“Bedřich? Which way now?” asked the penitent, innocently.

“To Racibórz. And after that along the Krakow road to Zator. I told you.”

“We know what you told us yesterday. I asked where we’re going today.”

“Don’t push your luck, Scharley.”

So they rode towards Racibórz and the Krakow road, in a unit which now included the two Polish knights and their esquires. And all around, spring was blooming.

“M’Lord Reynevan?”

“Yes, Lord Melsztyn.”

“You are a German—”

“I am not. I am a Silesian.”

“You are not a Czech,” Spytek concluded. “So what, then, draws you to Hussitism? What led you to being on their side?”

“The eternal fight between good and evil. When the time came to choose, when I had to choose, I chose good.”

“Had to? You could have stayed out of the fight.”

“To remain neutral in the fight between good and evil is to sympathise with evil.”

“Listen carefully, Mikołaj,” said Spytek of Melsztyn, addressing the other knight. “Listen to what he says.”

“Aye, I am,” said Siestrzeniec. “I’ve also heard rumours. And people say you engage in witchcraft, m’Lord Bielawa. That you are a sorcerer.”

“I am indeed,” replied Reynevan calmly, “and it was three sorcerers who were the first to greet Jesus in Bethlehem, bringing him gold, frankincense and myrrh.”

“Tell that to the Inquisition.”

“The Inquisition knows.”

“Perhaps we ought to change the subject,” interjected Spytek of Melsztyn.

“You divided up Upper Silesia between you with great panache,” said Siestrzeniec sarcastically. “Dashingly, boldly and vigorously. The Tábor, Wołoszek, Korybut. Shared out your chickens before they’ve hatched. What about the Polish Kingdom’s interests?”

“Are they so dear to you?” asked Bedřich with no less sarcasm. “Do you care so much for them?”

“It will be difficult to carry out your plans if Poland doesn’t support them. Will it be in Polish interests to support them?”

“Hard to say,” Bedřich agreed. “For it’s the old problem with Poland: who is in charge and what are they going to do? Jagiełło? Jagiełło’s sons? Sophia of Halshany? Witold? Our old friend, Bishop Zbigniew Oleśnicki? The Szafraniec family? In Poland, whoever is in power has his own, private interests and invariably calls his own interest the good of his fatherland. That’s how it’s been for centuries and it will always be thus. You ask about the interest of the Polish Kingdom, Lord Kornicz. And I ask: whose specific interest do you have in mind?”

Siestrzeniec snorted and reined in his mount.

“Lord Bedřich! Why, we are but envoys in the service of dignified personages, an escort for important statesmen. We are here to escort. Statesmen are travelling there to discuss truly important matters with other statesmen.”