“Lord Bergow has apparently sent out a party,” Reynevan casually reminded him. “Lord Biberstein, too—”

“I know.” Schaff cut him off. “You are being hunted, and Grellenort and his black horsemen are hunting the hunters to take the spoils from them. You’re their target. They want you.”

“Undoubtedly. Which is why—”

“I should set you free?” The Lord of Chojnik smiled evilly. “Out of concern for my safety? Nice try, Bielawa, nice try. You’ll have to do better than that.”

“Well, at least be on your guard—”

“Don’t instruct me.”

The entire affair had fatal consequences for Father Zwicker. Brought before Schaff and bombarded with questions, the priest gritted his teeth and didn’t utter a word, not even when his face was slapped a few times.

“Bielawa!” Schaff gestured him over. “You’ve shown me you know some magic. So tell me: is it possible that this damned priest, although in fetters, might have saddled us with that Grellenort using witchcraft?”

Reynevan spread his arms and shrugged. Which was sufficient for Schaff. A rope was tossed over a horizontal bough and before he could say the Lord’s Prayer, Chaplain Zwicker was hanging from a noose, convulsively tensing and relaxing his legs, observed by the bored looks of the entire company.

“We’ll have to come by here again,” said Gwido Buschbach. “The damned priest released his seed here, look. Mandrake will sprout here for certain.”

Schaff indeed needed no instruction on how to behave in perilous situations. They continued to ride along forest tracks, carefully avoiding the more travelled ones. They were moving slowly, with two foreriders posted ahead: Gwido Buschbach and a bowman. The Lord of Chojnik grimly ordered the rest to be quiet, alert and attentive. The detachment began to look so combative that the fear of the Wallcreeper almost left Reynevan, and he no longer cowered in the saddle whenever a bird flew over the track or squawked nearby.

It cut both ways, unfortunately. In the face of such vigilance, it was difficult even to think about escaping. In spite of that, it was constantly on Reynevan’s mind.