Temple Sword

Chapter 20 Czechs, Italians and Hungarians

"Wake up!" Umberto shook Antal, his voice sounding tense, "Get up, you sleepy!"

The boy opened his eyes with difficulty. He had never seen Umberto so depressed. His face was red and his hair was messy.

"What's wrong?" he murmured sleepily, having only slept for a while.

"We must get out of here immediately!"

"Right now?" Antal rubbed his eyes, "What are you talking about?"

"Can you ride now?" Umberto asked as he threw Antal's things at him. "Get dressed now, do you hear me?"

"I can ride a horse," the boy sat up, he didn't know what made Umberto so nervous, and his nervousness began to spread to himself. "I've regained my strength, probably."

"Then we can go, let's go now!"

Umberto rushed out of the courtyard without explaining what happened.When he returned drenched, Antal was waiting for him to give himself an explanation.

"I've got all the harness and food on the horse," he said. "We'll eat on the way. Let's go. It's raining now, but we have no time to waste."

Antal shook his head stubbornly, "I won't leave here until you tell me what happened." He announced, "What are you in a hurry for?"

"We must leave Buda immediately," said Umberto, determined not to wait for Antares to obey: he took the boy by the wrist and dragged him into the rain, "maybe nothing will happen, maybe we can wait later If we leave, there may not be any conflicts, but if there is an emergency, it will be too late for us to leave!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Damn it!" Antal asked angrily, walking out into the muddy streets to find the whole city commotion, everyone in a hurry like Umberto.The passers-by who ran past him were obviously trying to avoid something, and the residents of the town locked themselves in their houses.

"Uneasy bad news came at dawn this morning," said Umberto, mounting his horse. "Wenceslas of the Przemysl family has been crowned."

"What?" Antal also saddled, Umberto had already started riding towards the gate, and the boy was forced to follow him, "Why?" He tried to shout over the pouring rain, "Esztergo Hasn't Grigory, Archbishop of Tom, already crowned Charles Robert as king?"

"Charlie is only wearing a temporary crown!" Umberto reminded, trying to pass through the crowd as quickly as possible, his horse's hooves crackling on the soft and muddy ground, "Yesterday...or maybe the day before yesterday...the lords gathered at Fort Sekesbah."

"Lords? Which lords?"

"Everyone, except the southerners. Wenceslas changed his name to Wenzel and was crowned with the Holy Crown. Now we have two kings in our kingdom, one is sitting here in Buda, and the other is coming here."

"Come here?" Antal suddenly reined in his horse and stopped, "Are you bringing an army?"

"It should be, don't stop, you fool!"

"How many soldiers? Are they going to lay siege to Buda?"

"I don't know, I don't know how many soldiers Wenceslas brought, and I don't want to know," Umberto opened his eyes vigorously in the rain, "Anyway, for a 12-year-old boy, it's not something he can resist quantity."

"Umberto, wait a minute!"

"What's the matter?" asked Umberto, turning around. "Antal, we don't have time! We have to get out of here!"

"Agnes..."

"Who?"

"The innkeeper's daughter," explained the desperate boy, "I must go back to her, she may be in danger."

"No!" Umberto resolutely denied, "You can't go back! She may not be here anymore, if she is, she has reached the age to protect herself, the hotel owner is not stupid, he will make sure his Daughter will not be harmed, trust me, Antal, listen to what I say!"

Antal, however, did not want to listen to him, and wandered through the rolling crowd, looking now at Umberto in pain and now at the hotel they had just left.

"Come on, kid!" the singer begged, "You can't say goodbye to her anyway, and it might be the best thing for you..."

"In this crazy world, who knows what's best?" Antal asked, finally making up his mind.

He slowly turned Sarecher around and was about to ride back to Agnes, not knowing if he would find her, or what he would say to her if he did.He only knew one thing, and that was that he couldn't leave her here.If fighting broke out in the city, she could face various dangers.

"Come back to me!" cried Umberto.

"You can beat me until my head is bleeding, you can pick up another hundred wooden sticks and whip me, it doesn't matter if you beat me to a bloody mess," the boy looked at him with burning eyes, "but I still want to go back and find her! "

Knowing he had no other choice, the Italian yanked Adso's reins and turned his horse around, completely ignoring passers-by who stood in their way as they jumped aside in panic.He rushed to Antar's side, took out his tin cup without hesitation, held it in his fist, and punched Antar's head directly.

The boy fainted immediately, and before he could fall from the horse, Umberto caught him and pulled him like a sack of flour onto the saddle in front of him, then grabbed Saleche by the reins, and again Turn around and continue riding towards the gate.

Now pulling two horses and riding one himself, it was almost impossible to squeeze his way through the crowd, but he had no choice.

"You'll thank me," Umberto murmured, not convincing the boy who had passed out, but himself. "It's good for you, you'll see, it's better to do this..."

The singer rode on without looking back, his heart on the verge of breaking.

(End of this chapter)