Chapter Text
The Devil’s Den had seen quite a few peaceful or idle days, but the moment Henry returned with the news of Ranyek’s fate – the last unaccounted for member of the Devil’s Pack – things had become quite hectic. Zizka seemed to have been brewing on a plot for some time and it was decided that they would steal the Finger of God and use it to capture Maleshov and that devil Von Bergow. Only, someone had to infiltrate Sigismund’s camp and figure out the plans for the blasted canon – and of course that someone would be Henry.
Sam had caught sight of Henry from the balcony as he came trotting back on Pebbles. He’d watched as his weary brother had dismounted and sighed deeply – clearly in need of another break. Sam’s gaze had then been disrupted and involuntarily drawn to the golden pourpoint of Capon, who’d just exited the tavern and was making his way towards the stables, no doubt to check whether Henry had returned – while he had tried being subtle about it, Sam had seen him check multiple times a day and every other moment pretending the bench by the trough was the best reading spot.
Sam scoffed at the sight, but noticed that Henry had also caught sight of his lord – however instead of greeting him as Sam would have expected, Henry seemed to check his clothes in a panic, and dive into the stables to avoid him.
“Pebbles!” Sir Hans greeted the old horse and looked around to see if he could locate her rider. He then scrunched up his nose, before frantically pinching it between his two fingers. “Good god! What a horrid smell! Where did he take you?!” The pompous lord made a hasty retreat back to the tavern and Sam had a great chuckle as he caught Henry sneaking his way over to the baths. Henry would later confide in Sam the sorry fate of Ranyek – and Henry’s boots.
With Zizka’s plans in motion – that stray Frenchman Brabant off to gather more mercenaries, Katherine off to scope out Sigismund’s camp and everyone starting to prepare themselves for the ambush, Sam wanted to set his own plans in motion. He was going to show Henry what an awful person Hans was – the question was just how? One that had turned out a little more difficult to answer. Henry was gone most of the time and Capon, honestly, kept mostly to himself. But seeing as Henry was about to set off again soon, Sam knew he had to come up with something quickly.
An opportunity arose, when he happened upon the lord and his squire the morning after their meeting. Sam hung back a moment to observe the two – they were standing just by the tavern and Capon was hiding something behind his back.
“I believe you deserve a proper reward for saving me from Maleshov.” Sam overheard Capon telling his brother. He sounded sincere and almost a little nervous. “No need to thank me,” Henry shook his head. “I beg to disagree, my brave and faithful companion!” Capon almost shouted, confident again. From his back he presented an ornamented hunting bow, that clearly caught Henry by surprise. He took gentle hold of it and it took just a little too long for Capon to let go for Sam’s liking. He probably expected Henry to decline more fervently, so he could keep it to himself, pfft.
Henry thanked his lord and pried politely into its origins. Capon lowered his voice conspiratorially and Sam caught only what he thought sounded like ‘Margrave Jobst’. The two other men went quiet for a brief moment, before Capon – swaying slightly with a mix of nervous energy and pent up excitement – suggested a hunting trip.
Now, there’s an idea – if there’s one thing that could set Capon off it would be disrupting his ‘alone time’ with Henry…
Before Henry could answer Capon’s invitation, Sam joined them and clapped a hand to Henry’s shoulder. “Hello, bruder – are you off again soon?”
Henry pulled his gaze reluctantly from his lord and nodded at Sam. “Yes – I set out some time in a few days – Ha-, Sir Hans just suggested we go on a hunting trip to relax a bit beforehand.”
“Ah! What a great idea – mind if I join You?” Sam suggested, keeping his gaze on Henry, but making satisfied note of the frown that passed over Capon’s face. Smirking, he then turned his full attention towards the young lord. “Unless of course, this was meant to be just the two of You?”
Capon’s mouth twitched as he forced a thin smile. Sam could have sworn he heard his teeth grinding, and it seemed his presence and the suggestion of his company had caused the young lord some turmoil. Good – now just say something awful and throw a fit about my unwanted participation, that will show Henry you don’t want him to spend time with his family.
“Fine. The more the merrier!” Wait, what?!
Sam looked incredulously at Capon, who for his part looked a little tortured having allowed Sam in on their trip. His invitation had come out sounding pained, but it was there to Sam’s disbelief. Henry looked between them both, his tentative smile swapped out soon enough with a grin – no doubt happy to see his lord and brother get along rather than throw snide remarks at each other.
Shit.
-
Capon had the three of them on the road before long, leading them towards a camp in the woods, he’d discovered when exploring these parts in Henry’s absence. The road was too narrow for all three to ride side by side, so Sam had resigned himself to riding behind the others.
“Where is this campsite again, Sir?” Henry asked, leaning into the gap between their horses. Capon who’d looked lost in thought perked up and leaned in as well. Sam rolled his eyes, wondering briefly if he should instead have gone in front, so that at least one of them could keep an eye on the road.
“It’s just north of Bohunowitz -” Capon animatedly recounted how he’d discovered the place during a hunt and went in way too much detail about the directions there, considering he was guiding them there already. Sam squinted at the two men, whose careless riding had their legs brushing every now and then, their balance so off they even knocked their shoulders together during more excited banter.
Sam cleared his throat and inched his horse forward, forcing a space between the two others. “How do you know it’s not just some bandit’s camp? Have you been back there at all again?” he asked gruffly.
Capon jumped back in his saddle, as if in shock at the reminder of Sam’s presence. A blush rose on his cheeks and his eyes flickered between Henry, Sam, the horses and the road – in search of what, Sam couldn’t tell.
“A-ah, yes I have!” He shook his head and spurred his horse on to take the lead, allowing Sam to join his brother’s side. “Actually… This girl from Bohunowitz took me for a lovely… ride, there.” Capon coughed and Sam noted how the tips of the lord’s ears went red. To his side Henry shaked his head and righted his own position on Pebbles.
Sam turned his attention back to Capon and asked: “Ah – so she showed it to you! And I guess you showed her what an upstanding ‘member of nobility’ you are?” He laughed at his own innuendo and looked over his shoulder at Henry, who only acknowledged the joke with a small pull to his mouth.
“Yes! Exactly!” A finger was pointed into the air and Capon’s voice took on its usual peacocky-lilt. “And she showed me-”
“That’s enough – spare me the details!” Henry cut in, laughing briefly before falling quiet. The three of them rode on in silence for a few beats, before Capon decided to salvage the awkward mood.
“Just think – once we take Maleshov and capture Von Bergow, the lasses will be falling at our feet!” The nobleman looked over his shoulder at both Sam and Henry, the latter of which decidedly turned his gaze away to look over the fields.
Sam huffed and narrowed his eyes at Capon. “What? Isn’t the Bohunowitz girl enough for you? What’s she called anyway?”
Capon huffed back and turned around again, before answering confidently: “Karolina!”
“Karolina? Like that butcher’s daughter in Rattay, you thought were the love of your life?” He saw the young lord wince and fight the urge not to turn back around again. Henry joined the conversation again and followed up: “That’s a mighty coincidence…” He and Sam shared a chuckle, that evidently made Capon lose the fight as he snapped back at them in a high pitched voiced: “What can I say?! I have a soft spot for Karolinas!”
Henry and Sam burst into laughter at the tone, and Capon to his credit joined in, probably conceding and all but admitting that the mysterious Buhunowitz-Karolina did not exist. However, he did eventually manage to take them to a fairly decent hunting camp. There was a decent fire pit with a fairly clean pot at the center surrounded by logs for decent seating. The only problem was the dug-out that seemed to be barely large enough to fit two people.
Guess we’ll deal with that when we get there… Sam sighed and turned towards the two others, who to his surprise did not look like they were readying themselves for a hunt, but rather a banquet, as they pulled out bread, cheese, fruit and wine from their saddlebags, before settling around the fire.
“What’s this? Are we not going hunting?” he asked, looking at the two men, who’d settled in proper – Henry sitting on one of the logs, and Capon sprawled on the ground, leaning back by his side. They both looked at him as if he had just grown another head.
“Oh!” Henry smiled and laughed. “No, we always wait until the morning to begin our hunt!”
“But it’s only midday!”
-
His objection had only been met with more laughter – but also an invitation to join them. The three of them were already on their fourth wineskin when the sun set – who would even pack that much for such a short hunting trip?! Though Sam found the wine to be the last thing about this whole ordeal he wanted to complain about.
No, by the time they had finished the cheese, Sam had realized his mistake – it was as if he had learned nothing from the night going over Capon’s amorous adventures. Now, instead of just Henry recounting his adventures in arduous and drunken detail – he was joined by an very excited and equally drunk Capon, who kept interrupting Henry’s already overly detailed storytelling to hash out even more details or throw them all off with another tangent.
Sam had no idea where the conversation had been going most of the night, so he decided to get them back on track by shushing the two and elegantly bring up the task at hand again.
“So – hunting-?”
Sam hadn’t realized how much the earth was spinning before trying to join the conversation. Both Henry and Capon turned their gazes sluggishly to look at him and before Sam could suggest them calling it a night, so they would have just a slim chance at a clear head for the hunt tomorrow (today? In a few hours…?) Henry ran with the ‘suggestion’.
“Ha-ha! Remember when I caught you in the woods, Sir Hans?” he laughed deeply, turning his attention back to the man slumped up next to him on the ground close to the fire.
“In Trosky?! You were just lucky!” The lord gave Henry a shove and took another swig of the wineskin before passing it to Sam, who upon admitting his latest grave mistake accepted it along with his fate for the foreseeable hours. “I will have you know that was an excellent operation with no fawls – flaws!” Capon slurred. “You only found me because you were out helping grannies and doing everybody else’s work!”
That does sound like Henry… Sam mused, taking a sip of wine and looking to Henry, who looked affronted by the accusations. Accusations of being a good person? Sam shook his head for himself.
“What?! You were leaving entrails left and right! That camp was a mess! You were a mess!” Henry obstinately opinioned. Capon looked affronted – though Sam thought he looked affronted mostly all the time.
“I was making money! I had a deal with the Troskowitz butcher – I was getting better at it!” Another shove – this time with a little more behind it. Henry shook his head.
“And it almost got you hanged! You have the most terrible luck when it comes to hunting!” Capon looked like he wanted to argue for a second, but then sat back with a thud.
“You might be right about that – but hey! That’s why I’ve got you! Remember what I said that first time we went hunting?!” He asked Henry excitedly. Henry nodded and looked over his shoulder to Sam, who had been enjoying being left out.
“Aye! You don’t know this – but when Hans – Sir Hans, and I first met, we got into a fight-” Sam lifted a hand to try and stop Henry to remind him that he had already explained everything, but Henry just flat out ignored it – pushed the hand aside to grab the wineskin in Sam’s other hand instead.
“So Sir Hanush punished us both by sending me on a hunting trip with Capon! I had to be up before the sun and because I didn’t have a horse, he made me run beside him on his!” Henry belly laughed at the memory, but the comment sobered Sam – it reminded him of his mission. Of course that asshole would demean Henry like that to make himself feel bigger…
Sam sat up straighter and tried to actually pay attention through the alcoholic haze of his mind. Henry had trudged on and Sam found that in his current state he couldn’t listen and think at the same time.
“And then after being a sore loser- you were!” Henry playfully shoved his shoulder into Capon’s. The other man listened with a small amused smile on his lips, evidently uninterested in interrupting the tale. “I bagged twice as many hares as his lordship here, so he decided we were hunting boar instead! But we didn’t bring any spears!”
Sam struggled to follow, but grunted in acknowledgement of Henry’s statement. Emboldened Henry continued on: “So he shot the boar with an arrow – it looked like it hit it straight in the heart! But the boar got up before he could even boast properly at his kill!” He laughed heartily again as Capon waved a hand dismissively at him.
“He rode off into the trees and I lost him,” Henry swallowed and his gaze flickered back to Capon for a second, before returning to Sam. “– a band of Cumans found him first!” Sam was pretty sure he had heard this story at least three times already, but was too drunk and tired to make that point. “I was so scared, but I just knew I had to get him out of there!” Sam nodded. Yes, Lord Hanush probably wouldn’t have looked too kindly on you for leaving the heir behind…
“How- how many were there?” Sam managed to ask. Henry was just about to answer, when Capon interrupted: “Five or six! It was a full camp of them!” His wide smile was accompanied with a dangerously warm glint in his eyes as he looked at Henry.
Sam snorted and Henry shook his head. “I think there was just three of them – one was asleep and the others too preoccupied with ignoring his lordships very creative insults!” He laughed and explained how he’d managed to sneak up and free Capon, when his captors had been too relieved at the silence to pay any actual attention to their hostage. The dumb luck between these two… Sam caught himself and covered his mouth, before any of the two could see his smile.
“Do you remember what I told you on that first hunt?” Capon asked, entirely focused on Henry. Henry turned towards him and looked to be wracking his brain for a moment – his drunk state evidently also making it hard to gather coherent thoughts.
“Something about minions, wasn’t it?” He laughed. “’It’s always helpful to have a minion at hand.’” He quoted. Minion?! So that’s how he truly feels about him! Sam’s felt his mind returning to him at the indignity afforded his brother. He was bristling, ready to defend Henry, when he noted the warm gaze the two men in front of him were sharing.
“That’s right! Though I’d say you’re a lot more than my minion these days.” Capon said way too softly for Sam’s liking. Sam coughed and stood up abruptly, breaking the odd spell that seemed to have fallen on the other two. Capon’s eyes widened in shock and he shot backwards at the reminder of Sam’s presence.
“Alright – enough. Off to bed! We have a lot to do tomorrow – today – later!” Sam clapped his thighs and his sudden burst of movement had the other two scrambling to do as suggested. Neither of the two looked at each other, as they scrambled to put out the fire and find their bed rolls.
Capon and Henry made it to the dugout before Sam – the two of them lay at the opposite ends of each other in the dugout, though its small size left only a narrow space between them. Seeing no other option, Sam lay down his own bedroll between them and had to push at the both of them to make proper space to lie down.
Soon enough Henry was snoring loudly off to his right side and Capon was wriggling incessantly to make himself comfortable to his left. Sam lay on his back and stared defeatedly up into the sky – he suspected some of Capon’s ‘accidental’ kicks as he tossed and turned were very intentional.
This was a terrible idea.
-
Despite their hangovers and uncomfortable sleeping arrangement, the group managed to catch three hares and a roe deer the following morning. Unsurprisingly, Capon let Henry and Sam do the gutting and carrying. That just leaves taking credit, Sam grumbled as they returned to the Den.
Sam joined Henry at the trough after they had delivered their spoils to Janosh and the other cook. “So, you’re off to Sigismund’s camp?” he asked and Henry solemnly nodded.
“Aye – I will be away for a while. Take care of Pebbles and Mutt.” And your lord? Sam rolled his eyes – Henry needn’t ask him to do so, for him to know the lord was included.
“You take care of yourself.” He clasped Henry’s arm in his and noted how Henry started looking around for something – someone. Capon had left them the moment they returned to the Den – probably off to the baths, despite his hands remaining the cleanest among the three of them. Sam put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and to his own surprise he promised: “I will make sure he doesn’t run off or is captured by Cumans in the meantime.”
Henry gave him a small smile, strapped on his bucket helmet and set off. Sam placed his hands on his hips and shook his head at himself. The whole hunting trip had been a failure in regards to his plans – Capon had been allowed to keep spinning Henry around his finger and Henry seemed none the wiser.
No, he had to come up with a better plan.
Preferably one, that doesn’t involve sleeping between them again…