"Leo Frankowski - Stargard 2 - High-Tech Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Frankowski Leo)

log. Lots of grubs."

Chapter One

My name is Sir Vladimir Charnetski. I am a good Polish knight and a true son of the Holy Catholic
Church. I was born in 1212, the third son of Baron Jan of Charnet.

I write because my instructress felt that I could improve my literacy by recording the events of my life,
but on reflection I find that there is very little to say. I had an ordinary upbringing. At sports I was better
than most, but not the best. I am good at arms, but there are some who can knock me out of the saddle.
My chess is solid but uninspired.

Who would want to read the tale of so ordinary a knight? None but my mother and she already knows it.

But in my twentieth year, I met a most extraordinary nobleman and I think it fitting to write about him.

His name is Sir Conrad Stargard and I met him in the following manner. In the fall of 1231, word came
from my father's liege lord, Count Lambert, that we should send a knight to Lambert's castle town to
attend there on Easter and for the three months thereafter.

This was a duty that I eagerly sought for myself, for rumor had it that Okoitz was an excellent place for
many reasons. Lambert's table was reputed to be one of the best in Silesia and his wine cellar the best
stocked in Poland. Also, Lambert took his droit du seigneur in a most unusual and, it seemed to me, a
most delightful way. The lord of a manor naturally has the right to enjoy his peasant girls on the night
before their wedding. My father is a vigorous man in most respects; but encouraged by my mother, he
had long since declared himself too old for this duty and delegated the task to his sons.

My brothers and I diced for the responsibility and occasionally I won. Now, while the worst of
copulations can fairly be described as excellent, these bouts were often less excellent than they could
have been. While unmarried girls were presumed to be virgin, in fact they rarely were and a considerable
number of them were obviously pregnant.

Then, too, they were often frightened and sometimes actually in love with their future husbands;
circumstances which degraded their enthusiasm.

Oh, one could always encourage a wench to meet one in a secluded wood, but this entailed a certain
amount of sneaking around, a thing I am loath to do.

My Lord Lambert's solution to the problem is as straightforward as he is. He picks the best-looking of
his girls just as they are blossoming and persuades them to move into his castle as "ladies-in-waiting."
The advantages he offers are such that scant persuasion is needed; indeed little more than a permission

file:///G|/rah/Leo%20Frankowski%20-%20Stargard%202%20-%20High-Tech%20Knight.txt (4 of 191)6/12/2004 1:20:11 AM
 file:///G|/rah/Leo%20Frankowski%20-%20Stargard%202%20-%20High-Tech%20Knight.txt

to come. He turns the management of his household over to the "ladies," and enjoys them at his leisure
until such time as they are with child; he then procures for each an acceptable husband, provides a
suitable dowry, and pays the wedding expenses.

Most importantly, Lambert, with his usual largesse, permits his attending knights full use of this harem,