Temple Sword

Chapter 57 Sadness and Joy
On the third day after the capture of Esztergom, the king finally arrived, the throne room was shining, and there was no sign of being destroyed or looted, because all the fighting took place only outside the city walls, and Antares forbade any predatory behavior.The noble lords and guild masters of the conquered city came before Charles Robert, with respectful and contented smiles on their faces, kissing his hand, offering a gift and chattering words to him Guarantee their eternal loyalty, as if they had always been on the side of the king of Anjou.

"Take this saddle and my allegiance, King of the Hungarians!"

"Great and glorious King Charles (Karoly Rex), I give you these two boxes of silver coins first, and something more valuable than all treasures: my loyalty and honor!"

"Thank you, I accept!"

"Majestic King Charles, to express my deepest respect, I offer you this magnificent sword. I dreamed that God spoke to me in a dream, and told me to give to Charles of Anjou, his son on earth. King, forge a sword and set it with gold, and put on the hilt the best gems that can be found in the mountains of Hungary, because..."

"Very good, very good, that's enough!"

Until the sun went down from the west, and the servants had to light candlesticks and torches in the hall, some people still came to pay homage to the young ruler.Charlie greeted them with a smile, but the flames in his chest and eyes grew hotter.

When at last all the courtiers and sycophants had gone, the king gave a long sigh and began the feast, eating and drinking as if he hadn't eaten in months.He had brought the musicians from Italy, the wine and beer flowed down people's throats faster than the swiftness of the Danube, and the portions of the food were reminiscent of King Charles and Mary's wedding a year earlier.

The royal housekeeper is a headache, but the prime minister is even more troublesome, because the former is only responsible for raising money, while the latter is responsible for paying off debts.The two stayed by the King's side all night, whispering incessantly in his ear.The housekeeper counted something on his fingers with a worried face, while the prime minister took out various papers and counted something on them.Finally, Charlie got tired of it all, and let out such a roar that the musicians stopped playing.

"I've had enough of you guys!" He slammed his knife on the table. "Just once, if you don't whisper in my ear about money and debts and the price of things, are you going to die? We're celebrating, eh." Stelgom is ours, now and forever, thanks to those who helped me get it back!"

"But, Your Majesty..."

"Drink! Then stuff your stomachs with chicken, game, and pigs! If you dare to leave here sober tonight, by God, I'll burn all the paper on the table on candles!"

"Musicians," whispered the chancellor, "at least you can save some money on the musicians!"

"I have no enemies!" said Charles Robert, clutching the poor man's neck, and though his statement was far from the truth, the king's speech was applauded by the celebratory crowd. "I'll be taking Buda back in a few weeks! After that, Otto Wittelsbach will have nothing to do with the royal title, and the other pretenders are better off hiding behind their lovely lady's skirts...or skirts under!"

A howl of sharp laughter drowned out the Prime Minister's first words, preventing him from uttering the second.He met the butler's eyes and thought that it would be better to have a good drink instead of pointless persuasion.He picked up the first oncoming glass, tore off a chunk of the goose leg, and put all his troubles behind him.

The king did not see Antares all night, he was used to the fact that the knight was not as impetuous as the other Hungarians, but the absence of such feasts, especially those held to celebrate the capture of the city by his army, Still very strange.

He made a bet with the Bishop of Eger on who could run down the corridor, down the stairs, to the end of the stables and back into the hall without throwing up, and that's when he found Antal in the yard.

The bishop vomited before leaving the hallway, then rolled down the stairs and twisted his ankle, which had to be carried away on a stretcher.In theory, Charlie has won the bet, but he wants to prove that he is a real man, so he runs to the stables anyway.

There he found Antar, the knight stroking his horse and seeming to speak to it.

"What's wrong with you?" Charlie asked, the nausea in his throat barely suppressed. "Is there no groom here?"

"Sarecher is no ordinary horse," Antar said, eyeing the drunken king. "I was the only one who managed to tame it, and to this day I remember the old man at the stud trying to make it into a sausage and it freaked me out. I never let anyone else take care of him, sometimes when I and When it talks, I think he understands what I'm saying, its eyes can speak."

"But...it's a horse!" Charlie Robert laughed, "You drink more than I do!"

"I do not think so."

"Why don't you celebrate with me?"

"Before you came, I buried seven of my men and sent two more crippled home." Antal turned his head, watching the moonlight shine on the black fur of the horse. "And, I'm not going to have a sip of wine until it's all over."

"You're like the chancellor and that other man!" Charlie shouted, but Antal could only guess confusedly what he was saying, "Archbishop Thomas was with me all night, I watched him all night, believe Me, he didn't even take a sip!"

"But, as I can see, you've had a lot to drink."

"That's right, you can see clearly," the king patted him on the shoulder, "Come and have a drink too!"

"If you don't mind, I don't want to go to the carnival right now," the Templar refused.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to get drunk."

"Just a glass of wine, you patron saint of virgins!" insisted the king, "your squires will finish your share soon!"

"It's okay," Antal stepped aside, avoiding the stench in Charlie's stomach, "but please tell me, Your Majesty, what are you doing here alone?"

"I made a bet with the bishop of Eger." The man puffed up his chest, "I won!"

"I don't understand what you're doing here without protection!" Antar yelled at him, "Do you want to be killed?"

"Who dares to kill me?"

"Here, in Esztergom?" The knight opened his arms. "I'm sure there are enough of them."

"If they dare to attack me, their heads will fall immediately!"

"You know it's not that simple," Antar walked up to the drowsy king, put his arm around him, and walked him into the hall, where the carnival banquet was still in progress.

"Drink with me, my friend!" Charlie yelled as he staggered along, "Please, my brother!"

"When Buda is yours, I'll have a drink with you," Antal promised, his tone softening slightly, "but I won't take a sip until then, especially among your unsuspecting nobles accompanied by them."

"One day, your principles will send me to my grave!"

Antal was about to make a witty answer, but saw a white light flashing in the darkness, it was the blade of a dagger.

Antal pushed Charlie, the king fell to the ground, whimpering, the knight's sword flew out of the scabbard, and just halfway through the assassin's movement, the long sword whizzed past in the darkness, and then stopped stiffly in midair middle.With a burst of screams, a pile of steaming fresh internal organs fell directly beside Charlie, who was wriggling on the ground, and blood spurted out rhythmically from the cut throat, dyeing Antal's clean white robe red, and the assassin fell. Down.

"Guards!" Antar yelled loudly, "Guards, here!"

A dozen spear-wielding guards arrived, and when they saw the Templar standing with their swords drawn in blood, and the two motionless corpses lying on the ground, they instantly froze into stone sculptures.They were sure they were doomed, that tomorrow morning they would be held accountable for the king's death and hanged.

When they heard the unusually lively Italian cursing, the guards' faces regained their blood, and they stepped forward to help the king to his feet.

An hour later, Archbishop Thomas called Antar to him and told him that the assassin was alone and there was no other potential threat. He was a loyal supporter of the Corsergi family and Otto Wittelsbach, so The last cloud of danger had now passed over the young king.

"Don't you think it's necessary to investigate further?" Antal asked, and the archbishop just waved his hand.

"You may rest assured, my lord knight, that the danger is over," he said too casually, "at least our good king will now remember that he can go nowhere without adequate protection, even if he thinks he nothing will happen..."

"Maybe the assassin didn't want to kill him at all," Antar said tentatively, "just to teach him to be more careful in the future."

"Who knows." The archbishop hid between his thick books and scrolls,
"It's very interesting that there are such strange things in the world," Antal continued, "An unknown assassin who didn't really want to kill people, but just sacrificed himself for a noble cause so that the people of the country could be killed." Wang don't make all kinds of human mistakes for the rest of his life..."

"Don't speculate on the will of the Lord!" the Archbishop suddenly snapped, ending the conversation once and for all.

(End of this chapter)