Arcanum Read Online Free PDF

through.”
    “Who paid who this year? These calculations can be so difficult.”
    “Not that my lord would ever have to worry about that, but I understand not a single penny changed hands. The Teutons were granted forage, and a thousand spearmen ensured they went at such speed they could barely graze their horses.” Trommler clearly agreed with the Bavarians’ tactics, judging by his thin grin.
    “I don’t know whether to be impressed or just a little bit angry. Are those spears still poking at them?”
    “The last I heard, they are, my lord.”
    “Send word to the captain of the Bavarian spears, and impress on them that the Teutons are to march through Austria and Styria. If he lets them cross the river before Passau, I’ll have his bones mixed with those of the Teutons and dumped on the north bank. You might want to send that message to Mad Leopold too, just in case he feels led to countermand me.”
    “As you wish, my lord. I’ll let the Order know.”
    There came the sound of running footsteps and the jingling of metal rings. Felix skidded to a halt in front of the dais and presented himself for inspection. As he’d promised, he wore two swords: a longer one on his left hip, a short one on his right. It would have looked better if the child had actually grown. Something he could always talk to the hexmasters about, for certain. A leader needed to be at least as tall as the men he commanded.
    “Good enough, boy. Come up here and stand at my left. Listen to what I say, and watch the Teuton carefully. Don’t speak, even if he tries to goad us. Remember that we’re better than he is: stronger, richer, more educated and more civilised. We have every advantage that he doesn’t.”
    “Yes, Father.” Felix jumped up and took his place.
    “We’re doing this not because we enjoy it, but because we rule. Our subjects need to be protected from these creatures.”
    The doors at the far end of the hall clattered open. The light from outside darkened as the doorway was filled with figures. The Teuton strode in, and behind him, the guards, spears lowered for the threshold and then raised upright again.
    The man was even more impressive close up. Tall, strong, pale, bear fur slung over his shoulder and mail on his chest. A man of note in his homeland, then.
    Gerhard remained seated. He would have risen for an equal or a friend.
    The Teuton’s bow was poorly executed – nowhere near enough bend on that front leg – and his insolent eyes stared at Gerhard, not the ground. When he rose again, he crossed his arms in front of him and stood with his legs a shoulder-width apart.
    Gerhard leant forward a little. The chair creaked behind him.
    “What’s his name?”
    Reinhardt, the captain of the guard, started to approach the dais, but the Teuton shouldered him aside and announced himself.
    “Walter of Danzig,” said the Teuton. If he’d hoped his fame had spread beyond the fly-bitten north, it hadn’t made it quite as far as Juvavum. Unlike his stench, which was primal.
    “So, Walter of Danzig. What do you think Prince Gerhard of the Palatinate of Carinthia can do for you?”
    “I have a hundred horse to take over the mountains. I’ve come ahead to see there are no delays on the road.”
    Gerhard considered having the man executed on the spot and his body sent back to his companions in quarters. He looked to his right, where Trommler was as stony-faced as he always was at meetings like this, giving no sign of any emotion above bored detachment – perhaps having seen it all before, he was genuinely bored. To his left, Felix’s tense fidgeting showed he knew the Teuton had shown total disregard for any form of civilised behaviour, but also that his father’s warning was still uppermost in his mind.
    There was no reason why Gerhard should let this Danzig off quite that lightly. A bit of play first, then.
    “Let me consider this suggestion for a moment.” He steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them,