Chapter 20

"Michał, I'm in charge as your father has ridden ahead, with the winged hussars, to exercise them hard enough to get the feathers out of their brains," said Jurko. "I want you to ride your pony, and take up Róża with you, to protect her. Can you do that for me?"

"Of course I can, Jurij!" said Michał. "Róża need not be afraid with me," he added.

Róża opened her mouth, but shut it when Jurko winked at her.

"I'd love to ride with you, Michał," she said.

She should call him, 'my lord-brother,' and he should call her 'my lady-sister,' but Jurko did not plan to make an incident of it. .

Róża mounted behind Michał, being taller than him. She was getting more confident around horses.

"My brother doesn't have a high opinion of winged hussars, but he still thinks I should learn to be one at some point," said Michał.

"I don't think much of them, either, some of them are rude about Cossacks," said Róża. "Mama Helena says their brains cook under their helmets."

"It must be easy to be brave in all that armour," said Michał. "That makes Cossacks braver."

"And Cossacks can fight at sea, too, where armour would drown you," said Róża.

"I'm going to have to explain combined arms to that pair at some point," said Jurko to Jan.

Malwina, fully rested, was riding on her own today after a few days with Wasyl. Helena was watching as Malwina absently straightened Wasyl's collar before they moved out.

"Well?" said Malwina.

"Wasyl is a pleasant fellow; please don't hurt him," said Helena.

"I wouldn't mind keeping him, if he can do something to win lands," said Malwina. "But I won't condemn my children to be peasants."

"Really? You'd settle with him?" said Helena, in surprise.

Malwina actually blushed.

"He satisfies me," she said. "And he's good conversation too. I didn't know you could have both in one man."

"I'll do what I can," said Helena.

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The patrol of winged hussars going the other way did not look friendly.

"Where do you think you're going, Cossack?" demanded the leader.

"Where I'm ordered," said Jurko. "You'll have to give way to us; we have carriages."

"Oho, full of gunpowder, or troops, I suppose," said the hussar leader.

"Full of women, actually," said Jurko.

"What, you bring your women to war with you? Or are you raiding our women to take to sell to the Turks?"

"You take that back, Lach; we kill Turks," snarled Jurko.

"You appear to be under a false misapprehension, my lord-brother," said Jan.

"Lord-brother? I'm no brother to filthy peasant Cossack scum like you! Kill them all, and then we can sample Cossack women!"

"Try not to kill them," called Jurko, unfurling his arapnik. "They aren't to blame for him!"

Helena rode forward into the fray, her own whip whirling. The wings prevented the use of the lasso, but a whip around a sword could yank it away, and thank goodness, the hussars had not had time to advance their lances.

Michał was waving his own little sabre, and one of the hussars reached down towards him. Wasyl gave a cry of rage and rode towards the hussar, putting himself between him and Michał. The hussar fired and Wasyl fell away. Michał charged, and the hussar leaned down again and heaved him out of the saddle.

"What have we here, a small Cossack? Maybe your brothers will stand down if I threaten to blow out your brains, or cut you to pieces slowly... OW!" as Michał bit him. Róża had leaned forward too, to grasp the hussar by the leg and saw behind the knee with her little sabre.

Helena rode in, and neatly knocked him out with her bolas arapnik.

Clangs around the melee showed that others had the same idea, and Jurko was standing up in the saddle shouting, "Korybut for Ironfist!"

"Korybut for Ironfist!" shouted Helena, and Michał took up the cry.

The names were familiar to the angels, and some hesitated.

"Surrender in the name of Jeremi Wiśniowiecki and the Rzeczpospolita!" yelled Jan.

Jurko had leaped off his horse onto that of the leader and was grappling with him. He appeared to be having fun, laughing at the heavily-armoured man, who could not push off the lithe Cossack, so Jan left him to it, taking the surrender of those who recognised that invading Cossacks were scarcely likely to be screaming Jeremi's nickname.

Jurko wrestled his opponent off his horse, and managed to get his helmet off, and was holding his nose. Hard.

"Please, brother, the rest of us have finished," said Jan. "Lady Helena has bagged herself a couple, though one is shared with his highness and with your daughter."

"Oh, already? And I thought they were providing us with entertainment," said Jurko, scientifically knocking his opponent's head on the ground by the expedient of holding his ears to do so. "Shall we make them run?"

"Oh, I think so," said Jan. "I don't suppose we can really loot the horses; they may belong to these curs' master."

"They aren't as good as ours or as well trained anyway," said Jurko. "Ooh. My lady! We were attacked," he said, defensively, as Lady Gryzelda came up to see what was going on.

"Attacked? By winged hussars?" said Gryzelda.

"It's true, Lady Gryzelda," said Helena. "They were out for a fight and made provoking comments, and threatened to rape all the women the Cossacks had with them."

"I am displeased," said Gryzelda. "Young man, who is your lord?"

"I... we are under Lord Potocki," said Jurko's rather dizzy captive.

"Then I will expect him to apologise. Jurij, my son, have we any casualties?"

"The bastards have killed one of my men, and wounded another; Lady Malwina is tending him, stepmama," said Jurko, who had not lost track of any of his men. "And the one of theirs that she stabbed is bleeding."

"I hope that discipline will be harsh for the recklessly incompetent leader of this debacle," said Gryzelda. "Take off their boots to march them into Puławy; it should make them think twice before attacking helpless and innocent women and children."

"And also the one who seized your son and threatened to blow out his brains or cut him slowly to pieces, my lady," said Helena. "That one there. I knocked him out. Wasyl was wounded getting between Michał and that... that bastard."

"Thank you, my dear, dear girl," said Gryzelda, shocked to the core. "And that dear poor man! If he lives, I will see that Jeremi heaps honours on him. They attacked, even with children riding?"

"They didn't see children," sneered Jurko, murder in his eyes after hearing that. "They saw Cossacks. And they are scum."

"I bit him, when he took my sabre," said Michał.

"Well done, my brother," said Jurko. "Never stop fighting. First rule of a good Cossack."

Michał beamed, and Gryzelda found she did not have the heart to say she did not want him to be a Cossack.

And the Cossacks had defended her and her ladies, one of them with his life.

And Malwina was sobbing over one?

Those who had surrendered were permitted to keep their boots.

The rest were not.

Their horses were tied with the other spare horses to the back of the baggage cart, and the captives were driven ahead, encouraged by arapniki without weights. Wasyl was put on a litter, having a ball in his shoulder which would be better treated when they might stop. Malwina insisted that her horse could be one of those and she held his hand.

The running angels, still in armour and wings, were suffering very rapidly, in the heat of the day, here in the middle of continental late summer. Especially those who were giddy from having been hit on the head by balls of iron.

If one of the Cossacks driving them felt a twinge of pity, he would turn to look at the two litters, one with Wasyl, and one with a man who had been their living brother not so long since. The coaches must, of necessity, keep up with the pace the Cossacks forced on their prisoners, and they arrived in Puławy late in the afternoon.

Jurko rode to the front of the column.

"Jurij Korybut Bohun with Lady Gryzelda Wisniowiecka and ladies, plus brigands dressed as winged hussars," he said, coldly. "I want justice on them from Lord Lubomirski, who knows me."

The cavalcade was passed through; the guard on the gate recognised him, and said to his fellow that there was no mistaking the resemblance to old Ironfist in that handsome, sneering face. They drove their prisoners to the centre of the town, where they were met by Jeremi and Lord Lubomirski.

Jurko leaped from his horse, to kneel before Jeremi.

"Sire! Father, we were attacked... threats... oh shit," he said, and passed out.

"Jurko!" cried Helena, seeing the blood running down his arm, hidden by the red of his żupan.

"Papa, they said we were invading and they were going to rape Mama, and that bad man shot Wasyl who defended me by getting between us, and then he said he was going to blow my brains out and cut me into pieces, so I bit him," said Michał, remembering to salute.

"True," said Helena. "Please, we need medics for Wasyl and for Jurko."

"But the ones with boots on surrendered and acted honourably," said Jan, hastily, seeing the towering rage building in Jeremi.

Helena did not much care what happened to their assailants. She wanted to see to her Jurko.

And she and Malwina actually clung to each other as their menfolk were carried inside.

"The coroner is competent enough," said Lubomirski. "Certainly for first aid. He's delivered a few babies, too, but I don't somehow think we'll have that problem."

Jeremi was holding Michał fiercely, and Róża clung to Helena, who hugged her.

"If my son dies, I will impale the leader with my own hands," said Jeremi.

Nobody disbelieved him.

"Rzędzian will pull him through if anyone can," said Jan, sending his young pacholik after the wounded men.

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Helena and Malwina could only wait.

"I didn't realise how much he means to me," sobbed Malwina. "And he doesn't care that I've known other men, because he likes me. Nobody ever liked me before, and it's so nice."

"I know," said Helena. "Jurko is my best friend before anything else."

"They have to live! They have to!" said Malwina.

"Pacholik Rzędzian is very knowledgeable about herbs," said Helena. "He may only be young, but he understands how to drive away the miasmas of disease. Shall we pray? Róża and I don't even know how badly Jurko is hurt, because he concealed it from us all."

They knelt and prayed, and found Asieńka waiting for them.

"Come, girls, to your rooms," she said. "The ball went right through Wasyl's shoulder, Malwina, and that makes it easier to heal than if it had caught in. Helena, Róża, Captain Bohun has a nasty cut on his shoulder, but it is a flesh wound and has not damaged any tendons or muscles, and he passed out purely from blood loss and shock. He is bandaged up and is eating beef broth, and he will do very nicely. And you are to lay down for an hour, and eat, before we embark on the boats to take us downriver to Warszawa."

"What is going to happen to the prisoners?" asked Helena.

"The leader and the one who attacked Prince Michał have been hanged," said Asieńka. "Prince Jeremi wanted the one who seized Michał to be impaled, but they are szlachta and well-connected. For attacking szlachcianki and children of noble birth, as well as attacking the men of a prince on their lawful occasions, they can be hanged. The others are to be flogged, and Prince Jeremi will petition for them to be dishonourably discharged. Some of those who had surrendered have knelt to him and asked him to take them into his service to atone, and that has pleased him."

"Yes, he values courage and honour, and it also is a form of loyalty to their own lord to offer themselves as vassals," said Helena.

She was surprised to wake up, having been certain that she would not be able to doze, even, with Róża in her arms, and Malwina cuddling up to both of them. It was cool in the room assigned to them, and her sleep had been deep and restful.

Having washed, and eaten, she felt better.

"Are Jurko and Wasyl well enough to travel?" she asked Jeremi.

"They say they are; and I fancy it's as much to get to a place where they may rest and heal properly in my palace," said Jeremi. "Now, don't you go worrying him by crying all over him; you're his little page, not some idiot."

"Thank you, my lord. I am glad you will be my Papa soon," said Helena.

"There, child, you may call me 'Papa' if you wish it; but not in public, yet," said Jeremi. "I feared I had lost one who has become dear to me, as well."

"If he'd died, I'd have helped you with the stake," said Helena, viciously.

"No, that's not for a little girl's eyes," said Jeremi. "Now you go aboard ship, and keep my son from getting out of the bed he has there to help. I can chivvy women as well as he can, and I don't even need to loot them."

Helena laughed.

He was in a better mood now that someone had paid for their transgressions.

"And what will you say to Lord Mikołaj Potocki when you see him?"

"I will tell him that his curs should not be permitted out without muzzles and leashes, since they can't be trusted not to turn to banditry without better direction," said Jeremi, coldly. "He is a bad enemy to make, being Crown Grand Hetman, but if the king permits, I will duel him. And who knows? There might then be a vacancy for a hetman for an ally."

"Will you win?" asked Helena.

"Yes; I've been working out with Jurij," said Jeremi. "He's enough to keep any man on his toes! Don't worry, Helena. Let me do the worrying."

"Yes, my lord... Papa," said Helena. She went to find Jurko.

"I'm to keep you in bed, Jurko," she said, demurely. "Should I sit on you?"

"Sweet cuckoo! If you did, I'm not sure I've enough blood left to stand up and salute you," said Jurko.

"Well, as Róża and I have come over all girly and weepy, I think we should cuddle you, one each side, as it's nice and cool under the awnings here," said Helena.

"You know, I think that would be perfect," said Jurko.