Chapter 21: Sibylla Suffers Humiliation (Part 2)

How the Holy Land envoy met Amalric I and how he conveyed King Louis VII's longing and greetings to this Lord of the Holy Land, the Knight of Christ, we will not repeat here.

A grand welcome banquet was held that night. This banquet was of course in the plan. More than a month ago, the castle steward and the kitchen steward began to get busy for this banquet—there was too much work to do.

In addition to the original staff of the castle, they hired thirty extra chefs, one hundred kitchen helpers and handymen, and a dozen carpenters and blacksmiths. They had to provide enough tables and stools for this banquet.

Merchants of various skin colors and faiths traveled between their residences or offices—the castle needed beer, wine, wheat, rye, large amounts of poultry such as chickens, ducks, and geese, as well as pigs and calves, olive oil, vinegar, sauces, and the most important and expensive spices. At this time, money was almost no longer money but sand, and there were expenditures like flowing water every day.

Even so, the castle's knights would still go out hunting every day under the steward's urging. After all, in this period, if there were no game such as deer, wild boar, and swans, even if everyone could use gold plates, it would make the whole banquet lose its luster. After these prey were brought back to the castle, they would be smoked and pickled in the large kitchen—of course, not as delicious as fresh ones, but most of the dishes at the banquet were not for eating.

In addition to these edible things, there were tapestries, ornaments, linen, and wooden cutting boards that seemed ordinary but were indispensable.

The wooden cutting boards here were not for cutting meat—at least not the kind of cutting meat you think of. Its real purpose was closer to a dinner plate. Because dinner plates, whether silver, gold, ceramic, or glass, were considered a considerable asset. Even someone like Amalric I could not produce so many dinner plates, so people used either a piece of dry, hard bread or a piece of wood to place food.

There were also knights who, in order to show their diligence and bravery, used shields as dinner plates to cut pig legs into strips on them.

The host would not even provide tableware to the guests. Although nobles at this time would use three fingers to eat (to distinguish themselves from serfs who used five fingers), they would prepare a spoon and a dinner knife themselves.

In addition, in the intervals between each course, it was also necessary to provide dance, music, and juggling performances for the guests to pass the time. These also had to be hired from outside the castle. The castle had clowns and bands, but they were far from enough.

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Baldwin held Cesar's hand and brought him to the "Gallery."

"Gallery" was just a name. It was more like a long platform or room protruding inward from the high place of the castle hall. Sometimes it would be made more hidden, and the host would use tapestries and flags as cover to let people hide in it and peek down, which was what people called "squinting."

Amalric I's "Gallery" was not intentionally covered, but it was also covered with heavy tapestries and flags. Occasionally, there would be bands playing in it, but now it was empty. Although narrow, it was completely fine to accommodate two children.

"My father allowed me to watch here," Baldwin said in a low voice, "Do you remember—before, did your father let you see these?"

"I don't remember much."

"It doesn't matter," Baldwin squeezed his hand: "We can watch together... juggling is very interesting, and dancing and music are not bad."

For a formal banquet like this, even if Baldwin hadn't contracted leprosy, as a child, he didn't have the qualifications to participate. The people running around in the venue were either cup-bearing pages or short dwarfs, but Amalric I allowed him to peek here. Of course, it wasn't just for pure fun—one could overlook the entire hall from here, and everyone's position, expression, and actions were all in sight—it was one of the educations that every son of a king and lord must receive.

Amalric I was already seated in the main seat, and guests, clerics, and knights also took their seats one after another. Cesar leaned against Baldwin's shoulder and looked down from the gap in the tapestry—the hall was the most important place in the castle, even higher than the chapel and the bedroom. It was a place for holding formal ceremonies (audiences, investitures, weddings, or funerals), a court for trials and judgments, and like today—a place for an incomparably magnificent and grand event.

Its walls should have been blue-gray stone and white plaster, but now they were covered by countless flags. Red, white, gold, blue, black... Maltese cross, five-fold cross, St. John's cross, St. Peter's cross... eagles spreading their wings, roaring lions, horses raising their front hooves, the trinity iris, back-to-back fish...

They were either hanging or leaning, some representing families, some representing countries, and some representing all the glory and merits of a knight...

Bronze or black iron lamp stands hung from the huge tea-brown wooden beams. The lamp holders were filled with animal fat. After they were lit, they emitted dazzling light accompanied by rising black smoke. It was just that the distance from the empty high place to the ground was thirty feet, making these lights seem insignificant, so people used torches fixed on the walls and pillars to supplement them.

Of course, no matter what, the first thing to be guaranteed was the host and important guests here, so what Baldwin and Cesar saw most clearly was the main table.

The main table of the banquet was spliced from three ordinary long tables, covered with several layers of fabric, white linen, blue cotton, gold and red velvet—such an arrangement of course had its reasons, which will be discussed later—the person sitting in the middle was usually the host of the castle, unless the person who came here was a noble with a higher status than him, for example, a count received a king in his own castle, then he had to give up his seat.

But Amalric I was both a King and a host. In this world, except for God, probably no one could tell him to give up his seat. He sat in the middle, Heraclius sat on his right hand, which was not surprising. Now more and more kings let clerics who acted on behalf of divine power sit in the most important position after themselves, but what was intriguing was that Princess Sibylla sat on his left hand.

The current Amalric I was a widower, and his daughter had grown up. It was understandable for her to sit in this position as the hostess of the castle, but on her left hand was today's guest of honor, the Holy Land envoy, Etienne, Count of Sancerre.

This arrangement made some people sit uneasy. Those were young knights, admirers and pursuers of Princess Sibylla—her supporters were certainly more than just teenagers like David or Abigail, and there were many knights willing to swear to her, but in such an occasion, even if they had the heart, they couldn't do anything.

The participants of the banquet at this time would be divided into a "mess," meaning a pile, usually two to six people, sitting on both sides of a long table. The closer to the main table, the more it meant being liked or valued by the host.

Almost all the important figures of various forces in the Shengcheng could sit below the main table. These knights could only sit near the wall.

The attendants brought rose water for hand washing. Etienne, who sat beside the Princess, perfectly fulfilled the duty of a knight. He served the Princess to wash her hands like a servant, offered her a silk scarf, and then washed his hands in the same basin.

At such a close distance, Sibylla could clearly see the graying temples, the fine lines at the corners of her eyes and lips. The maids all knew about it, and she couldn't possibly be ignorant. For a young girl who had just started to fall in love, marrying a knight old enough to be her father was truly painful, but standing from Sibylla's position, she knew she was not choosing a husband, but a capable assistant, the father of her children, and the King of Yafa.

Although Amalric I was unusually stubborn about Baldwin, there was more than one Raymond who tried to persuade the King, and there were many who suggested that the King should regard Princess Sibylla's husband as the successor... or they could also accept the children born to the Princess and her husband... Objective reality does not shift with human subjective consciousness. No matter how much the King valued Baldwin, a leper could never recover, and his condition would only get worse and not better.

And was Amalric I really as firm as he thought? Sibylla didn't think so. If Amalric I was really like this, he wouldn't continue to seek marriage with the Byzantine Princess. Amalric I was only thirty-four years old this year. If he married a new wife, it was entirely possible to give birth to one or more healthy boys...

At this time, the first dish was served. Perhaps it shouldn't be said this way, because this dish, which was more similar to an ornamental sweet, was called "sculpture food." The cooks combined various candied fruits and pastries together to make the style of animals or buildings—Etienne had seen sweets made into the style of swans at a banquet celebrating the birth of an heir by Louis VII. The swan's mouth held an iris carved and dyed with sugar.

What was served here was a "Holy Cross Fortress," mainly made of nut crisp and dates, poured with honey and sugar on the outside. It was delicious to eat, but it had a clear Byzantine or even Saracen style. Etienne tasted a few mouthfuls absent-mindedly, while subconsciously scanning the surroundings, wondering if these knights fighting for Christ had noticed this.

Unfortunately, no.

The next was the real big meal, roast pigeon, roast chicken, roast rabbit, a pig was served whole, with sausages made from its stomach, intestines, and bladder stuffed inside; venison was cut and served, decorated with sharp antlers, surrounded by various herbs; and stewed thick soup, with meat, seasonal vegetables, and blooming wheat grains floating in it.

There were also pies, stuffed with layers of meat, pork, pigeon meat, or venison.

Wine was also poured. The kitchen steward prepared one hundred barrels of wine and three hundred barrels of beer for this banquet.

In the intervals between each dish, as mentioned before, there would be performances, musicians playing the piano or blowing the flute, and clowns doing tricks or dancing.

When a mixed meat platter dyed blue, gold, and red with columbine and saffron, as well as sandalwood, was served, a dwarf climbed onto the rope hanging from the wooden beam. This rope allowed him to swing from one end of the hall to the other. He grabbed the rope with one hand and a large silver wine pot with the other—he flew directly above the main table and was caught by an attendant behind Amalric I. People laughed loudly, and Amalric I also showed a rare smile, stretching out his cup to let the dwarf pour wine for him.

The dwarf poured the wine, winked, and told a fresh joke. Everyone at the main table leaned forward and backward, even Princess Sibylla was no exception. Etienne casually took off a gold brooch and threw it over. The dwarf was overjoyed and stretched out the wine pot to catch it, but how could a narrow pot mouth catch a brooch? It bounced on the wine pot and fell down.

"Let me down quickly!" the dwarf shouted. He didn't notice that the attendant's face twisted rapidly. He was pushed out—viciously, his body immediately lost balance, the wine pot fell first, then him. He fell on a long table, the knights laughed loudly, and when he was motionless, a knight pushed him, and then he fell to the ground together with that plate of venison that was almost eaten.

He was too unlucky. He was not very high from the ground, but when he fell on the table, the decorative antlers happened to pierce his chest.

Before Cesar realized what had happened, a louder burst of laughter erupted from the long table that had been quiet for a moment. The knights patted the table, unable to stop laughing. Apparently, this joke was funnier than the dwarf's performance and what he said. A group of attendants ran out from behind. They grabbed the four corners of the tablecloth—they had several layers, and they directly lifted the top layer. Two attendants lifted the dwarf's body together with that antler and placed it on it, and just carried him away together with those leftovers.

After that, it was as if nothing had happened—except that this "joke" was spreading everywhere like flying—someone was eating and drinking, and not being able to see it with his own eyes made him regret it... From Cesar's position, he could just see the blood flowing from the dwarf, but soon other dwarfs and musicians stepped on it, and in the blink of an eye, it merged with the dark ground of the hall.

Baldwin touched his friend. He didn't feel anything either, but he knew Cesar was a kind-hearted person who would make people laugh, "Let's go back." He said in a low voice.

Cesar shook his head. He had killed two people with his own hands as soon as he came here. Although they were not innocent, he also had to get used to the death of the innocent. In this Shengcheng, outside this Shengcheng, human life was as worthless as sand.

Another dish was served, a kind of chicken sauce mixed with rice cooked in almond milk, and then added fried almonds and fennel. People called it "white cheese soup," between soup and dessert, but it was more reminiscent of Saracen rice pudding—after this dish was a meat jelly, and spices needed to be sprinkled on the meat jelly. Etienne diligently held the spice tray for Princess Sibylla—a partitioned tray containing onions, ginger, pepper, saffron, cloves, and cinnamon. The Princess pinched some cinnamon with her fingers and sprinkled it on it, and also sprinkled some on Etienne's meat jelly.

"They are indeed a perfect match." Bohemond said to Raymond beside him.

"I don't know how the Count of Sancerre's martial power is." Raymond frowned and said. Of course, it would be fine if Amalric I could live for another twenty years, but if the King's life was not long, and he could only live to thirty, and Baldwin, who was very likely to be bedridden before thirty, could not bear the heavy responsibility entrusted by God at all, then the only person who could lead them to fight against the Saracens and guard the Shengcheng would be Princess Sibylla's husband. He was more willing to be cautious, but others in the Shengcheng didn't think so.

"He once repelled the coalition of a king and two counts."

Bohemond said half-truthfully.

"For a woman." Instead of for God.

"Isn't our Princess Sibylla beautiful? I think she has already made the Count of Sancerre fascinated."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 22 =====