Previous Chapter
Related Chapters
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
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 55
Unlike Demetrius, who attracted more and more supporters with his wise actions, the tsarist governors, and Godunov himself, made mistake after mistake. After the victory at Bryansk, Shuisky, furious that all the surrounding towns and villages supported the "imposter", ordered the local population to be killed indiscriminately. Hundreds of families were slaughtered and hanged, and the inhabitants of the Seversk land, seeing such lawlessness, swore allegiance to Demetrius and swore to fight to the death. Everyone understood that those who surrendered would not be spared cruel reprisals.Meanwhile, Boris, having received detailed reports of the victory, sent Peter Sheremetyev to the army, who expressed royal disfavor to Shuisky and the whole army for not being able to capture Dimitri "by their negligence and non-service." The governors, among whom there were many "wavering", were seriously offended, and although they had not yet openly opposed Godunov, they were already thinking about mo
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 56
Dimitri could not sleep that night. He understood that now nothing could prevent him from sitting on the throne of Moscow. "I'm the tsar! It's impossible to believe! Dear God, I thank you for everything: for immortality, for the fact that of all the Russian people it was Dimitri who got in my way, and, of course, for the fact that I won this fight. Give me a sign, let me know who I am: it can't be that normal for an ordinary person to be so lucky. Are the thoughts that hovered in my head true? Am I really something more than just a person?"Demetrius was bursting with pride. He did it, he did it! With a miserable army of four thousand spears, he was able to defeat the formidable Russian Tsar, who, if desired, could put up a hundred thousand soldiers. And now they are all in his, Demetrius, hands! He will dispose of them, he will overcome the Turks, make an alliance with the European sovereigns and become the strongest, the greatest among them!The only thing that depressed him was the
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 57
Two days later, Prince Rubets-Mosalsky was already in Tula and informed Dimitri that Fyodor and Maria Godunova had been poisoned. Having crossed himself, the tsarevich ordered to get ready and the next day went to Moscow. On the way, he drove into villages and villages, everywhere he was met with bread and salt, joyful cries and assurances of humility. The prince spoke kindly to everyone, promising to be not a judge, but a father.Finally, on June 20, 1605, Demetrius entered the capital through the Serpukhov Gates. Ahead of him marched the Polish guards, an equestrian squad with trumpets and fluttering banners, drummers marched behind them, priests with crosses walked sedately behind them, behind - Cossacks, archers in scarlet caftans and other troops. The procession was closed by a huge number of carriages and wagons, in which the boyars and prominent citizens from all over the Russian kingdom rode. In the midst of all this splendor, on a richly decorated horse, the prince rode in fu
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 58
Two days before his mother's arrival, Dimitri went to meet her. He himself wondered how eager he was to see this woman. During those fourteen years that he was in a new body, he got used to it and to the idea that Maria Nagaya was his mother. And now, previously deprived of maternal love, he was in a hurry to meet the one that would give him sincere, disinterested care.Dimitri was waiting for Mary in the village of Taininskoye, where rich tents were set up. In the early morning of the eighteenth of July, a messenger arrived with a message - the queen mother is following and "will soon be there." In impatience, the king jumped on his horse and galloped towards her.Soon the cortege of Maria Nagoya appeared. Dimitri set off his horse at a gallop, and, approaching, dismounted and rushed to his mother's carriage. She pulled back the curtain, looked at her son for a long time ... and tears gushed from her eyes. She opened the door and took Dimitri in her arms, and he clung to her chest an
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 59
Three more times Dimitri came to Xenia, trying to get her to talk. Every time she had her mother with her, whom he immediately sent away, but he did not succeed in dispelling the horror that fettered the girl at the sight of him. Gradually the king began to lose patience and get angry. “But what is it?” he thought furiously. He tried again and again to find the words, trying to get through to her heart, but nothing worked. The girl was mortally afraid of him, and at the slightest attempt by Dimitry to touch her, she pressed herself frightened against the wall. Her resistance turned on and irritated him. Finally, unable to stand it, he barked:- Don't you dare piss me off! My will is royal, I want to - I'll take it by force!Xenia cringed, huddled into a ball, but said nothing. Dimitri took a breath and said sternly:- God knows, I wanted to be kind. Next time, I hope you'll be nicer to me. And no - so do not blame me. You are my heart, and I do not intend to wait more.***The Pope se
Eternal Life;Cursed Gift 60
Finally, the messengers of the Mnisheks arrived: Marina with her father and retinue drove up to Moscow. Demetrius ordered to send a carriage covered with silver and a dozen white horses to meet the bride. In the village of Krasnoe, Mnishekov was met with rich gifts by Demetrius' uncle Mikhail Nagoi and Prince Rubets-Mosalsky.Such a huge number of guests needed to be accommodated somewhere, and Dimitri ordered the Sloboda and townspeople to temporarily transfer their homes in China and the White City to the Poles, but this was not enough, and the tsar ordered the Arbat and Chertolsky monasteries to be vacated in order to accommodate foreign guests there. Moscow murmured. But Dimitri, excited by the upcoming meeting, did not pay attention to this. Having changed into simple clothes, he, accompanied by Buchinsky and Shuisky, went incognito to watch the ceremony of Marina's arrival.On May 3, the motorcade of the Mnisheks drove into Moscow and along the old Smolensk road, called Orbat, h