Temple Sword

Chapter 156
1322, Month of St. John (June)
Skradin, Croatia

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There was great commotion both in the city palace and in the Castle of Stone Mountain.Overturned boxes, emptied rooms, chaos, servants running wild everywhere.

It is not that the enemy has invaded the territory of Muladen Subis and is plundering everything they can see, but that the Governor of Croatia himself is packing all the property he can take away into boxes and transporting them in wagons Walk.

The governor fled Trogir like a frightened animal from a burning forest, after, of course, setting fire to the surrounding farms, as was his custom.In the past few days, he has become a paranoid, terrified old man.

As the noose around his neck began to tighten, sensing the danger lurking around him, Muradan's true nature was revealed: he was utterly indifferent to his subjects, and he had little interest in the fate of his own town. All he wanted was to protect his treasure, from the goblet to the last tattered little coin.

"Get everything in order before sunset!" He gave orders to his men, "Let's go to Omis at night! It's not safe here anymore..."

Rumors came from all directions, news of subjects rebelling against the governor, news of cities and nobles abandoning the Soubis family.

The rebellion in Šibenik and Trogir spread like wildfire across the coast, and people began to realize that the tyrannical Governor of Croatia was not an invulnerable god, but that he, like them, had a mortal body.

To add fuel to the fire, the Dalmatian lord and governor of Slavonia, János Baboni, also declared war on Muladen.

They were then joined by one of the most powerful lords in Bosnia, the governor and old enemy of Muladen, István Kotromanić.

With the increase of hostile forces, the Croatian lords who were still on the sidelines also chose to betray their masters.

Faced with threats from the North, East and West, Muradden Subis had no choice but to flee south.

His enemies formed a coalition, and one could easily guess that their primary objective was to take Skradin, the heart of Muradin's domain to the north.

Muladen can only pray that his enemies don't come after Omiish, and that God will somehow help him get there.

Laszlo was fully convinced that starting a new life in Skradin was one of the biggest mistakes of his life, and he had sworn allegiance to the Governor, so what did he get out of it?A few months of peace, almost dreamlike perfection, and then everything around him collapsed again.

It was all over, he had no doubts about it.Muladen Subis has exercised his power without scruple for many years, and now his fate is sealed.

Laszlo knew that no matter how far they ran, trouble was inevitable.Their only two or three hundred people had no way of defeating this joint army that was attacking the governor.

A nobleman who spends money like water and only cares about his own comfort in his life cannot solve this dark situation. He will disappear in this chaos, turmoil and disorder like other incompetent people in history.

During this time, Laszlo had realized what kind of man his master was and how he treated his people.Muladen proved his evil in the campaign against Trogir, but that was far from the whole story.

There were rumors that some cities had been cut off from the outside world for a whole decade because Muladen, following his father's example, thwarted all their attempts to send a message.He shot pigeons with arrows, intercepted the messengers, and imprisoned the inhabitants of these cities within his walls.

He thought that the whole of the Adriatic lived only for him, worked for him, and obeyed him alone, and for a long time it did.

But power fueled by fear is not real power, it is inherently unstable and will eventually crumble.

When Laszlo thought about it, he knew that Muladen's downfall was normal and inevitable.But what can he do now?Back on the road, worrying about the survival of every tomorrow?He can't do that.

If he had to flee, he'd be with the Governor, so at least they could hold out for a while, without wanting anything, until...

until when?Until the moment of death?Is the end really that close?
Laszlo was shocked to find that he was not afraid of death at all. He took it as a natural thing, and he would face it sooner or later anyway.But if he was really going to die, there were two things he had to do before that.

In the palace stables, he almost ran into Dmitri, who was looking at him in bewilderment.

"What are you doing?" Dmitry asked loudly after seeing Laszlo come out leading his horse. "Where are you going? Have you packed your things?"

"What?" Laszlo asked back as he mounted his horse. "Before we leave here, I have to deal with something."

"The sun is already setting!" Dmitri shouted after him, but Laszlo had disappeared between the buildings.

He rode his horse through the narrow streets at great speed.He didn't know if he was going to run over someone around the corner, but he just steered the horse along the familiar route to get there as quickly as possible.

Suddenly he jerked on the bridle.

Laszlo arrived at the house sooner than he expected, and as soon as he saw the ivy-covered stone fence, his heart beat faster and his soul began to itch.

It was a strange feeling that he had only recently begun to experience, a new and wonderful feeling that he only felt when he thought of Sofia or saw her in the market.

There's no other way, he thought, jumping from the saddle.I have to tell her that even if they don't want to marry her to me, she has to know...

Then he saw the fancy-dressed company, beyond the fence, in the spacious yard of the house, bagpipes and lute players playing merry tunes, ruddy-cheeked men and women dancing their self-absorbed dance.

Everyone looked happy and content, and a little further away was a banquet table full of food and drinks, and Laszlo suddenly had a terrible premonition.

Finally he saw her among the joyful celebratory crowd.

Sophia is more beautiful than the dawn, more beautiful than the forest in full bloom in spring, she is a fairy, a fairy of beauty and love, Laszlo peeps from the low fence at this miraculous angel, his heart wants Broken.

Sophia wearing a bridal wreath.

What Laszlo saw was her wedding.

-

He did not know how long he had wandered the streets of the city like a ghost, and he had forgotten his horse, but the clever animal found its way back to the palace by itself, and waited there for his master.

Laszlo, who could neither see nor hear, was drunk and staggering along aimlessly, feeling that it was all over, that it didn't matter anymore.

A few hours later, the palace was almost empty, and Muladen's men were preparing to leave with a fully loaded carriage.Laszlo sat on a cold chair in his bedroom with a small suitcase he had stolen after his escape from Timisoara on his lap.

For him, the box symbolizes survival, and he always bets his hopes on it, believing that in a pinch, the contents of the box can bring him the last chance.

True, he'd never been able to open it, and lately he hadn't given much thought to what was in that little wooden box.

But at this moment, he wants to know one thing when the doomsday is approaching: what is it that he has been guarding and hiding for nearly a year.

He looked at the padlock, it was rusty, broken, scratched, dentted everywhere, but it just refused to be opened.

Laszlo thought for a while, stood up, lifted the box high above his head, and threw it to the ground with all his strength.

The padlock still didn't move, but the box splintered into little planks.

Laszlo came to himself suddenly, and he just stood there, standing on the debris, silently blinking and looking at his feet, not understanding anything.

There was nothing in the box but a handful of pebbles.

(End of this chapter)