Chapter 23: Unlucky Count Etienne (Part 1)

"It's snowing."

Amalric I said coldly—as the saying goes, angels are always alone, devils are always in groups, and bad news always follows one after another.

At the same time three days ago, the King of Yafa had already gone to bed. The things that happened before exhausted him, and his heart was gloomy. He had no interest in playing chess, reading, or listening to music. He was about to fall asleep when a servant came to report that Prince Baldwin was waiting outside the main tower door.

If it were anyone else, they might really be turned away, but Baldwin—if there was anyone in the castle who understood the huge responsibility and the heavy pressure that followed his King, his father, better than Baldwin, it might only be Amalric I himself; and he was such a gentle child, he would never disturb the Holy Land Lord's sleep at this time unless something big happened.

Amalric I got up immediately and asked someone to bring candles. Baldwin soon brought Cesar and Damala to the King. They brought a very bad piece of news—Amalric I immediately called a servant and asked him to call Bohemond, Prince of Antioch, and Raymond, Count of Tripoli, as well as their sons.

During the time they were waiting, Amalric I caught a glimpse of the saint portrait hanging on the wall—Saint George, he, and the patron saint of Bohemond and Raymond—the valiant knight wore armor, rode on a holy white horse, held a silver-bright long sword high, and fought to the death with the red dragon symbolizing Satan. Angels cast golden light from behind the rolling clouds, shining it on the saint... This was God's gift, calling him to have infinite wisdom and power...

He didn't know if this was God's test or the devil's prank. Antioch, Tripoli, Yafa, they were kings, princes, and counts admired by everyone, knights of Christ, and protectors of pilgrims and the Holy Land. But in terms of offspring, why were they all so unfortunate?

His son Baldwin had almost no flaws, but contracted leprosy not long ago; Raymond's son David had a straightforward temperament, even stubbornness was not an overstatement. As a knight, this might not be a shortcoming, but as the future master of the county, this would be the point his enemies would most like to use; and Bohemond's son Abigail... Amalric I was too lazy to say.

And things seemed to be able to get a little worse. He, Raymond, and Bohemond all had only such an heir...

Soon, Raymond and David, as well as Bohemond and Abigail all arrived. David was ignorant and wanted to doze off. It seemed he knew nothing about this matter. Raymond really didn't know whether to blame or rejoice at his stupidity; and Bohemond's expression, as well as Abigail's broken corner of his mouth, had already explained everything.

Bohemond was about to step forward to plead guilty, but Amalric I just waved his hand. Now was not the time for teaching and punishment. Cesar brought a clothes chest. This kind of clothes chest was usually placed by the bed. The surface was flat and could be used for resting feet or putting things. Now it was used to unfold a map.

"What did you say to that guide?" Amalric I asked.

When Abigail saw Baldwin, he was still a bit shrinking. He had always been afraid to get close to the Prince, worried that his leprosy would be transmitted to himself in a breath or a lift of his hand. Bohemond didn't have that patience and immediately gave him a slap, then grabbed his hair and dragged him to the clothes chest.

In the past, perhaps someone would persuade him, but the trouble Abigail caused this time was truly too big.

Because of this mistaken betrothal, Princess Sibylla's reputation might be slightly affected, but as Amalric I had originally planned to select a husband for her from among the most pious and valiant knights, this minor flaw was of no consequence. As for the recklessness of Amalric I and Louis VII, while it might invite ridicule, it was harmless and even made them seem more approachable—and, if Amalric I did not have only Baldwin as his son, the marriage of Princess Sibylla would not have been considered a major matter at all.

But Abigail bought off Count Etienne's guide and wanted to lure the subject of Louis VII, the Holy Land envoy, a Christian, into the territory of the pagans, let him get hurt, die, or be imprisoned... that was a scandal that could be called shocking!

This was not what a Christian should do to a Christian, and not even what a Christian should do to a pagan. Even the devil would not eat his own kind, not to mention that Count Etienne was still the guest of the King of Yafa, the Prince of Antioch, and the Count of Tripoli. He was invited into the castle, received bread and salt in the hall, and when he left, everyone came to see him off.

If Count Etienne was really caught by a pagan lord, they might still be able to redeem him, but if he was hurt, lost his way, or died in battle...

Amalric I closed his eyes. This shook more than just a Yafa! The root of the entire Crusade was shaken! It was like a shepherd finding the blood of a lamb on a dog's mouth. Wouldn't he be suspicious? By then, not only Louis VII, but even the church would come to question him. Perhaps he really had to hand over Yafa to calm people's doubts.

When Abigail was questioned by his father and dragged to the main tower, he was already scared out of his wits and lost his soul. After being stared at by Amalric I's steel-like blue eyes, he poured out everything.

Damala had already been sent back to her room by Amalric I's attendants. Cesar leaned against Baldwin. When he heard Abigail say that this matter was indeed his own doing and had nothing to do with Princess Sibylla, Baldwin let out a sigh of relief and relaxed his tense shoulders. Regardless of what position he stood in, brother, or future King, he didn't want Sibylla to be involved in this.

"... So, I told him to take Count Etienne to Mleh's territory..."

For Cesar, Mleh was a strange name, but for Amalric I and the other two lords, it was not. Amalric I immediately asked the attendants to take David and Abigail away. Bohemond insisted on putting Abigail in prison, but was refused by Amalric I. It was best to solve this matter in a state where not too many people knew about it. If Abigail was put in prison, what should be said if someone asked about his crime?

Baldwin and Cesar of course could not continue to stay in this room. Before leaving, Bohemond put his hand on the map, but his head turned over with a strange smile: "Ah, by the way," he set his gaze on Cesar: "I saw this pious and smart good child," he asked quickly in a light tone: "Is it him? What did he hear, what did he see, or did an angel descend into his dream and tell him this secret that should have been unknown to anyone—that he rushed here so hurriedly... Is it him?"

Baldwin took a step forward and blocked Cesar with his body.

"Enough," Raymond interrupted Bohemond's yin and yang tone in a deep voice: "Even if no one saw it, no one heard it, the mouths of those attendants would be opened by women and wine—you might as well say this is God's will, allowing us to mend the fold after the sheep is lost, rather than being forced to face a terrible situation that is almost impossible to save after the matter completely breaks out."

Amalric I nodded to Baldwin, and Baldwin immediately pulled Cesar and ran out the door. He regretted it a bit. He shouldn't have let Cesar continue to stay there. It would be best to let him and Damala leave together.

Cesar didn't care. Perhaps someone would say, wouldn't it be inviting fire to oneself to provoke the hostility of a Prince for no reason? But since he saw the end of Weite and those servants, the pilgrims in front of the Holy Sepulcher Church, and the dwarf at the banquet... he should have known that in this place, in this era, the high-ranking people don't need to follow any doctrine, law, or morality. They want to dispose of a low-ranking person, and they don't need a reason at all.

And Abigail's hatred for him had been long-standing. Unless he left the castle, was no longer Baldwin's attendant and friend, and could no longer contact Princess Sibylla... but if so, just because he, a humble servant, had actually stood with the Princess and talked to her, Abigail had a thousand reasons to kill him.

"Who is Mleh?"

"He is a Prince of Armenia." Cilician Armenia, it was an independent principality established by Armenian refugees fleeing the invasion of the Seljuks. "This Prince Mleh once lived in Yafa for several years, and even became a member of the Knights Templar, but unfortunately, not long after, he was tempted by the devil, abandoned the Knights Templar, and turned to the Seljuk Sultan Tughril II. He got a position and a small piece of territory from Tughril II.

That territory happened to be on the only way for pilgrims, so a former Christian, a knight with a cross painted on his cloak, fell into a thief and started doing the business of robbing."

Baldwin walked into the room. Although it was already late at night, he had no sleepiness. Like Amalric I, Raymond, and Bohemond, he took out a map from the locked cabinet, spread it on the bed, and looked at it face to face with Cesar.

The First Crusade was in 1096, and the Second Crusade was in 1147. These two mighty expeditions opened up four smooth roads for pilgrims: "When Count Etienne came, he took the road of Louis VII's second crusade, starting from Paris, to Lyon, from Lyon to Metz, crossing the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary, Bulgaria, and arriving in Constantinople, riding a horse or taking a boat along the coastline across the Mediterranean—this is already very close to the Seljuk territory." Baldwin pointed to a red line specially outlined and said.

"If you take a boat, you will pass through Rhodes and Cyprus, but you must also be careful of Saracen pirates. But in terms of safety, it is always better than crossing the territory of the Seljuk Sultan. You have taken classes with me before," Baldwin said: "You should know—"

The Seljuk Empire was a large empire established by the Turks in Central and West Asia, believing in Islam, and was once brilliant. But in 1092, after the last hero Malik-Shah passed away, it split into more than a dozen small dynasties. Tughril II was the Sultan of one of the larger dynasties... However, just looking at Mleh's conduct, one knew that it was just an incompetent person.

"My father sent Count Etienne to the boat at the port of Yafa." Speaking of this, Baldwin sighed, because of the previous things, many young knights challenged Count Etienne. Count Etienne obviously didn't intend to bleed for a Princess he didn't know and wouldn't see much in the future. He could be said to have "fled" Yafa quickly, not intending to stay for even one more day—if he went to Acre to take a boat, perhaps they could still chase him back.

The average daily walking distance of a person is 6 leagues (one league equals four kilometers) to 10 leagues, and riding a horse is 8 leagues to 12 leagues, but the daily speed of a single-masted ship can be as high as 30 leagues to 50 leagues. If Count Etienne went directly to Smyrna or Thessaloniki, that would be fine. These two cities were located in the hinterland of the Byzantine Empire, a distance from the Seljuks—but since there was a bought-off guide, he might do something in it, persuade the Count to get off the boat early, and then he would have a way to lead the Count to Mleh or other Seljuks.

"Abigail gave him a deposit of one hundred gold coins," Baldwin said with a hoarse voice: "If successful, he could get four hundred gold coins from Abigail when he returns."

Equal to 3.33... me, Cesar said in his heart.

"What will His Majesty do?"

"There is no other way, only to find, to find Count Etienne. If we can catch that guide before he notices, that's fine. If he has already felt something wrong, we may have to face a negotiation. But in my opinion, Count Etienne is not a greedy person, so it won't be too difficult to handle if it is so. The worst... you also understand, someone has to come out to take responsibility."

Cesar was silent. He had been here for so many days, and he had roughly understood the relationship between Yafa, Antioch, and Tripoli. You can see them as a big family. The masters of the three countries get along like brothers, but Antioch and Tripoli are both vassals of Yafa. Amalric I is like the eldest brother, accepting the allegiance of Bohemond and Raymond, and at the same time having to bear the trouble and guilt they bring.

Baldwin and Cesar thought that all they could do was wait, but the sun and moon rotated three times, and Count Etienne and his attendants did not appear in any port. Whether it was the main road that pilgrims were used to, or the small paths that only thieves knew, from Ashkelon, Yafa to Caesarea, Acre, Tyre, Sidon, Beirut, Tripoli, and Antioch, they couldn't find a trace of a star and a half...

Bohemond, as the father of the initiator, had been running outside for several days and nights. Raymond was also haggard and trance-like. Amalric I was buried in heavy government affairs while paying attention to messages from all sides—until now he hadn't been able to write to Louis VII, telling him that his envoy was very likely to have become a prisoner of the Seljuks.

When the knights took turns running out of the castle gate, Baldwin stood behind the window and watched. Cesar knew he really wanted to be one of them, for his father Amalric I and for his sister Sibylla.

"Can I go?" he suddenly asked: "I go." Instead of you.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 24 =====