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accommodate in the Castle, as chiefs of the garrison or mayor, to the widower Knight that has
accompanied you from Spain: I have no doubts that he is someone legit.
All occurred just how Rodolfo had planned, with one exception that didn't disturb the
objectives, as will be seen immediately.
The King of Portugal gave place to the request of the Catalan Knight, strongly supported
by the Order of Preachers, and he granted him the County of Tarseval. This was happening one
year after the extinction of the House of Tharsis by the Pestilence and, for that time, the Golem
had meticulously inspected the Village of Turdes and the Seigniorial Residence. They would
leave convinced that there were no Lords of Tharsis alive, notwithstanding that they would
extend the quest through all Spain and then to the rest of Europe. But these indignations
would give negative results; or positive, according to the point of view, due to in all the sites
where the members of the condemned Lineage dwelled, they realized that the pass of the
Pestilence didn't leave survivors.
The new Count of Tarseval repopulated the Village of Turdes with five hundred families
of Barcelona and settled down a garrison in the Seigniorial Residence of three hundred Catalan
soldiers. Where was located the Chapel, at the feet of the mountain range Candelaria, he
ordered to build a small fortress composed by tower and wall: thence, that place would be
always under the surveillance of the sentinels of the County. Not existing Noyos or Vrayas to
guard the Secret Cavern, the best would be to maintain surveillance on the mountain range to
keep away the curious or possible suspects. Three years later, the County of Tarseval travelled
to Austria and he married with Vrunalda, transformed now in a German Lady. The Seigniorial
Residence, remodeled and fortified by the Catalans, received then such shy Lady, who never
stopped learning the language of Alfonso X and preferred to pass the hours praying in the
Church of the Grotto that to enjoy the courtly customs.
The family resulted prolific in sons and daughters that the continuity of the Lineage of
Tharsis was until certain point assured. Otherwise, the County enjoyed of relative calm during
the next years, especially due to the care that the Earl manifested to not be involved in the
struggle of interests that the monarchs of Portugal and Castile sustained. When the King
Sancho IV reincorporate the region of Huelva, and he grants his seigniory with effects for life to
Don Juan Mate de Luna, and the Earl of Tarseval pass without problems to the crown of
Castile, that confirms his rights and the arms of the Catalan Count. The same respect will show
for Ferdinand IV and the successive owners and Lords of the country of Huelva. In sum, the
family that was growing in Spain, in the ancient dominions of the House of Tharsis, would
enormously surpass the aspirations proposed by Rodolfo and the Lords of the Dog, although
they would converse until the midst of the XIV century the secret of their lineage.
But not all occurred as Rodolfo expected: there was one exception, but, as I said at the
beginning, that didn't change the objectives of the Strategy. The problem was proposed by
Valentina, who was a young woman full of gifts but extremely passionate. Rodolfo had
arranged with a Lord of Flanders, follower, as his family, of the Domini Canis, the commitment
of marriage between his son and Valentina: the engaged, a Captain to the orders of the Duke of
Flanders, was certainly in conformity with the marriage. But not Valentina. Why?: what
nobody imagined in that Family Council, had occurred in San Félix de Caramán; Valentina was
madly in love of Pedro de Creta. Naturally, the bizantine Knight had something special due to
he was already loved by other Lady of Tharsis, his deceased wife. But the passion that this time
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