Page:Sienkiewicz - The knights of the cross.djvu/633

 Rh country at commission of the king, they can know no peace. In fact, he is the only man they fear. Hei! they are digging and digging, like moles! They have roused against him already the prince and princess here, and people say that even Prince Yanush bears anger against him because of Vizna."

"But have Prince Yanush and Princess Anna Danuta come also?" inquired Zbyshko. "There will be a multitude of people here whom I know; I am not in Plotsk now for the first time."

"Yes," answered Hlava, "they are both here; they have many affairs with the Knights of the Order, which they will bring up against the Grand Master in presence of the king."

"Well, and the king, on whose side is he? Is he not angry at the Knights, and does he not shake his sword above them?"

"The king does not like the Knights of the Order, and they say that he has been threatening them with war this long time. As to Vitold, the king prefers him to his own brother, Skirgello, who is a drunkard and a whirlwind. And therefore the knights who attend his Majesty say that the king will not declare against Vitold, and will not promise the Order not to help him. This may be true, for during some days past Princess Alexandra is very attentive to the king and seems in some way anxious."

"Has Zavisha Charny come?"

"He has not, but a man cannot take his eyes from those here already, and should there be war— Mighty God! chips and splinters will fly from the Germans!"

"It is not I who will pity them."

A few Our Fathers later, they were in splendid dress and on the way to the castle. The evening feast that day was to be, not at the prince's palace, but at the house of the city starosta, Andrei of Yasenets, whose spacious mansion stood within the castle walls at the Greater Bastion. Because of the wonderful night, which was almost too warm, the starosta, fearing lest the air might be too sultry in the chambers, commanded to set the tables in the court, where between the stone flags grew yew and service trees. Burning tar kegs illuminated the place with a clear yellow light, but clearer still were the rays of the moon, which on a cloudless sky, amid swarms of stars, shone like the silver shield of a champion. The crowned guests had not appeared yet, but there was a throng already