Saint-Germain 24: An Embarrassment of Riches: A Novel of the Count Saint-Germain Read online

  This one is for

  STEVE RAWLINS.

  You know why.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Part I: Rozsa of Borsod

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Part II: Rakoczy Ferancsi, Comes Santu-Germaniu

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Part III: Imbolya of Heves

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Part IV: Iliska of Szousa

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  By Chelsea Quinn Yarbro from Tom Doherty Associates

  Copyright

  PART I

  ROZSA OF BORSOD

  Text of a letter of introduction from Frater Sandor, scribe to Konig Bela of Hungary, to Konig Otakar II of Bohemia and the Counselors of Praha, written in Church Latin on vellum, carried by a royal herald, and delivered thirteen days after it was dispatched.

  On the order of Bela, Konig of Hungary, presently established at Buda, I send his greetings to Przemysl Otakar II, Konig of Bohemia, and the Counselors of Praha: at Konig Bela’s pleasure, I present to your notice the following men and women:

  Gazsi of Raab and his three sons, Miksa, Adorjan, and Nandor, all silversmiths and Masters within their Guild, who have made jewelry and other prized objects for Konig Bela; they will supply Konig Bela’s granddaughter, your Konig’s Konige, Kunigunde, such items she requests for herself or members of the Konige’s Court, as they have done for our Konig Bela. They will require housing and the support given to members of the Konige’s household.

  Tirz Agoston of Mures and his wife, Jolan, and their two youngest children, their son, Imri, and their daughter, Alida. The family has made musical instruments for three generations, and their older sons are presently apprenticed in Mures to their cousin Tirz Lajos; at the completion of their training, they will once again join their parents for their living, thus continuing the honor of the craft. Tirz Agoston will make such instruments as mandolas, gitterns, rebecs, fiddles, and psalteries as may please Konige Kunigunde; Jolan can teach the Konige, and any of her ladies she may select, in the art of playing these instruments. The family will require a house and a workshop near to the Vaclav Castle but will require no support beyond their house and workshop, so long as Tirz Agoston is given permission to make instruments for those outside the Konige’s Court.

  Vili of Gran, who is a superb furrier, skilled in every aspect of his art, from skinning to preserving hides and furs, and will, at the pleasure of Konige Kunigunde, fashion such garments and other items as it will delight her to have or to present to members of her Court. He, too, is to have housing and the support of the Konige’s household. His wife and children will remain in Hungary for at least a year, his wife being newly pregnant and unable to travel; she will require at least a year after giving birth before she may safely take to the road with her children, and so will not arrive in Praha for at least two years.

  Klotild of Jilish, the widow of Szilard, and her daughter Emese, who is seven years of age. Klotild is widely recognized as an herb-woman and midwife. She has delivered many noble children and has only had four die among more than thirty births. Konig Bela believes that Klotild of Jilish will be able to use her skills to ease his granddaughter’s labor and ensure her a safe delivery. She will also attend the infant through its first year, as a member of the Konige’s household. Her daughter will assist her in her work, and serve as a companion for the Konige’s daughter.

  Rakoczy Ferancsi, alchemist, who has the knowledge to make jewels, which he will be honored to concoct for Konige Kunigunde. This man comes from an ancient line of Comesi, as the Latins have it, and is due the rights of his title, that of Santu-Germaniu, a fiefdom at the far eastern edge of Bela’s Kingdom, an ancient holding of his family, the safety of which fief is in his hands. Aside from his abilities to produce jewels, Rakoczy is also familiar with many languages. Being a man of some wealth, he will provide residence and maintenance for himself and his manservant, and employ such household as he may require, without cost to the Konige. He has made arrangements with the Counselors of Praha to purchase a mansion in Praha which he will keep from his own purse. He has also provided his own escort and wagons for the journey to Praha, and provided all funds for such stops as this company of travelers may make along the way. Konig Bela asks that the Comes be restricted to his own mansion, the Konige’s Court, and the public places and buildings of the city, and that he not be allowed to pass beyond the city’s walls; further, Konig Bela relies upon the Konige’s Court to make regular reports on his activities, for he is a figure of great interest to the Konig.

  Elek of Buda, master of horse, who will bring ten horses with him to augment the Konige’s stables, all from Royal blood-stock. In addition, he will bring his wife and five children with him, all of whom are to be enrolled in the Konige’s household, as servants of whatever capacities as will please Konige Kunigunde to assign. This man is skilled in all manner of equestrianship, and will not only train the Konige’s horses, but will also train such members of the Konige’s household that she may require, to ride.

  Hovarth Pisti of Buda, master tapestry-weaver, and his six apprentices: Fabo, Geza, Andras, Bartal, Jeno, and Tivadar. These artisans are the most accomplished tapestry-weavers in Hungary; they will prepare such tapestries as the Konige shall desire them to weave. Hovarth is the highest member of his Guild, and has been enrolled among the Counselors of Buda to represent all members of his Guild of Tapestry-Weavers. His absence has required him to appoint a deputy, who will fulfill his duties in Buda while Hovarth Pisti remains in Praha in the service of Konige Kunigunde, and a member of her household.

  Rozsa of Borsod, Teca of Veszbrem, Gyongyi of Tolna, and Csenge of Somogy to help the Konige’s four other women tend to her in her pregnancy. All four women are from noble families; Rozsa of Borsod is the wife of Notay Tibor of Kaposvar, already in the Court of Otakar II; Csenge of Somogy is the cousin of the Konige’s waiting-woman, Imbolya of Heves. Teca of Veszbrem and Gyongyi of Tolna are high-born widows of distinguished soldiers of noble birth. These four women will remain to wait upon Konige Kunigunde until her second child is three years old, and longer if the Konige gives birth again during that time, for they are charged with assisting in the care of her children as well as of her. They will be kept by the Konige as members of her Court.

  In addition, Konig Bela has purchased twenty slaves for Konige Kunigunde’s household, to be employed as she sees fit. Most of the slaves are from the East, and have only a rudimentary knowledge of the Magyar tongue and none at all of the Bohemian one, and so will have to rely upon those knowing Magyar to be in charge of them, or to be assigned tasks that requires little or no instruction and supervision. They have the appropriate brands on them, and they range in age from about ten to about twenty. There are twelve men and eight women. Three of the women are needlewomen capable of simple sewing. One of the men is quite strong and may be used for heavy labor. Konig Bela has clothed them and provided them with round cloaks to spare his granddaughte
r that expense.

  The escort and transportation for this company, led by Padnagy Kalman, Dux of Oradea, consists of ten mounted men-at-arms, five drivers of wagons pulled by mules, ten walking escorts for the wagons, eight walking escorts for four large carts pulled by bullocks, and six small carts pulled by ponies. There are an extra four horses and six mules assigned to this company, in order to ensure that there will be fresh mounts at all times. The slaves will walk to augment the escort, but the others will ride in the wagons except when ordered to leave the wagons by the Dux. In addition, there are two cooks, five grooms, three monks, a priest, a scribe, two couriers, and a physician. All these will return to Hungary with the Dux unless it should please Konige Kunigunde to keep one or more of them to serve her. Since they will be traveling in the two weeks before Easter, it is to be hoped that they will be far safer than they would be during times that battle is permitted and the Peace of God is not in effect. They depart two days following the courier carrying this, and for ten days they will be in God’s Hands. After the 24th of March, the escort will have to be more diligent, even on Bohemian roads.

  Given Konig Otakar’s encouragement to German settlers in Bohemia, Konig Bela has no doubt that Konig Otakar will extend the same welcome to these Hungarians, for the sake of his Konige and the deep affection that is shared between these two Konigs. It is Konig Bela’s hope that the presence of these excellent Hungarians will bring about an end to the hostilities often expressed to their fellow-countrymen, which would please both Konig Bela and his granddaughter, Konige Kunigunde, both of whom seek an end to border skirmishes.

  May God bless and save Konig Otakar, and send him a son this time, and may his line never be extinguished in Bohemia from this day until the Last Judgment.

  In Buda on the 12th day of March in the 1269th Year of Our Lord, at the behest of Konig Bela of Hungary, by the hand of

  Frater Sandor, Hieronymite and Scribe

  (the seal and sigil of Konig Bela)

  1

  Rakoczy Ferancsi looked around the entry hall of his manse, his only expression a flicker of disappointment in his dark eyes. “Well, we have seen worse; at least they disposed of the rushes; we will have to do something about the rats,” he remarked in Imperial Latin to Hruther, who was three steps behind him, carrying a red-lacquer chest strapped to his shoulders, its legs removed and bound to the body of the chest. The two went through the arched door and into the main hall; at the far end of it was a large fireplace badly in need of sweeping; two benches lay upside down in front of it. “We will need a staff of fifteen at least to manage this place, inside and out.” He swung his black-and-white badger-pelt mantel off his shoulders and draped it over the nearest plank bench, revealing a black bleihaut with Hungarian-style sleeves and long, black-embroidered riding panels in the front of the garment. His Roman braccae were heavy black cotton; his high boots were thick-soled and made of tooled red leather from Aleppo. He wore no jewelry or indication of rank so as not to tempt robbers to stalk him during his travels; his head was bare, revealing dark wavy hair, cut shorter than the current fashion, with a touch of gray at the temples, and just now, his attractive, irregular features were severe. His simplicity of clothing would change when he went to the Konige’s Court to present himself along with the rest of those subjects Konig Bela had sent to his granddaughter, when grandeur would be expected of him on account of his title; richness and variety in dress were required for members of the Konige’s Court, and failure to present a splendid appearance would be regarded as a slight to the Konige.

  “More like twenty, and more for the bake-house, the bath-house, and the stable,” said Hruther, setting the chest down and sniffing the chilly air. “It’s musty.”

  “True enough.”

  “The air is stale.”

  “It has been empty for more than a year,” Rakoczy said, a suggestion of doubt about this in his observation. “According to Counselor Smiricti.”

  The building was less than fifty years old, made of wood and stone, two stories high, with ten rooms and a kitchen in this central manse. It stood on a shoulder of a hill not far from the Vaclav Castle, surrounded by a tall stone wall; this manse was on the highest part of the mansion-grounds. The main hall reached up to the roof, heavily beamed and shadowy above the rows of shuttered windows that ran along the gallery on three sides of the hall providing what little light filtered into the room. Large as it was, the main hall was sparsely furnished with rough-hewn benches and two standing chests, both of which were open, showing all contents were gone; there was an overturned table in the far corner of the hall. To the left of the fireplace, a narrow, steep stairway led to the gallery above.

  “The private rooms—six of them—are upstairs, but for the withdrawing rooms, on the other side of the main hall,” said Hruther as he carefully put down the bundled legs of the chest. “According to the information we were given.”

  “There are two of those, are there not? withdrawing rooms?” Rakoczy asked.

  Hruther pointed to the right. “You can see the doors; one is supposed to have three tall windows.”

  “I’ll decide which one of them will serve as my study; we can turn one of the upstairs rooms into my workroom, with space for my books; we will have to determine how accurate the description we were provided actually is,” Rakoczy decided aloud. “The work already paid for is still not done.”

  “It isn’t quite what we expected,” Hruther said. “This will need a lot of work.”

  Rakoczy nodded his agreement. “Fortunately we have four men from our escort with us for another ten days before they return to Santu-Germaniu. We can get some work done here until we have hired the servants we need.”

  “Escorts and a groom,” said Hruther of the four men who had accompanied them to Praha. He crossed the room to the maw of the fireplace. “The chimney will need cleaning before a fire can be safely lit. At least the Bohemians have chimneys—not like the English. By the smell of it, there are rats in the flue.” He glanced at the floor. “By the droppings, there are rats everywhere.”

  Although it was April, the day was overcast, threatening rain, so the house was chilly and damp. Hruther stretched to ease his shoulders. “The eight wagons with your furnishings should be here in a few days. It was wise to dispatch them separately; I think now you were right about that. Konig Bela would have been suspicious of you taking so many of our own goods with the Dux of Oradea’s escort. Bela would like your exile to be as limited as possible, but since he needs Santu-Germaniu to help keep his heir in check in Transylvania, he cannot deny you at least a few of your things. Bela has good reason to contain Istvan, and without Santu-Germaniu he won’t be able to.” He looked at the nearest of the open chests, shaking his head. “We can manage for four days on our own. You have enough gold to hire help before the rest of your goods arrive.”

  “And you dare to speak the heir’s name aloud?” Rakoczy asked, his tone gently mocking.

  “Who but you can hear me, my master?” Hruther countered. “I will say nothing that could create more suspicions than have already accumulated around us.”

  “We may yet need my gold for bribes, though Bohemia is rich in gold.”

  Hruther gave a wintery smile. “Jewels will be most welcome, in any event. The Konige will want them.”

  “I wish I had been allowed more of my servants to come with me,” Rakoczy said, taking a turn about the main hall, feeling increasingly desolate as he took stock of all the work to be done. “There is so much to be restored.”

  “True enough,” Hruther agreed.

  “As you say, we can probably manage well enough until the household goods arrive. This is hardly the Silk Road, nor is it Leosan Fortress, or Cyprus, thank all the forgotten gods.” Memories of those three places rose in his thoughts; he looked toward the maw of the fireplace as the images faded.

  Hruther pinched the bridge of his nose, then rubbed his eyes, doing his best to banish the fatigue that was taking hold of him now tha
t they had reached the end of their journey. “The Dux set a hard pace for us,” he said as if offering an explanation for his weariness. “Doubtless Konig Bela required it of him.”

  “So he did,” Rakoczy said.

  “Still, we should make some effort to settle in as soon as your goods arrive,” Hruther declared, making himself stand straight. “It’s expected. The Konige’s Court will expect it of you.” He stretched his arms, laced his fingers, and pushed his hands out ahead of him.

  “We should probably fetch food from the market before that; as you say, it is expected and the men are hungry,” Rakoczy said, and then added, “Or I could give them money for a meal and entertainment. What do you think, old friend?”

  “They’d probably prefer the latter, and it will postpone our first visit to the market until tomorrow; I can wait until then to purchase a lamb or a brace of ducks for my own needs,” said Hruther. “It’s been a long trek from your native earth. The men have earned their respite—no doubt they’ll be glad of a night of revelry and soft beds.”

  “Then they shall have such a night, and as many of them as we may need to provide,” Rakoczy nodded, and continued his stroll around the room. “We should purchase a proper table from the local wood-workers, with chairs, not benches, to go with it. The servants’ quarters are behind the kitchen opposite the stable, as I recall from the Counselor’s description.”

  “I’ll go and look, if you like,” Hruther offered.

  Rakoczy laughed once. “You have the right of it; neither of us has been here before, and we are both seeing it for the first time. That plan the Counselors sent has its limits in—” He paused, pondering for a moment. “I suppose I should send a gift to the Counselors of Praha for selecting this place for us.”