“I am certain you do. But since you prefer to hear it straight, I shall oblige. Korybut is a traitor. He was on good terms with the Pope, with Jan Příbram, with Rožmberk, with Heinrich of Plauen, and with the Catholics of Plzeň. He claimed to be trying to make peace because he bemoaned the shedding of Christian blood. And I claim that to be nonsense; he can’t have been stupid enough not to understand what the Pope and the Catholics were really after. Peace? Compromises? Agreements? Fiddlesticks! They wanted to divide us, make us fight among ourselves and slaughter one another, and then they would have mopped up the survivors. Korybut must have known about it, so was found guilty of treachery, went to gaol for treachery and was lucky not to be executed. And he would have resided at Valdštejn until Judgement Day, had it not been for Jagiełło’s intercession and the generous ransom he paid.

“We’re come to agreement now. Here in Odry, Korybut and Puchała are doing the Tábor a valuable favour, I have to admit, and thanks to the two of them we hold firm the Moravian Gate, the bastion against an alliance between Sigismund and Albrecht and a link to Poland. We’ve reached agreement and they have entered an alliance, created a pact. For me, Korybut has two assets. Primo: he has definitely bidden farewell to hopes for the Czech throne. Secundo: he hates Prague Old Town. Thus we are linked by common interests. While that bond endures, Korybut will be my ally and brother-in-arms. While it endures. Do you understand me?”

“I do. But… if I may comment…”

“Go on.”

“Perhaps Korybut has another asset. The congress in Lutsk drove a wedge between Jagiełło and Witold, and since Sigismund inserted it, Jagiełło is looking for a means to pay Sigismund back for that. It can be assumed that Duke Korybut could be that means. It can be assumed that Korybut’s prestige will improve significantly. So perhaps it would be an idea to back him?”

Prokop chewed his moustache for a while.

“An idea, you say,” he finally said. “Place a wager, you say. You say his prestige is growing. Are you such a far-sighted strategist and politician? Until now, you have never revealed any talent in that respect. You were a decidedly better physician and sorcerer. So is it magic? Astrology? Is that what you and the Lithuanian engage in? If so, then I’d also like to learn what is written in the stars. What events and fates do the movements, conjunctions and oppositions of the heavenly bodies predict?”