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Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 47
The baron arrived at the Wawel Castle on the morning of the fourteenth of June and, without having time to rest, was summoned to the king. Without even greeting François, whom he had not seen for two months, Heinrich handed him a letter:- Here, uncle.Romagnach picked up the paper and read:"My lord, my son. The king, your brother, has died. So many of my children have already died, and now a new misfortune has come. I pray the Lord to send me death so that I don’t have to go through this anymore. I have never experienced more pain, and comfort me only your arrival is possible. France and I are waiting for you. I need to see you in good health, because if I happen to lose you too, I will order you to bury me alive with you.Do not delay your departure from Poland and do not let them delay you, because you are needed here. I am dying of longing for you, only your presence can console me and make me forget about my loss. Loving you like no one else in the world, your mother Ekaterina."
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 48
Over the next two years, Stefan Batory took the cities of Sokol, Velikiye Luki, Toropets, and in August 1581 laid siege to Pskov. The king planned to start the siege earlier, but the continuous raids of small Russian detachments deep into the Lithuanian lands delayed him. He was not too worried about this: Pskov was not considered a well-fortified city, so Batory expected to take it before the cold weather.However, he was mistaken: in recent months, the Russians have surrounded Pskov with an embankment, a moat and four stone walls with dozens of towers and secret underground passages.The Polish king began by ordering arrows to be fired at the besieged, to which notes were attached. In them, he invited the defenders to surrender, promising to show them respect and shower them with favors. Soon a return arrow flew into the camp of the Poles. Impatiently unfolding the letter, Batory read: "For all the riches of the world, we will not change our kiss on the cross. We will die, but we wi
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 49
On May 26, 1584, the execution was scheduled. François was present at her, standing in the front row and imperceptibly smiling through a lush, in the Polish fashion, mustache. The villain was stripped to the zhupan and taken to a specially built high platform. The priest hastily recited the prayer and disappeared, and instead the executioner appeared - a huge fellow in a bright red cloak with a hood and a mask - and pointed to the condemned man on the chopping block.François looked for the last time into the face of the hated gentry, hoping to see fear in his eyes. But there was no fear; Zborowski surveyed the assembled crowd with a haughty look and stepped towards the chopping block. Smiling contemptuously, he knelt down and rested his head on her. Romagnac, not looking up, looked at him in order to see with his own eyes how the killer of his friend would lose his life.The executioner, trampling next to Samuel, waved a huge ax at a sign from the steward. The crowd cheered in unison
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 50
In the morning, at a little light, they set out on their journey. Dimitri sullenly looked at the passing forests and fields. There was no trace of his yesterday's euphoria. Yes, he escaped, but at the same time he lost his life, and now a monastic cell awaits him in a strange, frightening country.- What are you, my father, are you all silent? How he found that Pole, he has not said a word since.Dimitri's eyes filled with tears.- How do you know that he is a Pole? - he whispered, trying to imitate the Russian pronunciation.- You can see it in clothes. Nothing to kill, really. Haven't you fallen ill?- No, it's just sad.- Well, well, - Mikhail stroked his head, - don't cry. Of course, it’s hard to stay without a mother, and they say you love your uncles too. Nothing, God willing, see you again.Deciding that this was a good opportunity to find out something, Dimitri sobbed and asked:- When?“But who knows,” Mikhail Nikitich sighed, “the Lord alone knows. But you are no longer smal
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 51
On the evening of January 7, 1598, Mikhail Nikitich Romanov came to visit his elder brother Fyodor in the white-stone chambers in Zaryadye, famous throughout Moscow. Jumping out of the sleigh and shivering from the bitter cold, he almost ran towards the door.Inside, the walls and ceiling of the chambers were generously decorated with paintings, narrow windows with a semicircular top were covered with carved bars, benches along the walls were upholstered in red velvet. The host was seated at a long oak table laden with jugs, dishes, jugs, and goblets. Fyodor, seeing his brother, smiled and pointed to a chair upholstered in embossed leather, inviting him to join the meal. But he, gesturing for the servants to leave, immediately blurted out:- The king is dead!Fyodor Nikitich gasped, crossed himself at the red corner, muttering hastily "Peace, Lord," and impatiently asked:Who did you leave as heir?Michael spread his hands.- Nobody. He said - everything is the will of God, and with t
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 52
Having safely passed the frontier outpost, in the summer of 1601 Dimitri ended up in Lithuania. He went deep into the Commonwealth, hoping to join the retinue or army of some noble gentry who might be interested in the history of the prince.But it turned out to be more difficult than he thought. Previously, in Poland, he was considered a nobleman, the uncle of the king, and all doors were open for him. And how to make friends with the lords, if you are a poor, obscure youth? Very soon, Dimitri realized that not only getting close, but even getting to know some nobleman would be a difficult task. Realizing that he could not dream of joining anyone's army, he decided to enter the service of a rich pan.At first, he went to Orsha, hoping to find work with the owner of his former castle. But it turned out that Jan-Stanislav Vapovsky, to whom, while still being Francois, he bequeathed all the lands, he sold them to the crown, and no one now lived in Orsha Castle. Dimitri spent a few more
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 53
In the middle of the huge hall for receptions stood a table filled with dishes and candelabra and many chairs, and at the head of the table Dimitri saw the same chair as in his room. The guests bowed in respect. A tall, stout gentleman of about fifty with slicked-back hair and a long black beard stepped forward, dressed in a dark blue coat and burgundy kuntush. It was the owner of Sambor, the governor of Sandomierz, Jerzy Mniszek. He warmly and respectfully greeted Demetrius and even asked permission to hug him. After talking for a couple of minutes with the prince and princes Vishnevetsky, he made a broad gesture with his hand, pointing to a young man and a girl of about fifteen standing among the guests.- Let me introduce you, Pan Dimitri, my son Nikolai and daughter Marianna, or in Russian - Marina.They approached and bowed. The prince bowed his head, and, raising it, met Marina's eyes and ... It seemed to him that the whole world around him had disappeared, he could not see anyt
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 54
Dimitri formed his own yard. Pan Mniszek put at his disposal a whole wing of the Sambir Castle, and now the prince had his own butler, kravchiy, bed-keeper, steward, chalice, treasurer and even huntsman. Demetrius was given royal honors, and many fugitive Russians, now living in Lithuania and Poland, already called him sovereign.The prince sat in his office and wrote letters to be sent to Russian cities. In them, Demetrius announced that he was the son of Tsar John, announced his imminent arrival and urged to meet him with humility, without resistance, open the gates of the cities and recognize him as his sovereign.Having finished another letter, Dimitri got up and went to the window. Through the multi-colored rhombuses of the stained-glass window, he thoughtfully watched how, under the leadership of one of the knights, Pan Mniszek, fifty soldiers were marching in the courtyard of the castle. Anyone else in his place would have thought about how he could defeat the powerful Russian