Army of the Wolf

by Peter Darman

  ‘Just in case you get any ideas.’

  The knight’s face was pale and beaded with sweat as he placed a foot in a stirrup and with difficulty pulled himself into the saddle.

  ‘Remember to relay my message to your superiors,’ Conrad called to him.

  Now in great pain, he gingerly placed the foot of his injured leg in a stirrup and grabbed his horse’s reins. He turned his mount and nudged it forward towards one of the draught ponies that stood near the dead scout’s beast. He reached down and took the reins of one and then spurred his horse forward.

  ‘In the spring Count Henry and King Valdemar will return and the Sword Brothers will be destroyed.’

  ‘Talk is cheap,’ answered Conrad. I will add those two names to the long list of enemies that have tried and failed to destroy our order.’

  The knight slumped in the saddle as he trotted through the snow out of the village.

  ‘Do you think he will live?’ said Anton.

  ‘I hope so,’ replied Conrad, ‘so he can convey my message.’

  ‘Why do you seek to antagonise your enemies, Susi?’ asked Kaja.

  ‘Because they are my enemies,’ said Conrad, ‘and I wish another opportunity to face Count Henry with a sword in my hand.’

  Anton was not happy. ‘You should have killed him, Conrad. Lukas would not be happy that you had let an enemy live who you might face again in the spring.’

  ‘Do not worry, my friend,’ said Conrad. ‘In the spring all will be settled once and for all. We will free Estonia and drive the Danes and Count Henry into the sea.’

  ‘What about His Holiness?’ asked Anton. ‘According to Master Rudolf the Pope has awarded Estonia to King Valdemar.’

  ‘Who does His Holiness love more?’ posed Conrad. ‘King Valdemar or his own warriors? He will always take the side of the Sword Brothers against kings and princes, and counts for that matter. You think he wants to see Livonia and Estonia become a Danish province?’

  ‘Now that we have settled matters of grand strategy,’ said Hans, ‘how about getting something cooking? My belly thinks my throat has been slit.’

  Epilogue

  To His Holiness Pope Honorius III from Valdemar, King of Denmark, Lord of Ditmarschen, Holstein, Ratzeburg, Schwerin, Mecklenburg, Dannenberg, Rostok, Werle, Rügen and Pomerania, and ruler of all the territories north of the River Elbe and the River Elde.

  ‘Holy Father, it grieves to have to convey to you the current sad state of affairs that currently exists in Livonia and Estonia. When the Bishop of Riga solicited my aid against the pagans in Estonia I gladly agreed to support his Holy Crusade. To that end I sailed with a great armada of ships and thousands of Christian soldiers to Estonia with a joyous heart.

  ‘Your Holiness is already acquainted with my most glorious victory over the pagans where the Lord Himself sent a divine banner that gave me victory, and that is now carried at the head of my armies as proof that God has directed Denmark to be the instrument of His will.

  ‘How sad it is, therefore, to report to you, Holy Father, that your Holy Crusade has been basely betrayed by the Bishop of Riga and the Sword Brothers. After I and my immediate subordinates suffered numerous insults and outrages at the hands of the former, the bishop agreed that his insolent order should be chastised and Estonia handed over to Danish rule, as agreed by Your Holiness. But the Bishop of Riga and the Sword Brothers basely assaulted my army before Reval, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Christian warriors. I barely escaped with my own life.

  ‘Chief among the knaves that have poisoned the mind of the Bishop of Riga against me is one Conrad Wolff, a Sword Brother and self-styled Marshal of Estonia, who treacherously wounded my loyal servant, Henry Count of Schwerin.

  ‘Having suffered all these outrages I have been forced to impose a naval blockade on Livonia, to starve it of trade and crusaders until the Bishop of Riga recognises the error of his ways and gives up the most nefarious among his Sword Brothers so they may face justice. As a Christian sovereign appointed by God you will know that I have no choice in this matter.

  ‘Given this fifteenth day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand, two hundred and twenty-one and the fifth year of your pontificate.’