ALTDORF (The Forest Knights Book 1)

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Salzburg

  THE HABSBURG FOOL was a stringy gnome of a man, easily twice Leopold’s twenty-four years but little more than half his height. He wore no hat but his purple hair was cut short and plastered to his head in a star pattern. His frilly tunic was black on the left and white on the right, while his tights were the opposite. Yellow, pointed, soft-leather shoes completed the ensemble. When Leopold approached, the Fool made a flourishing gesture with his arms and bowed to the young Duke before thrusting open the double doors to the council chambers. At the last second he stepped in front of Leopold and strutted ahead to escort him into the large room, the soft tinkling of bells on the Fool’s pointed shoes marking every step.

 The sound had infuriated Leopold since childhood, for somehow the Fool had complete control over the loudness and intensity of the bells and, Leopold felt, used them purposely to mock him. He could walk without making a sound when he wanted to, for despite being a garish entertainer, the Fool had always been by King Albrecht’s side when he was alive and could in fact blend in when he so wished. Since the King’s assassination the previous year, the Fool had attached himself to Frederick, Leopold’s older brother by a year, and who now sat at the head of an ornate rectangular table in the council room.

 Frederick smiled and held up a hand in greeting as his brother entered, relief etched deep in his face. Seated around him were eight older men, the advisors to his late father, but unlike Frederick, not one of them looked pleased at the entrance of the younger Habsburg Duke.

 “The fool has arrived!” the jester announced.

 Leopold shot him an angry glare and imagined what it would feel like to have his hands around the insufferable creature’s throat, shaking him until the only sound that escaped was the tinkling of those cursed chimes.

 “Welcome brother, we are happy you could join us on such short notice.” Frederick ‘the Handsome’, as he was called, came around the table and the two brothers embraced. Only a year separated them but they looked nothing alike. Leopold was fair haired and willowy in build while Frederick was dark and stocky, like their father had been. Most women would not say Frederick was any more ‘handsome’ than Leopold, but there was a beatific honesty in his smile that made people feel comfortable. When under Leopold’s bold stare on the other hand, people were never at ease. He had his mother’s sharp features: glistening blue eyes and a high-bridged raptorial nose.

 Six of the men were nobles of prestigious Austrian houses, powerful members of the German Empire, but Leopold’s sudden presence made many of them shift in their seats. His open disdain for his father’s advisors was well known. He trusted none of them and felt sick when he thought of his brother in this room alone with these carrion eaters. He made a point of looking at each man and noting who met his eyes and who seemed surprised to see him here. The few who met his eyes quickly looked away, but that in and of itself was not a measure of guilt.

 The Archbishop was seated to one side of Frederick along with a simpler dressed monk Leopold had never before seen. Though he wore the robe of a Dominican, his face had the smugness of a merchant.

 “Forgive my lateness brother. I should have liked to be here sooner but the messenger bearing your summons was waylaid on the road some miles from Habsburg Castle.” Leopold let his eyes wander over the nobles, openly accusing anyone who met his stare.

 Count Henri of Hunenberg, a veteran knight in his late forties who was renowned for spending much of his family’s fortune on several campaigns to the Holy Lands, shook his head and said, “This is further evidence of what I spoke—even the roads in the Aargau are no longer safe since so many of our soldiers were sent north. We must have more patrols to ensure the safety of messengers and merchants. And from what the Archbishop here tells us, the monks of Einsiedeln also require enforcers in their pastures near Schwyz.”