what exactly modern Moscow is trying to imitate the European metropolises. So, the people recovered right on the street did not bother him. Only occasionally do some of them retreat into the gateway, and even then, not out of shame, but that some joker of the kick does not hang out during the mystery of defecation. In general - there is something to see, impressions will be unforgettable. Sorry for the camera at hand there.

It was getting dark. Eric went to the inn. There were so many impressions that sometimes he even smeared in them. Therefore, he firmly decided not to drop to the level of what surrounded him. And he did not wash well. To realize these thoughts, it took more than a spacious room in an inn, you need a small house. Information about the houses and prices for their rent was bought from the owner of the yard for one obol. At first the Baron was even surprised at such talkativeness and activity, but everything became clear when a proposal was made to show one interesting proposal right from the morning. It turns out that our little informant, inherited a small two-story house. The exit from the leased building was to a paved cobblestone road, there was a basement, an attic and a balcony. In general - the guy of our guy was intrigued and in the morning, a little light, they were already inspecting the room in question. It was somewhat damp, a lot of garbage and it is obvious that the stove has not been heated for a long time, as part of the wall was slightly moldy. It should be put in order by washing, cleaning and drying, but in general - it is quite accurate and strong. Particularly pleased with the massive oak door on the bolt and metal hinges that opened outward. When they started talking about payment, it turned out that this pleasure is very cheap, only a week's obol. Everything was very strange. Therefore, when Edwin left the door, the baron snatched the knife and put it to the throat of the innkeeper.

- Tell me! The guy said softly and coldly.

What? What to tell? - frightened the man, looking around frightened.

" Tell me, why does not anyone live here long? "What happened here? Why are you selling for this price?

" Nothing has happened here, my lord. "And I sell so cheap only because of the kindness to you.

" Dear Edwin, look into my honest eyes of a nobleman. " - the poor man looked there and was warped - he had not yet met such a cold and malicious glance that sees him through and through. "Now I'll ask you one more time, and if, again, you decide to lie to me, I'll cut your tender, fat throat. "Few of this - I will say that it was so. You understood me?

The poor man nodded quickly, clapping his frightened eyes, and large drops of sweat appeared on his temples.

"Edwin, tell me, are you so kind, why does not anyone live in this house? "

"It's all her, she's " Pale as chalk, he swallowed a lump that rolled to his throat.

- Who is she?

" My niece. She lived here with her husband. And when he went into the crusade and disappeared there, she could not stand the grief and hung herself.

" Did she hang herself here? "In this house?

Yes! Here on this beam - he stretched out his hand, pointing to the crossbar across the entire ceiling of the second floor. Eric removed the knife from his throat and he hastily grabbed for it, checking the integrity.

"What did not you say at once? "

" So you refuse to rent it. "Everyone refuses, as they learn.

" Listen, good man, my promise is in force-if you lie to me again, even in trifles, I'll cut your throat. "I was clear and convincing?

Of course. My lord, you have a divine gift to convince people!

- Here's a fine fellow. And do not worry about the niece of the deceased, the noble should be ashamed to be afraid of something or someone. And even more so the spirits of bad girls. I'll take this house for rent, not for a day, but for a couple of years. So rejoice. And for trying to deceive me, I'll pay you half as much - on the basis of every second Sunday, for two weeks ahead. Does this condition suit you?

Sir! Sure! It suits me completely! I will immediately send people here, that they cleaned everything up and washed it.

All right then. That's agreed. Here, take it, it's a deposit for a month.

Having said this, he threw two obols so that flying overhead, they fell into his hands, but the man could not catch them. Playing in an inept clown and still dropping both coins on the floor. And then fell to his knees in order to pick them up. The floor was covered with small debris and a thick layer of dust, so the chance of loss was really great. The guy looked at the behavior of the owner of the tavern, silently grinned and, slowly, went to the exit. Out on the street they both came out more than pleased. Eric was pleased with the unexpected benefit in the form of very cheap housing, and Edwin to what he could, at last, at least to someone to pass this accursed house, moreover for such a long time. In the tavern, our hero was not returning from his hand, and so he went to the city square where the bargaining was located. There, a local guard was quickly found, who, after giving a denarius, drank sharply from the late Bert and Henry von Lenzburg. Seeing the interest in commercial affairs, with such a virtuous person, the guards showed the most running places in the iron ranks and led him to the village elder, which followed the market. The chosen place cost a denarius a day and Erik, paying three days in advance, went on a visit to Gottfried, in the hope that he had already returned to the farmstead.

Eric was pleased and in his head there were tunes of various funny and cheerful songs, heard by him in a past life. He would have walked up to the blacksmith himself, had it not been for the selective mate, that he was so loud that he would rumble through the streets with a melodious echo. Stopping and listening, it became obvious that the master had already returned home. Which, however, he has a gentle temper and a gentle voice! A little later it became clear that Ulrich is the one who, by stretching wire, managed to make all the blanks of smaller diameter, so now all eight kilograms of iron blanks need to be reworked. Having made the poor pupil happy with his trembling participation, Gottfried glanced at his guest. He chuckled and, apparently realizing who had come to him and why, silently pointed to the door of the house and went there first. Language found immediately, because the baron almost from the threshold said the price of training - for a denarius a week. Study conditions are free and very free. In general, everything was developing as well as possible. Too everything and too good, even somehow strange. The next month passed fairly calmly. Odd days of the week, except Sundays, there were classes in the smithy, and even then not from dawn. Even days passed in training, horseback riding, domestic chores and language practice. The fact is that in the evenings he was engaged with his companion by the language she was carrying, and practiced in writing with the help of a goose feather. In the market, things went well, and therefore by the end of the month all the trophies were sold, even beads and it turned out to be sold. So, after all the spending, by the end of the month they had just a huge fortune - a total of about 35 Viennese silver marks. This is 10 kilograms of silver! With this money, he could live to a very old age in peace and contentment. But alas, peace is not his destiny. By the end of the month Eric began to notice strange people who regularly pass near his house, watching him and in general - showing an interest. This alarmed and one evening Eric shared with the girl his observations. It turned out that she also noticed them, and even on the market - all the familiar faces who often approached and asked, asked the price and generally tried to talk heart to heart. Thinking about what, what, Morrigan and they came to the conclusion - they were lost in the armor. The fact is that the armor was expensive, and their owners were completely not numerous and never ferocious. If we combine these two facts into a single whole, it becomes quite obvious that they want to be robbed, but they are being watched to find out where the money is hidden. Yeah, it's called - finish the game. After all, only fifteen people are observers! In the morning he left Morrigan to stay at home, under the bar, and let him in only by the sound signal - he had to knock in a special way. And he walked calmly to the smithy. Where I discussed the situation with the master, I started to work, but not one, but all together. Before lunch they worked, making so-called siblings - spatial constructions of four thorns, assembled in such a way that no matter how one puts it - one will always hang up. It turned out about a hundred. After taking away the crafts, he went to the market to buy two more simple crossbows, bolts, unloading with a hook and a light spear. At the very end of his promenade he walked to his house, demonstratively rattling his equipment, passing by one of the observers. And in the jocular question of where he put it so, he said that he was leaving the Templars tomorrow for the Holy Land, and now he was preparing. Having come home, he began active preparations to repel the assault. All the windows were blocked with shutters on the bolts, the door was securely closed, a barricade was installed at the entrance to the second floor, the entire first floor was neatly packed with drifters, next to the window sills, too, they put a little. In general, all the preparations lasted until dusk, so when there was a rustle near the door at midnight, they and Morrigan, already at the barricade, had three charged crossbows and a hope for success. Strange as it may seem, these waggons were able to open a massive bolt on the door rather quietly, like the creaking door itself. Stepping through the threshold, the first shadow clenched in confusion and jumped back, apparently stepping on the drone. The people who followed her were already smarter - they moved their legs, not taking them off the floor, than they simply moved the saber to the side. There were seven of them. Eric touched the girl by the shoulder and they took a crossbow aimed. They aimed at the neck area in such a way that the bolt that pierced it through such a distance would damage the person following. After the first volley, four moons fell, moaning and moaning, and the three men sat down in fright. Then they knocked over. Stumbling into the darkness on the barricade, and shlopotav a couple of times with a spear in the stomach, they quickly cooled down and began to fire the positions of the guys from the doorway. The besieged had to fire back in the same way - Morrigan charged, and Eric fired. After the seventh shot, he felt a strong blow to his right collarbone - there hit a bandit arrow. Weakening, he began to give orders to the girl about how to shoot at fast-looking figures and so on. After about five minutes, he lost consciousness. For him, the battle was over today - eleven to one, a good result.

Transparent tape, wriggling in the most bizarre ways, ran forward, and its edges pulsed with poisonous green. Around her was a vast darkness, and silence filled her ears. He, as ghostly as this tape was walking along it unhurried gait. He was filled with emptiness and tranquility. How much did he spend here? According to his feelings - for ages! He always walked this road and will always go. The realization of tranquility and harmony lulled him and absorbed him so that there was nothing more to be desired. Suddenly a dark beam was torn by a beam of bright light and struck a transparent cloth, or it shuddered and set in waves. The state of equilibrium was violated with a wild, irresistible speed and filled with rage. He ran forward, his whole being dispersed and filled with energy as a locomotive. Under his pressure, the road quickly straightened, issuing a terrible screeching sounds, almost groaning. Each step literally tormented her, brought unbearable pain and made the darkness brighter. And there, in the distance is already visible a small ball of bright white color. Feeling the approach of an angry man, the ball, as if frightened, and began to fly away from him. But that unthinkable speed with which our shimmering ghost ran forward, did its job - he caught up and flew into it so that the balloon shattered, filling everything around with light, cold, pain and some kind of voice:

"Mister de Ree, tell me, will he survive? " Asked a familiar female voice.

- I think so. The fever falls, he is young and strong.

Eric slightly opens his eyes, but the picture is very blurry. A little further away are two some silhouette.

- Who you are? - in a quiet, weakened voice, the Baron tries to take the initiative.

Here it is a bad accident. Who would have thought that the enemy arrow would fall into a small loophole in the dark. One successful shot and our hero spent unconscious for six days, and only on the seventh came to himself. So I want to joke about the resurrection. If we return to that ill-fated day, after the loss of consciousness by her master Morrigan not only continued to shoot back from the bandits and was able to lay three more, so even the Templars did not let her into the house, making more than one hole in their shields. You ask, where did the Templars come from? But here there is no mysticism, everything is very simple. The city is small, but because when the night post of the courtyard heard nearby battle noise, then immediately woke the commander. Jean de RИ, without thinking twice, took a dozen sergeants, out of security, and led them to the sound of battle. Literally two blocks later, they found an enchanting picture of the storming of a small house by a mob of bandits. In a couple of minutes it was over. But help until dawn could not enter the house. The girl so perenervnichala that she shot, not wanting to listen to anything and no one, in everything that moved. When it finally dawned, we understood that the gang of Guillaume the Red had attacked the house, which had long been sought for by Friedrich I of Bamberg, the Duke of Austria. For him, even a silver reward was awarded to anyone who could capture or kill him. The gang of this scoundrel terrorized the district and robbed passers-by merchants. They were not ashamed to attack even the Crusaders when they were in a vulnerable position. When Jean broke the remaining bandits, their leader was still alive, but badly wounded, the bolt hit him in the right side of his chest. Therefore Friedrich did not become particularly embarrassed and ordered the wounded Guillaume to be hung on the gates of Vienna already at noon on the same day, and transferred the stamp of silver to the Templar who took over the protection of Erik's girl and property, as well as his treatment. Moreover, the duke was so impressed with the courage of this couple that he had seen the patient a couple of times, and his Morrigan, as a token of attention and respect, presented a cut of beautiful, dark green silk.

Alas, but a wounded hand for a few months completely knocked out the baron from the rut - he could not, nor work in the smithy, nor train, even on horseback riding and those, at first, it was impossible to leave. The only thing he could afford was conversations with Jean de Rais, politics in Byzantium and the Crusader states, exercises in languages, walks and visits to two libraries: the courtyard and the duke. The libraries were, alas, completely wretched, since they contained almost exclusively religious texts and were suitable only for studying the graphics of the letter. Only on the second week there was an interesting event - Arab merchants from Vienna returned to Constantinople, returning from the lower German lands. Seeing the situation in terms of the level of technology and the total inability to weld good steel with the condition of preserving the secret, Eric decided to negotiate and buy a few damask bullions. They cost, of course, exorbitant, but there was no choice, so in 8 months he waited for guests who were supposed to bring 30 kg of Syrian bulat in bars. Here it is worth mentioning that his interest in blacksmithing was due to a completely pragmatic goal - he needed a normal set of armor. But the problem was not only in the complexity of manufacturing due to the almost complete lack of equipment and at least some adequate tools. The main problem was in the material - it was not. It so happened that the development of technology of those times in Europe was directly related to the formation of the institute of shops, the specialization of labor and the general development of cities as craft centers. By the 12th century in the Germanic countries, this process is just beginning to make its first, timid steps. In the countryside, of course, there used to be intelligent blacksmiths and other artisans, but the overall level of their craftsmanship and scope of work was very low, since they could not only specialize in some kind of profile of their craft, but also in the craft in general. The natural economy forced them to engage in, say, blacksmithing, exclusively in their spare time from field work. Miracles do not happen, and the quality of products was very low, and the production itself is very primitive. If to make comparisons, the production of iron by the end of the 12th century in Europe did not exceed 200-250 grams per person, and not in a year, but in general - for his whole life, while during the heyday of the Roman Empire this figure was about 3 kg in year. You understand, the iron was very small, and it was in price. Specialists in its processing, too, was few, and experts were only conditional, since they often lacked experience. This information is particularly vividly included in the dissonance with most historians who described the Crusades. In their understanding, these were some invasions of many thousands armies, encased in armor, which went to the East in a fit of religious fanaticism with high regularity, on average once every 10-20 years. I want to clarify - given the volume of iron mining, chain mail in those days, could afford only one person per thousand, and even not every one. In this vein, tales of forty-thousand crusader corps, skipping sometimes, then historians, writers, then directors, seem absolutely fantastic. The fact is that by the 12th century the institution of the militia in Western and Central Europe was completely eliminated, that is, the bet was made solely on the professional army, which, you understand, needs to be equipped and equipped better than a half-naked herd of peasants with wooden slingshots. And the militia, at that level of technological development, would not be better equipped. Just imagine the cost of equipping such armies! Yes, with such frequency! Where in Europe in general could take in those days such titanic means? Oh well, volume by volume, but in terms of quality everything was not well. At the time described, steel as such in Europe was not manufactured and not used, only occasionally were imported damask products from the East. That is, almost all the products were made from either iron or steel iron (which was obtained, for example, by aging in the ground). Alas, but until the time when the European armourers will start making the best armor in the world for more than two centuries. But what to say about armor, in much simpler things and then specialization was practically not there. In the same Russia, already a century later, there were on average no more than 40 different craft trades, and this is at the junction of cultures. That is, almost all that was needed on the farm, the peasants themselves did. In Europe, the situation was even worse. About science, you can not even stutter at all - theology and philosophy, that's the whole science that was engaged only in the fact that it was debating about how space ships plow large and small theaters. Well, the maximum is still the study of languages, which went, as a rule, optional and unsystematic. There are practically no measuring instruments, the records are kept by units and not extensively. Alas, and ah, in such a wonderful and colorful time, our hero had to solve the problem of tools and materials, in order to acquire intelligent equipment. Needless to say, that still situation - the desired armor has nothing and nothing to do. Lepota!

Time goes on and Eric's hand finally healed so much that he could not only return to his muscular training, but from time to time practice at the smithy. Master Gottfried reacted to the current situation with understanding and for three months the fee did not take. And why? After all, before the very injury, he received as many as ten denarii for a bag of streaks, which were made from waste. He's a cunning devil-he ate a good meal and did not seem to eat. But the baron was not offended at him, as he gave him feasible and timely help. But you do not think that he sour, although the wounded and knocked the guy out of the rut, but the mass of free time and our hero were completely incompatible. Therefore, in addition to useless wanderings and conversations, he closely dealt with hygiene issues in the dwelling that he was renting. Yes, and Morrigan, being not spoiled by the values of the modern world, to put it mildly, she was flustered. And this is very, very to put it mildly. About how the groin he could only guess. Alas, dear reader, even such seemingly completely simple task again rested on the development of industry and technology. Are you smiling and wondering at what kind of technology such a simple matter can be? But you yourself look - the 12th century, paper does not make a paper in Europe, imported from silk costs a lot of money, and you wipe the ass, what are you going to do? Yes, in the summer, yes in the forest you can solve this problem. And in a medieval city, where grass and trees are a rarity? It's not such a simple task. It helped in this delicate matter, strangely enough, the Arabs, from whom he ordered a damask. They used a not very traditional solution - a jug called apaftoy, with which they washed away after the act of defecation. Not very mobile, but quite tolerable. So there was a solution of problems, where own head, where advice, but always effectively. But there were not only technical difficulties. Morrigan turned out to be a very complex and completely non-technical task, in matters of hygiene introduction. She resisted to the last. He even had to snatch a saber when she, squeezed into a corner, tried to escape, and promise to cut it if she did not obey. At first she was horrified, and then fell to the floor and started to roar. But after he removed the saber, neatly hugged her and politely explained why all this is necessary, she forced herself to undress and climb into a large basin for it. Do you think this was an erotic scene? Yes, hell with two - it was a demonstration of a heavy and very fragrant work. As expected, the most terrible, in all respects, was the first wash. The poor woman was trembling like an aspen leaf, undressing herself in the room, alone with a man. Honestly, she very rarely undressed, even with the few ablutions she did, trying to stay in her underwear. But the guy had another problem - he hardly lost consciousness from the stunning aroma that came from her well, you understand. And when warm water got there, he, the poor girl, already had eyes tingled. In general, he washed it to creaky skin. And then, he forced me to lie down on the bed, and mercilessly amputated a massively grown store of stunning fragrances. In this case, he was helped in advance by a razor and a piece of soap. A poor woman has never even heard of such things in her life, and so, naturally, she thought that now there will be sex, but, alas, she did not guess. After such fragrances, Eric was not at all excited by the naked body of a very beautiful and harmoniously built woman. Impressions were too strong. When he had finished, he gave her fresh, clean clothes and took care of himself. Alas, she did not help him, because she turned red and turned away when she saw him naked. To her horror, this procedure took place every third day.

A steady result in personal hygiene was achieved only closer to winter, not without the resistance of the companion, who for a long time perceived all these washings as a form of harassment and was surprised that Eric did not go "to business. " But alas, she was wrong in her conclusions, since our hero was thinking solely about creating his own comfort zone and preventing infectious diseases. Plus, the consciousness of 30-year-old man helped not to fly off the coils at the sight of a beautiful, naked woman. So he held on, and she slowly began to perceive everything happening as normal and self-evident. Yes, and the attitude changed - she began to see in his companion is not an eccentric and anxious guy, but a fully mature man, and so her feelings toward him progressed from gratitude for saving lives, respect and respect. With food it was all much easier and without any misunderstandings. They cooked and ate at home, so food poisoning stopped torturing them.

Having completed the whole milestone in establishing his life in the new world, Eric moved on to a very important task - the search for tools, since the normal armor does not use those cliches that Gottfried uses. You will laugh, but he still used poor stone sledgehammers, as they could not do the normal ones from metal, and iron with iron forged will remind plastic clay forging plasticine. In short, having talked to one jeweler, the baron learned that the Solvati family in Venice holds a good jewelry store, where you can buy quite a decent jade, he got them as a payment for one transaction, but does not want to leave because it's rather expensive and precious . Immediately after realizing that he was benefiting twice from the deceased, he decided to write a letter to his family, where he described that their jewelry store had been recommended to him by Stefan and he wants to go there to order a number of forging tools from jade. In the same place he gave simple drawings with the sizes and the price that he would like to put for these products. With the price he acted slyly. Having learned from the aforementioned jeweler, the entire layout, he proposed a price that is a fifth of the cost of raw jade, but the volume of the order was very tempting. Having sent a letter to the Solvati family by courier, he had a week's talk with their commercial emissary, who brought the samples of the material with the aim of negotiating everything, signing a contract and getting a deposit. In the spring he already worked in the smithy with helmets only, he was interested in the technique of processing complex spatial details in the new conditions. By the summer, he began to obtain excellent set-up spatial structures, for example spangelhelms, which Gottfried very much praised, setting as an example Ulrich, still sitting on the broach wire and chain mail. In June came the jade tools, for which, in total, had to pay 7 marks of silver. A lot of money! Crazy money! But it was worth it, and Stefan's relatives threw him the price for the volume of the order. Now the business went much better and he began to get "pilots", one-piece from one piece of iron. In addition to direct forging, he began to experiment with thermal and chemical treatments. The fact is that the damask, which comes to him, is not very weakly susceptible to rust, but this must be fought.

So, in the worries and exercises passed the promised eight months with the hook, and in early June 1197, merchants already familiar to Eric arrived from Vienna with 30 kg of excellent bulat, which had to be exchanged for almost 3 kg of pure silver, that is 10 marks. The arrival of merchants in the most pleasant manner coincided with the departure of Ulrich to his homeland and Gottfried's important business trip to Venice, where he was to receive a very interesting order for a batch of equipment, after he was waiting for Rome and Naples, with the same questions. Far from it, of course, but the old customers were ordered in good lots and gave a solid deposit, so he was glad of such trips. As a result, on the blacksmith's farmstead for the next 2-3 months, in addition to the baron, there was only a smart but not very smart apprentice. Even the master's family, and she already lived in the countryside, with relatives, where she rested from the eternal noise of the smithy. Whatever you say, and almost the ideal combination of circumstances for the production of smart armor and the preservation of a maximum of secrecy around it. But it was just an illusion. Already on the third day of enthusiastic work in the smithy, events took place that postponed such a good cause for a couple of months. The fact is that through the city was a small military detachment of the domain of Philip II Augustus, who, using a favorable direction, carried out the protection of a group of Byzantine traders going to Vienna. Already in the city they had a conflict on the basis of payment, the Byzantines decided to halve the agreed amount, since the French were too much to apply to the wine that they were being brought for sale. Of course, the conflict broke out. Very quickly the guys switched to higher tones. It is not known who first snatched the weapon, but it so happened that a small slaughter occurred in the square near the St. Stephen's Cathedral. As you may have guessed - the French killed almost all the Byzantines, only the personal bodyguard of the commercial emissary could escape - Dregovich Ostrogneg. At this time, Eric just returned from a horse ride. The door to the house was open for ventilation. A wounded man jumped into it and collapsed on the threshold. Still that situation. The young baron immediately assessed the situation and decided to close the door, is not it enough. But, alas, the French saw where the pursued bodyguard had dived, and therefore they tried to break in once. The Baron did not like this arrogance at all. In his house, a wounded unarmed man was looking for shelter, and here some armed boars begin to break his door and water him with bad words. The door was still holding, so he quietly climbed to the second floor, loaded all three crossbows, peered out, evaluated the situation and set to bask in the sunshine of the three most frenzied knights. After that, loudly in Latin asked about burning need, disturbing the venerable gentlemen so much that they so unbecomingly disturb the master Baron. The conversation began. Eric immediately told the French - another blow on the door and he shoots again, the door is his, and he does not like their attitude to the property of a noble person. During the conversation a couple of times the French broke down, and so the discussion ended with five corpses in the Haubek. Our "Voroshilovsky shooter" very simply and clearly explained everything about customs, the right of asylum, noble honor, and indeed, he recalled the philanthropy and good-order rules. He mocked pretty gracefully, interwoven with religious motifs, familiar from the student days, with elements of black humor. Realizing that there is nothing to shine here, the gentlemen of the knights retired for a complaint to the Duke of Austria for the outrageous behavior of an eccentric teenager. Of course, they were able to take the lost fighters, only carefully folding their armor and weapons on the doorstep of the house - a fighting trophy, you can not argue. After watching how the French carried their dead companions, Eric went downstairs, took the hack inside, closed the door again and occupied himself with an unknown guest.

Morrigan was once again a very smart lady, and so when her companion was arguing with someone on the street, she was already dealing with a wounded stranger. He was completely unconscious, so the guys had to suffer with this elephant. 110 kg of live weight - this is not a pound of raisins for you. When this carcass walks itself, it's nothing, but when it needs to be carried on itself - it's absolutely terrible. With difficulty and affectionate words for an hour they were able to undress it, wash it, lay it on a couch and treat all wounds. In general, they had time on time, because, not allowing them to sit and take a breath, they knocked on the door. Eric looked out the second floor window - it was an old acquaintance - one of the duke's sergeants. We talked. Let's go to Friedrich. There he was already waiting for new friends who portrayed themselves as humility. Banberg listened to the young baron and decided to investigate the incident, participants of the city limits do not leave, and all the disputable property to be transferred to the Templars for storage. Behind each figurant, of course, was established surveillance, so that he did not run away. Here such an ill luck. Now the armor will not work, since the spy will certainly inform the duke, and he will show interest, he is a curious and savvy nature. I had to look for another occupation. So it was necessary to spend the second evening in meditations. Lucky for the third evening, and quite by accident - he lowered his gaze to the crossbow. See? He had long wanted to do this toy and bring it to mind, but did not reach his hands. So in the morning he went to the familiar merchant, who often visited the downstream Danube Bude, and ordered him a short but very powerful composite bow for the crossbow. At the same time he himself began to create a normal bed with a butt and tension and descent mechanisms. For the tensioning mechanism, one condition was set: he must be cocked, including riding a horse. A difficult task, since the onions ordered in Buda should have a tension force of about 180 kg. For this time - it turned out incredibly powerful shorty, because its total length of the wooden part did not exceed 50 cm. In general, Eric stopped on a system with a lowering mechanical gearbox of gears, which were driven by a lever. The lever was located on the underside of the bed, it was quite long, which increased the speed of the platoon, and after performing its function it was fixed along the bed. The trigger was made on the basis of a slightly modified traditional "apple" and turned out to be soft, with an effort of only 5 kg. Among other things, the bed was a single piece with a butt, which was made in the French rifle style, with a pistol grip. The platoon system was such that three turns of the lever brought the crossbow to the cocked state. During the platoon it was possible to rest against the hip and hold the handle made above the bolt channel, or in the old way to rest on the ground. Well, in the end, another nice detail - a trigger was added to the trigger mechanism, which fixed the bolt in the box and did not allow it to fall out, fixing it tight so that the crossbow could be shaken any way. So two months that the investigation was going on, he was absorbed in the manufacture of a fairly sophisticated design of propelling weapons. At the end of July, he was brought onions, for which he had to pay two brands, and he assembled the construction. It turned out quite compact and easy, since the weight of all the metal parts made of hardened bulat was only half a kilogram. The crossbow was cocked, of course, taut, but from a distance a hundred paces flew into the spangelhelm so that the bolt, breaking through the front part of the helmet, also crumpled the occipital. Yes, not just holed, and hitting in the frame, that is, in the thickest part, and this is up to 0. 5 cm of hardened steel. Slight accuracy suffered, as getting into the helmet came only from the tenth shot. This problem was solved by installing in the channel of the bolt the bronze guides. Accuracy, from this, however, has not greatly improved, so the next stage is the work with bolts. When he arrived, he stopped on the rigid plumage of a slightly distorted parabolic shape, and a slight narrowing of the diameter of the short pole of the bolt. This required the fixing of the lock and the guide channel of the bolt. Two months of lack of sleep and hard labor gave him a candy, able to put the bolts in the helmet at a distance of a hundred paces from the first or second shot, while if the bolt was not in the frame, it flew through, punching both walls. The maximum range of fire could not be determined because of the ban on leaving Vienna. The last four days Eric was bored and made himself bolts for a new crossbow. For this fascinating occupation, he found the old sergeant, who called him to Frederick. The local duke turned out to be quite an enterprising companion. Covering himself with the investigation, he, it turns out, learned the opportunity to get a lot of happiness in the event that something happens to his French friends. Finding out that he did not actually face any danger, he declared them thugs, that in broad daylight they killed Byzantine merchants and attacked the valiant Baron. What happened next, in general, obviously - the knights, stunned by the impudence of the ruler of Vienna, were hanged, not allowing to recover, and their property, together with the merchants' property, was decided to be divided. Of course, fraternally - the duke got almost everything. Specifically, our baron, who so successfully jostled in his own business, relied on all the personal property of the French, as well as the twentieth of the merchandise of all merchants. But even that was a lot. Two dozen Haubeks with a variety of skeleton helmets, as many copies and swords, swords from welded bands. In addition, twenty-ten-bucket barrels of excellent Cypriot wine of the brand "Commandaria", which in half a century are recognized as the best in Europe, and sixty cuts of fine woolen cloth, painted in bard, green and cornflower blue. The fabric cuts were a meter wide and twenty meters long. Eric even to place especially this wealth was nowhere. Therefore, he decided to share, playing for the future. Leaving for himself one barrel of wine, the rest distributed to churches and temples of the city, presented as a gift. The clergy were on the seventh heaven with happiness - to get so much excellent wine for free! He carried the canvas immediately to the Templars' courtyard and donated it, leaving only two 20-meter cuts of each color. Jean de Ree appreciated this gift, and completely free of charge. So literally the next day the courier of the order went to Cyprus with a report describing the genuinely friendly behavior of the venerable Eric von Lenzburg, as well as his noble deeds. In other words, our baron was enrolled in the Order's friends. Where, by the way, he was already invited, but he refused, referring to the weakness of spirit and deep interest in worldly affairs. However, the things that he received for a small battle at the "door of the house" turned out to be a trifle, compared to what the Duke Frederick I Banberg decided to present to him from himself. For the disinterested protection of the dispossessed, courage and skill in military matters, Baron Eric von Lenenburg was promoted to knights. In general, walked in honor of this case to glory. We had to pay for this joy, of course, to our newly-made knight, so that one more brand evaporated from his reserves. As for our friend Ostrohn, he was still in bed at the time of the verdict of the court, the French were already severely chopping him up, we can say with all his heart. But even in this state, having heard such pleasant news, he was absolutely delighted and literally brightened his face, filling with joy and pleasure, which only accelerated his recovery.

Finally, it all ended and you can again do blacksmithing. Perhaps you have smiles - armor, and bulat! After all, only weapons were made from him! Yes, it is really so, from bulat, basically, only weapons were made. But not because of the fact that it was impossible to make armor, but because of very great complexity in its, bulat, production and cost. And the skill of the forging business requires considerable, because from such material it is reasonable to forge only plate armor, and these are complex three-dimensional forms. As it is sad, but by the time of mastering such skills already appeared tolerable steel, which turned out to be much cheaper. And you thought that damask steel is a kind of steel? Too bad. In fact, damask is a mechanical mixture of high-carbon elements and low-carbon elements. In non-hardened form it can be not only forged, but cast! And these particles are fastened together by forge welding. Yes, and on the special properties of bulat can speak only after hardening. Excellent material, especially if there is no steel, and yet there are already references to it in Antiquity. So they lived - the units allowed themselves cool bulat blades, and the rest considered it a great happiness to get at least something iron. But I digress. Armor. It was decided to do in the early Gothic style, but by itself with modifications and modifications. We do not make a replica of an ancient craft, and while in antiquity, we create something new. Alas, even the available tools made it possible to do just a pretty rough craft in the spirit of late Gothic, and many elegant ribs of rigidity had to be forgotten. A very large throwing in the hero was in the matter of choosing a helmet. But, in the end, he decided not to spoil the strongly composite harmony of the silhouette and leave the sallet with bevor. The only thing - he did not do on the sallet "cancer neck", in order to facilitate it and make it more convenient. The balance of his shoulder pads, however, he broke, making his left shoulder somewhat more right. Sabatons decided not to do at all, replacing them with chain mail stockings. The groin area was covered with a short chain skirt. But the most difficult was the work on assembling elegant Gothic gloves, in the conditions of its technical equipment it was truly a jeweler's work. Case, however, moved very slowly, and then, a month after its beginning, our old acquaintance, Master Gottfried returned with his very ample orders. Eric had to help him from morning till night and only after that to work in the evenings for only two hours a day. So it was finished only by the middle of winter. He had to spend a full six months of his life, but he did it! The ready armor was assembled and tested for its functioning - landing on the body, fitting. After that, it had to be dismantled, slightly modified, polished and prepared for thermochemical treatment - quenching and blasting. The Baron decided to combine these two processes and to temper the mixture of flax and olive oil. In general, it is said - done. A noble armor came out! All armor armor! The forms are slender, even elegant, the surface is smooth, black. And it sits perfectly, and it's easy to move in it. The total weight of this toy turned out to be within twenty kilograms. Quite a bit, but considering that it is distributed throughout the body and almost does not constrain movements, it's just wonderful. Eric almost jumped with delight, that he did it. And most importantly - even Gottfried did not understand where everything had come from, and most importantly, only, with a puzzled expression, he was spinning around his craft in the very finale. It remained to work for small. As a weapon, he wanted a late blade - the sword of Dalmatian Slavs of the Renaissance times - the devil. Well, what, "toothpick" with a double-edged blade, about 4 cm wide and about a meter long. Garda basket. The shape of the blade is suitable for both chopping and piercing strokes; and on horseback come down, and on foot. Very sensible thing, over which he worked the next six months.

To complete the work on the armor more or less recovered Ostron. Whether a joke - he had four severe wounds and a lot of small, like broken bones. It hurt him and was sad, because he felt responsible for the death of the Byzantine. He did not see it in time for the intention of the bad francs. He did not pull out one who trusted in life. One joy was - they revenged those pests, but she quickly walked away and the darkness again enveloped him. The soul suffered and turned inside out from pursuing evil fate. Around him were all the people who trusted him with their lives. To look people in the eyes hurt, feeling themselves damned. Here and today, Eric returned from a horse walk, and the guest warmed by his eyes and faces gloomy.

"What's with you, Ost -neg? " - Eric has not (yet) talked with the guest in his native language, holding his knowledge as a trump card, and so they talked in Latin, which he knew at a tolerable level.

"I'm fine, sir, I can soon run like a colt. "

- And then what is gloomy? What makes you sad?

" You do not need to know, it's my pain, my heart. "And you will not help her.

"You can cure all the pain. "Say that as a girl you press.

And he told about the fate of his happy, how he found happiness and lost it time after time, and not simply, but through death lost. At first his Polovtsy killed his parents, and they hid her sister in prison. He followed her, tried to beat it off. While fighting back - his wife found himself there, polovchanka young. The three of them returned home, and even there - not destiny. How to transfer the steel through the Don, then the pursuit of them overtook, shoot began. Sister in the back hit, and perished in the water wounded. But my wife left. Burned, but moved away - they began to build a life. She bore him a child. And as with a big belly already walking, the horses died at the head. He raised the people to her. Came like kindly, on a visit, for what business. And how six people entered the house, then they squeezed him and dragged his wife into the street. I tried to wrestle myself, but I was firmly held, almost strangled. And how they let go, but went out onto the street and fell to his knees. They, Herods, his wife, on being knocked down, were hanged right in the courtyard on an apple tree. Then he completely and bristled with grief. All night long I went to visit. They did not lock the huts, so he would quietly go in with the ax, close the door behind him, and let the people cut it. Closer to the morning, he killed the whole village. There was no one left. He did not regret anyone, even children of crumbs. And the heaviness does not go away. At dawn, he buried his beloved, under that very apple tree, and went wherever his eyes looked. I was starving. It was hard. How he got to the capital city of Constantinople, he does not remember, but he was received there by a kind man in his service - to roll the bags on bargaining. A year later, seeing that the man he was right, transferred to the guard, and moved on. He taught it to the military business, trusted armor with weapons. Getting to him Ostroneg love sons, because he was alone in the world, no one to go. Yes again, I did not save - the Franks cut that man down, and he himself - he's still alive. It's hard for him. He loves everyone, everyone dies. No one survives, who will entrust his life to him. Said Dregovich, heaved a sigh and again drooped his head.

" You know, a strong friend, there is nothing to breed here. "Life does not hurt only those who are already dead. You say that everyone is dying, who will entrust your life to you? So it is fixable. Trust your life to someone, rock you and go around. I slowly collect the squad, but I do not want any people to take them. I like strong, loyal people. That faithfulness is kept to their word, both in life and in death. But my condition is - any of my orders, that the order of God. Life is lost, but fulfilled. For this and I will not forget you and do not hurt. But you will not obey, you will become arcan, you will be proud - I myself will prirezhu. You saw, I'm not throwing words into the wind. Well, how do you - will you come to me?

Ostroneg slowly raised his head and looked with his own, sky-blue, cold in the eyes in green, burning with indomitable, boiling energy Eric's eyes. They watched for a long time. Silently. Their faces were calm, and their posture was relaxed and graceful. Ten minutes passed. Dryagovich stood up without looking away, put his hand on his shoulder and said.

EricMy life and destiny are now in your hands. I swear to you in faithfulness, that in life, that in death. I swear before the face of my ancestors, before the ears of the glorious Dazhbog.

After that, he took a step back and bowed to the belt. And our hero got the second man in the team. And the next day on the fit of one of the French Haubeks, that they were never put up for sale. There was enough money, but useful things could come in handy.

Here comes the end of the second year, that the Baron lived in the glorious city of Vienna. A lot of things happened to him - good and bad. But he fulfilled the main task, so now he is prancing in brand new armor, leaving for a horse ride. Although he was not famous for his special kindness and affection, he was respected in the city. Ask for what? For the fortitude of the spirit, the sobriety of the mind and determination. Not everyone can fight off an assault by a band of robbers, and even fewer people can beat off a wounded man from a crowd of furious knights. Blood and death. He was in them by the elbow, but time was like that, and a person who can not kill in battle, was considered insignificant. And what about Christian virtues, you ask? Indeed, the role of our hero was associated with the glorious institution of chivalry. I will be forced to disappoint you, alas, noble knights had a place to be only in courtly novels, as well as later apocryphal dreams. Well, of course, in obituaries, because how, in his time, someone joked while reading the obituary, you can in all the details find out who the man was not. Are you upset? The image of the beautiful Ivanhoe was a beautiful fairy tale? Yes, yes, gentlemen, alas, this world is very cynical and rather dirty, and therefore we believe in fairy tales, in order to nurture a withering dream in one's soul. The times of Richard the Lionheart are very close to the times described in this book, so the institution of chivalry was about the same stage of its existence. What was he like? The key was that the knights were an internationally closed corporation, not subject to ordinary court, only their lord could judge them, and, with rare exceptions, it was so. An ordinary person in these times could no longer be elevated to knightly dignity except as having the right to be born. That is, his father should already be a knight, and this status could only have nobles. The descendants of the Vikings and the Normans, who plundered Europe for centuries, absorbed such habits of behavior and preserved them, even enveloped in a kind of aura of virtuous images. Their ancestors rushed into battle with shouts of "One! " on the lips, and the descendants, who did not escape the influence of Christianity, dedicated the blood that had flowed by the river to the Christian saints. Life practically did not lead, as to be engaged in something productive was considered unworthy of a noble knight. Therefore, all the free time they drank, walked, fought anyway with anyone, participated in tournaments, collected a tribute for the "protection" of the villages and plundered the same settlements, but already neighboring, when the money became very bad. The only noble cause was considered to be martial art - so they lived. By the way I want to note that human life was worth something only for someone who could not take it away, and therefore had to hire someone from outside. Agree - this completely does not coincide with those images of the noble defenders, which we paint in films and romantic books. Do you think it's fiction? And remember the wonderful right of the first wedding night, when all the girls, when they were getting married, were to spend the first night in the nobleman's bed. What, also does not fit with the image of the beautiful Ivanhoe? Just imagine - already a middle-aged wife is sitting in his turret, and our maturing noble knight is entertaining in his room with young peasants. And it is absolutely legal. Gryaznenko? Against? What is there to do? That is life. Although if you pack all this in armor and polish, you will get a noble knight in glittering armor, who elegantly will pass along the pavement and leave in the windows of houses a lot of beautiful ladies with oily eyes sighing about such a fascinating image. But we were dreaming. So, in the courtyard June of 1198, Vienna, our noble knight goes escorted by Ostronega to the market to ask for price and buy him a good horse.

Chapter 3

In the market they were waited with a surprise - on a small round patch between the rows the arriving troupe of stray actors arranged a small performance. Of course, a crowd gathered around them. After all, life in those days was pretty boring and the entertainment was rare and not very diverse, so the new stream that the guys brought was very useful. They sang, danced in a rather bizarre way, juggled with knives and played musical instruments. Nothing particularly surprising, but for Eric, who spent two years in the new world, such a view was enjoyable and not least. It was too gray here. Oddly enough, even clergymen, who officially condemned such things, rejoiced as children. But the performance came to an end and everyone dispersed. Our couple also went further on their own affairs, throwing around the actors. The mood was elevated, and the weather was good. Konya Ostrown found immediately, it was quite expensive, but they had an idyll - they liked each other right away. So much so that the horse did not need to lead the bridle, he himself followed our Slav. Walking past the Templar courtyard, Eric heard a noise and decided to go there, find out what had happened. In the courtyard there were twenty people crowding around the corpse, which lay face down. It was de Re. Noticing the baron, the knights turned and greeted him. Comrade Jean, knowing about the friendly relations between the deceased and the guest, decided to tell about what happened. It turns out that someone Gaspard, appearing as the commissioner of the doge himself, signed with the commander of the farmstead about an interesting deal related to transport for the Templars between Europe and Cyprus. Today this man's messenger came and said that Monsieur Gaspar had arrived incognito in Vienna and was waiting for Jean at Edwin's inn. Mr. Commodore went out the gate of the courtyard and literally a minute later returned with a pale face. Here he fell, and in his back stuck out a dagger.

Coming out of the Templars, Eric was sad - a man who saved his life, was killed in broad daylight by some kind of brazen killer. And the worst thing was that there was no one to take revenge - the killer is unknown. Monsieur Baudouin de Morel - in the past, assistant and associate de Re, and now - commander of the courtyard, was not at all inclined to talk. Our hero was obsessed with the obsession that he was told the official version, and not how it really was.

"Listen, Ostroneg, I've been meaning to ask how old are you? "

"About thirty, I can not say for sure, since he himself is from the peasants, and we do not exactly think of anyone. "

"Tell me from the height of your years, what do you think about what happened at the farmstead? "

"They lie, but I do not know what. "

That's what I think too. Okay, let's go home, think about it and figure out what's what in this matter, or else someone else will overhear on the street.

Drevlyanin nodded, and they went on in silence. In the house they closed the door, shutters and sat down with the girl to discuss the event. They decided to watch Baudouin and wait, but watching himself was very dangerous - he knew them very well. Therefore, mindful of the old films about the adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Eric decided to take advantage of the kids. Morrigan was instructed to find street children of small age and hire them for espionage. Everyone who brings useful information, relied denarius. The children were delighted, and therefore there were always a lot of them around the compound, so our suspect was under round-the-clock surveillance. I did not have to wait long. Literally a week later, DeMorel's connection was established with some strange gentleman. They met in the already mentioned tavern Edwin. It is necessary to shock the acquaintance, otherwise he too often began to figure in this matter. So early in the morning of the next day a young baron entered the door of his establishment, accompanied by a strong peasant. In the general hall it was completely empty, as the guests and visitors were mostly asleep. Therefore, it was decided to talk to him here, and the guy with a happy smile approached and, putting his hand on his shoulder, said:

"Remember, you promised never to deceive me again? "

"Yes, my lord, and I keep my word honestly. "

Well done,What I'm asking you now will be a test of my trust.

"Please, my lord, I am always honest before you. "

"Tell me, do you know the new Commander, Mr. de Morel? "

Yes, I do know

"Does he come to your place? "

- Occasionally.

"And why does he come? "

- Usually he meets with one person, they sit, talk about something, drink a little.

" How often? "Has it started for a long time? When was the last time? Do you know this second?

- About once a week. It all began a long time ago, probably five years already, as they have their meetings with me. Who is this last one, I do not know, but he usually stops by me when he comes.

"Edwin, be clever when he comes next time-send a boy to inform me. "

" Very well, my lord, I will do it. "And if you are not at home, then who will say?

"Or here it is," the baron nodded at Ostrogneg, "or the girl who lives with me. "

Ok. All will be fulfilled.

It did not take long to wait for them, because the next day a boy ran up to inform us of the arrival of a strange gentleman. Morrigan was immediately given the task of additional instructing the guys, which she ran hastily to perform. Actions began to unfold in an accelerated version. Closer to the evening came the information that the meeting took place and a mysterious stranger going to depart in the morning on his business. Eric decided to act quickly, nagging. Taking the Drevlyanin and a loaded crossbow, he headed straight for Edwin. When he saw the guests, he turned slightly white and slightly nodded at the staircase leading to a large and spacious room. The most expensive in the tavern. The door opened with the impact of Ostronega's foot, which, leaning in, immediately left aside from the line of fire. Next to him was a baron with weapons in preparation. The desired character was lying on a bench and completely not expecting an invasion. Eric stepped forward three steps and let his companion behind him, so that he closed the door. Then he began to slowly approach the frightened stranger, until he came close to him and sharply pierced the man in the face with a shovel of the butt. A came up the peasant added his fist, sending in oblivion. While he peacefully dozed, they stripped him naked, tied to a bench, they put a bench against the wall. To be able to interrogate, but he could not yell, they shook his mouth with a rag tape, cutting a small hole in the center. Much can articulate arrogantly, but it will not work. Then they started to do personal things. Nothing particularly interesting was found except for the encrypted letter, and therefore their ward was brought to life by a light blow to the crotch. The process of interrogation went quickly, productively, and when the esteemed Monsieur Gaspar had only three fingers left, and those on his leg, everything was already completely known about the incident that had occurred. It turns out that Baudouin had long been labeled for Jean's place, but he had good connections and he was confidently moving along the ranks of the order, unlike de Morel, whom he was dragging behind him. It was terribly insulting to be all the time on the sidelines, so he decided to remove his benefactor and take his place. For these purposes, links were established with the domain of Philip II Augustus, the King of France, who wished to have his people in the order. It was he who sent Gaspar to solve the existing difficulties. And then everything was easy. The fact is that Jean was looking for ways to circumvent the acute shortage of ships in the order and establish a permanent postal and transport connection with Cyprus. This is exactly what he was offered in his letters by Philip's attorney, interested and deprived of vigilance. And now, on a well-known day, he wrote that he was forced to refuse a favor, since a more interesting proposal came. De Rea, knowing where Gaspar is staying, rushed to him to swear and negotiate his personal gain in this project. But he managed to pass a little - literally next to the house, in the clothes of the beggar he was waiting for the joker himself and, as soon as he came up to him, he snatched a dagger from under the floor and put him in the back. Everything is done and the noise has subsided, so today, Baudouin brought a reward for hard work. It turned out to be rather big - a silver mark. Having learned everything that was necessary for them, they silently strangled our poor fellow, so that there would be less blood, because here it will be necessary to clean, it is not easy to wash it. It is necessary to respect the work of honest people. Then, after collecting the money and the encrypted letter, we went home. When they left, they asked Edwin to clean up, and ten denarii were put on the counter to compensate him for unpleasant troubles. He almost turned green, realizing what happened in the room, but not only did everything right, but he did not. So Monsieur Gaspard simply disappeared, along with his things. Just dissolved. With De Morel to understand it was necessary elegantly, because of his deed should learn the whole city, so much so that they would gossip without interruption. In this case, the guys who told about the small weakness of Baudouin to some Sabrina, the carpenter's daughter, helped again. The order was very strict with abstinence, but nature demands its own, so almost all its members had their own little secrets, which everyone guessed about, but kept quiet, for they did not see anything shameful about it. He attended the girl almost on schedule, so even her father knew the time when he needed to get some fresh air. Eric knew him, as well as the route. In general, the next morning, a patrol of city guards brought the body of Baudouin de Morel to the courtyard with a broken skull and a throat cut from ear to ear. To the body, with a knife, a purse and a note in Latin were attached. In the purse there were 30 silver denarii, and in the note words: "I return the damned money. Gaspar ". What has started in the city! The gates were closed, the city guards and the Templars began to search all the places where the murderer could hide. All the knights, led by the duke, constantly patrolled the streets, suppressing the discontent of the inhabitants. Our hero, as a person with a sincere sympathy for relating, and to the Templars, and personally to the accidentally deceased, even let a tear when he was informed of the death of a new commander. Of course, he ran around with everyone and looked for the hated killer, but, alas, the searches did not bring success, and therefore, a week later, turning the whole of Vienna upside down, I had to open the gate. Time heals, and after another week the events have subsided, but rumors have long been telling the story of a God-loving companion who ordered the murder of his master solely out of personal greed, and later himself died at the hands of a repentant hired killer. All affairs are over, all debts are dealt, so it's time to leave. There was a small, warm rain on the first day of August 1198, when Eric, accompanied by Ostronega and Morrigan, left for Venice.

A small caravan walked along the road to the south-west from Vienna. Only three riders and four clockwork horses with luggage. The first was Eric in a black Gothic armor, over which was a cornflower-blue cat with a silver cross on his chest, followed by Morrigan in a neat, discreet velvety-green woolen dress with small accessories of scarlet silk, such as the belt and edging of the edges. Closed the whole procession of Ostroneg in full chain armor - a haubek, on top of which was wearing a cat of the same color as the lady's dress. At the woman and the closing warrior two horses were tied to the saddle. In addition to the armor, there was also a weapon. The leader of the column was with an elegant blade and crossbow, and the warrior in his mail carried a spear, a round shield, put on his back, and an ax on his belt. Even a woman had a small knife attached to the saddle in such a way that it could easily be snatched. From the property they drove six high-quality Haubeks and the same helmets of the "pilot's" type, a couple of hundred bolts for the crossbow, a ten-liter barrel of "Commandaria" wine, several cuts of quality woolen cloth, a stock of provisions for a week, blacksmith tools, some of which were of jade, and still a lot of small things. In cash, they had 18 brands of the Vienna standard, six of which were in denarii and obol. But this rich prey did not deceive the robbers at all. A couple of times they even met openly on the road, but did not attack, but politely greeted them, they wanted a good journey and went further. The forest brothers were completely embarrassed and frightened of the armor that was worn on Eric, and the Baron himself seemed to them an animated statue, causing fear to interspersed with respect. The trip was quiet, calm, I would even say - peacefully. But such an idyll can not be eternal, and therefore, on the third day of the journey, they reached a strange village, where our heroes were waiting for new adventures.

They were noticed from afar, and therefore at the gate they were already waiting for the elder, the priest of the local church and a dozen men. Have communicated. It turned out that the village has been here for a week now as in an open confrontation between the smith and all the others. It all started with the fact that Valentino was shod by the headman's horse, and the latter, a few days later, broke his leg due to the fact that some of the nails in the horseshoe jumped off. Of course, they began to run into the horseshoe, demanding compensation for the damage. And that in refusal goes. They collected a world gathering, decided to keep the fugitive. So he openly declared at the meeting that the headman, they say, was to blame, because he hurried him and stood over his soul, and that's it, he auknulos. The debate began, as it should be. But, alas, Valentino did not like the people and was afraid, since he was an alien man, he lived on the outskirts, he did not talk to people much. I did not even want to take my wife for myself. So, little by little, the scales bowed in favor of the elders. Only his brother, Vincento, spoke for him. Realizing that they will not wait for justice - they sent the whole world to unprinted distances and went to the smithy, where they have been holding the defense for a week already. At first, the peasants decided to take them by storm, and beat them, for admonishment. But the blacksmith's brother was a hunter, and not a bad one, and therefore, seeing that the peasants go to the smithy in a crowd, without waiting for a conversation, he shot many from the bow. Who wounded, and whom he killed. They became fond of them. Vincento's wife and children were dragged out, on the hillock, in front of the smithy, their heads were chopped. For his family no one intervened, since his wife came to the village with him. So, not being afraid of revenge, their bodies were thrown in the same place, on a hillock. They decided to wait, to lure them to bury relatives, but nothing happened. Already, and became stinky in the neighborhood, and these two are sitting - holding on. Then they decided to come up at night and burn the smithy with their brothers. But here they were also set for failure, twenty men were killed, those from the arrows of the younger brother, who were from the elder's spear. Now they do not surrender to the village, they only overlaid on all sides, they wait when they die from hunger.

Eric looked at the elder's running eyes, thought for a minute and, without a word speaking, went on without calling in the village. But after driving a couple of miles to hide from the eyes of the villagers, he stopped and turned to the companions, looked at their faces. Ostroneg and Morrigan were angry to the extreme. Their faces were completely gray, and the pupils were so small that it seemed as if they were absent altogether! But they did not dare to contradict him - both were silent.

" What's quiet? "Or say there is nothing?

"Sir, our fate is in your hands, decide for yourself," Ostrogneg said.

" Do not frown. "We will pull out the guys. I want to help them myself, and take them to the team, because they do not live here. And I need such strong will people. And that they left - do not worry. At night we will return and quietly discuss everything with the brothers.

- It is necessary to take revenge on this dog, but not to talk.

" It's true, you need revenge. "But it is necessary to decide how. Or have you gathered all the people in the village under the knife?

"I would have killed all of them, but it's up to you. "

- Let's ask those to whom this chilled dish is eaten.

" ? "

" Do not make such a clever face. "Everything Is Simple. Let's ask Valentino from Vincento. We're with you to chop up these reptiles - just warm up. But there's too much blood to spill there. Especially peasants. It's the same massacre. How to cut a chicken with a knife.

- Let the slaughter! Let A child and his wife to cut is not slaughter?

"Morrigan, what do you think? "

" I do not think, but I long for their blood. "With all my soul I wish. To no one alive.

Ok. I understood you. So, at night we go to the brothers with Ostrognem, and if they are not against the slaughter, then the four of us are going to take revenge. And you, my darling, will remain in the camp with horses and carts. So dismount, guys, we're breaking up the camp and waiting for the evening. Is everyone clear?

All was clear, so, as soon as it got dark, our armored couple stepped out in the direction of the smithy. Go about two miles, so do not hurry and go secretly, hiding in the forest thickets. Absolutely in the darkness we went out into a small clearing, from which the smiths of the smithy could be seen. In the district they found a dozen campfires, in which the cordon camped. Carefully bypassing the sleeping guards, they quietly walked to the smithy. There they were already waiting, somehow miraculously noticing from afar.

" Do not come any closer! "Shoot! - There was a rolling bass.

- Hush! You start yelling louder to wake everyone up.

- Who are you? Why did you come in secret?

"I'm Baron Eric von Lenzburg, and secretly I came because I wanted to talk to you. "

"Why do you need to get involved in all this, noble man? "

" I need you and your service. "In return, I will help you with revenge.

"Really, sir, are two half-living peasants worth your efforts? " - The same bass smiled bitterly.

- You are strong in spirit, went against all and were able to withstand, withstand. I need your oath of allegiance, even in life, even in death, and in return I pay for it by helping you in your righteous vengeance. Even if you want everyone here to start a knife.

" And what, Vincento, is a sensible proposal. "Anyway, nothing else but death awaits us. Said another bass from behind the wall.

"Very well, sir, come in. "

The door to the smithy was opened neatly, and the boys slipped in there. There the brothers took turns, swearing by their immortal souls, swore allegiance to Eric. After briefly discussed what they want from revenge, and the plan of action. Valentino, in the smithy, had no armor except two quilted aketones, so I had to put them on. What - no, but protection.

It's already morning At the gate of the village Morrigan drove in with Ostrognem, leading a convoy. Eric was sitting on a bench at the well, and the brothers buried the dead Vincento family. Not a single inhabitant of this village saw the dawn, they were all dead. The brothers broke up so much that there was practically no need to interfere. The coming morning brought heavy thoughts. Our hero was thinking about how many more lives he would have to take away on his hard life path. At night, he watched the brothers who had fallen into a fighting fury. They ran from house to house and carried death to those with whom they had lived hand in hand for many years. Together with them Ostroveg was very enthusiastically engaged in this business. Poor, remembering the fate of his wife, terribly broke. Eric only had to insure them, sitting on a horse with a crossbow. A couple of times I had to shoot, pummeling the most agile inhabitants, that could escape from those who were almost mad with rage and fury. Their consciousness was completely engulfed by the thirst for blood, which literally obscured their eyes. Blood So much blood and death began to swirl around him. She was literally attracted to them, like a magnet. Of course, he was aware of where he was, and was ready for the fact that he would have to kill, perhaps even many, since this era with its cruel customs would not bypass him. But now this filth was becoming too much. He wanted to go away from this slaughterhouse, throw everything, huddled in some shell. To not see and hear everything that happens around. But it was an impossible dream, and the reality was that throughout the village in pools of blood and own feces lay bodies, and around them - chopped pieces, bowls and other things that had fallen out. One and a half hundred people did not meet the dawn - all of them that night were overtaken by death. Let not his hands, but at his will. And he is aware of this. Is this really the payment for true fidelity? A kind of blood seal that binds people's souls. Yes, all these people are guilty, but how heavy is the burden of responsibility for the death of another, especially when there are a lot of them, these deaths. How she burns youth, chills sparkles in the eyes, filling it with heaviness and sadness. Heavy. But it will still be! Behind these sad thoughts he was caught by the brothers who returned, having completed the burial. Along with them came Ostreneg and Morrigan, who had already removed the luggage from the horses and refueled the forage. The time of sighs has passed, and the rough reality has again surrounded Eric, looking at it with enthusiastic and devoted eyes. So he got up from the bench, stroked the horse around his neck, smiled and began to give orders to his small team. They sincerely believe in him and follow him to the end, to the last breath. So, to the point, gentlemen, to the point! No matter how heavy it may be.

- Close the gate to the village. Do not let anyone. You, you and you - stand in the queue in turn. Ostroleg takes over first. Take my crossbow. But first take off the cat and give it to Morrigan to wash the blood. You will be replaced by Vincento, then Valentino enters and then on a circle. The crossbow remains with the one who stands on the post. Ostroneg, your task at the show is to show the guys how to use it. Here is the hourglass, every three turns - changing the guard, they will be at Morrigan, and she watches the order when changing the guard. All come to say that there is no sea in the village and no progress in it. You and you - take from the load in the chain mail and run to the smithy to customize it for yourself. To guard on the guard already. And on you, my darling, lunch, supper and camp preparation. We move out at midnight. Is everyone clear? Any questions?

There were no questions, and Eric nodded, releasing them to follow orders. After quietly observing their vanity, he slowly took the horse back to the rest, raszdlal, tidied his food and went to do a dirty part of the job - marauding. Having removed his armor and most of his clothes, he went to climb houses. Why is that? Because there it was possible to get very dirty in the blood and so on, and from the body the blood is washed away much more easily than from the clothes. The task he set for himself was to quickly walk through all 24 houses and collect everything that could be sold on the market in Venice. Well, do not leave all the rot with the unlucky masters? According to the brothers, the village spent the third year hoarding woolen cloth of its own production, so that after the end of the field work send a caravan to Venice for sale. These words were very quickly confirmed. The fabric was about 60 cm wide, but it was really a lot. Each house has 20-30 lengths of two dozen meters in length. The fabric was painted in green the same shade. In total there were 602 cuts. But some of them were stained or damaged during the last night, so you could take only 514 cuts. From them a small hill grew near the broken Morrigan camp, right in the wasteland, in the middle of the village. With the money in the village was quite meager, since they lived, mainly, subsistence farming. So a dozen Denarii and forty-two obols are all that Eric could find, and even then, almost all the cash was in the hands of the priest and the elder. In the church itself, there was absolutely nothing to take, since it was poor - old wiped icons and several copper, silvered ritual attributes. It was quite dangerous to drive sheep and cows to Venice, too many questions would be asked. The horses were few and all rather seedy, his horses were practically gods compared to these nags. Still extensive stocks of dried herbs and berries, from which Morrigan has typed the whole heap, having declared, that it can be driven to the pharmacists.

It was getting dark. The bonfire turned into a quiet embers, next to which were 24 torches, according to the number of houses. Eric made everyone wash. By the way, the brothers, not accustomed to his orders, were a little stunned when the girl, completely unconcerned, took off all her clothes and began to wash herself. The Slav wavered and, putting his hands on his shoulders, calmly explained that this is a useful and useful thing for health. Wherever he comes from, such things are not embarrassed. And there's nothing to be ashamed of. It's a shame to show ugliness, not beauty. In general, all washed, dressed, equipped and checked for the last time, whether everything is normal in the baggage, which is a little overgrown. It included two carts about one horse and a couple of spare horses, which were tied to carts. For the coachmen, Valentino and Vincento were planted, Eric rode freely on horseback, and Morrigan and Ostroni had two clockwork horses, which, however, were eased by shifting the entire luggage to carts. In the head of the column, the baron and the Irish moved, which followed him in the wake. The closest one was, as before, our Slavic friend. We left in the thick darkness. After a couple of miles, stopped at the old camp, but did not dismount. Eric took two clockwork horses from the Drevlyanin and sent him to the village to finish the job. Half an hour later he returned, and in the distance a huge fire of a great fire was raging, which in the morning will leave behind him only a wild in its sweep of the ashes.

Because of the supply, the movement speed of the detachment has seriously decreased. So the next week they spent on the road, until finally, because of the horizon did not appear Mestre. Briefly explaining the security at the gate, they paid the entrance fee, because they went with the goods, and drove into the streets of the city. And from there they crossed to Venice itself, where they traditionally stayed in a small and cozy inn, with a small number of visitors. Our hero, along with Morrigan, took up the construction of the territory. Valentino was left to guard the goods in the courtyard, and Ostro?eg and Vincento went to the market to pick up and pay for the place in the trading rows, since the fabric had to be disposed of as quickly as possible. But as soon as everyone dispersed and they were alone with the girl, she decided to distract herself from cleaning and talk to him on a rather delicate topic.

"I want to talk to you," she said, blushing.

Ok.

"You see, it's a little inconvenient for me to ask all this "

"Do not be shy, come on, I'm not biting. " He smiled.

- Do you like me? - and her cheeks became completely red.

- Of course, I like you. Why should I leave you with me, otherwise? You in itself are quite a clever girl, you know a good deal about herbs and a loyal person. And the situation will turn out - you will become a wonderful doctor, as our French lover came out.

" Stop it. "I'm not asking this. You yourself understand this. Tell me, do you like me as a woman?

- Hmm And why suddenly such questions?

EricAnswer. Do not mock me.

Ok. Yes, I like you. You are a beautiful, intelligent and faithful woman - this is just an excellent combination.

" Stop, stop, stop. " He took her by the shoulders and slightly pressed on them, seating them on the bench. - Sit down. Let me explain something to you. Are you ready to listen to me and hear me?

I: Yes, of course. I'm all in the spotlight.

- Great! - Our hero went to the open window and stood there, pondering where to start. - Love. Family. All this is certainly beautiful. And my body grows absolutely decisively. So much that every day, more and more loudly declares his desire to women. What am I saying? Remember, because so many times, during the ablutions Even hang a weight on it, so as not to embarrass you. But if I surrender and yield, then both of us are in trouble. I hope you clearly understand that we will not sigh, but we will immediately begin to work. On the one hand, all this will be very pleasant. On the other hand, given the circumstances and prospects - absolutely unacceptable. First of all, you are a man who needs me for a cause, not for fun. - He turned around, took a stool and sat down on him, two steps in front of her, so as to look straight in the eyes. - And secondly hmm Remember, Morrigan, how did you decide to kill you for refusing to become a litter of village peasants? I especially remind you - with the whole world and with the blessing of the priest. And if at least once, at least one, but lost, then you would use all the peasants in the village. And for free and at any time. Or have you forgotten?

- This is not forgotten. Go on, why do you say that?

Ok. Just think about it, their spiritual master teaches you to be hypocritical in order to hide your true desires. He saw that there is no one to protect you, and you yourself, in the end, give in, or you will be taken by force. And in the village the uttermost horror will begin. And this man chose the easiest way, he decided to kill you, supporting the stupid offer of the peasant. Instead of calling him in order and putting it in its place. And these people behave as they did: they were like a herd of dogs - they did not dare even to give votes alone, but they got so bold as they crowded together. And so they are brought up from birth - in humility and veneration of the one who never gave a helping hand, and in general - only eats for both cheeks. Therefore, they should cheat by buying crumbs from the owners table. They are slaves, who since childhood have been killed by willpower.

Morrigan looked at him in horrified eyes.

" What, you think they were born like that? "Remember everything that surrounded you all this life. How everyone was talking and what they were actually doing. If their God is so omnipotent, then why should his faithful servants need money, lands, armies to solve their difficulties? You never thought, why the hell did we all surrender to God? What will he do with us? Where is he to the whole heap of the people that has been born and made strong, will it be? In barrels, pick it up and put it in a pantry for a rainy day? Thinking? Clever. But how convenient, when the people you control, consider themselves slaves. Yes, alas, not by your slaves. But it's even better, because you are the official representative of their owner, so he gives all the joys and hardships to them, not you. You just manage his property at his request. Do you think why your rulers are so closely friends with the church? Just the same in the gums of each other kiss.

"What about the Mohammedans? " - her face was confused with surprise, confusion and fear.

- And what about them? The same eggs, only in the profile. And they are at war with each other, because they are competitors.

"I'm afraid. "You so correctly say that my soul is already bursting with doubt. You, as if, are completely alien to this world, but at the same time it is so organically intertwined with it, literally feeling, feeling, seeing through it. As a foreign grain, that took root, having taken root. Why did you come to this world? Are you really the same Antichrist scared of the holy fathers?

" For them, yes, I'm probably Antichrist. " He laughed. "You ask why I came? "Are not you afraid to hear the answer?

No. Even though you are at least a devil, I will still be true to you. Even if it is a road to eternal torment in the Underworld.

" But how will you turn this world over? "You're just a man! One man against the whole world!

- One person against the whole world one person You can not even imagine how much this is! - Erik stood a short pause, looked into her eyes, that they were completely frightened and confused. "Tell me, now do you understand why I can not accept your offer? "

" I understand everything. "Do not worry, I will not distract you further on such stupid questions - Her eyes were full of sadness and sadness.

"But you, I hope, will remain and will you serve me? "

" Of course, my lord "But surely you will always have such a position?

" I do not know. "Now I'm just starting my hard way. Eric grinned and turned to the window. "Do not pant. " Look - you're just a little bit and you will cry. Do you think I'm made of iron and just scoff? Wake up, beauty! I am also a man, only more stubborn, smart, consistent and efficient than most around. So, are you clear or have more questions?

" It's all clear. "Forgive me for my stupidity and weakness.

Ok. I hope you guessed that you need to keep quiet about our conversation?

Of course.

Excellent! And now for the cause! We need to get out here and clean it up properly. I do not want to live in mud.

In the evening, Eric, accompanied by Valentino, went for a walk around the city. It turns out that he and his brother were from here. Eric walked around the city and was surprised at how rapidly he differs from those he had seen before. There were still a lot of wooden houses in it, but small stone buildings flashed here and there, and in general, development was felt, albeit chaotic. Towards evening, seeing, next to St. Mark's Basilica, a cozy tavern, they decided to look there, and sit for a while - listen to people's conversations. What was Eric's surprise when, literally at the entrance, he came across a table, behind which sat his old acquaintance - Rudolph. He also saw him, recognized him and invited him to sit down in a polite gesture.

- What are your destinies? Like our old cunning, is he? " - Erik was pleased with the meeting, although he knew about its danger.

"And to you," he smiled. "The things that brought me here will be a complete surprise for you. "

- I escaped from the castle. Here he captured his son, and fled. He left everything.

" You intrigue me. "Tell me - what happened? Just give it from the very beginning, otherwise I'm horrified as to what happened in the castle after my departure.

" At first, when you heard about the flight, Karl loudly laughed and called you a coward. After drinking in honor of his victory, he went to enjoy this event Bert. There, completely lost his vigilance from fun and alcohol, began to rape her. But this time he was unlucky. Someone tossed a kitchen knife to her, so that she cut off all male dignity. How the cow licked her tongue. And he, instead of wresting the instrument of his castration from her hands, began to yell in a wild voice. Bertha though half-alive was, but broken all, but did not lose her head and began to beat him on the face and neck. I cut my left eye, practically cut off my left cheek, cut off my right ear and tore off part of my nose. I would have beaten to death, if the guard had not arrived. He worked out clearly - with one blow of an ax, he took off her hand with a knife, and cut off his head with a second blow. How your uncle survived - no one knows. They were preparing to bury him, but he did not introduce himself. And then and at all - the amendment went. As oklemalsya, summoned me and sent to your search. He ordered to kill at any cost, since it was you who threw a knife to Bertha.

"What a clever uncle. " Eric smiled.

- Yes, everyone understood this, not only him. There was simply no one else. - Well. Sent, it means he was looking for me, and at the very mind he began to tighten his veil. That guard, that he had beaten off your mother, told me to quit for slowness. I took a walk, including by your grace, quite well. I return to the castle, and there even on the gate no one stands. I look - on the old oak, that near the dungeon grows, a lot of people are hung - servants, combatants. I go to him, I pass your letter and message that you have departed to the Holy Land. He gritted his teeth, but thanked him. We lived for some time, as they walked around scorched earth. As that is not in his - for weapons grabs and beats. And he began to run away from him. By the spring of last year, in the entire castle, two dozen people would not have accumulated. And around the neighborhood a cadaveric smell is such that people turn around. And two months ago I decided to remember my youth with my wife. I flirt with her, I caress her, she laughs. But nothing happened, only to undress the steel, Karl runs in with a sword in his hands. I saw her in my nightgown, and how she rubbed her head. And cut it to the breast. Then I could not stand it. I beat him in the ear, and brush it, so that the sword will drop. He committed in a fury turns and on me went, yelling that he would kill. I did not dare to check, I grabbed a candle and stuck it in my eye. Yes, well, from the heart. He collapsed unconscious. And I quickly dress and my son. That night we galloped off. We've been sitting here since, waiting for the fleet to go to the Holy Land to go there and look for happiness.

In general, we sat and talked heart to heart. Since Rudolph escaped with almost no means, Eric gave him a dozen denarii, and then offered to think about serving him. Immediately agree, he did not, he wanted to think everything over and discuss with his son. On that and dispersed, having previously agreed that they would meet tomorrow morning in the same place.

The next two days passed in rather pleasant conversations and discussions of the action plan. It turned out that our old friend was well acquainted with the commander of the local courtyard of the Templars by a certain Pierre de Chamond. On the third day, in the morning, the whole procession went to visit this gentleman. The task of the former uncle's associate was to recommend the young baron to the commander and be the guarantor of his personality. The task of the others is to fulfill the function of the retinue of the noble lord. The meeting began, surprisingly, very cool. As it turned out later, Monsieur was already well aware of the rather strange, if not to say more, behavior of the lord of the stronghold von Lenzburg, and therefore all his thoughts were circling around the desire to maintain a balance between courtesy and unwillingness to conduct any business with Karl. But everything changed when, finally, he ceased to cute talk about everything except the case, reported on why they came and outlined the situation. The situation was as follows. Beloved uncle of this guest, lies in his bed at death, and must die from day to day. And especially it was stressed that his recovery, not only is not planned, but completely out of the question. After his death, flax passes by right of inheritance to Eric, as he is generally the only one of the whole family who will soon survive. But the young baron does not have any desire to grow bedsore on the pope, sitting up his pants in the castle. Therefore, he would like to transfer all the grounds together with the castle, that they belong to the leen in the management of the Order of the Knights Templar, and - he offers quite broad powers, right up to the reorganization of the castle. Of course, not for free. In return, he asks to keep a standing account in the order bank, notifying all the branches, to which to translate each year, on the first day of the winter solstice, the equivalent of 5% of the annual income received from the loan in silver coins. On each transaction of arrival or expense, immediately inform all offices by means of letters. Replenishment of this account is allowed by any means with an on-site assessment, entering into the register and indicating the final receiving amount in silver. The specified register is sent together with the notification of the conduct of the transaction in all branches of the bank. . Eric made himself the first in the history of a permanent settlement account, with a very convenient form of replenishment. But the withdrawal of cash had to go exclusively in silver. For the measure of the standard was taken Viennese brand of silver. The funds were to be issued at the first demand within the balance of the account. If the required amount in the office was not, then the time was specified in which the funds could be delivered. All operations are free of charge. The proposal was so interesting to Pierre that, on his part, he proposed to add to the agreement another point where it was noted that Eric von Lenzburg had the right to stop along with his retinue at any courtyard of the Order of Residence. All that day our hero spent in the work on the conclusion of the treaty and came to bed only when it was already getting dark. In his hands, he had a copy of the contract and an extract of the first incoming operation - he transferred 15 marks of silver to the Templars account, leaving only three stamps in dinars and obols, for running operations. Also, he agreed to transfer 500 cuts of wool fabric to the account balance, but the assessment was postponed until tomorrow. Eric was terribly pleased, he literally shone, because his actions, finally, began to acquire a solid scale. However, in this case there was a small problem - it was necessary to bury the uncle, and he, unfortunately, was still alive. It was necessary to do something, and it was urgent. The worst thing was that he himself had to stay in Venice and meet with various famous people to save the iron alibi.

The solution of such a difficult problem came suddenly and from there, from where it was impossible to expect. Walking in the morning with Morrigan and Valentino around the city and looking thoughtfully at the floating products of the life of the local population, our Baron noticed a curious scene. A small scuffle was going on in the square near the church of San Giacomo di Rialto. Unknown to him, the warrior in chain mail armor with a pair of armed servants fought off a group of guys of gangster appearance, who pinched him, though completely unorganized, but they were many, and they were strong. Local residents hid in the alleys and watched the battle. Looking closer, Eric noticed that one of the bandits kept their distance and shouted something to the others, trying to guide them. Having ordered the girl to retreat back, and the Italian - to get behind that column and to be on the alert, he took off the crossbow from the shoulder strap, cocked it, loaded it with a bolt, aimed and fired. His shot coincided with a blow that cut through the throat of the servant that held the defenses on the warrior's left shoulder, causing the bandits to glow with joy and did not notice at all how their commander fell, having only a part of his head in the presence. Seeing this state of affairs, the baron grunted and began recharging. At the same time choosing the position is more comfortable. After twenty seconds, the bolt blown the head of that unwieldy target that stood in the furthest, back row. Unlike his opponents, the warrior noticed the shots and began to try his best to divert attention to himself. This gave its result - eight corpses with spaced heads adorned the paved ground near the cathedral. But the battle continued and four more bandits fought with our brave "drone", but already alone, as his second servant, lying on the pavement, was examining his own back. As you guessed, in those days such a trick can be done only with a severed head. Eric, after the third shot, located behind a small pile of baskets of food, kept a kind of incognito, because the bandits, although they realized that they shoot at him, but could not yet understand where. A couple of minutes later it was over, and the baron went to get acquainted. The unfamiliar warrior was breathing heavily and sweating all over. Seeing that it was over, he practically collapsed to the ground. The square was still empty, as people were afraid to go to the battlefield. We did not look at a suitable man with a crossbow, and only when he stopped three paces from him, said: "Antonio. " In general - an hour later they were four together sitting in a small cozy tavern. It turned out that our new acquaintance was engaged in a wide variety of cases, which are not always passionately hungry for promulgation. Although, first of all, his income came from a privateer business. Privateering was, of course, not in the form that manifested itself later, in the 16th century in the Caribbean. The fact is that our sailor and his team plundered and drowned ships of specific traders by order and guidance of other traders. Sometimes accompanied by merchant ships. Sometimes they robbed the coast. Nothing special The case though very profitable, but very risky. True, recently there was a disaster - their ship flew to the rocks. So now he and about half of his team of fifty nice and friendly people do not know what to put themselves to. So it was necessary to compete with other factions, representatives of one of which literally one hour ago wanted to kill him. And with every word Antonio said, Eric's eyes flared. Here it is, the solution to the problem! This is a great chance to use. And so, when he finished his sad story, the Baron suggested that he correct his condition by plundering a small castle and killing a man who survived from his mind. He, of course, thought that they were laughing at him. However, after he was given the entire layout of the situation in the stronghold von Lenzburg, they told how best to approach him and so on. In short, the evening the team of privateers moved with mighty cavalry gait to visit Uncle Karl, and our baron went to the nephew of de Chamond, where a small meeting was being held. According to his calculations in three days, his beloved, adored uncle will heroically die, reflecting the attack of the robbers on the family castle.

Five days later came the news from Antonio. They were brought by the village headman of the nearest village to the castle, who reported that on the night of August 22, the stronghold of von Lenzburg was attacked. The baron and four, already elderly and completely unhealthy, a retinue, stood up for her defense. And the servants, having learned about the attack, immediately fled, not wanting to fight. Therefore, the attacking robbers let them through without problems, so as not to be distracted by them. Despite the heroic resistance of the defenders, who acted as one against the robbers, they failed to repel not only the attack, but even kill anyone, as they were simply shot from crossbows on the threshold of the dungeon. Also, the elder said that the robbers, having collected some of the movable property in the castle, collected the carts and left in an unknown direction. To the general joy of the peasants, the robbers did not go around the villages, and burned nothing. With this man, Eric went to Pierre. He listened attentively to the report with a very serious face, but only as the headman stopped, laughed, embraced our baron and said that he was a good girl and all that. Next was a week, during which Eric and Rudolph engaged in a fascinating process of settling formal cases with the deceased. The cases were, however, mostly with our hero, who wanted to show the general public a bit of pathos. Therefore, he not only personally participated in the funeral of his uncle, but also found the severely damaged remains of Bertha, who were left to rot under the fortress wall, and solemnly buried her. And after a big subbotnik was held in the family crypt, at the entrance to which, de Chamond promised to keep the honorary post. All cases are settled, all contracts are signed, it's time to move on. However, our hero stopped something, he for some reason wanted to stay in Venice, as if he was looking for something.

Another week passed and autumn came. To pull on there was no sense, because in winter to go by sea is not the best solution. And because Eric spit on his feelings and went to the Templars to negotiate a transfer with their next ship to Greece. In a past life, he was never there, as circumstances hampered, and so here he really wanted to go there. But, alas, not everything goes according to his plans. Two days before the sailing, Antonio's half-dead came to him and, in fact, in his arms, lost consciousness. He was badly beaten and sometimes injured by something piercing and cutting. Here it was - his foreboding. The next day after his appearance, the militant sailor recovered, although he was still very weak. It was completely impossible to leave him here and leave, as new circumstances of the incident arose, and ignoring such things is very dangerous. Therefore, he immediately informed Pierre of the impossibility of sailing. The situation for the pirates was very sad, and this very sadness was the detachment accompanying Thibault III, Count Champagne. On the second day after the night storming and looting of the castle, the convoy of Antonio collided on the road, along which they retreated towards Genoa, with a detachment of knights. Something managed to figure out only their leader. I tried to collect the guys for defense, but it was too late - he ran away by a miracle. His horse was wounded and a few miles later fell. And he himself was not in the best shape. Why they attacked the convoy, which from the side looked like a trade caravan, it was unclear. They broke their heads for a while, they thought. Everything was done unclear. However, it was evening, and our hero went to visit de Chamon, for a small evening gathering. The guests arrived and he collected the nearest circle of communication. These guests were Thibaut and his company. During the meal, he proudly talked about how he chopped a huge gang of robbers into one and a half hundred people, which was carrying a baggage of stolen things. Hearing the threefold increase in the number of people Antonio, our hero was surprised - rounded his eyes and whistled. But the Earl interpreted the cause of surprise in his own way, and therefore - in detail described what a hot fight was with this mob of robbers. And when it came to that, from where our noble Tibo found out that the gangsters were in front of him, it turned out to be a completely funny thing - at first he attacked, everyone who tried to fight - interrupted, and interrogated and surrendered - he was interrogated and hung. And now, on the basis of the result of the interrogation, he concluded that he had beaten the robbers. Amazing luck - his thirst for profit completely inadvertently received a moral justification. In general, they talked for a long time, animatedly discussing the details of this event. About the attack on the family castle and its looting the baron, of course, did not mention. In general, of all those present that evening in the big hall of the farmstead, only two people understood what kind of detachment it was and whose property was captured by de Champagne. But Pierre, well aware of the situation, enjoyed the piquancy of the situation, and so the whole evening with a barely perceptible smile watched Eric, only occasionally inserting phrases. The very same young baron decided to play a little, but for the Templar it was completely unclear what kind of game and for what. The meaning of the game was that von Lenzburg encouraged the bragging of Thibaut. Pierre was particularly amused when the baron expressed his sincere admiration for his courage and skill, for the earl himself had killed a dozen. In general, it would be strange to expect a different reaction from the young nobleman, if not for one detail. The commander of the Venetian farmstead and Jean de Ra had a rather active correspondence, and therefore, in rather interesting detail, he heard about the promising young man.

When everyone began to disperse, de Chamond went to Eric and, putting his hand on his shoulder, said quietly:

"Why did not you claim property? "

" Because I do not have the resources to beat him. "Or do you think that our beloved count will give it of his own free will?

"Let's say Listen, what's the whole game for? "

Game

"I've heard a lot about you and I think that a dozen chopped commoners will not impress a man like you. " He smiled slyly and winked.

aboutPierre! You are wrong. I am completely inexperienced in this matter.

- I'm scared to think what will happen if you get experience. Yes, do not worry you, we are on the same side, if only because not only the order, but personally I am grateful to you for the elegant removal of this scoundrel de Mortel.

- The Duke tried to enlighten me. He was deeply shocked by the way you carefully and accurately arranged everything. He also had absolutely nothing to have at hand a man who leads such an unpleasant game for him. You probably still do not know, but his agents also went to secret negotiations between Baudouin and Philip II.

- And he had these investigations to what?

"So you confirm your involvement in the death of de Mortel? "

"Dear Pierre, we are all involved in the deaths of these people, by someone acting, by someone inaction," Eric's face expressed naivety, and his eyes were honest.

" Do not worry, dear baron. "Such information is known only to a limited number of people, and they do not consider you an enemy. But still, at least hint, why do you need this game with the old Tibo. After all, he sincerely believes that you are impressed with his successes.

"And you will agree - it's just wonderful," he winked wickedly.

"But be careful, you can not forgive his death. "

- By the will of the Lord we are all mortal, but not necessarily from someone's hand. Do not worry, I even had no thoughts to kill him, all the more - he is the leader of the crusade.

"Then what are you up to? "

Yes. . Nothing, I was just amused by his reaction.

- Eric, I'm speaking seriously - be careful and weigh your decisions. You are being watched.

- Observe? Who could need my humble person?

" Baron, do not be modest, quite respectable people have already noticed you, and they agree that you are not so simple. "I'm sorry, but I can not tell you more. So think about my words before you act. And that you will act - I am completely sure.

Ok. Good night, my dear Pierre.

- Goodnight.

Waking up the next morning, Eric took on the fact that he began to deploy an agent network, using the services of brothers, sent to the subordination of Antonio, and already worked out the scheme with the children that Morrigan took up. In parallel, he loaded Rudolph with the collection of information through his acquaintances, many of whom were associated with noble families and knew quite often very naughty details. Having finished giving orders, he lay down on the bench, and began to analyze the situation, at the same time remembering all the information known to him. The most unpleasant news for him was that he was interested in one of the influential people who look at him with a completely unclear goal. Such things were not at all part of his plans, for he had not wanted to advertise the fact of his existence for at least a couple of years. Less unpleasant, but very curious was that of his trick with Baudouin was aware. In this case, it turns out a curious layout - either he has a spy in the team, or he is constantly watched, or the result turned out to be the fruit of calculation. The first option is excluded, since Morrigan is not only devoted to him, but also loves him so much that he can give life without hesitation. Such people serve very faithfully, especially if you keep them for a short distance, but do not allow it quite close. A Drevlyanin is too direct a man, he will not deliberately do any information sinks, but he will not blurt out on drunkness, for he does not drink. That is, does not drink at all. The second variant with constant external supervision too is extremely improbable. Who is interested in a young nobleman who runs away from his uncle who cut off all his family during the struggle for flax? After Vienna - perhaps before it - is very unlikely. Yes, and he did not see the outside surveillance, although he has been walking cautiously since the time they were grazed during the incident with the knights. There remains only the third option. And this leads to completely sad thoughts about the existence of some kind of analytical center and an implicit level of the political game. Why on earth did they pay attention to him in this center? He is an ordinary petty nobleman. True, if you think about it, there is a very substantial package of oddities in behavior. I wanted to become a knight in glittering armor and made myself a completely unsuitable armor kit for this time. Bonehead He would have started all sorts of things like gunpowder and lead azide to invent and use to demand their ambitions. Or his completely incomprehensible decision to go to the pupils to the blacksmith? He - a noble nobleman and learns from some commoner? Well, they can still close their eyes, saying that the tailgate got under the tail, so he decided to do the dirty work himself. However, if he was observed during his studies, they would obviously be surprised that he was not so much learning to forge as he was learning to forge an unsuitable instrument for him. A very surprising thing, especially in light of his age and a strange order for a blacksmith's tool, much of which was done by his personal drawings and the same Gottfried in the blacksmith was absent. And money. A whole pile of money, which quite unexpectedly arose from him. How does a gentleman without a lap accidentally receive a lot of money? The options are few and almost all of them are associated with looting and robbery. Simply charming! If there are no problems with robberies and robbery, as this is absolutely normal behavior for the nobles of the present, and only the ease, accuracy and age are alarming, then the rest is a problem. He had already allocated time for a conversation about a past life, and Rudolph told him everything he had been doing before the assassination. The most lousy thing is that neither Latin nor any other languages he studied. From Latin he knew only Signum Crucis and then, stammering. And here - freely and without difficulty expresses, and, sometimes quite unusually - ornate and elegant. In the style of ancient, pre-Christian inscriptions, which can sometimes be found in Rome. He did not know other things and did not study other things. He was not taught to read, he could not read. I studied military affairs without much zeal. Most of the time he spent first in the stables, he loved riding very much, and then ran after the young servants. Yes, yes, gentlemen. You will be surprised - he knew the female body at the age of 13. And all the following year was celebrated as scheduled according to the schedule for almost all young girls. He developed physically well, which is now noticeable, and after surviving a dozen years, he looked like he was all 16-18, he had a very strong body since childhood. And this quality remained for him. Now he rarely gave less than 20, but he was only seventeen. In general - strong, cheerful, mischievous, but absolutely impenetrable dense. Rudolph suggested that this was a divine intervention, for the changes were simply terrific. It turns out that he was, by all appearances, a completely different person, just a superficially poured copy. Well, he screwed up! Erika shivered from the pungent smell of the glued flippers.

The next few days he kept the chosen mode of visiting noble encounters and remained absolutely calm, at least outwardly. Meanwhile, the agent network began to eat denarii and give its results. By the end of the week, by joint efforts, about three hundred people gathered information for him, most of them, however, were children. The tasks that were put before the agent network were somewhat vague and rather complicated - it was necessary to take control of all key players in the political arena of Venice and keep them under round the clock surveillance. In addition, the hand on the pulse in the criminal world was kept, and all more or less suspicious visitors were noted. As soon as the network began to operate the information went a very solid stream, from which, frankly, he had already lost the habit. I hastily started a kind of diary. For the first time he bought himself two clean scrolls of parchment, well, not quite clean, but cleaned. But it was not an option. It was very inconvenient to mess with this resource. It was necessary to urgently seek a way out. It was dangerous to make paper, as this would add suspicion. After suffering a little, he stopped on a thin fabric of bleached flax, which he cut into neat rectangles, and, at the time of writing, he inserted into simple homemade embroidery hoops made of wood. The size of the sheets was about 20 by 30 centimeters. I cut it myself, by measure, so that the sheets were almost identical. The edges of these improvised sheets were neatly sutured, in order to prevent their dissolution. He entrusted this fascinating business to the Drevlyanin, so as not to distract the others, loaded with agency work, subordinates. The organization of the disparate sheets of cloth he decided quite simply - numbering them and sewing twenty sheets in one notebook. For page numbering (and generally recording of digital information), he used a visually undeformed form of recording in the form of simple geometric figures expressing the decimal system, and the records themselves were in modern Russian. By these means he quite reliably saved from reading these texts his current contemporaries in case of theft or forcible seizure during a search. By the end of the second month he already had about one hundred and fifty carefully printed sheets with information and a fairly clear understanding of the situation. It all began with that strange precedent in Vienna, when he shot French knights. Before their suzerain, this information came through the Duke of Austria in the process of dismantling. Of course - this is the king interested, because the situation was quite unusual. In general, he sent his spies to Eric to find out what was what, and then decided to see what kind of person he was, the painfully ambiguous data was coming. I needed a provocation, but one that would be difficult to ignore. That's why on the scene appeared Baudouin, who was previously a very literate and completely uninformative performer. He was processed, inspired by some greatness, and then allocated Gaspar, who, incidentally, was the perfect pawn in that game. In general, Jean is dying. Duke, realizing that an interesting game had begun, puts his best spies on watch for von Lenzburg, who almost held him in an embrace with the people of Philip kept him under the hood. These crooked European rulers were expecting different surprises, but he was able to exceed all their expectations and made a furor. You just imagine - he sits at home, does nothing, sometimes pushes at the forge of the pear, sometimes he walks the market. And then suddenly Gaspard disappears in the evening, and next morning they find the corpse of Morel with a very beautiful dramatization. At the same time - none, absolutely no trace or thread to Eric was found, but to all interested persons it was clear that it was he who did it. And now, behind the baron, three curious glances are closely watched: the King of France Philip II Augustus, the Duke of Austria Frederick I Banberg and the Grand Master of the Knights Templar Order - Gilbert Eral. Not the most pleasant news. Although they were compensated for by the complete failure of their agents, since our cunning man had already figured out all the hunters, tracked them down and kept them under control, that is, all the information that came from them to the employers was known to him, too. A good trump card in the game. Yes, the picture of the personalities cleared up, it became clear who he was interested in. It is much more difficult to find out what. For these tasks, there must be someone from the house, for example Philippe, someone who is trusted, as with conventional agents this task could not be solved. Of the existing personalities of great interest was the same Thibaut III Champagne and his son-in-law Baldwin I of Flanders, since they had a direct relationship to the now reigning house in France. This caused a change in instructions for intelligence activities, and therefore, after two weeks, Eric paced next to the desk and pondered a further plan of action.

Yes - these guys, of course, owned the information. And the interest of all three stakeholders is the same, well, or about the same. And even if it is not so, then having received information about the interests of at least one of the parties, will rely on that for further investigation. The only point of entry into this isolated couple of informers was the wife of Baldwin and the daughter of Thibaut - Maria Champagne, a very colorful and sweet nature for 25 years. After some thought, he, nevertheless, decided to bet on her, and therefore the next two weeks, all the forces of the agency were directed to clarify all the details about Masha, absolutely everyone, even very piquant. The task was not difficult, because the lady was well known and kept in sight. Little of this, our girl turned out to be a man with a subtle spiritual organization - a poetess. Conversations about beauty, literature and poetry were for her like air, but, alas, the husband could not give them to her. Equal and father - they were both representatives of their time - strong, strong, showy and not very clever butchers. Married when she was 12, Maria was not happy. And after she gave birth to two girls, and her husband cooled to her, disbelieving that she was capable of giving birth to his son, completely lost heart. And it was a kind of parody of a decadence character. As for the direct predilections of the physiological plan, the spouses were never delighted with the choice of their parents and tolerated each other out of necessity. Therefore, for the last 5 years she had no affinity with a man, from which she was terribly racked and forced to direct all unclaimed sexual energy into the channel of sublimation. In this case it was poetry, and indeed any fine art. Purely visually the lady was pretty compact, with a sweet, spiritualized face and in a neat figure that almost did not deteriorate after giving birth. So - the information is collected, the goal is set, the tasks are defined, the resources are clear and accessible. Therefore, on December 7, 1198, when he was at the next reception in the house, which Thibaut rented, he decided to catch her on bait. It took quite a while to search for the cause, as the conversations were all about a major military campaign, which was being prepared in the next few years. The case turned out completely unexpectedly. Pierre noticed a small scroll of parchment in her belt and decided to joke about a businesslike wife who responsibly treated the duties of her husband's secretary. But that scroll was a record of several of her poems, and therefore de Chamon had, out of politeness, to ask them to read. Then a small discussion ensued on the complete uselessness of poetry, where it was called an empty and muddled business. But at the very end, when smug muzhiks and a sad lady, were already ready to move on to another topic, Erik got in. And very original - he began to recite from memory Odysseus, who, in his time, learned the first song. Of course - recited in ancient Greek, which no one knew, but because they listened to the melody of the text. Fragments of phrases were understood only by Pierre, who tolerantly spoke in Byzantine. He recited beautifully, for chanting, with the correct longitude of sounds and intonation, and therefore already on the second verse all cute shut up and began to listen. When he had finished, there was a pause and only a minute later Maria asked, slightly agitated: "What was that? " In general - the rest of the evening they talked about this poem, about heroes, mythical creatures and so on. Eric managed to convince all those present that poetry is not simple chatter, it allows people to remember heroic deeds and carry them through many centuries. In general, another stupid meeting about "who they are where and how" our baron turned into a small discussion club and achieved his goal - he drew attention to and expressed interest in further communication with the one whose attention he was looking for. Bingo! The goal is struck from the first call.

Such a bold and successful maneuver could not avoid close attention, it was too unusual. So, a couple of days later, Pierre somehow accidentally decided to probe him a little. He did not know that the legend and the move itself had been thought out beforehand, and so Eric quite calmly reacted to the tricky question and gave out to him quite a slender legend about how he beat off the old hooligans who was a wandering musician. The payment for food, shelter, treatment and protection offered a variety of rare songs and interesting stories. Alas, he would have learned more, but in the spring the old man said goodbye, thanked for help and went on traveling further. In general, de Chamond was satisfied with the answer, since there were quite a lot of such strange old people in Europe at that time. But back to our Mary. Another couple of meetings and conversations have finished her completely, for her our baron became something of an idol, who was allowed to do with her whatever he wanted. So many years of complete misunderstanding from men and suddenly such a bright and striking phenomenon. In order to move on to the next stage of subordination, it was necessary to resolve the issue of hygiene, which was traditionally launched. Here it should be said that this situation with body care was stimulated by the Roman Catholic Church with all its might. It reached a completely incomprehensible delirium, for example, washing more than twice a year was considered a sin and no small. But in this case, the lady's will was akin to a plasticine, and therefore a couple of stories related to the wash, told with some erotic overtones, did their job. And so, on December 18, 1198, at another meeting with Maria, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the voice of reason is not alien to her, and she not only washed herself of all kinds of filth, but also put on fresh, clean clothes. The smell from her sharply became much more pleasant, and so he did not pull and on the same day they retired for a more intimate conversation about modern poetry. Strange they turned out a couple of lovers - an adult woman of 24 years and a young guy of 16 years. But for all her strangeness, after a month Eric had all the information about the Capetians' house, because through her fragile hands there was all the correspondence of her father and her husband. And now, far from their native possessions, this gave a lot of useful information. As for Philip's interests, everything turned out to be quite primitive, and to the point of ridiculous. It turns out that he was interested in the one in whose interests our baron acts. Our gallant king somehow decided that they were digging under him, wishing to destroy the influence in southern Germany and northern Italy. Stupid, stupid and not professional. Such a volume of the most curious information and such an indistinct conclusion! Apparently our hero overestimated the analytical abilities of the "big brother", which he decided to follow. Too primitive, we need to double-check, since they can deliberately disinform it, noticing, through whom he decided to probes them.

The first days of March of 1199 were in progress. The novel with Maria received a small extension in the form of her pregnancy. Therefore, it was necessary to do something in order to avoid scandal. After thinking over the situation with the lady, they decided to provoke her husband, so that he had to return to his direct duties. So the next two weeks Eric at general meetings played a trick on Baldwin in such a way that there was nothing to answer. At the same time, the young baron was only retelling rumors that the servants were dismissing that this or that servant had suffered from the count. But he did not just retell, but reworked literally, adding tales of reluctance to have normal children, because of greed, since if he has new daughters, the amount of the necessary dowry will greatly increase. Well, all in that vein. These rude jokes with the implication of Thibaut were perceived as helping his own daughter, who, using her good attitude to the young baron, asked him to help. At least, that was the legend that was poured out to Maria's father. He also took a lively part in the fate of his daughter, and therefore supported the jokes of Eric and was amply rejoiced. In general, after two weeks of methodical dumb and jokes, Baldwin could not stand and visited his wife's bedroom in the evening. And anyway, I began to do it from time to time, because he liked a well-groomed, pleasantly smelling woman, even if not in his taste. And the affairs of our hero in Venice were finally settled. The information was confirmed, and in the house of the Banks, it turned out to be the same. The latter he learned again through his mistress, through whose hands passed a curious letter, in which the duke was interested in Tibo success in preparing the campaign and, as if by accident, asked about what forces on the campaign is ready to put the suzerain Eric. In general - a kindergarten, pants on the straps. So, having said goodbye to Maria, he arranged with Pierre and, on March 22, on his birthday, departed Venice to the island of Corfu. Where I wanted to stay for a while.

Chapter 4

Sail on the Adriatic Sea was on a very poor pelvis, which was an early form of the nave. The ship was absolutely clumsy and very wobbly on the wave, evoking memories of the once-received unforgettable sensations during a walk in tow on the high seas. Fortunately, our hero did not have seasickness, and he just quietly left in the sediment from his vehicle. Long it was 25 meters, width of 7 meters, the draft was unclear to him, but it was as if a large, surface board towered a meter and a half to two meters high. The speed was such that Eric wanted to jump into the water and push this awkward trough. Fortunately, apart from the crew of the people there was not much, and therefore it was possible to lie down all those almost six days that they sailed to the island of Corfu. When the port of Kerkyra appeared on the horizon, our baron simply had an itch at his feet, so he rushed to rush along the deck, worried that they were sailing so slowly. His problem was solved by Morrigan, having planted on a barrel and having started to massage a neck and shoulders. The massage was very beneficial, and he calmed down.

On the shore, they did not expect anything special - an ordinary medieval town, moreover poor. The only serious visual difference from Vienna and Venice was in the style of architecture. Unfortunately, the ship did not go any further and after the unloading was returning, so it was necessary to wait another couple of weeks for another loch, which should come from Athens. We went around a couple of inns - full of horror. I had to rent a small house to fit comfortably. So it was led, but the requirements to the level of housing he had very solid - everything should be modest, but clean, sound and accurate. For that period, it was available only at the expense of their own efforts. Therefore, the first two days were spent on cleaning up a muddy house and establishing a normal comfort zone there. The ruins of ancient buildings were covered with earth and garbage, there were no sights in the city, except for the churches. But they already tired of him, after a long life in Vienna and Venice. In general, soon the fighting, and solid, so that he spent the remaining time preparing the guys. Of course, he did not have much of them, but this is already a combat detachment, which for efficiency of efficiency should work together. In addition to the girls in his squad were Ostroneg, Valentino, Vincento, Rudolph with his son George and Antonio. The simplest drill training, combat training in a circular defense, well-coordinated shooting from crossbows and so on. Of course, pulling up for such a time does not work, but it was necessary to begin. The work quickly flew by, but, alas, after two weeks, the ship from Athens did not arrive. By the end of the third week, another one had come from Cyprus and had brought a few sailors that he had picked up in the sea at the site of the shipwreck. Well, and at the same time it turned out that the expected pelvis will not be, as it is on the bottom. Uncertainty is not at all pleasing, and therefore it was decided to contact your favorite bank and find out when they will send the next transport, but already to Athens. Pierre responded fairly quickly - his answer came about two weeks later. News was not encouraging - the ship was scheduled only in the early days of May. To engage in monotonous and tiresome training was not a desire, especially since Rudolph himself could drive the guys. So he decided to take a little distraction and went on a small horse ride with Morrigan to the mountain ridge that was going on in the northern part of the island. Less daylight, but still nice.

In the evening there was a small picnic in the mountains, Eric decided to remember his forever lost world, and therefore prepared a little shish kebab. He still picked it up from last night in Kerkyra and in this form and drove all the way. There was no press, so I had to use the skin, in which everything was laid and tightened to a good fit. For the marinade he used red wine, salt and onions. Pepper, unfortunately, was not, as spices in Europe are worth their weight in gold and only very few kings can afford them. In general, we sat well. They ate, drank a little, and he began to talk about the ancient world, about the great empires and mighty heroes. She fell asleep much earlier than he stopped telling, noticing her sleepy snuff. And he still sat - eating up the remaining meat and sighing about how he misses at his dinner tomatoes with potatoes. In the morning they gathered unhurriedly and decided to move back, as the relaxed state of our baron began to depress. Already before they left, they saw a small, barely noticeable path leading somewhere to the mountains. Well, for the unknown - a path in the mountains? But his curiosity attracted to see where the path leads high in the mountains and away from people. He left the Morrigan to pack things, and, having adjusted his armor, went to explore what was there and what. After a couple of miles of an improvised game in a mountain goat, he stumbled upon a neat entrance to the cave. He opened his sword and went in. Strange place - like, a cave is wild at all, and there are traces of people - there, on the walls, torches that were extinct not so long ago. After a couple of hundred steps along the winding canal, he went into the great hall, where a small temple was built. Something in the spirit of the ancient Greek cults. There were values, but heavy. So he turned and quickly went back. To return him, the girl has almost prepared everything.

" Listen, download now to Corfu, take Rudolph with the guys, pair a clockwork horse for each and drive here. "Antonio leave in the city, he has not woken up from his wounds, let the property guard.

"I do not like all this. "

It does not matter! Now the main thing is to act quickly. Oh, yes, I'll take some food, because you'll have to sit here for two days. Do you understand everything?

- Yes, I understood everything clearly.

"Fine, now drive, do not waste precious time. "

The girl reluctantly finished assembling, mounted, he hooked her to her and the horses, and then she turned around and began to slowly retire, descending the mountain road. And the baron himself, collecting a little brushwood and taking the provisions, went back to the cave - it had to be inspected.

First you had to solve the problem with lighting, it's completely inconvenient to walk in the shadows, when you see only silhouettes. The fact is that the inner main hall was with a huge vault, which at the very top cut through cracks, in places through. Through them, and then came the crumbs of light, and there was little ventilation. The airing of the room, he realized, was organized so that through a slightly cracked arch the air went out, and through the entrance to the cave - came in. That is, if you build a fire inside the hall, it will speed up the passage of airflow, due to the accelerated rise of heated air and improve the ventilation of the room. After figuring out what was happening in that room, he collected some brushwood in the vicinity of the cave and prepared a bonfire, which he could only light. Nearby, he neatly folded more fuel, which should be enough for a couple of days of maintaining the fire. After that, I borrowed a couple of torches in the aisle and began to inspect the whole complex. It turned out that in addition to the hall, in the center of which stood a large marble statue of Artemis about 4 meters high, there are about ten more carved in the rock rooms, in which various property was stored. Basically, of course, household items and food stocks in the form of grain, olive oil and wine. Of the valuable things - only antique handicrafts, mostly marble and bronze. Now they are not at all in price, but then - they will be completely. The most interesting place was the last room, which was located just behind the grandiose statue. It was much more spacious than the others. In this small hall a kind of non-static pantry of a completely unique kind was made-the marble and bronze statues of the various gods of the ancient Olympus stood mixed with various household things and military gear of different eras. A lot of equipment lay in bulk and badly deteriorated from time to time, coming to a completely unconditioned state, but part was in deep oil preservation. For example, perfectly preserved Lorica segmentals from the heyday of the Roman Empire were exactly the same and preserved. The most wounded were chain mail. Especially it should be mentioned about a certain amount of bronze armor in a completely tolerable condition. For him, as an experienced historian, all these things were like balm to the soul, and indeed the whole of this era: he studied for so many years, and then everything can be touched alive. So he wandered, examined and evaluated everything that is valuable and where it can be applied. The day passed imperceptibly, and it began to get dark. He had to light a fire and begin to prepare for bed. There was only one question - the question of unexpected guests, since here, obviously, one of the people regularly put his hand, watching as the preservation of the armor, and for everything else. We needed an alarm system. There were no other entrances to the underground temple, so at some distance from each other he made stretches of woolen thread, on which hung a small bundle of pieces of iron. It was not very strong, but if you sleep sensitively, you can notice.

He lay down to sleep, not taking off his armor, as one could expect anything. In a strong and deep sleep, he was prevented from falling through the feeling of tension that had seized him since the moment Morrigan left. And so, closer to the morning, one of the long stretch marks worked. He woke up instantly, but did not flinch and listened. A couple of minutes later the next stretch worked and a hushed whisper was heard, apparently uninvited guests remembered not the most courtly words in their language. He rose as quietly and neatly as possible, took the sciavon out of its scabbard and walked away from the burning fire to the nearest room so as to be out of sight and have, in case of anything, the opportunity to rush to the aisle and break out at the shortest distance. Five entered the room. Ahead was a slender but strong girl, behind her four men, a column in twos. All are armed with short spears. Behind the men are some stuffed bags. The body of the whole company covers only simple woolen clothes. Eric almost howled because he forgot to hurry in a hurry with a crossbow, which now lay in the bag next to the fire. Well at least it was not loaded, and the bolts lay separately in the bag. He terribly spoiled the situation, as he was the only weapon for the next few kilometers, which could easily finish him off. The guests stopped near the fire. The men immediately turned their backs on her and, with their spears in front of him, became an improvised semicircle, protecting her back and sides. The girl slowly slowed the tip of the spear and began to look around and listen. For some reason, she did not pay attention to the crossbow. Minutes of silence stretched slowly, so slowly and tensely that the men accompanying her all over the body sweated profusely, and her fingers a little whitened from the strength with which they squeezed the shaft. But in the eighth minute the girl could not stand it and loudly cried in Byzantine:

- Who are you? - And silence. The Baron was not going to be so easy on her trick. He, of course, is in fine armor and in good shape, but there are five of them and it is still unknown how many of them are outside.

" I know that you are here! "Come out and introduce yourself. If you are not our enemy, I promise - we will not attack. - And again there is silence. After all, who knows who they consider an enemy?

Ok. I understand what you think. So I will introduce myself.

- Light! Do not risk so, suddenly this is one of those who forced us to hide here.

" Then he will die. "But before he dies he finds out from whose hand. I am Demeter - the priestess of this ancient temple. - And again there is silence. Our hero only smiled a little. He began to like this game.

" You show disrespect in our land! "Teleph - start looking for our guest. - After these words, the men accompanying her began to disperse and look around. Like herself. Fortunately, she completely alone went to the right baron's room. Her eyes a little povyvikli from the darkness because of being at the fire, but because she saw it very badly. Entering the room, she did not see the dark mass of his armor from two paces. True, he himself successfully stood up - in the darkest corner of the room, but notice, if the eye is accustomed to the dark, you can. She took another step forward and heard a slight noise on the right. Of course, she turned to the irritant and immediately fell into the embrace of our hero, who took her left hand with her waist, and the right one clamped her mouth, and then pressed her to him. Poor girl, from the surprise and completely strange sensations, she was so scared that she could not hold her bladder out. And what do you want? You go into a dark room, and then you, absolutely noiselessly, have something very hard and cold. So our poor fellow not only dropped his spear and lost the gift of speech, but also, with a slight twitching of his whole body, made a byaku. And after it has softened and has lost consciousness. The sounds that accompanied all this action did not cause any reaction from the accompanying men. Therefore, Eric was carte blanche for action. Going out to fight with them is unreasonable, even if he kills them all, he will be of no use to this. They need him as subordinates, and not as corpses. And to kill, judging by our ward, he always can. Therefore, after waiting for the guys to move away, he clamped the fingers of his nose, which was limp on his hands, that caused a rather quick reaction to the sharp inhalation of the mouth and the coming to consciousness. He did not give a shout to her, clutching his mouth with his hand, whispered in his ear:

" You can make a sound without permission, and I'll cut your head off. "Understood or not, I do not ask - I warn. Due to the fact that you, rubbish, maloholnaya, pissed off my legs, I'm very angry, so do not even hope for indulgence. I will cut it off and say that it was.

Then he pressed the blade of the devil to her throat and began to slowly move out into the light. Near the campfire, he hailed these griefs - bodyguards, calling for help with a rather sophisticated fantasy in terms of their sexual orientation.

It took only a few minutes and the situation changed dramatically. Instead of a brazen and self-assured lady with bodyguards, there were four frightened men and a girl in the hall, Erik was holding on his knees, in front of him, holding his hair wound around his left arm. In his right hand he held the devil.

" So you gathered here today to please me with a small and curious narrative. "First you say, then you, further you and at the very end you.

"Sir, let our hostess tell everything. "

- I'll decide what's best. - He pulled the girl by the hair up, from which she squeaked. - And if you want to solve everything by the world, then you will be a model of humility and obedience. Do I make myself clear?

"Yes, sir, it's very clear. "

- My name is Telef, my father's name was

In general, each of them briefly and in detail told the story of his life, what he knows and how he turned out to be in an underground cult. It turns out that in Kerkir, since the time of Constantine, a social group has survived, which decided not to abandon the ancient cult. Every year this community faded, losing its representatives. And now, those who were in the cave represented the whole cult - the last family. These guys were the girl's brothers, and their parents were killed recently during the robbery. The robbers attacked, because these overgrown people lit up some valuable cult property. The family was quite prosperous, but not enough to have protection. The well-being of the parents allowed the children not to bother with military exercises or other useful things, but simply idle. Of all of them, only the girl was able to read and write in Byzantine and had insignificant knowledge of astronomy and astrology.

Ok. Now we sat on the ass near the statue. Legs stretch forward. Okay. If anyone decides to fidget and check that Perseus's blood does not flow in his veins, then I do so - first I cut down her head, and then I start to mock the self-assured corpse that I decided to hold back. Oh! How nice! You all grasp on the fly!

After waiting until they finish, he lifted the girl from her knees by the hair and turned her face to him. His lips were white and shaking, there was hatred in his eyes, his face was in tears.

" Well, you are beautiful! "You would see yourself now. Oh well, the question that I asked your brothers, you heard. So I'm all in the spotlight.

- How do you allow yourself to lead me? I'm the high priestess of Artemis!

Eric bent her head back so that she screamed, and his face hovered over her face.

" You're a fool, if you think I'll let you talk to yourself like that. "Or have you forgotten how literally half an hour ago you lost face with fear? You are my terrible. Answer the questions and maybe I'll keep all of you alive for a while.

- Butcher! I will not answer you, I will not succumb! You broke me and humiliated me, but not until the end, I still have a drop of pride!

" Do you suggest that I humiliate you to the end? "In front of your brothers? - He said and a little squeezed the hand holding the squall, her ass. It was uncomfortable, because the guard was interfering. But the girl understood everything and clearly reacted.

No. Don't you dare!

"You have a choice dear, or we talk relatively politely, or " He winked at her.

Ok. I I will not carry to the extreme. My name is Demeter, my father's name was Evrymakh, we are from the class of merchants. His father had ten ships, on which he drove goods between Venice and Athens. We are the last generation in Kerkyra, who worshiped Artemis and supported her temple. After the death of my parents, I hired the manager of his trading house and assumed the title of High Priestess. Our affairs are now very modest, because of the storms, we lost many ships, now we have only three left. I know and I can do quite a few things. As a child, my parents could make me do a little bit, then I learned to write, read and understand the starry sky. You see for yourself - the priestess from me turned out to be bad, I led everyone who followed me to the threshold of death - she lowered her eyes and was completely saddened by her face.

" You just have to sit in a corner and wipe the snot with a handkerchief. "Do not cry, powerful priestess, I do not always bring death. How old are you?

- Sixteen. Sir, please tell us from whose hand we are humiliated and can die at any moment. Regret. Ignorance of such things is intolerable.

" Um do you really want to know my name? "You will not be frightened? Or did you decide to petty revenge today, referring to some incontinence? She completely blushed and looked down.

- Forgive me, I showed weakness. I will try to prevent this from happening again.

Ok. I was called by different names, in ancient times on this earth I was called Ares. The girl's eyes widened, her face was white and, starting a couple of times, she lost consciousness again. He already thought that the script would repeat itself and wanted to swear and jump aside, but this time everything turned out. The guys who sat at the statue of Artemis were slightly better than the girl. They shook, like this - they shook absolutely naturally with white faces, like a canvas. You dear reader, ask why he was so unscrupulously deceived by these already not very strong spirit guys? But do not be surprised. After all, our hero needed people, and loyal people. And who, if not the ancient god, will these people be faithful to, that from generation to generation the traditions of the fathers were preserved? On Artemis he did not fit at all in any way, even if he shaved off a small stubble that had already appeared on his cheeks. Therefore, using the method of "Caesarian Caesarian", he simply offered them what they dreamed of. God, that came to earth in hard times. Well and so on - there were a lot of such legends. But back to the cave. Eric, shaking the little girl, talked to her a little more, then put her on her shoulder and, bringing her to the brothers, fell straight at them. And he, put the blade back in its sheath and went back to the fire, which was already keenly demanding his attention. When the fire was still in order, Demetra approached him timidly and asked to sit beside him.

"Are you really God? "

- What a tricky question. Tell me, what do you know about the gods?

"A little, my lord, I said that I did not care about studying.

- Someone thinks that somewhere there, above the cracked vault of this cave, there lives a certain perfect being, which is absolutely and omnipotently. He vigilantly watch over you - mortal people, to guide them on the path of humility and obedience. It loves you, loves you so much that it only punishes you for disobedience, and, in general, for prevention. This creature has its ministers on earth who, although they serve an omnipotent being, but do not receive any help from him, and therefore shake you, ordinary mortals, in order to receive money, lands and power. . Does it sound familiar?

- Reminds, but very vaguely. But is this God?

Right? It's not him, it's the church that is using the darkness right here. "He jabbed her finger in the forehead," fools people to live well, eat well, and sleep sweetly. "

- But what, then God?

- God For you this thing will be very difficult to understand. You are used to the fact that God is expressed materially - a statue there or another image, and, of course, this expression will be the human face or its variation. Original narcissism, desire, no - just an unbearable thirst to feel like a belly-button of the universe. Would you be surprised if you knew that God does not have a visual image?

Of course. How can he pray then? After all, if you do not know his face, it becomes very difficult to turn to him their prayers and requests.

" Why should he pray to you? "You did not think about it? What will he do with them? Eat? Add to the piggy bank? And requests. It's just hilarious. Why did you surrender to him to help? Who are you at all so that he spends his time and energy on you? Why help you, not, say, grasshoppers or woodpeckers? What exactly are you, for example, better than a monkey?

- And who is it?

Well, let there be a bunny. Than you are better than a bunny?

- I am endowed with soul and mind.

- Let's admit. Why do you think that it will be interesting for God to give you out of the general mass of animals, only because you think you are endowed with soul and mind? Well, you are endowed with soul, and then what? The fish under the water swim well, and the nightingale, for example, chirps much more pleasantly than a drunken song in a tavern.

"I do not know. Maybe he loves us?

" But then I do not know, I do not understand. "Everything was completely confused in the head. I I'm completely confused.

- Here I am about the same. Do not understand, but how to ask leading questions, so your whole picture of the world and showered with dust. In this case, this problem is not just for you. They thought up all sorts of magic fairytales, and then they let each other out of their intestines because of their own sick imagination. Remember - God does not need anything from you, nothing at all. No prayers, no sacrifices. He does not care about your requests, that is, in general. He can not ask anything, because he just does not give anything. It is also pointless for him to offer something as a gift or a sacrifice, because he has everything he needs.

- But why do they need people if they live in their own world?

That's it. Clever. The right questions, finally, start asking. The fact is that any God resembles a huge sea of energy, elements. The sea does not take offense at you, when you take water from him for your purposes? More precisely, he does not care. But the Gods are spiritual, energy seas and oceans, communication with which is carried out through your spirit, your spirit. Remember the situation of our acquaintance. How quickly you broke down. But you are faced with a small drop of that ocean, which is called Ares. And if you fall on a little wave?

- Let's do without such experiments! I feel sorry for myself under such terrible blows.

- And all because you can not oppose it. You're almost a faithful Christian, who draws your spirit from the God of humble slaves with all your spirit. You said that the high priestess of Artemis. And why it did not show?

"I do not know how to show it. "

" You do not even know what it is. "You do not feel its energy, you do not know its taste and characteristics.

" According to your words, my brothers and I are brave children! "But But what about you? You're sitting next to me, not some abstract spirit.

Well done,Again the correct question. If to be brief, then I turn out to be a local expression of the energy field of God - the earthly, the material shell of its particles with all the ensuing limitations.

- The energy field?

- Hmm let's simplify - imagine the ocean and the force that is located in its waters. Remember the storm and the way this force awakens and begins to destroy everything in the district. Presented?

Yes!

- Now imagine the size of this titanic layer of water and then, how many times more strength in it than you see during a storm. This reserve of force can be provisionally called energy. So it turns out - the ocean of power - it's about the same as the energy field of God. Only the scale is somewhat different, with God it is larger. Approximately understood?

"Well if only. "

"It's already something. " He smiled. "Have you heard much about the ancient gods and heroes? "

- To be honest, not very much.

- To put it briefly, the hero is an elite man with outstanding abilities, a unique leader of his congeners, which allowed them to achieve some impressive success. Those heroes that lived in ancient times became fairy-tale characters, and those that not so long ago still retained the traits of people in the memory of generations. So, the ancient Gods are the same heroes, only strengthened at the expense of divine energies, that is, they were particles of this or that God. It is impossible to fully transfer all the power and immensity of a complex and self-sufficient divine essence to a small and fragile human body. Alas, it can only be strengthened. And then not much. Well, by itself - to give knowledge. So this body is just a miserable parody of me. Which eventually dies releasing a part of me that is in this body.

- And what do you need it for?

- And again the right question. The gods do not possess all-powerfulness and do not know everything that is going on around them. They are just very sophisticated and very curious creatures. Why - I can not answer you, just do not convey the meaning through the language. If you want, consider it all a game.

- The game ? !

- Yes, by playing and playing. I am so amused. All this gives me pleasure and new information.

"Well, you have games! "

"Great talents give big flaws," he said, and winked.

- And where did you get this unusual armor?

- I made it myself, me those that you did not like at all. In them, this fragile human shell can easily collapse, and this is not part of my plans.

"Do you need priestesses? "

- Well, well! What an arrogance!

" I'm serious. "You can always guide me, but she still does not say anything. It is not with the priests to talk about what I'm all sinful and in general an abomination in a skirt.

- Do not you consider yourself as such?

Of course. Where did this stupidity come from with original sin. Why do I need to feel guilty all the time? I did not do anything wrong! It's not fair! Not fair!

"Hush, do not shout, I can hear you well. "

- Sorry.

" To become my priestess you must prove that you deserve it. "I do not need random people, because in this world I have quite ambitious plans.

- What you need to do, say. I'm ready for anything!

" For everything? "How reckless! And if I want to test the firmness of your will and ask you to sleep with all the porters of Athens port in turn?

" That's it, that's" but ". Think first and calculate your own and other people's moves. Speaking now, you must clearly assume that it will be tomorrow. And what do you need from this "tomorrow"? And then they will destroy you as a child and you will work hard on your enemies for one meal. And it's good if you lose yourself, or even those entrusted to you. Did you hear me clearly?

Yes, sir.

Ok. Do you want to pass the priestess's test?

"Of course, sir. "

Ok. Here is your sword, go - kill your brothers. With these words, he took the shiavon out of its sheath and laid it on the stone in front of it. His face was calm. Cold, hard eyes looked at her slightly relaxed. Eric's whole body showed perfect calm and equanimity. Her face, on the other hand, was distorted and all was white. After staying in the stupor for about five seconds, she came to herself and, taking her sword, held it back.

- I can not do it!

"Do you understand that if you start a test and fail it, then I will have to kill you? "

"I do not care, sir, I'm ready to accept death if this protects my brothers. "

" It will not protect them. "After that I will kill them as unnecessary witnesses.

" Then, then I'll fight! " - She intercepted the sword and sent him a blade in the direction of our hero. Her frantic eyes were full of horror and fear, but she was willing to at least try to fight with the one who in her opinion was God. The Baron only smiled, reached out his hand, squeezed the blade tightly and gently pulled himself and sideways. She leaned behind the blade and, almost stumbling, dropped it from her hands. And Eric, slowly hid him in the sheath.

Well done,You passed the test. You could overcome fear. Sit down.

Then he talked with her about what she had to do next, already in the role of his priestess. The key issue was the issue of transport. Since our lady had her ships, it was a sin not to use them. She equipped all three ships that were to come from Venice one of these days, for a trip to Athens and carried out the transfer of his people and a significant part of the property there. First of all, the most valuable statues were sailing, which had to be hidden on the Templar courtyard for a fee. The next issue was the question of building relationships with the sullen manager. It was necessary to tone the whole trading company, as it could be very useful in the future. In addition, the three older brothers had to make every effort to learn the letter and the account as soon as possible, and to maximally adopt the experience of doing business with the manager. Need for a couple of years to prepare them for independent business management, and leave the manager only for the sake of ties. There must be three of them, because they need to deploy three permanent missions in Venice, Corfu and Athens with a single command center and a unified budget. The elder brother sits in the parents' house, the two younger ones are dotted. At each metochion it is necessary to collect in the future a small guard from 5-10 persons and normally to train / arm them. The third issue was an important, but difficult, task of forming an armed detachment. Eric will need loyal and adequately armed forces in two to three years to take the prize, so that such things can and should be taken care of right now. To clarify this issue, it was necessary to solve two problems: about the equipment and about the organization. To find out information about the quality and quantity of equipment available in the temple, Eric picked up the already frustrated brothers of the girl and made him work a little. And though the rumbling of their awkward activity shook the whole cave, but after three hours it was clearly visible - what and how much they have. The situation turned out to be not so rosy as he thought at first - from more than a hundred sets of armor to use, of course after the arrangement, only 23 Segmentals could be preserved, which were preserved, and therefore preserved perfectly. All the rest turned out to be either generally substandard, like, for example, seventy-two iron chain mails rusted to the perfect extremity, or sets of sewn scales whose base completely rotted, and the scales themselves lay loose. There were twelve such "collect yourself" sets. Also, there were eight anatomical bronzes in bronze in quite a good condition, but, alas, they were not used reasonably, since they were technologically very outdated. In addition to the elements of the protection of the hull in the room, there were still about a hundred kilograms of rusted iron, which was once helmets, and about five hundred copies of cold weapons: swords, axes, spears. As a result, they got a huge pile of iron, weighing about three hundred kilograms. It could have been very profitable to sell for processing to blacksmiths. Decided to do so - all the equipment, except lorik and scales, sell by the forces of our trading company, including bronze. Scale to restore on the basis of aketon, in lorikah to replace the leather elements and clean. Having solved this problem, they moved on to organize the detachment. Based on the available armor, it was decided to establish its strength of 35 people. Each fighter should be equipped with a well-quilted aketon, and on top of it - an ancient armor. In addition to this property, each soldier was put a simple spangelhelm with a sinker. If the means allow, it was necessary to further strengthen each helmet with headphones. Of the weapons needed to purchase 35 swords of type XII, the same number of simple approximately the same arrows cocked "goat leg". With him was supposed to carry 30 bolts. In addition, each fighter was equipped with a large rectangular shield, designed so that they could be hidden behind when reloading a crossbow, and a horse for transport. Command over the detachment receives a younger brother, who was to choose two assistants - sergeants, thereby dividing the squad into two equal-sized units. On it was the general training of the guys. The training should include the ability to keep the formation when attacking the enemy, either by the entire detachment or by the detachment; shooting fugitive volleys; fight on swords individually and in formation. After recruiting, manning and training, the detachment must go to Constantinople, where to stay for a while and, after registering with the Templar Bank, wait for his arrival, giving all the time to training. To reach the final point of the route was not later than mid-summer next year. Demeter - personally was responsible for everything and had to make every effort to achieve positive results.

Having set goals and distributed tasks, they, all together, engaged in the preparation of temple property for evacuation from the cave. Basically, it was reduced to traversing the entire territory, sorting out for removal and deciding what would go into preserving, and what to sell by the forces of the trading company. So the day passed unnoticed, Morrigan returned with the people of Eric. In total they drove twenty-four horses, four each. Irlandka showed ingenuity and took on her own initiative quite a few bags and ropes. The next three days was a slow and careful evacuation of things from the cave. The young baron with his people moved from the rented house to the farmstead of Demeter, where they collected for the first time the entire exported cargo. Noteworthy was the meeting of our hero with the manager. Since the sight of him was dashing and silly, it turned out to be not at all surprising that he, after a pair of fingers bitten off with a blacksmith's clipper, admitted to all the theft and sale of the company's ships, writing off them for loss from the storm. Prior to direct self-mutilation, he was beaten for a long time and with pleasure, trying to inflict maximum pain and humiliation, but not severely injuring his body. By the end of this petting, all his relatives were gathered, that they lived in Kerkir, that is, about one hundred and forty people. The guests were pleased with the elegant work of the wire cutters and his sincere, public repentance. Then, at their full meeting, they loudly and clearly announced that they would make an osmosis to him and all his male relatives to the third tribe in case he at least once lied to someone from the family of Demeter or their trusted people. It was also promised to cut out all of his relatives, without understanding their field and age, until the seventh tribe, if he does not return the cost of all the stolen property, including ships, plus half more from above, in order to compensate for moral damage. The time for a refund was put him in three hundred and twenty-four hours. They also discussed the conditions of flight and sudden death. If he makes his legs, then after a fixed time his relatives are cut out. If he suddenly dies, then the debt goes to his relatives. True, the amount will already be not one and a half of the stolen, but two parts. And if he decides to run away with his relatives, they will still be found and killed by all, and very painfully. In short - intimidated under the full program. Having endorsed this all, in the end, for the sake of memory, another one slowly biting off his finger, the boys all dismissed their business. That is - to seek them money. The sum, by the way, was very impressive and amounted to about two hundred Vienna marks in silver. All his six years of selfless and brazen theft at once auknulis in the form of one and absolutely immense genitalia. A week after the conversation with the manager came two ships Demeter, and our guys finally went to Athens.

And so, on the morning of May 15, 1199, our hero descended to the shore of ancient Attica. On its expanses, once in ancient times, great philosophers, sculptors, architects worked. Sorry, very sorry that their descendants do not remember about such wonderful things. However, digging into memory, he grinned - the guys and could not remember such things, because they were not descendants of the ancient Greeks. The fact is that in the 5th-7th centuries AD the Slavs came to these lands and, having mastered the new territory, interrupted the local ones. True, in the process, they have undergone a strong assimilation, but this does not change the essence of the matter. Genocide? Yes, it is he, since it is a traditional and natural form of interaction between ethnic groups - the strong destroys the weak, in order to liberate territory for himself. Do you think this is all a fiction? Look how the Peloponnesian peninsula called Morea began to be called after such an incident, which meant "Marine" in the southern outcrops of the Proto-Slavic language. A statue is generally a beauty. You put a modern Greek next to the antique statue. Are they full of surprise? That's the same thing. With the modern, even worse, as they were subjected to a strong cultural and genetic assimilation by the Turks, that is why they are generally quite something Eastern. Well, it's little things, let's get to the point. Immediately upon his arrival at the port, he sent Morrigan and Rudolph to search for their lodging, and, taking with him his brother Demeter Zinon, that he would develop a permanent trade and transportation point, he went to the Templar courtyard. Claude d'Amboise, the local commander, met our guys rather wary, but having checked his credentials, he left and became literally the soul of the campaign. So the three of them spent the evening until the evening in a pleasant, confidential conversation, however, quite efficient. The issues of security of financial operations of the trading company Demetra, local difficulties, market needs, the Templars' own needs were discussed. A special issue was the question of antiquities, which were to be stored in the courtyard from three to five years. When it was already dark, they returned to the port, where they were met by Antonio and led to the house chosen by the girl, who, by the way, had already been washed. You get used to a good business quickly, and therefore the entire staff of his small detachment was pleased to wash in. And now - in one of the rooms of the house they made an impromptu bathroom and in the order of their turn were washed after a heavy sea crossing. After washing, they sat down to supper, where Eric outlined a range of tasks for everyone. Morrigan was to collect information on the area of Antioch and Constantinople. Antonio had the task of establishing working relations and contacts with criminal gangs of the city. The task of these groups is to hold an impromptu "open day" in the future. Our hero was concerned with the preservation of the ancient values, which were represented by sculptures and various handicrafts. Before Rudolph was set no less difficult task - to drive all the children's free time in the tail and in the mane and prepare them for serious hostilities. The next stop place will imply active and combat operations of the detachment. The main areas of training: shooting from a crossbow and chopping. The shooting had to be learned both on foot and on horseback, including training a volatile volley to accumulate targets. Work with the sword was understood both in the ranks and with the horse. Simple things, but the unit must achieve coherence and adequacy in interaction. The educational process was aggravated by the fact that in the first days of October it will be necessary to depart for Antioch. Before Eric himself there was a whole range of tasks. Firstly, it is the production of new helmets for all of its soldiers, bringing their armor equipment to uniformity and solving the problem with increasing frontal reservation. As a basic helmet, he chose pothelm. As a supporting set of armor was chosen a full housekeeper complete with an aketon and a quilted helmet. With weapons, and so it was almost complete order - the basic set consisted of a sword type XII, a large triangular curved shield and a crossbow, which was cocked "goat's leg. " Nothing particularly outstanding, but quite functional. The question of strengthening armor was opened, but he was inclined to order six mirrors, which on leather straps would be attached to the chest over the chain mail. Secondly, to make military equipment for the girl, since she expressed a desire to follow him everywhere, even if it will cost her life. It will not be possible to get rid of it, but to lose by mistake is stupid. So it was decided to make her his personal standard-bearer. The main problem was that it is rather miniature and does not have a special power. After a moment's thought, they decided to stop at the chain-mail half-way from riveted rings, half from wide, carved rings, which was worn on a rigidly quilted aketon. Dimensions of armored armor were far from full body covering, and therefore she covered only the body to the middle of the thigh and arms to the elbow. The weight of such equipment was about five kilograms, which was tolerable for the girl. Yes, and protection, somehow, but it worked. The helmet was chosen as a "pilot", equipped with such a barmitsey, which left only the eyes open. From the weapon they chose a neat, almost miniature saber weighing not more than eight hundred grams. The main task of our neophyte-standard-bearer was to follow Eric everywhere and carry his standard. The question of the standard was decided especially long. The fact is that I did not want to use the standard coat of arms of the Lenzburg background, and to use something as trite as a cross was too ordinary. It was necessary to stand out from the general crowd of crusaders and bring into battle their own, unique coat of arms, the standard and the colors of the cottages. Hardly, but that same night he decided what exactly his personal coat of arms would be - the field of the triangular Norman shield was divided vertically in half. The left part was black, right - scarlet. In the center of the shield was an attacking silver lion. The standard was decided to be made rectangular, and the cats that put all of its fighters on top of the armor will be white and red to the waist, and red and white below the waistband, on their chests and backs they will have a sewn coat of arms, and in the upper right corner - a small cross Red. In general, they discussed the technical issues of the latest preparations and distributed them almost until midnight, then, having cleared the table, went to rest. Tomorrow they were waited by a whole shaft of work.

Two weeks passed. Life boiled like a steep boiling water. The guys slept for 3-4 hours a day, devoting all their time to achieving the set goal - preparing for a big campaign in the Holy Land. Eric spent a lot of time in the smithy, which he rented from a local blacksmith, and in the evenings he listened to reports and drew a coat of arms. The main problem was that the local children drew in some kind of children's styles, when all the animals turned out to be funny rather than formidable, and he himself was not an artist. He painted with coal powder on the egg base on a white lime primer that was applied to a small wooden shield. The colors, for starters, had to withstand unimportantly, since the right silhouette of the lion was needed. In general, by the beginning of the third week, he, with grief in half and his obscene songs, mastered the coat of arms, and therefore the problem of his qualitative copying to shields and cloth was acute. To solve this rather nontrivial task, he left for a day work in the smithy and went for a walk around the city's workshops. But everything went as usual - with a lot of surprises. Literally near the main frontal place, he met his old acquaintance - Ulrich, who was an apprentice to the Viennese forge of Gottfried, who stood near two guys in the shoes and talked to them about something. He looked sad and worried. Eric went up to him, put his hand on his shoulder and whispered in his ear - go, have a bite, at the same time tell everything. And then, without turning around, he went ahead to the nearest tavern, where he sat down in a corner and ordered a meal for two. The guy did not keep you waiting. For dinner he threw himself greedily, as it later became clear, he had not eaten anything for three days. After an hour and a half conversation, it turned out that after returning home from school, our German found only the ashes. He walked around the surrounding lands and found four relatives, two brothers and two cousins. I learned from them that the elder of the village did not share something with a passing nobleman. A month later he returned, and only they could be saved. Even the name of the killer could not be found out. Well, what was I to do? No cola, no yard. Yes, in the pockets of the wind walking. They made fun of their truncheons and went to the big road, looking for food. And we got to the environs of Athens. And then there was no luck - the detachment of the stratigraph of the Peloponnesian meme caught them. Ulf managed to escape, and his associates, won - on the square in the pads keep. Yes, hang one by one each morning, so that those two do not stay long. Next, Eric probed the soil under the desire of our blacksmith and his relatives to serve him. It proved to be very solid, you can say - stony, and in general, it turned out that he was their last hope. So they decided to beat the captives, so that the three of them entered his service, taking the oath of loyalty. The operation for pulling out of captivity their new people, our hero appointed at midnight. In the meantime, he led a grief-robber to his house and returned to his occupation to find an adequate artist, more precisely two, because one had to draw, and the second - to embroider the picture on the fabric. He sought in a specific way - all those who took up the proposed work, he asked on the ground with a twig to draw a lion, which he was depicted on the shield. Unfortunately, most of the great artists who lived in Athens of that time perfectly suited the phrase of Ostap Bender: "Kisa, I want to ask you how an artist artist - you can paint? ". And now, already completely despaired, he finally decided to turn not to masters in the market, but to ask poor people whether they know little. Those for the silver obol told a lot of different information, most of which was completely useless, but the rest helped, and very solid. It turns out that in the port area lived poor fisherman Makarios with his wife Marina. They were quite young - only about twenty years old, but among the poor they were respected, since Marina always helped with embroidery on clothes, and Makariy with drawing. Sometimes, and a cheap jug so draws, that the eye does not rejoice. They had a talent for art, but, alas, their origin and success did not allow them to realize it. Eric went to them. Do not deceive him poor. Macarius not only was able to copy the drawing very accurately and very quickly, but he made very efficient suggestions on its harmonization. In general - it was decided - they will carry out his order. Leaving them as a sign of a good disposition of denarius, our hero asked to count how much and what they need to perform 10 drawings on the billboards and 60 fabric stripes, and already tomorrow at noon to come to visit him for payment and shields. With that and Closer to the evening of the same day, three men in dark gray, inconspicuous clothes came out of our hero's house and went to a small snack bar that stood a few minutes walk from the square. It waited at midnight for this company quietly and peacefully sitting at a table and eating wine, by itself, creating the appearance of an abundant libation, since drinking them was very undesirable. And so, judging by the state of local alcoholics, it was midnight or something very similar. Quietly leaving, the inconspicuous strangers walked almost silently along the arc along the square, they had an important task - to examine the disposition. Everything was quite trivial - two guards quietly chatted and basked at a small fire, which at the same time served as a lighting function. Next to them in the pads in the half-faint condition were the objects sought, behind which stood a gallows, built, including for them. Also, a small patrol of five people was seen that passed through the square. They decided to wait, as it was necessary to avoid meeting with superfluous witnesses - at all it would not be desirable to arrange mass night slaughter. We had to wait a long time, but closer to dawn, when we wanted to start, a patrol appeared. Having greeted that, the guards, guarding the robbers, went back to sleep, that is, vigilantly to serve. Then everything was fast. Eric and Ostroneg went in each of their own way and chose the guard. Rudolph insured them with a crossbow in his hands, but he was not needed, since a good knife against sleeping guards is much more reliable. Even the prisoners, and they did not wake up in the process of removing the guard. The roles were clearly painted, so that everything went on as smoothly as possible: the prisoners were woken, they took off their pads, gave them dark gray tunics and raincoats, removed purses from their guards, opened their belts and quietly disappeared. In the morning in the city, by itself. there was a noise. To pull out the robbers from the hands of the stratigue is a very big impudence. The governor of the Peloponessus, in a fit of fury because of what happened, personally cut down the head of the chief of city guard, for careless service. His successor, who has an acute desire to keep his own life longer, literally nosed the ground with his nose. All the guards and a significant part of the troops of the meme were raised and involved in the operation to catch the criminals. All the suburbs were combed to the distance to the day's transition, everything was checked from small ditches and bushes to sheds with hay and cellars. In the city of the guard, every house ransacked from the cellar to the attic. Even came to our baron, but the cache with the fugitives was safely hidden, so everything turned out. After everything had settled down, the released comrades Hartwin and Hagan - the brothers Ulrich - were instructed in terms of their future fate, as well as their behavior for the near future. They were strictly forbidden to leave the boundaries of the house, they could only go out into the courtyard for lessons only in armor, and they were given the first two sweats to hide their face. . But they were happy - it happened almost a fairy tale, because instead of the gallows they got a place in the squad of the noble lord. And now they are fed, armed, trained. True, the tale was very exhausting - Rudolf drove the guys especially hard, since the physical state of these was somewhat neglected, and with weapons they generally communicated exclusively to "you. "

But back to the affairs of boring life. By lunchtime the next day, Macarius could not come, because of the hype that was going on in the city. He generally could not appear until a week later. It turns out that he was beaten by the guard because he did not have anything of value. Even the wife, and she, feeling the danger of rape, fled on a boat to the sea. These high-moral defenders of civilians not only beat him and took the donated gift, but seeing that there was nothing more to take, they made a terrible pogrom, at the end of which his dilapidated hovel was burned. So that he now has nowhere to live, except in a boat. And for all this he apologized and, almost crying, asked him to forgive, that he forced himself to wait. A good artist is difficult to find at the present time, so it was decided to keep it to himself, by itself - loaded with work. He and his wife were given a separate room, the blessing that the house was spacious, and dedicated to the rules of conduct. First of all it concerned hygiene. Strange as it may seem, they did not cause any surprise at these rules and they normally merged into the general stream. As new servants of the Baron, they were sewn new clothes and shoes of good material, and, after recovering slightly, after the incident, they began with a special zeal to work. Especially worth noting is a small episode where our hero showed some concern for his charges. It would be completely wrong to leave the situation of senseless beating of the people he needed to some extent with some kind of shantrap, so, as a result of several walks, a list of all the participants of that unsuccessful inspection of the Makarius hut was drawn up. Of course, they were faced with an unenviable fate, since without knowing it, they crossed the road to a very dangerous man. As a result, they all, in turn, were abducted and with the cut tendons left in a small gorge near Athens. There usually nobody looked, but, just in case, that they could not give any testimony, they all were gouged out and the language was cut off. Whatever you say, justice is never elegant and aesthetic. Usually she looks like a well-pumped lady with an ax in her hands, which are smeared with blood in the elbow. In general, the trust of the creative family was deserved. It is also worth mentioning the fact that Makarius was presented to Zinon, who promised to bring ready shields of the detachment that his brother was preparing for the next month to be refined by the artist. In addition to the patches, his wife was contracted for sewing a cotta in the colors of the baron, who were to wear over armor both his riders and the crossbowmen of Demeter. And since the set in the crossbowmen squad was already completed, then with the shields the sizes of each soldier were to come individually, of course - with the tolerances for the armor. Eric was very much in favor of tidiness and uniformity in his troops. In general, he was lucky with the artistic part. True, not only with her. The appearance in the team of Ulrich greatly helped in the equipment of the children, as it could be separated from combat training for two to three hours a day to be used in the smithy. He did not do anything particularly difficult, but he helped me very much with the preparations. So in early August, sets of mirrors and tophelms for each mounted soldier were ready, a set of equipment for the girl was ready and an additional equipment was purchased for the Germans who had joined the ranks of his detachment. There was still time, and, having freed our smith from assistance in the smithy, so that he could devote more time and effort to the military business, Eric began to manufacture uneasy shoulder pads. Of course, it was possible to make simple petals, but there was not much sense from them, so he decided to make good shoulder-straps with a covering up to the elbow as Gothic, but with more significant shoulders, having small vertical petals that cover the neck. Quite a complicated design, but it was worth it. He decided that this unnecessary item of equipment should be provided to all who will have time. But the desire to have the best equipment in the detachment did its job, so that on October 1, 1199 such devices were for everyone except Morrigan.

Just a couple of days before sailing to Antioch, a courier arrived from Pierre de Chamond, who handed him two letters, one from the commander himself, the other from the well-known to him Maria Champagne.

Letter from Pierre de Chamond, Commander of the Venetian Branch of the Order of the Templars for Eric von Lenzburg.

"Good health. I am writing to you, as agreed. The situation with the forthcoming campaign to the Holy Land has seriously changed. Some time ago an attorney from the displaced Byzantine emperor arrived in Venice. Accepted it, at first, it is cold, since from it, by itself, there is no benefit. However, after just a couple of days, Enrico Dandolo, our respected doge, began to behave quite unusually. He literally carried it in his arms, until he sailed. What they said there - no one knows. One thing is for sure - they have something in mind and not the fact that it will do something for the benefit of the campaign, rather, even vice versa. So do not harbor the special hope for joint actions with knights and act without regard for their arrival. Concerning the second letter, I ask you to be extremely pointed. If it falls into the wrong hands, it can be a disaster. It would be great if you destroyed it after reading it.

Your success in Corfu has not been ignored, although they were apprehensive about the methods you used. Declare yourself an ancient God! Yes, you are a brave person, not everyone will decide this. I am informing you that Philippe de Plescier, the right hand of the Grand Master, was appointed responsible for cooperation with you, since you are separated into a separate authority. Now he is in the Holy Land, where he will seek meetings with you, upon your arrival there. As soon as I do not know, so I advise you to prepare for this meeting in advance, before sailing. We have accumulated quite a few questions to you and if you intend to continue to work closely with us, then they will need to be answered. And let these answers be plausible, since there are rumors about your complicity with the Devil. Of course, I think such gossip is stupid, but I do not make decisions. "

Your kind friend, Pierre.

A letter from Maria Champagne to Eric von Lenzburg.

"Kind way to you in your affairs, kind baron. " Our mutual friend showed me mercy and slightly opened my eyes to some of your combinations that you turned in Vienna and Venice. Some stories were so amazing that I involuntarily recalled old legends about the adventures of the ancient German gods and heroes. Very close to you in style. I'm scared to think about what the scale of your activity really is, if even such tiny pieces are so impressive. I would never have thought that such a young husband has such agility and such perseverance in achieving his goals. Especially I was struck by the grace with which you were able to put in place my relative and the famous for all Europe intriguer Philip. He, poor, is still suffering, trying to guess - to whom yet you are working. However, he is not alone in his mistakes. I want to please you - only a few know that you, in fact, go your own way, and completely incomprehensible. Pierre and I have long thought, trying to understand what you need and what you are aiming for. But, alas, ours with the mister commander, abilities is clearly not enough to understand the purpose of your life path.

As for our novel, I can not hate you and wail about the cunning of a broken heart. He completely satisfied me and liked me. It would be foolish and unfair to deny this. Using me for your own purposes, you gave a quiet family happiness in return, returning the spirited husband to the bosom of a legitimate family. I could not stand the child completely, but he, fortunately, was born healthy. The husband is happy, he just shines, because the child was a long-awaited boy. Eric, I get scared when I look at my son, because if a husband suspects something, then it will be very troublesome for me to save life not only for myself, but for the child. I write openly, knowing Pierre as a friend who has repeatedly proved his loyalty, so if you want to answer me, then write to him, and he will already pass on. We called the boy Benno, since he, although very weak, has already shown his bearish character. The other day, he clapped Balduin's hands in his ear, when he decided to shout at him. Yes, so clinging to the fact that we barely tore him. My father laughed heartily, and my husband was completely taken aback. I think that Hugo knows everything about us, but he does not say anything. From the very beginning of our novel he looked at you with a sly glance, as if he suspected something. But I must say goodbye. Go on with the same perseverance, and let the bright sun shine on you. "

With a good memory, your Maria.

Yeah, one letter is more interesting than another. They puzzled him. Of course, he remembered the Crusaders' trip to Constantinople instead of Egypt, and did not think that it would be different, but here are the details Masha also hints that it is very possible for her to amputate the head, and in the near future. It would be possible, of course, to score at all and go partisan to the warm sands, and then settle there, where he planned, but he already went very far in his intrigues in order to just go like this. They will not let him go. He, without knowing it, became a figure in the political scenes of this troubled era. I see. So, what do we have in the dry residue? First, the Templars' sustained interest in his person, and he is so serious that they were instructed to deal with the successor of the current Grand Master. What do they need? Clearly, they need help in their operations in the east, so they will bargain. Secondly, Masha and Benno. If everything goes as it was, then in 1204 she will die, and her husband will go into oblivion after her. Of course, no one small boy will not be allowed to become the emperor of the Latin Empire. If, of course, someone will not be behind him with a big ax and a happy smile. And from what will the countess die? And with Hugo a lot of oddities. This is where they have porridge brewed, which can not be disassembled - you need him that with this mess or not. The only question that bothered him about Byzantium was its straits. The Bosporus and the Dardanelles are narrow enough to deal with its transport communications. Yes, those 600-700 meters, that in the straits are observed in the most narrow places, are not so terrible. But this is for a single passage of ships, and if there is a regular transport line, then we need confidence in its relative safety. This is already happening, but on the whole proposed route only this place causes concern. He tried to sort out the emperors of the Latin Empire after her husband Maria. A terrible leapfrog and slaughter. The guys will not be able to keep these lands in order for long. Yes, and generally hold, as the Paleologians will beat them and restore the Byzantine Empire. And quickly. So, the only clue is our little bear cub, who by the certain date will be only about six years old. In general, we have two vectors of interests: the first is the Templars and a good relationship with them; the second - Benno as the heir of the not yet created Latin Empire. So it was necessary to start acting immediately. Of course, not with their own hands. So he began to recycle the materials that were collected in Venice, including by Monsieur Dandolo. In general, Eric especially nothing to alter the data was not necessary, just translate into Latin and correct, removing completely unnecessary details about the order itself. The last two days he slept literally three hours. But at the cost of such efforts, he still managed to prepare an answer for Pierre before departure, which he sent through the courier waiting for him, along with the extensive accompanying documentation.

A letter from Eric von Lenzburg to Pierre de Chamond.

"Kind time of the day, dear commander. I turn right to the point. Our common friend was offered an adventure to switch the forces of the Crusaders from Egypt to Constantinople. The guys do not care what to plunder, but the chance to die is much less. I think it goes against the order and I, and therefore I send you courier materials that were collected in Venice on the person of interest. I hope this helps you in your hard work. I'm writing to you, already boarding a ship in Antioch. I can not wait to wait, I'm going forward. I'll make a little noise on my own. If everything goes as I planned, then you will soon hear about my leprosy in Europe. Sadly, I already knew in Vienna that I would not go to Egypt, so I was preparing for an independent campaign. As for our mutual friend, I can not write to her, so as not to compromise her by chance. In words, say that I understood everything about the boy, I can not immediately intervene, but in case of an immediate threat to his life he can count on my support. I hope by that time I will have something to support, in addition to my own sword. And, if it is necessary, I recognize the boy as his lawful son. I hope she does not break the firewood and will keep sanity in the game with her husband. Especially I ask you to look after our leader of the Crusaders, he is most likely preparing an attempt. Most likely it will be poisoning, portioned, so that death looked as natural as possible. Zasim say goodbye. "

The distance from Athens to the nearest port of Antioch is about 700 miles. That nave that drove Eric and his team to the Holy Land, developed from the strength of 5 knots, since it was loaded as much as possible. So the next week the guys had to spend in a fascinating chat in the middle of the sea. And this time should be used as much as possible useful for psychological training of fighters. Alas, of them only Rudolph was a warrior, the rest - completely random people, who only took a very persistent character. In their minds, they are still the very small people who were abused and harassed by all to whom not laziness. And what will happen if they meet an army larger on the battlefield? As if the pants do not get dirty. Training and equipment still does not make a man a warrior. It is important that he begins to perceive and understand them. There was very little time left, so immediately after sailing he retired to Rudolph and shared his plan with him.

" Eric, tell me, where is that little stone you hit your head on? "I also want to.

"I'm afraid I forgot this with my past life. "

- By itself. "Rudolph smiled," you have answers for everything. "

- Let's not be distracted. What do you think about the form of pumping guys that I have sketched?

- Very cruel method. Quite probably the part will be completely broken. In fact he will die.

"Will this work? "

Yes! But at what cost!

" All right, call all of us. "I'll tell you everything, let them decide who to be next.

"You still will not give them a choice. "

Of course. This will be the beginning, let them think that this is their voluntary path.

"And my nephew? "

- Do you understand that in his current state he is guaranteed to die in the first battle?

Ok. I call them.

- I gathered you all in this close cabin because I want to tell you about the last stage of preparation, which needs to be done, in order to be transformed spiritually and become warriors. You are of all ignoble origin, and therefore, by the will of fate, most of your life was forced to walk with your head bent. In you from the birth drive, that you need to do this. Look at yourself. Strong muzhiks, you have some military skills, excellent armor and weapons, which only very wealthy people can afford. And now answer honestly - are you warriors? Be silent? Correctly be silent. That's why I gathered you all here. We have very little time to change you. Therefore, I propose a very cruel method that all can not survive. But on the way out in your soul you will collect a piece of a warrior, which you can later grow and develop. Who is not ready for this, can say right now, and I will saddle him on the nearest island, with armor, weapons and a small amount of money.

Sir! Do not offend us. We all owe you a favor on the coffin. If you have to go to hell for you, just say so. Am I right, guys? - and all loudly zagaldeli, confirming the words of Valentino.

Excellent! So it's like that, we're all dressing up the aketon and going to the deck immediately.

On the deck, he broke the guys in pairs - all but Rudolph. And then he told them an easy improvisation on the basis of the Soviet method of pumping consciousness in the airborne troops. The first in the pair began distinctly, loudly and slowly to pronounce the recitative: "Who is the best warrior? ", And the second in the pair answered: "I'm here the best warrior! " In this case, the second, in time with every word, beat his fist in the chest of the first. After that, the roles changed. Rudolf was given an hourglass and was instructed to change partners every hour. Leaving his future warriors in such a tough version to swing the psyche, he himself and Morrigan retired to prepare for the next stage. They will reel not earlier than the second or third day, when a sense of pain and anger will start burning in them fear, humility, obedience and other nonsense. They will begin to slowly approach the state of combat rage. Of course, before the battle such pumping to do, at least, inappropriate. Therefore, you need to prepare an activation mechanism for a low level of the psyche. Like Pavlov's dog with food. The best option in this case is the song. And not just a song, but one that will carry additional paralinguistic and emotional loads.

The third day began the most interesting - his future warriors came to the brink, after which it became clear what kind of person really is before you. They from time to time spontaneously passed into a state of combat rage. And all the most secret strings came out, they did not restrain themselves and were not limited in their sacred thirst for blood, which arose from the mere sight of the other person that gets in his way. The surprising quality of this state is that consciousness is not in doubt, it is crystal clear and works at the level of ancient instincts. From them emanated such an aura that the sailors avoided them with a frightened look on the side of the ship, afraid to attract their attention. Fortunately, everyone was able to learn how to achieve combat fury, no one broke down and turned into a kvashnya. Further training became less intense, and instead of eight hours a day, which were originally, by the sixth day of the journey reached a couple of hours in the morning. The main time was more and more given to more complex psychological forms of processing, transferring the output into a state of combat rage to a more manageable form. The seventh day rested, slept almost full day, as psychologically and physically were exhausted to the last extreme. The children's chests were a bruise, which it was painful to touch, but this training did its work, and confidence in themselves and their forces awakened in them. Then it had to be tempered with battles. By lunchtime eighth day on the horizon, the port of Saint-Semion appeared - the sea gate of Antioch. Disembarked on the pier and a bit on the sidelines settled with horses and property. After Eric, accompanied by Morrigan and Ostrolega went to the Templars, and Rudolph with the rest remained in place, keep an eye out for the property and prepare it for the equestrian crossing to Antioch. All the members of our baron's group were in beautiful red and white cottages, which were made of quality wool and decorated with embroidered coat of arms, its coat of arms. In general, it turned out quite spectacular. In the port, the Templars had only a small representation for a dozen people. Their head - the sergeant - was aware of the arrival of our hero, he accepted it normally and was able to answer questions on the operational situation in the region. The conversation turned out to be rather short, since it was necessary to get to the city before dawn and to find a lodging for the night. From the port they were already traveling by the column. Eric was riding ahead in his black Gothic armor, over which were wearing red and white colors with a coat of arms. Behind him moved the girl, who in armor was perceived rather as a squire. She was also in the colors of the baron, but the armor was already ringed. In her hands she held a standard, fixed on a horizontal shaft, which, in turn, was fixed to the main shaft with one end. The top of the main shaft was decorated with an elegant spearhead, framed by white horsehair. In a pair with her rode Rudolph. And behind them were mounted mounted soldiers in a column of two, also with armor and in red and white coat of arms. Each warrior had one horsehorse with a luggage, which was tied to his saddle. At the very end, a creative family was riding in the colors of the baron. Total - in the caravan were 13 richly and brightly equipped riders of 23 horses, including 10 winding. Before Antioch reached quite quickly and without adventure. Their processions strictly followed the place on the road and did not put any obstacles at all. Arriving at the city, he ordered Rudolph to take the children and begin to look for a place to stay overnight, and himself, accompanied by Morrigan and Ostro-nega, advanced to the place where the Templars were quartered in order to inform about his arrival and to probe the ground in the current political situation. Our hero did not want to become the cause of some unexpected war.

The Compound, which was filmed a year ahead for Eric's interests, was just a few minutes' walk from the base of the order, which was very convenient. After a polite conversation with the commander, which is only of a formal nature, our hero went headlong into the preparation of logistical support. To begin with, the huge building that Rudolph found was cleaned of debris and repaired. In particular, new plank floors were laid, doors, shutters were hung, trunks were made. In addition, a clean, spacious and well-ventilated food storage was installed in the basement. The kitchen and the sanitary unit were placed next to the room, in which clean fresh water was stored in large quantities, it was passed through a small homemade filter system before use. The filter system was extremely primitive and consisted of three kegs connected in series to the cascade. In the middle of the first, the largest keg, a filter was installed in the form of a spatial grid of silver wire, which was occasionally bought from local jewelers. It produced the primary settling of water. In the second keg, of medium size, the water passed through a rather massive carbon filter, seeping through it. In the third keg, water passed through a multilayer filter made of silk fabric, which prevented the passage of grains of coal. Thus, relatively pure water was obtained. Of course, before getting into such a filter, water was stored in a closed, ventilated room in clay jugs. Filtered water was used to wash food and drink. For washing, water was used without filtration. In the courtyard was set a small shed, in which were installed five large earthenware jars with leaven for braga. The guard post was equipped, preparations for the stables and the guest room were in full swing, the territory near the house was cleared, the fence was fixed and new strong gates were hung. And after a week and a half, in the midst of a stormy activity, Raul de Combron peeped to visit the baron.

- Good day, dear baron.

"And you have a good day, my dear Commander," Eric said, and smiled in the most amiable way.

"I see, I'm distracting you from your business, but I'd like to talk to you. "

- Well, let's talk. C What questions have brought you to me?

- I was brought to you by my curiosity, more precisely, by his determined reluctance to endure more. Let's speak directly. You have something in mind and want to entangle the order. I know what rumors are about you, and I also read letters of recommendation about you. And if you impose the information known to you on the scale of your preparations, then I can be completely sure that the forthcoming enterprise will be grandiose. In short - tell me, do not tire me.

" I knew that you would not sit still. "But these things need to be talked about without outside ears. Let's go into my room, where in silence and peace I will tell you in general terms the draft campaign. And afterwards, if you are satisfied with the interest that I will offer you, let's move on to working issues that may be less secret.

Chapter 5

So, the project. The key place in it is the city of Edessa, which was about a day's equestrian crossing from Antioch. The peculiarity of this city was that it was a hub in the trade and transport communications of the Middle East. First, there was a land branch to Africa from the Great Silk Road. Secondly, through it was a land transportation highway that connected Transcaucasia and Central Asia with the Middle East coast of the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt. On this trading artery there was a huge quantity of the most various caravans which brought quite good income to the most "beloved" neighbor of the Antiochian princedom - to Egypt, possession of which were impudently stretched under Yusuf Salah-ad-Din to the limits of modern Turkey. Monthly there were thousands of brands of silver, and it would be unreasonable to miss them. The most popular goods that could be found on this trade route were silk and cotton fabrics, glassware, weapons and armor. Slightly less popular were slaves and carpets. Strangely enough, neither Muslims nor Christians conducted systematic raider trading operations on trade communications. Few of this, such operations were not carried out even on supply lines. In general - nice such a sandbox with frightened kids, who enthusiastically sculpted kulichiki, sticking out with pleasure tongue. Than should, of course, take advantage. To ensure effective raids it is necessary, in addition to a well-equipped main base, to have strong points in the enemy's territory or near it. These are some analogues of "hopping aerodromes" where you can always get fresh horses, food, water, clean clothes and relax after a hard night of work. And from where it was relatively safe to transfer the looted property to the main base. For example, through independent caravans under the protection of the Crusaders. Raoul suggested that there were seventeen potential sites for such bases. All of them were fairly evenly distributed along the border of the Antiochian principality, which was an undoubted plus. In parallel, it was necessary to deploy a network for espionage and gathering information about the caravans that are passing through Edessa. It was extremely important to know who was going where, where and how much, what forces he was protecting. The next very important link in the unfolding project was the system of operational sale of property, which will rapidly accumulate at the head base. For this task, we needed a direct channel with Europe and its most developed trade center, which would be able to swallow all the good that was delivered - by Venice. Then came Demeter with her unfolding trading enterprise. According to the reports received before sailing, there were already eight naves in the hands of this young girl. And this was not the limit, since the manager paid almost all of the debt, and therefore five more new ships were built for the company's trading affairs at the shipyards of the island city and there were funds for building another twenty. Well, the last stage was a cover - a force was needed, which, if necessary, could cover the retreat of the detachment or help with the catch of a "large fish". De Combron designated the strength of his command in 43 knights and 387 armed servants of different levels of training and armament. A little, of course, but if you do not face the feudal militia of Muslims, you can quite seriously declare yourself. After describing the whole picture of the upcoming campaign, Eric offered the order a third of all the revenues that his squad would receive, provided that Raoul's people would participate in all the background processes and carefully observe the bank account agreement that was signed in Venice.

- No, they are not necessary to me at all. The fact is that I need funds in order to rebuild my city. This is the only way to get them quickly enough.

"Do you want to rebuild Lenzburg Castle? "

- No, I do not need a lock.

I: Clear! About what city you want to take yourself, I do not ask, because, I think this is still a secret.

- Precisely!

" And if you die? "After all, the upcoming case is very dangerous.

- That's a strange question. Then I will absolutely not need a city, and indeed all earthly goods. But I do not plan to die yet.

- All the will of God.

" I think she's on my side hmm on our side. "I'm right?

- I really hope for it.

" Do not torment yourself with doubts, Commander. Do what you must and come what may.

"I would have your confidence, Mr. Baron. "

- So follow me, my confidence is enough for many.

- You are too self-assured, however, in any case, the enterprise is very profitable for the order and the principality, and therefore we are with you. And God is with us.

- And it can not but rejoice.

Having discussed the main issue and proceeding to the stage of coordinated actions with the officers, Eric continued to prepare. He sent a letter requesting two large ships by the end of February 1200 to the port of Saint-Semion to Demeter. I planted Morrigan for studying Latin writing. Its task was to learn the letter, account and learn primitive accounting in the shortest possible time in three categories: income, expenditure, balance. It was a rather difficult task, although she already knew how to read Latin in that time. Another, but very important, task was the compilation of operational maps. Territory from Antioch to Edessa with their surroundings, the baron personally used the whole while studying and making a detailed map. Particular attention was paid to traditional overnight stays, water sources and caravan routes, where ambushes were sought. At the same time, the intensity and nature of traffic were estimated. Many times our hero visited the city itself, where not only made a very precise plan for its defensive structures, but also was able to deploy a reconnaissance network of offended local residents. It became the basis for the information infrastructure, which was developed by the system of couriers, pigeon mail, third-party informants, interested merchants and others. In total, up to 500 people were involved in the information gathering enterprise, which quickly began to bear fruit. The organization of the information flow was such that all the reports flowed to the head office, where the reports were analyzed and the messages were sent to the base bases. By the way, the support bases were built independently by the order under the supervision of Rudolf and Eric, but their intervention was especially unnecessary, as the guys understood what they were doing. Here we should especially note the small preparatory project, which consisted in obtaining a sufficient quantity of high-quality alcohol with high concentration. Primitive distillation cube, grapes from grapes, coal cleaning. Nothing special, but the result turned out quite worthy - our hero has a good universal antiseptic, which is very useful in case of injuries. Three liters of alcohol was placed on strong points, forty liters were stored on the main base. And then came January 21, 1200. Preparation, in general, was completed. Everyone was ready. It was possible to begin.

Acted carefully, so as not to unintentionally stir up the hive. Therefore, the first operations took place at night and on distant communications. The script was simple. A small caravan is selected with protection to a dozen armed children. They are waiting in an ambush and attacking in the afternoon. The guard is stacked with a volley of crossbows. After that, take the caravan under control. Take away from the main transport routes - away from unnecessary eyes. Further all people are cut, except for drivers, who are used to transport the deceased escort to the place of evacuation of the caravan. After that, they dig a large pit in the sand, put the bodies there, undressed, and, quite by accident, die without getting out of the hole. From the salvo of crossbows. As a result, there are no witnesses. Further at a pace, the property of the dead people is linked to the load of what is already in the packs, and the caravan is advanced by night transition to the nearest base base. There is an initial sorting of goods, inventory, preliminary assessment and transfer with a group of Templars to the main base. Templars go partly in their colors, imitating the guard, partly in ordinary clothes, imitating merchants. Occasionally attack caravans with slaves. Very, very successful. It is so fortunate that in the cavalry detachment of Eric the strength to the beginning of April grew to sixteen people, due to captured warriors from the Slavic lands, who, without hesitation, joined him, taking the oath of allegiance. In addition, on the main base, the number of servants increased from two to two and a half dozen. Among them there were skilled craftsmen in various specialties, although they were just sensible and quick-witted guys who, in gratitude for saving, vowed to serve him, were enough. Alas, they were slaves and servants, and there was no time to re-educate them, so they had to start forming a branch of arrows - crossbowmen, it would hardly be superfluous. By August, the arrogance in operations had reached such a level that a group of twenty-five mounted warriors acted almost openly and sometimes engaged in gutting the caravan in front of another, who was very energetically trying to pass by and not look in their direction. In general, by autumn, the detachments, isolated from the garrison of Edessa, hunted after the guys, like dangerous robbers. Of course, every body movement of such detachments became known much earlier than it happened, and therefore all operational activities were either of a zero character, or negative, if such a detachment was ambushed. The situation was heated, and therefore from time to time had to use their own squad of armed servants to destroy excessively dangerous trips. By the autumn, this detachment already numbered 45 people and was fully equipped with horses, aketons, chain armor, helmets, crossbows, shields - sabers and sabers. The general collective volley of seven dozen "trunks" did not leave indifferent any detachment of Muslims. Having lost, thus, two crossings on fifty horsemen, atabe Edessa has become silent. The departures ceased, that is, in general. The total loss account for armed horsemen of different levels of social position and prosperity has already passed for seven hundred, not counting the impressive loss in personnel among the eastern traders, who, along with the drivers, have already killed several thousand. The traffic of trade messages in October has seriously decreased, and caravans have begun to stray into groups of up to two or three hundred people, plus up to fifty hired guards. Judging by the intelligence information - something serious was being prepared. And this alarmed, although there was no sense to experience: the overall influx of Eric's personnel was quite satisfactory, the personal supplies of weapons and equipment, too, the work of the allies, are beyond praise. And on account of the Templar Bank he already had about two thousand marks of the Vienna standard in silver. If his luck continues to be so, then next spring he will be able to calmly depart for Constantinople and further along the planned route, having all the necessary funds for the planned enterprise. As for the Templars, their income was one thousand three hundred marks and two hundred people who were freed from slavery and joined the order. In general, the Antioch command was by the autumn of 1200 the strongest and most capable of all the forces in the Holy Land among the Knights Templar. Raoul rejoiced like a little child - he did not expect such success.

In the middle of October, something completely unforeseen happened-the Iconian Sultanate, after analyzing the information about the serious decline in Edessa and the weakness of the successor Salah ad-Din, decided to take the city to himself, and therefore put forward troops to solve this problem. In addition, it was reported that the Emir of the Mosul Emirate was going to help Atabek, as his financial interests would be greatly affected if the latter fell. Fortunately, information about such movements has arrived on time, and the squad of Eric did not have to suddenly encounter solid enemy formations. Now the region had only to conduct active reconnaissance operations and wait. The Sultan led a detachment of about three and a half thousand sabers, which on October 21, 1200 besieged the city of Edessa, which had no more than two hundred fighters, not counting a small, practically incapable militia. The Emir did not manage to enter the city before the siege, and therefore with his detachment of three hundred horsemen settled some distance and waited. The situation was absolutely unpleasant. Give the city and strengthen the already very dangerous sultanate Eric did not want at all, as he remembered perfectly well that it was from him that the Ottoman Empire subsequently grew. Especially on this city he had his own plans, and he was very much annoyed when the plans changed drastically. Hence - it was necessary to remove the siege and continue to bend your line. As you understand - with the strength of 25 soldiers and 45 armed servants, this operation can not be crushed. Templars, it is completely useless, so they will not put forth their forces. Of the available strength was only the ruler of Mosul, who, in general, led the militia, and not the army - in his three hundred was only 24 sipah. So even the baron himself could break it, not to mention the sultan. But the emir was very useful, since, without real forces for a head-on collision, he possessed enough people to disrupt the supply of the besieging army. Therefore, taking away from the base of the crossbowmen, our hero advanced "at full parade" to meet with a potential ally. A detachment of seven dozen is not particularly large against the background of the Sultan's army, and the weight of the word from his leader will be insignificant. To avoid such an effect, one had to throw dust in the eyes. To do this, you need not only look appropriate, but also move effectively. Preparation took a couple of days, but when on October 23 to the camp of the emir his column left - the soldiers of the ruler Mosul were amazed, and he was impressed. Eric was riding ahead in a polished black armor. Behind him went an improvised escort from Rudolph with Antonio. Next came the trio from Morrigan, who was carrying out the role of standard-bearer, and the brothers Valentino and Vincento, who accompanied her on each side. After them, in a column of four, there were five ranks of soldiers, followed in the same order by crossbowmen - all riding and in clean, embroidered cats. The horses of all the fighters were of the same breed - an Arab thoroughbred horse, such as cohaylan. At soldiers of bay suits, at crossbowmen - red, at Morrigan - gray, and Eric sat on a black stallion. We drove light trot and made a very impressive impression. This is not counting the fact that the soldiers were equipped fairly uniformly, which created an additional effect of a certain election. Although the Emir was surprised by the visit, he did not lose his head and immediately switched to pressing matters. Accepting the Baron's proposal for an allied campaign against the Sultan, he proposed to address the emir of Homs-al-Mujahid, who not only had his financial interests in Edessa, but was also its suzerain, and therefore could provide military assistance. By force of Mosul, by common agreement, it was decided to obstruct the supply of the besieging army. So, without delay, the baron, enlisting the letter of the emir, went trotting in the direction of Homs, on the way glancing in Aleppo. In the key role of the Templars in the Middle East, his behavior was not surprising, since they repeatedly participated in joint campaigns with Muslims against certain common enemies. The capital of Syria met Eric calmly. They were already aware of the situation in Edessa and were waiting for the guest, whom the atabek politely accepted, listened and immediately, with him, ordered the collection of the militia of the nobility around the city. After a couple of days, a hundred and fifty sipahs were ready for the exit, they decided not to take the servants, since it was impossible to leave the city completely without protection. The trade companies also contributed their share, which promptly exposed two hundred horsemen. In Aleppo, the corps was reinforced with three dozen Sipahs and fifty servicemen. Commanded by the troops of the Council of the three most experienced commanders, among whom was our baron, because of his exploits among Muslims have already gone to legends. November 2, 1200, ten miles south of Edessa, there was a connection to the emir's corps. Now the forces of the Sultan were opposed to eight hundred sabers, which is about four times less than he had. So nothing disturbed him in the process of preparing for the assault.

It was necessary to do something, because if there was a successful assault, it would be absolutely impossible to repel the city from such an army. For three days an active reconnaissance of the disposition of enemy troops was conducted, as much as the military council. It was necessary to hurry. Since there were too many commanders, they could not come to a common opinion. At lunch on the sixth day, Eric could not stand it.

- Dear, are you, until the end of the centuries will you discuss this simple matter?

"What are you talking about, Baron? "

- Yes, all the same. I have a head all around with all this chatter. After all, we have a simple matter, why complicate it? There is an enemy, we are. The enemy must be prevented from taking the city. This is possible only if it is broken or cut to it supply. It is no use to block the supply, as he will go to the assault tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. There remains only an attack. Why guess?

"But, Baron, he has a considerably larger army. "

So what? If you are shy in the face of your enemy - so tell me. In a few words. Kind allies. Tomorrow, with the first rays of the sun, I will attack the Sultan's camp with my people. Who wants to prove himself as a warrior, and not as a chatterbox - I propose to join me.

With these words, Eric left the tent and went to his troops. They had to be prepared.

He put the children to bed from dinner and picked them up at 1 o'clock in the morning. They were preparing for the most insane fighting, not only in their lives, but in general - in this era. The camp of the Sultan's army was known to the smallest detail, as was the territory adjacent to it. Fortunately, no one was even going to update it with any kind of fence, and therefore it was completely open for an unexpected invasion. For the attack, such a starting point and direction were chosen so that the distance to the camp at the time of their appearance in line of sight was minimal. The task that Eric posed to his fighters was extremely simple and complex at the same time. It was necessary to pass through the camp by hooking the tent of the Sultan, if possible to destroy it and leave from the other end of the camp in order to escape from the battle with greatly superior forces. A kind of improvisation in the spirit of Ushakov's tactical reception, which he turned into a Turkish squadron in the battle of the island of Fidonisi. An hour before dawn, they were ready and waiting for the chosen position. When in the distance, at the horizon, the first rays of the sun began to make their way, Eric led his men into an attack. They walked in a silent expanding wedge, which in its widest place did not exceed six horses. The speed of the move was increasing, so that already before the positions they moved to a gallop and, almost without reducing the tempo, like a red-hot knife enters the oil, burst into the field of tents and the porridge of the rapidly demoralizing enemy soldiers. They went easily, the troops of the Sultan surprisingly did not resist at all, confusing only with cries and senseless fuss under the feet of horses, where they sometimes fell. Literally two dozen steps from the largest tent, which was the target of the attack, our hero saw the Sultan, who jumped to the noise in order to understand what was happening. From the impact of the crossbow bolt in the forehead from such a distance, the lord of Iconium tumbled so that his slippers fell off his feet. The situation in the camp was completely unexpected - instead of trying to organize resistance to the invading squad, valorous fighters moved in a touch of panic. And this had to be used. Therefore, letting the cavalry wedge around the sultan's tent, he ordered a stop and ordered to dismount. His men occupied a circular defense, setting the pavis before him, and began to shoot from the crossbows along the subjects of the deceased ruler running in the growing mess. Shooting was on readiness. Ten minutes passed - at a distance of 60-70 steps around the tent around the tent the land turned into a sort of hell, where two or three layers lay wounded and killed people, drenched in blood, brains and feces. All this porridge was moaning, moving and so terrifying that the panic in the camp reached its limit and the people ran. During these minutes, the core of the army, which an hour ago besieged Edessa, was gone into oblivion. All the best that was in her, died or beat in agony near the sultan's tent. Unfortunately, to pursue the fleeing in order to finish them off, there was no possibility, as the fighters of Eric were at the limit of their capabilities. Therefore, he left the military guard of the strongest guys, in terms of stability of the psyche, and ordered the rest to rest. Poor people - they were not ready for such horrors that suddenly fell on their head - someone laughed nervously, crouched on the ground, someone was crying, someone was praying, someone fell to the ground and without saying a word , looked at one point. When, before your very eyes, the head of a living person flies to pieces from the crossbow bolt caught in it - it's impressive. And when does this happen en masse? If your psyche is not tempered in battle, then it terribly depresses. Therefore, the hardest of all was armed servants, who already did more than their capabilities. After giving them ten minutes to fifteen minutes to rest, our hero went to the tent of the Sultan, to figure out what can be profited there.

The East is an ancient and amazing land. Let's take a quick look, but then, I think, the dear reader does not understand everything in the realities about which he is reading. First, let's turn our attention to the question of power as the most important. On the territory of Syria and the areas adjacent to it, where our hero operates, there were four major political groups that tried to share a delicious pie of this land among themselves. Of course, we are talking about the very end of the twelfth century and the beginning of the thirteenth, that is, about 1190-1210. The first was the most vivid and aggressive group of associations, which are often called the Crusader states. At that time there were only three of them: the Kingdom of Jerusalem (its remains, since Jerusalem had already been beaten back by Muslims in 1187), the principality (duchy) of Antioch and the county of Tripoli. They occupied the entire Middle East coast. Very interesting group, which had two traditional diseases, which eventually destroyed it. The first was that they constantly experienced shortages in the troops, and the second consisted in a strong and bright internecine strife that tore this territory. The internal struggle for power and the traditional disunity, characteristic of feudal society, greatly weakened this group. The second group was the land that was formerly called the Byzantine Empire. In 1195, Alex III Angel ascended the throne of Constantinople. One of his first cases was the dissolution of the army as completely unnecessary. Almost immediately, his possessions are beginning to disturb neighbors who are doing everything they want there. First of all, of course, they rob. His power is in such a deplorable state that in 1204 the crusaders come to visit him, who have strayed off the road to Egypt, and therefore very hungry. Not wanting to drink a glass of tea with absolutely lost "concrete boys", he fled the city, which they later came in, trying to find under the benches and in the baskets of the local master. Alas, but the owner was not there, and therefore, seeing so much unimportant property, they very quickly found an application for him. First of all, of course, in the role of cargo for their pockets, so that those in the wind are not very fluttering. The poor Byzantine Empire did not survive such an accident and collapsed into a lot of small states, the key ones being the Latin Empire with its capital in Constantinople and the Nicene Empire with its capital in Nicaea. You understand that the role played by this group in local, regional affairs was, first and foremost, amusing and entertaining. The third group was represented by Sunni Muslims. First of all, these are the Seljuk Turks and various Arabian emirates, such as Mosul or Homs. The fourth group, you guessed it, is the Shiite Muslims, who were represented by the Egyptian emirates and the lands of Palestine. Between the third and fourth group was an interlayer in the form of monophysites, but they were few and lived mainly in the territory of the first political group - the lands of the Crusaders. A key feature of the last two groups was that they were in a state of profound feudal disunity and could with great difficulty act as a common front in some cases. True, in both groups was on the Sultanate, but those were still too weak. By the way, the sultan is an analogue of the word king or king, that is, the sole ruler, and the emir is a nobleman, and very high-ranking. Thus - in the third group there were two young and fragile kingdoms and many relatively independent feudal lands between them, which could, in principle, formally be subordinated to someone. The first kingdom is the Egyptian sultanate, which most recently founded Salah ad-din, that is, Yusuf, the son of Ayyub, the second is the Iconium Sultanate, which existed for a long time.

Let's go further. You understand - these groups were engaged in the most traditional business for the temporary workers - they sawed the local budget. And also, sought to gain control over financial flows and industrial centers in the region, in order to taste better and softer. The peculiarity of the financial well-being of the district was based on three pillars. The first whale is a zone of traditional farming along the floodplain of the river, which created enough food for a large number of people. The second whale is the trade routes that passed through these lands. The third whale is a people, most of whom were poor and dependent on feudal lords. The level of enslavement of the population was, in comparison with Europe, simply fantastic. The third whale allowed the feudal lords to receive more, since almost all the people could work for food. You understand what "mighty" warriors can grow from such a people. That is why there was a very dynamic redistribution of zones of influence. Let's look at what the Middle Eastern army of Muslims represented. As in other traditional feudal societies, the core of the army was the feudal cavalry, in this case it is the sipah. That is, mounted warriors, who in exchange for the service of their suzerain (sultan or emir) received a certain amount of land. Of course, with this method of organization these guys tried to improve in the noble art of murder and robbery, and therefore were quite serious force. Alas, but they had the same traditional callus as a weak spot - there was not much land to have a large number of similar warriors with the current level of technology. So, like the European knights, they were, as a rule, very few. The scale is the same, that is - 300-400 sipahov is a huge force, which must still be looked for. Actually, only they were warriors. The rest of the people with weapons treated different forms of militia, which could neither fight nor shoot arrows but nothing at all. If there were 100 sipahs and 10,000 mounted militiamen, then it came to a hilarious thing - in the first group there were more soldiers than in the second. Literally like in the famous movie about the Spartans. There are various legends about how famously all Muslims fired from the bow. These are simply touching legends, since it is more difficult to think and compare facts than to believe in such nonsense. See for yourself - archery was not a vital necessity because the Middle East is not a traditional hunting zone; most of the population works from morning till night to eat, and is working on physically hard work. When they learn to shoot from a bow and what forces, they are exhausted for a working day to the extreme? Add here is the fact that in that region was spread almost exclusively glued composite bow, which was made by craftsmen and was worth more than the average peasant could afford. Often it cost more than a good horse. So it turned out that only sipahs, and sultans with emirs had opportunities for exercises with onions, and in general with weapons, and almost all the militia that from time to time was going to be armed with the most traditional weapon of the militia of that time - with spears. The funny thing is that even with these spears they, alas, did not really know how to own, in short - random people in the war. Especially it is necessary to say about the armed servants - they were and were armed slightly better than the militiamen. The majority had even sabers! About the fact that they could not fight, and no one taught them this case, it is clear from their name. They served with their masters, in order to serve them in campaigns and deeds. Something like Trufaldino from Bergamo, only with weapons. Armed them in order to be able to call for order and obedience to the bulk of the peasants who did not have weapons. The east is east, but Europe, before the first technological leap in the Renaissance, differed little from it. Is that a climate.

But back to our hero. Eric entered the tent and saw a completely frightened little girl of about 14, who was huddled in a pile of clothes and looked out with huge green eyes full of tears and horror. Did our esteemed sultan prefer little girls? After all, he was already solid. In general, his curiosity was bursting eerily, and so he decided to check. He went to the girl, pulled her out of a heap of rags and piled on the carpet, which was covered with a couch. The girl ceased to squeak and break away. He looked at her. So it is, the poor thing is unconscious. All the better. Strange this case - this girl was virgin, it means - she needed the sultan for something else. Deciding to figure it out later, he straightened her clothes and rolled it into the far corner of the bench. After that, he began to lay out on the vacant place valuable things that he came across in the tent. A small trunk with coins was found, and there was gold besides silver. And a lot. Ten minutes later, he looked at what was going to be assembled - not bad. Not bad. Kucheryavo lived the deceased - did not deny himself anything and carried many valuable things with him. But we will rejoice later, because we need to swallow the piece that they have bitten off more quickly. He approached the girl, turned her on his stomach, tied his hands in elbows with a wide ribbon of silk fabric, not tight, but she could not pull out her hands. Then he tied it with the rest of the tape to a massive chest, which she could hardly have dragged. Then a pair of slaps took her out of a faint and, demonstrating the fetters, sat him down on the pillow so that it did not get stuck. Then he left the tent to his men. He found them in a completely broken state. Apparently, the sight of that bloody porridge that they created with their own hands, and the sounds of those dying of them were taken out of a state of mental equilibrium. Even Rudolph and that one was a little greenish in appearance. Eric had absolutely no choice but to arrange a fraudulent beating for these infamous children of an illegitimate camel. He loudly barked: "Rise! " and kicked his foot into the stomach of the nearest of the crossbowmen lying on the ground, bringing him a life-giving pain from that terrible state into which he fell. Of course, he howled and began to respond to the events. Very quickly joined Rudolph with Morrigan, which was stronger than all these men and very staunchly endured the horrors of the war, which later lay tons of pink snot in paperback. Literally a couple of minutes later his people were on their feet and more or less adequately understood the words.

- What are you doing ! ? Freaks! Forget who you are? I led you into this attack, so you snot bubbles here? Ah ah ah! They killed a man! What you rascals. Do I have to spank you for the priest? Warriors - Damn! . . Kocheryzhkoi you in the ear! You cow dung, not warriors. Why are you sober like women? That's it, "he pointed to the bloody mess," an excellent result! " You should rejoice at your success. And how do you behave? Understand the pairs!

After that, he forced every one of his soldiers to beat the one who stood in front of him, and get a kick from him. And so on a circle. It took fifteen minutes for his fighters to return to this land. The pain heals better than time. It returns both acuity of perception and a sense of reality. After bringing people to their senses, he sent the soldiers to finish off or disperse the servants of the Sultan who stayed in the camp and evaluate the property that they got in the baggage. And crossbowmen, having allocated a dozen in security, sent to finish off the wounded and collect weapons, armor in the same bloody mess.

Those people who were in the armor, shook them out and put them apart from the others. Separately and especially carefully his people searched for crossbow bolts that could be used. The fact is that during the ten minutes of the morning battle they shot most of the ammunition, and therefore each "trunk" had only 10-12 shots. Which is not very happy. With this rather dirty work they spent about an hour. And so, on a tour of the camp abandoned by the enemy, Eric noticed on the horizon a group of people, up to five hundred people. Looking more closely, he recognized in them those servants who had fled from him just an hour ago. Quickly gathering his men and instructing, he prepared for battle. His people took a position behind the shaft of bodies, which they folded, raking up the rubble. In front of them they put all the same pavis that the crossbowmen took with them. The fact that the guests will attack, there was no doubt, because they were more or less evenly built, and ahead of them there were five people in armor. For such an accumulation of goals, it is best to strike volleys. Therefore, the baron divided all his troops into three groups and explained the task. At first, the shot is group number one, after which it retreats back, yielding to group number two. Which comes just like, and the first group, and gives way to the third. And then from a distance of about one hundred and twenty meters began shelling. From such a distance it's difficult to aim, so everyone was beating on the infantry's cluster. Rudolph, taking the initiative, picked up the drum and began to tap the rhythm, for every second hit it was necessary to shoot the next fighter. The first blow spoke of readiness - it was necessary to take a position and take aim. This approach gave its result - the attacking enemy began to fall at the same clock figures, and abundantly. At a distance of about eighty meters, they ran forward. Literally at ten to fifteen steps from the impromptu shaft all the leaders of this attack fell. But Erik's position was still flown by about three incomplete hundred armed men. Everything was decided by the shaft, and exactly as he had expected. These people were too weak in spirit to go into battle, moving through mutilated bodies. The attack was drowned, and people did not know where to go - to climb through the corpses, they could not force themselves, and it was shameful and scared to run. At this point, our hero stops Rudolph and, with a little pause, giving all the soldiers to load weapons, gives a general volley from a distance of ten steps to the enemy. The effect turned out to be colossal - blood sprays and pieces of bodies that flew with scrapes, produced an eerie demoralizing effect. It took some fifteen to twenty seconds, his arrows were ready again, and a general volley burst again. This already Seljuks could not stand it and ran. Neither to pursue fleeing enemies, nor to shoot them in the back did not, as it was necessary to save crossbow bolts. Yes, and run them no more than a fifth of the half-thousand that just a few minutes ago came to visit. To lose time on breaks did not become, therefore all at once have joined in work on the further putting in order on the grasped territory. A dozen crossbowmen are in guard, a dozen are going to finish off the wounded at the pace, that they were left with the repulsed attack, the rest returned to the old job - stripping the dead, searching for valuable things and laying bare corpses in neat rows, so that it would be easier to defend and then bury them. The rest of the morning was quiet, no one else wanted to attack them. Closer to dinner, the troops arrived that joined Eric's army gathered in Aleppo, led by Atabek. They were shocked to the extreme by what happened. Yes, and they came for what - they wanted to redeem either the captive or the corpse of our hero, in order to render him honors. After all, he consciously went to a completely suicidal business for the common good. Instead, they found a fully alive and healthy baron in the Sultan's camp, who actively supervised the establishment of order in the terrible conglomeration of the bodies of those people that until recently were the army of the late ruler of Iconium. True, not the whole army-there were fifteen hundred corpses lying on the ground. The rest needed to do something, and in general - you need to call the other members of the union, because the siege is lifted. The main forces of the troops of Mosul and Damascus were quartered in Edessa, and Eric with the troops from Aleppo remained in the camp. The latter volunteered to help in the important burial of the victims. Many more people were called, but the crowd was not here to anything. Towards evening, the collection of property from the dead and the evisceration of the convoy were completed. According to the preliminary assessment, only armor and weapons were worth five hundred marks, and all the goods worth not less than a thousand two hundred. The guys buried the corpses in full force, and the merchants sent patrols to the roads and couriers in order to resume the supply.

It was getting dark. A council was assembled in the sultan's tent. It was attended by Emir Mosul and Homs, atabes of Edessa and Aleppo, as well as the hero of the celebration - Eric. In addition to the tent sat the most incomprehensible girl and Rudolph.

- So, gentlemen. I broke the sultan and removed the siege of the city. It is necessary to decide what to do next.

- Share the booty! The emir of Mosul said confidently.

"I do not give mine to my warriors, for they are on my full support. "

" It's up to you. "But we have other traditions.

- And where are you? I broke it, it means mine. You, if I remember correctly, said that the sultan has many troops and that we can not master it. We, apparently, really could not master. And to me - quite under force. All the prey taken in the camp is mine.

" Dear Baron, I was joking. "Of course, your mining. It's just inconvenient for us to start that conversation for which we all gathered here. We know that it was you who broke the caravans. And now you are shooting the siege. We do not understand what you want to achieve such a sharp change of interests.

" To begin with, I did not want to give up the city, which I practically took with small forces, to the Sultan, who decided to warm his hands at my expense. Strengthening his possessions is bad for my purposes. And as for caravans, it was a way to quickly raise funds. I think the prize in the camp will be enough for me. And this means that I will soon retire from these lands.

" Even if you pursued your interests, thundering our enemies, we are grateful to you, since the Sultan would hardly spare people in the city. "And their property. We want to thank you for lifting the siege. What would you like?

- I want a rather unusual thing. I need you to allow the opening of a Templar courtyard in Edessa, which would deal exclusively with commercial matters there.

- Are you joking?

No. I need their bank, and I want to be sure of their absolute loyalty, because I trust them with large sums. I have enough money. I need the loyalty of those people to whom I am entrusting my affairs.

" How can we control them? "And then, they are our enemies.

- Let us conclude in writing a contract in which the number of armed and unarmed Templars will be indicated, which may be in the city. It will be exclusively a trading enterprise. You are aware of how they make a living. And the question of war can be solved by specifying in the contract that the farmstead will exist until the Templar troops begin military operations against the troops of Edessa.

- And what are the restrictions?

" Let's say ten armed men and thirty unarmed men. "I think this is enough for all financial and trading operations.

Ok. Let the representative of the Templars come to visit, we will sign a contract and find a place where they can open their branch.

Excellent! Now let's move on to more pressing matters. I took fifteen hundred horses, they do not need me. A maximum of one hundred for the convoy. I do not have any desire to drive them to Antioch. Maybe among you there are people willing to buy such goods?

" I'll take it," said Emir Homes, "I have people who want to buy them. "Good Arabian horses have never been superfluous to anyone. But why only one and a half thousand?

- The others fled, and to collect them on the sand, I did not have enough people. Yes, and this morning counterattack.

- And what happened there?

- Someone from the noble could gather in the desert to half a thousand people running and force them to go fight with me. Almost everyone died, only the back rows managed to escape again. But this is a trifle. Ok. With the horses decided. Now a girl. Rudolph, bring it closer. Okay. Could you ask her who she is and what is she doing here. She does not know Latin, and I'm not strong in your languages.

Of course.

Next was a small, short conversation on some kind of little understood abracadabra.

" Dear Baron, this woman is the daughter of the Sultan you killed, her name is Rayhan. "He took it with him, because he feared that the brother claiming the throne could kill her. She, alas, was his only child.

"And, as I understand it, the uncle will not pay the ransom for it? "

Of course. And if she somehow gets to it in hands, long will not live.

Rudolph, do you think she will like your son? Well, do not stretch that face. I would offer you, but you're sick old. We will get to Constantinople, where it will be baptized and under the crown. Do not disappear to such a thoroughbred cub.

" I I do not even know. "Your offer is very unexpected.

" Your son has become a bit hardened in battle. "Soon we will settle in a permanent place. Such brides are not lying on the road. Well? What are you? In the dowry she put five marks of silver. Oh! How did you immediately brighten up! The old grasp will not drink! Yes, you are not so red. Untie the daughter-in-law's hands. And you, amiable emir, could not translate our beauty, that she will not only live, but she will also marry a son of a worthy person. It's not easy, but with a dowry.

Ok.

With happiness, the poor girl again fainted. Rudolph brought his son, who was also delighted. But then they hit the bull's-eye. Raikhan liked him and did not like his dowry, because he was in his taste. This evening the vigil was over. Eric sent the messenger to the Templars, checked the sentries, placed the other fighters and went to sleep. The day was very hard.

In the seized train, and indeed in the camp there was a lot of such property that was absolutely not suitable for sending to the trading floors in Europe, and therefore he decided to sit a little in Edessa, the good that the attacker invited him to stay. Accustomed to combine useful with pleasant, he decided to work in parallel several tasks. Firstly, it is, of course, the rest of the fighters who were on the verge of their capabilities, after that bloody morning. They need to give rest and a little pumping in terms of the stability of the psyche. Secondly, you need to make sure that everything is properly organized for the Templars, although everything should go very smoothly, because it is very profitable for Atabek and the commercial circles of Edessa. He noticed how his eyes glistened. This is a direct and official trade and financial channel with neighbors, and not through some random and unreliable people. Third, you need to get rid of all that useless garbage, like food and not very high-quality wine, and convert it, for example, into silk so that in Europe you can cut down profits. Emir Homs was already warned that the payment of horses would be very desirable silk. Alas, we had to wait, and the time passed extremely slowly, since our hero did not have a special work and had to spend most of the time wandering around the streets of the city and messing around. He got so involved in business right after he regained consciousness in this world that he did not even notice how a lot of time had flown by. It was the very end of 1200, he will soon be 18 years old. In those days, this is already quite an adult husband, and without looking back. Of course, he achieved a lot and was now a notable figure both in European life and in the Middle East. But how tired he was! Literally a few days later he began visiting atabeyka for playing chess. Known to him the rules differed from those with whom he met in this time, but he quickly learned, which was very pleased with the ruler of Edessa, as he also was languishing with boredom and idleness. So it quickly became a tradition, and quiet evenings spent playing chess, measured, unhurried conversations and drinking good tea - the norm. But time goes on as usual and it's April 1201. The Templars settled well in Edessa and immediately launched a stormy commercial and banking activity. His goods have long been in the form of silk sold in Europe. This is apart from the fact that he additionally turned a couple of trading operations and was able to seriously increase his fortune. Now in the bank of the Templars in his name were three thousand eight hundred and twenty-four marks of silver of the Viennese standard, another ten marks were in his pocket expenses. These were simply sky-high means, which few mortals ever held in their hands at that time - 1. 1 tons of pure silver! Simply fantastic! His people had a good rest and came to their senses, and therefore were again ready for combat testing. These poor guys crossbowmen were so shocked and pumped that they approached the soldiers in a very good spiritual and psychological state, and this was developed by all available forces. In addition, he ran through all the slaves that went through Edessa, and chose those people who were not broken and fit as material in his squad. Whom he here only did not score - from the British to the Chinese. Only up to three dozen people. Of course - he chose only those who professionally fought before being captured. Therefore, by April, he already had a hundred completely natural warriors, that is, people. They are capable of professionally killing any enemy of their master. Not an ideal, of course, but in the current realities this is a solid force. At the same time, they were equipping them - he tried to weed out of the fact that he collected robbery and when trading in the market, the best and put his own guys on it. Everything went very well, except that the situation with Morrigan was rapidly escalating. She loved him, and quite madly, almost to self-sacrifice. And it was scary. Yes, true, to the last extreme, a devoted person is very useful nearby, but there was a big problem - reciprocity. After all, a loving woman who does not receive reciprocity, moreover, and stands at your back, becomes a deadly predator, ready for very much to achieve her goal. He was forced to shudder her gaze, which she looked at Rayhan, when she did not yet know that he had left this girl not himself, but as a gift to the son of an associate. If the look could be killed, the poor Turkish woman would be awaited by a terrible and extremely painful death. Those 22 years that the Irish had behind him, in these times meant a lot. A rare woman of her age had no children, and she was still a girl. And this is next to the man she loved. Actually, where did this feeling come from, Eric clearly understood, but his growing consequences required him to respond quickly and accurately. He went to the terrace of the manor, which gave him Edessa, and looked down - into the courtyard. There Morrigan chastised the servants who had confused something in her orders. She stood confidently, spreading her legs slightly. With the growth of his shoulder, she seemed so weightless that he could safely wear it all day. Yes, this fragile girl, with a confident posture of the lady, would have bewitched anyone who saw her at that moment. Especially against the backdrop of three men who stood before her with a drooping head, trying to express their humility and remorse with all their kind. Her waist and flat stomach were very intriguing, which led to the game of the roundness of her thighs with every movement. This picture was supplemented by a small, resilient chest, resembling a pair of slightly upturned fox spikes, which invitingly rose with every sigh. The fact is that a dark green dress of dense silk, though it covered her from the neck to the ankle, was sewn very sensibly and according to the figure, and therefore perfectly emphasized all her charms, while not greatly breaking out of European fashion. The general background ended with beautiful, freely falling to the middle of the shoulder blades, the girl's hair, which with her white color remarkably shaded the dress, as if framing it. All this beauty ended with a very mysterious face with large, gray eyes, high cheekbones, a small, upturned nose, a wide mouth with thin, strong-willed lips. Her pointed chin looked particularly good on a neat, slender neck, and the corners of her lips were almost always slightly raised, which added a certain charm to her. Yes - this woman was beautiful, beautiful and intelligent, and therefore dangerous. But she remained a woman with all her pluses and minuses. Sadly, it was necessary to do something with her, because Eric did not long for a dagger in the back on the ground of jealousy. There were not many options - either kill her, or reciprocate. In the first case, he lost a faithful and promising assistant, so that there is an assistant - an associate. In the second case - a certain freedom of action. Plus her pregnancy, since to fix the relationship will need to be with the help of a child. In the campaign such a lady is completely useless. Yeah - a dilemma. She finished chiding the servants and let them go. Then she froze for a moment and looked up at Eric, noticing that he was watching her. He smiled at her and asked him to come to him. There was a difficult choice, and before making a decision he wanted to talk with her. Maybe the last time.

The girl entered the room and closed the door behind her.

" Come on in, sit down. "I want to talk to you. - She nodded and sat next to him on the couch, exactly where he pointed out to her.

" I Eric, you understand everything. "Why do you ask?

- I ask in order to hear the answer.

Ok. I'm jealous of you. I love and jealous, strongly. I thought that these girls were chosen by you. And it made me angry and angry. We talked to you about this topic, and I promised you not to bother with your feelings. But I'm a man, and a man who loves me a lot. And it hurts me from my experiences.

- And how much? What will you go for your feelings?

" Do you think that I do not control my jealousy and, in a fit of rage, I can hurt you? " He said nothing, looking straight into her eyes. After a few moments, her eyes widened, she rose abruptly from the couch, went to a small decorative table and took a knife from there. Then she turned, went up to him and, kneeling before him, brought the blade with the point to his left breast. Why did the dress in this place parted, exposing the body part. She pushed hard enough to cut through the skin, and a thin trickle of blood flowed from the knife down.

" Just order me and I'll kill myself. "My life belongs to you, and if you think that I'm dangerous to you, the Morrigan will gladly deliver you from anxiety. Her lips quivered, her breathing was faster, and her eyes were full of tears. They looked into each other's eyes for a few seconds, after which Eric fixed her hand with a quick movement and yanked, pulling and turning the knife to the side.

- Dispose of, to prepare water for ablution - you are all in the blood, and this is not good. Also order that they bring here some almond oil. Then you'll come back and take a shower, and I'll give you a relaxing massage. You are too tense and excited. This needs to be corrected.

"What about your question? "

" You already answered him. "And now hurry, order everything you need and come back. I do not want you to be alone in this state, I do not need surprises like your corpse.

"All right, I'll do it as quickly as possible. "

She wiped her tears with her hands and hurried out into the corridor, from where her voiced voice was immediately heard. After half an hour there was a scene with washing in a large, copper bath, followed by a massage of the naked and smoldering under his hands girls. And also the scene of sex. Eric made a decision. On the one hand, it was a forced compromise, on the other - stupidity, which he will regret yet, with the third - reserve for the future. Be that as it may, but now he is even more connected by circumstances. Alas, the more he developed around himself the serving structure, the less he belonged to himself. And it scared. But he did not have a choice, and therefore - it was necessary to live on, and not just to live, but to act, striving for the intended goal.

It was April 5, 1201. On that day, the baron left Edessa. There was practically no property, for everything necessary was forwarded to Antioch's courtyard beforehand, and therefore went light. Everything was calm, only after dinner they met with a large caravan from Aleppo, which was accompanied by an escort. They drove off calmly, although the Muslims were very tense and frightened by his appearance - too fresh was the memory of his adventures. So, unhurried trot, they also moved to Antioch at sunset. Leaving the boys' quarters at Rudolph, and the Morrigan with a full audit of the farm at the local farmstead, he did not hesitate to go to Raul, who was to receive fresh news from Corfu and Constantinople. And they did not see each other for a long time, since he preferred not to visit the Muslims. There he was already waiting for a whole company: Raul de Combron - head of the Atihohia Templar Command, Bohemond III - Prince Antiochus and his son Bohemond Count Tripoli.

" Good evening, gentlemen. "What is it? I did not expect to find such a meeting.

" And you have a good evening, Baron. "We received information that you are returning, and therefore decided to immediately meet to discuss important matters.

aboutI'm flattered. I did not think that my departure was so important. Eric smiled brightly.

" It's full of you, Baron. "Do you not know that the al-Mujahid delegation is coming to visit us?

YesNo, I did not know about that. What they want?

- Your idea with the trading house of the Templars interested the Emir so much that he decided to develop this topic. Moreover, the situation in Cairo is becoming less stable and he is forced to play his game in order to survive.

Yes! This is regrettable. But what can we do?

- I think you need to play your game. You still do not know, but from the east there is a new threat - the hordes of nomads who threaten both Europe and the whole of the East known to you.

- But we still did not have enough.

- Yes, gentlemen, yes, all of us are facing a serious test. Now the horde is fighting with China, I think you've all heard about this distant country. After that, she will move to the west, grabbing everything in her path. And in twenty or thirty years we'll have to meet with her. Under the impact there will be lands from Baghdad to Pest.

"How do you know that? "

- I have good scouts and informers. This information is sufficient to draw conclusions.

- Do you, as I understand it, have any specific proposals?

" Of course the prince. "I, really, thought, hold for now, but if you ask, then please. I think you need to build a strong system of interaction with your neighbors, without looking back at their religion and citizenship. The people of al-Mujahid go to you, most likely, exclusively on commercial matters. Use this chance. The Principality of Antioch with the vassal county of Tripoli should become the best friends with the Syrian emirate, and not in words, but in deeds.

But how? Are we enemies?

- As the recent practice showed, even the enemies become friends, if it is financially beneficial for them. I hope there are no religious fanatics among us?

"Monsieur Baron means, is there not among the people present possessed by the devil who, under the false mask of faith, interfere with charitable deeds? " Raoul asked sarcastically.

'Certainly. Alas, the commander, I completely miss your diplomacy.

" Well, you are full of courtesy. "Gentlemen, let's get down to business.

" As you please, prince. "My proposal is to invite Emir Homs to organize a joint trading equity company, on whose activities interest will be paid to all shareholders. In five to ten years, using the company's resources, it will be possible to build good, stone-paved roads along the route Saint-Semion - Antioch - Aleppo-Edessa. Dear ones are needed to put wheeled vans on them, which will allow you to transport goods faster and more. Economic ties, gentlemen, are the strongest and most reliable. Often they are stronger than any army. The next step will be the laying of roads from Antioch to Tripoli, from there to Baalbek, and Homs and close everything to Aleppo. This will create a network of strategically important roads, through which it will be possible to quickly transfer not only commercial caravans, but also troops and military equipment.

"Please continue. "

- Also, it is worth proposing joint protection of caravans by the emirate and principality. And you, Mr. Commander, expand the range of services, offering insurance services.

- I will explain by example. From Edessa comes a caravan in a hundred camels of silk. He goes to Antioch. Before leaving, you, at local prices, evaluate the caravan and take from its owner 5% of its value. That's not a lot. However, in case he is attacked by robbers, you reimburse his full cost, according to the established contract.

"But is it profitable for us? "

Of course. You will be the forces of the Templars, the troops of the emir and the prince to control all the key roads. The probability of an attack will be scanty. It seems to be a small profit from each caravan, and he will not be superfluous at all. Also, I would advise you in the cities that you are under your control, to develop handicraft shops in order to transport finished goods to Europe, rather than raw materials. This will also give you extra income.

- A curious suggestion. And what if you offer such a service to sailors?

- Reasonable, but incomes will be lower, as a fair amount of pelagic drowning during storms. Now as for the army. Judging from my data, you can not count on crusaders from Europe for quite some time. So you need to find your own resources. Here I'm not your advisor, I can only suggest what Muslims plan to do for themselves-they are going to select strong children from among the commoners and train them in military schools in closed monastery schools. If such guys are also armed well, it will be a good replacement for the knights. At least it is better than any modern infantry many times.

" Good suggestions, Mr. Baron. "But I'm old, and my heir, "the prince nodded at the Count," there will be a difficult struggle for the throne. "

" I know. "Raimund Rupen, supported by your good neighbor Levon II, will fight fiercely, literally gnawing at every inch of this land. Commander, you will help in this difficult matter?

What should I do?

" Prince, you need to immediately declare publicly, by decree, that your son is proclaimed as your heir. "And when you feel that you are dying, then in writing and publicly renouncing it in its favor. And you, Mr. Commander, you will need to come to the witnesses and guarantors of these words, along with the blades that you can put up. Of course, Raymund can not be allowed into the city. It will be wonderful if our eastern friends accidentally take him prisoner. And after solving problems, for a symbolic reward will be released. Prince, what are you sad? I'm not suggesting you kill your own grandson. And he himself will be only a puppet in the hands of Levon II, who is eager to add the principality to his land. And our Raimund is a guy with good ambitions, that's why it will be very easy for a quarrel, even knowing that for the state it is fatal.

" I understand everything the baron, and you are absolutely right. "Commander, will you help?

Of course. I will do my best to solve this problem.

" In that case, I invite you all to my palace tomorrow. "Come by noon. Take faithful people, so that the best people of the principality can see and hear what will happen there. I will immediately transfer power to my son, as I am afraid that I will die in the near future. I have terrible pains at night. And I do not want surprises, especially if I have serious unfinished business behind my back.

- We will come. Commander, can you block the city so that there will be no surprises?

- Let's do it. Prince, will you send messengers through the urban aristocracy?

Yes!

"Only do not forget about Amir's envoys, they must respectfully enter the city and attend the solemn event, unless, of course, they arrive in the evening. "

" Baron," the prince addressed him, "do mercy, do not serve until the end of the negotiations. "We need your participation as a person who played a very significant role in everything that happens. Muslims fear and respect you. And Christians, too.

Yes!

" Then, Raoul, do not take it as a piece of work, give me letters from Demeter and my emissary from Constantinople. "Excellent! Thank you Well, gentlemen, on this I must bow out. Till tomorrow.

The next day was very busy running and pretentious poses. In general, the act of abdication went very carefully, without noise and unforeseen situations. Emir's emissaries were present, were aware of and fully supported this decision. Then came negotiations, in which full mutual understanding was achieved. To improve the interaction between the states, they decided to establish an early form of diplomatic missions in the capitals of both states. Representatives of al-Mujahid received much more than they wanted to carry, and even the young prince, Bohemond IV received yet another allies, which was not bad for him at all. Shortly before the departure of Eric to Constantinople, there was a small mess on the border with the Cilician Kingdom - on Raimund Rupen, who was walking with a small detachment of Nachararim Knights to Antioch, to attack his throne, attacked a detachment of Muslims. All the satellites of the Armenian prince were killed, and he himself is captured and transferred to the maintenance in Mosul. The Emir of Syria decided to develop the idea in order to divert suspicion from himself. Moreover, Armenians with an independent emirate did not just have a skirmish and had an occasion for such an action. But all this is over, since the Baron finally, April 17, 1201, was able to sail from the shores of the Holy Land and go to the ancient city of Constantinople.

Once, five years ago, Eric ran away from his castle, fearing for his life. Then his property was meager, and therefore the maximum he could count on, having all this - a place in the squad of some small nobleman. Yes, times change. Now, standing on the nose of a huge nave, he peered into the sea horizon, and behind him, in a wake, was a small squadron of the same large and slow ships. That's what it took to place his people with property. Of course, the trading company subordinated to him was able to distinguish these ships with the crews without any problems, but all the same, he was amazed at how his suite grew. Now close friends, a squad and a bunch of servants surrounded him. A whole mass of people number about two hundred. All with horses, good clothes and stuff. His trading company. It's amazing. Thus, the secondary organization serving its interests was the largest organization in Europe. The elder brother of Demeter was like a Venetian doge and had an influence on him, and the trade circles respected him. His trading company carried out a huge cargo traffic on the busiest route - between the Antiochian principality and Venice. In addition to his own trading and transportation operations, the guys everywhere were working for the operations of the Order of the Knights Templar, including the military. The expanses of the Adriatic, Ionian and Mediterranean Seas surfaced seven dozen large ships of the company and up to fifty small ones. A good trump card in the future game. But we digress. During the voyage Erik read over and over again the letters received from Raul, and pondered his next steps. There are only three letters: from the new Grand Master of the Order of the Templars, Philippe de Plesier, from Demeter and his emissary. The master informed him that he wished to meet with him, and therefore would stay in Constantinople and wait for him there. What does he need? Eric could not understand - why such a thirst for personal communication, as he supposed all the cases with the Templars had long been resolved. But the letter was dated February! In this case, one could only guess on this issue. Another thing is Demeter. She, as he ordered, arrived in the city in March this year and was waiting for his arrival. So, this lady brought with her a full report on the financial activities of the company, as well as a number of rare and valuable things that he ordered from her last summer. Of particular value there were stones, "sticking to the iron," as well as small pieces of clean, devoid of inclusions and crystal clear crystal. He needed a compass and good lenses for optical instruments. Alas, but from the local glass nothing sane except cloudy translucent marbles can not be achieved. In terms of optics, first of all he was interested in making a telescope and at least a primitive level, since the need for these devices increased every day. Moreover, it is desirable to make a telescope not one. In addition, Demetra was to bring a group of seamen specializing in the drawing up of sailing directions and maps. In truth, this cartography is more in words than in deed, as they still get terribly primitive. Have you ever seen medieval maps? Here I am about the same. They can be admired only as works of art, but to use for their intended purpose there was no possibility. They were inaccurate, devoid of orientation and important details, and disproportionate. But nothing, if it turns out to make a level and a compass, then it will go much better. Well, of course, a squad of crossbowmen. He was very interested in what they could do. On paper, everything went out just fine, but was it really so? It is difficult to say, it is possible that they are lying. In any case, he will have time to make from this fifty troubled people with crossbows good marksmen. Fortunately, his emissary, who last summer departed for reconnaissance of the situation and execution of instructions, did not cause any hesitation and unnecessary questions. Everything was done accurately and accurately, so in May, a batch of Hungarian twin bows for crossbows from a trusted master will appear, numbering 200 pieces, and in June-July a batch of silk paper from China is expected. He was tired of writing on rags, and there was nowhere to develop production. Therefore, the only thing left for him was to order paper from the manufacturer. Together with the order he sent a thin oak shield, the size of which was to make the sheets. In all, the party was to come in a thousand sheets, about thirty by forty centimeters in size. The price for all this pleasure, of course, is solid, but he now could afford such things. So, in thinking over the details of the forthcoming work, this tedious journey passed, and on the ninth day in the morning on the horizon through the fog the walls of the ancient city - Constantinople - came through.

The city met them with slightly cloudy weather. His ships slowly entered the bay of the military port of Elefenterius and moored. Coming to the pier, Eric gave the necessary instructions, after which he walked to a small harbor tavern according to previously known landmarks. There he was to wait for an emissary. Having met with Theodore, he quickly talked about the current state of affairs and seconded him at Rudolph's disposal, which was supposed to organize the unloading and delivery of people and property to a huge courtyard that the baron bought back last summer. It was a total area of about eight acres, that is, about three hectares, and was located in the port area of Xerolofos. The very location of the courtyard was very convenient - with one side it approached the old wall of Constantine on the highest area of the site, towering fifty meters above sea level. Among other things, it was possible to arrange a shooting range, because the dilapidated fortress wall would have excluded surprises like accidental defeat of passers-by. The other side of it was pestering the main street, which ran from the Arcadia Forum to the Exokonnon district, which lay east of the wall of Constantine. The proximity to the port and the convenience of location on the terrain made this land the best choice. Of course, such an acquisition could hardly have been made before, but now, when Constantinople was in terrible decline because of the unreasonable policy of the emperor, it turned out to be quite real. Even more so - the land was bought for a very small amount. Of course, this land at the time of purchase was no estate, therefore, choosing a place, his emissary was engaged in the traditional work of the dealer - bought the land by hook or by crook. For the year that the land was bought, all buildings could be demolished, it could be surrounded by a three-meter brick fence with a wall thickness of about a meter and a number of buildings, both residential and technological. Throughout the year, Theodore worked to prepare the courtyard for the arrival of his master. The most pleasant was, of course, a large bath with a thermae and an indoor pool, an area of thirty to twenty meters. Money was invested here in surprisingly little, since some of its masters, partially hired by the emissary specialists who worked idle due to general decline and lack of orders, were working partly. In total, bringing the land to the state of a normal, working farmstead, capable of solving all its tasks, cost him three hundred and fifty marks, but here it is worth adding one hundred more marks for the land itself, but, anyway, the amount was quite tolerable for such an acquisition. Eric was preparing for the fact that this land will become his permanent base in Constantinople. Of course, he should have feared the riots of 1204, when after the flight of the emperor the city will be plundered. But he had very good connections among the crusaders and the Venetian nobility, and therefore was completely confident that his farmstead would remain a hotbed of peace and quiet, even if everything around him was destroyed. Although, with all the openwork of the situation, the work on bringing the farmhouse to mind was still a lot, and not for one year. So, having sent Rudolph to do a useful job, he took an escort from Morrigan, Ostronega, Antonio and the Valentino brothers from Vincento, after which he went on a visit to Philippe de Plesier - the Great Master of the Knights Templar with a slight, slightly expressive pomp.

" And good morning, Baron. "Yes, I wanted to talk with you. Please come to my office, here we can accommodate comfortably and have a snack. You in fact from the road, I think, will not refuse a small meal.

" That's right, I will not refuse. "I hope your hospitality extends to my people?

Of course. They will be able to stay here in this room, where they will rest and have breakfast.

- Excellent. - Then they went to the Grand Master's office.

" I hope you know that my predecessor, Gilbert, wanted to study such an interesting person as you. "For what I wanted to arrange an interrogation for you. He was terribly frightened by your methods. On the other hand, he saw from you immediate and solid favor for the Order.

Of course. I was aware of his plans. However, for some reason last year he did not look for a meeting with me.

That's not quite how it is. I was looking. But seeing that you are completely absorbed in the fight against Muslims, and very successfully, did not want to distract you. But, alas, he is no longer with us. He rolled his eyes and crossed himself, whispering something. "I spent a lot of time and energy trying to gather information about you, starting with your childhood. " With you, there must have been something amazing happening, because at the age of fourteen you completely changed. Of course, I'm not Monsieur Eral, and I do not care about your personal secrets. They are not interesting to me. Even though you yourself are the Devil, if you are doing charitable deeds, then the Creator Himself sent you to help us.

"I'm flattered to hear such compliments.

" Baron, you rendered a lot of invaluable services to the Order. "If to speak in essence, then you alone have done more than any of the members of the order. I would like to invite you to join it. Of course, not ordinary brother.

"You know my answer. "

- Of course, but I still have to try. You were invited many times, but you refused every time. Is it personal ambition or something else?

"It's just a cold calculation, caused by some premonition. "

- Can you share it?

Of course. Remember - how your order was founded. Nine knights of their own free will have sworn an oath and so on. Remember!

Excellent! Remember how long it took until Papa got involved in your business?

" Twenty years. "What are you driving at?

- The Order of the Knights Templar is a military monastic order, which is the support of the Catholic Church in the Holy Land. You reasoned reasonably, but because you are seriously engaged in finance, in order to meet your needs. Resources are, alas, not the manna of heaven, they do not fall from the sky. At the moment, you already have a huge amount of money, what will happen in a hundred years? Do you understand the consequences of this phenomenon?

Of course. On our means, many monarchs of Europe are already envious of envy.

Excellent! Now consider the second aspect. East The Order itself can not wage war against Muslims, and Christian rulers in their own selfish ambitions are not able to act in an organized manner. You can observe the result of such activity already now. Do you remember who Yusuf, called by the people of Salah ad-Din, is?

Yes!

- So, the turnover is so tense that a crusade has begun to prepare against them, in which it is supposed to destroy heresy physically.

What? Where did you get this information from?

" I have many spies. "And do you know who will most likely lead this campaign?

"Do not worry, Baron.

- Earl of Artois, Louis I, who is the most serious contender for the throne of the French kingdom. Do you understand what I'm getting at?

- It's hard not to understand. And it's terrible that, firstly, you are right, and secondly, we can not retreat any more. These are sad words, Baron. Now I understand your unwillingness to enter the order.

" You must also understand why I do not want you to be kicked out of the Holy Land. "While you stay there, even if you bite your teeth into a small patch of land, you will exist. As soon as you fly out of there - you will be abolished and looted, and it is possible that after accusing heresy and betraying the execution.

- I just do not understand this. Why do you need this?

- I need a strong bank, to which I can entrust my business.

- It's amazing! Philip waved his hands in surprise.

- And what is the point of twisting, in order to explain the earthly goals with higher powers?

- Yeah, you totally embarrassed me. Before our conversation, my path was clear and straight. Now I am completely at a loss.

- And why get lost? It is necessary, after realizing the details of the emerging situation, to act in such a way that it is no longer a shame. Although these are all small things that do not yet play a serious role. Let's talk about the matter.

Chapter 6

Then they spent about two hours discussing plans for Eric's future campaign and ways of interacting. The Grand Master offered a way to obtain a formal right to the land that our hero wanted to take to himself. The Baron will be represented at court to the emperor, and his merits against the enemies of Byzantium will be painted with the most vivid colors. In short, they will arrange a small variety show. After that, Alex will be forced to repay such a faithful servant, but since he does not have land for a present or some solid post, he can offer only something formal. For example, a title without a land, of course, it will be prompted in advance by our wise autocrat. And this is exactly what Eric wants. After that, he will swear allegiance to the emperor. Of course, no one from him will not demand anything, since the title is formal. But the right to land will be, it will only be left for her. In general, a curious adventure. From Constantinople, the Grand Master was going to go to the Principality of Antioch in order to take a lively part in what was developing there. Therefore, much of the time in the conversation was devoted exclusively to applied issues. In particular, the issue of Raymund, which remained a serious guarantor of instability, was especially carefully studied. It was necessary to solve two issues: the power in Antioch and the loyalty of the Cilician kingdom. Eric proposed a very simple scheme. The prince, together with the commander, should act as initiators for the release of Rupen. Officially, they must pay 200 gold marks to the Treasury of the Moslem emir. Of course, only 30 marks will be paid, in order for the emir to endow his people, so as not to cause suspicion. After, not far from Edessa, an escort with the grandson of Levon II should be attacked by a group of iconic Turks, naturally hired through a figurehead, which quite by chance, will be missed by several people. Raimund, of course, will be killed in this skirmish. The escort is recruited honestly, from suicide bombers, that is, people who have already baked, but there is no formal reason to execute or expel them. This intrigue should embitter Levon on the Seljuks of Iconium, and also bring them closer to the principality and the Templars proper, as people who selflessly tried to save his grandson. The Grand Master fully supported the idea, since he was most concerned about the situation in the principality. Finally, Eric discussed the possibility of prompt deployment of the bank's branch in the conquered land, said goodbye and left for his compound, where he intended to meet with Demeter and inspect the replenishment. With his priestess, he solved all the issues very quickly, and so in the evening she left for Athens to the ship. The only thing that amused her is a slight shaking, when communicating with him. This woman firmly believed that he was the god Ares, the last doubts were dispelled when all of Europe flew all about his tremendous victory under Edessa. Although the better, there is less chance that she will betray him. Worse case was with the replenishment. Hand on heart, these people could be called a maximum of garbage, albeit armed. Therefore, the younger brother of Demeter departed with her, for he did not live up to his hope. In general, after selecting after ten minutes of inspection of fifty people, the rest he handed in five denarii and ordered to go to all four sides. Pre-surrendering armor, weapons and coats of arms. He really wanted to drive everyone out, but changed his mind, because these, although they were completely unprepared, but had the potential, and therefore transferred the miserable man to the tender care of Rudolph. Toward evening, cooled down, he spoke with Theodore, entrusting him with a new task, which was to contact the Genoese from Sugdeya, and redeem the captive Slavic soldiers from slavery at the age of 20 to 25 years. Of course, not all in a row, but physically healthy, not broken and ready to fight with those who enslaved them. It was necessary to have about fifty to sixty people. The goods are not running, but sometimes it happens. After buying the guys wash, feed and deliver here. He has two months to complete the assignment.

So. What did he have at the moment from human resources? One hundred well-armed soldiers and ten neophytes. Not much. True, he had another hundred and fifty servants, among whom more than half were artisans. But letting servants into battle is stupid, although it is often practiced. In the war that he wants to start, he obviously lacks resources, quantitatively. And this needs to be somehow compensated, first of all by improving the quality of general training and equipment. Therefore, within a week he, with the forces of his servants, unfolded a very decent sports ground, on which he drove all his soldiers. The guys were at least experienced, but they did not follow very much themselves, and therefore they needed to be brought into tonus. And in general - the training has not prevented anyone. In addition to a complex of general developing and strengthening exercises on the bar and bars, the guys ran, and decently - every day for five miles, and once in five days - fifteen miles. This 15-mile race took place in the equipment, that is, in armor, with weapons and some supply of provisions. An important gap in the preparation of his detachment was that they were able to fight normally only in equestrian order. Therefore, with them the drill was begun - the development of the column and square. This in our time, drill training has a practical purpose, close to zero, for its real useful use is limited to parades. During the same contact battle from the ability of fighters to keep the construction depended on their lives. So, in addition to the development of personal physical qualities, his fighters developed in terms of traditional drill. In truth, it is not quite traditional, because our hero seriously diversified it by the fact that when working off the column he divided people into two equal parts, built them against each other and set the task to push opponents off the site. Thus, he developed the pressure of the column as the main attacking infantry formation. It must crush the enemy's constructions, break them, like a hammer blow breaks the shell. The training was so intense that the guys just fell from their feet after the lights out, and therefore slept soundly, happy sleep. He began to prepare his army, and therefore needed a charter. In his army there were already officers who ruled the spontaneous groups. This is wrong, because if the number of troops increases even more, it will be very difficult to deal with management. For his troops, he installed a uniform in the form of a cotta that was long in the middle of the thigh and without sleeves, standard colors. The composition of the cottages was simple - in front and behind it was cut into four sections with a vertical and horizontal line exactly in the center. In front of the painting of the squares was the following - white, red, white, red, in order from top to bottom and from left to right, from the back - inverted. Red was chosen a bright scarlet shade. At the intersection of these four sections, the Baron's coat of arms, both from the front and from behind, was sewn. In the left upper section of the chest, on a white field, an improvised badge in the form of a white diamond with a black border was sewn. The rhombus was divided by a horizontal line in half. Above it was a Latin number denoting the number of the company, from the bottom - a Latin letter denoting the rank. In the statute, he envisaged the following system of organization and ranks for the army. The basis of the organization was miles, that is, a warrior. His badge on the chase is the letter "m". From three to six such comrades were united in a group headed by a millet with the designation "p". The four groups were united in a platoon headed by a sergeant, marked with the rank "s". Three to six platoons were united in a company, she was commanded by a lieutenant, on the patch of which the letter "l" flaunted. From three to six mouths was reduced to a battalion under the captain's cap, bearing the letter "k". There were no plans for larger units in his army, but it was easy to deploy further. The scheme was equivalent to any kind of troops, be it infantry or cavalry. From his people, he formed a company, the head of which was Rudolph. The next step in streamlining his military improvisation was the regulation of the patrol and guard service. As in the campaign, and on vacation, his army must have round-the-clock security in order to reduce the chance of occurrence of excesses to a minimum. In addition to replenishing the letters of the charter, a schedule was drawn up, according to which the platoons of his company were on duty. At the gate of the courtyard was installed a booth with a permanent post, there was also placed a room for a resting part of the guard. On the territory of his possessions were laid routes and established the regularity of their passage. Therefore, every new day, with dawn, a new platoon was on duty, which provided protection of the perimeter from strangers. The rest of the units were completely focused on training.

Such a congestion of people required appropriate measures, first of all hygienic. Therefore, for each person who was in his subordination, at least three identical sets of clothes were sewn, which he gave before going to bed, getting a new one. The delivered set was washed, dried and left to be ventilated. In addition, every third day, before going to bed, the entire staff, regardless of who he was and what he was doing, went through bath procedures, where he was thoroughly washed and shaved. As for shaving, it was introduced very extensively. Men were shaved head and armpits, and women had armpits and genitals. And this procedure went through all without exception. Water procedures, except for a bath, were used very widely - morning washing, washing of hands and the face before reception of nutrition, washing before a dream. At first, of course, the people whined and yelped from laziness and self-pity, but slowly got involved and after a couple of months considered such behavior a norm, albeit unusual. Of course, so that the comrades did not consider such measures as tyranny, active explanatory work was conducted with them. The same situation was with the food that was organized in the common dining room. There was established a kind of kosher, in particular, before cooking only fresh and thoroughly washed products were allowed, as well as filtered water. The basis of the diet was fresh vegetables and meat in a boiled or well-fried form. And mostly without bread. Every morning an oatmeal served on milk with pieces of fruit was served. Once a week served boiled rice, brought from afar, and therefore very expensive. Drank milk, juices and a weak grape wine. And they lived like that. For those times their food was very chic. Eric did not spare money to bring his people to tone, and nutrition was one of the most important components of this process. It is worth noting that not only soldiers were well-fed, but also servants, who also did not pass the fate of forced sports, so that they would not become obese. Every day he drove them all away for ten miles, true, light and not fast. Strongly load them did not make sense, for they would get tired. And the workers needed him to the extreme, because he developed a stormy activity, including construction and production.

The construction campaign concerned first of all the preparation of a shooting range, where active collective classes will begin at the end of the summer. Production was much more extensive - from sewing underwear to making armor and ammunition. In terms of armor, it was generally something grandiose. In addition to the fact that he himself had eight blacksmiths, he contracted in addition almost all local people who carried out orders for him for certain details. The task he set for himself was to pack all his troops in reliable armor. The simplest solution was the manufacture of brigandine. That the device of this armor was not disclosed, he ordered the foreign smith exclusively details, and the same type, according to the template, and the assembly was already in the yard of the farmstead, far from the eyes of others. For the basis was taken Brigandine type I, which was to be worn on chain mail and aketon. How was it done in conditions of such a low level of technology? Yes, very simply - from the inside of a tightly quilted base of coarse linen cloth riveted large iron lap plates. The belly was covered with six plates running across. The breast was covered with three plates, which stood upright. The back was formed by a group of 16 vertical plates that covered it up to the shoulder blades, and three vertical plates that covered the area between the blades. The thickness of the plates is about a millimeter in average. Nothing complicated, but the scope of work was very respectable - there were about two hundred similar sets to be made. Alas, but this was not limited to the front of the armor work, as it was necessary to make still another type of closed helmets, simple shoulder pads and legguards in large numbers. With a helmet, he did not become wimpy, continuing the production of potchelm, since they are not bad at all. And it was the best, in fact, what can be done from that disgusting material with which to work. The only serious revision was that the helmet was mounted a suspension of the "parachute" type, which is a mesh that is fastened at eight points along the perimeter. This allowed to put the helmet on the balaclava not close to the metal, but holding it on the elastic retainer. Of course, the strap for fixing the chin was introduced. It was necessary, because the experience of exploitation simply required such refinement. Shoulders were not that easy. Actually these were the only parts that had to be pulled into the cup-shaped form. They were made exclusively on the territory of the farmstead. Legguards were tire, that is, long vertical strips are collected by butt on a quilted base. The lower part of the leopard protruded slightly downward, in order to protect the knee. As for ammunition, the campaign was divided into two parts. The first part made crossbow bolts, twisting the poles on a simple, improvised lathe with a drive from the foot. And the second part consisted in a massive contract of local rockets, which, according to the pattern, were to cut diamonds from granite about five centimeters in diameter. The weight of these balls was slightly less than two hundred grams. They were preparing for the training of those hiroballist that will be made closer to winter, and since the work on grinding balls is long, the order was made in advance. It was important to get for each car three hundred - four hundred shots, that is, a thousand - one and a half balls. The price of this round pleasure was obtained in the region of eight marks - per denarius per core. Returning to the bolts, I would like to note that they were ground from dried maple blanks and equipped with a rigid plumage and a trihedral tip, which was fastened to the shaft by means of a rather long bushing. It was impossible to drive the tip, so as not to destroy the shaft, so a channel was drilled under the bushing, in which fixation took place by means of joinery glue. The shaft itself had a kind of spindle-like shape, which in the second part sharply thinened, passing into the feathering zone. Immediately after the end of the basic installation, the raw version was sent for balancing and final polishing. After finishing machining, the bolt was covered with varnish in order to protect it from excessive influence of moisture and temperature. The layer of varnish was applied by two thin layers with intermediate polishing. For the manufacture of bolts, a primitive conveyor with a division of labor was organized, and as a result, 100 highly-executed ammunition, each weighing 50 grams each, were delivered every week to the warehouse. Thus, Erik spent his first two months in Constantinople in works and cares.

In the last days of June, our hero was supposed to happen three important events: presentation to the emperor, the beginning of the cartographic campaign in the straits and the arrival of replenishment, which was collected by Theodore. The first was his emissary, who, strictly at the set time, was able to lead to the gates of the farmstead a group of young people numbering eighty people. Mindful of the pickiness of the gentleman in choosing people, he took more, just in case. Since he selected sensibly, the baron took to his service all, passing under the leadership of Rudolph, who distributed them into groups. Alas, to meet the maximum number of companies according to the statute did not work, so the second company was formed under the leadership of Antonio. In general, of all his old acquaintances, only these two had experience in managing people, including in combat conditions. Formally, they were equal, but in practice the leading commander was the old and wise experience of the late uncle's servant. No special excesses happened - the Slavs perfectly joined the team and began to work on par with the rest. Apparently, they were helped by anger and the hope that they could take revenge on those who sold them into slavery. The next stage was the deployment of a campaign to form accurate maps of both straits: the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. Immediately upon arrival in Constantinople, Eric sent Demeter's team to create a map in his usual ways, and the most accurate. Now, when they have coped, and jewelers could fulfill its order, it was possible to send them for specifying and correcting works. The fact is that local jewelers received a bunch of small orders on the same principle as blacksmiths. As a result, when he collected from them the results of painstaking works, assembling a telescope with a high-quality copper body and adjusting the focus, as well as a machine for turning it into a level, turned out to be a matter of a couple of hours. The direct task of this device will be to measure vertical angles from the marks, in order to then calculate the distance by means of the traditional Pythagorean theorem. The work is tedious, but someone will have to do it. In order that they do not measure everything, Eric, on their map drawn a grid and marked the measurement points. At the same time he gave them a compass, which was a primitive dish with water, with a small wooden plank floating there. On one side of this improvised arrow was attached a magnet oriented to the north. The primitive thing. But for the best he did not yet have the time and opportunities - it was necessary to make a drawing of details and place an order with jewelers, but those were already loaded with work for two more levels. In late July, came a batch of Chinese paper. He rejoiced like a child. Finally, he can not write on his clothes! At the end of August, the Grand Master returned, and the baron was introduced at the court. Considering the emperor Alexis III, our hero was perplexed because what is deceptive is the appearance - apparently he is quite a healthy person, but in fact the most damaged by the mind of the ruler of Byzantium. In general, after a long and extremely pathetic ceremony, he was finally able to get out of this crooked and thoroughly hypocritical place, holding the necessary papers in his hands. Now he is the prince of the emperor, who was complaining about the lands of the peninsula, which is in the east of the Crimea, including the cities of Kafa and Korchev. These lands were exempt from taxes and other duties and passed into hereditary possession. Who would have thought - so much noise because of the "six hundred"! Of course, all these possessions had to be taken away, since they were under temporary control of arrogant invaders. Having thus obtained a formal right and becoming a titular nobleman in Byzantium, Eric unfolded, through Theodore, a powerful intelligence-diplomatic campaign. Before his emissary set the following tasks. First, it was necessary to obtain a scheme of fortifications Kafa and Korchev, as well as detailed information on the garrisons and their combat capability. Secondly, he was interested in the Timariots - local feudal lords in the specified area. With them it was necessary to get in touch and find mutual understanding. Thirdly, it was necessary to feel the remnants of the Tmutarakan principality, in terms of its ability to join the struggle against the Kypchaks, that is, to find strong leaders and ways to influence them. Fourth, we needed materials on the Kypchaks themselves: who obeys whom, what forces they have, where they are located, how and where they roam. It was not superfluous to provide technical support for these children. Fifthly, Eric was interested in the Slavic principalities, in particular, in Kiev, Galicia, Pereyaslav and Novgorod-Severnoye. For the success of the whole operation the Polovtsians must be connected elsewhere. In the place, as far as the baron remembered, there was a very solid group of Lukomor Kypchaks, to which the children from Crimea also belonged. So, even if the princes' campaign is not planned closer to the winter of next year - it must be provoked. Or at least create the appearance of preparing for the campaign.

In the first days of August, he finished work on a simple design of locking a crossbow. The product turned out to be quite technological and consisted of three bronze details of complex shape and spring. I had to master the casting directly at the courtyard - in a blacksmith barn. After several unsuccessful attempts, things went smoothly, and parts for crossbow locks of 3-4 sets each day began to arrive in the warehouse. The next stage in designing a high-quality and simple rifle tool was the creation of a body (bed and butt) and a method of attachment. The basis was taken by the French type of rifle butts, which was necessary for a comfortable aiming. The guide channel for the bolt was made of copper, by coining in shape. At the maximum swing of the bow at sixty centimeters, he gave the move a string of fifty centimeters. At this stretching he provided the claimed two hundred kilograms. No special pile and extra details were not present in them. A bronze lock of three parts, including the trigger, a clamp for the bolt, and a stirrup for the rest with the foot. The vzvedenie was carried out by means of the so-called "goat's leg", which was somewhat modified. The technique of cocking was as follows: the crossbow is lowered down, fixed with the foot by the stirrup, the "goat's leg" is put at point-blank range and stretches itself to the click, which indicates the fixation of the bowstring in the lock. After that, a bolt is installed and you can shoot. The whole operation, if it is done, takes about ten seconds. First of all, due to a very intelligent lock, which is self-mounted after each shot. The main problem in it was a spring, which had to be made from an oak board of sufficient elongation, so that it would deviate by 5-6 degrees, no more. This approach allowed to maintain a long time the rigidity of the spring, especially as it was covered with several layers of varnish, and in the place of working contact with the parts of the lock - a small copper plate. The varnish perfectly retained moisture inside the wood and protected from external influences. The most important advantage of this approach to the manufacture of small arms was the uniformity of its tactical and technical characteristics, and, in the first place, ballistics. Work on the production of crossbows went quickly, but not as we would like. The fact is that the butt and the bed were cut from the oak stock, and this required great effort with the existing tools. So it turned out that having a bow and a lock, you could do no more than one crossbow every five days. To accelerate this process, a parallel production of four lines was organized. In general, on September 1, there were only twenty-five new crossbows in the warehouse.

The time of operational tests has come. For this purpose, five crossbows and 25 bolts to them were identified, as well as a group consisting of experienced shooters who passed through the battle of Edessa and the shootings that preceded it. Opposite to five targets, made in the form of silhouettes of human figures, marks were made for every ten steps up to one hundred and fifty. Then they began to fire. Each shooter produced five shots in each of the positions. At the same time, the percentage of the hit, the scatter, and the necessary elevation above the target were recorded. It turned out so that from a distance of up to fifty steps the bolt got into the growth figure with 100% accuracy. When the distance was increased to eighty steps, the accuracy decreased. Now every fifth bolt, on average, went past the target. From a distance of one hundred paces, every second bolt beat "into milk. " With a further increase in the distance, the accuracy fell to such an extent that shooting became possible only in large clusters, since getting into the growth figure of the person turned out to be completely random. In addition to ballistic characteristics was tested and the rate of fire of the new crossbow. At volley fire "on the sly" the rate of fire went out to the set six shots per minute. When the fire "on readiness" - fell to four, since more time was required for aiming. But it was with the last method of shooting that impressive accuracy was achieved. Since he had many soldiers from the Slavic lands, who fired well from the bow, he decided to compare the ballistic characteristics. For this purpose, two good Hungarian onions were specially purchased, with a pulling force of forty kilograms. Fired five people in turn. The overall result was very depressing - already from a distance of forty paces half of the arrows steadily passed by. Thus, the resulting crossbow received a double superiority in the range of aiming a hundred steps against the forty. Considering that the human step averages about 0. 75 m, the aim range with fifty percent accuracy for the growth infantry was 75 and 37. 5 meters, respectively. Which, in general, was expected. Now let's move on to the question of punching armor. Instead of targets, poles with pig carcasses fixed on a wooden support were installed. One carcass was as is, the other is covered with a good, tightly quilted aketon, and the third, in addition to the latter, also had chain mail over it. After a two-day shelling from different distances and angles, the whole inspiring result was obtained. The crossbow bolt leaves in pig's carcass for 2/3 of its length, flying from a distance of one hundred and fifty steps. It's a pity that we got into the pig only from the fifth shot. Given that the entire length of the bolt was about seven and a quarter inches, that is, something slightly more than 18 cm, then an entry of 2/3 of length spoke of a hole about ten inches deep. This defeat was enough to hurt the vital organs. From a distance of one hundred and ten steps, a similar result was achieved, but when firing at a carcass covered by an aketon. The last, the strongest nutlet, was taken from a distance of eighty paces. Accordingly, the penetration fell when the angle between the target and the attack vector of the bolt changed, but at seventy steps, all targets were defeated at very solid angles of attack. Onions in this plan showed rather modest results, because the chain mail was punched with the arrow left in soft cloths on the width of the palm with only ten steps. With sixty paces, the arrow of the bow pierced only the skin, without causing any particular harm. In general, these tests showed the correctness and reasonableness of the choice that Eric did. Now it was necessary to develop a training program. An important task was that his men had to conduct an organized fire with adequate and operational control. Therefore, all pro-mines and sergeants passed a small course during the week, which our hero had to give birth during the course of his deployment. The goal of the course was to explain to the children not only the basic features of the shell's behavior in the air, that is, elementary ballistics, but also to explain how and what they will be doing.

In mid-September, there was a small tragedy. Late in the evening, going into the kitchen, in order to quench his thirst, the Baron saw a Morrigan dancing in the noose. Next to her on the table lay a cloth with a small corpse. This poor girl had a miscarriage, and she took it so much to her heart that the last one nearly stopped. Running, he lifted her legs up and began to call for help. In general, we had time. The poor girl was almost in the next world, but almost does not count. Alas, now your activity will have to be seriously reduced, since this lady needed supervision, and his personal. I had to spend five hours with her every day, to bring her to life, that's not counting the night. The side effect was that this woman was now running after him like a ponytail behind a dog, and literally looked into her mouth. In general, nothing good. Even annoyed. But it could be understood - it took so long to achieve reciprocity and such an annoyance turned out. In general, she was able to calm down only closer to December, when she again became pregnant. In order not to allow the recurrence of the excess, Eric put a strong and caring servant to her so that she would not let her into the noose and help in business and hygiene. The very same Morrigan he completely shielded from work, especially associated with stress. The main time she skated around the city, spent in the pool, bed and mastered the letter. The fact is that he continued to study with her in the evenings. Since she actually became his wife, they must have a way of communicating so that no one can understand them from the outside. The modern Russian language in its colloquial form was practically abracadabra, even for the Old Slavonic carrier. In addition to writing and some practice in a conversation in Russian, she worked with Eric to improve his Latin and master the Greek. As for the cases, he was very lucky with his assistants - things were moving, although not as vigorously as with his help. In October, they began to teach the bulk of the warriors shooting, both individual and collective. Every Sunday in the big hall, which he equipped for classes, he had to read a certain theoretical course for everyone. Of course - the material was greatly simplified and included only the most necessary knowledge, such as the basics of ballistics, the construction of a crossbow, some things related to the tactics of small combat - the choice of position, the evaluation of the distance, the speed estimate and so on. The training went very slowly, because for these wooden heads such knowledge was completely unaccustomed and incomprehensible. However, by December, this had affected the accuracy of the shooting - at the salvo fire the same accuracy was achieved as in the single shot, that is, all the bolts reached the target. Another problem is that often one goal became familiar with two or more projectiles. This is a serious embarrassment, and its work was actively worked on with both officers and ordinary soldiers. Needless to say, he did not just shake the air in front of sleeping dummies. The verification of the assimilation of knowledge was very strict and precise. In addition to the main task - to lay down in the heads of their fighters an understanding of what they are doing, that is - the projectile flies where it is directed, and not where the demon drags it, it posed another task - the selection of cadres. He needed people who would master this material more quickly and better, in order to separate them into a platoon of heavy weapons, that is, to put them behind the ballista. In early January, there were about two thousand bolts in the warehouse, another four hundred were in operation, so he cut the conveyor by half and transferred people to a new project - it was time to manufacture heavy rifle machines. Since June, he worked on a small consolidated team, which was engaged in the preparation of tendons from the legs of the most massive bulls. The main task of the treatment was to remove the connective tissue, leaving only the fibers, and treat them with tannic solutions. Tanning was the most dangerous, as protection from decay should not damage the basic properties of fibers - resistance to stretching. At the output, thin elastic fibers were obtained. Therefore, in the next stage of them, long and strong bundles wove - thirty steps each. In total, no less than six such products were needed, but in December there were already eight in the warehouse of the farmstead, so it was decided to make four cars.

So, what kind of adaptation did he decide to build for long-range shooting? The basis was taken late Roman ballista for shooting stones. The frame was made from well-dried oak blanks. The front frame was small and had two bronze bodies for toning on the sides, which were equipped with a guide for levers and a window for estimating the tension. In the upper part of the body was an adjusting mechanism in the form of an asterisk, fixed by a pawl with a hole for the lever. All thirty steps of tone there perfectly fit. The support frame was equipped with a rather long guide groove for the projectile - it went beyond the tones for the length of the arm. The platoon system represented a somewhat modified form of the English gate, arranged with the enlarged shape of the crossbow lock. The shot was made by pressing the trigger handle toward you. The peculiarity of the modification was that instead of a block of wheels, a pair of two massive bronze gears used as a reduction gear with a ratio of 1 to 8 was used. Such a solution made it possible to excavate this unit without any special effort. The twin block was needed in order for the gear to be engaged at both ends of the shaft in order to avoid distortions and excessive loads. As a safety fuse, two dogs were used, which blocked both large gears from turning in the wrong direction. The speed of the cocking was very solid. The working stroke of the bowstring with a swing of the levers, with a frame of one hundred and fifty centimeters, was a meter. After the tests, the result was about six hundred kilograms. Which was even better than planned. The last stroke of the design was a wheeled machine on two light wheels of large diameter. For that time, the combination of the bushing with the rim and spokes gave a unique result in relation to the lightness of the wheel strength. The rim itself was reinforced with a strong iron stripe. In order to simplify transportation, it was decided to refine the traditional design by introducing a charging box, to which it was possible to attach a horse harness. The charger itself was equipped with a compartment for four spare tones, a set of repair and adjustment tools, some spare parts and a compartment for two hundred cores five centimeters in diameter. The charger box, like the ballista, was installed on the same light, dial-up wheels. A spare tire was attached to its front cover. A place for the charioteer is not provided. The fact is that the whole structure was very light, and therefore the harness included a saddle, allowing the driver to ride on horseback if necessary. In combat conditions, even one person could cope with the design, but the staff was supposed to be allocated to each ballista on the group. Ballistic and operational tests, which took place in February, showed that with a flat shot, this device can effectively hit the enemy, defended by mail and aketon, at distances of up to two hundred and fifty steps. At the same time, accuracy was maintained at a distance of up to a hundred steps, with a maximum range of up to four hundred meters, on which a good traumatic effect still remained. Separately, it should be said that from a distance of about a hundred paces the core was pierced with a shield of pine boards six centimeters thick. The rate of fire was about one shot per minute. The weight of the ballistae with a machine without a charger is about one hundred and fifty kilograms. The main percentage of weight, of course, went to the shells of the tonus and the mechanism of the platoon. The only significant drawback of the design was that on average after ten shots it was required to check the adjustment and tension of the tonus. Otherwise, accuracy and range of fire began to fall sharply. In general, the tonus of such a manufacture, after the tests, stood about four hundred shots, after which they fell into disrepair. Not so bad. To protect the servicemen, Eric wanted to install two protective shields, but experiments showed the failure of this solution, since it seriously heaved the design, and also reduced its rigidity. In general, having carried out comprehensive tests of the prototype, laid four new, taking into account all the deficiencies in the design, identified in the process of active operation. Of course, the existing sample was dismantled, and its bronze pieces went to one of the ballistic twins.

By the end of January of the new year 1202, a campaign was completed to measure the straits of the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, and therefore the baron sat tightly behind the map. It was necessary to calculate all the distances and make an adjustment to the original outline of the coastline. The work turned out to be very painstaking, but the running Mornington behind it was very helpful this time - it helped a lot in terms of systematizing the received data, as it did accurate sketches of fragments of straits on the basis of which it would be possible to make a common map. The maps of the two straits obtained in the second week of February were reproduced and prepared for marking depths. Before sending people to measure the bottom, he personally walked through the straits in a small nave with an experienced local pilot, so that he showed him all the shoals and other troubles in the relief of the bottom, which Eric marked for measurement. Returning to the courtyard, duplicating the marks on the other cards and giving them to the brigades along with the oral instructions, sent them to make notes on the depth of the bottom. The straits are deep enough, therefore it was senseless to measure the whole bottom, it was enough to determine the depths of less than seven meters. For these purposes, a lot of pyramid cargo was used on the rope. The rope itself was marked with marks every half a foot. This fascinating business involved four brigades, which ran simultaneously all four coastlines. Two more brigades were engaged in studying the nature of the current and wind regime, each in its strait. The work is also very boring, but very useful. At the exit they should get a map of straits with marks on shallow depths, main streams of currents and wind. Why did we need marks of shallow depths? At the narrowest point the straits had about five hundred meters, which made it possible to calmly pass without worrying about the shallows. But if it would be necessary to maneuver, for example, in battle, or carry out an assault landing, this data would be very useful.

At the end of February, the most interesting thing started: Theodore appeared with a report on the fulfillment of his reconnaissance and diplomatic mission. The cities of Kafa, Surozh, Khersones, Korchev and other large settlements of the southern coast of Crimea have been carefully studied. They collected not only plans for fortifications and the general arrangement of the cities themselves, with the designation of streets and all important objects such as cisterns, warehouses, fortified farmsteads and others, but a characteristic of popular moods was compiled. Particularly important part of these moods was the list of all the nobility of each of the cities with a brief characteristic - what kind of person is he and what does he want from life. In addition, a simplified scheme was drawn up for all settlements, including fortresses and fortified villages, with the same personal characteristics. Unfortunately, this work covered only the entire territory of the Kerch Peninsula and a small area along the southern coast. Information on the Crimean and Lukomoryan Polovtsians was rather meager, as contacts were seriously hampered. However, according to the information that was collected - the guys had serious problems, due to internal organizational difficulties. That is, there was a struggle for power with a living ruler. So they can not quickly and organically move forward. Good news came from the lands of the Kiev principality. The fact is that there was a very active fuss over the possession of the throne, and therefore he remained with the ruler, relying only on his word of honor. Now there was Rurik II Rostislavovich, but he was actively challenged by four other contenders, and so the prince desperately needed support from his predecessor and city residents. Both those and others could be bought as a result of a successful campaign against the Polovtsians. The most reasonable will be either a winter hike, when they are vulnerable in their parking lots, or in the spring, when their mobility is severely limited due to mass calving in the herds. Given the tension of the situation, increasing with each passing day, Rurik can easily decide on an adventure, in order to retain power. Further, the relatively pleasant situation was in the Novgorod-Seversky principality. There, albeit in a considerably weakened form, there was also a struggle for power. Therefore, the current autocrat Vladimir Igorevich with pleasure will join this adventure. Pereyaslavl and Galicia-Volyn principality were not ready for quick and decisive action, since in the former was vicegerency, and in the second - order and stability. So, the choice was made - Rurik Rostislavovich and Vladimir Igorevich, and started - the first one for which an official letter was composed from the emperor of the Byzantine emperor in the Crimea Eric, baron von Lenzburg. In this letter, he invited the prince to take advantage of his invasion of the coast, in order to restore order to the lands that had emerged from the power of the crown. The interest of the proposal for Rostislavich was that after the start of the campaign on the southern coast the Polovtsians would push him towards the soldiers, leaving their parking without cover. It is a sin not to use. Not only that, he will do a great favor to the baron, since the Lukomorye Polovtsians will not be able to recover after two such strikes, and for some time will not pose a threat to Eric as the governor of the Crimea. It was also mentioned in the letter that Vladimir Igorevich from the Novgorod-Seversky principality would not refuse the offer to rob his favorite enemies. In general - a hook with a large and delicious bait was thrown directly under the nose of a hungry predator, it remains to wait for bite. Next came the analysis of the remains of the principality of Tmutarakan. The city of Korchev was mainly Slavic and Greek population, his magistrate, in general, was ready to return to the fold of the empire. Of course, if she can protect them from neighbors. That is, that they rushed into the arms of Eric with joyful cries, it is necessary to show strength and show the success of his military enterprises in the region. As for the city of Tmutarakan that stood on the Taman Peninsula, that is, across the strait from Korchev, everything was very dull there, since mostly the Khazars lived. The main problem with them was that these Falcons at one time fell under the authority of the Jews and adopted Judaism. Just a caricature of some kind - the Turks in the Jewish faith. This affected the nature of the guys, that is, they became like leaves in the wind - where profitable, there and bend. There is no trust, but there will be no special obstacles. In general, a rather favorable picture emerged. Kafu will have to take an assault, since the magistrate consists exclusively of Genoese, who decided to take this land for their own use. Korchev will surrender himself after taking the Genoese port and defeating the Polovtsi detachment, which will be put forward to restore order. Tmutarakan will smile cunningly and wait for the winner to join him. It remains Sugdeya, but there, as in the Cafe, is run by the Genoese - this is the second city of the coast that can create problems. Fortunately, not immediately, but in the long term, since its garrison will not be enough to participate in a serious military operation, and there are no siege machines there. It was also estimated the reaction time of the Polovtsians - it was from three to five days. Exactly so much is needed for them to get information about the landing force and they managed to put forward the soldiers, numbering about four to five hundred, to repel the invasion. Yes, everything is just gorgeous. So, the first step will be like this - we make a leak of information to the Kafa Magistrate, so that they will learn about Eric's approach on four ships. Of course, having a serious advantage in ships and manpower, they will go out to sea to meet him and prevent an assault on the coast. But they do not have a ballista, and in general throwing weapons are more powerful than bows and a small number of early crossbows. Therefore, maneuvering, he can take them away from the shore, so that if he realizes the danger of the situation, they could not quickly return to the port. And then, firing from the ballista from a distance of five to six dozen steps to quickly start to the bottom. The fact is that the planking of the naves was a board three fingers thick, and there were no internal waterproof partitions in these large tubs. Therefore, punching from such a distance the body of the Genoese ship through and through, it simply will not give them a chance. Yes, of course, it is very pitiful to sink such a large quantity of weapons, because this is a whole bunch of valuable iron. But he does not see any other way of quickly destroying the main part of the garrison, and even with little blood. After the sinking of ships, the landing force itself arrives at the port, the assault on the gate and a breakthrough to the building of the magistrate. Then the fate of the city is already solved. In it, he expects the approach of the Polovtsian forces and, as soon as they approach, sends the courier to Ryurik, so that he would speak. He himself smashes them and moves to the city of Sugdeya, blocked all this time from the sea by the ships of Demeter. Taking an attack and plundering the city, he moves to Korchev, where he will settle, as this will be the most loyal and loyal of all the cities that will be in the zone of his possession. The result of the operation is more than satisfactory - it gets enough extensive land in a convenient location, a considerable number of people and several years of tranquility. After the defeat in the Cafe and Sugdde, the Genoese will think well, before opposing it, the Polovtsi in the region will have nothing to fight. There are no other competitors for him there. Having thought everything over and having made a decision, he sent the Theodore himself to the Kiev prince, so that he helped correct reading and understanding of his letter. At the same time he had a solution to the problem of a quick communication with Rurik to keep him informed of what was happening.

The first of June 1201. Baron Eric von Lenzburg had two companies of well-trained soldiers. In the first company he had a complete set - 127 people, of which 96 milles (warriors), 24 promiles (corporals), six sergeants and one lieutenant - Rudolph. The symbol of the first company was a black diamond with a Latin "I" of white color, which was sewn on the right upper back and the front left side of the chest on the cats of all the personnel. The second one had a similar symbol, but with the number "II", and the number was minimal - 64 people, that is, 48 miles, 12 promiles, three sergeants and Lieutenant Antonio. A total of 191 warriors. Standard equipment for all personnel was the following: aketon, quilted helmet, chain mail, brigandine, shoulder pads, legguards, helmet sweat, new crossbow, waist quiver for bolts, saber and cotta of the right color with the baron's emblem and company badge. Each third was issued simple halberds, the rest - large shields - pavis. All equipment was unified, homogeneous and very high quality. In each company, two groups were allotted, which did not have a pavis and halberd, since they were servants of the ballista. They had a company rhombus besides the figure, and also the Latin letter "A", to denote involvement in artillery. Total, his unit could give a volley of 191 crossbow, could put 57 halberds and 114 large shields. The personal standard bearer of our hero was not yet, as Morrigan was in her seventh month of pregnancy. You understand that in such a state you can not ride a horse. All of his male servants, numbering 182 people, were dressed in well-quilted aketons, on top of which was put on a cot out of gray linen with the coat of arms of Eric. These guys, he will use during the robbery and the baggage, so that at the right time, enough hands. Alas, it has not yet been possible to equip all with helmets - they were given them traditional spangelhelms, which at the moment were actively manufactured in the smithy of the farmstead, as well as throughout Constantinople. From weapons to servants small battle axes with a long handle and a belt for carrying were issued. There was a desire to teach them to keep a static system and equip them with spears and shields, but time was running low - it was too late. Yes, and money was spent on all these events a huge amount - a personal account in the Templar Bank he had decreased by two thousand marks. This is more than half of what he was able to accumulate during the annual robbery of rich caravans! Yes, a good army is not cheap. Now the main thing is not to lose it by stupidity. In August, Theodore returned with good news - Rurik is ready to speak on the signal. For communication, they decided to use postal pigeons, which Theodore brought with him in the cage. The final agreement is as soon as Eric breaks the Polovtsian kosha near the city of Kafa, he immediately writes a letter and sends it with a dove to Kiev. They also discussed the time of the beginning of the operation - October 1. On this day, the baron must undertake an attack by the Genoese fleet and begin an attack of the city, and Rurik and Vladimir will gather with the squads in Kiev and will wait for the signal. It remained only to wait. To his soldiers are not bored, he tightly loaded them with drill and physical training, which diversified sparring. Similarly, all of his male servants, he began to load more physical exercise. At the end of September, Demetra arrived on the farmstead, from which sixty large ships arrived at the port of Constantinople - they had double teams of riflemen, and all the sailors were armed. For the needs of a maneuverable sea battle, she was able to find four light naves, which could give out eight to nine knots in a good wind, which was very decent. Armed servants were fully equipped with helmets, crossbows - bolts, ballista - cores. Everything was ready, it is possible to speak, so on September 25, 1202, Eric, at the head of his detachment and his fleet, left for the Bosporus and headed for the Pontine Sea, to the Crimea.

The Baron's fleet was incomplete for three days and approached Sugdeye late at night. Then, leaving all the big ships for the blockade of the port, he moved on four light naves to the Cafe. Morrigan, he did not take with him, because she had a baby in late August and had to sit with the child. With the first rays of the sun, he came out from behind the headland and moved to the city. He was noticed very quickly and came forward to meet him - as he had expected, Genoa prepared a surprise for him from a dozen big naves into which troops were stuffed to the outset. After making the turn over, the baron began to leave the sea to the east of the city. After an hour of maneuvering, when the entire battle had retired five miles from the shore, Eric gave orders to raise the red flag, which was an agreed signal for the beginning of the next stage of the battle-artillery firing. After making a new overturn, the squadron went to the windward side and, having gained an advantage in speed and maneuver, moved along the enemy ships. From a distance of 50 steps began to beat from the ballista. They aimed so that the core at the entrance struck the board at the waterline or below it. The effectiveness of the shooting was terrific - to defeat the ship took from three to six shots. Within ten minutes all the ships of the Genoese had either a roll or sagged from the collected water. The enemy tried to lower the boats, but the baron's artillerymen shot them with accurate shots before they were in the water. The Italians began to take off their armor and jump into the water, trying to escape, but the baron's ships that had flown closer to the shore, with accurate shots of crossbows, drowned all the swimmers. After an hour it was all over - a number of corpses and garbage floated on the site of the tragedy. Eric picked up the second red flag, and the whole squadron moved to the port. After an hour and a half, both his companies had already landed at the port and engaged in a skirmish near the port gate with the remains of the garrison. Theodore studied their mount in advance, and therefore all four ballists began to beat on the fastenings of the loops. From the third salvo, the right section crashed inward with a crash, from the fourth volley - and the left one fell. At the exit of the port tower, a city militia lined up - a man of fifty with spears and shields, and on top of the tower, a hot oil was prepared for his people. The fifth volley was covered by the top of the tower, overturned the boiler, and a violent fire began. Sixth volley - the militia was broken, which was completely upset and was immediately handled by crossbowmen. After, not hesitating, the first company was built in a column and moved forward. It was important to take the town hall as soon as possible. In the port for the protection of ships remained full-time ship's arrow, and the entire second company acted as an escort at the artillery and with it advanced to cover the attacking column. A hundred meters before the magistrate, the column, having crushed several cordons along the way, came upon a barricade guarded by the Guard of the Magistrate, numbering up to a hundred people. Across the street, tables, trestles, cabinets, logs and other large objects of everyday life were piled up. To lead people to storm and bear solid losses, the baron did not dare, and so he waited for the ballista's approach, and from a distance of thirty paces began to shoot the barricade. Kernels pierced this pile of rubbish through and killed the people who stood behind him. Meanwhile, the second platoon of the first company occupied a position on the roof of the neighboring house, in order to have an advantage in height, to fire at the enemy. To the honor of the guards, it should be said that none of them faltered or ran, and so their bodies remained rather hefty. In the magistrate all the servants were quickly killed and the entire top of the city was localized in one room, where they barricaded themselves. This caused some problems, as the attempt to knock out the door did not bring success. I had to bring a ballista on my hands. On the eighth shot from the door were only debris. When the soldiers broke in, they found a lot of people wounded with chips, and opposite the door - a severely damaged wall and several ripped corpses. Quickly finishing the remnants of the magistrate, the troops continued to occupy the city. All gates and all military and public buildings were taken under control. For dinner it was all over.

So, the baron stormed the city of Cafu. One of the ships was immediately sent to the squadron, so that his servants would arrive immediately. Consolidated platoon of artillerymen remained in the courtyard at the magistrate - ten people guarded at the entrance, the rest took up collecting valuable items, carrying out corpses and in general - putting things in order. The second company was sent to patrol the streets to prevent confusion and robbery. The first company engaged in visiting the manors of members of the magistrate and sympathizers for the purpose of confiscating property, naturally posthumous. They worked smoothly and quickly, but because of special overlapping was not. Servants arrived by lunchtime, and things went much faster. Property collected in the port and, previously described, loaded on ships. Towards evening the patrols were fired from servants who moved in groups of ten. In the morning of the second day, a delegation of local residents came to Eric with completely ordinary things - complaints of harassment. It turned out that, under the cover of his name, a small group of local plundered the urban poor. The problem was solved very quickly, and by lunchtime the bodies of the unfortunate combinators were hanging out on the brother gallows. In general, life in the city was gradually improving, because the baron, having cut his head in the form of a magistrate, did not touch ordinary people. And they, in general, traditionally do not care who rules them. By the evening of the third day, the last ships with the prey to Constantinople departed, to go to the markets of Europe, and then in the form of silver marks to enter his account. According to preliminary calculations, he took in the city about three thousand marks, mostly jewelry and jewelry. In the city was about three hundred slaves. A little hesitating, he freed them and took away healthy ones. Among them were mostly young girls from the Slavic lands, so he identified them among servants - cooking, washing, cleaning, and so on. With the first ship the courier for the Templars departed, who waited in Constantinople for the signal to arrive and organize their representation. The main advantage of their arrival is the presence of an additional allied force, which will be able to hold the city during its campaign. It's time to sum up the storm. If it is rude, then fifteen people are wounded and one killed, for this price a city and three thousand marks were received by silver. A decent result. On the morning of the fourth day, he sent observers from among the servants to all the hills around the city and began a citywide meeting, which his patrols had warned the entire city since the evening. He planned to organize the election of the city head - at the same time to see who the city dwellers respect - he needed agents of influence, in order not only to maintain order in the city by force.

When the people gathered in the square, the baron ordered to strike at the brass bell, calling for silence:

" The people of Kafa! "I am your new master - Eric from the background of the Lenzburg family. These lands were presented to me by the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire as a token of gratitude for the victories in the Holy Land, where I achieved great success in fighting the infidels. You came to this square at my invitation. First of all, I want to inform you that this city is returned to its ancient name - Theodosius, which means - granted by God. I think this is a worthy name for such a wonderful city. Secondly, it is necessary to form a city guard instead of the deceased, because order and tranquility can not be achieved only by a kind word. Therefore, all those who wish to fill up its ranks immediately after the end of the meeting, let them approach the building of the magistrate. Thirdly, we need to resolve the issue of power. The magistrate refused to swear allegiance to me and attacked me with weapons. He is dead. All. I want to show you mercy and allow myself to choose those people who will rule you on my behalf. The ten people you will propose from your number will become the new leadership of the city. It can be absolutely any people. Their property status is unimportant, as they will come to my service and will receive salaries.

What started here! The crowd just gasped at the energy that was overflowing with it. Local fights were started on local fights, but they were quickly stopped by baron fighters. In the city there were thousands of thirty residents, but only adult men came to the meeting, so all six thousand people settled in a small square near the magistrate. True, with difficulty - some people were sitting on the roofs of houses. Half an hour later, the process of popular fermentation began to bear fruit - the crowd slowly ejected people from their womb. They were handed over neatly to a small pedestal. After three hours, this touching scene of the people's will finally ended, and next to Eric stood ten people - the new magistrate of the first city, which he captured. He once again ordered to strike the bell, in order to call for silence, and the people again obeyed.

- Residents of Theodosia! Before you is your new city council! He turned to them. - And now each of you in turn, loudly and distinctly, will name his name, his father's name and profession. After you take the oath before the people and God that you will be faithful to me, my master, to the last extremity and sparing no life and health, make every effort to ensure that my city - Theodosius flourished. - Then he turned to the crowd and continued, - the inhabitants of Theodosia! I want to achieve order and prosperity in this city, so that all my subjects could at least a little, but live better. Therefore, for attempting a bribe to any of these ten people, I will execute the whole family of one who will decide on this bad deed. If I find out that a bribe is accepted, then the whole family of the person who accepted it is also executed. If three or more members of the city council are caught in bribes, he will be executed in full, including the family of each.

In general, they made another noise with an hour. Caught up. People from the square broke up in an extremely good mood, as this crowd of small people suddenly felt their need and significance.

The rest of the day Eric was engaged in the organization of management in the city - he formed a typical city government. From among the council appointed city mayor. The others became his assistants in the areas of activity - comrades. But it was a trifle - before these people he posed tasks that they never solved. Actually, the baron did not decide either, but it was easier for him, since he knew what the result should be, from which he proceeded. The city has been established progressive income tax and trade and transport duty. The tax varied from zero to thirty percent, for calculation thresholds were established, raising the tax in steps of one percent. As a result, the bulk of the poor were generally exempt from taxes, which sharply increased stability in the city. The trade duty was of two kinds - on imported goods and on local goods, twenty and ten percent respectively. That is, peasants who in the district of the city grew a crop and brought it for sale to the city, paid ten percent, and merchants who came or came here from afar - twenty. For the transit of goods through the city, too, they paid. In general, the taxes were fairly moderate, but strict. On the incoming money it was necessary to deploy the construction of municipal sewerage and organize regular cleaning of the streets. Unexpected thing, but it was vital, because the city was a large cesspool. Actually, like all other medieval cities in Europe. Much was discussed on the priorities in the construction and organization of public works for the repair of the city wall and other things. Particular attention was paid to the formation of the city militia and city guard. The latter should become a regular, small army of the city, completely on maintenance and with unified equipment allocated from the city's arsenal. The police should become a form of the city militia, which once every three months must meet for training and receive training within a few days. Of course - it's all in the distant future. Now there were more pressing tasks - fighting crime, creating cleanliness and order in the city and resuming its commercial activity. By evening, it turned out that about one hundred and twenty people had registered in the custody. Of course - they had neither armor nor weapons, since the guys were representatives of the poorest part of the lumpen proletariat. Eric collected them in the big hall of the city council building.

Well then! Now I will explain the conditions on which you will work. After I offer you a choice - you can give up your intention. So - you are candidates for city guards. Your tasks will include round-the-clock patrolling of streets, suppression of riots, such as fights or looting. Also, acting as the hands of the city council, you will be engaged in collection of arrears on taxes from non-payers and other actions related to the maintenance of order and security in the city. To put on and equip you will be the city treasury. Eat - in the common dining room, live in the barracks. In addition to the service, you will be charged with physical training. Later, when your loyalty is verified, warriors will begin to teach you to effectively resist any gangsters, even well-trained ones. It's about your responsibilities. If you are caught on a bribe - you are publicly whipped with rods until unconscious, for the third time they are executed through public hanging. For disobeying the commander's order for the first time public flogging, for the second time - execution. Every week you will be paid silver denomination. After the end of the shift, put a jug of wine. The commanders will pay two denarii a week and ask, respectively, for the whole detachment. That is, he is responsible for breaking the subordinate with him. Is everyone clear? Any questions? - He looked around all those present, waiting, but there were no questions. - If there are no questions, then I suggest that everyone who is not satisfied with the conditions should retire.

Twenty people left. Very well done! " The remaining baron was divided into ten equal groups, appointing the commander immediately, and afterwards, handed them over to the comrade of the head of the city council, who was in charge of the city guard. On primary equipment Eric singled out three marks. On this money everyone should be dressed in clean, decent clothes and equipped with aketons. They were promptly sewed by local artisans on the same day. From the weapons they decided to issue old short spears that were available in the operationally equipped city Arsenal. They were found in a warehouse in one of the towers, but decided to leave, since it was not very profitable to transport for sale. Here also were useful. At the same time, he demanded that all the personnel be measured so that they could sew stitched cottages on them. For ordinary militia men, cottages of the same pattern as soldiers were introduced, only the red color was replaced with green. With the same method of organizing patches. The only organizational difference - the size of the group was increased to ten people. Collect those platoon of city guards in the company did not, putting the three sergeants in direct submission to the comrade of the city head.

On the fourth day, the Templars and the Morrigan arrived. This fidgeting could not sit in Constantinople, she could not abandon the child either. So she appeared with a two-month-old baby in her arms. A part of the servants arrived with her. The whole company was housed in a small, cozy estate, which once belonged to the late head of the city magistrate. Cleanliness, order and silence. The Templars were also very well placed - in a spacious manor, also recently deserted, near the port. True, there were few of them, five knights and three dozen servants. The head appointed the younger brother of Pierre de Chamond - Alexander. In general - everything was quiet enough. In the morning of the fifth day, a courier arrived from the observers - to the north of the city were seen a horse group in metal armor and with weapons. Well, - the Polovtsians came. Of his wounded warriors, five returned to service, the rest of them will join in a week or two. So, he can count on 180 people. We need reconnaissance data on enemy forces, preferably accurate. For these purposes, he directed Theodore to process the city's children, so that she combed all the neighborhoods of the city. By the evening it became not only known the number of Polovtsian forces, but also visible, as they arrived under the walls of the city and began to build manjanyk - a primitive throwing machine for shelling the gates of the city. In this traditional eastern gravitational machine, the projectile was shot at the expense of the general pull of people, which are pulled at the other end of the lever. Simply, effectively and very primitively. It is not even necessary to talk about sighting and long-range firing with the help of such units. The total strength of the troops was about five and a half hundred. And it was precisely the army, since it consisted of soldiers, not armed people. The throwing machine was built very slowly - it was immediately evident that the business for them was new, undeveloped. So, slowly, and waited for the evening. Camp Polovtsy smashed simply superb, also pleased with a completely sane military escort, which instead of sleeping honestly on duty. So - the guys experienced, beaten more than once. Of course, Eric did not waste time either. Over the past day, the street that adjoined the attacked gate was turned into a long tunnel. All the side passages and door barricaded, the windows were boarded, and the roofs were strengthened so that they could stand on their feet. At the end of a straight section of the street, a barricade of logs was erected, which was assembled neatly into a broad but shallow log structure that blocked the street. Landed in the frame, and on top made a flooring of the boards and installed massive shields. It was a platform for the ballista, who had to firing cores along the street. To the left and to the right of the gate there were standing logs, which should collapse when cutting off the fasteners and block the retreat. The length of the prepared street was about two hundred meters, so due to inertia, most of the troops must have time to break into. By lunchtime the sixth day the manjanik was ready and the Polovtsi immediately began shelling. Of the twelve shots that were fired, only two hit the gate, slightly injuring them. Decency was sustained, but because Eric ordered that between the shots replaced the locking girder of the doors to something symbolic. It took our snipers five more shots to get into the door for the third time. That, as expected, flung open - creating the effect of a broken shut-off beam. The Polovtsians, who were ready for such a turn, rushed quite vigorously toward the gates, but, to their credit, they were quite organized. Outside the gates there were criminals armed with shields and spears. These were suicide bombers, to whom the baron promised forgiveness, if they manifest themselves in defending the city. So they lasted a few minutes. The enemy was on foot, as riding on a city is very inconvenient. Having crumpled the duck, the Polovtsy rushed forward, with joyful cries, to the place where the second barrier from the criminals was waiting for them. It took less than a minute for all five-odd hundred people to get into the shot-chamber prepared for them. Eric signaled - immediately collapsed the passage at the gate, blocking it somehow with fallen logs. The obstruction turned out to be higher than human growth. After that, ballisticists and crossbows earned, and the second line of the screen went to the barricade. In general, everything was finished in half an hour. A dozen killed and thirty-two people wounded in the baron's army, against the completely overthrown army of Polovtsians. Without hesitation, he commanded all his able-bodied soldiers. It was necessary to immediately attack the convoy and the servicemen of the broken army. Charges took ten minutes, through which his squad of fifteen hundred trotted out in a column of three through the neighboring gates of the city wall. His standard was worn by Ostroneg, the sergeant of the first platoon of the first company, who accepted the Polovtsi blow when they rushed to break through the hastily dismantled barricade of the side passage, and in the melee, working halberds, stopped the enemy. It was he who managed to notice the demolition of the blockade before everyone, he led his people to close the breakthrough, it was he who stood in the front row and stood the onslaught. In the platoon - seventeen wounded and three killed, and he - the last remaining in the ranks, was awarded the honor to carry the banner of his master in the next attack. The detachment took it to the right and began to walk around the hill, in order to break into the camp's location from the rear, in case they were expected. And indeed, when they, having developed a broad front, flew to a position, they were expected by about two hundred servants, although they were in only quilts and almost without weapons. However, a barrage was made from the camps, which would seriously hamper their destruction. This time there was no loss, since, without waiting for a collision, the Polovtsians flinched and rushed to run. In general, it turned out an attraction - catch up and hack. We had to run a lot, we did not manage until an hour later. So - victory is achieved, you can send a pigeon to Ryurik to consolidate this victory. Those few Polovtsy that survive his raid, are unlikely to pose any threat in the region, and their neighbors and their problems are up to their necks.

Arranging the wounded in the caring hands of Morrigan and taking their victims to the local morgue - that is, the largest church, Eric took up the dismantling of trophies. All Polovtsy stripped naked, packed on carts and exported out of town, where they fell down in regular rows near the huge pit that the local people hired by the city council were digging. The mass grave, so as not to cause problems of hygienic plan, should be about four human growth. Towards evening, when the pit was ready, they began to carefully drop corpses, and some of the workers that remained there, lay them so that the layer was smoother. The darkness was finished. All the armor and weapons loaded on the wagons and went immediately to the building of the arsenal, where they were described and taken to the city balance. All the rest was taken to the building of the magistrate. The next morning Baron ordered to dismantle the barricades and repair the damaged gates. The first half of the case was taken - the city was taken and defeated in an enemy detachment. Now it was necessary to think whether he would be able to take the second key city of the Genoese, or he should advance to Korchev, who would already accept him with open arms. According to the latest information, there were about thirty ships with goods in the port of Sughd and about one thousand slaves in the city itself. True, the troops are about a thousand and the inhabitants are no less than in Feodosia. Difficult task.

- Theodore, I do not see something on the town's plan of the fortress. I heard there must be a fortress there.

Right? The old imperial fortress is in the eastern part of the city, on a cliff. But it is now in ruins.

- It's just wonderful! By the way, and in the baggage we did not have any arrows?

- It was very decent. The Kypchaks were preparing for a long siege of the city, and therefore brought with them a whole ten rifle with arrows.

Perfectly as expected. Rudolf! Are you listening to me?

- Yes, I can hear it perfectly.

" We speak tomorrow morning. "We take the ballista with the staff, all the soldiers who are not injured, as well as all the male servants. How many of them do we have now, by the way?

- I find it difficult to answer, about two hundred.

Ok. Take in the baggage of whole bows according to the number of servants, plus a top of a dozen or two, in order to replace the worthless ones. Well, all the carts of Polovtsian arrows. Take good food with you, as we are going to besiege. You, Theodore, remain an assistant with Morrigan, she will be in charge of everything. Your goal is peace and order in the city. Two days after our departure, send to Sugdeya a food train for a thousand people a week. Is everyone clear? Then obey.

The whole day Eric spent with his servants, who explained what they would do. A lot of them were not required. It was necessary only, guided by the commander's hand, to raise bows with the right elevation and be ready to shoot all together. Neither speed nor accuracy from them was required. Closer to the evening of the following day, Eric's troops approached Sugdeya and blocked it from the land. Now she was in a real siege. The remainder of the day the artillerymen and servants occupied a position on the ruins of the old Byzantine fortress. Beneath it, far below, lay the city. They also put the tent Eric. The main part of the army camped in the valley, blocking the only road that approached the besieged city. Of course, the camp was fortified with a palisade and a moat, although the soldiers fought badly about this, because they had to strengthen themselves. So, everything is ready for the siege, and in the courtyard was the morning of October 8, 1202.

Based on formal courtesy, Eric sent the parliamentarians, so they told the Genoese about who is besieging them and why. It turns out that the villagers, rascals, are not paying taxes to the emperor for many years, so he, his deputy, came to collect from them due. At the same time - to receive a fine as compensation for long delays in payments. The sum was called colossal. Well and further all in absolutely traditional style - the baron suggested them to surrender, all to pay and return to a fold of empire. As expected, the response was a wide variety of flowery expressions on a whole heap of diverse languages. He seriously miscalculated in terms of nationalities - in the city though set the tone of the Genoese merchants, but the bulk of the population was not homogeneous and was a terrible mix. In general, all this staging was needed, first of all, to amuse the baron himself. He had a good mood in the morning and a desire to play a big boy, who condescendingly shows mercy to bad enemies. So, after listening to the mat, Eric slowly, walking pace, returned to the position of the shooters and, having ordered Ostroneg to start shelling the city, he himself took command over the combined artillery battery in order to destroy the water tanks. At that time the city was small and quite compact under the cliff with an ancient fortress, and therefore the ballista and its bows shot through the whole. The first due to the initially large energy shot, the second due to the shape of the projectile, which could use the aerodynamic force. In a normal situation, this is very harmful, because it greatly reduces the accuracy, and now - just right, since no one needs accuracy. Even on the contrary. The shelling began from the furthest tank. They shot themselves quickly. Alas, but at this distance, many hits were needed to destroy this important social structure. I had to spend the whole day, but by the evening the walls collapsed and mixed the water with stones, dust and earth, making it impossible to use it. Next went better, as the second tank was located much closer to the cliff. A couple of hours of shelling and a neat collapse of the structure. The archers also did their job well. They worked slowly, with smoke breaks, warm-ups, lunch on positions and so on. Not war, but raspberry. And in the streets of Sugddei, the mass of corpses increased, because the arrow, even losing speed in a horizontal flight, dived from a height of more than three hundred meters. Although the spread was enormous, but the speed that the projectile picked up with such a dive allowed the roof to be pierced through the houses and any armor - even mail coats, even quilted robes. At night, along the city walls, Erika's people, hired as far back as Feodosia, were running, shouting in different languages that the greedy lords were doomed to die, and other agitational nonsense in order to heat up the situation in the city. The next morning they decided to drive out the slaves from the city, as there was very little water in their personal resources, and they did not dare to kill, since it was not clear where to put the bodies. How long the siege will last is unknown, and if they start to rot, then the city will begin to mourn. Even if they are thrown out into the sea, still most of the surf will return to the shore. Especially since there are enough dead bodies. Let it be better that they are fought with enemies. However, provoking such an act, Eric warned in advance, Theodore, so the convoy with food came up in time. True, he was embarrassed by the thought - but would not they cut them? But the risk is a noble business, and therefore the baron went to this adventure. The slaves were well received and immediately sent to swim in the Suuk-Su river upstream of that blockage with the bodies of dead cows, which the baron people built to deprive the besieged of the opportunity to use this water. The mass of slowly rotting bodies did its job, that is, it consistently maintained a good level of poison in running water. After washing they were given a simple clean clothes, watered and fed. Not very satisfying, but in any way better than they used to eat before. After the people of Theodore began to understand who was brought to their fate. Age, where the child comes from, profession, health status and the presence of relatives among the rest of the released. Arrows killed only a dozen or two people, so practically all came out of the city, that is, one thousand two hundred and forty-three people. The whole third day continued the fascinating shooting range, in which the ballista beat on the buildings, driving out people from there, and the archers gave volleys, covering the rushing crowds. On the night, from the third to the fourth day of the siege, an eerie and utterly irresistible uprising flared up in the city. Poor people have not slept for the fourth day, since even at night there was a shelling of the city. The massacre was terrible, as in the greater part of the population the sensation of horror and panic reached its apogee. Out of more than twenty thousand people, the night survived no more than two. And those - lost their mind. The result was even more spectacular and more terrible than Eric planned. Spiritually weak people were unable to withstand prolonged stress. At dawn, this crowd rushed from the city. Have you ever seen a young woman, completely naked, on the body a few cut wounds, all in the mud, eyes raging madly, and in the hands of a big knife? There were many, but they were waited and met. From a distance of one hundred and fifty paces they began to beat from crossbows. Then these crazy climbed on the palisade, where they died. And many themselves, slipping, ripped their stomachs on pointed stakes. The battle was very fast and became the final of the siege. The city is taken. Although you can call the city what is left of it? The city was destroyed, and it remained to quickly collect all the valuable, until it was no longer possible to breathe from the decaying corpses. Even the merchants, who huddled on their ships, were taken out at night and killed. Surprised that the city did not start a fire. A whole sea of corpses and blood. Yeah, the winner's burden is heavy, but it's much better than the loser's burden.

Chapter 7

" Eric, I've seen these madmen. "What did you do with them? What god raised the prayer to God?

" Oh, Rudolph, you're already an adult, where are these stupid things from? "Have you ever seen a prayer work in your life?

"I've heard of it. "

- Well, I'm talking about the fact that cows fly, I heard, but I did not have to see.

" Do not talk, tell me. "I do not find a place for myself.

- Yes, everything is simple. After an hour of shelling, I decided to divide the archers into two equal groups. Change of watch for three hours. While one is not in a hurry to give volleys, the second is resting or sleeping. The ballista was also organized. As a result, the bombardment was round the clock and evenly, without stopping for a minute. Just imagine - for four days nowhere in the city was not calm. You want to drink and you are scared, horror as terrible, as these fucking arrows pierce even the roofs. Only you begin to fall asleep - and then again somewhere near the core the wall of a house has been turned, only your eyes are closing, how you hear this terrible whistle and blows, hundreds of blows that surround you and drive you into a corner. These poor devils did not sleep for four days, they hardly drank the last day. In addition, they have been in a strong nervous strain since the advent of the ships of Demeter, that is, a week. They just were not ready for this tension and lost their mind. I spent the whole night watching what they did in the city. Women tore young children to pieces with their bare hands.

"A terrible siege. "Did everyone lose their mind there?

- Of course, no, but that huge crowd of simple and weak inhabitants dared the crumbs of those few that held on.

" It's creepy to think that someone will do something like this against us. "How did you learn about such tricks in the siege business?

- Yes, from nowhere. I improvised.

- What does the word "improvise" mean?

- Well, let's say, "composed". How to compose music. Inspiration came, and I used it. Rudolph's face suddenly turned completely pale.

- So you that, when you told this Greek girl stories about Ares, did not joke?

" And what about the gods? "People create and destroy this world. Can not you really admit that I'm just an ordinary person, just having certain talents?

" It's easier for me to accept that you have not been you for a long time. "Eric, because the changes that touched you that night can not be explained by a blow to the stone. In that crypt, an unintentional boy ran in, and an adult and extremely dangerous man came out. "I'm afraid. " I've been through so much, but I'm scared like a child. For the first time I feel that I have encountered something mysterious, terribly dangerous and completely incomprehensible. Eric, who are you?

- Dear Rudolph, I understand that such a conversation has long been ripe, but it will be long, and therefore it is necessary to finish the case, which does not tolerate urgent. The city is full of corpses, if we want to take a prize from it, we need to act as quickly as possible - many bodies are already over four days old. They have already begun to decompose. I promise, after we talk.

Ok.

This event involved all the forces that could be found. All took off their armor and excess clothing. More than twenty thousand people were to be buried in less than a day. All the liberated slaves were organized into brigades and set off to dig the foundation pits with shock rates. The shovel was not enough for everyone, so many worked with improvised means - who planks, who are helmets. The servants and warriors of the baron entered the city and began hastily to load bodies onto carts and take them closer to digging pits. Of course - previously the bodies were undressed, since Eric needed a lot of old rags to set up a small handicraft paper production, and not write it out for huge money from China. In addition to people on the streets and in the houses of the city, there was a mass of dead creatures, from chickens to horses and cows. One and a half thousand people worked hard not only until the sunset, but also at night. Towards morning the city was liberated from rotting flesh, and the common graves were filled. It remains to make the last jerk and you can relax. All fell asleep together. But it was not the worst thing - the Baron did not let them all fall down and fall asleep right over the loose ground - he drove them all into the river and forced them to strip naked. Women and men from former slaves were unaccustomed to this, but so tired that they did not resist. Those people who had already washed themselves, approached the carts, took a clean piece of cloth and, using it as a sheet, went to sleep in the camp that a week ago they beat Eric's soldiers. It was already cool, but everyone did not care, as it was terribly like to sleep. Going around the camp, the baron smiled, looking at the way these people slept in the field, almost without clothes, and still huddled, like little kittens, to each other to keep warm. It was impossible to remain without protection, but he did not wake up those exhausted people and personally circumvented the perimeter and supported the fire in the bonfires. At nightfall, people slowly began to wake up. To disperse the chilled body, he forced them to jump and run a little. When a man had already accumulated a hundred, he sent them to wash the laundry, which they threw directly on the beach during bathing. The morning of October 14 was quite warm, although it was different. Around the fortified field camp, a whole crowd of naked people of both sexes slowly ran around. Well warmed up, they put on the already dried over the bonfires and began to breakfast.

" You see, Rudolph, there were too many of them involved in this business. When in places where there are so many rotting corpses, crowds gather, then wait for misfortunes. We were lucky that we were alive - they could have provoked some kind of sea. Rotting flesh is very dangerous for all living things. By the way, you need to send people to analyze the dam on the river. Troupes of cows need to be lowered into the sea, and preferably away.

Ok.

In the morning it was reported to the ships of the squadron about the successful end of the assault, and therefore a significant part of them was returned to their trade communications. In the port of Sugdey there were only five large naves that were supposed to provide transportation as part of the continuation of the military campaign of Eric. Demeter also departed with her fleet. She had new instructions - it was necessary to deploy a campaign to seize old antique statues and begin to transfer them to the domain of her master in the Crimea. In parallel, the process of methodical liberation of the taken city from everything valuable began. All the rags that were found in the city, were taken to the river, where they washed and dried. After drying, bales were formed from it, preparing for further transportation. The ships that remained from the Genoese merchants were in a very poor state. Almost all were deprived of a mast and rigging, and some lay at the bottom, pulled out by the crowd on that terrible night. A significant part of the goods on the ships was fur and amber. They could and had to be resold in Europe, because for the life purposes of Eric's possessions, neither of these was absolutely necessary. The city collected everything that represented at least some value - even clay pots and construction timber. To these tasks, he singled out all the servants and a significant part of the freed slaves, as well as military escort in the form of a second company. The case turned out to be quite inexpensive, and it was impossible to pull. Therefore, with the first company, he marched forward to Korchev. Rumors fled ahead of Eric, and therefore, when his people were in direct line of sight from the ancient city, they not only did not begin to obstruct, but also came out to meet. The news of the death of the Genoese Sugdei was the last straw, after which the limit of their cordiality towards the baron became inexhaustible. First of all, the new ruler of the eastern Crimea began to prepare warehouses for taking trophies from the ravaged city - like covered barracks for rags, grains and other, and aligned areas for the stone. He decided to disassemble the city wall and take it to Korchev to get a quick mass of building material. Disassemble is much easier than breaking in the quarries. In parallel, in one of the vacant estates of the city, his temporary residence began to be prepared, that is, everything should be washed and cleaned up. The empty estates were pretty decent, as the old town was in decline for 150 years. The inhabitants were very few - from around the city to the general meeting, which Eric organized, no more than seven thousand people gathered. Including women and children. At the general meeting, he said that the city returns to its ancient name - Bosporus, and made the capital of his vicegerency. While there was work to transport the property of the Genoese from the defeated city, and also created an elementary working atmosphere in the Bosporus, Eric began to draw together local feudal lords and village elders. Unfortunately, local feudal lords, unlike the mountainous part of the Crimea, were not. By the end of November 1202, there were twenty-four villages and three Tymariots. At the same time there are a lot of interesting events. First, the head of the Templar order, Monsieur de Plesier, arrives. Secondly, a delegation from the Kiev Prince Rurik II arrived. Thirdly, they finally finished eviscerating the ruins of Sugdeyi, there is now practically nothing left - even a stone suitable for construction.

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?

" However! "How clever! Yes, you are a master to speak the language!

- Yes, where there. Where to me, wretched, to the master?

- Do not be weak. But since you returned to the conversation, why?

- I do not know how to explain everything to you, since there is no clarity on this issue. But since you went so far in your observations and generalizations, it's foolish to continue to maneuver.

- Why?

" I trust you and do not want my confidant to have faith in me. "After all, your doubts gnaw at you and torment you. Why do I need it? Who will drive my warriors instead of you?

"So you really are not Eric? "

Yes and no. The body is definitely his. But the consciousness you know, I can not explain how I got into his body, I do not even know what kind of place it is. "Eric waved his hand around the district.

- Why?

" Where I lived before that ill-fated morning, it was almost all the same, with the exception of time. "What year is it in our yard? It is true 6710 from the creation of the world. And I was born in 7488. - Rudolph already breathless and with wild eyes stared at Eric. - Yes exactly. After death, or what happened to me, I woke up not only in another body, but also in a completely different time.

- And what was your name in that life?

- Artem, Artem Zhilin.

- And what kind of people?

- It is not yet, it is only formed from the East Slavic tribes.

- The Slav?

- You can think so.

" But how is this possible! "You yourself know very well that these tribes were conquered by the Normans more than two hundred years ago. The same as France. In my head, all this does not fit. You behave like a blood Norman, but you say it's a different kind. Incredible!

" You see, dear Rudolph, the Norman is not blood, it's spirit. When he leaves you, you become a slave. Remember how in ancient times Charles the Great thundered his enemies all over Europe and what happened next. Remember? Oh, yes, you did not know. So I'll tell you - his descendants lost not only the crown and the earth, but also life, since they left that spirit that makes a man fight and stubbornly achieve his goal. They became civilized, thereby signing a death sentence.

- Why do you think so?

- Yes, everything is simple. Did the barbarians have a developed right? No. Therefore, they practically did not limit anything in actions and desires. Note - the more developed, if I may say so, civilization, the more laws appear that bind a man in the hands and feet. And not only official laws. After all, morality, ethics and other heresy are the same laws, only unwritten and affect just like ordinary ones. The more restrictions, the fewer opportunities and more order. All is well, but order is the opposite of initiative. Do you understand the general meaning of the idea?

Yes! It turns out that we ourselves are destroying poisoning, through the development of law and morality.

" And I do not even want to see or hear it. "I am satisfied and now calm. Eric or no, Eric. You're Eric. I do not care who you were there, you became exactly the one who causes awe and respect among people and rulers. I do not care about this terrible and, fortunately, unattainable future. It is important for me that my son lives well as my grandchildren. Here, in this world. And what did you say I hope that we can at least somehow change this terrible future.

" Why are you so nervous? "It is not so terrible, if you look at all. We now fly across the sky and on to other planets, swim under water and climb to the highest peaks. But here are the people. They became unimaginably many, and the quantity is always the opposite of quality. They crushed, became rotten and weak, very weak. Everywhere there are slaves and servants that can not lift their heads and state their opinion or their interests. Occasionally there are traders and artisans who have at least some kind of pride, but they are few. No real warriors, no real rulers who could lead their own people Can you imagine that the emperor would justify himself before his subjects for the fact that some of his executors screwed up? That's what it is, what not. And we have this ordinary phenomenon. Otherwise, it will be necessary to take responsibility for yourself, and for this the spirit is not enough.

- Yes, this is a terrible world. He sighed, put his hand on his shoulder and continued. "Eric, I'm glad you're with us. "May we not here fly in the sky, but we are real. Your past life has stayed somewhere far away. Spit on it and live here now. I need you, us. Yes, hell, we need you all. And remember, my friend, here, "he pointed to the ground with his hand," there is no Artem, only Eric is here - one name, one life, one body. By the will of the gods, you have found your place, and as for me, remember - the old Rudolph will now always be with you, no matter what happens. Up to any extreme.

All the time until the twentieth of December was devoted to preparing for a trip to Constantinople and in general - the process of erecting princely dignity. It was a troublesome business, since it was necessary to take into account not only the need for a formal trip, but to organize a big feast in both cities of the principality. Feeding and watering a crowd of three and a half tens of thousands of people is a very difficult task. Celebrations should begin around 28-29 and last for several days. For these purposes, Demeter, who received a pigeon-mail notification, was to bring a huge amount of wine. Morrigan was in perfect confusion, since she was an actual, not a formal wife. They, while living in Constantinople, completely forgot to marry, passionately engaged in vital matters. And now she, though not strongly and not deeply, but a believing person, was in terrible confusion. I had to quickly prepare this event. The Bosporus did not have time to hold it. Therefore, all orders, as well as the necessary property, were gone on the tenth day with the courier ship. And there was a problem with clothes. Preferring simple but high-quality clothes, that Eric, that Morrigan were absolutely not ready to appear before the public in something spectacular, due to the fact that it was not corny. So it was not only in a hurry to invent it, but also to sew. It's good that at hand was a silk fabric, captured in Sugdeya. Otherwise, they would be burned. No modern and utterly miserable style of princes and dukes decided not to endure. It was necessary to break stereotypes in favor of more comfortable and functional clothes. For the future prince sewn pants made of dense green silk, which turned out to be quite spacious, but not much. The shoes were soft, soft boots that rose to their knees. Instead of a kamiz, a quite modern shirt was sewn in a modern Italian, fitted style of silk, white. It snugly adhered to the body and was fastened with specially molded for Eric small round polished silver buttons, on which the emblem was stamped. The upper part of the suit was made in the form of a camisole with the length of the hem to the middle of the thigh. It was made of quality dark green cloth - simply, strictly and accurately. A silk lining brightly scarlet and large stamped buttons of polished gold emphasized the image of a strict but very wealthy man. The sleeves, like a camouflaged composition, were turned with a scarlet lining to the outside for about fifteen centimeters and were fastened with the same gold stamped buttons. Instead of a belt there was a wide belt from the painted white leather to which his favorite sword - a devil was attached to the left. In general, only a cocked hat was missing, until the image of an officer from the army of Peter the Great was fully recreated. For their time, these clothes were unique and amazing. For the Morrigan, they carried out accurate shoes and two dresses - bottom and top. The lower dress of thin, almost transparent white silk was almost tight and went to the knees. The top dress was made of bright scarlet silk, but dense. It was also made according to the figure and only from the hips spread out small pods. To make it possible to wear and remove, a vertical valve with lacing was made on the back. The dress was with sleeves going very tightly to the elbow and widening after. No extra details, just a light edging with gold embroidery. The neck and chest, according to the tradition of that time, had to be closed, so it was decided to do this in an oriental style, with a small button on the left. This button was decorative and made of a small gold-rimmed ruby. A woman with no headdress was impossible, so her hair was covered by a wicker cap - coif with a large step of a grid of round silk strings scarlet. In each knot he has a pearl interwoven, and was fastened to the chin with the help of a thin silk ribbon in the color of the net. In general, in comparison with the local kings everything is simple, but quite accurate, and most importantly - in this you can move normally, not being afraid to pull down a huge sleeve with a plate or catch on something with sweeping clothes. In such clothes they entered on December 25, 1202, in the cathedral of Hagia Sophia. Their appearance caused a furor and admiration. Eric, the Baron von Lenzburg, and his now official, the wife of Morrigan, the noble lady of the MacCarthy family, walked slowly and with dignity to the emperor of the once great empire, so that after some minutes be made into princely dignity.

" Eric, it's hard for me to believe what happened to me. "Is all this - a reality?

"My dear, what is it that prevents you from believing? "

- Six years ago I lay, gathered on the ground, torn, half-naked, thrown by all, and a crowd of peasants mocked me, beaten and wanted to drown in a village pond. This terrible cesspool, which was covered almost entirely by a floating goose litter. And now I'm lying on soft cushions in the imperial palace of Constantinople, the servants before me bow and honorably call the princess. Yes, although I am of a royal kind, but life has so much worn me about the bottom that I did not even dream about it.

- And I, running away from my native castle in a rusty chain mail and fleeing from my own uncle, that he wanted to die, could I think that in just six years I'll rise so high?

- Yes, everything flows, everything changes. It is good that we are not yet very much in front of ordinary people. But recently they sat in a cesspool with everyone.

- I think we will not go, not from that test. Although sometimes it seems to me that the diamonds have become shallow. And anyway, I should add my golden coats to my camisole, or I look like a poor relative to Alexei. - With a perfectly serious face, said the prince. Morrigan, almost suppressed by wine, pushed Erik lightly over her shoulder and laughed, so gulky that von Lenzburg, although he was serious, could not stand it and laughed too.

"By the way, remember, then, six years ago, did you propose to make fun of my brother? "

"Send him a letter, informing us about our marriage? "

- Are not you afraid to lose your beloved brother? He after all such happiness can not go through.

"I think I'll be just glad to hear such heartbreaking news. "

" Then I just have to do you such a favor. "Especially since I have sheets of blank paper with me.

In the last days of December 1202 Eric von Lenzburg was promoted to princely dignity by the hand of Emperor Alexis III Angel. He rolled out to the people, as usual, wine and snacks. We walked for a few days, but it's time to do business, because the principality is in a very neglected state. You always need to start with an understanding of what you want, so on the ship on the way to Bospor the prince began to work out the state structure of his power, that is, an assessment of what is and what is needed. So, the question of the state system. The various republican forms of government are ineffective and not sufficiently dynamic, so the choice was only from one form or another of the monarchy. After long meditations, he opted for the British form of government of the time of the famous Queen Victoria, of course, in a form adjusted to current realities. For the ordering of the right to inherit the throne, cognitive primogeniture was introduced. Under this terrible phrase, a rather simple explanation was placed: the throne passed directly to the senior descendant of the ruling monarch, regardless of whether he was a masculine or a female descendant. If it turned out that a man and a woman had equal rights to the throne, then the man received the advantage of sex. No boyars' thoughts or parliaments were to be introduced. For the first time in the Middle Ages, the prince organized a branch government, that is, he introduced seven of his assistants who are engaged in the development of given sectors in the state. All these seven people headed secretariats - finance, crafts and trade, agriculture, state security, the armed forces, education and science, as well as diplomatic relations. The Secretary of State had the right to very limited staff and a wide range of responsibilities. To conduct a variety of correspondence and accounting, Latin is introduced as a state language, Arabic numerals and a decimal system of counting. The problem arose with units of measures, so it was decided to bring the system to mind on the go. In other words, Erik scored on this question, finding an excuse for himself. A special problem arose in connection with the need to create an apparatus of officials who would manage certain objects and directly conduct business. The problem is complex, because, firstly, they will communicate against each other, and secondly, they will steal. Donations should be transferred to the State Security Council, where they established the procedure for their reception, more precisely, their registration for further production. They could now be done only by name, that is, by signing, since in the event of slander, the deceiver was punished. First poroli, and on the third libel - executed. But for the right denunciation was rewarded, and it is very tangible. The problem of theft was also solved quite simply. Since the officials were few, their work was paid very solidly. True, together with impressive sums, they bore no lesser responsibility, and not only the official, but his entire family, was subjected to a number of the most dangerous crimes of execution. There were no qualified guys to take from nowhere, so Eric solved the problem of personnel hunger, making a selection of poor teenagers, mostly orphans, who were placed in a closed boarding house where they studied far from other people. By the end of 1203 people from the poor had taken a number of positions instead of executed officials. The situation was frighteningly rotten, because he specifically adhered to the executions of most of the initially typed bureaucratic apparatus in order to have time to prepare new ones, so it was impossible to delay the training of personnel.

Since the state with the feudal organization principle is rather loose, then a mechanism of gradual independent centralization, that is, extension of the basic domain to the whole territory of the state, is needed. Of course - the principality will expand, and grow, including vassals. You could, of course, include all the lands in the domain, but this will not work right away, since people's minds are not yet ready for this. In the end, we get the effect of delayed camber. Yes, while he is alive, everything will be fine, but as soon as he dies - his conquests will again become either traditionally feudal education, or close to this state. If at all, it does not split into several independent states. It was necessary to change the institute into something new, which would allow changing its social niche and the field of activity of the feudal lords. After much torment, the idea of changing the character of the lyre was born. Why was he given to the feudal lord? It is true that in order to be able to feed and arm with it, it was the main source of income in peacetime, and not only, since wars are not always successful. To receive more funds and, accordingly, more opportunities, each individual feudal lord sought to increase his personal domain. I want to make a reservation right away that vassals were necessary and important in the military-political plan rather than the economic one. Such a nature of cases was caused by numerous internal strife and wars, which deprived the state of stability, slowed down the pace of development and often led to the destruction of the single economic space. If you do not take into account the specifics of the regions and speak roughly, then the size of the lena was directly related to its profitability, therefore, it became a stumbling block. Hence the conclusion - you need to change the character of the child, it should become a kind of social status, and not a profitable place. In Eric's situation, the situation was simple-neither the nobles nor the feudal lords of the Bosporan principality existed yet, they had to be created by him himself, in order to occupy an empty niche, and not abandon the business. Accordingly, the lilies have not yet been issued to anyone. So, special problems with the formation of a system of small status lenas, that is, places for the construction of either a small castle or a residence, should not arise. Now the source of income. It is simple - public service, which is very well paid. As in the case of the army, a small number of highly paid specialists was placed on the table, since the title and position were hereditary, which served as an incentive for effective management. Few of this, the growing offspring of a noble family already from childhood knew what he would do, but because he was preparing. The next pleasant moment was that since the incomes were now associated with the title, position and flax, the feudal strife for "bread with caviar" is simply transferred to a place where they are not so ruinous for the country and are more easily suppressed. It turned out some kind of a transitional form from feudalism to state capitalism, when there is a privileged class, but it is under full control and on a "short leash. " Among other things, the entire state apparatus was vitally interested in expanding the domain, because it directly depended not only on their incomes, but also on the opportunity to attach the child to a warm place.

- Eric, do you really want to collect all this gang in one barrel? Rudolph was perplexed by the idea of a reformed system.

- Yes exactly.

Why? Do you think this will change our way of life? We are predators. And get out of the way, being in such a congestion.

- And it's good. Actually, this is what I'm going to achieve. You have to keep your beast in check, otherwise you will analyze the whole state by bricks.

- Let's say we disassembled it, and what's next?

- And then a new cycle - someone forces you back with force. After letting go of the bit, watching as you again drag the country through the bricks.

" Then why do you need all this? "What will you achieve by this?

"I want to make strong grinds and change the order of things. "

- Not too big swing?

- It's normal. I want to make it so that it's profitable for feudal lords not to have large lenas, but a strong domain that feeds them. The stronger the domain, the better it feeds, as they are in the service - either in the army or in the province.

- And who will oppose such transformations, what will happen to them? After all, the feudal lord feels himself to be the master.

" The people who will be against my transformation will die. "I do not want to get involved in useless discussions with an eternally hungry crowd. Everyone wants only to be well, and to spit on a neighbor. Will suffocate - the better, therefore, his property can be profit. And the state There is such an old parable about a broom. I heard?

No. Tell me, if not long.

" It's very short. "Here is a broom knitted from branches. You see, it's easy to break every single branch, but if you tie them together, then it's already not so easy. So is the state. Every single person is easy to break, and if people act in an organized and unified center, then they are already power.

" Then why is the state of Alexei in such a decline? "Where is his strength?

- This is called the human factor. In this case, it just so happened that the power was a rare fool. This is the only weakness of the monarchy - the likelihood of powerless people in power in it is higher than in other forms of government.

" Then why did not you do as you did in Venice? "If you are so concerned about preserving the state.

- In Venice, we have an aristocratic republic. Like any republic, it is a form of government very vulnerable to external force, since influential people can be bribed and promoted their interests. This is apart from the fact that it is not effective. Firstly, it is not consistent even within the framework of the life of one ruler, as it fluctuates from momentary conjunctural interests. Secondly, it is very inert, that is, it takes more time to take a decision in the republican form of government than in the monarchy. Third, it is not economically profitable. The point is that there is a constant replacement of the elite in power. I start making reserves at the expense of the state, exceeding my official powers, that is, simply stealing. They came to the time, and they are not interested in what will happen after them. While an adequate monarch, knowing that he will be inherited by his child, is not interested in the ruin of the state. That is, under the monarchy there is a chance of a person with a weak mind on the throne, but this is only a chance, while in any republican form, mass theft of leadership necessarily takes place. Therefore, I think the republic is an unsuccessful form of government.

- Yeah, and what other forms of government are there?

"Only species of these. "

- Not thick. If you choose between a republic and a monarchy, then I understand you and agree. And with the feudal lords more or less understood, although all this is unusual. But are your steps so muddy? After all, I was not the one who asked these questions.

- I think this will be a problem, but with a fist and a kind word we will always be able to enlighten the masses and give them happiness of understanding.

"We are always ready. " Rudolph laughed and left, and Erik thought about how to solve the problem of informing the population, which the more, the more acute it will arise.

The next organizational step was the introduction of a single legislative framework. The requirements are extremely simple - the text should be laconic and clear, that is, not requiring extensive interpretations for understanding. To simplify the production of the law - "Lex d" Erik "(Lex Durik - Eric's Law) - was divided into two parts. The first described crimes against the state, such as theft, murder, extortion, bribery and other ordinary things, as well as preventive measures. Prisons were not created, because according to the law the punishment was applied immediately after the sentence was passed - from fine to death penalty. Prisoners are, of course, very cheap labor, but deploying the infrastructure for their maintenance, suppression and subsequent control was very expensive and carried little practical benefit. The second part of the judicial document described legitimate documents of the state and ways of their registration, that is, all kinds of gift certificates, wills, deeds, loan receipts, credit receipts and so on. For the application of this judicial in the case in all three cities of the principality, courts were created, where three permanent judges sat. But all such things were nothing more than formal trifles for the future, since the lifeblood of any state is its economy. To organize financial affairs, you need to have a single monetary system and not allow the passage of foreign coins. Therefore, for this purpose, as well as for coinage of new coins and execution of the treasury function, in January 1203 the state bank of the Bosporus was established. The headquarters was in the city of the same name, and in Feodosia and Taman (so renamed Tmutarakan), branches were opened. All trading operations on the territory of the principality were allowed only in local currency, and in case of non-compliance, the perpetrator was punished by confiscation of all cash and goods. Exchange of foreign coins for local was made centrally in the bank or its branches with a mark-up of 5% per operation. In the state, only silver coins were introduced, which were standardized and divided into obol and denarii. Are the obolas of the following denominations? obol, 1 obol, 5 obols, 10 obols, 50 obols. The denarii were minted in a lesser variety and were represented by coins in 1 denarius and 2 denarii. The weight of the coin was determined from its denomination, that is, 1 obol weighing 0. 5 grams, and denarius - 50 grams. By the autumn of 1203, the necessary number of coins had been issued to replace all foreigners in the principality. For the gold coins of the east, the tariff was set to 1 to 5, that is, for 1 weight gold denarius, 5 silver were given. The trick was that the bank did not make a reverse exchange, that is, it did not change local coins for foreign ones. This was a small financial fraud, which contributed to the spread of coins in the region with the corresponding benefits. In connection with such permutations, the contract with the Templar Bank was changed, now the key figure was not Eric, but the Bospor bank, which had its share in the Templars' trade operations, since it placed significant funds in its branches. On the one hand, it was inconvenient, since in the event of conflict with the order, you can remain without a penny in your pocket; on the other hand, it is convenient, because Eric's representatives could conduct financial transactions in different parts of Europe using the bank's services, and not transporting large cash at your own risk. In the Bosporan bank, a treasury was introduced, which was responsible for the collection of taxes and duties. By the way, the ordering and standardization of taxes and duties in the ports of the principality had a very tonic effect on trade - by June 1203 the volume of trade operations had exceeded the maximum level of 1202 and continued to grow. First of all, at the expense of successfully concluded negotiations with the Kiev principality, whose merchants, using military protection on the Dnieper's communications and an organized trade and financial platform, seriously increased the overall flow of goods going to the south. There were wood, wax, wool and furs. The predominant number of trade operations went through the more conveniently located ports of Taman and Theodosia, while Bosporus developed into a military, industrial and administrative center. About Taman should say that at that time she acted as the key to the northern stream of the Great Silk Road.

Unlike the natural course of things, the industrial center was created as a metallurgical center. On the territory to the north of the Bosporus on a small river East Bulganak, by the autumn of 1203, a very significant complex developed, employing about 250 skilled workers. The river was blocked by a dam and equipped with an inclu- sive water wheel, which was used to drive the bellows that injected air or into the blast furnace, or into the refining furnace. The blast furnace itself, having a height of seven meters and a volume of about seven cubes, could restore up to 5 tons of ore at a time. It worked on imported lime ore and birch coal from the Kievan principality, and the air came to it pre-heated, this allowed to get a very good yield - from 5 tons of ore containing about 30-40% of iron, it was possible to restore up to 1500 kg of the desired metal, coming out in the form of cast iron. It was an excellent result for the early 13th century. But at this stage the processing of iron did not end. Further cast iron went in small batches to a puddling furnace, where from it burned off excess carbon, and also phosphorus, with the help of calcareous additives. The resulting steel, even in the stage of the dough-like mixture, was rolled in 10 kg portions on hand-held machines to produce the so-called welded steel. The first welded steel of more or less adequate quality began to be received by May 1203, but this development did not end there. Further work went on the process of doping. By November, mastered two running alloying additives - silicon and manganese, which in the form of an alloy with iron added to the burnt cast iron. And, by the same time, the efficiency of the first metallurgical factory reached the output level of up to 100 kg of welded alloy steel per day, while the bottleneck was a small puddling furnace and a manual rolling mill. That is, to increase productivity, you need to put the second parallel line. At the same time, methods of processing, in particular tools, were mastered. Of course, primitive machines - rolling, impact, pressing and turning - played a special role. The rolling machine had two granite shafts, between which rolled hot steel mass, gradually reducing its thickness. Since the width of the shafts and guides was fixed, the product of such rolled steel was the steel sheets of the required thickness and the same size. The shaft drive was manual - the torque was transmitted by reducing the transfer of massive bronze gears. The impact machine was a steel hammer weighing about 40 kg with a mechanical drive. The hammer was located on the mobile machine. He was cocked by means of a lower gear gear and eccentric. The elevation angle was exhibited in advance, it allowed to regulate the impact force. The press machine was designed for a standard sheet of steel coming out of a rolling mill, and it was a simple construction with a vertical worm drive and a ratio of a downshift of 30 to 1, which made it possible to develop a good effort. Serious problems arose only with the lathe, which, firstly, was needed in several copies, and secondly, the manual drive was sorely lacking for it - either the turns turned out to be small, or the torque. Everything was decided after the construction of a separate hut in which each lathe was driven by a horse walking in a circle. The only serious constructive disadvantage was that it was impossible to process long blanks on it. But since this was not required, because it was intended for the production of crossbow bolts, then such a defect could be neglected. The whole complex occupied about two dozen acres of land and was surrounded by a high stone fence. The entrance to the territory was limited, and all workers were forbidden to discuss any details of the production process on pain of the execution of the family. Since it was a manufactory, there was a strong division of labor with the separation of profile departments, again, this contributed to security - no worker knew the entire production process. Due to the peculiarities of the terrain, by modern standards, the manufactory turned out to be rather low-power, but for that time its possibilities were something beyond the bounds, almost fabulous. In addition to metallurgy, two more very interesting complexes were deployed next to the Bospor. The first was a selection field on which to engage in relevant activities in order to increase the yield of grain crops. The second was the center of brewing. As a matter of fact it was the second manufacture, on which 120 more people worked. The effectiveness of this production was excellent - after the launch of a full cycle a day, about 100 liters of high-quality refined alcohol were obtained. The latter part was packed into clay tanks approximately 1 liter and went on sale as a medical product - for washing wounds, and part was sent to the second department of the manufactory. In this department, it was diluted with fresh water filtered through carbon and silver filters in a ratio of 1 to 4, then packaged in oak barrels into which flavoring fruit additives were added and insisted. After insisting, the liquor was filtered and packaged in containers of commercial containers - 5 and 10 liters. The ratio of medical alcohol to liquors in the production process was about 1 to 20, so the liquor went to cheer in Europe and became appreciated as an exquisite drink, for which they paid well. While alcohol, which went for medical purposes, could afford only very wealthy people, that in the East, that in the West, because it was almost golden. Of course - with this state of affairs, alcohol disagreed in smaller batches, but brought very serious incomes. So, if a liter of liqueur was given on average one Bosporan denarius (50 g of silver), then a liter of alcohol - twenty-five. Manufacture worked on imported raw materials, which was bought up in the Slavic lands, in the first place, of course, it was the Kyiv principality. The cost of production of 1 liter of alcohol, taking into account the cost of raw materials, was 10 Bosporan oblov, this indicated a very high financial efficiency of production. Although, of course, the metallurgical industry was even better in this respect, and if all the products were sold for sale, it could literally be a golden state. However, the metallurgical manufactory was limited to delivering quality forging tools that went literally in weight of gold. Not all smiths could afford them, but 5-10 sets of valuable for 30 Bosporan denarii left with merchant ships every month from November 1203. It would seem strange to organize metallurgical production on imported raw materials, but this is only at first glance strange. It is enough to estimate the value of the ore and coal that were already delivered to Bosporus. So 1 pood of ore was estimated at 3 obols, and a pood of heap of birch coal - at 5. Standing out was the hard coal that was used in the cementing and refining process, its cost was high - as much as 10 obols per pood. In total, the daily consumption of raw materials of the metallurgical manufactory did not exceed three denarii, and the resulting steel was valued at 5 bospor denarii per 1 kg, that is, an incomplete grade of silver of the Vienna standard. But this is so - the price for the prospect, because at first, almost all the product left for own needs - the manufacture of armor and weapons.

Although the industrial center and developed in an organized and very fast pace, but without curiosities could not do. One of the employees decided to taste the medical alcohol. He really liked him, so this fellow managed to get drunk by the end of his shift to such an extent that he could barely move his feet. Of course, an "accident" happened to him, and the oldest son was taken in his place. But it was impossible to leave such a situation without a systemic reaction, so a certain analog of the "dry law" was introduced at the factory: beyond the manufactory you can at least revel in it, but you should not be sober and should not use it in its course. Well, rumors about the extreme harm of drinking pure alcohol in the field of male power. And this is only one little curiosity in the general sequence of production misunderstandings. But the workers became more and more. In March, a small paper mill was set up, which once a week shipped about 200 sheets of thick paper about 0. 5x0. 5m in size, 40 people worked in the workshop. In connection with the unfolding construction, a small brick factory was set up, which once a day supplied construction sites with about 10 cubes of quality, burnt brick. And a lot of other things in detail. According to preliminary estimates, about a thousand people worked at industrial facilities of the Bosporus in the first days of 1204 - they were state workers. The amount for that time is considerable, and they did not all have the necessary qualifications, since such volumes have not yet been concentrated anywhere else. Therefore, in January 1204, the Bosporus Academic Center was established with two levels of study. The first step is universal and it goes all - it includes reading Latin, writing in Latin, counting and a small course of natural science, represented primarily by physics. On the second level, in which there were five branches: metal, war, sea, medicine and management, only a small part of the workers passed. Here, brigade leaders and shift supervisors were trained for the metallurgical manufactory, army officers, ship captains, doctors and officials. Why duplicate the training of officials? The matter is that sets of poor orphans are a temporary measure and soon they will cease, after which the reproduction of the number and quality will have to go naturally. No philosophy, no rhetoric, no poetry - extremely useful practical skills and knowledge. At first the Academic Center was located in several small buildings and had a total of 72 listeners for the entire 1204 year. This was due to acute personnel and methodical hunger, which can be solved only gradually. Relations with religion developed in a special way. Eric was like between two fires - on the one hand he was elevated to princely dignity by the monarch of the Eastern Christian church, on the other hand - a large number of his allies were in the bosom of the West. Therefore, after long-term approvals, a poly-confessional was established in the Bosporan princedom, that is, both Orthodox and Catholic church apparatuses were allowed to operate simultaneously, which allowed to avoid the excitement of the people. Such a measure, though, affected relations with the pope, which began to deteriorate, and quite rapidly, but did not at all respond to the interaction with the Templars. These guys got down to business seriously and were engaged in strengthening their positions in the Middle East by any available means, ignoring the provocations of both Christians and Muslims. As in that proverb "Vaska listens and eats". In that trade and financial knot that the baron between the Antioch, Aleppo and Edessa, then all the participants mixed in, evenly and mutually benefited, which affected the mutual assistance. For the past two years since the departure of Eric, the Templars have twice spoken for military aid to Edessa, which was appreciated and strengthened the relations between these feudal regions. In general, it was a serious breakthrough, since never before such close cooperation between Muslims and Christians did not happen, which immediately affected the level of religious fanaticism - it all of the participants in commodity-money relations in the area of the Edessa-Antioch trade zone began to disappear abruptly. Of course, this situation gave a solid dividend to the prince, as the Bosporan Bank participated in almost all of the major trading operations of the Knights Templar. In all these matters and cares, Eric practically did not give time to Morrigan and his son. This behavior in late January 1204 resulted in the hysteria of his wife. She did not care what he did, but he had to pay attention. It seems to be not a stupid woman, and where did this dislocation come from?

- So what? Eric's face showed no emotion.

- Like what ? ! Do you still ask?

Yes! Do you need something? Servants can not fulfill your errand?

Yes! Yes! I need something!

- So say it. Why are you even trying to scream? For you before this was not. You are ill?

- Why scream ? ! Don't you understand? As soon as we officially married, you practically left me. So - you come to visit, say hello, passing by. Even you spend the night often in this terrible monster, which you call manufactory. Is it possible to sleep with hot pieces of iron more pleasantly than with me?

- Are you jealous of me to the gland? Eric snorted.

- And there's nothing funny about it. When was the last time we normally communicated, walked, went on horseback riding? You leave before sunrise, you come with sunset, or you do not come at all. I see you on holidays! Even your son will not recognize you. How do you like that?

- Honey, you must understand - either the state or the family. Do you like being a princess? Do you want to go to the village again in ragged clothes?

" Family is sacred! "You can not treat her like that! Do not you really love me? "Eric continued to look at her with an unabashed gaze, which did not express any feelings, only raised his eyebrow in puzzlement. - Well, you're a bastard! How do you even wear the earth!

"Like all other people, it's on its surface. "

- Are you kidding me?

- No, I honestly answer your questions.

" Understand, I can not do this anymore. "I feel abandoned. To me it is sick and it is a shame.

- Darling, and no one said that it will be easy. Or did you think that the rulers live in paradise?

" Why not! "I remember well how mercenaries climb into this paradise and organize a blood bath. They do not kill in paradise.

- I am not talking about that.

- And about what?

" Look at Alexei the Angel. "It seems that the emperor is once a mighty empire, and what does he do? Having taken the throne, he began to burn life in his own pleasure. What a finale it ends you, I hope, guess. Am I right?

"He will be overthrown by the Crusaders this year? "

- True, but not only that. The guys will tear his empire into pieces, since they are very greedy. He will lose not only the throne, but also the empire, which his ancestors collected according to the crumbs. And all because instead of engaging in public affairs, he lounges and spends his days in idle entertainment. Do you want me to become like my overlord and start a business in the principality?

"But, Eric, can not you give us a little time to pay attention to me and my son? "

- The expanded manufacture now only just rises on legs, behind it the supervision is necessary, and active. If I miss something now, tomorrow it will come to me either with bad armor or with fragile arcs of arbalests. Do you want my army to be weak at a critical moment and I'm dead?

- What are you talking about ? ! Your army is very strong.

" Do not be silly, I do not have any army yet, those two hundred soldiers are the maximum of a good squad. "In addition to the core of eight or nine hundred perfectly armed soldiers, I need auxiliary parts. And they all need to be well equipped, otherwise the losses will be very impressive. Honey, very difficult times are approaching, when we will have to fight a lot, relying only on our own strength. And the enemy will often not only be a great number, but also strong.

" Where did you get all this from? "Who will attack us?

- Everyone has their little secrets. I can not answer this question. From the east will come a mighty force, which will be very difficult to stop.

- Well, let's assume all this for granted, but I'm not iron. Give us at least an hour a day for me.

- One hour before lunch I will send a courier who will inform you about where I have dinner, so you can drive up and we could talk. Lunch plus a short walk after. Will this satisfy you?

Excellent! Then let's sleep, and that time is later.

Eric somewhat cunning. The fact is that he dined usually if not on the go, then in the field. So his kind wife was waiting for a kind of surprise, devoid of any aesthetic. So much the better - at least he will see where her husband is disappearing and what she does. Control the beginning of production was very costly in time and effort, but it was necessary. After all, as you know, without a good kick, even hedgehogs do not fly, but people even more - just started, they are already messing around. Of course, walks were mainly on the workshops of the manufactory. Occasionally on construction sites and other less important places of mandatory presence. Within a couple of weeks, Morrigan howled with such happiness and received the Academic Center in her charge to fill her leisure with useful things. And since he was in a rather deplorable state, the work there was - no end. By February, there was preparation of the existing squad, which was slowly brought to two full mouths at the expense of additionally recruiting for the contest, to active actions. Their order was brought in order, and Demeter provided good naves with teams. It remained only to give the order and to advance on the march. The equipment was the same as in the military campaign of 1202 - chain armor, brigantines, sweatpans and crossbows. Yes, the manufactory has already mastered the production of armor plates from the new steel, but they were produced very slowly - 5 sets a week and were completed with them, first of all, officers. Plate armor was made by hot stamping of steel sheets on a manual press with subsequent cementation of the outer side for 1/10 of the thickness. At the same time, the development of the cold stamping of the "mountain" -shaped plates for flaky armor, which was intended to be equipped with auxiliary troops, was in progress, and only one set was made, which was subjected to test tests. With arms, things were even worse - crossbow arcs were made by forge welding from a set of long, thin and narrow steel plates, which were pre-forged, saturated with carbon on one side, and collected in a bag. The result was a kind of welded spring, which after finishing the forging molding came to the machining - it made grooves for fastening and a cutout for the block of eccentrics. The arc was not made entirely, but in halves, in the same form it was attached to the bed, which was partially made of steel, partly of oak. Blocks of eccentrics were made of steel by a set of cut plates in a bag. In general, on February 1, 1204, at the Bosporus military depot, there were only five such crossbows and about 500 all-metal bolts to them. They were put up with a goat's leg, having a tension of about 250 kg, and since the working stroke was large enough, the cocking did not cause any problems and was rather mild. The crossbow sent a fifty-gram steel bolt for a distance of 300 meters, and with 120 punched chain mail, put on aketon. In general - a solid apparatus, only one minus - very expensive and extremely difficult to produce, for a year its manufacture can only make 250-260 pieces. In general, with the new crossbows there were a lot of misunderstandings, beginning with attempts at theft on the test site and ending with misunderstanding, for which the warriors need to be armed with expensive items that have only a cost of about three Bosporan denarii apiece.

Especially worth noting is the attempted theft. In the course of the investigation, interesting details emerged. Pope Innocent III did not forgive Eric's desire to maneuver, not allowing a split in the state. The fact is that he could not choose the full side of Rome and begin to plant Catholicism on his land, as virtually all the Christians that he lived in were Orthodox. The Turkic Jews - Khazars stood in a special way, but they were clever enough not to get into such disassembly. Bishop Honorius, who ran the affairs of Catholicism in the Bosporus, made some fantastic efforts, but his flock grew mainly due to visiting European artisans. Which only confirmed the correctness of Eric's position. Artisans traveled for a reason - through the trading house of Demetra was an active campaign to find talented people in those lands that visit its ships. Of particular value were all sorts of unrecognized "kulibinas," which were not so many, but even in such numbers they were absolutely not in demand. The brook, of course, was slim, but he gave the growth of the flock. However, its size was so insignificant that the maintenance of Catholicism on an official level, albeit formally, looked strange. In this connection, there was an active correspondence with the Patriarch of Constantinople John X Kamatir, who was making no less effort than Honorius, but already in favor of Orthodoxy. This action was a kind of bargaining for a small, but tasty slice. So, in the midst of these events, during the testing in December 1203 of the first crossbow of a new design, an unknown person who secretly penetrated the range of the factory seized the sample and tried to hide with him. All would be nothing, but, firstly, the guy was quick, and secondly, someone helped him very much - the horses in the right places were standing, the doors needed were open and so on. As a result, when trying to leave on the road to the north-west of Feodosia, it was decided to bring it down, since the probability of avoiding the chase was very high, especially if an ambush detachment was waiting for him. Inspection of the corpse did not give anything particularly interesting - no personal belongings and special signs. Began to draw up a map of events. It turned out that all the "accidental" participants were Catholics who had recently arrived on different grounds to the territory of the principality. No evidence, but indirect evidence clearly indicated the involvement of Honorius and, it is not impossible, Innocent. According to the letters de Plesier, the current pope was a rare intriguer and as his informers in the Vatican testify, he is very concerned about the state of affairs in the Bosporus. The fact is that the Templars reported to him about the unique German baron during the incident in Vienna. Innocent appreciated the beautiful improvisation and approved the support of the Catholic order. After the events in the Holy Land, where Erik literally gave a miraculous reviving kick to the Principality of Antioch and the local Templars, he closely followed his activities and contributed to her in every possible way. However, after the establishment of the poly-confessional, he became enraged. It is rumored that he smashed a lot of furniture and utensils, while in a fit. A noble warrior, who bears a high reputation for Catholic weapons, refused to distribute Catholicism to his subjects. Innokenty considered this a personal insult and began to actively monitor his activities. Of course, he was very interested in the manufactory, and indeed the high activity that took place in the area of the Bosporus. And so, having learned about the experiments with some kind of strange crossbow, he gave the order to steal it, in order to study. In general, his emissary allowed only one puncture - he did not set an ambush on the road leading from Bosporus to Feodosia. All these details became known not at once, as the intelligence activity went on neatly. However, already in January it became clear where the wind was blowing, so we decided to take a small step aimed at stabilizing the relationship. Eric invited Honorius to him and in confidential conversation informed that Catholics wanted to discredit in his eyes, but he, like a true Christian, disassembled the insidiousness of the plan and decided to share with the good bishop so that he could take action. That is, they transparently hinted that we understood who did, but do not want to inflame the relationship. This action was favorably received by Innocent, and he began a long written dialogue with Eric.

The basic thesis, which Eric played in his correspondence with the pope, was the act of voluntary acceptance of true faith. And then went the traditional casuistry and demagoguery in order to bargain. The most unpleasant for Innokenty was the knowledge of the fact of a similar correspondence between Eric and Patriarch John. Papa, this situation and oppressed, and angered, it turned out that they are involved in the bride, and this stinker chose which of the girls to take themselves for the night - Catholicism or Orthodoxy. But to leave him without attention was impossible - too dangerous, he was a dark horse. After reflecting on the next answer to the pontiff, Erik was visited by a courier from Boniface of Monferat. This man, being in the role of the leader of the Crusaders, offered the prince to oppose his suzerain, of course, as an honest Catholic against the heretical sect. The reply letter was sent with the same courier and it expressed the desire to wholly help the crusaders in their noble mission. This trump card was to be used both with the pope and with the patriarch, the first informed of zeal for charitable deeds, the second - about blackmail, that is, under the threat of excommunication from the church, Eric should act on Boniface's side. After this, he completed the camps and three days later - on 12 February 1204 he went to sea at the head of a detachment of two full mouths of soldiers. Behind him, the pipes of the manufactory and the forest of the large fortress construction went into the haze, and a big adventure awaited him ahead of him.

Sailing past February 15 past Constantinople, Eric did not go there to call in and not celebrate. There was absolutely no need for his presence there. There was a terrible mess going on. Back in January, he, through the company of Demetra and his secretary of state security, was able to conduct a series of events that brought the criminal situation in Constantinople to a whole new level. He built two independent gangs there, who competed with each other, engaged in looting public buildings and killing various officials. By mid-February, the city was doing something amazing - it was a razed-beet hive, which could not be calmed down. A part of the city's residents joined the activities of the gangs that worked at the demeter's farmstead. On the streets from time to time there were massive fights, including with weapons. The city administration was practically paralyzed by the situation. The threat of an invasion of the Crusaders required the concentration of all resources on the feverish gathering of the army, which was being formed in Thessaloniki. Money to hire at least some city guards no longer existed. Only the imperial palace more or less kept at the expense of a small personal guard. On February 18, part of the recruited army marched in the direction of Constantinople. There were only 1,500 militiamen hastily armed and practically without armor, but the city had to be rescued. On the evening of February 20, when they entered Constantinople and got stuck in street battles, Eric planted in Thessaloniki, who are still unaware of the danger that these red-and-white cottages conceal in themselves. The troops of the prince quietly seize the port gates and carry out a series of measures to assault key knots that were reconnoitered in advance. In the morning the city did not even notice what had happened, only passers-by were surprised that instead of the city guard on the gate were the soldiers of Prince Bosporsky. By dinner Eric gathered representatives of noble families and brought to their attention information about the seizure of the city, and invited the noble gentlemen present to decide what to do with him. There were only two options - the first was to destroy the city, the second - a ransom. The option of destruction and destruction, of course, was a bluff, since there was no need for such a thing, but it helped the best people in the city to make the right choice, because the destruction implied the complete extermination of the inhabitants, including themselves. Quietly, calmly, in the working order there was a ransom collection with a progressive scan - the richer, the more you pay. They took cloths, precious stones, silver, gold. As a separate article - in the city all lists of books and all movable crafts of the antique period, that is, all the statues that could be dismantled and taken away, were confiscated. Of course, at night from February 20 to February 21, a treasury was seized, which was intended for recruiting an army, and the set stopped, and all couriers from Constantinople were gently killed away from human eyes. As a rule, they were invited to the residence of the ruler, where they no longer left. On March 23 it became known that Boniface had landed with his men in a suburb of Constantinople and had against seven hundred half-naked militiamen, plus hundreds of guardsmen to eight hundred knights and several thousand armed servants. But he did not know this, because he had misinformation about the five thousandth garrison of mercenaries. So he invited Eric to take part in the assault. It is a sin to refuse such a generous gift, therefore on March 25, having completed the collection of tribute in Thessaloniki, the prince went with his companies to the ancient city, in order to continue his most beloved of charitable deeds - robbing the infidels. According to preliminary estimates, without estimating antiques and books, in February-March the Bosporan budget was replenished by fifteen thousand Bosporan denarii. And exclusively peaceful and painless way. True, the local nobility has remained almost in loincloths, but nothing terrible - still stolen. March 27 Eric arrived in the camp of Boniface and officially joined the siege of Constantinople.

Chapter 7

Innocent nervously paced the cleanly scraped floor boards, and the echo from every step was buzzing in the air of a rather spacious room. He was dressed in simple neutral clothes, and only expensive fingers gave out in him a very powerful and rich man. Nearby, practically stretched on a stand still, stood Bishop Honorius and watched as the head of all Catholics of the world nervously plays with knuckles and paces. Between them stood a small decorative table, on which were two letters. The first dad received from Eric and was very pleased with him, and the second was a letter that the prince sent to the patriarch. The bishop's people stole it from John's personal papers. The letter to Innocent was written in classical Latin and in a harmonious, beautiful syllable, to which very few people write, and to John Kamatyr a letter written in the same harmonious Greek language was sent. Both are by the hand of Eric.

" Honorius, I was told that the prince owns only the Latin and southern dialect of the German language. "How do you think, when and where could he learn Greek?

- So you exclude the possibility of recording under the dictation?

Yes! Almost certainly one can say that both letters are written by Eric himself and meaningfully. And you can not write down dictation like this, - he ran his hand over the letters. - I am extremely surprised by the style, so in our time there is no correspondence.

- Yes, I agree. Absolutely unusual style, especially for those who mastered these languages after their own. Do you know if the Chaplain of Lenzburg Castle owned the Greek language?

- Alas, I did not have a chance to talk to him, since he died during the attack of the robbers together with the prince's uncle. According to those who knew him during his lifetime, we can say quite confidently that he not only did not know Greek, but also had serious problems with Latin.

- Even so?

" Not only that, you will be surprised, but the same people testified that the prince, before certain events, which caused the death of almost all his direct relatives, did not pay attention to his studies. As evidence I was shown three bastards that grew up in the village.

"But Eric was less than fourteen. "

"The prince joined in this simple affair at once, as he had such an opportunity, namely three months before his fourteenth birthday. "Actually, he was so carried away that he threw all the cases and terrorized the young girls of the whole district. If he had not been a baron's son, he would have been beaten mercilessly, and so, using actual immunity, he created a terrible debauchery.

- All this is strange, since it does not fit with his subsequent behavior, nor with the fact that he is credited with many serious improvements in the blacksmith and military craft. How do you evaluate the events near Edessa?

" Using our agents, we learned the details of that battle. Honestly, I'm deeply shocked by what happened there. This is not even an adventure, but some kind of insanity, which, strangely enough, it succeeded. Remember, immediately after the events came very conflicting information about the exact size of his squad at the time of the attack on the troops of Suleimanshah II.

Yes! Did you find out the exact number?

- This is nonsense!

- Yes, that's what everyone thought on that advice when Eric decided to attack. They then sat for a while and decided to see what he would do, having thought, they came to the conclusion that he wanted such a gesture to manipulate and subordinate to his will.

" Why did they contact him at all? "He organized a massacre among civilians there.

" That's why they contacted. "Initially, Emir Mosul had a plan to use the prince to repel the attack of the Sultan, and after that he was killed, since he brought so many losses and grief to these places.

"And what changed his plans? "

- The Battle of Edessa. When he learned that this madman not only won, but did not suffer losses, he was stupefied. Yes, in fact, they all went into a deep stupor, as they made inquiries about him, who he was and what he had been doing before to try to press. And then the perfect surprise.

" Do not go aside. "So, they all were stunned. What next?

" In general, they decided not to quarrel with such a comrade, for such amazing accidents do not happen, and on the advice to offer to pay a ransom for the deceased noblemen. "But the spirit of no one to say this was not enough straight, only hinted. In general, they talked. They received much more than they could have guessed - a successful trade corridor, which seriously simplified matters on the southern branch of the Great Silk Road. And the anticipation of gold saved these prudent and mercantile people from claims against Eric. Not only that, the ruler of Edessa invited him to stay and, according to al-Zahir, spoke of him as the most educated person he had met in his life.

- Here you are what.

- Miracles And what about the Bospor? You said he built a lot of different structures and using them produces iron of excellent quality?

" Yes," he took a knife from his bag and handed it to Innokentiy. "He gave this device to me as a sign of location. "They say that in the market it will cost about a hundred denarii. - Dad took in hand a small, neatly made knife, carefully examined it, tried to finger the sharpness and elasticity of the blade and put it on the table, and he himself, finally, settled down in a small wooden chair.

- Indeed, the amazing quality of iron. When the prince built these structures, he, I believe, used some drawings. Did you get them?

- No, and I doubt I can.

- Why?

- Because they are not. He practically did everything based on some of his conclusions.

"What, no strange texts at all? "

" Why, we managed to get some things of absolutely unclear content. "Here, "he took from his bag a small bundle of crumpled paper. - We could get these sheets by bribing one of the servants in the residence. Erik called him to clean up the room, and the guy was able to pull out a few crumpled sheets from the basket that stood near the fireplace.

" Is that paper? "He spends a fortune writing on paper from China? I thought that it was he who gave me honor and respect with such letters.

" It's true, it's paper. "Only it is made in the workshop of the Bosporus, and not in a far eastern country.

aboutIn that case, can you organize purchases for my yard at a fair price?

- I think this is out of the question, since it is only for internal use. The maximum I can promise is a gift in a number of sheets.

- Did our people try to read these texts?

Yes! To no avail. The language is unknown to them. The only thing they came to is that these groups of small geometric figures are used to write numbers, and the whole text was some kind of calculations. He was stolen back in the summer of last year, during the development of his strange in every respect crossbow.

" Do you suppose he has anything to do with his device? "And why did you take so long? It's been more than six months.

- What is the point in the unencrypted text? Our people have been trying to disassemble it all this time.

" What sort of man is he? "In appearance, the usual butcher, and you dig deeper, then the questions are much more than answers. By the way, do not you know what rumors are about him? Maybe people say something interesting to us?

- Rumors go the most diverse, and are classified from delirium to complete delirium.

YesCurious. Tell me the most delusional.

" That's just one rumor. "It is rumored that Eric is the earthly embodiment of the ancient Greek god of war Ares, he is Mars in the Romans. Say he settled into a guy when the assassins killed him, and since then it's not a little boy, but an ancient god.

- Really, delirium. He is, of course, a striking person, but only a man. And where did this bike come from?

- You will be surprised - from the Order of the Knights Templar.

- Yes, I also almost lost my speech when I heard this from the Grand Master.

"Is he sure about that? "

- No, of course not. This is just a guess. However, in my opinion de Plessier very much desires it.

Why? Just why? ? What is the benefit to him?

- Well, how - the ancient god, who once acted as a competitor to the true God, now accepted Catholicism and performs great charitable deeds. The hearts of many people will be affected by this news. And theologically it will be very profitable. The main thing is not to give any official comments. Let it be only rumors.

Ok then Gossip. Something really hurts a lot about one living man of strange rumors and legends. I have a strong impression that we are playing with fire, a very dangerous fire. But this is not scary, but the fact that we do not know anything about it at all - only scattered pieces of contradictory information that mutually exclude each other. You say, the ruler of Edessa speaks of him as a very educated man. Right?

'Certainly.

"How much did he kill civilians there while robbing caravans? "

- Thousands. But all the witnesses were random and saw him only from afar.

- And how to connect this? One of the most educated people is independently engaged in such matters? Have you seen at least one learned monk who was eager to release guts to the gentiles only because they have something to profit from?

"Do you think I'm not an academic enough? " Honorius looked down and blushed slightly.

" But you and you're right. "We completely overlooked this detail.

- I neglected it, because it can not be true. He is too independent. I serve the holy church, and he - to anyone.

- You did a wonderful job. Return to Bosporus and continue in the same spirit. Work with his wife, maybe she will shed some light on this walking hoax.

Honorius bowed and quietly retired, closing the door behind him, and Innokenty remained sitting in his chair and with a thoughtful look to twist in his hands a knife of strange iron.

A large white tent stood on a hill in the line of sight from the gates of Saint Roman. It hosted a military council of the Crusaders.

" Gentlemen," Eric began, "according to our information, Alexei has the forces of five thousand Bulgarians hired by him. "If not for the prudent act of Prince Eric, then to our approach he would have owned an even larger army, which he was recruiting in northern Greece.

" What is the composition of his army? "Are there many noblemen? Baldwin asked Flanders.

- It is not known, but hardly a lot.

" Gentlemen, I propose to storm several gates at once, to disperse Alexei's troops, which he will undoubtedly divide to reflect all our sorties. "I take on the most difficult - the Golden Gate.

- What is their complexity?

- After the gate itself, a small stone fence inside the perimeter is still organized. No other gate like this is observed.

" Very well, prince. "We have enough strength to attack a couple more gates. I will lead my troops to the Holy Roman, and you count, go to the gate of Vlaheria. Thus, we can simultaneously strike and maximally stretch the troops of the emperor. Especially do not hero, we play for good luck, that is, the unwillingness to quickly move troops along a long wall. We attack tomorrow with the first rays of the sun.

Having reached his camp in front of the Golden Gate, Eric ordered to send a pigeon-mail letter to the courtyard to keep the plans in force. The fact is that even during the commencement of the disorders, Demetra concentrated on the order of the prince at the courtyard to two hundred hired fighters, by easing the marksmen in the crews of the ships of the company. That is, at the courtyard was a group of two hundred shooters, equipped with crossbows, swords, chain mail and helmets. Power is not small. Their task was to capture the Golden Gate at night, to loosen the lock girders and create the appearance of defense. What was done exactly, therefore, with the first rays of the sun on April 3, ballisticists Eric began shelling the gate. Already with the third salvo, the weakened shut-off burst and the gate swung open. In both of them rushed to the attacking colony of both companies of the prince. They were sluggishly fired from bows that had been captured by the defeated gate guards, but the arrows did not cause any damage. And when the troops came two dozen steps to the knocked-out gate, Eric's people simulated the flight. On this first part of the staging was completed - the gates were taken in less than fifteen minutes. Further, joining with the troops of Demeter, the prince began to rapidly occupy the area of Psamatiya, knocking out a few patrols and avoiding looting. By noon he had completely controlled the areas of Pasmatia, Triton, Xerolophos, including the Arcadia forum and the territory of his farmstead, as well as partly the Exokonnon district and the Eleftherius port. Not having siege machines, Boniface and Baldwin still stormed the gates, there were noticeable losses, especially at the margrave, since almost all the militia and some volunteers were concentrated near the gates of Saint Roman. Demeter people took refuge - a small part of the farmstead, and the rest on the ships, which were specially waiting for them near the bay. Closer to the evening, Eric attacks the gates of St. Roman from the city side and smashes a significant part of the militia. The battered Boniface forces rush into the city along the road leading to the aqueduct, practically losing control. The prince also advances the company to Vlakherni and helps Baldwin, who has already practically taken the gates, and then begins the process of patrolling the territory that he chose for himself to occupy. The whole land on the right hand of the Likus River was sent off to the prince for looting, and since there were only poor quarters there, no one dared to challenge his claims, expecting a rich booty from the central districts of the city. Alas, but in addition to the Imperial Palace, the city center was defeated and robbed long before the start of the assault. That is why, from lunchtime, energetic loading of valuables was actively carried out on the ships of the trading company Demeter, which were delivered in covered wagons from the courtyard, on which they had previously accumulated. Why did Eric occupy the poorest quarters? Everything is simple - this is the most densely populated part of the city, and if he can save these people from massacres, traditional when looting, he will get a good attitude to a significant part of the city's population Yes, almost all, since the rest will survive only in a small number. Having organized the order in the occupied territory, the prince ordered to organize distribution of food to the needy near the Mocion tank. There was no bread, so they handed out dried fish and vegetables, which they brought in advance to the farmstead. In short, until April 4-6, an infernal hell was going on throughout the city - they were robbing, killing, raping, in the zone of the prince's occupation there was silence and peace - checkpoints on all five bridges across the river and all ten gates of the city, along with regular patrols, did their good a business. In the evening of the sixth of April, he dropped Demetra's gunmen back, changed them into cottages of their flowers and replaced them with soldiers in patrol duty. Fortunately, there was no special fighting skills there. In the morning of the seventh of April, the ancient region of Strategion, protected by the oldest fortress wall, was taken and plundered. And already at lunch a meeting of the council for the election of the emperor of the new empire began. The fact that Boniface concluded with the doge Enrico Dondolo deal, according to which the fourth part of the empire was transferred to the elected emperor, it was chosen by six Venetians and Crusaders. Eric was part of an electoral group from the Crusaders, and Teleph, the elder brother of Demeter, was in a group of Venetians. Thus, the prince had two votes, which he used in favor of Baldwin. This caused resentment Boniface, but the explanation was simple: "The count has an heir, but you do not. It is not good to leave an empire without an heir. " Of course, Eric was cunning, because Benno, the son of Mary was his son and he was looking for benefits primarily for him, but none of those gathered knew such things. In general, the guys had to swear for a long time. Therefore, on April 10th, leaving Telef as his representative, he plunged into the ships waiting for him and departed to Attica to engage in business, that is, to continue the looting. Especially worth noting is the fact that Demetra strained all efforts to export the Constantinople prize to Bosporus, where it was easier and faster to export than to Venice. The calculation of the total cost of the trophies was still difficult. As in Thessaloniki, special articles were books, primarily lists of ancient authors, and sculptures. But in Constantinople the picture was the opposite, if more than three thousand were taken out of the books, then there were practically no sculptures, because the Christian leaders managed to either mutilate them or destroy them.

Athens met Eric very aggressively and did not even dock at the port of Piraeus, showering ships with arrows from the walls. I had to snap fire at crossbows, but since there was no sense to join the battle now, the squadron of the prince had left more morally. The effect of surprise, which so successfully helped in the noble cause of the looting of Thessalonik, it did not work out here - the prince was waiting. Strange as it may seem, no one prevented the landing at a certain distance from the city, only by the end of the day the envoy arrived with a letter to the camp of the druzhina camp fortified with a palisade. Having given the packet to the guard at the gate, the messenger remained waiting for an answer. Eric was offered a meeting to discuss the current situation. That same evening they met with the parliamentarian from the city. Have communicated. The situation turned out to be quite lousy. The local leader not only did not send his troops to help Alexei, but taxes for the most part remained for the last five years. Therefore, in the city there were about fifty wage warriors from among the German and French poor knights and up to a thousand city guards. While the prince was only two and a half hundred people, it is true, they were all warriors, but this did not become much easier. At the end of the talks, seeing that the parliamentarian had no instructions for discussing the surrender of the city, Eric summed up the conversation with the phrase: "In short. You got me with your prattle. As a result, your city has only two possible options - either you voluntarily surrender and pay me tribute, or I take the city by storm and cut out all people, regardless of gender and age, which I'll find there. So think - the term you - two days, starting tomorrow morning. If on the third day the gates are still closed to me and my soldiers, then I will begin the assault and will not spare anybody, in general, no one. " Then he silently looked the parliamentarian in the eye, forcing him to turn away his gaze, turned around and left. In the morning, leaving the second company in the camp, the prince, led by the first, mounted a horse march to the surrounding villages. It was necessary to look around, to scare the local people, and also to think about how to take the city. It's only easy to say that he will take it by storm, with such a garrison. If to speak in essence, then the goal was two: the first is the port of Piraeus with its valuable port warehouses, the second - actually Athens. In the port, according to the information of the traders of Demetra, there must be up to three hundred militia fighters dressed in quilts and armed with bows and spears. The main problem is the possibility of a strike to the rear of the troops of the Athenian garrison. To kill will not be killed, but the losses will be substantial. Therefore, on the evening of the second day, Eric moved all the troops to the walls of Athena from their northern side, near the gate. There, his soldiers built up a stormy activity in the arrangement of the temporary camp. And as it got dark, they were replaced by two dozen servants, whose task was to create the appearance of activity and wakefulness in the camp. The troops themselves are very quiet, they bypassed Athens in a large arc and approached the city of Piraeus on the west side, where they were already waiting for the ballista with the teams. At 3 o'clock in the morning, in pitch darkness, artillery was driven to the strongest, and therefore worst of all guarded gates at a distance of 30 meters. These gates were a massive mono-bar, which also functions as a lifting bridge through a small but deep ditch. The ascent was carried out by chains. Therefore, all four ballistae pointed at the attachment points of these chains, which were clearly visible from the other side. They gave a volley, and both companies ran to the collapsed gates. In the portal tower there were only a dozen people, who, after typing impudence, slept. The roar of the fallen gate awakened the half-room, the benefit that it was small. Therefore, in ten minutes to the place of the breakthrough, the first disorganized detachments of the garrison fled. They were met by sighted fugitive shooting from crossbows practically at point-blank, which instantly interrupted their vital functions. At four o'clock, after completing street brawls and killing up to two hundred militiamen, the prince's troops controlled almost the entire city, excluding the citadel. A firefight ensued - the soldiers who had settled in the citadel sprinkled openings of suitable streets with arrows, not knowing exactly where their enemies were, the prince's people answered, shooting rather by sight than by sight. At this time, Eric noticed that against the background of a rapidly brightening sky, loopholes began to be seen. In this connection, he ordered that the bolts should not be wasted and shot only in the loopholes in which the blackout appeared. The effectiveness of the shooting was not very high, but by dawn, an hour after the start of the duel, the firing from the citadel ceased, as well as any stirring along the walls. Taking advantage of the situation, about ten people dragged a decent log from the port and began to knock out the gates that were so unsuccessfully located that it was almost impossible to shell them with ballistics. After another twenty minutes, the guys knocked the gate. And they occupied the inner courtyard of the citadel. The remaining troops numbered up to twenty people retreated to the dungeon and from there fired from the bows. They drove up the ballista and, placing it on the platform of the portal tower, fired at their positions. From a distance of 20 meters the effect from the penetration of the nucleus into the loophole was astonishing - not only the response from the bow was stopped, but mercy was also requested for the fifth shot. The comrades promised that they would open the gates of the donjon themselves, and then they would kill them. Not very nice, but there was no desire to mess with the captives. Already at the stage of the siege of the citadel couriers were sent for the transfer of servants from the distracted and fortified camps. Closer to dinner, Eric gathered the inhabitants of this small town and promised them life and health in the case of support and assistance. More precisely, he put them before the fact - or they with a smile and a song of cheerful are eager to help him, or die. Literally an hour after the meeting, the city magistrate, on its own initiative, allocated three dozen loaders to help the prince's people in the port, where the seized Athenian goods were actively loaded onto ships that had already arrived at the berths.

In the evening Eric gathered in the big and spacious hall of the town council two dozen residents. Before them stood the most talkative poor, burdened by large families and minimal diligence, carefully collected from all over the city.

" Citizens of Piraeus! "You have a very important and responsible task on which the welfare of your entire city and your families depends in particular. After the end of this meeting every hour one of you will go to the side of Athens. On arrival, your task will be to get as many people as possible about what atrocities I am creating in this city. It is especially worth emphasizing that my warriors, drunk heavily, roam the groups around the city and rape everything that is female. Embellish this version with references to the violence against young nuns right in the church or something else in the same spirit.

" Sir, why should we lie? "You are very kind to the townspeople.

- This is necessary for the implementation of my plan. I can not tell you the details yet. The main goal of my idea is to minimize losses among the civilians of Athens, whom I promised to cut out all. So you try and paint my atrocities in the brightest colors. Of course - do not name any names so that there is no specifics and you could not be caught in lies. Before you go out, you get two dozen denarii to be uncoated in the city. In addition, your family will receive as much for food and, if it burns out, then on the Bosporan ruble from above. And whether you survive or not - it does not matter, money will reach your families in any case. Do you understand everything?

- Yes, sir. - The men answered in chorus.

" In that case, I need the bravest of you, take two steps forward. " - Five people came out of the crowd, to whom the prince came and personally made them several cosmetic cuts of the skin. - So it will be more realistic. By the way, do not forget to dress in slightly torn and dirty clothes, for a fugitive in clean and new clothes will arouse suspicion. So, if everyone understands everything, then you are at the disposal of Theodore. "Eric nodded at the calm man standing by the window with attentive cold eyes. Then he turned and left. His next task was to install observers on all possible routes from Athens to his bet. As well as creating the illusion of fires in the city, for which he ordered at every intersection to lay a large fire, in which to burn raw firewood and wet old rags to more smoke. Residents reacted with understanding - let them burn old rags better than their homes. In the morning of the fourth day, a breathless messenger galloped around, who reported that the enemy had advanced with all his strength towards the city. The detachment led a detachment of five dozen knights on horseback, followed by a column - to a thousand militia with spears. The key task of this battle was the need to destroy the enemy and prevent the retreat of large forces into the city. A real, serious assault on his plans was not included. Therefore, he did so. On a small hill, overgrown with shrubbery, he ambushed personnel of artillerymen who, from one or two volleys, were to cover the knights, shooting from twenty to thirty paces. The rest of the forces must go in the equestrian order from the rear and be accelerated in the meadow to strike at the infantry. The strength for a horse-drawn attack was not small - up to two with half a hundred heavy cavalrymen, capable of moving in a dense formation. No sooner said than done. Already by lunchtime heading the cavalry detachment, going by a line at sixty with a penny man and depth of four horses, he flew into the orders of a frightened mob of militiamen. The horses were so fast that the first few meters people did not slow them down, bouncing like rag dolls. After, having slowed down enough for melee, the riders began to work with sabers along the people who were rapidly disappearing into a deep panic. Some ten minutes and on the battlefield lies a bloody mess instead of an army that tried to threaten the prince. Immediately advance in Athens did not, because it was necessary to give time to as many residents as possible to flee. Therefore, they took up trophies and funerals. In general, the entire remaining day was spent and only on the morning of the fifth day did they leave for the city.

As expected, most of the residents left the city and retired to Thebes, the formal capital of Achaea at that time. Nobody defended the city gates. Entering the city, Eric gave the order to kill everyone he met. Rudolph was alarmed, because he did not know that the agitators and scouts were instructed to leave the city on the morning of the fifth day, so as not to get into the meat grinder. The next few days everything was very methodical and measured - the prince's troops stormed the courtyard beyond the backyard without fuss and haste. Breaking in, they killed everyone who resisted, the rest were driven out into the yard and forced to dig a grave for the dead. When the foundation pit turned out to be ready, the bodies of those killed were staked in the assault, after cutting the remaining ones and also pushed down. We had to fall asleep ourselves. This approach helped avoid the collapse of the streets with corpses and the likely spread of some contamination, as well as emergency excavations, as in Sughd. In total, according to rough estimates, on the morning of April 19th, about six hundred people were killed, and only his soldiers and servants remained in the city. The promise was fulfilled - the inhabitants obeyed him and he cut out all those found inside the city walls. At the same time, Eric was doubly pleased, as he was able to avoid a really serious slaughter, because by the time of his arrival in Greece, up to twenty thousand people lived in Athens. The main goal he pursued, allowing the residents to leave and not allowing their total annihilation, was the massive PR of his methods. The more people learn that those who do not obey him will die, the fewer cities in the future he will have to storm. Everything was collected in the city, in general everything that had value. At the collection of trophies worked and representatives of Piraeus by order of the magistrate. Part he decided to leave to the residents of the port, in order to reward them for sobriety and adequacy of actions. The rest were loaded on ships and exported - either to Corfu, which was the transshipment base of the trading company of Demeter, or to Bosporus. On the morning of the first of May, the prince, at the head of his army of two mouths with a total number of about two and a half hundred advanced to the side of Thebes. In the evening he approached the frontier where he was met - in a small field near the apartment houses stood a large militia of several thousand people, which was led by a detachment of about a hundred knights. The militia, of course, was ridiculous, because it represented people in simple clothes, even without quilted armor, armed, than horrible - from just wooden clubs, to copies and working axes. But there were a lot of them, very many. It would be too troublesome to kill them. The guys, apparently, also understood that this battle does not threaten anything good, that's why they were the first to come to the talks.

- Good evening. My name is Eric Bosporsky. I'm surprised at such attention to my humble person or are you still waiting for someone else on this field? It's amazing where you found such a crowd of peasants?

" And good evening to you. "I'm Harald, Baron von Laneck. You are right, we are waiting for you.

Yes! But! Kind, is such an escort in vogue? - The prince had a very sweet smile on his face.

"What do you want from us? " Harald looked at him calmly, his eyes narrowing slightly.

- Oh, well, do not pretend to be naive. You know perfectly well why I came. But I have a good mood and spoil it with the death cries of this herd of sheep I do not want. Eric nodded at the militia.

" A good desire, but then what shall we do? "You just do not go away. At least the rumor about you says so.

- Sometimes it seems to me that there are more fairy tales about living me than about dead heroes. Although you are right, to the point. I think you understand very well that you do not have a chance in this fight. Eric paused and looked inquiringly at Harald.

- Why such confidence? You have two and a half hundred knights, it's very solid, but we have a hundred. You will have tangible losses. Plus these, "he waved carelessly toward the militia," there are a lot of them, but then how lucky. It is not excluded that you will kill them without much loss. But the total loss you will have is very serious.

- Note that every my warrior has a crossbow. Your hundred will fall from the first volley. After that I'll take care of these buffoons, who can not even get into a heap tightly. Look, look, - the prince waved his hand towards the militia, - they stand as if they are asked to walk through them with a crowd of heavy cavalry.

- Crossbows I somehow did not notice them at once. The Baron's face grew very sad. - It really changes everything. I do not want to deprive my people of life so mediocre.

- Correct conclusion. Now we will discuss the terms of your retreat.

- Are you not enough that we will give you the battlefield without a battle? The Baron was surprised.

Of course. After all, your life is undivided only in my hands and it's up to me to decide whether you will live or die. I think one of the peasants will escape from the battlefield after all, as there are many of them and it will be possible not to follow everyone, but the knights will all fall. Or do you doubt it?

- No, I do not doubt this. - He completely wilted his face. - Well, what do you suggest?

" For the knights, I propose two forms of capitulation, each of them will be free to choose himself. "The first is that they pay me 5 Vienna denarii each and, having sworn by their immortal soul, never again come out against me, even in my thoughts, move away from my eyes. The second option is that they come to my service, taking the oath of loyalty, that is, they become my warriors. As for the militia, they must pay for their impudence. Pay and remember who they are and what their place is. I want to see the decimation of this herd of rams, that is, every tenth of their number will be executed by their own companions. The rest will be free to return home.

"But they went out to defend their house? "

" They came with a weapon against me. "You are warriors, it is your job and duty, it would be strange if people like you were hiding at home in difficult days. And they are peasants who think they know what. Such nonsense should be beaten out of bad heads, so that it was not enviable to repeat. These idiots came here to die ingloriously and throwing their families out of elemental stupidity and greed. Do you seriously believe that this is it, - he again showed in the direction of the militia, - is able to at least something to protect?

" You're right, I did not think about this state of affairs. "Indeed, it was silly to collect them at all. A bloody magistrate, he did not even give them weapons.

" You see, you understand everything yourself. "Try to remember the last successful use of the militia in battles. Eric smiled. - They have already Charlemagne tried not to collect, considering a bad army.

" They are freakish, greedy. "And what about the Thebes themselves? If we retreat, the city will be at your disposal. What are your plans for it?

"If my conditions are met exactly, and the city itself does not resist me, I will take the tribute and leave it, not taking the destruction and not killing the murders. "

" And what will be the tribute? "Do you count on a specific amount of silver?

- It will be rather modest. Specific sums, I do not call, because I do not know in what state the city is and whether it has the cash I need. Why put unrealistic conditions? In total, I want a third of all the cash and valuables, the third part of all the goods, all the iron, except that on your knights, all the books and all the ancient statues, if they can be taken away.

- Solid. Do I have time to consider and agree on your proposal?

Of course. How much time do you need?

"I think until tomorrow morning. "

Ok. So we will proceed. I expect you tomorrow at dawn. I'll be placed in that compound. I liked its massive walls and the fragrance of olives. But, you, I think, you know, I will not give you a second chance. If you try to cheat me, or give a battle, then I will not save anyone's life, either you or the townspeople. Athens is an example of this is a very colorful example, only this time I will not allow the most intelligent people to leave the city. Eric smiled cunningly. "The baron until morning. " Good night to you.

Eric settled on a very extensive farmstead, which served as a small workshop for the production of olive oil. Its two-meter stone walls allowed, if necessary, to conduct an effective defensive battle against a greatly superior enemy. A decent sized sheds - to hide horses for the night. Immediately after occupying the territory, positions were set up and the order of changing the guard was established so as not to miss the attack. But everything turned out. In the morning, with the first rays of the sun, a delegation approached the gates of the courtyard. Overnight Baron was able to contact the city magistrate and discuss the situation with them. Of course, they did not like it, but the offer offered by the prince quite satisfied them, since it was the lesser evil. Not only that, the baron brought a very pleasant news that almost all the knights are ready to swear allegiance to the ruler of the Bosporus. They, in general, were not very satisfied with the service as mercenaries of the Byzantine feudal lords, as they were very stingy to their people. Such employers, as practice shows, at all times did not like. Since the knights were all from poor or very poor houses, and even the younger ones in the family, the equipment was very poor for them. Haubeck was only with Harald, the others wore chainmail of different size and quality. The poorest were in absolutely terrible homemade crafts, which were pieces of old mail, sewn on a quilted aketon. In general, a very motley company value, which, incidentally, was very high, as people possessed very high psychological stability and good fighting qualities. Excellent material for replenishment. The delegation went into the courtyard, where for an hour they discussed the details and ate fresh fried meat for a snack with fresh juicy vegetables and greens, as well as dried fruits for dessert. After the negotiations on the coordination of actions were completed, Eric, accompanied by part of the delegation, left for the field, where everything was ready for the execution of the selected militia group. Near the edge of the forest, the graves were neatly opened by long, neat rows of four lines deep. Near each of them was a company of three people. One was kneeling with his hands tied behind his back, the other holding hands and the back of his head, the third was standing next to a knife in his hand. Eric went ahead and loudly said that before his death, each of those destined to die called his name, so as not to die nameless sheep in the eyes of the noble prince. After that, he moved from one end and, meeting his eyes with the first militiaman, asked: "What is your name as a soldier? " Hearing the answer, he nodded to the executioner next to him and watched him clumsily cut the poor man's throat, as his eyes widen with horror as blood gushes from his throat. And so on, until his life subsides. After that, he nods once more, the executed person is pushed into the grave and begins to dig in, and he goes to the next. Behind this action, all the other troops that Harald showed on this field were lined up along the place of execution. After the execution of the execution over the graves, the priests conducted a service, and the militia, giving up all the weapons that they had, began to disperse to their homes. Even wooden truncheons and those handed over. When it was finally over, accompanied by Harald's retinue and their companies, the prince went to Thebes, where the magistrate prepared the wing of the magistrate's building for his placement. The process of collecting trophies and taking them out took about a week. Almost certainly would have turned out more, but the city's leadership promoted all available ways to speed up the process, since Eric was afraid to the horror. At the end of the designated week, the parallel process of taking vassal oaths from the knights of Harald ended. Of course, the conditions of service, questions of discipline, recovery and extraction were stipulated with them. The knight poor were more than happy to act for the full maintenance of the prince and not to receive a share of the prey in the campaign. The feud was also replaced by maintenance and equipment at the expense of the suzerain. At the end of this procedure, Eric stepped in the direction of Corinth, having under his command about three and a half hundred mounted and armored warriors and four convenient and mobile ballistae on horsepower.

With Corinth, everything went perfectly smoothly - the experience of Athens and Thebes affected. A delegation of the magistrate even came forward to greet him, in order to greet him. Doing the groundwork for the future, Eric took not the third part, but the fourth from money, jewelry and goods, in order to indicate his attitude to reasonable behavior. But the campaign must once end, so on May 22, he, along with his grown up to four hundred squads, returned to the city of Piraeus, where Demeter was firmly entrenched, at the expense of the poor knights who had moved to Corinth from all over the Moray. She, you see, found a common language with the local elite, so now this small town actually went under her care. The next stage will be turning it into an actual seaside company's trading base. Located in the very spacious residence of his priestess, the prince had a long conversation with her about the new financial receipts - how many of them, how to distribute them and what to do with a very impressive cash. The result of the robberies in central Greece was the replenishment of the budget of the Bosporus Bank for two hundred thousand denarii, although not all in cash, but still - the amount is simply colossal - the equivalent of ten tons of silver! These funds should be enough to continue the deployment of the production campaign and technology industry in his principality with the pace taken. In addition, up to ten thousand scrolls of various manuscripts were collected for the creation of the Bosporus Library and up to two hundred different statues in quite good condition, with which he wanted to decorate the city. In particular, to break in the Bosporus large and beautiful park, which decorate the most valuable, statue of Athena, the work of Phidias, which in addition to purely artistic value had a very decent commercial value, because there was not a lot of gold and ivory. In the evening he went out into the courtyard with a jug of cool milk and, settling on an open-air bench, decided to consider the events that had taken place. Somewhere there, the black sky was crawling far away all covered with small lights, and below, at the bottom of this vast ocean, he sat and analyzed everything that had happened to him in the last month. This was his second military campaign. Compared with the first, in general, a rather bloodless campaign, since only a little more than a thousand people died, and tens of thousands could die. As a result of the events that occurred, Demeter's view became even more enthusiastic. And not only her. People on the streets of Piraeus looked at him as something incredibly majestic and very dangerous. In their eyes, fear was mixed with respect and admiration. This was especially true after Feodor had successfully dissolved rumors that the prince deliberately delayed to enter Athens, giving people the opportunity to escape and avoid stupid deaths. On the other hand, Theodore recounted that Demetra had already repeatedly spoken about the essence of Ares in the presence of strangers. After taking a sip of milk, he put the jug on the ground and stretched himself. How wonderful that there are no liberals and humanists now! How great it is that people understand simple things and do not build piled up illusions and romantic hoaxes! Yes, these guys, seeing the actions of Eric, now would have simply gushed with accusations of inhumanity, cruelty and other horror stories. We would try to make our hero justify himself, feel guilty, give way to their delirium. Although no, sorry, very sorry that they are not with him now. It would be very nice to watch how they, with their extraterrestrial convictions, would survive here - in a world of concrete, cynical and extremely pragmatic people, though not educated. I wonder if it would survive at least one person per thousand of such characters during the year? By the way, yes, he was always tormented by the question - do they really believe in what they say or is it just a pose? Here, some feudal lord will press a young lady a feminist and a lesbian in the hayloft, confesses to her in genital love a couple of times. What will she do? Or put some liberal human rights activist in the skin of some feudal lord, and into the very midst of dynastic disagreements, so that he can feel the beauty of natural competition when your brother can be slaughtered for the right of inheritance. Yes, he likes the world more than the one in which he lived. Less hypocrisy, less artificiality. He is some kind of natural, naked makeup. In it, oh horror, white is called white, and black is black. Behind these thoughts, Feodor found him.

No. I decided to get some fresh air before going to bed and think over the affairs of the past.

YesWhy do you think so?

- You could do just an amazing thing - to make people think for the benefit of surrendering to you at mercy without a fight. There are rumors all over Attica that you are Ares himself, who has returned to earth, to teach people who are weak in spirit.

- So they are Christians! What is Ares?

" Who told you such stupid things? "A visit to the church and baptism does not make them Christians. In the whole Roman Empire, which is under the hand of Constantinople, the strength of a hundredth part can be considered real Christians, as they sincerely adhere to certain convictions. Unfortunately this is the most incompetent part of the inhabitants of the empire.

- This is just, it is very natural. It would be strange if they were the most capable.

- And yet people correctly notice

- What exactly?

" You are different from us, from all of us. "You are a very strange man. As if one of us, but very far away.

- Why do you think so?

"Faith my lord, your faith allows me to think so. "

"What do I have? " Eric smiled.

- I'm at a loss to say. My observations indicate that you do not have it at all. You as if do not take faith and the gods seriously. For you they are fiction, a fairy tale.

" You're an observant man. "And how do you estimate it yourself?

" Your Highness is very dangerous. "Already, there are rumors about you that you are coming down to earth the ancient God. I'm at a loss to say what it will result in later. But one thing is quite clear: a serious conflict with the Pope is inevitable. I understand that for you being excommunicated from the church is just words, but people who have more faith around you, and therefore may be impressed by this act.

"They know perfectly well that I will kill anyone who will go against me. "

"And if they start to leave, and not come out against you? "

- It is unlikely. With me they get too much, because of such stupidity as the faith to miss their profit. They are not even profitable to rebel against me, because my talent and my success gives them a satisfying life. What is waiting for them in a different scenario is not known to anyone.

"Are you so sure of yourself? "

- I'm absolutely sure of myself, otherwise I would not be what I have become. I would have fought, at best, somewhere in Antiochus with the Turks and Arabs as an ordinary knight. No, my dear friend, in order to lead people along, to lead confidently, accurately, you can not doubt yourself. There should not be a drop of doubt in you.

"And people will take you to heaven, considering not a man " theodore continued thoughtfully.

- Steel people yes, perhaps you are right, it was those who created the Roman empire.

" I've been to the agents around the Thebes, you know, it's amazing. You ordered to kill every tenth in that militia, and the people are grateful to you and consider it a very kind ruler.

"Curious Is that why? "

"Because you could kill everyone, but you took pity and returned most of them alive and well to your home. "

" It's just a wonderful people that understands simple things. "Much worse, if it rose with pink snot.

- Than, forgive?

" Well, I began to lament that some bloody tyrant killed innocent armed men on the battlefield. "After all, they all died on the battlefield.

"You are a very strange man. "

Is this normal? It is right. But I have to interrupt our conversation, the runner is running, it seems that something happened.

After a couple of phrases came up to the vigilante Eric went to his escort to the gate. There he was waiting for a group of townspeople, guard detachments, Valentino and some man with bound hands. After a little questioning, he ordered to bring his purse and handed each citizen on a silver Bosporan denarius, thanking him for his vigilance and intelligence. It turns out that this peasant, whom they dragged, was engaged in subversive activities and embarrassed the minds of ordinary people by telling stories about the prince of fables. For example, he explained the execution on the field in front of Thebes a massive sacrifice to the ancient god Ares, who, it is said, is worshiped by Eric. In general, they brought this unfortunate agitator to a small, dark room, where they locked up. A couple of days, Demeter decided to find out what kind of a poor guy was howling without water and food in the closet? Our warrior about him, it turns out, completely forgot. Let's go together, and somehow it's not good to torment a person with the expectation of questioning and execution.

- Hello, dear. So we came to talk. What can you tell us interesting?

" Do not come near me! "The descent of hell!

- No, well, it's completely uninteresting. Eric smiled and hit the poor fellow crawling on the floor, over the genitals. He howled in pain, and our hero continued. "Every time you tell me stupid things or lie, I'll beat you, for a start. " Then the kind lady will invite the executioner here, who will start to cut you off in a hurry, and in other ways deliver a paradise pleasure. Do you understand me?

" Yes, yes, sir, I understand. "I do not want an executioner, please do not kill me. I'll tell you everything, just do not kill.

"Well, if you tell me about who you are, why you are here, and who sent you, I promise - I will not kill you. "

" Sir, my name is Tikhon, I'm from Thessalonica, where I was hired by a gentleman who introduced myself as Melety, the attorney of the Abbot Esfigmen. "He gave me a whole brand with the instruction to discredit the name of the prince in every way, trying to expose it as a pagan and atheist.

"And who told you to tell those funny tales about the execution under Thebes? "

" Meletius, sir. "Three days after the execution, he sent me a man with a letter, where he recommended that this event be presented in such a way.

" Eric, what's with the bikes? "I have not heard anything about them yet.

- Yes there is generally a rare humor, you just imagine, this man said that I brought a sacrifice to Ares in that field.

What?

Yes yes "I, too, was deeply surprised at such stupidity.

" Dear Tikhon," Demetra choked with laughter, but tried to hold on, "I'll tell you a little secret, the gods do not sacrifice themselves to themselves. "So it is not accepted.

- Mistress, I do not understand you.

- What are you unthinking. Eric is his only name. She pointed to the prince with her hand. "It's one of many. " The ancients called him Ares. And I, Demeter, are his supreme priestess. "She smiled with a completely sincere and very kind smile, and Eric looked at the poor fellow with an icy cold and calm look, completely devoid of emotion. So, like that little flea, to which an immense huge and utterly incomprehensible someone descended. Poor Tikhon turned pale to the last extreme and, soundlessly opening his mouth, trying to scream in horror, a few seconds later lost consciousness and fell into a puddle of his own urine.

" What a squishy little peasant. "What do you think of him? "

- Garbage. Waste. Even without resisting, he surrendered his master.

Right?

"Will you let him go? "

"How did you get this? "

"Well, you promised not to kill him. "

" You really did not listen well. "I said that "I" will not kill him. Erik broke into a smile. - There was not a word about the others. So take it and do with it as you wish. If you want, slowly take off your skin, if you want, take it apart in pieces, but if you want, just dig it in - it's up to you. He's your toy now. But I advise him to torment him for a while, maybe he will tell something else interesting.

Very good, sir. My younger brother is just a fan of such entertainment, he will be happy to serve you. And how do you deal with Meleti, because you can not just forgive him, but Esfigmen is the Monastery of Athos.

- Having started to act against me, he signed himself a death sentence. And if for him the community of the Holy Mountain intervenes, then so will they. Although, of course, I, as a kind gentleman, will give them a chance, since I do not want to shed the blood of the weak and the poor. - After these words, Eric turned and went to his apartment to continue to do business, this campaign brought a lot of benefits, not only material, but also technological, so there was a lot of analytical work and work on the mistakes.

The clash with the large militias required an adjustment in the development of his army. Yes, these strange crowds of people did not, to a large extent, have any fighting value, but there were always a lot of them. A small group of armed, albeit the most advanced weapon, it was very difficult to suppress large crowds. In the Battle of Piraeus, the horses had to be changed from a good half of the men. Warriors are warriors, but you need to form good and fairly large groups of less skilled, and, accordingly, cheap, comrades to clash with the herds of militias. Honestly, Erik did not understand the meaning of gathering such groups of people, but since there was a precedent and not one, it was necessary to react to it. While he was confronted with practically unarmed crowds, what will happen next is unknown. That is, it was decided to form an infantry battalion as an auxiliary to his squad. The reform also affected the organizational structure. Now the deputy commander of the company and the battalion relied, who was named as a junior and a senior lieutenant, respectively. And the commander of the battalion had two assistants. In addition, with each company, a working group was formed for the conduct of the army economy. They commanded a company sergeant-major, at his disposal were ten people - lieutenants. Their cottages were not red and white, but the green and white coloring, all the other insignia (belonging to the company and rank) was preserved as in the troops, the sergeant-major had the status equivalent to the drill sergeant, the lieutenant was promulgated. Their duty was to include a farm, food and supplies. The company commander subordinated directly to the lieutenant, that is, to the company commander. Especially worth noting is the project, which will be implemented upon return to Bospora, called "company kitchen". It was a large copper pot installed on a small stove-heater with an iron pipe, which, in turn, was located on an oak platform standing on a four-wheelbase from the cart. Wheels were used as in ballistic machines, that is, wooden with a bushing and spokes, reinforced with an iron hoop. One field kitchen was intended for cooking porridge for a standard company, that is, up to two hundred people. In the front of the wheelbase, a stock of firewood for the stove was transported for 3 days of use. For the transportation of the kitchen, a pair of horses, harnessed as if in a van, stood out. The cook was in charge of the kitchen, who was one of the lieutenants of the sergeant-major. All the waggons were in four-wheeled waggons covered with waxed cloth, and four waggons were drawn to each company. In addition, each company introduced a medical support squad of three people - a paramedic and two of his assistant - a lieutenant. They wore white cottages, a paramedic was equivalent to a sergeant, and his assistants - to promises. Their task included treatment, prevention and other, related medical duties in relation to the company. The standard standard-bearer was also introduced - the signifier at the company, the rank equal to the sergeant, at the battalion - the equalizer, equal to the lieutenant. Changes have also affected the structure of the direct combat troops. First of all, groups and platoons. It was decided to increase the maximum number of the group from 5 to 10 people, that is, it could now contain from four to nine miles (warriors) and one promile (corporal). In the same way, the order of manning a platoon was changed, which now could include from two to six groups. Thus, the number of the company now ranged from 35 to 368 men only by combatant forces. As a standard, the following ratio was established: 4 groups of maximum strength in the platoon, 4 platoons in the company and 4 companies in the battalion. Thus, now the standard infantry of the company had 166 men of combat personnel and 181 full-strength personnel, and the battalion, respectively 667 and 728 men. A separate artillery platoon was to be deployed to an artillery company and to increase the number of ballisticists. In artillery remained the minimum number of the group, which performed the function of ballistic service. Thus, the artillery company, having four groups per platoon and four platoons, could serve sixteen ballistaes, its total strength reached 101 people. Of course, it was planned to gradually transfer all the artillery personnel to the squad itself, and to recruit new members from the graduates of the academic center of Bosporus. The fact is that there were no specific combat skills and qualities for the artillerymen, so they could be recruited from ordinary people, not warriors. The introduction of separate auxiliary cavalry units has not been relevant so far, since the squad is still coping with its tasks, so it was premature to consider the structure for them. At the end of his thinking, Eric came to the conclusion that his industrial capacity was clearly not enough to equip the army, since his manufactory produced only 250-260 first-class crossbows of a new design a year. This was extremely small, so it was decided to deploy a workshop for the production of composite horn arcs and a lightweight modification of the block crossbow. This will allow at least somehow to compensate for the shortage of high-quality small arms for the first time.

The situation with Athos was very unpleasant. It was very desirable to arrange a slaughter there, but this meant breaking with the Orthodox church apparatus. Therefore, it was necessary that there was some adequate character, for example, the patriarch. Actually, it could easily be arranged by the forces of Theodore, John was thrown information that the Holy Mountain had attracted the wrath of the secular prince and was greatly at risk. Knowing Eric's peace-loving reputation for business in Edessa, the patriarch immediately left Adrianople to the Great Lavra in order to meet our hero and dissuade him from hasty decisions. Having received confirmation of the arrival of the desired character at the desired address, our hero slowly began to meet for a meeting. How long, shortly, but on the tenth June on the horizon appeared the shore of the holy peninsula, just the one from which no more than half an hour walk to the laurels. His ships waited - from a small rock, just leaving the sea, some figure jumped off briskly and ran towards the monastery. Everything turned out as it should have turned out. Landed with all his strength, he did not, he collected only officers from the first two mouths that were in new armor plates, and with them went ashore. There he was already waiting for a small delegation headed by John.

" Good day to you, good man. "I am glad that you immediately arrived in these lands for their salvation and admonishment. Judging by our correspondence, you are very wise and it will be pleasant to talk with you.

" And you have a good day, Prince Eric. "If you wanted to talk with me, why all these passions?

" I need Brother Meletius. "The community, most likely, will not give it up. I do not want to ruin the Holy Mountain, but I can not forgive him. This man hired agitators to spread rumors about me, as if I were making sacrifices to the ancient gods. And also another hula. Is this possible to forgive? The same exudation smells.

" Do not get excited, prince. How do you know that?

- I took several agitators, under torture they independently confessed that Melety sent them. Who sent my brother, I do not know.

Ok. What do you want to do with it?

" Interrogate and execute. "I want to know who my enemy is, who told him to spread blasphemy about me.

"What will you do if the brothers oppose your wish? "

" For me, their act will mean that they sold the soul to the devil and are overwhelmed by worldly passions, instead of doing spiritual things. "In other words, death is waiting for them all. I'm not going to run after them, but I'll find anyone I'll die.

- And me?

- No, you are here present as a respected person and an intermediary, and therefore can not be killed in any way.

" Do you only need Meletius's brother or something? "I feel you did not just come. Otherwise, he would have caught it quietly, no one would have known.

Right? In the Bosporus, I'm going to open a large library, and so I would like to receive from the monks a ransom of old books. It is desirable, of course, the work of the times of Aristotle, since theological works in me now in abundance.

- What could be more useful than a good book about God?

- A good book about the case.

- Dangerous words.

" No more dangerous than a sword. "Father, I hope for you and your wisdom, for it will be unpleasant for me to kill so many innocent people, all the more so busy with such an important matter as serving our Lord.

- I have to give up. I'll board the ship. I need room for maneuver in case you refuse. Till tomorrow. Good luck in your good work. And yet, you do not need to hide from people, they are hoping for you. Here and now, and not somewhere in a better world. Running and hiding in a corner is not an option. And there are defeats at all, and they need only be stubbornly accepted and held.

"You have not had them yet. "

- I'm special. - Eric turned and slowly went to the boats, which brought him with his entourage to shore. It was necessary to wait. He was completely confident in John, who will do everything right.

The rest of the day the prince spent in thought about how to develop him in the future the armament of his army. He was afraid of introducing firearms, because if it were to be introduced with a low technological level, it would not be able to outdo its new block crossbows, which is not only useless, it is also harmful, because the rest of European figures can copy the primitive guns. The result of the premature introduction of firearms is extremely pitiable - it is possible to give the enemy a good weapon, which, when used massively, will create a serious threat to his army. Therefore, it is necessary to improve and further crossbows. Of course, he does not have the ability to do this alone, on his knee, therefore - at the academic center it is necessary to create a research group. And it will need to be equipped not only with a room for exercises in writing and drafting, but also with an experimental production workshop. This creates new, very complex problems. First, you need to master the production of sheets of large paper for drawings. Secondly, it is necessary to introduce a single system of measurements in order to avoid confusion. Thirdly, it was necessary to establish the production of pencils with a slate bar, rulers, compasses, erasers and other things. Given that the rubber is still unavailable, then the erasers full ambush. Fourthly, it was necessary to put people in the digestible kind of work of Euclid, Archimedes and other basic things, making them available for operational practical application. That is, you need to create normal methodological aids, at least in geometry and mathematics, otherwise it will be of little use. As for physics, then, in fact, it does not exist at all and it will be necessary to create everything from scratch. Writing textbooks and manuals - it was the limit of his dreams, so rosy that from one thought Eric jerked as he was something extremely inedible. Fifthly, it is necessary to engage seriously in raising the technological level of production. In particular - we need new, high-quality machines, albeit almost gold at their price. Turning, drilling, pressing, rolling, drawing is only a small list of machines that need to be made. And not as he now has, but good, high quality, so that with their help it was possible to improve the quality of production and quietly seek to improve the standards of tolerances, as well as the speed, accuracy and complexity of processing the parts. Sixth, it was necessary to found the chemical industry, since now it is absent as a category, in principle. It is needed primarily to improve the quality of materials. For these purposes, you can assemble alchemists in Europe and Asia. The prince had knowledge in the field of chemistry very, very mediocre, and therefore he himself could not train and train people even at the level of good alchemists. Of course, he could ask them a vector of research, set up an experimental base and stop hopeless research, but no more. Seventh, it was necessary to do something with the population. The appearance of technological curiosities can have an unpredictable effect on the minds of medieval inhabitants. Consequently, he needed to create mass media for informing the people about what was happening in the state and creating public opinion. However, for this purpose it was simply necessary that the citizens of his country could read. In principle, this is solvable, but there is a big problem - an educated population is much more difficult to manage. That is, to control the population of religion and power is not enough, you need to create an ideology in the modern understanding of this word. This is necessary to keep the population at all levels of intellectual development within the framework of a certain common vector of development, which he himself sets. Or the one who will be after him. A dangerous, extremely dangerous toy, but if it is not done, we will eventually get mass riots led by "smart" citizens who have gone a little further than reading the syllables, and already want to remake the world in accordance with their idealistic beliefs. Here are just stupid things like "Freedom! Equality! Brotherhood! " he did not have enough here. You can not let the financial aristocracy come to power, otherwise we will get an accelerated version of the horror that was going on in the world of his past life. When the traders are in power, this is very bad, because much more important and global goals merge and are replaced by a mere uncontrollable desire for profit. They, alas, like ducks, who reached the grain - only eat and shit, no good. This is a very serious problem, since it will have to be solved not only within the framework of its now small piece of land, but with the right to build a large state with strong, centralized management. Eighth, it was necessary to begin the development of the fleet, as these terrible barrels with the sail, which make up the merchant fleet of his priestess, have absolutely poor speed and seaworthiness. It is necessary to develop three directions at once: a merchant ship, a warship, a raider. The first, of course, will carry out trade, transportation and amphibious operations. An extremely important task, since the state budget of the Bosporus and, hence, the possibility of financing research activities directly depends on trade. The latter are designed to destroy enemy fleets and siege operations, which is just as important as financial ones, because they often require power support. The latter are needed for patrol duty service on their communications and raider operations on enemy communications, whaling campaigns, messenger service, cartographic and research works and, finally, for establishing communication with the territory of America, since in ten to fifteen years they will become important to him rubber and potatoes. This is not counting silver mines and other delights. Too not an easy job. He missed technological vessels such as fishing or coastal, but he does not want to touch on this trifle - it is not necessary, since the available means make it possible to supply the population quite normally with seafood. Ninth, you need to decide something with the church, since the pope will not rest. Especially in the light of the rapid technological growth that the prince has outlined. Eric was absolutely sure that the provocation, which occurred because of Meletios, the work of the Pope, who wants to quarrel with the Orthodox clergy. Most likely, John was of the same opinion. There was no clarity on this issue at all, so it only remained to wait and balance between two dangerous predators. And finally, Demeter and her brothers. Further this could not continue, because they too obviously compromised it in the eyes of the population. But then the solution of the problem was obvious, simple and elegant - it was necessary to create a secret society of the elected, like Masons. To create a charter for them with a clear productive purpose, a distinctive sign, for example, a ring and accept all outstanding people of the state there, creating a sort of elite club. Actually, it will be a wonderful mechanism that can continue the vector of the state's development even after his death or temporary incapacity. In general, the further the case comes, the more problems there are. And the main problem is to rely on no one, as there are a lot of followers, but there are practically no like-minded people. Well, although Morrigan, having become involved in solving the problems of the Academic Center, stopped talking all sorts of nonsense, not typical for his level of intelligence and status. But even she is not like-minded. One, he is all alone, surrounded by a crowd of people who want something from him. Ooh, and with every step, with a new step, Monomakh's hat.

In the morning, Eric went ashore tired and not slept, because, carried away, worked on the development projects of his offspring all night. He was met by John in the company of his entourage.

"Good morning to you, prince. "

" And good morning to you, holy fathers. "What will please a poor person in such a beautiful morning?

" We have nothing to please you. "Because everything is very bad. Meletios was only a small piece of the cobweb that the Roman spider spread out on our land.

- Tell me, maybe I will help you in your sorrow.

" Only you can help. "The fact is that the Abbot of Esfigmen, together with the whole brotherhood, secretly accepted the Latin faith and even received the title of abbot of the monastery from the hands of Innocent himself at a personal meeting. So he tried hard to set strong and powerful people against us so that we would suffer losses.

"How did you find this out? "

- When we practically all Twenty sentenced to extradite Meletios, he first tried to dissuade us, calling you bad words, but as he saw our inflexibility, he also gave birth to the speech that we are all heretics who turned away from the true God, and similar triads. The rector of Esfigmen issued himself with a head of his own pride and incontinence. And when he realized what he had done, he hastily retired to his monastery and locked himself there with his brothers, who also retreated from the faith for the sake of worldly vanity, and prepared for the siege.

It is clear. What are we going to do now? I understand that the monastery is a tough nut to take it is not easy.

"First, we decided to untie your hands, so that no one in the Orthodox clergy considers Prince Bosporsky for the villain, we officially excommunicated the entire monastery brotherhood from the church, and we give you our blessing for a military feat against the apostates.

"Thank you, holy fathers, for your wisdom and foresight. "

" That's not all. "We know that you have few warriors, because we decided to collect the militia from all the monasteries and put you under command. You just look there, do not ruin so much, do not ruin, then we'll live there.

Excellent! Then let's get to the point: can a monastery be taken as a siege? Is there a large volume of food? Is there a source of drinking water? Are there serf crossbows or other protective mechanisms? Are there many people inside? What are they qualities like warriors?

- It stands on the seashore itself, and there is no river nearby, so water is brought there. However, own stocks in the basement tanks should be enough for a couple of months. Food is enough for about two months, according to our information, although what is really going on there is known to God alone. Siege, if you can take, then a long, many months. According to our data, there are no strong crossbows, no, no, powerful fortresses. We can not tell on hand weapons, since he stands on the outskirts and that they bought on the sly not knowingly. There are about a hundred people there, none of them had previously fought.

It is clear. And what will be the militia from the monasteries? How much number, how armed, in what armor? Do you provide them with food?

" We can set up hundreds of four strong monks. "Of weapons - spears and shields. We do not have armor, so there will not be any. We will not only supply them with food, but also you, as you do a good deed.

Ok. You understand, these people to send to the storm - it means destroying destiny. Therefore, their task will include siege work, in particular, the cordon of all approaches to the monastery. Just work on the forces, and the risk of dying a little with this outfit. Now a very important question is - do you have a plan for the monastery, the location of walls, towers, rooms and other things?

- There is, quite detailed, made up at the last repair, but why do you need it?

" In order to break down the walls less. "By the way, what kind of doors are there in the interior?

- Pine, because the lungs and rot are bad.

- Excellent. Will you help me with a dozen oak trunks? It is necessary to make small rams, so as not to interfere in the assault. I think the guys after breaking through the fortifications of the wall will start to keep the defenses in the inner chambers, where the ballista will not be able to use.

- Sound idea. There will be rams for you, we'll do it ourselves. How many people do?

- Six do small, four, three for eight, one for sixteen people.

CopyThen you can go to the port of Daphne, where they will place your ships with ship crews, and start the siege. Tomorrow we will receive the hegumen, whom we will appoint to command the militia. And get a card in the port, now it is not with you, and you can deliver it to your arrival.

Ok. Thank you for your help, Father. And, John, I'm glad that I have taken away my grief and come back to life. Eric smiled.

- Well, cunning. - The patriarch slapped him lightly on the shoulder and smiled with a kind look.

" And what, you want to watch how you dropped your hands after the fall of Constantinople? "No, it's beyond my strength. - Having said this, the prince again smiled with the most kind smile and, turning around, went towards the ships. There was a big deal to do - taking a fortified monastery.

In the evening, after Eric was placed in the courtyard, which the monks had allotted him, a patriarch, hegumen, and another clergyman arrived, who was well informed about the structure of the monastery, as he supervised repairs there. We settled for the map. It was necessary to plan the work of assault detachments - from the breakdown of the outer perimeter, to the sequential seizure of premises. Monks for the first time faced such a scrupulous elaboration of the details, and so they were surprised, but they did their best to help. They worked all night, at dawn, went to the site in order to assess the heights and compare the plan with the realities of the area. The prince spent about ten minutes silently examining the monastery in the telescope, after passing the pipe to the patriarch and offered to assess the level of equipment of the monks. John only groaned and gasped as he inspected the posts and patrols.

FROMEric, where did they get all this from?

- Apparently from the same place, where the instructions come from. Innocent has a very solid budget. Probably, it was supposed that I was going to crash here and start everything. Something tells me about the presence of even more curious surprises in this monastery.

"Do you think he's well prepared for the siege? "

'Certainly. Therefore, it must be taken by storm. Because if we delay, our beloved person from Rome can easily declare them illuminated by the light of the martyrs of God who are heroically dying from heretics. As a countermeasure, it is necessary to start distributing in the parishes a version that comrades blaspheme not only the patriarch, but also the pope and come up with some believable bike. But you need to invent something that will come Innocent on the callus and he will not be able to speak in their support.

" That's a good idea. "We will immediately proceed to implement it. When will you begin the assault?

" In two or three days. "We need to process these comrades. I heard that you have a vast farm in the monasteries, are there any leaves there last year, straw and chicken droppings?

- Of course, but why do you need it? The guys feel too sure of these strong walls. We need to remind them that their way to the infernal brazier will soon come to the finale. Why are you looking at me with such surprise? Eric smiled. - Chicken droppings are diluted with water, adding three servings of water to one portion of the litter. From last year's fallen leaves and straw we make here such balls. True they will have to be dragged down, so that they are more or less stable form. In the center of each ball we put a stone so that it can be thrown. After soaking the balls in a prepared solution and drying. You can dry it on a clay oven. Prepared in this way the balls are ignited and we throw on the territory of the monastery in large numbers.

And what will it do?

- The smoke. A lot of smoke. If you maintain a certain rate of shelling with such shells, then you can envelop the whole monastery with thick smoke and keep it at a level for a couple of days. This will greatly weaken the guys who have settled there. I almost forgot - in these balls still need to add a little wool for a puffing flavor.

- And how will you throw them there?

- Let's make a few small trebuches. Incidentally, Ignatius, "he said to the abbot leading over the militia of the monks," take me one hundred and twenty people, more fat. " You see that rock with a small plateau. They will be accommodated there, today bows will be delivered from ships, so that they can immediately begin shelling the monastery.

"But they do not know how to shoot! "

" They will not go to the monastery? "They will be divided into three shifts for forty people. Each shift will shoot at the monastery on schedule - a third shoots, two-thirds rest. This will allow them to shoot around the clock. How much time do you need to recruit people?

"I think I manage for two hours. "

Excellent! As you gather people, push them to the port, they will be armed and loaded with ammunition. And we can only wait and continue to conduct preparatory siege events.

At midnight on the same day, monks with bows began a systematic and unhurried bombardment of the monastery. The distant cordon and external patrols were made by their brethren assigned to the hegumen Ignatius, and the immediate military shields were organized by the forces of the prince in the immediate vicinity of the monastery. And not just barriers, but fortified ones, with a palisade and observation towers, which were made of wood. On the morning of the third day, a couple of miniature trebuches were built, however, they could not prepare the smoke ammunition for them yet. Only in the evening of the fourth day they began firing smoke bombs. By morning the whole monastery was hidden in thick smoke. On the sixth day of this very simple and tedious methodological activity, disinfecting the territory, stopped casting smoke bombs. On the early morning of the seventh day, an assault was scheduled. All the troops of the prince were defeated in assault columns and knew not only all their tasks and the route, but also the plan of the monastery. And now, with the first rays of the sun on the gate earned ballista. On the fourth shot one of the doors lost contact with the hinges and collapsed into the yard. Immediately after that, the artillery moved the point of fire to a well-located tower outside the gate, where, most likely, there was a well-targeted fortress crossbow. And then not one. After the second volley through the tower, the soldiers moved into the gate, forming a dense column and shields. Neither on the walls, nor in the courtyard, no one resisted them, so they decided to proceed further according to plan. They acted quite simply. A group of warriors in brigantines took a hand ram and started to beat the gate. The remaining soldiers stood to the right and left of the gate. After knocking out this improvised obstacle, the battering ram group retreated back, giving way to the shield guardians, who covered themselves with large shields - the pavis first entered the interior of the room. They were followed by arrows with crossbows. In the inner chambers, resistance was nevertheless met, but very sluggish. These monks were absolutely awful - greenish faces, big black circles under the eyes, eyes yellow. Until the hand-to hand they did not finish, they had accurate and accurate shots from crossbows. At such a distance, they were not rescued by chain mail, helmets, or shields. The bolt that hit the face came out from the back of the helmet. The progress was slow enough, as literally every door was not only locked, but also backed from the back with a log. Often I had to resort to a large ram. However, by lunchtime the whole of the ground part of the monastery was taken, and the remaining defenders took shelter in the basements. There was organized the last line of defense with several heavy cross-country crossbows, which almost at point-blank punched for the flight of the armor that stood at the end of a small corridor. Having lost one sergeant, Eric decided to go the other way. From the trebuchet they brought clay camp vessels with alcohol. Having knocked down one of them and found that there remained a gram of two hundred, he stuffed a few dilapidated rags into it and, after waiting for the matter to soak up alcohol, set fire to it, and flung a hand from around the corner toward the crossbows that had settled. Judging by the cries, he achieved the desired effect. Therefore, he ordered three more sergeants to roll into the corridor with a roll and shoot from the floor in the calculation of the fortress crossbows. But it was unnecessary. Those who were dressed in their cassocks flamed like torches and did not pay attention to the enemy. They did not even spend bolts on them - breaking through their swords. Discharging dangerous toys, the troops began to move forward. Before them was, judging by the plan of the monastery, the last room, which has not yet been taken. Big hall. How many people there are unknown, like the presence of heavy crossbows. The door turned out to be very strong, we had to carry a large battering ram, however, it still succumbed. Behind her was a man of fifteen with spears, standing so that any incoming came under attack from several fighters. Among them were two men in expensive armor. After giving the necessary instructions, Eric watched as one after another fell monks, struck in the face of powerful crossbow from a short distance, in the end there were only these two. The prince himself came out to them and, catching their hands a synchronous blow to the chest, pressed their spears under their armpits. His people did not lose their heads and very quickly fell in and twisted these comrades. As expected - it was the rector Savvas and his assistant Meletios. They were awaited by the very terrible and fascinating fate of a long torture interrogation.

The rest of the day together with the monks were busy fixing the order in the monastery - they relieved of the armor and carried corpses to the hall of the main church for burial, collected weapons, ammunition, dismantled serf arbalests and so on. Actually, the last ones were left as a gift to John, so that he could strengthen the Great Lavra with them, since they had absolutely nothing to Eric. According to general estimates, it turned out that the monastery was protected by two hundred and thirty-two people, more than half of whom were not monks. Simple fighters had quilted gambesones and aketons, non-commissioned officers supplemented the last with chain mail, and several officers wore scaled armor from Bulgarian workshops. By the way, only twenty people were killed by arrows, however, on the armor a large number of hits were counted. Apparently the rock was not high enough and the effect of the Crimean Sugdei could not be repeated. Losses from the prince turned out to be rather modest - five miles and two promiles were slightly wounded and one sergeant was killed. Savvas and Meletia were tortured in separate rooms of the basement, spaced at the maximum distance. Of course, the patriarch personally attended the interrogations of both and learned a lot of new things. In general, the assumption that all this papal intrigues was fully confirmed. As for these two activists, a very unenviable fate awaited them. They hoped that sincere repentance would alleviate their fate, and therefore they laid out everything they knew practically without torture. True, this did not save them, but even on the contrary - it aggravated the punishment. Since they not only once already betrayed their own, but also surrendered without much resistance to their new suzerain. Therefore, realizing that they do not know anything else, they cut the skin alive alive, after binding and having abundantly salted with large salt, wrapped the sheet. Further placed on one common boat under sail and sent to the wind away from the shore. The loch, which served them as the last swimming device in life, had a small leak, and the comrades were located on a small hill, so that up to the day of torment they had. Afterwards they went to the bottom with the boat. Cruel, but an excellent edification for future traitors, as all the monks of the Holy Mountain learned about their fate. All the armor and weapons, of course, the prince took as a trophy, while the patriarch pleased him with beautiful manuscripts, a number of which dated back to the times of the ancient Latin empire. A special charm was Aristotle's "Rhetoric" in two parts, that is, the lost, mystical second part, about which so many legends were composed in his world, was now in his hands. Although, of course, the numerous manuscripts of Roman engineers, designers, seamen, artisans, and scientists were of particular value, a whole heap of ancient but extremely useful texts. There were also texts in ancient Greek, which turned out to be lists of ancient Egyptian, Sumerian and Babylonian works on astronomy, which in itself is a very large and surprising rarity. This is not just the titanic volume of the text in the form of more than twenty thousand scrolls on the works of Greek scholars themselves, such as Archimedes, Pythagoras, Aristarchus of Samos, Democritus, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Eudoxus of Cnidus, Eratosthenes, Apollonius of Pergus, Hipparchus, Hippocrates , Ptolemy and others. It was a truly amazing wealth that would allow, with proper approach, to organize a phenomenal leap forward even without the knowledge of the prince himself, received in the distant future. Such a rich catch of useful books to him, even Athens and Constantinople did not bring. In general, slowly loading and gathering, Eric was able to sail to the side of Constantinople only on the first of July. On the way his squadron noticed a strange ship, which, having noticed it, turned in the opposite direction and decided to flee. Once runs, then guilty. Therefore, our hero drove him into one of the bays of the coast and took to boarding. After the search, he was waiting for a surprise - in the hold, disguised as a simple sailor, the former Emperor Alexei III was hiding, who was sailing yes it's actually not important where he sailed, since his journey was over. Eric dragged him into his cabin, closed the door, took out of the drawer a sheet of blank paper, an inkwell, a bundle of feathers and other writing materials.

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