Temple Sword

Chapter 112 No Banquet Tonight
Charlie sat in the dark and empty throne room, nearly mad with worry.At each sound, at the echo of footsteps, he looked up to see if anyone had brought news.He drove away all the people around him, wanting to be alone and think.

Will it be a boy?

Then he realized that this was by no means the most important question.

Can she survive?

A young man rushed into the dark hall, and the king jumped from his throne, knocking over the goblet full of wine.When Charlie walked in, he realized that the man was the priest who helped his wife give birth.His throat constricted with fear, and he could not utter a word, but stared at the priest with wide eyes.

"It's a girl," said the priest tremblingly. "At your wife's request, the girl's name is Catherine."

"Did you baptize her?" Charlie asked hoarsely.

"Yes, as you ordered, Your Majesty."

Charlie nodded. It was customary for each child to be christened within a few weeks of birth, with a godfather carefully chosen, but none of Charlie's children lived long enough to be christened.

In desperation the king thought of a way, if his newborn was blessed with baptism immediately at the moment of birth, maybe the Lord would protect his little servant and give him strength from dying.

But the priest's words still broke the king's heart.

"There is hardly any life in her, my lord," said the priest with tears in his eyes, "I think you must be strong now, and then choose..."

"Choose?" Charlie responded in a ripped voice. "Choose what?"

"You have to decide if you are strong enough to see your baby one last time because she won't live until tomorrow."

The priest was a loyal servant from whom neither the chroniclers nor the knights nor the church dignitaries learned of the Hungarian king's choice, but he knew that Charles could not have been strong that day.

Charles Anjou fell like a helpless cloud on the stone of the throne room, weeping on the cold ground.

---

Antal woke up in the middle of the night, his face crumpled.He sat up abruptly on the bed and looked around in a daze and confusion.He hadn't slept so deeply for many years, and for a moment he didn't know where he was.

His mind seemed to be covered with a thick fog, and every time he moved his body, his bones creaked.The room was dark, save for a little light from the open stove.

"My God!" he moaned, slowly acclimatizing to the dimness.Simon sat at the middle table, holding a half-eaten loaf of bread. "What time is it?"

"Around midnight," the squire answered in a calm and sonorous voice.

"What's the matter with you?" asked the knight in disbelief. "Didn't I tell you to wake me up before dinner?"

"There is no dinner," Simon said. "The whole castle is silent... like a cellar."

Antar didn't quite understand, he stood up, his head was still a little dizzy, walked to the table full of cold dishes, and started to eat.After seeing the barbecue on the table, the knight almost stood up and scolded Simon, but he dismissed the idea after smelling the roast wild boar.According to some views, God does not care that his servants eat wild game during Lent.

"I have a strange feeling," Antar said with food in his mouth, "I feel like a lot of things happened during the time I was asleep, so I don't mind if you say a few more words than usual. "

"The mud outside is knee-deep," Simon said. "Almost all the tents were blown away by the storm, and the damage was considerable. As far as I know, they found some dead bodies after the storm."

Antal looked at Simon in shock, with some guilt in his heart, while he was sleeping peacefully, hundreds of people were suffering outside the wall.

"I could have helped them..."

"In a storm like that, one more person or one less makes no difference," said the squire coldly. "You can't help anyone tonight, my lord, whether it's outside or inside."

"Inside?" Antal asked, "Is something going on in here?"

"Queen Elizabeth gave birth to a daughter," Simon bowed his head. "The baby only lived for a few hours. I heard the queen's scream and then her cry... I also saw them take the blanketed body away. That's why I didn't wake you up , Your Excellency, there is no dinner today."

Antal was very ashamed. Although he knew that he was helpless in the face of these horrible things, he was still very sad. It seemed that he didn't notice what happened here.It made him especially uncomfortable that he didn't reach out for help and comfort when his subordinates and those he was loyal to needed.

"What will they think of me?" Antal blurted out in despair, "When they need me, I'm sleeping soundly. What kind of person am I?"

"You are a good man, my lord." Simon looked into his eyes, "Please don't blame yourself for this, you still have time to prove yourself."

The attendant didn't say anything more, Antar didn't know what to answer, and forgot to continue eating.The room fell into a deep silence, mingled with the oppressive atmosphere that enveloped Timisoara.

(End of this chapter)