“Apostate!” bellowed Zwicker from the ground. “Heathen! You are not my master; I do not serve you! I serve God and those who act on God’s orders! They will catch up with you, you hell spawn, and my martyrdom will be avenged! You shall know my masters’ wrath; you’ll howl like a whipped cur when they come on their black horses! And you, Bielawa, unchaste scoundrel, you’ll find no refuge on this Earth! There is already a place for you in Hell! But here, on Earth, you will taste agony! You will be flayed—”

One of the soldiers quietened him with a powerful kick. The chaplain curled up, wheezing.

“To horse,” Janko Schaff commanded without looking at him. “On we go!”

Schaff’s party numbered nine horsemen—two burgmen, two esquires, three bowmen and two armed servants. There must have been more with him at Trosky—the seven slaves that Schaff received in the division weren’t with them. An escort had probably driven them towards the Silesian border. Now the only captives were the chaplain and Reynevan. Unlike the priest, Reynevan’s arms hadn’t been bound nor his legs tied under the horse’s belly. He had been coerced into giving his parole that he wouldn’t try to escape, sealed by a vow on his honour and the cross. He naturally planned to escape at the first opportunity, but Scharley would have been proud of him—neither his face twitched nor his voice trembled when perjuring himself. He almost believed the oath himself. Schaff, however, wasn’t so gullible; he had certainly dealt with oaths before, and with people of Scharley’s ilk. Reynevan wasn’t tied up, but his horse was led by the bridle and a bowman riding behind kept a keen eye on him. And a loaded crossbow trained on him.

They rode quite quickly, without dallying, heading towards the north and the mountains. The route led through a barren and remote area, indicating that Schaff was deliberately avoiding main roads. Reynevan didn’t know the Podkrkonoší at all and was quite lost. He did know the destination, though: Chojnik Castle near Jelenia Góra. It was on the Silesian side of the Karkonosze, so it could be presumed that the detachment would head for a pass. Reynevan’s knowledge of the area was too poor to know which one.