Chapter 25

Zagłoba elected to stay with Jeremi, and he bade farewell to his friend, Longin.

"You enjoy yourself with Jurko, snatching trousers from the Turk," he said.

"Hoods," said Longin, wearily.

"It's stale, Pan Zagłoba," said Jadwiga. "If you aren't careful we shall invite you to dinner and let you choose whether your tripes in oil are mouse guts or dog guts."

"Oh, you clever little girl; you hang on to her," said Zagłoba.

"She's a splendid girl, and I have a bone to pick with her mother and that woman's husband for making her feel insecure," said Longin, warmly.

Jadwiga had confided more fully in him after a long talk with Janina.

Janina had gone to visit the man she knew as 'Da' after her marriage to Zagłoba to find out why she looked like a Radziwiłł princess. Her father had been paid to marry her mother, but Janina had embraced him warmly for being a better father to her than many a man to his biological daughter. Onufry Zagłoba had promised her that a comfortable pension and cottage should be there for her father when he felt he had to give up the inn. Zagłoba was now rich on being awarded land from some of those attainted for their rebellion, which he had taken some risks over, to send intelligence to Jeremi, and when Janina had first known him. Jeremi was generous to his friends and those who did well by him.

"You keep him safe, Jadwiga," said Janina, embracing the girl. "And we'll look after your Papa Jeremi."

She was also going to be keeping an eye on the tsar's children until they could take them back to Warszawa, as Helena, of course, was going with Jurko.

oOoOo

"Oh, it does feel good to be back on a ship again," said Jurko, when his own flagship had sailed up from Kiev.

"It does," said Helena.

"I like it too," said Róża.

"Róża? What are you doing here?" Jurko asked sharply.

"Why, Cossacking, Papa," said Róża. "You'll need an interpreter. I speak Arabic. I'll be dressed as a boy, and I know you won't let anyone grab me. Please, Papa; this way I can do something in return for being rescued, and taken into your own home. I am old enough to be a page, and to be of real help."

Jurko sighed.

She was older than Michaś and Jurek after all.

"I worry about you, my rosebud," he said.

"Fathers are allowed to worry," said Róża.

Jakob Von Kettler had come in person with his fleet, and Jurko convened a war council.

"I want to take trade goods from Russia as though some of us are ordinary traders," he said. "Do you have a copy of the signals, my lord?" he asked Von Kettler.

"Yes, your highness, and sent out our first ships with copies too," said the duke.

"Excellent," said Jurko. "This is our first opportunity to use them, and your sailors too, who will doubtless come home with a list of phrases they need to add, as will we. What I want to do is this; slip into Constantinople with a heap of trained warriors as my oarsmen and sailors, quietly during the night, after trading, take such fortresses as overlook the harbour, and re-train their guns on the town, and then signal for you to bring in the main fighting force to secure the whole damn city."

"You'll put yourself at a lot of risk," said Von Kettler.

"Yes, glorious, isn't it?" said Jurko, grinning happily. "Why, how would you do it?"

"I... I suppose I would stand off and bombard, having landed soldiers to set up a siege from landward," said Von Kettler. "It is the usual way when taking a city."

"We Cossacks have raided before, in 1615, 1620, and 1624, defeating their navy with the last raid," said Jurko. "Each time using about eighty chaikas, our traditional boats, with a crew of fifty, and as many again for the last raid. This time we are using larger ships, some warships as apparent escorts to a load of Dutch fluyts."

"But they are dedicated merchantmen, who do not carry armament."

"Hush, and listen. They do not carry armament, but they can carry two hundred men or more each, in addition to such goods as we have for sale. Two hundred men trained to stay quiet and still. We are not going to raid; we are going to invade, take, and hold. And close the city down, depriving it of trade, until our demands are met. So, the Ottomans will scarcely worry about a dozen or so fluyts sailing into port with half a dozen chaikas. They will think, half a dozen chaikas, three hundred men, no worries. Instead, there will be twelve hundred concealed men, three hundred and fifty or so Cossack sailors, and three hundred and more from the chaikas. Three hundred volunteers living in the city as traders. Not quite two thousand men, but not coming in as raiders, and so not exciting any attention. At night, we go into action, and at dawn, your fleet of six 64-gun tweedekkers and their escorts will sail into the protected harbour to hold it, destroying any Ottoman shipping which wants to make an issue of things. You assign people to hold the fortresses, who will man the cannon trained on the city, and we will take the rest of the city, and close it."

"You make it sound easy."

"I've had maps drawn. The main fortress is used as a customs check point, the Rumelhisari fortress, also known as strait-cutter or throat-cutter. We will check in to declare our wares. At this point we show them our tuns of mead."

"I thought Moslems did not drink?"

"Well, some of them hold to the idea that it is wine that is forbidden; and others that it is an excess which is wrong. But we will offer our excellent mead, letting them taste, for being let through swiftly, so that our caviare does not spoil before we get it to market. And if they will accept a few barrels, some of those barrels will be wine at the top, with a concealed door and a man at the bottom. We have been making them. And the mead they taste will be unadulterated but the rest will be topped up with wódka. Those of the 400 Janissaries not drunk we can overpower, and free any foreign prisoners to join us. Some of the ships, once having the papers of having been checked by customs, will move down the coast, and there we shall take the smaller fort guarding the harbour. Jedi kulele Castle is a potential problem, overlooking the southernmost part of the city. However, if we can take the military administration, and seize some hostages, we might just blockade the fort and hope they have not provisioned for a siege. I never said it was going to be easy. But even if we have to retreat, we should be able to do so with hostages."

"Isn't it used purely for political prisoners, ambassadors of countries at war with the Turks and those who offend their own rulers in palace politics?" said Von Kettler.

"We can't assume it doesn't have guns," said Jurko.

"No, there is that," said Von Kettler. "And as they have mobilised, doesn't that mean they will have secured our ambassador whom they can use as a hostage?"

"No, one of the messages that got through to Papa was carried directly by the Ambassador, who escaped dressed and veiled as an upper-class woman, and then was taken away by one of our merchants."

"Well, that's a relief. Let us hope they don't seize the men who are posing as merchants."

"If they do, we shall have to rescue them one way or another," said Jurko. "They knew the risks; and if the bastards kill them, they will feel the vengeance of a Cossack."

oOoOo

Gryzelda received Charles Gonzanga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat with gracious hospitality. He was a cousin of Ludwika Maria, and brother in law to the Archduke of Austria, who was also King of Hungary, King of Croatia and Bohemia, and Holy Roman Emperor. The duke was a handsome young man, in his mid twenties, with long dark curls, and pleasing, regular features. Gryzelda only wondered whether he was meant to have a moustache or not, and whether the small smear on his upper lip was but an artefact of rapid stubble growth. It put her strongly in mind of small persons with the stains of drinking chocolate on their lips. She smiled.

"Your Grace, what may I do for you?" she asked.

"Your Majesty, I have come on behalf of my royal brother as an envoy, to maintain good relations between the Holy Roman Empire and Poland."

"How delightful!" said Gryzelda. "You will be pleased to know that your cousin is happily married, and has taken an interest in a school for orphaned young ladies." She did not say that Jeremi had paid for the various schools set up by the Waza brothers on the understanding that they be ecumenical in whom they accepted, since it was a blind spot of the widow queen to be a trifle religiously bigoted.

"Yes, I am aware of this," said the duke. "And knowing that she has always liked you was one reason I was chosen."

"Of course," said Gryzelda. "Now, correct me if I am wrong, but do you not hold the Duchies of Nevers and Rethel, which France covets?"

"Yes, and it has been in my mind to sell them to France, to settle the dispute," said the duke.

"Oh, I can see the temptation in that," said Gryzelda. "Mazarin dislikes the Holy Roman Empire very much, so it must be as gall and wormwood to him. Now, I wonder, would you like to sell Rethel to me? It is in the north of France, less important to Mazarin than Nevers, and I have also purchased recently some land in the Pas de Calais."

This had been purchased from the hapless de Lombres, who feared to go back to France.

"I... well, it had not crossed my mind, but if you have a mind to do so... I have no problem in principle."

"Splendid; I'll have my legal advisor draw me up a document," said Gryzelda. "So glad we could do business."

"My brother-in-law wants to know if you need our aid in negotiating with Russia."

"Oh! No, that won't be necessary. My husband has written that he has had a series of meetings with Aleksej of Russia, to establish zones of control, and trade, and to help Aleksej deal with his more rebellious boyars."

"Oh!" said the duke. "So the war is over?"

"Essentially, yes," said Gryzelda. "The aggression was instigated by some of Aleksej's rebellious elements, but they have been subdued quite adequately. And peace negotiations will probably be complete by the time you could get there. My husband is concerned at news of the mobilisation of the Ottoman Empire, something which I am sure will concern you as well; perhaps you would like to join my brother in Chochim, to oversee his border-watch, and be available for negotiations there?"

"Why, yes, that does seem like a good idea," said the duke.

He wondered why he had the feeling that he was being manipulated when the Polish Queen was being so utterly charming and quite open.

oOoOo

Gryzelda's next visitor was Friedrich Wilhelm, Duke of Brandenburg-Prussia. Technically, Brandenburg-Prussia was a feudal fief of Poland. Friedrich Wilhelm had sat firmly on the fence during the invasion of Karol Gustaw, with his Swedish troops, and had been impressed by the thorough and decisive Polish victory. He was a heavyset man, without being fat, dressed soberly in the Western fashion.

"Your majesty," he said, respectfully. "I am hearing stories of your astute nature as a diplomat."

Gryzelda smiled.

"I believe I do not disappoint my husband," she said. "And what can I do for your grace?"

Friedrich Wilhelm paced back and forth.

"I should have liked to declare Brandenburg-Prussia a kingdom," he said. "But your husband's prowess makes that unlikely to happen. The religious wars ravaged my country. My father was a weak man and tried to remain neutral. It did not work. I stayed out of the invasion by Sweden, to see which way things would go. I am a staunch Calvinist, but I believe in religious tolerance and in reform. I have given refuge to Hugenots from France; I am not opposed to the Catholics and Jews in my realm. This seems to be in accord with the Sarmatian Commonwealth. My brother-in-law, Von Kettler of Kurland, has made suggestions to me that Brandenburg-Prussia should join the Commonwealth fully, rather than being a fealty member, and hoping for independence. What's in it for me?"

Gryzelda smiled, gently.

"Potentially, a very great deal," she said. "Now, about you being a Grand Elector. I assume that as a Calvinist, you feel little interest in the doings of the Holy Roman Empire?"

"On the contrary; I prefer to make sure if I can that the emperor is not going to be too rabid."

"And being entitled to be addressed as Serene Highness does not hinder."

"As you say. I have royal aspirations."

"You are married to the daughter of the late Prince of Orange and Stadtholder. We have some ties to the Low Countries. And we are not fond of France or its minister. You have been frank, so I shall be frank as well. I am thinking here that the votes held by Brandenburg should be subject to debate by the Sejm if you join us as a full member, as the election of any Holy Roman Emperor affects all of us; in return for which we recognise your princely title. When you bear in mind that most Commonwealth princes hold more power than a lot of petty kinglets, that is not a meagre offer. You would have access to having your troops trained in the engineering feats which have revolutionised transport in the rest of the Commonwealth."

"If we had canals across Brandenburg-Prussia, you would also have greater ease in being in place to march an army into France."

"That, too," said Gryzelda. "You'd be able to use the shipping advantages, too."

"I like the way Jeremi uses speed, and knows how to delegate," admitted the Prussian. "I... wish to think on this. I want to increase my holdings. Jeremi is called the peacemaker, but he is not averse to war."

"Sometimes the best way to end a war is to win it," said Gryzelda. "And sometimes the best way to be a peacemaker is by making sure someone else starts something; and you end it. I think this discussion should remain private for now; no need to stir up Austria or France."

"No, quite. I will think on your offers, and hope your husband will soon be home for final negotiations. No disrespect meant,"

"No offence taken," said Gryzelda. "It is a negotiation I would rather leave to him in detail in any case."