The Mystery of Mohács 4

»St- stranded?«

Tabea fought to keep up her sitting position. She slightly trembled, despite the warmth of the still glooming fire. In the corner of her eye, she saw Ilona regaining her consciousness. Jelena scoffed:

»After they – kidnapped me, they were quite determined to persuade me into cooperation. However, I resisted, telling them about my concerns. However, you know how Sandor reacts to criticism.«

Involuntarily, she touched her lips, as if she could still taste her gag. With a hoarse voice, Tabea croaked:

»You- you mean, it could also have happened that we- that we – had vanished, too?«

She shivered from the sheer thought. She was born in 1992 and Jelena was about her age and so, it could also have happened that they had dissolved, just like their clothes. Jelena nodded.

»Perhaps, this was just a test balloon for Sandor. If we had died, he wouldn`t have lost anything that mattered to him!«

She shook her head, still in disbelieves, and buried her face in her hands. Ilona now was sitting close to the fire, her arms slung around her legs. Tabea felt as if an iron fist was clawing into her stomach and she still trembled slightly. Desperately, she tried to focus on something, anything, to prevent her from bursting into tears or screaming with horror.

»There!«

Between her and Jelena, lit by the full moon above them, was a small glistering pile. It were small pieces of silver and some were shimmering golden in between. Jelena saw it and vocalized what Tabea had already realized:

»The coins! Of course, they are still there because they have been made before 1525! Ilona! Ilona, please, look here!«

She made Ilona crawl closer and pointed at the coins. Tabea could understand she wanted to know how much the girl guessed the money was worth. Anyway, it seemed to be real silver and gold and so, it could get them at least some decent clothing and food.

She wanted to join the others who had started to count the coins when suddenly, she heard an approaching noise: it was the sound of hooves on grass.

Tabea gasped and reflexively covered her breasts and pubic area with her arms. Two seconds later, the others had heard the approaching riders, too, and rose from the ground, also trying to hide their assets.

Since they were still inside the ring of fire, they could only see a few lit torches in the dark. It were some four or five, but Tabea guessed from the noise that there were at least a dozen riders. Then, she could see schemes that quickly became more clearly. Jelena suddenly let out a small cry. When Tabea looked closer, she felt a shiver run down her spine.

The leader of the group was wearing a white habit and above, a black, sleeveless coat. His head was shaved, except for a circle of grey hair – the man was a monk. A Dominican, to be more precisely. The order that was responsible for the Holy Inquisition.

Tabea suddenly saw in front of her inner eye what kind of picture this monk was just seeing: three naked women – a redhead, a Black and a Gypsy – sitting inside a ring of fire, together with some silver and gold and in the midst of the night. In other words, he had just discovered three witches inflagranti delicto!

»Run!«

Obviously, Jelena had come to the same conclusion. She jumped over the glooming ring and ran. Tabea grabbed Ilona`s arm, but the girl had sunk to her knees, too weak to even try to escape. Before Tabea could decide between running and taking care of Ilona, the riders had reached the fire. The monk jumped from his horse, raised a wooden cross and shouted some curses in Latin.

»Pater, striga non sum!«

Tabea tried to tell him in Latin she was no witch, but he did not even stop his speech and now, two men stepped through the glooming ring and approached her and Ilona. Reflexively, Tabea went into fighting position, trying to hide Ilona behind her back.

The two men seemed a bit indecisive what to do next. They were armed with sticks, but obviously, none of them wanted to risk to be turned into a frog by the black witch. Tabea hissed and gritted her teeth, trying to look as frightening as possible.

From behind, she heard a high pitched scream that suddenly turned into a muffled moaning; they had captured Jelena. Tabea saw the two men getting more confident. They grabbed their sticks harder and made a step towards her.

Ilona was still kneeling on the ground, her arm over her boobs whilst her other hand was pressed against her pubic area. The girl was lost, but perhaps, at least she stood a chance.

»Kiiiijaaaa!«

With a wild cry, she jumped against the soldier to her left who, as she had hoped, jumped back and raised his stick in defense. In the same move, Tabea spun around and kicked his comrade against the chest. With a gasp, the man fell backwards and Tabea jumped over him.

Behind the priest were the horses. Tabea wasn`t a good rider, but she knew how to keep in the saddle and she knew her only chance was to mount one of the horses and try to reach the woods where she could hide.

»Uuuaahhrrrghh!«

Letting out an animalistic scream, Tabea attacked the old man, thinking he would just duck or run away. However, the monk surprised her by stepping into her way, dropping his cross and trying to grab her.

With a curse, Tabea raised her knee and hit his stomach. He grunted and squirmed, but still managed to grab her ankle. Thrashing around wildly, she kicked him again and felt his grip loosen, but then, she heard other voices and felt more hands.

She fought wildly, but now, the men had seen she was just a human being and besides, they outnumbered her eight to one. Within a minute, she had been wrestled down, with four men grabbing each of her limbs and a fifth sitting on her back.

The monk, pressing his left against his stomach, looked down on the panting girl and hissed something before he turned away. Tabea knew what he had meant when she saw two more men approach with coils of rope.

They started by binding her wrists, pulling the ropes excruciatingly tight and cinching the loops. Then, her arms were bent upwards until her crossed wrists were close to her nape. The dangling ends of the rope were slung around Tabea`s neck twice before they knotted them off directly over her throat. Now, she still could breathe, but any fast movement or even gulping would cause pain.

A second rope was now threaded through her bent elbows, pulling them as close as possible before the ends were twisted and brought to her front. They pulled her arms close to her body, then crossed the ropes between her breasts and brought them back over her shoulders, tying them off to her thumbs. Tabea ached and one of the men shoved a rag into her mouth, securing it with a second one he tied between her lips.

They then tied her legs at her thighs, above and below the knees and at her ankles, leaving no slack and cinching each bond. She still tried to fight, squirming the little she could, though to no avail. Her only success was to wriggle the cleave gag over her chin and to spit out the rag, but after only one croaking yell, they were back over her.

»Aaaauuhhmmph!«

By yanking her hair back and squeezing her jaws, they forced her mouth open and now, they stuffed not one, but two rags deep into her mouth, triggering her gag reflex, before they reapplied the cleave gag much tighter. Then, her head was pulled backwards in a way her throat was pressed against the rope around her neck and her spine ached. A rope was tied to her ankles and her legs were pulled upwards, forcing her into a hideous bow. It wasn`t just a hogtie. They pulled and pulled, until her feet were close to the back of her head. Then, the rope tied to her ankles was wrapped twice over her gag, further tightening it, before they knotted it off.

When they let her go, Tabea found she was tied to a circle of pain. Every muscle ached from the tension it was under and she knew she could not allow herself to relax the slightest. If she stopped straining her muscles, her head would be pulled backwards and she would choke herself. She let out a deep, painful groan, but her captors just seemed as if they had just won a battle. Then, they grabbed her and carried her to some kind of ladder cart.

Quite unceremoniously, Tabea was put on the load, lying on her side and trying to cope with just staying alive. At the cart, there were also Ilona and Tabea, tied up in ways that seemed to reflect their level of assumed dangerousness.

At one corner, Ilona was sitting, leaned against the railing. Her hands had been tied behind one of the posts and a cloth strap held a wadded rag in her mouth, but she was not otherwise restrained. She still was naked and she had pulled her legs close to her body to hide her breasts, unwillingly exposing her pussy.

Next to her, Jelena had been tied to another vertical post, but in her case, her elbows were tied, too, causing her boobs to thrust out. Her legs were folded and tied ankle to opposite knee, forcing her into a lotus position, unable to hide anything of her private parts. Jelena had been gagged with a bigger wad and there had been two cloths tied over it. Also, unlike the others, Jelena had been tightly blindfolded.

»Maybe, they think she has the Evil Eye!«, Tabea thought. Then, she got distracted as the cart moved on. It kept a slow pace, not faster than a man could walk, but the path was uneven and in her current position, rocking around was just threatening.

Her shoulders and elbows hurt, but Tabea forced them back and close to ease the pressure on her throat. At the same time, she forced her legs back and arched her back the best she could to relax her neck the little her stringent bonds allowed. In the corner of her eye, she saw the one man who was sitting on the cart`s load beside the captives looking at her with fearful interest.

Under other circumstances, Tabea would have laughed. Here she was, naked, bound and gagged, helplessly fighting to just breathe, but this guy still was afraid of her. Of course, he sure believed she was a witch and in addition, he had never seen a black woman before.

She felt sweat build on her body from the straining position, but she knew she had to persist. If she would relax for more than a few seconds, she would strangle herself to death and if she fainted, the same would happen. Tabea doubted that the soldier would dare to help her.

Tabea didn`t want to die. It wasn`t courage or fighting spirit, it was just the atavistic desire of staying alive.

»I – must – persist!«, she thought repeatedly and slightly squirmed I her bonds. From time to time, she let out faint gurgling sounds or rolled and blinked her eyes, causing the soldier to tighten the grip around his weapon. However, as the minutes passed and he more and more realized that the bound witch could not hurt him, his look became different. He licked his lips and Tabea realized that now, he did no longer see a supernatural creature in her. He did not even see her as something exotic, but just as a beautiful woman – a naked woman, glistering with sweat, whose boobs were pointing directly at him and whose nipples had grown hard from fear and tension. Tabea could see a bulge in his trousers.

»Well, all racists are assholes, but not all assholes are racists!«, she thought and had to fight down a hysterical giggle, as even that little effort caused her to see stars and to let out another groan.

The cart stopped and the monk shouted a few orders. Ilona was cut loose and, still bound and gagged, was led from the cart. Then, the men freed Jelena`s legs and took her with them, too. Tabea was left where she was, but at least, one of the men cut the rope tying her feet to her head. With a moan of relief, she stretched her legs and enjoyed the freedom of being able to move her aching neck.

Her fighting spirit had gone for the moment and in addition, her limbs felt numb from the harsh binding. Even if she had been free, Tabea was sure she wouldn`t have been able to walk, let alone running. The gag was tickling the back of her throat and she gulped, though this made the rope around her neck even more inconvenient.

It cost her considerable effort to lift her head and look around. The cart stood on a paved place, surrounded by half-timbered houses. Tabea guessed it was Pécs – Pécs as it had looked some 500 years ago. A time where witchcraft hadn`t been considered as superstition, but as a serious crime.

She knew that all facts spoke against her. In addition, witch trials followed a simple, but terrible rule: if the accused confessed, she was guilty; if not, she was possessed by a demon or Satan himself and had to be tortured until she confessed.

»Perhaps, strangling myself to death during transport would have been the easier way!«

At least, now, she would become a side note in the court records of Pécs. Perhaps, in her own time, a scholar would wonder how the black girl burnt on the stake had come to Hungary.

Tears built in her eyes, but before she could completely get lost in her desperation, the men came for her. One of them just put her over his shoulder and carried her inside one of the bigger buildings. Tabea was carried down some uneven steps into a cellar room lit by a few torches.

As a school girl, Tabea had been to Rothenburg ob der Tauber with her class where they had also visited the famous Museum of Criminal History, better known as Torture Museum. The by then 13 and 14 year olds had seen it like a mixture of a museum and a ghost train. All the brutal methods of torturing and killing seemed so far away that even the faintest of heart rather saw the visit as a joke.

However, for Tabea, it was no joke. All the terrible instruments she could see in the low room were as real as the ropes rendering her immobile and helpless, the gag in her mouth and the man carrying her over his shoulder. With sheer horror, she screamed through the packing in her mouth and weakly writhed, only to be rewarded by a few sharp slaps on her butt.

The soldier carried Tabea through the torture chamber into a narrow corridor with two prison cells on each side. He opened the grid door of one of them and dumped her onto some foul smelling straw, the only furniture the dark hole offered. Tabea moaned, begging to be freed from her bonds, but the man just grunted and left. After he had locked the door, he stepped away.

»Mhhmmph! Uuuhhmmm!«

With some difficulties, Tabea brought herself into a sitting position and leaned against the bars of her cell`s door. Opposite to her, she could see Jelena, kneeling by the bars. Her feet were free, but her wrists and elbows were still bound and she still was gagged and blindfolded. Tabea answered by a moan and tried to look into the other cells. However, there was no sign of Ilona.

»What are they doing to her? Where is she?«

Horrified, she expected to hear screams from the torture chamber any second. However, the girl hadn`t been there when she had passed the room and so hadn`t the inquisitor. She forced herself to remember what she knew about witch trials.

It was common practice in any trial to consult the accused one by one. However, for their case, Ilona was the worst choice. If the girl told something about her experiences in the 21th century, the inquisitor would not even need to torture her to prove she was possessed.

However, this monk was the only small chance they had for a fair trial. Tabea knew that around the time they were in, the inquisition had withdrawn from witch trials and left it to the secular jurisdiction. But perhaps, this monk would also be their judge. An educated man who was looking for real evidence of witchcraft and heresy, not just a superstitious city superior who would condemn them to the stake just to prove he was good in his job.

In addition, an inquisitor would not use torture just because he could, but according to the law. However, Tabea already felt how brutal this law was. It said that the first step of an interrogation was the »amicable questioning«. This meant no torture, but shouting and beating the accused with bare hands was considered amicable. Also, keeping the prisoner naked, bound, gagged and – in Jelena`s case – even blindfolded in a dark, cold and dirty cell was also still amicable!

She tried to shift her position. Leaning against the bars wasn`t convenient, but it helped to ease the strain in her folded arms and to relax the rope around her neck a bit. She shivered in the cold, at the same time, she felt the harsh bite of the ropes. She tried to flex her fingers and toes that were numb and she knew that her bonds cut off almost all circulation. If she would remain bound like that for much longer, her limbs would suffer lasting damage.

»That will teach me attacking a monk!«, she thought with sarcasm. These men had indeed made clear what they thought of women who tried to resist arrest. Her stifling gag also reminded her of that. Had she not tried to free her mouth, she now would not have to choke on two dirty rags.

She examined her cell, but it was just a hole in the rocks, with stone walls on two sides and bars at the front and separating it from the adjacent cell. There was some straw in it that hadn`t been changed for some time and at the walls, she could also see some metal rings. There was no window, not even a hole to let some light in, no plank bed and not even a bucket for her physical needs.

She had no idea how much time had passed as she heard approaching steps. She looked at the door and Jelena also turned her head, trying to listen. The door opened and two men in plain, dirty clothes entered. They were not wearing black or red hoods with eye holes, but Tabea was sure that they were the dungeon keepers. Behind them, the monk entered. Tabea looked if Ilona was with them, but there was no sign of her.

»Sure, she is okay! They can`t have burnt her instantly, not in the middle of the night and not without an official trial! Sure, she is in a better cell, waiting for us!«

The Dominican stepped between their cells, so he could look at both captives. If their nudity affected him in any way, he didn`t show it. The two henchmen, however, were less decent.

»Latine loqui ei?«

Do you speak Latin? Sure, he remembered how she had tried to talk to him in that language, but Tabea shook her head. She was able to get through Latin texts by using a dictionary, but the medieval spoken Latin was to the classical one she knew like Romanian to Spanish. Sure, she understood the subject of what he said, but she feared to accuse herself by a simple misunderstanding and so, she shook her head, seeing that Jelena did the same.

The monk repeated his question in Hungarian. This time, Jelena nodded and when he said something else and she nodded again, Tabea understood that he had ordered Jelena to act as her interpreter.

He then spoke to the two keepers and they opened Jelena`s cell. Now, Tabea could see that they had brought some chains with them, but also two plain dresses that looked like burlap sacks. Roughly, one man pulled Jelena to her feet and held her tight whilst his colleague cut her bonds. Jelena let her arms hang down weakly, unable to even rub her wrists and Tabea shuddered as she saw the red rope marks on her skin.

Taking the chance to grope her in the progress, the men now put Jelena in one of the dresses and then cuffed her hands in front of her body. These handcuffs were attached to a similar pair by a short chain and they now tied her feet with it. Now, Jelena could walk slowly, but not raise her hands and touch her gag or blindfold. They pushed her to the corridor where she stood on shaky legs. Then, they came for Tabea.

Obviously, the monk had told them about her fighting skills, but Tabea was in no condition to try anything. She groaned with a mixture of relief and pain as they cut her bonds, allowing her to lower her arms and she almost cried as her blood circulated freely again, causing a terrible tingling in her limbs.

The men jumped back and looked at the inquisitor at the noises she made and Tabea almost had laughed at the fear they had, despite her still being helpless. The monk seemed to think the same, for he reprimanded his men and they quickly put the dress on her. It was scratchy, but at least, she now was covered. When they had chained her wrists and ankles the same way as Jelena, they pulled her to her feet. Twice, Tabea sank back to the ground, but on the third attempt, she managed to stand, staggering and shaky, and to even stumble the few steps until she leaned against the wall beside Jelena.

Each guarded by one of the keepers, they were now escorted to the torture chamber. Tabea feared for a moment the inquisitor would skip the »amicable questioning«, but they passed the dreadful room and were brought into another one where a wooden desk was standing. Behind it was a chair with a high backrest on which the inquisitor took place whilst the two girls had to stand opposite to it. In a corner, Tabea could see another Dominican monk. He was much younger than his colleague and he was holding a quill.

The inquisitor gave an order and both Jelena and Tabea were ungagged, but Jelena`s blindfold was kept in place. Obviously, the men did not want to take any risks according to her assumed Evil Eye.

When the two keepers had left, the inquisitor began by asking them for their names and ages. Tabea could answer these questions without the help of Jelena and she heard that her co-captive was 27, one year younger than her.

Tabea relaxed a bit. At least, they were now following some order. They had gotten something to wear and their process would be documented. However, in a time where torture was legal and witchcraft a real crime, this didn`t matter much.

Now, the inquisitor spoke to Jelena who answered his questions. The monk was calm and soft-spoken and her co-captive also managed to remain quiet, though Tabea noticed she was concerned. She tried to understand what was going on, but she only got some names: of course, Ilona Hunyadi, her father Imre Hunyadi – and repeatedly the name Soliman.

Tabea knew that Soliman, or Süleyman, was the name of the Ottoman Sultan. The same Soliman who would win the battle of Mohács the next year and try to capture Vienna in 1529. She wondered what this had to do with their accusation of being witches and waited with impatience until the inquisitor paused, allowing Jelena to speak to her.

Jelena turned into her direction, a bit disoriented under her blindfold, and took a few deep breathes before she spoke:

»He has spoken to Ilona before. Obviously, she could convince him that she really is the daughter of General Imre Hunyadi who is also the military commander of Pécs. She has disappeared from her bed chamber a few days ago and the General had been more than upset. But now, Father Antonius – our judge here – has already given order to get her back to her father`s house. I am not sure what exactly the deal was, but obviously, Father Antonius thinks that Ilona had been drugged by her kidnappers and therefore had told him a hair-raising story about a strange world she had been in.«

Tabea`s lips trembled.

»So – he doesn`t believe we are witches?«

Jelena sighed. Then, collecting her strength, she answered:

»He doesn`t believe Ilona`s a witch! However, he still wants to know why we were on that airing, stark naked and in the middle of a ring of fire! If you know a plausible explanation, please, let me know!«

Tabea nodded. The truth was so close to witchcraft that telling it would condemn them to death. Then, however, she had an idea:

»Tell him – tell him we are Ilona`s maids! That we were abducted and drugged together with her and-«

A weak smile built on Jelena`s parched lips.

»I already had that idea! However, Ilona seems to have told him something else and Father Antonius thinks that there are only two explanations. The first is we are indeed witches!«

In that case, they would both end up at the stake and the only grace would be to be beheaded or strangled before burning if they confessed their sins! With desperate hope, she asked:

»What`s the second explanation?«

»That we participated in Ilona`s abduction and later, our accomplices wanted to get rid of us and left us where Father Antonius found us.«

Tabea staggered as she realized that this was, according to the evidence the inquisitor had, was indeed a plausible deduction. However, she was far from feeling relieved. Tabea had no idea what punishment there was for aiding and abetting a criminal offense – but this was a time in which someone was hanged for stealing something worth more than a chicken and got his hand chopped off if he stole something less valuable!

»He- he must send a messenger to Ilona! She must tell him that – that-«

Tabea fell silent when it came to her mind that by helping them, Ilona could endanger herself and therefore sure wouldn`t do it. However, it was their only chance! She turned towards Father Antonius` desk, sank to her knees and pleaded:

»Father Antonius, please! Get Ilona! Ask her about us! Please, Father!«

The monk just silently shook his head. When Tabea rose and bent over his desk, he just called for the two men who wrestled her down and brutally gagged her again. Before Jelena got her mouth stuffed again, too, she could tell Tabea something more that was not meant to make her feel better:

»He wants to get the abductors. And he is sure that we can tell him everything he needs to know – if necessary, by torturing us!«

A struggling Tabea and a less vigorous Jelena were then brought back to their cells. The men left them chained as they were and so, the two girls could take off their gags and Jelena could also rip off the blindfold.

»What shall we do now?«, Tabea asked with a trembling voice.

»I don`t know!«, Jelena shouted in a shrill voice and threw herself against the bars, »I am here against my will, just like you! I! Don`t! Know!«

She began to sob and Tabea tried to console her, but felt tears run down her cheeks, too. After a while, Jelena suddenly spoke again, softly and sounding hoarse:

»Sorry, but the last days have been just too much! After Sandor`s men had kidnapped me, they tried almost everything to make me cooperate and tell them where the book is. Even if you hadn`t found it, I am sure they would have broken my resistance soon.«

Tabea gulped and though she was eager to know, she didn`t dare to ask Jelena what exactly the criminals had done to her. However, after a few moments of silence, Jelena continued:

»For the first two days or so, they tried sensory deprivation. They kept me in a straightjacket in a padded cell, gagged, hooded and with plugged ears. They changed their methods when they found me banging my head against the walls, again and again.«

»Poor girl!«

Tabea stretched her hands between the bars and though still more than two yards separated them, Jelena seemed to appreciate the gesture and smiled wryly. Then, she said:

»After that, Sandor brought me to a private night club, dressed as – like you saw me when we first met.«

Tabea remembered how Jelena had been dressed, in a corsage, fishnet stockings and lacy panties. She could imagine the reaction of some filthy rich men to that ensemble.

»I was gagged and my wrists had been tied behind a column on a podium. Sandor asked how much any of them would pay for a ›Gypsy whore‹ and then, they really started bidding. They offered really high sums – but their comments made absolutely clear what they expected for their money!«

»What a bastard!«

»You don`t say! Anyway, after a while, Sandor outbid the others and I was brought back to his mansion. There, he told me that the next time, he would not rescue me. Then, I was again put into the padded cell, gagged and hooded, to think about it. I came just from there when you were brought. So, thanks for rescuing me!«

The last sentence, she said with bitter sarcasm, but Tabea knew it wasn`t aimed at her.

»And look what I got for the two of us! A firsthand experience of history, something every true historian ever dreams of!«

»Our book about our experiences will become a bestseller! A witch trial, described by the witches themselves!«

As on command, both women started giggling hysterically. At the same time, tears ran down their cheeks and they sank to the ground, but the laughter and crying also took some of their tension.

»As long as we are alive, there is still hope for us!«, Jelena finally said, now sounding much more steady and confident. With some difficulties, she came to her feet. Tabea watched her with interest, but Jelena just went for the corner of her cell where she gathered her dress, crouched and relieved herself.

»That`s describing our situation quite well, Sister!«

Totally dehydrated as she was, she could not do the same. Jelena finished her business and stared at her:

»Didn`t you know that the pee of a Gypsy woman etches through stone?«

»N-no«, Tabea breathed. Jelena kept staring at her and added with a grave voice:

»Me neither!«

Her lips smirked and after a few moments, both women burst out laughing. This time, it was not from hysteria, just good, heart-warming laughter. Tabea looked at Jelena and said:

»We will survive this! Just promise it to me, Jelena!«

»Great witches` word of honor!«, Jelena answered solemnly and raised her right hand as far as her chains allowed.

Little later, exhaustion took it`s toll and both women fell asleep, despite their fears, the cold of their cells and the rats rustling in the straw. In fact, they slept soundly and the two dungeon keepers had to bang against the bars to wake them up the next morning.

***