Unlike his namesake, the other Prokop had a beard, if a spare, unkempt and rather comical one. By virtue of his size, he had also been singled out with a nickname—he was called Little Prokop. Also a preacher among preachers at the beginning, he made a name for himself with the Hussites—or more specifically the Orphans—after the death of Jan Žižka of Trocnov. Little Prokop had been with Ambrož of Hradec Králové at Žižka’s deathbed, and the Orphans considered the witnesses of the final moments of their venerated leader virtually saints—they would even kneel before him and kiss the hem of his robes, and mothers brought their feverish children to him. This esteem elevated Little Prokop to the position of chief spiritual leader—thus he held an analogical office among the Orphans to the one Prokop had performed in the Tábor before he took up the position of Director.

“Duties,” repeated Prokop the Great, pointing vaguely towards the besieged town. His words were accompanied by a powerful roar; the wall shuddered and dust fell from the ceiling. The senior gunner was finally able to fire his two-hundred-pound bombard. It meant at the same time peace until the morning—a bombard had to cool for a minimum of six hours after being fired.

“I apologise for making you wait, Brother. And you, Brother Wyszek.”

Reynevan had met Wyszek Raczyński earlier, at the Battle of Ústí, in the cavalry of Jan Rohač of Dube. The Pole’s route to the Hussites was untypical—Wyszek had come to Prague in 1421 as an envoy of the Lithuanian Duke Witold, in whose service he remained. The mission concerned—as it later emerged—Korybut’s attempt to gain the throne. The Czech revolution appealed to Raczyński, especially after contact with Žižka, Rohač and the Taborites, who took the Pole’s fancy much more than the moderate Calixtines with whom he had discussed Witold’s mission. Raczyński quickly joined the Taborites, and there was a genuine bond of friendship between him and Rohač.

At Prokop’s signal, everybody took their seats at the map-covered table. Reynevan felt self-conscious and was aware how much of an intruder he was, ill-fitting to the company. His mood wasn’t helped by the relaxed nonchalance of Scharley, who felt at home always and everywhere. Also problematic was Little Prokop and Raczyński’s apparently unreserved approval of their presence. They were accustomed to it. Prokop always had within reach a wide variety of intelligence agents, emissaries, envoys and men on special—and even very special—missions with whom they were not personally acquainted.