Chapter XLVIII
To our astonishment, the king immediately set out on a tour of the kingdom, to inspect the defences and make sure that the Franks were ready to fight with the Sultan. Sid Guy went with him and took Charles and Philippe as his squires. Two weeks later a messenger came from the north and summoned the Patriarch and the king's mother, who rode out together that same day, accompanied by all the great men of the kingdom, while a tide of rumours swept the city. A week after that es-Sid and his companions returned with the news that Trudy's words had come true; Guy de Lusignan, Count of Ascalon and Jaffa, was to be the Regent of the kingdom, though the king retained Jerusalem for his own private rule.
"We got as far as Nazareth," Guy told Trudy and me that evening. "There the king fell ill with a high fever and he actually went blind for a time. The doctors looked very grim; in fact, they even summoned the priest of the place to hear his confession and that, with the fever and the blindness, frightened him enough that he finally agreed to accept a regent. That was when they sent for the Patriarch and the king's mother. By Saint Dennis, I wish they had left that wretched woman out of it, for they thought that she would comfort her son and instead she badgered him mercilessly until he gave in and appointed Guy as the regent."
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, then suddenly chuckled.
"What's the joke, father?" Trudy asked.
"Our king may be a leper, but he's no fool," es-Sid remarked. "He made Guy take an oath that he wouldn't give away any of the royal castles and none of the contents of the treasury to anyone under any circumstances. You should have seen Guy's face!"
"Why?" Trudy put down her sewing.
"Why?" Es-Sid laughed openly. "Guy had made all sorts of promises to win people over to his side - positions, pensions, land and so on. He thought he would be able to pay for everything out of the royal revenues and possessions, but now he will have to either fail in his promises and risk losing his supporters, or fulfil his promises out of his own resources."
Guy came up from Ascalon to be invested with his new office and, no doubt, to thank his wife and mother-in-law to whom he owed it. I was leading a party of pilgrims to Bethlehem when he arrived. We had to squeeze back against the side of the road near the Jaffa Gate so that he and his entourage of knights and servants could pass. He was a tall, handsome man, riding easily on a large brown horse and though his clothing was fine - apart from the dust of the road - he didn't appear to be any more concerned with luxury than any of the other great ones.
Certainly he did not spend his time in dancing or cooking or choosing clothes. The very next day work began on making ready for the attack that would surely come: scaffolding sprang up in several places on the wall where repairs had long been needed and workmen swarmed around the gates, replacing where necessary the nails that held the bronze plates in place on the wood as protection against fire.
The people responded with enthusiasm and when, a few days later, I had a free afternoon and went down with Hilmi to the place of fighting in the Valley of Hinnom, we had to push our way through a great crowd of men with weapons and then wait for ages until there was room for us in the ring.
If I expected that we would march immediately to Aleppo, I was disappointed. Summer came and went and though the Franks were ready there was no news of the Sultan, may God prosper him, and his army. Not until the strength had gone from the sun did word come - and once again Sid Guy was the first to take the news to the king - that the Sultan was coming down from the north.
"Will he return directly to ash-Shams, do you think?" Hamed mused as we discussed the news. "Or do you think he will now attack the Franks?"
To that we could give no answer, but in the morning Babrak and Hamed were sent by Sid Guy to Banias. For once there were no pilgrims to accompany them, for every able-bodied man was called to join the Frankish army and the women and children were too frightened to venture outside the walls.
We were not far behind them, for two days later Guy de Lusignan and the Frankish army left Jerusalem and headed north. We of the household of Sid Guy rode with them: Sid Guy himself in his armour; Charles, Phillipe, Karl - a German newly arrived in Outremer, which is what the Franks call our land, Pietr from Brabant, Ludovald and Hilmi and I. Because we might have to fight, there were also eight boys to cut fodder and do other tasks around the camp.
For five days we rode in a great mob, with men and baggage wagons, knights and foot soldiers, mixed indescriminately, but when we came to Jenin with the great plain before us Guy de Lusignan ordered that we should march as if going into battle. The wagons and foot soldiers were herded into the middle, the Hospitallers rode in a solid mass at the front with the king and the Templars brought up the rear. Other armoured men rode in a double rank on each side of the baggage train and unarmoured men. Outside them on either side were the footmen, wearing chain mail and carrying shields.
It felt strange to be riding surrounded by Templars and Hospitallers and Crusaders and know that they were there to protect us! They, I am sure, would have felt equally strange had they known that among those they were protecting were two Muslims, whom they were sworn to destroy. However we did not spend all our time hiding behind the Christians, for we lightly-amoured squires took it in turns to go out as scouts, riding far ahead of the army or some distance out to either side.
Each night we gathered around our fire to eat and talk about the events of the day, the prospects for war and other such matters. Sid Guy ate with us and frequently instructed us in what we should do on the morrow or explained, over and over, how we should behave in battle.
"God forbid that it comes to fighting," Guy told us, "but if it does, this is what you should expect. The Saracens and the Turks fight on horseback by galloping up close to the army and shooting at us with their short bows. Then, before we can attack them, they gallop away again."
"Surely that is more of an annoyance than actual harm, sir?" Karl asked.
"You haven't seen the power of their bows," Guy explained. "They are short but they are much more powerful than our own bows, which means that the arrows carry further or, if shot from close range, inflict much more damage. Even mail is not entirely proof against an arrow shot from close range."
We all shuddered at the thought of an arrow that could pierce armour.
"The first Crusader armies were wiped out by this technique," Guy continued. "The Turks attacked again and again and each time they killed more of the Christians. If any knight or group of knights rode out to challenge them, the Turks simply galloped away on their lighter, swifter horses and then, when the knights were isolated, surrounded them and killed them, either alone or with their horses."
"So how do we defeat them?" Karl looked pale in the fire light.
"We march." Guy grinned. "We are all protected by shields and armour or mail, so the arrows do little damage. Then, either we reach our destination and find safety inside a walled city or castle - which is enough of a victory most of the time - or the Saracens wear their horses out with all that galloping while our horses are still fresh and that is the moment when the knights ride out to the attack. Once they have come to grips with the enemy the footmen can join in and because we are bigger and, please God, better trained, we win a real victory."
That night, as I recall, we were stopped near Afula where there is a Nasrani castle called Le Feve, and the next day we camped below Nazareth. As we were setting up camp Hamed and Babrak rode up with the news that the outriders of the Sultan's army had been sighted coming directly down the Beka'a Valley instead of turning aside towards Damascus.
"What does that mean?" I asked when we squires sat down to eat.
"To come from Jerusalem to here is easy," Charles explained, "because you travel along the tops of the hills. Likewise to travel from Madeba to Damascus. From Jericho to Tiberias is also easy, because you are travelling along the valley of the Jordan River. But to go from Madeba to Jerusalem is difficult because then you have to go down into the valley and up the other side."
I nodded my understanding.
"In the north it is the same. You can travel along the mountains on either side or down in the valley, but to go from one side to the other - from the sea to Damascus, for example - is difficult because of the valley, which up there is called Beka'a."
"He speaks the truth," Babrak interrupted, "for I have myself travelled from Damascus to Beirut and also from Damascus to Aleppo. The direct road lies to the east of the hills, exactly like the road from Damascus to Madeba or Kerak. If the Sultan is following the valley it must be because he is intending to come further south."
"Into Outremer, you mean?" Phillipe asked.
"Will there be a battle?" I demanded, feeling tremendously excited.
"Inshallah," everyone exclaimed.
"You mean, God forbid," a familiar voice broke in on us.
We rose in haste to show respect for our lord.
"But sir," Karl spoke up, "Surely we will win? You explained it all to us the other night."
"Fighting is always uncertain," Guy said, squatting down by our camp fire. "That, after all, is why we lost Aleppo. Some mischance could easily turn the battle against us and always remember, the Kingdom of Jerusalem is only one battle away from disaster."
"What do you mean, sir?" Karl looked puzzled.
"No matter how many times we defeat our enemies, they can always bring a new army against us," Guy explained. "But we are the only army we have. If we are defeated and destroyed, the kingdom will fall and there will be no recovery."
"But surely we could just retreat behind our walls and wait for another Crusade?" Karl protested.
"How long would that take?" Guy asked. "A couple of years? How many of our castles and cities would still be holding out by then?" He looked round our faces in the firelight. "In any case, we can't count on another Crusade. Do you think the king hasn't been appealing for more men and money virtually every day?"
"So what do you hope will happen, sir?" Phillipe asked.
Guy shrugged. "The best we can hope for is that the Sultan will see our army and decide not to fight."
"A pity," Hilmi said later when Guy had left. "I could do with some loot - a wealthy emir whose ransom will set me up for life: that's what I need."
"Even a wealthy emir dead on the battlefield would do me," Phillipe said. "His weapons and armour are worth money and much easier and cheaper to keep than a living man."
"Whereas I," Hamed looked serious, "I shall save the life of some wounded great one - whether among the Muslims or the Franks I care not - and he will be so grateful that he will shower wealth upon me."
"Or adopt you as his son and take you off to live with him in the cold and perpetual rain of France," Babrak pointed out. "You will be deafened with church bells, surrounded by infidels and given nothing but swine's flesh to eat and wine to drink. Too late you will long for the company of True Believers and regret that you did not cut his throat instead of saving his life."
We all laughed, for we of the household of Sid Guy were brothers and all others were outsiders whom we could mock among ourselves.
