Margit Sandemo - The Ice People 07 - Nemesis

Nemesis

The Legend of The Ice People 7 - Nemesis

© Margit Sandemo 1982

© eBook in English: Jentas A/S, 2017

Series: The Legend of The Ice People

Title: Nemesis

Title number: 7

Original title: Spökslottet

Translator: Anna Halager

© Translation: Jentas A/S

ISBN: 978-87-7107-340-9

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchase.

All contracts and agreements regarding the work, translation, editing, and layout are owned by Jentas A/S.

Acknowledgement

The legend of the Ice People is dedicated with love and gratitude to the memory of my dear late husband Asbjorn Sandemo, who made my life a fairy tale.

Margit Sandemo

The Ice People - Reviews

‘Margit Sandemo is, simply, quite wonderful.’

- The Guardian

‘Full of convincing characters, well estabished in time and place, and enlightening ... will get your eyes popping, and quite possibly groins twitching ... these are graphic novels without pictures ... I want to know what happens next.’

- The Times

‘A mixure of myth and legend interwoven with historical events, this is imaginative creation that involves the reader from the first page to the last.’

- Historical Novels Review

‘Loved by the masses, the prolific Margit Sandemo has written over 172 novels to date and is Scandinavia's most widely read author...’

- Scanorama magazine

The Legend of the Ice People

The legend of the Ice People begins many centuries ago with Tengel the Evil. He was ruthless and greedy, and there was only one way to get everything that he wanted: he had to make a pact with the devil. He travelled far into the wilderness and summoned the devil with a magic potion that he had brewed in a pot. Tengel the Evil gained unlimited wealth and power but in exchange, he cursed his own family. One of his descendants in every generation would serve the Devil with evil deeds. When it was done, Tengel buried the pot. If anyone found it, the curse would be broken.

So the curse was passed down through Tengel’s descendants, the Ice People. One person in every generation was born with yellow cat’s eyes, a sign of the curse, and magical powers which they used to serve the Devil. One day the most powerful of all the cursed Ice People would be born.

This is what the legend says. Nobody knows whether it is true, but in the 16th century, a cursed child of the Ice People was born. He tried to turn evil into good, which is why they called him Tengel the Good. This legend is about his family. Actually, it is mostly about the women in his family – the women who held the fate of the Ice People in their hands.

Chapter 1

When King Christian passed away, his children faced difficult times. That is, his children from his morganatic marriage to Kirsten Munk did, since they couldn’t inherit the privileges of royalty.

The King had, however, tried to provide for his daughters by marrying them off to the men he had relied on, the bigwigs of the realm. He had promised that his eldest daughter, Anna Christiane, would marry Frans Rantzau, whom he had promoted to Lord Chamberlain. They were never married because both passed away at a very young age.

The second daughter, the unpleasant Sofie Elisabeth, was to marry Christian von Pentz – governor and prefect. He also served as what could be called Denmark’s foreign minister – had such a title existed at the time.

Leonora Christina was given away to the most prestigious and ambitious of them all, Corfitz Ulfeldt, who was by now Lord Chamberlain and the highest civil servant in the realm, so Leonora Christina became the first lady of the realm.

Elisabeth Augusta was given away to Hans Lindenov, who, as time went by, turned out to be a mere nonentity.

Christiane was luckier. She was given away to Hannibal Sehested, who became a successful governor in Norway.

And Hedvig was given away to Ebbe Ulfeldt, vassal of the island of Bornholm.

All the sisters considered themselves amongst the finest in Denmark. But then their half-brother, Frederik III, acceded to the throne with Queen Sophie Amalie – and Frederik implemented a thorough purge. The first one to go was Christian von Pentz. He had fallen out with Frederik when the latter was a young prince, and when he became king, he sacked von Pentz and banned him from showing up at Court.

Then it was Ebbe Ulfeldt’s turn. They investigated how he had administered his task as a vassal. It turned out that he bullied the peasants severely, so he was dismissed.

On top of all these insults, none of Kirsten Munk’s daughters were allowed to call themselves Duchess anymore. They were also denied the right to drive into the castle courtyard in a carriage, because this was a privilege which was only granted to the first ladies of the realm.

The daughters fumed and so did Kirsten Munk. Leonora Christina probably suffered the biggest offence. First of all, she was married to Corfitz Ulfeldt, who was still struggling secretly with the new king as to who was the de facto ruler of the realm. Secondly, there was a ruthless dispute between Leonora Christina and the young Queen Sophie Amalie of Brunswick as to who was the first lady of the realm. That bitter struggle lasted right up until their death.

There was much change during the new King’s reign. The Council of State wanted Hannibal Sehested removed as governor of Norway. He had amassed a great wealth – one-sixteenth of all Norwegian goods – and when he was exposed for fraud, the King had no choice but to strip him of his title.

This put an end to Hannibal Sehested’s career, for the time being.

But Corfitz Ulfeldt was the one who was truly a thorn in the flesh of King Frederik.

One day in January 1649, Corfitz’s wife Leonora Christina, daughter of the late Christian IV, called on Cecilie Paladin. Leonora was pretty irritable. She was unable to sit down peacefully but was restless all the time.

“That German woman!” Leonora snapped, referring to Queen Sophie Amalie. “She does everything she can to humiliate me. But my husband has something up his sleeve. He’s leaving for the Netherlands, and his plans will show the whole of Denmark, including the new King and Queen, who has their head screwed on right. Then we’ll see who’s best suited to make decisions here!”

“I see. So the Council of State has decided that he’s to leave?”

“The Council of State? A Lord Chamberlain of Corfitz’s caliber does not need to seek the advice of anybody. Of course, I’ll accompany him, and he’ll have a magnificent entourage. This is why I’ve come here today, Margravine Paladin. You’ve always been kind and loyal towards me. My husband needs a personal man to serve him at Court. There are so few you can trust these days what with that German woman scheming all the time. So we immediately thought of your son, Tancred. He is well brought up and familiar with aspects of Court protocol and is extremely presentable ...”

Thoughts buzzed in Cecilie’s head. She did not want her son to be caught in the conflict between the King and the Lord Chamberlain – or the one between their wives. But then, on the other hand, she had taken care of Leonora Christina since she was born ...

Cecilie was completely neutral in the struggle between Leonora Christina and the Queen. Leonora Christina was beautiful, charming and worldly, whereas the Queen had her youth, grace and exalted position. Members of the house of Brunswick-Lüneburg were said to be intelligent, energetic and passionate – and Sophie Amalie was no exception. Yet she could also be spiteful – and Leonora Christina could also be sharp-tongued when she wanted to be. The envy and jealousy between the two women had already escalated considerably.