“Henry…” Radzig began, his voice dropping into a dangerous, disbelief-laden register.
“Who I expressly told to stay at Talmberg.”
Radzig stepped away from the high table, taking two slow steps toward the center of the hall.
“Henry, what in God’s name are you doing here?
If I remember correctly, I specifically asked Divish to ensure you did not set foot outside his walls.”
Henry kept his head up, meeting his liege lord’s eyes.
He did not cower, though the air in the room was heavy enough to crush a lesser man.
“Sir Divish did as you asked, my Lord,” Henry said, keeping his voice steady.
He barred the gates to me.
“Escaped?” Radzig echoed, incredulous.
“You slipped past a garrison of armed guards in a fortified castle?”
“I had to go back, my Lord,” Henry said softly, though there was an unyielding iron beneath his words.
“I had to bury my parents.”
Captain Bernard took a aggressive step forward, his brow furrowing into deep furrows.
“Had to?!” Bernard barked, his rough voice echoing off the vaulted stone ceiling.
“Do you think you were the only soul in Skalitz who lost someone in that slaughter, boy?
The others had the sense and discipline to listen to their lord!
They stayed where they were told!”
Radzig held up a single hand, silencing his captain without turning around.
He looked at Henry, his expression softening just a fraction, a shadow of profound, private grief passing over his features.
“Martin…
your father was a remarkable man,” Radzig said quietly, taking a slow breath.
He paused for a long, heavy moment, his throat tightening slightly before he added, “…and your mother, Henry…
she was remarkable, too.” He closed his eyes briefly, as if seeing their faces in the ashes of the village.
“They deserved a Christian burial.
Did you at least manage to give them that?”
“Yes, my Lord,” Henry answered firmly.
“I gave them a proper resting place.
And that is why I have come to report to you now.”
“Report, you say?” Radzig asked.
He turned back toward the high table and sank slowly into his chair, taking a sip from his goblet before setting it down.
He gestured with a open palm.
“Very well then.
Tell us what you have to report.”
The hall went still.
Sir Hanush folded his thick arms across his chest, the Vicar leaned forward attentively, young Hans Capon rested his chin on his fist, suddenly intrigued by the sight of a common blacksmith’s boy .
“My Lord,” Henry began, pacing slightly forward so his voice carried across the stone chamber.
“After I escaped the walls of Talmberg, I made my way back toward Skalitz on horseback.
When I approach near the village of Rovna, I spotted thick columns of black smoke rising over the trees.
I dismounted, hid in the brush, and crept closer to see whether it was surviving villagers or bandits.”
“And what did you find?” Radzig asked, his brow furrowing.
“Scavengers, my Lord,” Henry said, his tone turning cold.
“A pack of human vultures stripping the ruins.
They had completely looted Rovna—robbing the houses, the granaries, and the church.
They had gathered a massive haul of grain, salted meats, tools, and supplies.
The very food that I have now brought back to Rattay in my cart.
Your guards at the lower gate are taking inventory of it as we speak.”
Radzig’s eyes widened slightly, a flicker of genuine worry in his gaze.
“And what of the scavengers?”
“I ambushed them, my Lord,” Henry stated plainly.
“And I killed them.”
Sir Bernard glanced over at Hanush, his brow furrowed in quiet disbelief.
Here was a blacksmith’s lad barely grown into his boots, standing before two seasoned war-captains and claiming he’d wiped out a camp of hardened pillagers.
Sir Hanush leaned forward, his heavy ringed fingers tapping against the oak table.
“Go on, boy.
I’m listening.”
“After clearing Rovna,” Henry continued, “I led my horse, up through the lower valley toward Skalitz.
I knew the main road would be watched, so I left the horse outside near the farmstead to wait for darkness.”
Captain Bernard gave a sharp, approving nod.
“Smart. Get faster updates on g.com.
At least you didn’t march straight into the open in broad daylight like a complete fool.”
“When night fell,” Henry said, “I took the hidden footway up behind the cliff face, past the timber works, and entered the village through the rear passage by the castle wall.
I carried my parents’ bodies to the green…
next to the linden tree.” Henry’s voice tightened slightly, but his gaze remained steady.
“My father always said he wished to rest under the shade of that tree.
I dug the graves, said the prayers, and buried them properly in sacred ground.”
Radzig looked at Henry with deep, solemn respect.
“You did right by your parents, Henry.
May God grant their souls eternal peace.”
“May they find peace,” Father vicar murmured, crossing himself gently.
Hanush rubbed his beard, leaning back in his chair.
“If I remember correctly, Radzig…
wasn’t this boy’s father forging a new sword for you?
A custom piece?”
Radzig turned his gaze back to Henry.
“Indeed.
The sword Martin was finishing on the day of the attack.
Where is it, Henry?”
Henry lowered his head slightly.
“I lost it, my Lord.”
“Lost it?!” Sir Hanush boomed, throwing his hands up in dismay.
“God’s teeth, Radzig!
You told me yourself that blade had a pommel folded from finest steel and balanced for a prince!
It cost more to craft than it would take to arm two foot soldiers in full harness!”
“I lost it saving a life, my Lord,” Henry interjected clearly, his voice cutting through Hanush’s thunder.
Hanush blinked, caught off guard by the boy’s calm boldness.
“A sword is just steel, my Lord,” Henry said, looking Hanush in the eye.
“It can be forged again.
A girl’s life can’t.
I wasn’t going to let Cumans butcher another soul while I stood by with a blade in my hand.”
Hanush stared at Henry for three long seconds.
Slowly, a wide grin spread across the older lord’s red face, and he let out a loud, booming bark of laughter.
“Ha!
By God, Radzig, the boy has boldness !
You can’t deny it!
A sharp tongue and a clear head!” Hanush leaned forward, grinning.
“And who was it that was worth my noble friend’s finest blade, lad?”
“Theresa, my Lord.
The miller’s daughter from Skalitz,” Henry replied.
“Her father and her brothers were slaughtered during the assault.
When I found her near the outer storehouses, two Cumans had dragged her into the barn.
They were trying to rape her.”
The jovial atmosphere in the hall vanished instantly.
The mention of Cumans brought a chill to the warm room.
“I couldn’t just stand there,” Henry said, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
“I know I fled when the attack first began—my father told me to run, and I obeyed.
But when I saw Theresa…
I knew I couldn’t run away again.
Even if it meant my death.
I thought…
if I died trying to save someone, at least my life would have meant something.”
Hans Capon leaned forward, his arrogant smirk entirely gone, replaced by a look of intense, quiet curiosity.
“Two Cumans?
On your own?
How?”
“I stalked them from behind the rain barrels,” Henry explained, his tone flat and methodical.
“The first one had forced her to the ground and was tearing at her skirts.
I drew my hunting crossbow, took aim, and shot him straight through his groin.”
Hans Capon winced visibly, crossing his legs and instinctively bringing a hand down to cover his own lap with an audible gasp.
Hanush let out a sharp grunt, squirming slightly in his seat. This story is hosted at g.com.
“The bastard shrieked and dropped,” Henry continued, not missing a beat.
“The second Cuman turned on me, drawing his sabre.
I reloaded as fast as I could and shot him through his sword arm before he could strike.
Then I closed the distance, drew my father’s steel, and fought him until he stopped breathing.”
“Good Lord above…” Father vecer muttered, crossing himself again.
“If you slew them both,” Hanush asked, leaning over his elbows, “how did you lose the sword?”
“Theresa,” Henry answered.
“In her rage and trauma, she grabbed the sword from my hand and drove it repeatedly into the dying Cuman as he screamed.
The steel jammed deep between his ribs and armor plate, trapped tight.
Before I could wrench it free, the dying shrieks alerted a larger patrol of bandits nearby.
They swarmed the alleyway.”
Henry paused, sweeping his eyes across the seated lords.
“We were forced to abandon the blade and hide inside the cellar drainage works.
But while we were concealed beneath the floorboards, the bandit leaders gathered directly above us.
They didn’t know we were there…
and they talked.”
At this, every ear in the Great Hall perked up.
Even young Hans Capon leaned so far over the table his velvet sleeve nearly dipped into a gravy boat, listening as though he were a spectator in a grand chivalric tale.
“Speak, Henry,” Radzig commanded, his voice sharp and intense.
“What did you hear?”
“The leader of the pillagers—a massive, bald brute of a man whom the others called ‘Runt’—was giving orders,” Henry reported.
“He spoke of a stronghold hidden deep in the forest.
A massive rally point situated in the woods between Talmberg and neuhof.”
Captain Bernard’s eyes narrowed instantly.
He leaned toward Radzig, his face dark with grave realization.
“My Lord…
if what this boy says is true, that is the stake Sigismund has driven into our heart.
He leaves a hornets’ nest of mercenaries in our rear so we cannot gather our levies or march north to join the other loyalist lords!”
“You’re right, Bernard,” Radzig said grimly, his knuckles whitening against his chair.
He turned back to Henry.
“Did you gather anything else, boy?
Think carefully.
Any names?
Any targets?”
“Yes, my Lord,” Henry nodded.
Runt mentioned that they are actively rallying every disgraced mercenary, deserted bandit, and Cuman raider in the province to this forest camp.
And he said they are preparing to strike somewhere big—a target that will cripple the local nobility completely before the autumn rains.”
“Did he name the target?” Hanush demanded, his booming voice tinged with genuine concern.
“No, my Lord.
He gave no name to the place before they rode off,” Henry said.
“Theresa and I took the cart through Neuhoff on the way to Rattay, but three men came out of the treeline and set upon us.
We managed to fight them off together, tied them up in the back of the wagon, and hauled them down to her uncle’s mill for the night.”
Henry gestured toward the courtyard below.
“I fought them off.
I killed their leader and managed to overpower and bind the other two.
I have brought them alive in the back of my wagon, along with their weapons and armor.
They are tied up outside right now, ready for Captain Bernard’s men to question.”
Silence settled over the hall again, heavier this time.
Sir Hanush stared at Henry, then let out a low whistle and glanced toward Radzig.
Bernard merely scowled, looking the lad up and down as if trying to figure out how a forge boy managed to pull it off without getting himself killed.
Radzig slowly rose from his seat.
He walked over to Henry, standing close enough to look down into his face.
Radzig looked down at him for a long, quiet moment.
For a second, the lord’s stiff posture melted away, replaced by an expression raw with relief and something deeper—something almost paternal.
“You have done remarkably well, Henry,” Radzig said, his voice deep and warm.
“Far beyond anything anyone could have asked of you.
You saved innocent lives, you recovered vital provisions for our people, and you brought us the first real intelligence we have had since the castle fell.”
Radzig placed a heavy, firm hand on Henry’s shoulder, squeezing tightly.
Also, you can comment if you think there is something missing in the chapters or like certain ideas.
If the ideas are good, I may use them.
Comment if you can so I know if I’m going in the right direction or do I have the audience to keep writing.