“Your Bishoply Eminence,” said Oswald of Langenreuth, a tall, elderly, ascetically thin and richly attired man, bowing in respect. “Your Eminence as usual looks youthful, hale and full of energy. What is behind such an appearance? Witchcraft, perhaps?”

“Work and prayer,” replied Konrad. “Piety and moderation. Be seated, be seated, my dear Lord Langenreuth. Sample some Alicante, brought from Aragon. And the sturgeon will soon be served. Forgive me the humble refreshments. We’re fasting, after all.”

A gust of wind blew in through the window. A warm and springlike gust.

“Speak, speak,” said the bishop, nodding and interlocking his fingers. “What of distant Volyn? His Excellency the Papal Legate, Andrea de Palatio, was here recently. Like you, he was returning from Lutsk, but he didn’t regale me with gossip, for he was hastening home at great speed. But his countenance was sour, oh, sour indeed. Just by the by, do you know what the Czechs called the council in Lutsk? The council of the three old men.”

“Those three old men rule half of Europe,” Oswald of Langenreuth observed tartly, “and protect the other half from a Turkish invasion. While the oldest and most decrepit of them has two sons, who ensure continuity to the dynasty founded by said old man.”

“I know. The youngest is our king. And soon, God willing, will become emperor. He absolutely deserves it. Particularly after what I heard about Lutsk.”

“Did the legate’s sour face surprise you?” Langenreuth raised his eyebrows. “Andrea de Palatio brought some secret papal bulls to Poland. In them, His Holiness Martin V appealed to and urged King Władysław and Duke Witold to the godly undertaking and worthy hardship that is a crusade on Bohemia. Owing to—and I quote—respect for God, mercy and the good of his soul, the Vicar of Rome calls on the King of Poland and the Grand Duke of Lithuania to march on Bohemia in order to convert it, destroy it and put an end to its heretical disgrace. On behalf of the Apostolic See, the Pope permits the extermination of heretics in accordance with the rulings of the Church’s holy laws. End of quotation. But what happened in Lutsk? The papal dreams of a crusade vanished like smoke. For what did our dear king, that Sigismund of Luxembourg, whom you would gladly see as emperor, do in Lutsk? He offered Witold the crown. The crown! He is making him King of Lithuania!”

“And wisely.”