From then on, everything happened rather quickly. Lady Stephanie, finally free, ran to Radzig. Sir Robard's men pushed inside and surrounded Jacob and his companions. And Istvan Toth made a last, somewhat desperate, attempt to free himself. Henry and Sir Capon knocked him to the floor with great pleasure and twisted his hands behind his back. Someone fetched a piece of rope from somewhere and handed it to Henry. He tied the Hungarian's hands together and made sure to tighten the binds as much as possible. Toth protested loudly all the time shouting they could not treat a nobleman this way, but no one listened to him. Henry then watched with great satisfaction as two of Robard's men led him away.

As soon as Toth disappeared from sight, Henry had a strange, unreal feeling. He couldn't believe that their crazy plan had really worked. True, things happened differently than he had expected, but in the end everything turned out well. A hand landed on his shoulder rousing him from his thoughts. He turned and looked into Sir Capon's laughing face.

"Henry, we really did it! I can't wait till uncle finds out. Um, well…" The joy on Capon's face was replaced by embarrassment.

"Why are you blushing, sir? After all, you captured Toth and so you have a big share of our success," flattered him Henry.

"Eh, Hal, if I told you how I did it, you would be blushing too." Suddenly the young nobleman paled. "Vítek and Peter! Come on!" he shouted, grabbing Henry by the sleeve and pulled him into Sir Divish's chamber.

There Henry's good mood quickly evaporated. There were two limp bodies on the floor. Vítek was still alive, but the glassy look and the large bloody puddle beneath him indicated that it was too late to save him. Without a word, Henry drew his dagger and ended Vítek's suffering. Then he moved to Peter. From the unnatural angle of the head to the rest of the body, he figured the man had broken his neck.

"They had insisted that they would go first," muttered Hans Capon beside him. Henry had nothing to say to that. Capon was a nobleman and they were subjects. Had he been here instead of them, he would go first too. That was the way of the world they lived in. Henry was about to get up and leave when he suddenly saw a sword leaning against a chest in the corner. He reached for it with tense anticipation and indeed - it was the sword he and his father had forged in Skalitz that fateful day. He gripped it firmly in his hand and stood up resolutely. Both of them came out of the room in sombre mood. Their victory just turned bitter.

While they were gone, the occupants of the dining hall changed somewhat. Toth's and Robard's men were gone and Lady Stephanie was also nowhere to be seen, but Sir Hanush and Sir Divish had arrived. They were now standing in the middle of the room, discussing something lively with Sir Radzig. When they saw the two young men, they interrupted their debate and praised them. Sir Divish thanked them sincerely for rescuing his wife and castle and Sir Hanush, in addition to praise, did not forget to scold them for being hot-headed fools. However, the smile on his face was a sign that he was exceedingly pleased with their actions. Hans Capon accepted all this with far greater humility than Henry would have expected from him. He himself bowed absently to the two lords, paying attention only to his father. Radzig obviously sensed this as he motioned for him to follow.

Together they went out into the courtyard and continued silently to the walls above the gate. There they stopped and looked at each other.

"Henry…"

"Father…" they both spoke at the same time, then stopped. Neither of them knew what to do next. Then Henry remembered what he was still holding.

"I brought you your sword, which my father… well, Martin and I made for you," he said and stretched out his hand with the weapon.

Radzig took it and examined it. "Truly a masterpiece," he remarked after a moment, "but the sword belongs to you, son." Then he put one arm around Henry's shoulders and they sat down with their backs against the wall. And as they watched the sky gradually colour with dawn, Radzig began to talk.

And so we are at the end. The epilog is rather short, but I think it works better than a longer one.

Some feedback about grammar and such would be really appreciated. Thanks and bye.