Free Iny Lorentz - The Marie Series 02 by The Lady of the Castle

disappeared into the bushes, and their comrades gave up their pursuit of the imperial soldiers. German scouts reported that the Hussites were regrouping at the destroyed village.
    Realizing that they wouldn’t have much time to catch their breath, Michel walked toward the kaiser. Horror and mortal fear were still written on Sigismund’s face, and his hand trembled as he gestured for Michel to speak. “Your Majesty, we also need to arrange our carts in a wagon fort to better defend ourselves. I am certain the Hussites will attack again.”
    Sigismund nodded absentmindedly. “Do that, Adler.”
    As Michel gave the order and they started to push the wagons together, he saw the kaiser’s frozen shape come back to life, bracing himself against one of the wagons to push the heavy vehicle into position. The other noble lords followed his example and, together with the surviving servants and camp prostitutes, grabbed the wheel spokes and dragged them through the thick mud. In no time they had formed an elongated rectangle that offered some protection from the enemy arrows raining down on them from the safety of the forest.
    Even under cover of the rapidly falling darkness, the Hussites didn’t risk an open attack, but settled for occasionally blasting their cannons and firing off a volley of arrows at anything that moved in the faint glow of fires in the imperial wagon fort. All the while they shrieked and howled like a horde of hellish demons. Most of the missiles landed harmlessly in the branches of the mighty beech forest, but the noise, paired with the moaning of their wounded, weakened the fighting spirit of the kaiser’s remaining army.
    Of the more than two thousand knights and foot soldiers who had started out, Michel estimated that fewer than half were now gathered here. The rest were dead, and those few who might have escaped into the forest would sooner or later be found by the enemy. Michel was skeptical that the exhausted soldiers could stand up to the inevitable Hussite attack. They’d be able to fill some of the gaps in their ranks by arming servants and wagon drivers, but their value in battle was more than doubtful. One could only hope that fear of death would guide their arms.
    Deep in thought, he watched the prostitutes caring for the injured and trying to bolster the soldiers’ confidence. The women knew what awaited them if the imperial army was beaten, and in their fear they promised copious sacrifices to the Virgin Mary and their patron saint, Mary Magdalene, if they made it out alive and relatively unscathed.
    Sometime after midnight, the noise was replaced by an eerie silence. Even the normal sounds of the forest quieted, and not a single star was to be seen in the sky, making it impossible to tell the hour. Indeed, it was as if fate itself held its breath. Then, as Michel had expected, the Hussites attacked just before dawn when the darkness had turned to a shadowy gray. If they had hoped to find a half-asleep , demoralized enemy, however, they were sorely disappointed because they were now experiencing the efficiency of a well-defended wagon fort for themselves.
    Every single person—from Sigismund down to the youngest wagon train worker—was aware that they were fighting for their lives, and so they fought with a courage born of desperation. Not far from him, Michel saw the kaiser crossing swords, and right next to him Falko von Hettenheim’s heavy blows, like Michel’s, saved many of the poorly armed servants from certain death. To Michel’s left, Timo fought like a living wall, each of his movements swift and precise. He even grinned from time to time. It reminded Michel of when he was a fresh recruit of the palatine army and Timo the sergeant had taught him all the basics of warfare.
    For four hours, the Bohemians attacked the imperial wagon fort without managing to break through; then bugles sounded for the fighters to retreat. The standard bearers waved their goose flags one more time as