Chapter VI
We watched our former enemy ride away down the wadi and he was no sooner out of sight than the Frank emerged from the tent, yawning and rubbing his eyes.
"Salaam aleikum," my father called. "Did you sleep well?"
"Al-hamdulillah," the Frank replied, using our language. "I slept well and now wish to depart. It is still a long way to al-Quds."
My father went off to see about some food for the Frank while he and I went to see to the beasts, his great horse and the smaller animal that had belonged to Ahmed. When they were cared for we examined the two swords and daggers that Ibrahim had left behind. The Frank hefted them, swinging them experimentally one after the other.
"They are well made," he commented, "well balanced and the steel looks good, if I am any judge." He made a long face. "If these are any indication of the quality of the weapons the Sultan is assembling against us, it is not good news for us." He swung one of the swords again. "Mind you, I always think that curved blades are wasteful. If this one, for example, were straight, it would reach at least a span further - and when your enemy is trying to get at you with a dagger, that could mean the difference between life and death. As for thrusting - bah! Give me a straight blade any day."
"So which one should I take, Sidi?" I asked.
"As thou wilt. They are, in my judgement, equal. The daggers also. A pity neither was wearing shield or helmet, but then, perhaps if they had been we might not have sped so well, thou and I."
My youngest brother came just then to tell us that the food was ready, so I chose one of the swords at random and replaced it in its scabbard, choosing also a dagger to go with it. I carried them back to the tent with me and then ate with the Frank while my father and brothers watched. When we had finished the Frank stood up and walked over to sit down next to my father.
"Abu Fuad," he said, "there is a custom among the Franks which, I think, is also followed among your great ones." He beckoned to me and held out his hands, facing towards each other and just slightly apart. "Come, Fuad. Put your hands between mine and repeat these words."
I came over and bent down to put my hands, palms pressed together between his. He caught them and gently me pulled me down to my knees.
"This is the right way, Fuad. Now say, 'I, Fuad ibn Hassan, promise to be your man.'"
"I, Fuad ibn Hassan, promise to be your man," I repeated.
"'Faithful in life or death.'"
"Faithful in life or death."
"Good," the Frank released my hands. "Now you are sworn to my service, provided only that your father agrees to this."
He looked across his shoulder to my father, who returned his gaze solemnly.
"That is only proper, my son. You must be faithful to this man, except only for your duty to Allah, for Allah alone is great and you must never do anything to harm the True Faith."
I looked to the Frank. His eyes were smiling and he nodded. "Yes, even among us we say that no oath sworn to man can replace our duty to be loyal to God first. For this reason some have even forsaken their wives and children in order to follow God. Now then, Fuad. You are my squire and your first task will be to help me dress. Over there is my coat of mail."
He pointed with his chin to the heap of gleaming links and I ran to fetch it. I grasped it by the shoulders, lifted and promptly lost my grip. The Frank had moved so easily the day before that I utterly failed to realise just how heavy so many iron rings could be. It was only with difficulty that I was able, on the second attempt, to pick it up and carry it over to him. He grinned at me.
"Yes, the weight can be a surprise at first, but you get used to it."
He held out his arms and I held the mail coat up before him. He slipped his arms into the armholes and shrugged it up over his shoulders while I ran round to his back to do up the tapes that held it closed behind him. Indeed he spoke the truth when he said that you became used to it, for he moved as easily as before, striding across the tent and bending down to pick up his surcoat, then almost tossing it over his head: I would have been rooted to the spot by the weight of the mail.
Next I fetched his great sword and his long dagger, both of which were attached to a thick leather belt that I helped him do up round his waist. A light iron helmet, padded with cloth inside, completed his costume. He smiled at me.
"Are you ready, squire?"
"Nearly, Sidi."
I ducked behind the curtain to say farewell to my mother. She had much good advice to give me and many warnings about the dangers to be found in great cities such as al-Quds, but when she began to talk about the fair-haired Frankish women who went about unveiled and shameless I hushed her, partly for fear that the Frank should hear her speak thus about his womenfolk and partly also from anger, for she had never been to al-Quds and only twice to Jericho and knew of these things only by report. Nevertheless, I discovered later that she was indeed wise, for many of the things of which she spoke I found to be true.
"Come," the Frank said when I emerged. "It is time for us to go."
Accompanied by my father and brothers, we went out and mounted our horses, the Frank on his great beast and I on my smaller one.
"Go with God," I cried, waving to my father.
"May God have you in His keeping," my father replied, while my brothers yelled and capered, running after us and throwing stones among the horses' hooves from sheer exhuberance.
