The Lady of the Castle (The Marie Series Book 2)

by Iny Lorentz

  Marie laughed dismissively. “She’ll give birth to a seventh daughter.”

  Judging by his expression, her words had deeply upset Lauenstein, and she smiled mischievously. She felt deserving of this small revenge on the count palatine’s scheming adviser. But quickly pushing him from her mind, she climbed down the platform stairs to hug Michel.

  “With Falko’s death, the last shadow has disappeared from our life,” she whispered to him.

  Michel nodded and tenderly pulled her close. At that moment, he didn’t look to the future, but just held Marie tight in his arms, watching Michi run across the field to congratulate him, followed by Anni, Helene, and Trudi.

  Briefly stopping next to the dead knight on their way, staring at him as if he were a defeated demon from hell, the four of them then crowded around Marie and Michel, bubbling over with congratulations. For the rest of the day, Trudi repeated the words she’d learned from Michi: “Papa great hero!”

  13.

  Marie sat on the box seat of a large oxcart while listening with a gentle and understanding expression to Janka Sokolna’s stream of praise for Junker Heribert. The young Czech woman was riding next to the wagon, steering her mare with her legs and using her hands to reinforce her words. Marie admired her riding skills, but preferred to be in the safety of the wagon, sitting on a thick leather cushion to soften the jounces of the countless potholes. She would occasionally ride her mare short distances for practice, but she wanted the trip to her new home to be as comfortable as possible, and she preferred the wagon for the most part. The kaiser had been very generous, giving her and Michel a splendid piece of land near Volkach on the Main. Marie had heard that an exquisite wine was made there, and she was looking forward to strolling through the vineyards with Trudi and nibbling on delicious grapes.

  “It’s very kind of you to provide a place for my mother and me to stay until my father and Junker Heribert have completed their mission,” Janka continued, and Marie suspected she’d regularly have to lend a shoulder for her to cry on in the future.

  She smiled at Janka. “But of course. After all, your father looked after my husband for more than two years. I’m sure it won’t be long before Junker Heribert returns from Bohemia and leads you home.”

  Before Janka could answer, Michel appeared alongside the wagon. He gave her a nod, grinned cheerfully at Marie, and pointed straight ahead. “The wagon leader says we’re nearly at our destination. Do you want to climb onto your little mare and ride ahead with me? I can’t wait to see the place where our daughter will grow up.”

  Marie looked happily at Michel, then turned to Janka. “Forgive me for interrupting our conversation.”

  Nodding, Janka reined in her horse so that Michi could bring up Marie’s mare. Marie was glad she’d finally been able to send a messenger from Nuremberg to Hiltrud, who must have been beside herself with worry after such a long time. It was a pity that they’d be living so far apart, but Marie could hardly expect Hiltrud to give up her beautiful farm near Rheinsobern. She was a little saddened by that twist of fate, but consoled herself with the thought of the new friends who’d be living with her now. She was planning to keep Michi with them and raise him as one of her administrators—or as a soldier and leader, if he preferred. Maybe she’d take Mariele in as well, if Hiltrud agreed. In any event, Marie was determined to travel to Rheinsobern and visit her friend the next spring at the latest, after they’d settled into their new home.

  “Hey, Marie! What’s the matter? You’re sleeping with your eyes open.” Michel’s voice brought Marie back to the present. She climbed from the wagon into the saddle, and let Michi help her with the stirrups. Michel held the reins until she was ready, then gently handed them to her.

  Marie lovingly patted his hand. “Let’s have a look at our new home.” Cautiously spurring her mare, she trotted ahead. Michel didn’t follow immediately, but waited for Eva’s cart. Trudi sat between Theres and Eva, who were both feeding her prunes. When the little girl saw Michel, she held out her arms and merrily laughed when Theres lifted her over to him. Tenderly taking her in his arms, he sat her in front of him on his horse.

  Eva looked at father and daughter with satisfaction. “Looks like we’re nearly there! I can’t wait to see what it’ll be like, especially when spring comes next year and we’re itching to hitch up our wagons and join the troops again.”

  Theres dismissively waved her hands. “You can go back to war if you like. I’m definitely staying with Marie.”

  “With Lady Marie, that is. She’s a lady of rank, after all. Of course I’ll stay with you, as I can hardly leave her care to you, Anni, or Helene. I’m telling you, without me, you’re all as helpless as little children.” With those words, Eva picked up one of the prunes Trudi had dropped and started chewing it.

  Marie and Michel left their wagon train behind, and for a while, their eyes were more focused on each other and their daughter than on the landscape around them. But when the valley opened up and the wide loop of the river lay below them, they reined in their horses and gazed around. Farther north they could see the outline of the city of Volkach, but below them, at the foot of a long, steep ridge, was a large village that they knew to be Dohlenheim, one of the places belonging to their castle. The tidy houses had wood-shingled roofs and were huddled against a church near a large square with a magnificent linden tree.

  Their new home itself was a massive, plain fortress at the top of the highest hill, rising up from the green vines covering the hillsides. There was another village belonging to their property directly at the foot of a bare, steep slope, and a third one was supposed to be down by the river, on the other side of the hill at a bend in the river. Since the original owner of the castle had loved all feathered creatures, the places all were named after birds. The castle was Kibitzstein (plover’s castle), the village below was Habichten (hawk’s home), and the third village was Spatzenhausen (sparrow’s house).

  Marie took in the landscape and smiled at Michel expectantly. “Well, how do you feel as Knight of the Reich Michel Adler of Kibitzstein?”

  “I don’t know yet,” he replied with a laugh, kissing the top of his daughter’s head. “But I have to say, I like the land. I can finally grow roots here.”

  “Junker Heribert can teach you how to be a Frankish knight of the Reich when he returns from Bohemia.”

  “I think he’ll be busy teaching Janka how to be the wife of a Frankish knight of the Reich,” Michel retorted cheerfully. The couple exchanged a wistful glance, both thinking of Václav Sokolny, Heinrich von Hettenheim, and Junker Heribert, who’d ridden to Bohemia on the kaiser’s behalf to let the younger Sokolny and his friends know that Sigismund was prepared to negotiate. The kaiser hoped to break the reign of the Taborites with help from the Calixtines, and then return to Prague.

  “Thank God we’re finished with all that,” Marie called out with relief, as if the last burden had just fallen off her soul.

  Surprised, Michel looked at her. “What are we finished with?”

  “With the kaiser and his struggle for power and crowns. We’ve got much pleasanter tasks ahead of us.”

  Michel directed his horse to Marie’s side and pulled her close, as Trudi giggled. “What tasks?”

  Marie gestured at the summery landscape in front of them. “To create a home for ourselves, Michel, and to enjoy life and love one another.”

  Being a reasonable husband, Michel knew when his wife was right, and he simply nodded and smiled.

  HISTORICAL NOTES

  The Hussite wars that raged from 1419 to 1434 were among the bloodiest and most horrible events of the Middle Ages, costing the lives of countless people. The Hussites had begun their rebellion for religious reasons against their Catholic king, but after their first victories, they believed they could also win independence as a nation. Their brilliant general Jan Ziska died of the plague in 1424, however, and his successors
expanded the war outside of Bohemia, devastating large parts of the Roman Empire of the German Nation. They almost managed to squash Sigismund’s hopes of regaining his Bohemian crown.

  But the Bohemians weren’t the only ones threatening the kaiser’s power. The regional rulers of the Reich, especially the electors, some of whom had only gained their rank and lands through Sigismund, denied him their support and demanded far-reaching privileges and rights for their possible military support. The kaiser’s attempts to out vote the powerful lords with the help of the lesser lords and enforce a regular tax to finance a standing army failed in the face of bitter opposition from his political adversaries. Given these circumstances, he had to give up his dream of creating a united country like England.

  But just as the crown of Bohemia seemed lost forever, fate brought it back, as the Hussites split into two groups, the fundamentalist Taborites, followers of the preacher Jan von Tabor, and the moderate Calixtines, or Utraquists. The Taborites were mainly supported by the lower classes, while wealthy burghers and large numbers of the nobility took the side of the Calixtines. While the two groups initially fought side by side, the Taborites increasingly viewed the Calixtines as an obstacle to their far-reaching goals, especially as the military pressure of the German kaiser diminished. But the burghers and noblemen were tired of the constant state of war that had lasted more than a decade, bringing trade to a virtual standstill and for the most part making cultivation of the fields impossible.

  Over time, animosity between the two groups grew, leading to a civil war at the end of which there could really be no winner, even though successful raids were still being made into the neighboring countries. Knowing they were the weaker party, the Calixtines sought the kaiser’s help. Sigismund took the outstretched hand of his subjects, who had deposed him years before, and, in order to win back his crown, wrested an agreement from Pope Martin V, whom he had instated in Constance, for establishment of an almost independent Bohemian church based on the teachings of Jan Hus. In return, the Calixtines fought on his side against the Taborites. In the beginning, the kaiser experienced several defeats, such as in August 1431, when his army fell apart and ran from the Taborites even before the battle had begun. But two months later, the united German knights and the Calixtines soundly defeated the Taborites. It still took three years, however, before the Calixtines could defeat their enemies for good at Lipany, finally securing peace.

  For nearly two hundred years, Bohemia was an independent state within the German Reich. Only the attempt of its new king and future Kaiser Ferdinand II to reintroduce the Catholic faith by force put an end to this period. His interference led to the second Defenestration of Prague, resulting in the Thirty Years War.

  Of all of Sigismund’s plans, only his regaining of the crown of Bohemia was successful; all others failed. Since he had no legitimate son, Albrecht of Austria, his son-in-law, followed him to the throne, becoming kaiser in 1438. He died just a year and a half later, before the birth of his son Ladislaus the Posthumous, who inherited the crowns of Hungary and Bohemia. One of Albrecht’s less-important Habsburg relatives, Friedrich III, was elected kaiser, supposedly as a place holder for young Ladislaus. But Albrecht’s son died at the age of eighteen, while Friedrich lived a long life and reigned as kaiser for more than fifty years. His son, Kaiser Maximilian I, was called “the last knight” and became the grandfather of Karl V, under whose reign the sun never set.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2008 Studio Berger

  Iny Lorentz is the pen name for the husband-and-wife writing team Iny Klocke and Elmar Wohlrath, historians whose tales of medieval action, adventure, and romance reflect their academic interests and love for each other. Together, they’ve written more than thirty-five books, almost all of which quickly became bestsellers and which are also available as audiobooks. The five-book Marie series, perhaps their most popular, has sold more than five and a half million copies in Germany alone and has been translated into fourteen languages and recorded as audiobooks. The first book in the series, The Wandering Harlot, introduced the captivating and beloved character Marie, whose story has since been made into an award-winning German television movie called Die Wanderhure, starring actress Alexandra Neldel. Elmar and Iny live and write in Poing, near Munich.

  ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR

  Lee Chadeayne is a former classical musician, college professor, and owner of a language translation company in Massachusetts. A charter member of the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA), he’s been an active member since 1970. He presently serves as editor of the ALTA Newsletter and as a copyeditor for the American Arthritis Society newsletter. He is a scholar and student of both history and languages, especially Middle High German. His translated works to date focus on music, art, language, history, and general literature; notable works include The Settlers of Catan by Rebecca Gablé, The Copper Sign by Katia Fox, Rain Girl by Gabi Kreslehner, and the bestselling Hangman’s Daughter series by Oliver Pötzsch.