Freedom, at last!

Henry stepped out of the house, allowing the glorious morning sunlight to bathe his face. He stretched his arms out to shake off the sleep. A vague thought occurred to him that he was thinking about something important last night…but whatever.

I can finally go out to the village today!

But Andrea reminded him of his duties.

"Hey! Don't think you're going out to mill-around like a lazy lout! Your father needs help at the forge."

"Yes, Ma…"

And thus after eating a quick breakfast of some broth and bread, Henry went to see his father. Martin watched the young man walk up to him with raised eyebrows. He put down his hammer.

"Feeling better, Henry?"

"Yes father. I'm right as rain."

"Alright then…here's what I need: go see foreman Nemoy at the mines and ask him for some iron ingots. Ideally at least three pieces with a pound each. I need to forge some nails for the miller."

"Got it. Do you need help with Sir Radzig's sword?"

"Well…not yet. I'm still waiting for the crossguard for the chamberlain. But don't concern yourself about that. Just run some errands for now."

"Alright, father."

And with that, Henry went back to the house to take some coins from the trunk. He secretly took with him his set of playing dice. With the thought of his friends already in mind, Henry stepped out of the house.

However, he found a concerned mother waiting for him.

"Henry, where are you going?"

"Uh…to run some errands for Pa. He needs some ingots from the mines."

"Oh Henry! Are you sure you're feeling alright? What if you start having those…shakes again? You'll slip and fall from the hill, that's what! It's a long climb to the mines. You stay home and I'll go –"

Henry couldn't help but whine in frustration at his mother's dotting concern. He wanted to vent on her overbearing fears…but then he saw the sad worry on her aging face.

The young man couldn't help but feel guilty for the stress he must've caused to his mother.

Henry gently placed his hands on her shoulder.

"Please don't worry, ma! I won't drink or go around, uh…eating herbs. I'll stay inside the palisade walls, alright? Well, after I get the ingots from the mines, that is. "

Andrea forced a small smile onto her face.

"Alright son…don't wander off into the woods now! Stay on the path! And if you feel dizzy or light-headed, I want you to come home at once! God protect you, if you feel something is wrong don't hesitate to start saying the Lord's prayers. You do remember them…right?"

"Uh…yes Ma, I will. As a matter of fact, I'll kneel down in the village green, and start praying out loud! In fact, I will scream the prayers! It'll drive away the devil, so don't you worry!"

Andrea rolled her eyes and lightly smacked her son's shoulder. Then she waved her finger at him in caution.

"Oh Henry, you jester! Don't speak of the Lord and Savior like that! God help me, what am I going to do with you!"

Henry chuckled and gave Andrea a light hug. Last check of the pouch on his belt. Yes, he's got everything.

"Alright Ma, that's it then. I'll be back soon!"

And off Henry went.

"Sir Radzig, there is a nobleman waiting outside the gates for you, sir."

He put down the long parchment scroll detailing the silver ores from the mines. His fingers reached for a cup of wine and brought it to his lips.

"And who might he be?"

"He calls himself Sir Istvan, my lord. He says that he's a Hungarian noble from Haj…Hadj…umm, some province in –"

"Hajdú," offered Radzig.

"Yes…that province, sir. He says that he's recently been stripped of his land and titles by Sigismund of Luxembourg, so he is seeking some Christian hospitality and refuge from your grace."

Radzig rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I see…does he have any retinue with him? Men-at-arms?"

"Only a couple of servants. Nobody heavily armed."

Interesting…

This visitor presented a rare opportunity for Sir Radzig.

Sigismund of Luxembourg was the ruler of the neighboring Kingdom of Hungary. He was also the brother to Sir Radzig's liege lord, Wenceslaus the Fourth, King of Bohemia. The two had been engaged in an endless tug of war for power over the Holy Roman Empire, which by rights belonged to Wenceslaus.

After much intrigue and struggle, the conflict eventually resulted in Sigismund kidnapping Wenceslaus and holding him hostage. This had happened barely a year ago, during June of 1402, and the situation was still developing.

The Bohemian nobility was at a loss for what to do.

As the Royal Hetman, Sir Radzig had an obligation to Wenceslaus to protect his estates. And news had recently reached him about Sigismund attacking and sacking the Bohemian city of Kuttenburg late last year.

It's possible that Radizg's own estate of Skalitz, a small town that mined silver for the Bohemian treasury, could be targeted next.

This Istvan character could be one of the displaced nobility who had his land stripped away during one of the recent Hungarian civil wars. Perhaps he could provide some information on the views of the Hungarian nobility on Sigismund.

Or he could be a spy…

Radzig gave the matter a few moments of thought before coming to a decision.

Sir Radizg Kobyla, the Royal Hetman of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Lord of Skalitz rose from his seat. He reached for his sword leaning against the table and buckled it against his belt.

Whatever the case maybe, it wouldn't hurt to meet him.

"Send him in."

"Hey! Henry's come to see us!"

"The Lord be with you, Nemoy."

The foreman stepped out of the mineshaft's entrance and into the sun to greet him. The bright light made him blink twice, adjusting his eyes from the darkness of the tunnels.

"What are you doing out here, lad? After that episode you had a few weeks ago don't you think you ought to stay home? Next time you might not land so cleanly on your feet!"

Henry grimaced internally at his comments. It seems like his moment of madness was going to stick with him forever. Will he become the village madman now?

"Thank you for your concern, foreman, but I feel fine. Father sent me here for some iron ingots. He wants three pieces, weighing a pound each."

"Right, if you say so. Let's see here…well we've almost run out on that iron vein on the north shaft, so I don't have much left. Here, I can give you two lumps and a pile of smaller pieces."

"Is that it?"

"You know we don't mine iron for a living here, it's the king's silver! It's all thanks to Master Feyfar that we've got found some iron veins in the first place."

The foreman pointed at a basket nearby to show him the goods. Henry got down and carefully looked over the ore pieces, feeling for them with his fingers.

"I'm not sure if the smaller pieces will be enough. I'll take the two lumps back to Father."

"Suit yourself then. Let's see…that'll be four groschen."

"Four!? Don't you think you're overcharging a bit? Look at this lump, I can still see some rock in it, even after you've put it through the bloomery."

Nemoy was unfazed.

"What of it? It's still good iron. In any case, it's not like I have iron ores coming out of my ears, you know. Our smithy also needs some to fix the mining equipment constantly. You should be grateful that I'm selling ingots in the first place."

"But –"

"Bah! I don't have time to argue with some fool who've just fallen and knocked his noggin. Are you sure you're right in the head? Take it or leave it, I've got a mine to supervise."

Henry growled in frustration, but he didn't know what to say. It seems like he was right, the villagers will hold the incident in the woods over his head forever.

"Well then? Speak! Cat got your tongue?"

Sir Radzig's sword.

Say your father needs it for the sword.

"Well, I don't mind paying four groschen for that," Henry began coolly.

"Great then! Here, take it –"

"After all, Father needs them for Sir Radzig's sword. Since you're charging such a high price for them, I'm sure they're of the best quality. In any case, if you sold me ingots with impurities, then it would be unfortunate if they made the sword come out badly…"

Nemoy furrowed his eyebrows at Henry's words.

"What're you trying to say, lad?"

"I'm saying that I will be telling father that you charged me four groschen for these two ingots. And that you sold me these pieces knowing that they will be used for the sword. But that's not a problem…right?"

Nemoy rolled his tongue in his mouth and eventually let out an annoyed huff.

"Fine, fine…" he grumbled, "I'll get you some better pieces. Next time how about you mention the sword part first?"

"Of course!"

Nemoy called for one of the miners and another basket of iron ingots was brought out to him. This time the pieces were of much better quality, with fewer impurities mixed into them. Henry fished out three pieces that he found best.

"Alright, that's all I need Nemoy."

"Okay lad, I apologize for earlier. But now you've got three, not two, good pieces. I'll be fair and ask for a fair price for them. How does five groschen sound to you?"

"Hmm…make it four and a half."

"Grrr…fine then! You're real something, I've got to say. Here, take them! And I hope you don't fall down the hill on your way down!"

Henry smiled sarcastically as he untied his pouch and counted four groschen and six silver pennies.* He handed them over to the grumbling foreman.

As Henry made his way down the hill's path, away from the mine's entrance, he couldn't help but feel proud of himself.

"That was smart of me," he thought out loud, "using father's sword as a reason to not let Nemoy overcharge me."

It seems like they use a silver standard, like the lintar in Caingorn and the Cidaris thaler.

The rate is twelve silver pennies to a groschen.*

And this village mines silver for the crown to mint.

Hmm, do they use gold coins?

As Henry got to the base of the hill, he came across Theresa, the mill maid. She seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

"Henry! What are you doing out here?"

"Oh nothing, father just send me to get some ingots for him, to forge some nails. Actually, he said they were for the mill."

"Ah yes, I actually went to see your mother earlier. But are you feeling alright? Have you recovered from your fall?"

Henry felt a slight blush rising to his cheeks. It felt embarrassing that a girl was asking him about his episode. Hopefully, she didn't think he had something wrong with his head.

"Yes, yes, I'm alright! For the love of God, why does everyone ask me that? I've recovered. Speaking of which, I heard from ma that you were the one who saw me walking towards to forest that afternoon?"

"Yes, I did. Your parents came asking for you after dark and I was the one who saw you last."

A whisper of a headache crept into Henry's temple.

"Well, I was wondering if you could tell me more about…"

However, Theresa was in a hurry.

"I'm sorry Henry, I don't have time right now. I can tell you later if you want. Have you seen my brother Sammy around?"

"Oh, Samuel? I'm not sure. Doesn't he work at the mines. You should go ask Nemoy I guess."

Theresa bit her lips.

"I suppose…anyways, Bianca would like you see you at the tavern. And Matthew and Fritz are also looking for you. I've got to go now. See you later!"

Theresa hurried off without waiting for a reply from Henry.

The young man simply scratched his head and carried on walking back to the village. Despite Theresa's strange haste, he had other things in his mind. He was thinking about having a drink and catching up with his friends Fritz and Matthew. But that was not all.

Most of all, Henry wanted to see Bianca.

Bianca was a girl working at her family-owned tavern in Skalitz. She was a pretty young lass with short brunette hair and a bright personality. He had been courting for the last couple of months and things were progressing smoothly. Bianca liked Henry as well.

But how did she think about his episode?

Surely everyone in Skalitz knew about his fall and his subsequent ravings.

Henry swallowed uneasily.

Does she think I'm an idiot?

Theresa found Samuel idyllically fishing at the pond north of the refinery.

"Hey, Theresa! What're you doing here?" Samuel called out.

As she got closer, he suddenly spotted an expression of worry on her face. Uh-oh. That did not seem like good news. But he did not get up, continuing to lie on the grass.

Before she could say anything, he blurted out:

"Did Nemoy send you? Or father?"

Theresa sighed and shook her head.

"Sammy, why aren't you at work?"

"I've been given time off."

She glanced at him suspiciously.

"Time off? How come?"

"I smashed my foot with a pickaxe," he answered matter-of-factly.

Her mouth dropped open with surprise and worry.

"Mary, mother of god! Are you alright?!"

But Samuel just lazily waved her off.

"I'm fine! It was just a pretense. I needed a break!"

Theresa placed her hands on her hips and started to chastise him.

"Really, Sammy! One day you'll really get hurt. And then no one will believe you. You know that everyone already thinks you're a slacker, do you want to lose your job?"

Samuel groaned like any little brother would and ignored her scolding.

"Oh come off it, I'll be fine. Anyways, like I asked, why are you here Theresa? Did Nemoy or father send you?"

At those words, Theresa bit her lip again. She glanced around furtively to make sure that no one was within earshot. Then she forcefully pulled him to his feet.

"What're you doing?" asked Samuel with annoyance, "why are you acting like this?!"

Theresa leaned in close to his ears.

"Listen Sammy, I need something from you…"

Author's Notes:

* One Prague groschen = twelve parvus, called silver pennies here to simplify things.