Temple Sword

Chapter 89
1311th of St. John's Month (June), 6

Buda, Hungary
—

For a whole week, large and small garrisons, or the remnants of the garrisons, arrived in the capital continuously.Some of the troops who tried to resist Mate Chak's army, believing they could save the villages they were guarding, were either wiped out or left with only one or two living wounded.They had no choice but to rush to Buda and hold the city against the arrival of the oligarch's army.

There are also some garrisons who did not see Mate Chak's army and fled the place they were in charge of without fighting. They either went straight to Buda or fled wherever they saw.Few choose the latter, as they would have to loot villages along the way for food and water, and many surrounding villages have been razed to the ground.

People rushing to Buda are both good and bad for the city.The garrison and all the men accompanying it could be useful in the war, but with them a great number of old men, women and children also sought refuge in the city, and Buda could not turn them away.

For four days on No.20 of the month of St. John, there was still no strong army inside the city walls of Buda, but the streets were already crowded with refugees who had nowhere to go.To the left came the curses of soldiers guarding the castle, and to the right came the cry of a baby.The priests bless the knights in Latin, and the begging sounds of beggars also seep into the hustle and bustle of this crowded city.

"Another team!" Sitali, the little fellow next to Lily Knight exclaimed, "A dozen...no...21 light cavalry!"

If only he could be a knight now, he thought, as strong and brave as the man he admired.Even in this tense situation, he still looked dreamily at Antal's snow-white cloak and the coat of arms on the knight's chest.

Before he was sent to the king's court, the boy was terrified at home, because it was said that King Charles' right-hand man was a murderous black knight, who wore a black cloak, spoke few words, and was in the company of demons.Now he knew it was just a malicious lie: William Bartol's son Antar was no Black Knight, he wore white robes like the Templars, never missed a prayer, and was always nice to him.

"You have good eyesight, my boy Mathias," the man praised, before motioning to the guards below to let the riders in. "Will you come with me?"

"Of course, my lord!" The little guy nodded happily, and quickened his pace, fearing that he would not be able to catch up with the knight who was rushing down the tower to meet the cavalry team.

When they came to the tower, the gate and its iron bars were raised, and the guards let the riders into the yard.They all looked like energetic fighters, not like fleeing survivors who were being hunted down.

They all rode small, galloping thoroughbreds, and over their oriental robes they wore light leather armor with special decorations that also protected their shoulders.They wore hard leather helmets on their heads, and armguards also made of leather on their hands.Scimitars hung on their sides, and a compound bow hung on their saddles.They were all armed with spears and axes, and some immediately had maces hanging from them.Antal looked at them with satisfaction and nodded.

"Thank God you're not Mate Chuck's cavalry," he joked, "or you'd be giving us a lot of trouble!"

"We are here to protect Buda." The leading young man stepped forward, unlike the others, he had a white tassel on the top of his helmet, other than that he was no different from the other twenty riders. "I am Waik of House Flo."

"We are very glad to have you join us, Master Vaik!" The knight smiled at him, "Unfortunately, under such circumstances, there are not more warriors like you coming."

"We're all coming," replied the young warrior, who still had no intention of leaving the saddle. "My father sent all his men here when he found out Mate Chuck was marching on the king, and I was one of them. Where is the commander of the castle?"

"I am," said Antar, "but there are two besides me. My name is Antar, son of William Barto."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to talk to the other commanders too."

"Not at all," said the Lily Knight. "We are honored to have you here, Lord Vaik, please follow me."

"On foot?" Watching Antal walk towards the city on foot, Vajk asked, "Hungarians only negotiate on horseback!"

"Yes, you'd better walk," Antar turned to look at him, "every street in the city is crowded with refugees, and it's impossible to cross Buda on horseback."

Vajk Flo dismounted with a curious expression and shook his head.He entrusted the reins of his horse to his companion, and with his white tasseled helmet tucked under his arm, he followed the Lily Rider.

-

"Who is your father, Lord Vajk?" asked William Bartow.They took their seats in the chapel that had been converted into a command room, keeping the rowdy crowd out.

Opposite the man sat three men: Antal, Frank's son Thomas Semsey, and William.Charles entrusted the defense of the city to them, as they were his most loyal and reliable followers, and he himself was forced to stay in the Kamokhov Palace with the women and children.Of course, this wasn't the King's original plan, he wanted to fight, to bleed, to face Mate Chuck and tear the mighty oligarch in two.

But this time, in addition to Archbishop Thomas of Esztergom, his knights also stopped Charlie. They knew that the purpose of Mate Chak's siege was to take the king and his queen as hostages.Cardinal Gentil also intervened when Charles refused to listen to them.No one knows what the cardinal had said to him in private conversation with the king, but Charles paled in compromise and shut himself up in the Kamokhov Palace.

"My father is Joseph Flo," said the young warrior, standing proudly before the city's commanders, "a descendant of the glorious leader Gyula Flo, who in turn was the son of the great Horka Flo. Descendant."

The three of them looked at each other, they didn't know who Holka Flo was, and they had never heard Gyula Flo's name, but the young man in front of him listed the names of his ancestors like the king of the Alpad family. name.

"Mate Chuck has leveled everything west of here," Vaik Flo continued. "He left behind only smoking ruins and corpses everywhere. You better know that there is no time to prepare. His army will arrive here at dawn tomorrow."

"Where are you from?" William asked, "Antal said you didn't look like you've been at war, but there are Mate Chuck's soldiers everywhere."

"Oh, my father didn't fight Mate Chuck," Wajk laughed for the first time. "My father played them with their brains."

The three looked at each other again.

"What did your father do, Lord Vaick?" Thomas Semsey asked. "Did he trick Mate Chuck's entire army by himself?"

"Joseph of the Flo family bought Buda a whole day," Vajk said, "but you don't have to thank me, we are not used to receiving thanks..."

Antar stood up from behind the table, poured the wine into a tin cup, handed it to the leather armored warrior, and pressed it in his hand.

"Tell us, Lord Vajk," he asked cheerfully, "what did your father do?"

Waik Flo nodded to the wine and drank it all in the blink of an eye.His expression was no longer serious, but he said with a smile.

"He arranged and entertained Mate Chuck and his whole army. He served them his best wine and roasted cattle, sheep and pigs on the grill all day. Joseph F. Lo fed these three thousand sons of bitches before they died!"

The commanders of the castle chuckled, but also became worried.

"3000 people?" Thomas Semsey gasped, "We only have 600 people here to fight!"

"Three thousand people," confirmed Vajk, "while they were eating and drinking, my father cursed at Charlie Robert Anjou, and even Matey Chuck couldn't help nodding his approval. Morning , he sent the army on the road, and pointed out a shortcut to Buda, suggesting that they get here as soon as possible and start the siege. At the end they seemed to kiss the back of his hand as a token of thanks..."

"What did he do?" jumped up Thomas Semsey. "Has your father gone mad?"

Vajk wasn't offended by Thomas' rage. "You have to trust the wisdom of Joseph Flo, my good sir." He continued softly, "It is true that he pointed out a shortcut for Mate Chuck's army, but that road is so narrow that only a few men can To pass, and 3000 people would take a whole day."

"Your father was a rare good man, Lord Vajk," Antar said. "I wish all men were as righteous as him."

"I thought so too," Wajk agreed. "Of course, as soon as Chuck's army was gone, my father put me in charge of leading his men and immediately sent us the other way here to help defend the city. He told me that after we took Mate Chuck Don't come back until your army is defeated. He almost stopped my sister Polka, my hotheaded sister... She also wants to fight for the king, but war is not child's play, she is still too young for fighting. "

"Tell me," Thomas Semsay approached, carefully examining the man's special leather armor, "who are you?"

"Our ancestors were Huns, descendants of the great King Attila," replied Vaik, "our heroic ancestor Holka Flo and Prince Tsaba left the horseshoe prints on the Bridge of Stars, We are archers."

William almost lost his footing. Unlike the other two young men, he understood exactly what Wajk had said.He approached the warrior with gleaming eyes and a gaping mouth, and Antar feared that his uncle would kneel before the young man.

"Bow riders," the old man gasped in surprise, "I thought you didn't exist anymore."

"We are not many," Vajk touched William's shoulder, "but we will live on, Templar."

"Three thousand men, then," interrupted Thomas Semsay, who had never heard of horse archers, but was pleased to see a well-armed troop of cavalry. "Do they have any siege equipment?"

"Hmm..." Vaick thought for a while, "A battering ram and three catapults, one of the three catapults looks dangerous, but the power of the other two is not terrible."

"Great," Antar muttered, "Those catapults have given us a lot of trouble."

"Why are you so depressed, knight?" the archer scolded, "The siege hasn't started yet!"

"Nothing, Lord Vajk, it's just that the machines keep throwing boulders at us from dawn to moonrise. It's disturbing, though I haven't experienced it, maybe it's not as bad as people say..."

"Joseph Flo is a visionary, and he also considered trebuchets." Waik blinked, "We just need to endure the rain of stones for a day and a night, and when dawn comes, Matt Chuck can Say goodbye to his trebuchets."

　In Hungarian mythology, Prince Csaba was the youngest son of Attila. As a fierce and skilled warrior, he led the Huns to victory in all battles. He is the legendary leader of the Sekays.

　　But after Chaba died, the Huns had no one to replace them, and the enemies of the Huns took the opportunity to attack them.When they met on the battlefield, the enemy general laughed at the Huns and said, "Now Chaba is gone, who will save you?" But as soon as the words fell, a star-studded passage appeared in the night sky, and Chaba led an army down from the sky. .

　　Chaba and his army defeated the invaders and rescued the Huns again, and he returned three times from the "Warrior's Skyway" (Bridge of Stars) to defend his people.

　　According to some versions of the legend, he reappeared centuries later to lead Arpad and the Hungarians across the Carpathian Mountains and into the land known today as Hungary.

　　Thus, it is said that the meaning of the Hungarian name Csaba ("gift from the sky" or "gift from heaven") derives from this legend.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)