Once again, I told Larssen nothing of the previous night’s events. As we rode north-east, glimpsing the frozen lake Vanern from time to time through the trees to our left, I reassured myself that if any of England’s enemies had somehow got wind of my new status and the true purpose of my visit to the High Chancellor of Sweden, then any attempt upon me would have to be made before I reached Lacko. Within De La Gardie’s own palace, guarded by some of Sweden’s best troops, I would surely be invulnerable; and once the negotiations began, then whatever their outcome, my mission would be accomplished. Our mysterious followers (who had now disappeared, MacFerran said) had surely bungled their best chance of preventing King Charles’s confidential ambassador to King Karl from mooting an alliance between England and Sweden. Towards evening the track emerged at last from the forest, and there, quite suddenly, was the castle of Lacko. I have seen Stirling and I have seen Hohensalzburg; I know Windsor well, the grandest fortalice that England can offer.
What do You think about The Lion Of Midnight (2013)?
