Holy Remedy

II

Rodger Clement, distinguished knight from Eger, walked hastily through the castle's halls. He had been summoned urgently by the Baron Levente, regent of the city.

Several voices resounded in the fortress' walls. It was rumored that King Béla IV of Hungary had sent special instructions for the Kingdom's restoration; devastated a few years ago by the Mongols' terrible invasions. Upon hearing the news, the influential noblemen of the region didn't took more than a day to appear at the Baron's court, in order to request special reconstruction concessions; which potentially meant more land and riches.

Walking through the fortress, Rodger could see several important personalities of the Kingdom, they were all going to make petitions to the Regent, but few were received. Most, however, recognized the knight and greeted him with respect. Clement had achieved a good reputation in a short time; his honorable behavior, absolute loyalty to the Baron and his courage on the battlefield, had managed to win the heart of the population. Especially the affection of poor and humble people; after all, the knight had a plebeian origin.

He was able to navigate through the crowd, dodging nudges and involuntary tripping, to reach the anteroom of the Royal Court. The guards at the door greeted the knight, while letting him pass and silencing the group in the hall. They were enraged by the fact that a simple plebeian had higher priority than them, but their anger was quickly appeased by the menacing stare and posture of the sentinels.

Rodger was able to breathe with ease once inside the waiting room; there wasn't a crowd that needed to be crossed. There were only two persons with elegant clothes sitting in chairs. He couldn't recognize them at first sight; surely they came from distant towns.

There was an unused chair and he decided to take a seat to rest a little bit, he made a gentle bow to the others while sitting down. They stared at the knight with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion, they didn't understand that kind of relationship or business might have that man with the Baron; his clothing was simple, a chain mail covered his body. His hair was dark brown, almost black, just like his large grown beard.

After waiting a few minutes and exchanging uncomfortable glances, a soldier opened the door of the anteroom leading to the royal hall. He quickly identified Rodger; saw him directly and told him, "Sir Clement, the Baron will see you now. Come in please".

The knight stood up, while listening to an exhalation and whining made by the other guests. He ignored what the other two were grumbling about, and entered the room closing the door on his way.

"Rodger! My son, how have you been?" said the Baron excitedly, rising from his seat. He had light brown hair with gray streaks, white complexion with some wrinkles, piercing blue eyes and a grayish white goatee and mustache. Clement was his squire a long time ago; Levente loved him like a son and he loved him like a father. Actually he was a boy picked up from the street, of Irish descent, raised by the Baron.

"Very well my lord" said Rodger as he neared Levente. He dropped to one knee and kissed the right hand's ring of the feudal lord.

"Rise my son. We haven't seen each other in a long time. Since your knighting ceremony if I remember correctly".

The Bishop, regent's chief Advisor, was at his right hand. When Clement knelt, Konrád could realize that he had a mark with the shape of bird in his neck, on the left side. He tried to conceal the surprise to see this, but he wasn't successful, since Rodger looked at him with suspicion eyes.

"It's good to see you Clement, we have missed your presence here in court" the Bishop said with a hint of animosity; imperceptible to anyone, but not for the knight. Konrád always felt jealousy of the Baron's generosity towards a vulgar commoner; and all the benefits he had received in his life in exchange of nothing.

"Thank you for the invitation my lord" said Rodger. "What can I do for you? I'm concerned about the urgent summoning. It's everything in order?" he asked with unrest, completely ignoring the adviser's remarks.

"Fortunately yes. In recent months we have had an abundant harvest and the population has been growing steadily" said the Baron proudly. "As you may have noticed from the multitude of personalities inside the castle, there is another good news for the kingdom" he added, while Rodger listened attentively.

"His majesty King Béla IV ordered the reconstruction and strengthening of the main strongholds of Hungary. Our geographical location makes us very important, strategically speaking, so resources have been assigned to our region. However, we have a problem to carry out our new buildings".

"How I can help the kingdom, my lord?" asked the knight. "My blood and my sword are at your disposal" he said stoically.

"A group of bandits and thugs are plaguing the roads leading east. They have raided all the merchants' caravans they have set their eyes upon; and are hampering trade with the town of Miskolc" said the Baron with appreciable disgust. "The soldiers we have sent to fix the problem, have been unable to find their lair. I need you to go there, give chase to this group and get rid of this nuisance".

"The witnesses and survivors of the attacks, have told us that they are a large group, at least one score of bandits have been spotted on the roads" said the Bishop.

"Rodger, I'm naming you Mission Commander. In this moment, I can only assign eight soldiers of Eger. Feel free to recruit all the knights that you can. I am convinced that, with your martial skills and superior strategic thinking, you'll have no problems beating those common thieves" said the Baron.

"For now, I have to let you go. As you have seen, I have many people to serve today. I trust that you will succeed in your mission" he added while saying goodbye affectionately to his protégé.

"May the blessing of the Lord Almighty descend upon you" said the Bishop while he approached the knight and did the sign of the cross. He took the opportunity to see better the mark on Clement's neck. "Yes, there's no doubt. He's definitely a chosen one".

"Amen" said Rodger, with a small bow. He left the room and headed straight away to the barracks. He needed to recruit the best soldiers and knights to be successful in his assignment. His pride and honor forbade him to fail the Baron.

The two people that were waiting outside entered the room. They made the respective formal salutations. The Baron remained on his chair, listening to the requests, while the Bishop tried to do the same, but it was in vain. His head was in another place.

He said to himself "I'll give you some of my warriors. I'll help you just this time Clement, only because I need you alive. For now".