Temple Sword

Chapter 55 The Sword of the Golden Lily

Spring 1307
Esztergom, Hungary
—

The castle lord sighs every two steps.

His robe was torn, his stomach was empty, his left arm hung helplessly, and the bandage on his head was long overdue for a change.He looked at the archbishop army of the Anjou family who had conquered the castle, his eyes were dull but proud, he raised his chin slightly and puffed up his chest, although he was injured inside and out, Still confidently pacing between them.

The church dignitaries all expected the castellan to kneel at the feet of one of them, draw his sword and surrender his city.But the man didn't stop before any of them, didn't bend his knee to them, didn't even look at them.The stunned Archbishop and the ashen-faced bishops, all those who had contributed even a small number of troops to Charles Robert's new army, did not understand what happened.

Only Archbishop Thomas knew to whom this man would surrender, or rather, to whom he was willing to surrender.

To the lily knight.

Thomas himself had no idea what he was supposed to feel or think about the man, and it was complicated anyway.Ever since the king took him by his side, he regarded him as a brother!Charlie treated him as if he were the wealthiest and most powerful man in the kingdom, even though he was nothing more than a poor knight.

And if that wasn't excessive enough, the king kept giving him presents: first an incomparable ebony saddle, from which it was almost impossible to fall off, and which cost the treasury a small fortune; then the magnificent sword, For this the king had to ask directly from his grandfather, the king of Naples, a large amount of gold, as if Naples had not spent enough money to consolidate his power in Hungary; and finally the helmet, which was like a crown on the head of a knight, and also Forged for a decent amount of money, it's basically a traditional helmet with a nose guard, but Thomas has never seen such a good helmet!
The iron band on the brim of the helmet gleamed with golden lilies, and the nose guard was not a simple vertical stem of a cross, but a Christ carved in gold, like a work of art.The sides and back of the helmet are secured by corduroy shoulder straps, and the inside is covered with soft leather. Other fighters have to wear a thick and stuffy hood first, then a hood, and then an armed cotton cap. The Knights Templar can solve all this more comfortably and quickly.

Thanks to the helmet, he doesn't even have to cut off his shoulder-length black hair, as he can tuck his long hair into his helmet without any trouble, all he has to do is tie it into a ponytail, and Archbishop Thomas really appreciates it. It's not pleasing to the eye.

In return, however, the knight owed nothing to the young king: he taught Charles the use of various weapons, maces, lances and, of course, swordsmanship.As for the last item, the archbishop has never seen anyone learn swordplay in music and dance, and with a leaden wooden sword, heavier than the real thing.At first he shook his head at that, but by the end of the year Charlie Robert had no real rivals except the Knight of the Lilies.

And since the knight had proved in battle that he never stood by, but was always at the forefront, the archbishop had never said a single bad word about him.

This time, too, he decided to take a good look at the knights, wondering how the king's chief knight would fare in the event of such a momentous victory.

The castle owner stopped in front of the man on the black thoroughbred horse, and all the church dignitaries looked at him with reddened faces like cancerous pain, kneeling in front of the Templars, and slowly pulled out the The long sword damaged in the battle was handed to him with both hands.

"My sword," said the Castle Master, "belongs to the Knight of the Lilies."

Antar looked around in shock from his saddle, picked up the castle lord's sword, and accepted the surrender of the entire city?He wondered if it was the right decision to do so.Then, he saw pairs of murderous eyes staring at him, and faces full of hatred, and all his doubts disappeared in an instant.

Let these nobles in furs and velvets and gold and silver see to whom Esztergom is handed over by the conquered!He dismounted from Sarecher, walked up to the man, and took the weapon from his hand, solemnly and slowly.

The other party just looked up, and the first thing he saw was the sword in the knight's scabbard, a one-handed half grip, wrapped with velvet rope, a round hilt buckle decorated with Anjou lilies, and silver at both ends Cross gauntlets with a small cross engraved in the center.

"So this is the sword," he whispered hoarsely. "They say that among the leaders of Charlie's army, there is a strange Templar, a lily knight who cannot be wounded by the blade..."

"It would be great if that's the case," Antal smiled faintly, and then supported the castle master's elbow to make him stand up. The priests continued to blink silently. "I accept your surrender, but your sword is yours."

The dignitaries of the church suddenly erupted, "Are you going to give them back the city and let us continue to fight?" An aristocrat who looked like a sturgeon asked indignantly. He was an Italian recently appointed by Charles Robert One of the people, Antal doesn't even know his name yet.The knight ignored the question, untied a wineskin from his saddle bag, and handed it to the castle lord.

"Wine," Antar said, "drink for courage."

The man raised the mouth of the wine to his mouth and took a long, long sip.

"Okay, save some for me." Antal gently pulled the wine bag back, "Will you go to my tent with me? My people will take care of your wounds and provide you with dinner."

"Master Knight!" exclaimed the Bishop of Gyor, "Don't forget where we are! We are not here for a friendly banquet, but..."

"It's a siege, and we've won it," Antar snapped. "This man defended his position bravely, and then had enough audacity to walk between us and give us the city, So the battle is over."

"It's over?" the Italian fat priest pointed to the stone city wall stained with black smoke, black oil and black blood, "We still have some work to do!"

"doing what?"

"Give the rebels a warning, kill one to make an example!" said the bishop of Gyor.

Antal didn't answer, but his piercing gaze seemed to impale them.He grabbed the arm of the lord of Esztergom with one hand, and the reins of Sarecher with the other hand, and led them out of the encirclement of bishops and priests, to the front of countless tents, stepped on their horses, and turned back. Look around and shout with an uncompromising authoritative voice:
"From this moment on, Esztergom belongs to our King Charles again!" he cried, and then repeated the same words, and now all eyes turned to him. "He who has always ruled this city has just handed over the sword to me. You all know who I am, Sworn Knight of the Knights Templar, Servant of Jesus Christ, Chief Knight of Charles Anjou, in the name of God.

You've seen that I never back down, you've seen that I don't hesitate to strike when necessary, draw my weapon and fight!But now I want to say that we have shed enough blood!Under the walls, on the walls, behind the walls, Hungarians against Hungarians!I've had enough of this, the castle has surrendered, the fight will not continue!Anyone who kills, mutilates, tortures, or rapes in Esztergom will have to answer to me, and then I will make an example! "

Speaking of this, Antal glanced at the fat pastor in Italy and the bishop of Gyor, who were avoiding their eyes. "Tonight we shall hold a feast of victory, open the cellars of Esztergom, let the wine and ale flow, let the roast meat eat, let the singing fly! Three cheers to King Charles!"

"What is he doing?" Bishop Jere said to Bishop Thomas amidst the cheers of the enthusiastic crowd. "Who does he think he is? Is he crazy? He should be tied to a stake! Didn't he want to To be a hero, let him be a martyr!"

"Don't think about such a thing, my lord bishop!" Archbishop Thomas said in a very calm and deep voice, and he kept looking at Lily Knight with a strange smile on his face. "You speak of the king's brother, who won all our battles."

"The war will be won by our army, not by this pompous clown!" someone in the crowd interjected. "Without our support, Charlie could never have defeated Otto!"

Hearing the name of Otto Wittelsbach, Archbishop Thomas smiled even more.

"Otto, Crownbreaker, Cursed King," he murmured under his breath, which Thomas knew well, since it was he who had cursed Otto two years ago. "I wonder where he is now when his people need him?"

"They say he fled to Transylvania," Bishop Gyre said, though Thomas wasn't asking him. "He wants to use marriage to strengthen his position, and Laszlo Kan still supports him."

"You don't need to worry about Laszlo Kan," said Archbishop Thomas. "The Bavarian is killing himself anyway."

"We still have Buda to take!" Someone behind the two interjected.

"Buda will happen sooner or later," Archbishop Thomas was a little annoyed, "but you'd better be respectful now, I'm not talking to you!"

The dignitaries of the churches looked again and again at the knight of the lily on the Arabian thoroughbred horse, the former lord of the castle to his left, and the army behind him, who entered the city triumphantly, while the bishops and priests dared Angry dare not speak.

—

At night, in the most luxurious bedroom of the palace, Archbishop Thomas was wearing his velvet robe and sitting in a large armchair. He had just finished eating the roast bustard and was tasting the ten-year-old Tokay wine specially prepared for him. His young scribe appeared at the door, ready to go to work.

Janko was not yet of age, but he was already known throughout the country for his graceful scribing skills.He had recently joined the Archbishop of Esztergom, which he was delighted with because his former employer was a madman with a strange habit of always making him write stories about the Moors and never handing him any serious work.

"As I have dictated so far, Janko," said the archbishop, "every battle is followed by the same situation as before, do you remember?"

"I remember, my lord," the boy said, setting the papyrus, ink, and quill on the table. "The Knight of the Lilies didn't win battles for us, he didn't teach the king how to fight, and there were no Templars at court."

"Very good," the archbishop nodded in satisfaction, "then write..."

Yanko writes deftly in his pen that a year after the peace treaty with Otto, after a few minor battles and the recapture of several castles in the Highlands, the army in support of Anjou was led by Thomas of Esztergom Under the leadership of the archbishop, Esztergom was recaptured and Buda was to be recovered.

(End of this chapter)