Chapter 114: Frustration

Baldwin sat quietly alone on the floor of the small chapel.

Cesar walked over slowly and sat with him. Their shoulders leaned against each other, and neither of them spoke. After a long time, Baldwin let out a heavy sigh.

"I might have to move into the main tower." He said.

Cesar gave a hum. Before he left the Castle of the Holy Cross, Baldwin still insisted on living in the left tower, keeping the room of his father Amalric I in the main tower. But what happened today made Baldwin and him realize that this idea was still too naive. Baldwin must abandon this precious but fragile emotion and face his current identity as soon as possible—King, not the King's son.

Baldwin turned his head and looked at Cesar. Everything Amalric I left behind was rapidly fading and diminishing. His horse, his room, his weapons, and his clothes. When people spoke of the Lord of the Holy Land, the Grand Master of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and the commander of the Crusaders, they no longer referred to Amalric I, but to Baldwin IV.

Even though his memorial mass would still be held on the last day of every month until December of the following year, he was already a thing of the past to the generals and ministers of Al-Azar, as well as the people here.

But they didn't seem to be looking forward to a new king either.

Cesar knew that Baldwin still needed some time to adapt to his new identity, or rather, to decide on the path he wanted to take. He looked at the altar covered with white linen in front of him—the precious box was placed on the altar, and behind the box stood a large cross covered in gold, inlaid with gems, mother-of-pearl, and pearls. It was almost two people tall when standing up, and one person wide when stretching out arms. Even in the dim candlelight, it was still extremely brilliant and beautiful.

But it was just a container. The real fragments of the cross were stored in that box. When a grand ceremony was held in the castle, or when the Crusaders were about to set out on an expedition, they would take out the fragments of the True Cross from this box, soak them in holy water, and then share them with everyone, or put the fragments into this gilded cross and take it to the battlefield.

The current Baldwin was also like a large gilded cross.

Placed in the most honorable position, magnificent, worshipped by everyone, but what they worshipped was not him, but his bloodline and surname—the descendant of Charlemagne, the descendant of the Guardian of the Holy Sepulchre, and it could even be said to be another spiritual symbol of Al-Azar.

Even if he received God's blessing and showed his ability, his age and seniority would still be regarded by those old men who had experienced many battles and courts as a symbol, and a symbol should not have its own thoughts and will.

"Perhaps we were too hasty." Baldwin said in a low voice.

"They think we were too hasty." Cesar pointed out sharply.

Even though Cesar had already produced evidence that Nur ad-Din, far away in Aleppo, might not live long—the turmoil brought by his death might be even greater than that of Amalric I—this ruler, known as the "Light of Faith," was like the only support of a huge building. Just waiting for him to fall, all of Syria and even Egypt would undergo a huge turmoil.

"Did you see Raymond's eyes?" Baldwin turned his head to look at Cesar, with no much emotion in his eyes: "He is not looking at a monarch, nor is he looking at a commander, but at an unreasonable child. He can't do anything to me because he has already sworn loyalty to me, but this cannot affect his deep-rooted perception of me—a child."

"He is a bit angry, but more helpless, and also has a bit of contempt. Perhaps he thinks I can't even wait for a short year before I want to seize power and establish prestige—and in the name of 'Jihad', it is really too frivolous and ignores the overall situation."

"No one is willing to support us."

"They might have the same thoughts as Raymond, or it might just be for practical interests—compared to Nur ad-Din, they would rather solve the problem of Mleh in the Great Numbers first."

He paused: "I remember you told me that when you and the Templar Geoffrey went to support Count Etienne, you met Mleh on the way back—I was really terrified for a while at that time, although you had already returned to my side, but one can imagine how dangerous the situation was at that time."

If Mleh knew that Count Etienne among them was the Holy Land envoy sent by Louis VII to Al-Azar, and also a guest of the King of Al-Azar, Amalric I, and his vassals, he would certainly not hesitate to "invite" the Count to his castle, and then open his mouth like a lion to demand a ransom from Louis VII and Amalric I respectively.

If so, it would still be considered lucky. If Mleh knew why Count Etienne left the Castle of the Holy Cross in a hurry and was lured by a guide to his territory—his asking price might be higher, because he knew that Amalric I absolutely could not let this scandal be made public.

Fortunately, Cesar reacted quickly, pretending to be Abigail, the Prince of Antioch, to lure Mleh into giving up this big fish that jumped in front of him.

"And fortunately, you insisted that I wear your cloak, and the gold cross."

"I thought, if there was a contingency, they might be able to buy you a life."

"It did buy a life, and not just mine." Cesar said with emotion. He didn't have much certainty at that time—what if Mleh had seen Abigail? But he had to do it. Count Etienne might have a chance to escape with his life. After all, as a valuable hostage, even if he couldn't get the treatment a Count should have, he wouldn't be killed immediately.

But the Templars and Cesar might not be so lucky.

Mleh was once a member of the Templars, and he had sworn before the cross, but this oath was as useless as the fart he let. He joined the Order just to use the power of the Order to kill his brother. After realizing his true intention, the Order refused his request without hesitation.

Mleh's plan fell through, and he had been harboring hatred. During a failed operation, he did not hesitate to defect from the Christian camp to the Saracen camp, becoming a good dog with sharp teeth under the Turkic Seljuk Sultan.

The Templars were very angry about his defection and had issued a document requiring every member of the Templars to kill Mleh as soon as they discovered him.

Mleh did not show weakness. He guarded every road, leading those pagan cavalry to wantonly plunder the pilgrims who wanted to pass through his territory—Christians, Isaac people, and even Saracens, none of them could escape his net. And if there were Templars acting as guards, they would be hanged or beheaded after suffering inhumane torture.

The Templar Geoffrey was probably hard to escape this fate, and Cesar, who was just a small attendant, would have the best result of being sold to the Caliph's court by him.

"What was Mleh like when you saw him?"

"A quite dangerous guy, he reminded me of those beasts with brilliant fur."

"The Master also once said that he is a terrifying existence, a devil almost unbound by any law, morality, and faith. He was once a Prince of Armenia, but he started a riot because he fought for the throne with his brother. After the riot failed, he did not hesitate to escape from Armenia and came to Al-Azar."

"He once begged my uncle and my father to give him a place to live, and his brother also sent an envoy to request the return of this shameless traitor, this cruel blood relative."

"Later, in order to save his life, he made a vow to join the Templars."

The Templars were an armed monastic organization. Once entering the Order, everything in the secular world would have nothing to do with him. He would lose his inheritance rights, territory, and his private property.

Also because of this reason, the Armenian side was willing to calm down. It was just unexpected that he only stayed in the Templars for a few years before rebelling. Not only that, he also escaped to the Saracens. But it was also true, no Christian country would be willing to accept a Templar who had betrayed his oath.

"I heard that he not only received God's blessing but also received the Prophet's revelation among the Saracens."

Baldwin said in a very low voice: "We all know that whether it is the Caliph or the Sultan, there will occasionally be some Christian knights under their command, and our army also has Turks, but they do not convert. The knights under our command still receive the favor brought by the saints, and the soldiers under their command can only hear the Prophet's revelation."

"But I heard that Mleh indeed received both blessing and revelation. No one knows how he did it. Our clerics all say that he is a disciple of the devil, and the blessing he received is fake. That is the devil pretending to be a saint speaking."

"Besides Mleh, are there any others in this situation?"

"As far as I know, no." Baldwin said in a lower voice, "Perhaps there are, but they didn't make it public." This could indeed shake people's faith, and they would inevitably wonder, what exactly are "grace" and "blessing"?

A guy like Witt who had never held a ceremony, had a bad character, and was a sinner could receive "blessing"—of course, he was at least a Christian. But if an apostate, a pagan could also possess that special power, it was truly... puzzling.

"However, they want to conquer Mleh still because he has seriously affected the income of the Order and various cities." Baldwin said.

Cesar immediately drew a rough map in his mind—when they went to support Count Etienne, they were following the route of the Second Crusade. Mleh's territory happened to be stuck between Byzantium and Armenia, which could be said to be the only way for pilgrims traveling by land.

And he also kept some pirates. They often hid near unknown islands, and when they saw ships carrying pilgrims, they would surround them and launch attacks like sharks hunting seals.

The importance of pilgrims to the Holy Land was self-evident, not to mention that one of the most important sources of funds for the Templars was to protect pilgrims from being disturbed and to travel safely.

The original intention of the establishment of the Templars was to save pilgrims from faithless merchants (who promised to take pilgrims to the Holy Land, but in fact would sell them to pagans), cruel thieves, and fierce beasts—their credibility was built this way. People trusted them, so they were willing to hand over their lives, assets, and land to them, allowing them to turn from a shabby organization that needed two knights to share one horse into the behemoth it is now in just a few decades.

Mleh's actions and threats indeed made them feel like a bone in the throat, but to say that they were only for this reason, it was not necessarily so.

After all, for old ministers and generals like Raymond, even if Nur ad-Din indeed passed away suddenly as the merchants said, his three sons and Emirs (military commanders) would also fight endlessly for the power and territory he left behind—the Saracen civil war might last for several years, and even if it subsided, it would remain in a state of division.

This was a good thing for the Crusaders and the Holy Land countries. Why should they send troops at this time to lead them to fight against foreign enemies together?

It would be better to take this great opportunity to pull out Mleh, this nail, to ensure the safety of pilgrims and maintain the prosperity of major holy cities and ports like Al-Azar.

If it were just two ordinary children standing here, they might really be persuaded by them.

But having gone through so many things, and the earnest teachings of Amalric I and Heraclius, Baldwin and Cesar still thought of a possibility at the same time. Although Nur ad-Din might die soon, he was still alive after all, and he had just summoned Shirkuh and Saladin, who were far away in Egypt, in the name of Jihad not long ago.

But what if this "name" was not just a "name"?

Amalric I would tenaciously support the paving of the way for his only son before leaving. What about Nur ad-Din? Would he choose to die silently?

What if this aging lion chose to use his last bit of strength and remaining power at the last moment of his life?

People knew that once Nur ad-Din died, his Zengi dynasty and territory would quickly fall into chaos and weakness. But before that, there was a place that was also struggling in chaos and weakness, and that was Al-Azar.

Amalric I passed away suddenly, and the previous expedition had emptied the money and resources in the Holy City, and the new king was only fourteen years old. A teenager with leprosy, his ministers and generals each had their own thoughts, and some were eyeing his throne, coveting it...

Nur ad-Din could not fail to think of what they could think of, and what he was waiting for might be the moment they relaxed.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 115 =====