Dark fires, p.42
Dark Fires, page 42
The highlight of the evening came when Graf Stephen asked Opal to lead them into a victory song, “Gloria in Excelsis Deo.” Halfway through all the voices died except for hers, ringing under the high vaulted ceiling. Then by acclaim, she had to sing it again. For the third rendition Justin stood up and animated the rest of the crowd to join in. On the fourth run-through, everyone was singing full throated, good or bad, giving praise to God. At that moment, Justin felt very close to his Maker who had seen them through such trials.
After the feast, the Graf invited Justin and Opal to his solar. When they were alone, just the three of them, Lord Stephen poured the wine himself for his guests, toasting them. “The two of you are my greatest treasure. You’re an angel with a voice.” He lifted his cup in salutation to Opal, then to Justin. “And you’re my archangel with the sword.”
“From what I hear the Poles are going to send an emissary to try to patch things up between us. We have achieved respect and my baronial crown sits a little more securely today.” He turned to Justin. “What do you want. Cousin? What title, what honor?”
“Just to be allowed to go home, Your Grace.”
“I have told you that no formalities are to stand between us, Cousin. We’re family.” Then the Graf poured everyone another cup. “Go home Cousin, enjoy your honeymoon.” They all drank to that wish. Justin could scarcely wait to be alone with Opal.
Chapter 33
Hardly had the sun started into the sky when Justin, Opal and four men of Evenfalls were on the road back home. Cherra had been lost, wounded in battle but an infection had taken him two days later. They had to leave Sergio behind as he was in no shape to travel after the celebrations the day before.
Justin and Opal rode in front, the four men trudging along behind, in good cheer and why not? They were still in one piece and going home heroes. Three horses carried all the packs, armor and weapons.
Justin was holding onto Opal’s hand as they rode knee to knee. The night before, they had shared a brief, hurried intimacy in the inn, but they were both so worn down by the emotions of being reunited and the celebration that there was no energy or focus left for a second round. Now rested, their desires were like a building thunderstorm gathering strength.
“After news came of the victory, I had the silver dug up and appraised. Came to over 7000 marks not including any of your mother’s jewelry, and the communion cup and the cross from the chapel,” Opal reported.
“That’s more than enough to start rebuilding Ravenhart,” Justin rejoiced.
“I think we should fix the mill first. That serves the common good and is useful to all.”
“As you wish, my Dear. Whatever makes you happy.” Today she could have asked for anything and he would have gladly said yes.
“What makes you happy makes me happy,” she said awkwardly. Justin had to wonder how quickly things changed. A few days ago he was making plans and decisions that cost hundreds of lives and today he was talking of being happy. It was still a bit unreal for him.
Then they were home. The whole village turned out to welcome them, Master Conti in the fore, looking quite countrified with a straw hat and a loose shirt.
“Welcome home, Son and Daughter.” Then he looked around worried. “Where is Sergio? God grant that he be all right.”
“No worries there, Father. Still in the capital, sleeping off the night before. What’s new here?”
“Big Bertha has dropped her calf, the second cut of hay is in, and the plum jam is ready...”
Justin tried to take interest, but it was still hard to switch back into everyday life. Where he didn’t have any trouble was attending to his wife. Nightly they learned about each other and tested the limits of their passion. Sometimes it was loud enough to be heard outside their room and to elicit a lopsided smile and a whisper: “The Lord is riding again, but not his horse.”
It didn’t take long to readjust. A bricklayer moved into Evenfalls, hoping to mine the fine clay from the dried-up lake bed, and start firing earthenware and tiles. He petitioned the Lord who had to interview him and ascertain the man’s competence. Having been an adjutant with the Swiss was of great help here: he could attend to the little details that made up their lives.
Several plates were sent to the capital and turned into money. Counting the silver, the first thing Justin did was to pay Cherra’s widow six marks. She had four children to bring up by herself.
Sergio also returned, complaining that he’d gained seven pounds. At the dinner table he showed off his shield with four arrows struck through it. “To prove that I was in battle,” he boasted.
“Then you saved our Lord?” Ernest asked, his eyes wide with the thought of what could have happened.
“No,” Sergio admitted sheepishly. “We got separated, but I saved myself.”
“And good that you did. It would be sad to be deprived of your company.” Justin lifted his drinking horn in salute to him.
Thus little by little the life of the estate claimed Justin’s attention fully again. A pasture to be carved out of scrub brush, a footbridge repaired, a new rookery established. Among the most important was to hire a construction boss for the intended rebuilding. According to Opal’s wishes the mill was looked at first. The north wall needed reinforcing and the dam also needed some work. Then Ravenhart was measured up, quantities calculated: how much stone, timber, planking, and roof tiles would be needed, how many workers and in what time frames.
This of course had to wait until next year, as autumn was nearly over. Still, they had a good time doing the pricing and forecasting. Opal and Justin spent long hours laying out the interior of the manor, how much space for private apartments and how much for the common areas.
The time came to slaughter the pigs and preserve the meat, smoking and salting. Opal gradually overcame her squeamishness by the necessity to oversee the work. With the women she washed out the guts to be filled for sausages.
Justin watched Britt, training with his team of oxen to plow the field and plant it before winter snow. The animals were ungainly, lumbering beasts, but they had the power to pull the plow endlessly. Justin watched as Britt talked to them affectionately. The animals had wonderful sleek coats, a testimony to good care, and steam rose from the heat of their efforts.
“Excuse me my Lord.” Justin turned to find Ernest there, leading a young woman by the hand. “This young lady would like to speak with you.”
Justin turned his attention to the girl, on closer inspection finding her older. “Yes?”
She spoke something quickly in a language Justin couldn’t understand, but it grabbed his attention sharply. He noted the great anxiety in her eyes, and saw that her hands were rough from work. Who was she?
“It’s Lithuanian, Lord,” Ernest interpreted.
“Lithuanian??!” Justin was shot by an arrow of utter astonishment. “Elsie?”
At the name her eyes flickered but she cringed as he stepped nearer. Gently he took her hand. “You’re my sister?”
“She is, my Lord,” Ernest confirmed. “But she was gone so long that she’s forgotten her mother tongue.”
“No matter, she can learn it again, just like I had to.” Joy rang in his voice and Elsie didn’t fail to note it, relaxing a little.
“Where’s Brenn?” Justin asked, looking around.
“He’s stabling the horses, Lord.”
“At a time like this?”
“He wanted you to see her first, perhaps recognize her for herself, not just because you saw him.”
“Go get the fool.” Gently he led Elsie toward the kitchen where Opal was busy overseeing the grinding of meat for sausages. She looked up, her face flushed from the heat of cooking fires, and puzzled at the young woman on Justin’s arm. Opal wiped her hands on her apron and came up to them.
“This, dear wife, is...” and he paused. “Can you guess?”
“Guess what?” She was getting a little irritated with his game.
“This is my long lost sister, Elsie. I sent Brenn to find her and he did.”
Opal was struck by lightning; her hands went to cover her mouth. “Did you say sister??!”
“Yes. A year and half younger than me. She was sold north, but Brenn tracked her down and brought her home.” There was so much triumph in his voice that it instantly melted Opal’s heart, and she stepped forward to embrace Elsie. It was in the safety of Opal’s arms that Elsie started to cry, her body shuddering with sobs wrenched from deep within.
Brenn suddenly appeared, his eyes full of concern for the crying woman. “I found her in Kaunas, in the heart of Lithuania, working as a maid for a wealthy merchant family. She no longer remembered who she was or where she’d come from. She doesn’t believe me when I tell her. Maybe you can convince her that she’s of noble birth and blood.”
“Well, tell her again. Tell her I’m her brother. Tell her that our eyes and hair are the same from our father, but the lips and nose from our mother. Tell her...” Justin took her hand and placed it again in his, palm to palm. “Look, even the shape of our hands is similar.” Brenn translated, and she blinked, afraid to believe.
Meanwhile the whole village had collected around them astounded by the news. “Elsie...” flew from lips to lips. Somebody rang the church bell to bring people in the fields running home.
“Is there a fire?” they asked breathless.
“Elsie, the daughter of Ravenhart... the Lord’s sister has returned home!”
“God be praised for his great kindness...”
Justin gently drew Elsie down the road to the south end of town to the manor, Opal holding onto her other hand, followed by a throng of villagers. Justin headed for the corner, to the headstones and pointed. “Mother, father.”
Tentatively Elsie stepped forward and touched the stones. She collapsed between them and started crying afresh. Justin turned and motioned to Ernest, who drew everyone away to give Elsie the privacy to grieve. Even Justin stood back and soon only he, Opal and Brenn were left.
“She had to work hard all her life, serving the needs of others... She thought at first I was trying to kidnap her... she wouldn’t believe me and still doesn’t believe me,” Brenn whispered, his voice full of pity and compassion.
“How did you manage to get her?”
“I bought her. I gave them all I had, and promised that you’d pay the rest. They were kind enough to trust me with that arrangement. Then she had no choice, I owned her.”
“And now she owns your heart,” Opal added quietly.
“That she does.” Then Brenn felt a need to justify it. “She’s loyal and faithful and in spite of all that happened to her she’s a conscientious, God fearing person, who’s kind and gentle to everyone. And she sings, you ought to hear her.”
This was cause for celebration and the evening turned into a festival of rejoicing. Elsie sat between Justin and Opal, eating daintily from her plate. From time to time, her eyes sought out Brenn and the tension drained from her face.
After the meal, Opal took out her mandolin and tuned it, everybody eagerly anticipating her song. When she sang, it wasn’t in her usual Italian but in old German, a lullaby about an apple tree, an owl and a rabbit living in a burrow among the roots. At first, Elsie just frowned in concentration, a cloud of puzzlement passing over her face, then her eyes widened in shocked recognition. She remembered! Justin took her hand, and quietly sang along with his wife, astounded how that lullaby connected them. The transformation was amazing, for by the end of the song Elsie had become a different person, a person who knew that she was home again.
Chapter 34
The days following continued to be joyful. It was as if a conjurer had put together a broken egg from the pieces. The Lord had returned, brought glory to the house and now the sister also had found a way home. The prophecy was fulfilled: the Bird from the west had returned to the nest, to reclaim his inheritance.
In talking with the construction boss, Justin reset their schedule. He decided to have the manor’s chapel fixed first, because after all the blessings he thought he owed God that much. He had found his way home and so had his sister. He had found love and a wife. He had friends and was among people who respected him.
It wasn’t long before Brenn asked Justin for permission to court Elsie, and Justin gladly gave it, seeing in his sister’s eyes how much she loved the man who had rescued her from lifelong servitude.
“Doesn’t it bother you that I’m not of a noble lineage? Won’t I pollute the blood line?”
“From what I’ve seen and been through I’m not too impressed by the nobility.” Justin focused critical eyes on Brenn. “You’re a good man, loyal and steadfast, as honest as circumstances allow you to be. I can’t ask for more, other than to make sure you keep Elsie happy.” In no time a cottage was built for them to live in after they married, until Ravenhart could be fully restored again.
They sold the wool to a Polish merchant and received a fair price, giving them a pleasing sense that the estate was earning its way again.
A wedding gift arrived from Graf Stephen, a fine traveling carriage with a matched pair of horses, so that they wouldn’t have an excuse not to visit. The new tax rate was also published through the land, and though people groaned they had to admit that it was fair. A lot of tolls were also lifted to encourage the flow of goods and trade again. The future was beginning to look brighter.
News from Germany continued to be bad. The princes vied among themselves for power. The Vatican had not changed its corrupt ways, but insisted on hunting down heretics and stamping out dissent. Throughout the lands, the dark fires were still burning.
Justin thought that people would have to raise their voices in mighty protest against the excesses of the Church, to reclaim the true faith as was taught by the ministry of Christ. He sensed a wind of change coming, as the storm clouds in the north were again gathering.
A month later Opal told Justin she was sure she was with child.
By then the chapel was finished, the glass replaced, the door reset, and the walls replastered and painted. The cross was put back on the altar, as well as the communion cup. Every morning Justin was there to give thanks to God for his great good fortune.
PS: In two years, Justin carved a piece of land out of the estate, and had a modest manor house built for Brenn and Elsie, a place they could call their own.
Sergio never got over his first love. He liked to say he married the goddess of wine and regularly paid homage to her. But when Justin and Opal’s children were born, he doted on them as a loving uncle, telling them stories of the time he and Justin were on the road, and about a pup that tagged along with them. “And then we met your mother, the most beautiful princess in all the lands...”
The End
Paul Telegdi, Dark Fires
