“Ludwik of Brzeg’s wife, as you know, is Elisabeth, the daughter of the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick. The Prince-Elector is in cahoots with the King of Poland, Jogaila, and is trying to marry his son to Jogaila’s daughter. He knows that the King of Poland is secretly sympathetic to the Czechs, so in order not to annoy him or spoil the chance of a marriage with Poland, he is exerting influence on Duke Ludwik through his daughter, so that Ludwik will avoid—”

“Enough.” Prokop let go of his moustache. “That’s nonsense, I won’t waste time on it. But spread that rumour, by all means. Let it circulate. What can you say about Jan Ziębice? And about the young Duke of Oława?”

“Before they fled from Nysa, there was an argument between the two of them and Půta of Častolovice. It’s no secret what it was about. Both of them want to save their duchies. In short: they want to negotiate. Pay a ransom.”

“Emperor Sigismund threatens loss of life, honour and estates to anyone who parleys with us,” said Prokop slowly, “and the Church throws in a curse. Have they forgotten about that? Or do they consider them empty threats?”

“Sigismund is far away.” Drosselbart shrugged. “Very far away. Too far away for a king. A king should defend his subjects. But what is Sigismund doing? He’s in Buda, doing nothing. The dukes used that argument more than once in their dispute with Půta.”

“What say you to that?” Prokop the Shaven raised his head. “Horn? Bielawa?”

“Jan of Ziębice is a traitor,” Reynevan blurted out hurriedly. “A mendacious bastard! He fled from Nysa, betrayed and left Sir Půta, his future father-in-law, all alone. He is betraying Emperor Sigismund and only wants to make a pact with us because it’s convenient to him today. Tomorrow, he’ll betray us for his own convenience!”

Prokop looked at him for a long time.

“I presume,” he said finally, “that Jan of Ziębice and Ludwik of Oława are undecided and hesitant, not knowing how to approach us. We’ll ease their task by taking the first step ourselves. If they really want to parley, they’ll seize the chance with both hands. You’ll ride to Ziębice and Oława and submit our proposal. If they pay ransom and refrain from armed interventions, I’ll spare their duchies. If they don’t pay or break the agreement, they won’t even rise from the rubble and embers in a hundred years. You’ll leave at once. You two. Horn and Brother Drosselbart.”

“What about me?” asked Reynevan.