“No,” Richard said, so emphatically that the guards turned to stare at him even though they did not understand a word of Latin. “I am going nowhere until you tell me what has happened.”
The other man scowled. “We’ve no time for this. The duke is waiting below in the bailey, wants us gone from here straightaway.” When Richard did not move, he said impatiently, “You’re not in a position to balk. Must I remind you that I can have you taken from here by force?”
“You think it would go well if you ordered your men to dress me and I resisted?” Richard jeered. “So unless you intend to drag me stark naked out into the snow, you’d best tell me what I have every right to know. What happened with Heinrich?”
Hadmar’s hesitation was brief. “My duke and the emperor could not agree on terms for your surrender and Leopold began to fear that Heinrich might send men to seize you. He thinks it best if they continue the negotiations from a distance. Now, for the love of God, will you do as I ask?”
Richard nodded and swung his legs over the side of the bed, reaching for his clothes. Hadmar’s answer was far from satisfactory, but his other questions could wait, for whatever Leopold’s motivation, it was in his own best interests to get as far away from the imperial court as their horses could take them.
THEY RODE FAST AND HARD, letting neither the cold nor a snowfall on the second day slow them down. Richard got no answers as the miles slipped away, for neither Leopold nor Hadmar ever ventured within speaking range. Even the duke’s sons would no longer meet his gaze, quickly averting their eyes whenever he glanced in their direction. If he’d had any doubts that they knew something he did not, they were erased when he had an unexpected evening visit from the Austrian knight, Gunther. He brought a wineskin and the two men sat together for a while, passing the wineskin back and forth as Richard had so often done in the past, sitting by a campfire, drinking and joking and swapping memories of shared campaigns. With Gunther, there was no talk, of course, only what they could communicate without need of words. They drank in silence and then Gunther rose and departed, but that simple act of camaraderie gave Richard a small measure of comfort.
He actually felt a flicker of relief as Dürnstein loomed on the horizon, for in a world of foreboding shadows and shifting ground, it at least was familiar. And here he’d finally gotten some answers. It was well after dark when they arrived, but he awoke early the next morning to await his long-overdue talk with Leopold von Babenberg. As at Donaustauf, though, he was left alone to fume and fret as the hours passed. For a man with so little patience, waiting was an ordeal, one that forced him to face how powerless he was. The day ebbed away with excruciating slowness. Servants brought meals, then carried them away untouched. It was not until candles and oil lamps were lit as darkness infiltrated the chamber that his suspense was ended. He’d just about given up hope for the night when the door opened and Hadmar entered, followed by a servant carrying several large wine flagons and cups.
“The duke is gone,” he said before Richard could speak. “He left for Vienna this afternoon, so you’ll have to make do with me.” He ordered the servant to put the tray on the table and then turned to Richard with a wide, sweeping gesture and a mocking bow. “After you, my lord king of the English.”
Richard took a seat, glancing toward the flagons, which Hadmar was lining up between them. “This is a discussion that we cannot have whilst sober, then?”
“Sobriety is highly overrated,” the other man said with a lopsided smile. Richard had already noticed his flushed face, the slight slurring of his speech, and his suspicions were confirmed when Hadmar began to pour wine into their cups, his the exaggerated care of one not trusting his own reflexes. The ministerialis might not be drunk yet, but he was well on the way.
Sliding a cup across the table toward Richard, Hadmar took a deep swallow from his own cup. “As I told you at Donaustauf, my duke and the emperor could not agree on terms, and until they do, Leopold is not willing to give you up. Heinrich told him that there is a fortune to be made now that you are helpless in their hands, and Leopold wants to make sure that he gets his fair share.”
Richard could not stop himself. Reaching for the shovel, he said scornfully, “So what began as wounded honor is now all about money.” He at once regretted those intemperate words, not wanting Hadmar to storm out before he learned what had happened in Regensburg.
The Austrian did not appear to have taken offense, though. “So it would seem,” he agreed equably. “Gold tends to bedazzle men as easily as beautiful women. Leopold quite sensibly puts no trust in the emperor’s word and so wants safeguards in place to protect his interests. He also wants Heinrich to promise that you’ll not be physically harmed whilst in his custody.”