Blessing tugged him and Bayan over to a ragged group of captives bound hand and foot. They had the look of defeated soldiers, the kind of troublemakers who needed to be trussed up so they couldn’t escape on the long march.
A Polenie merchant hurried up, bobbing up and down anxiously as he took in Sanglant’s Wendish clothing and noble bearing and Bayan’s Ungrian flair. He wore the typical Polenie hat, a pointed leather cap with a folded brim. “Your Most Excellencies,” he cried in passable Wendish, “here have I strong men who I take south to the slave markets of Arethousa. Have you a care to purchase them now? I can give you good price.”
Blessing marched up to the youngest of the captives, a lad of perhaps sixteen years with a blackened eye, bare feet, and the scarring of frostbite on his nose and ears. “I told you I would come back.” She turned to the merchant, expression fierce. “Thiemo is mine.”
“My lady—” began the merchant, glancing at Sanglant, not wanting to insult a prince’s daughter.
The youth began to weep, although it was hard to tell whether his tears were those of joy or thwarted hope. “My lady, is it true? Have you come to ransom me and my comrades?” Then he, too, noticed Sanglant and Bayan.
“Your Highness!” cried the lad, flushing hotly. Five of the men with him dropped hard to their knees. Under their dirt, Sanglant recognized the tabards of Lions.
“God save us,” murmured Bayan. “The heretics.”
Sapientia came up beside Bayan. She frowned, and when she narrowed her eyes in that particular way one could almost actually see her thinking. “Can it be? Are these the heretics banished after the trial at Handelburg? How did they get here? Where are the rest of them?”
“Dead,” said the eldest of the Lions. “Or better dead, considering what we ran into. Your Highness.” He bowed his head respectfully toward Sanglant. “I know you are Prince Sanglant. It’s said you’re a fair man. I pray you—”
“Daddy, I want him.”
“I don’t know.” Sapientia wrung her hands. “Biscop Alberada excommunicated them for heresy. How can we go against the church? We could be excommunicated, too. It’s God’s judgment upon them that they be sold into slavery as punishment for their sins.” But she wasn’t sure. Sanglant saw how she looked at Bayan, waiting to see what he would say. She was afraid to pass judgment herself.