The seer Alkius raised the mead filled horn, barely moistened his lips, and returned the silvered vessel to the master of Traupe."For him whose mouth has a fore-taste of fate, the mead is bitter," he said softly, but even the slaves pressing against each other near the doors heard it clearly. "Night hides the truth, and day awakens to falsehood," continued Alkius slowly, weighing each word. "The mead casks have been un-cocked and the bitterness will flow. Wolves in sheep's skins have infested the forest! Perkunas the Thunderer will strike in the midst of day and woe to those who have betrayed him!" The hermit fell silent. Then he turned to Kuntas and added in a flinty voice:
"The Death-weaver Laima has finished weaving the shroud, Thane Kuntas!"
All turned to look at the master of Traupe. While all eyes were on Kuntas, Marfa raised her glass and gulped another swallow . Some wine dribbled down her chin onto her red velvet gown.
"Who?" stammered Kuntas haltingly, "Who is the shroud for, Alkius?"
"The pale bull-snake of this household has turned into a blood-red adder," continued the hermit, and slowly turned toward the door. Once his glance was averted, Lady Kuntas seemed to recover her wits. Rising from her seat she shrieked in a shrill voice:
"Get him out of here! Immediately! Now! Kuntas! Will you stand by as your wife is insulted!"
Kuntas should have known that he angered the Gods when after a raid he did not offer a captured Russian princess for ransom but in married her in defiance of the local pagan priests.The land of Deltuva, where Kuntas was thane, had lived in uneasy neighborhood with Byzantintine Christians to the east for over two hundred years. Wars had been waged intermittently during this time, but in the last generation the Lithuanian pagans had increasingly gained the upper hand. They raided deep into the lands of the Slavic Christians and brought back treasure and captives. But then a new enemy appeared in the north...
Christian crusaders from far off German lands conquered first the Livs and the Selonians and built castles on the banks of the Dauguva river just a few days ride from Deltuva. The most dangerous among them were the Knights of the Sword, a monastic order founded by the bishop of Riga and dedicated to the subjugation of the Baltic pagan peoples. Fortunately there was usual enmity between the churches of Rome and Byzantium, between Slav and Teuton. But given the right opportunity and the chance to conquer pagan lands they were willing to unite in common cause.And they sense such an opportunity in the coming wedding of Junda, the proud daughter of Zybartas, to Tolvaikis the son of thane Kuntas and the foreign woman from Pskov. The wedding arrangements proceed and at first it is only Alkius, the hermit who has been touched by the gods, who senses the danger. But though Alkius is respected, few can understand his prohpecies.
The messengers of fate can be ignored and usually are. In these days as well as in olden times. But events, once set in motion, move inexorably to their resolution. The story of one such train of fatefull events is related in "Blood Wedding"