By the time his window rattled with a pebble hurled by Florian, his dirty clothes had been carried off, his wounds washed and his ankle was supported on a mound of blankets. The brighter of the two children he had held on to as a servant for the day. When the pebble struck, Pegel sent him to see who it was.
‘Fella.’
‘What sort of fella, genius?’
‘Yellow hair and all very ladidah!’ The boy performed a little mincing walk across the window and Pegel tried not to smile.
‘All right, go and fetch him in then.’
He went without a word and when he returned, presented Florian with a flourish. ‘Here he is! What do you want me to do now then?’
‘Bottle of wine and a bit of bread and cheese from Mother Brown’s. Go on then!’
‘They ain’t going to give it to me for free, are they?’
Pegel shrugged. ‘Fair point. Florian, give the boy some money, will you?’
Florian reached into his pocket automatically and handed the child a couple of coins. The door slammed and his wooden soles clattered down the stairs like a drum roll.
Florian had been staring at him open-mouthed. ‘Jacob, what on earth happened to you?’
Pegel crossed his arms and lowered his chin, looking sulky. ‘I met your friend in the brown coat again. He was running up from Fluss Strasse in a ripping hurry, but that giant wasn’t with him so I thought I’d try to have a word. Judged it wrong. He threw me over, turned my ankle.’
‘Oh Jacob, I’m so sorry. Did he hurt you badly?’
‘Oh, I’m fine, don’t fuss! He just got lucky, had some momentum build up. I could have taken him, no problem, otherwise.’
Florian came over and placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it. For some reason Pegel’s eyes stung a little. ‘What time of day was this?’ Florian asked. ‘I came looking for you yesterday.’
‘Out walking most of the afternoon. Clears my head. I was just coming back — it was dark, or getting there, I suppose.’
Florian picked up a chair from the other side of the room and brought it over so he could sit with Pegel at the desk. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, and looked deeply into his friend’s eyes. ‘A most terrible thing. It seems this man had found his way into the depths of a … society of friends of which I am part.’
‘What society of friends?’
‘The ones I told you of the other night. Men ready to rule, ready to guide us to a better future.’
Pegel scratched his head. ‘Those dreams — you saying they’re real? What are you going to do? Hang all the Dukes? Kill the Kings?’
Florian smiled. His face really did glow when he talked of these things. ‘There will be no violence, Jacob. Our people will take positions of power in every court and country in Europe. We will convert to our cause those rulers who can be reasoned with. The others we will control, then educate their heirs. Slowly, all of this,’ he waved his hand, taking in the attic, but Pegel supposed Maulberg, the Empire, ‘all this will wither away and once again people can live as nature intended.’
‘You’re mad.’
‘Inspired! But it is vital that secrecy is preserved until the world is ready. Vital. And now, somehow, someone has done what no one thought possible and identified the leader of our group in Leuchtenstadt.’ Pegel scratched behind his ear in hopes of hiding a slightly smug expression. Florian, however, had turned to watch the blue spring sky through Pegel’s huge window. ‘It is such a closely guarded secret, only two or three people know his name.’
‘You do not know your own leader?’
‘It is much safer so! I only know the names of two or three members of my own rank, and then there is my guide in the rank above. He will decide when I am ready to be initiated into the next rank, then pass my advancement over to another man who will guide me to the next stage. I told you, secrecy is vital.’
‘Sounds like the army. What’s your rank now then?’
Frenzel hesitated. ‘Master Knight of the Chosen Company of the Elected.’ Pegel snorted. ‘Jacob! This is very serious!’
‘Too bloody right it’s serious — look at my ankle!’
The stairs gave notice that food was arriving and Jacob’s young butler slapped it down on the table. ‘What else?’
‘Nothing for now. Go and run about in the square and scare the old ladies, or whatever it is you do,’ Pegel said. ‘Stay within earshot, though. I may want you later.’ And when the boy stayed where he was: ‘What?’
‘Retainer.’
Florian reached into his pocket and pulled out yet another coin. He placed it in the boy’s hand, saying, ‘Look after my friend.’
The boy grinned and began to run the coin back and forth between his fingers. ‘I’ll wipe his arse if you carry on paying like that.’
Pegel grinned. ‘Not required. Now sod off, there’s a good boy.’ As the lad went on his way again, Pegel noticed that Florian was blushing slightly. Good Lord, this man was brought up in a nunnery, he thought, and felt a stab of affection.
‘The house of this man, our leader here, was broken into last evening. His papers were searched. That man must have been fleeing the chase when you encountered him.’
‘I wish I could have stopped him.’
‘If the thief had found anything of value we should all be ruined, our project at an end. Our leader here is in constant communication with a network of superiors, our leaders across Europe.’
Is he now, Pegel thought. He said, ‘The thief had no luck then?’
‘No, the significant papers were very cleverly concealed, and found undisturbed.’
Pegel shifted in his seat to try and ease the ache in his leg. ‘So you know who the leader is now then?’ Florian shook his head, and Pegel rolled his eyes.
‘But it’d be so simple to find out! I told you, that fellow was running up from Fluss Strasse when I had my “encounter” with him, as you call it. All you need to do is wander down that way and ask in a casual manner whose house was broken into last evening, and there you go! They’re probably all talking about it.’
‘Jacob, you don’t understand. The society requires loyalty, obedience. I shall be introduced to him at the proper time.’
‘I thought you were a brotherhood. How can you be brothers if all these layers of secrecy are required?’
‘It is for the greater good.’
‘Greater good! Well, if you say so. So are there other bands of merry revolutionaries — sorry, visionaries — elsewhere in Maulberg? Do you actually have a chance of doing any good, or have my sacrifices been in vain?’
Florian shook his head again, and Jacob thought of a young horse, troubled with flies. ‘Oh no, Jacob. I told you much good has already been done. The leaders of our group first came together almost seven years ago. There are many of our mind who hold high positions at court in Ulrichsberg. So I have been told.’
‘But you don’t know who?’
‘Of course not.’
‘Can we eat?’ Pegel said, apparently losing interest. ‘Healing makes me hungry.’
‘When I talk of the greater good, Jacob, I mean something real. It’s not just an idea. I have something to show you. I thought of it as soon as I saw the equation you wrote out, and well … after what we’ve been speaking of.’ Florian reached into his pocket and took something out of it, then held it between his fingers, hesitating.
‘Oh, give it here then.’ Pegel took it and looked. It was the small medallion struck in silver. On its face was an owl holding open a book. On the pages were legible four letters: PMCV. On the reverse was an outline of the state of Maulberg.