Temple Sword

Chapter 52 Bring Me Istvan's Holy Crown

1305th of All Hallows' Month (October), 10
Brno, Kingdom of Bohemia
—

The two young kings sat at opposite ends of the spacious hall at a long table.Not only were they looking at each other with disgust and disdain in their eyes, but so were the supporters around them.

The king of Bohemia and Poland, Wenceslas III, didn't even grow a single hair on his chin. He sat beside not only the dignitaries of Germany and Moravia, but also the Hungarians who did not accept the descendants of the Anjou family as kings. nobles.

Ivan Kossej and his sons, Hungarian Palatine Stevankos (Stephenkos) with roots in Bavaria, Dominique Rátót (Domonkos Rátót), Dózsa of Debrecen Debreceni), and Borsa Kopasz all leaned beside Wenceslas, eager to hang Charlie Robert on the spot.

Charlie knew this, of course, but he was not afraid of these Czech lackeys.Only a few nobles stood by his side, including Aba Amadé, lord of Genzburg, who hosted the king for nearly two years.Then came Archbishop Thomas of Esztergom, and a group of hideous-looking armored knights and soldiers. The total number of them was less than one-tenth of the number on the opposite side.

While whispering to each other, the people from the two camps stood up and pointed at the opposite side and yelled at each other, with hateful eyes and spitting out slanderous words.Under the leadership of the two crowned leaders, the two camps tirelessly circled the curve. Nine out of ten sentences are nonsense, but fortunately, there is always one sentence that is on the point.The gods and dignitaries sitting on the right side of the monarch occasionally whispered a few words into their king's ear, and stared at the opposite side, and then repeated the cycle.

Wenceslas finally announced that he was breaking off his engagement to Andrei III's daughter when Antal thought their argument would drag on until the next day, and very slowly began to list everything he was giving up title.The knight could not help noticing the eager gleam in Charles Robert's eyes, which burned more with each title Wenceslas said.

Antares noticed this early on, and throughout the journey to Bohemia the king had this gleam in his eye as he explained his plans and ideas to the chief knight who followed him.Now Charlie felt he was within arms length of officially becoming the undisputed King, and the spark in his eye was dancing horribly.

"Regarding my reign," Wenceslas said in a childish voice, "I have ruled for four years on Hungarian soil by inheriting my late father's rights, and respecting the wishes of the Hungarian nobility, this time I will renounce for good It. However, I cannot transfer my power to my enemy, Charlie Dobell, a descendant of the Anjou family, so..."

"What are you talking about, you Moravian wild dog?" Charlie jumped up from his seat. If Antal hadn't grabbed his arm firmly, he might have rushed to Wenceslas with his sword drawn in front of.

"Let me go!" He was furious, but Antal dared not let go. "You godless Slav brat, cowardly slug! Do you want war? Again? Haven't you been beaten enough?"

Archbishop Thomas also stood up, took Charlie's hand himself, and whispered something in his ear, which made the king stop his fury.He glanced at the Archbishop, then glanced back at Antal, nodded that he could let go, then straightened his clothes and hair, and sat back in his chair.

"Have you finished, Your Highness?" Old Ivan Kossergi asked mockingly, "Can we continue?"

"Go ahead," said Charlie hoarsely, waving at them, "while you can still talk..."

"My power," continued Wenceslas, sitting more and more awkwardly, "I hand over my dominion to Otto, son of Henry Wittelsbach, who also receives my loyal nobleman their support and demand that he inherit the throne."

The fire in Charlie Robert's eyes continued, but it was no longer greed, but anger and hatred.He said nothing, his lips pursed, his face pale with disgust, and he waited for the King of Bohemia to finish, and he could not help noticing that Wenceslas looked back at his nobles at the end, including Old Kossergi, the latter nodded in approval.

He didn't say another word until the meeting was over, but he never took his eyes off Wenceslas, who always turned his head the other way, avoiding his gaze.

After it was all over, Charlie was ready to leave straight away.He stood up and turned around, then whispered to Antal, "Thank you for stopping me just now."

"Who is this man?" asked Ivan Korsergi, his voice resounding through the hall, "Can His Highness, who almost became the King of Hungary, tell us who this interestingly dressed Templar is so that we can pay tribute to him? .”

Charlie Robert turned to face them, but no longer impatient, no longer mad.With a calm expression, he scanned the nobles around Wenceslas with dark eyes, and said in an ominous tone.

"He is the one who will bring me St. Stephen's crown and Otto's head."

—

"Get on the horse!" Charlie yelled, as he and his men rushed into the rain-soaked muddy yard. "We're going home now!"

The archbishop hurried ahead of him, looking hopeless.He tried his best to lift the noble robe on his body, but God still blessed him with thunderstorms from above and mud from below.

"Going home, Your Majesty?" Thomas tried to drown out the sound of the pouring rain. "But we only got here this morning! Your men are tired...and so are I! You can't keep going!"

"Can't?" the king sternly reprimanded him from the saddle. "Well, if you're tired, Archbishop, you stay here, in this den of vipers! Maybe they won't kill you..."

"You are crazy!" Archbishop Thomas responded to Charlie with a stern voice. "You slandered the king and blatantly threatened his successor. It's a good thing you didn't draw your sword there, or all of us would never come out again!"

"is it?"

Charlie looked around and saw the four hundred heavily armed horsemen surrounding him, as well as one hundred Ahmad Abba's infantry fighters.He was sure that if things really got to that point, they would die for him without batting an eye.He made up his mind quickly.

"Everyone!" he cried in a hoarse voice, "today the king of the Czechs and Poles renounced all the rights that came with the Hungarian throne. But he did not leave me the scepter to rule, Instead it was given to a Bavarian nobody. It was an open insult and I responded in the same way, open insult and threat!

I believe we cannot stay here for one more minute because we are not safe.I know you are tired, and so is the Archbishop, who just told me.So if you guys would rather stay here for a few more days to relax and enjoy ales and czech women then stay here!But I'm going back, even if I'm alone, and I'm going back to put new iron shoes on my horse and start sharpening my sword! "

People started talking among themselves, the archbishop shook his head, and Charles Robert continued to speak out, more angrily than ever.

"You know, anyone who dares to stand in my way to become king, I will kill them all!" He shouted, the veins on his neck swelled more and more, "You have been following me until now, I know better than anyone that I will not give up easily. Not now, not in the future! Any illegal claimant who covets the crown, the result will only be death! Rebellious nobles, no matter how powerful they are, the punishment for resistance is death! Traitors and Robbers, they deserve only public execution! I will fight to the last moment, and I will not give up until I bring peace to the Kingdom of Hungary and her people! Any foolish rebel who tries to disturb order and tranquility will be killed, Nobody collects the corpse!"

People nodded in agreement, some cursed the Czech, some raised their swords, but Charlie didn't finish his sentence.

"We will no longer be cowards and rascals, bargain with traitors, sell honor for money! If Wenceslas and his traitor nobles want war, we will give them war! I assure you, if there is a war , Day and night, to leave a history of blood! Whoever returns with me today, and does not feel tired, can share the same hatred with me, and share weal and woe! This is not only the will of the royal family, but the will of God!"

The king set the crowd ablaze in the heavy rain, the foot soldiers hammered the wooden handles of their spears on their shields, and the riders clanged their swords, sabers and maces from the sides of their saddles, assuring the king of their loyalty and fighting determination will.

Archbishop Thomas looked up at the monarch, drenched and trembling, like a statue stuck in the mud, he wanted to say a lot, but no sound came out of his throat.Charlie Robert looked at him and spoke again.

"Don't blame me, Archbishop," he said more quietly, "I don't want it to be like this."

The archbishop struggled to free his feet from the loathsome mud, shook his head, and staggered back into his comfortably closed carriage with the help of his servants.

(End of this chapter)