February 1403—Talmburg Castellany, Kingdom of Bohemia, Holy Roman Empire.
Rovena Village.
Rovena is a small forest village. A brook runs along the village as well, which was half frozen because of the cold weather, and there was also a makeshift ford on the brook so that people could cross the stream and go over to the fields.
In the forest near the village, a hulking man was chopping trees in a rhythm; he was also whistling and using a very big axe. Although he was very tall, if you look at his face, you can see he was a teenager at best and was very skilled with his axe.
This was Hynek, a local woodcutter from the village of Rovena. He was wearing a worn leather coat and rough trousers that were barely being held together with lots of coarse stitches, but he was smiling and was chopping down trees. Withtwo swings of an axe, a tree would fall. This showed how much strength he had.
After chopping off three trees, he first very skillfully cleaned themof any useless branches and also leaves, then he held three giant logs and picked them up on his shoulders and walked towards the place where he cuts the trees into proper-sized, usable logs.
After chopping down the trees, he also chopped them into a small mountain of firewood. Usually it takes three to four hired hands to get this much work done in a day, but he was doing it alone in half a day and better than any hired hand because he loved this work.
After working till noon, he felt hungry, so as usual, he grabbed his axe, which was his prized possession, and left the forest and walked towards his home in the village. This axe was heavy for normal people, but for him, it was nothing. He still uses it because it was given to him by his late father, Vaclav.
"Jesus Christ be praised, Hynek, did you come back from the forest?"
An elderly man in a black robe asked; he was also the parish priest of the nearby two villages, Silver Mining Scalice and Rovena. He was a kind man of God and liked to talk with every person he met while walking around the village.
"Forever and Ever, Amen, Yes, Father Simon, I am a bit hungry, so I was going to eat my lunch and go back and work again"
Hynek said after respectfully bowing his head a little that he was a firm believer in Christ and also attended the church gatherings in his village, though he didn't like to go to the Silver Mining Village, which was an hour away by foot.
"You lad are very hard-working. Your father was a hard-working man as well; he died for a lord and gave you a house so that you can live in it. Work hard, and you are doing just that. I bless you, my son, but remember the times are very perilous now. There were sightings of foreign mercenary groups nearby, so be careful when you leave the village."
Priest Simon said he was the only man who was educated in this village. When he stayed here, he liked to give out information to the villagers who were out of touch with the outside world and didn't know how the world outside works.
"Eh! Foreign mercenary group? Why are they here?"
Hynek asked with a confused face; he was not certain why a mercenary group would be around here and why the local lord wouldn't do anything about it.
"Shhh! Come closer. You are a fine young lad, so let me tell you why"
Priest Simon came closer and gestured for Hynek to bow down as well because he was very tall. Hynek was very polite with the priest and bowed down to listen to what the priest had to say. As it was noon, the village roads were mostly empty; you could see a woman doing her chores, but she was also very far away.
"Our King Wenceslaus IV was abducted by his own brother Sigismund. Sigismund is the King of Hungary. Rumor has it that he brought some Hungarian Tartars to raid and pillage our king's trusted allies and their lands, and our Lord Racek Kobyla is a friend of the king and might be the strongest supporter as well, so we might be in danger."
Priest Simon said in a very hushy tone and also looked around before disclosing the information. Hynek, hearing the information, was aghast. He was a simple woodcutter, a peasant; there was nothing he could do with such big names involved in the matter.
"Father, you must come to my house today. I will kill a chicken and cook it with my own hand for you."
Hynek, after his father passed away three years ago, always wanted to know what happened to his father for a long time. His father went to trade at the nearby castle, which was three days's journey at best, but did not return even after two fortnights. He asked the village headman several times, but it was to no avail. Even the village headman was not informed properly. Then one day came this parish priest, who was educated and well-informed. He told Hynek about his father's death. From then on, Hynek always respected this priest and always treated him with food.
"I can't say no to a god's servant, can I?"
Simon said with a smile that although he was a priest, he could barely get chicken on his plate every week, so he was not declining this delicious offer.
Hynek brought Priest Simon to his house. He inherited a moderately sized house from his father. It has three cabins, and Hynek slept in the middle one. It was made with log walls and was a very comfortable place.
"I say your house is the nicest one in this village."
Priest Simon said he sat on the wooden chair by the fireplace. This is the room on the left where Hynek cooks and caters. There were two tables that could easily accommodate eight people.
"Well, there are only nine houses in the entire village, Father. Tell me about our king. What was he like?"
Hynek asked; he was preparing a chicken from his own chicken coop and asked. This was their almost daily routine: Hynek prepares lunch for the priest and asks questions about the realm. Hynek likes to learn stuff, but as a peasant, there were very few options for him to get educated.
"Well, one should not badmouth their king, but our king was an idler, a very bad Christian. He only knows how to fornicate and was not that good of a man, but Sigismund, his brother, is even worse. His armies are rampaging through Bohemia, and we can't do anything about it. He is killing his own people."
Priest Simon said with a little bit of sadness and anger in his voice that he was a knowledgeable man, and this knowledge was becoming the bane of him because people around him didn't know how much danger they were in currently, and also Local Lord Racek was suppressing the news to maintain stability in his region.
"Sigh! Eat up; there is nothing we can do. We can only pray to God for our safety"
Hynek said he was also sad hearing the news, but he can't abandon his house and go somewhere suddenly like this; he was sixteen years old this year and was not ready for this stuff yet.
"I will pray for you. Thank you, Lord, for the food."
The priest prayed first before starting to eat the chicken with bread; he was enjoying the food.
"I say the village headman is a sneaky fellow; he betrothed his daughter to you, a landowner, and secured a very hardworking son-in-law. You should marry her as soon as possible."
Priest Simon said, while chewing the chicken pieces, he always tries to meddle in Hynek's life as well, which is the part Hynek didn't like.
"I will. She just turned thirteen this winter; we will marry soon."
Hynek said with a red face.
After eating, Priest left as usual. Hynek also ate his fill, and after considering it a bit, he took every groschen (silver coin) he had saved up with him. He was planning on hiding it in the forest where he works.
"It will be safe there, even if I am not in the house."
Hynek murmured while picking up his Axe and walked out of his house, then used the wooden bar to lock the door simply. His house doesn't have a decent chest; that's why he was planning on hiding his savings in the forest.
As he was walking towards the forest, he was also noticing a transparent panel that came out sometimes in front of his eyes. There was also something written on it, but he couldn't read it; he could just only hear 'DING!!' from time to time. He never told anyone about it because he was afraid people would burn him alive, saying he was a witch's son.
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