29 Journeyman

(Janusz Ostrogski / Eufrozyna Ostrogska POV)

"I did not expect that the son of Elonora, bless her soul, would have such a talent, first he showed courage on the battlefield, and now this book." (Janusz Ostrogski)

"Hieronim did not send his son to any school, and Dominik is only four years old, but when he gets older, Aleksander plans to send him to study in Ingolstadt, Padua or Bologna, so his achievements will be no less than that of Eleanor's son." (Eufrozyna Ostrogska)

"Only one God in the sky knows what the future hides, and if you are talking about Dominik, he could use more discipline. He is greedy for food and disobedient ..." (Janusz Ostrogski)

"Father... he's only four, he'll grow out of it." (Eufrozyna Ostrogska)

"What youth is used to, age remembers ... You may not see it as a mother because you are blinded by the love for your child, but know that a strong hand has converted more sinners to the path of virtue than indulgence." (Janusz Ostrogski)

(End POV)

Secretary Kowalski went to Lviv again, together with my second book and my ducats, this time I also ordered two hundred copies, but only 80 in Polish, 70 in German and 50 in Latin ... as the subject of the novel was more universal I was going to send more copies to Western Europe.

The time of my trip to Tarnów also came, I did not want to postpone it any longer, my grandfather should have died two years ago, but somehow he was still alive and I did not know when this state would change. Unfortunately, I had to leave Sveta in Jazłowiec, taking my mistress with me, who is also a servant, could have ruined my plans for the inheritance ... Sveta had great tits, but they were not worth two million ducats.

I got up from the couch and started getting dressed. Sveta was still lying naked, breathing quickly and looking like she was absent ... I took a glass of wine from the table and handed it to her.

"I am leaving tomorrow morning, the journey to Tarnów will take 13 or 14 days, I will spend two weeks in my grandfather's palace and another two weeks to come back ... I will be in Jazłowiec at the beginning of August, at the latest in the middle ..." (MC)

I wasn't sure if Sveta listened to me or not, but it didn't really matter, I just informed her out of courtesy.

I left the next day in the morning, I was accompanied by two soldiers. As I did not want to waste time, we made stops just to catch some sleep or let our horse rest... With one exception, I stayed for two days in Łańcut, although the devil Stadnicki was dead, his children were still alive, the young devils Zygmunt and Stanisław and Felicjana, his daughter.

In their case, the saying that an apple is falling not far from an apple tree was entirely justified. After the death of the father, they sued their mother for the inheritance, and when she died, they imprisoned their sister so that she would renounce her inheritance. Later, both brothers started a shooting in the cathedral in Przemyśl, where they wanted to kill another nobleman, Konstanty Korniakt, but without success. The next year, the younger brother, Stanisław, drunk or mad, killed 25 people in his castle. As the effectiveness of the law in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was not the best, I decided to kill them... for several reasons.

My father was their father's enemy, which was only a good pretext ... but real reason was different, because of debts they would be forced to sell landed estates, and the buyer would be Stanisław Lubomirski, one of the greatest magnates... what I wanted to avoid, I preferred that their property did not fall into the hands of my potential future enemy. The second reason was the betrayal of Stanisław Stadnicki during the Swedish Deluge, who joined the troops of the Swedish King Carl Gustav... Of course, killing them surely also brings me a bit of fame and a bit of popularity among their opponents... so for many reasons their death is a gain form me.

Provoking a fight with them was not difficult. I stayed in one of the taverns in Łańcut, and then I put on a little performance. I raised loud toasts for the death of their father and for the health of Opalinski who led to his death ... I was sure that someone would inform them about my behavior, if not out of loyalty, then out of fear or a desire to please them.

And I was right, two hours later two brothers burst into the inn, there was a third man with them ... they looked around, the man who was accompanying them pointed at me.

"He was the one who spoke about the deceased Lord." (Man)

They moved towards the table where I was sitting ... one of the brothers, I don't know if it was Zygmunt or Stanisław, put his hands on the table and wanted to say something, his nostrils were pulsing, he was furious ...

"I will never come to Łańcut again, I ordered two whores, and instead came two ugly sodomites..." (MC)

Saying this I spit in the face of brother leaning on the table.

"You ..." (Stadnicki)

He grabbed the hilt of the saber he had at his belt ... and I was just waiting for it, before he could pull it out of its scabbard, I quickly pulled my saber out from under the table and made a cut ... I hit the his neck, almost cutting off head. Blood spurted all around, the body rolled back and fell to the floor. The other brother, who was standing two or three meters away, drew his saber and lunged at me. I kicked the table at him, he wasn't prepared for it. The edge of the table hit him in the stomach, which deprived my opponent of balance, he leaned forward, and I hit the back of his head with my saber ... the blade dug a few centimeters deep into his skull, he died instantly. The whole fight lasted no more than two minutes, and although I wasn't fighting clean, he was the first to grab his saber. I stayed in Łańcut one more day, just in case, and then I set off on a further journey to Tarnów... Weather was good and it was the beginning of summer, so our journey was pleasant and peaceful, we managed to reach Tarnów after 16 days, in the morning of 11 July.