Chapter 5: Baldwin and the Castle of the Holy Cross

"He is Cesar," Amalric I said: "He will be your attendant."

Cesar, no surname. Baldwin guessed that this child might not have a high background, and more likely was a slave—he guessed right, because only slaves with unknown identities don't even have a prefix representing their birthplace—even commoners without surnames would be called Joseph of Amman or Baruch of Galilee.

"But father," he still looked at this boy of about his age. He had fair skin and thick eyebrows, without any red rashes or plaques—he was not a leper: "I already have many attendants, and servants."

"You don't," Amalric I said gently: "Do you think I don't know?"

Baldwin turned his gaze to his father. He could now clearly see every subtle point on the King's face. A heat seemed to be about to burst from his eye sockets, "Do you know?"

"I know," Amalric I said: "I have always known, and I have been waiting. Son, why don't you punish them severely?"

"I thought I would soon become a monk. Monks don't need servants," Baldwin said: "And for these people, being driven out and becoming a humble farmer or handyman again is enough to make them suffer."

"Your understanding of mercy far exceeds any of us," Amalric I said.

"So please take this child away," Baldwin said: "God gave him such a face, not for him to serve a leper."

"He serves my son first, the future master of the Shengcheng, Prince Baldwin, and then a leper," Amalric I said: "This is also his own choice."

"How dare a commoner disobey the King?" Baldwin said sadly: "You have armies, priests, and gold. But these three things cannot eliminate people's fear of disability and even death."

"There is one more thing," Cesar said without permission: "A heavy kindness is far more valuable than armies, priests, and gold. Your father saved me, not just my life, but my reputation. I am very willing to do my humble part to repay him."

While Baldwin looked at him, Cesar was also looking at Baldwin. Although he was alone in the room, Baldwin was still earnestly wearing a hard veil and gloves like a mask. But through the hard veil, one could still see that Baldwin should be a handsome boy.

"Have you seen a leper?" Baldwin said to the boy: "You don't know how terrible it is, you don't know what price you have to pay."

The god of luck's mercy toward Cesar might far exceed his imagination. Not only did he meet a superior like Amalric I—who was even willing to give a former slave a chance to choose—but his son Baldwin also did not seem to be the kind of pathetic and hateful fellow who would shift his own misfortune onto others or vent his anger on them. Cesar had seen many such people, and one could not even blame them too much, for they had indeed suffered almost unbearable hardships.

This was much better than the situation Cesar had originally imagined.

"I regard it as a test," Cesar said: "If I don't contract the disease, it shows that it is God who let me come to look after you..."

"What if you contract the disease?"

"Then it shows that God thinks there should be a companion to share the bitterness and sweetness in your trial."

"Companion..." Baldwin said: "Perhaps also a friend." His determination was clearly shaken. He had lost all his friends in the past few months, and now he longed for a flawless, deep friendship like a desert longing for rain: "Well, if you insist, if God is willing to have mercy on us..." He looked at Amalric I: "Will you give him a holy order?"

"No holy order," Amalric I said happily: "Baldwin, he will be your attendant, and perhaps he will be your knight and minister in the future," he continued in the boy's confused, then horrified, and finally lingering excitement and joy expression: "I haven't abandoned you. Even if you contracted leprosy, you are still my heir, the future King of Jerusalem," he paused: "Come here to me."

Baldwin hesitated, then walked over, stopping one step away from Amalric I.

Amalric I put his hands on the child's thin shoulders: "You must remember one thing, my son. In Jerusalem, or even in the entire Arabian Peninsula, except for God, you only need to listen to one person, and that is me. No matter what others say, as long as I haven't deposed you, haven't abandoned you, haven't ignored you—you don't have to worry about anything, and your future won't change."

"Can I believe you?"

"Just as we believe in our Father in heaven."

"Then I believe you," Baldwin said. He lifted his hand, also held his father's arm, and leaned his head against his chest.

Amalric I quietly snuggled with Baldwin for a while. He was not afraid, nor did he think that God would be so cruel, but he also knew that such opportunities would become fewer and fewer in the future. Until he couldn't delay any longer, he gently stroked Baldwin's forehead, "Alright," he said in a low voice: "Now go back to your little companion."

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After Amalric I left, the room fell into a subtle silence. Neither Cesar nor Baldwin were the kind of people who liked to play with lips and tongues, and they didn't know how to start a conversation.

It would be a long time later, when they could reveal their hearts to each other, that Cesar would know that Baldwin at this time was still afraid of seeing eyes full of fear and disgust.

Even though Cesar had already stated that he came to serve him to repay his kindness, Baldwin had already seen too many clumsy performances of hypocrisy. And Cesar at this time didn't know how to face this unfortunate child. Leprosy is still a painful chronic disease even hundreds of years later, not to mention Baldwin...

He is the King's son, the only heir to Jerusalem. Contracting leprosy means that overnight, heaven and earth turned upside down, falling directly from the clouds into the mud.

After a good while, Baldwin stood up and walked to the corner of the room: "Can you understand the water clock?" He pointed to a complex mechanical device for Cesar to see. In the monastery, Cesar had already seen many timing tools, sundials, hourglasses, candle clocks, and water clocks. Water clocks are Saracen products, but they are also used by Christians because of their precision and accuracy.

As the only son of the King of Jerusalem, Baldwin's treatment was of course not bad. The water clock in the corner of the room is "water-receiving type," so there is a large round-bellied glass bottle at the top, and a brass little clerk sitting on the balance at the bottom. He holds a quill pen in his hand, and the tip of the pen points to the scale representing time, "It's time for None," Cesar said, which is about two to three o'clock in the morning in modern times.

Not to mention it, once this moment was mentioned, Cesar suddenly felt his eyes dry and his body weak, "You sleep on the trundle bed," Baldwin said.

As the name suggests, a trundle bed is a low-legged bed with rollers installed at the four corners, which can be pushed under the main bed. Considering that the Prince's attendant is also a noble, the size and material of the trundle bed are not inferior to the main bed. Its bed surface is stretched with cowhide belts, and it is piled with clean core grass, sprinkled with spices.

Because it is still September, there is no fur laid, only linen bed sheets are used, but there are two feather pillows piled up. Cesar wrapped himself in the wool cloak given by Abbot John, said a hurried "May you sleep well," and sank into a sweet dream uncontrollably.

Baldwin felt that he would inevitably be unable to sleep tonight, but when the sound of even breathing came, he fell asleep immediately.

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When they woke up, the sunlight was piercing into the room like golden arrows from the gaps in the tapestry and windows. Baldwin was surprised that he had slept so deeply, and Cesar was surprised that the door of a Highness would be knocked so heavily and rudely.

He vigilantly supported his body from the trundle bed, holding a dagger.

Baldwin shook his head: "It's the servant," he said: "They are here to deliver water in the morning." Just as Cesar was about to walk over, he was called back again, and a silver coin was placed in his hand.

Cesar was confused, but still held it. He opened the door and saw a small man standing on the spiral staircase, four or five steps away from him, with two huge copper pots at his feet, one of which was emitting thin steam from a small spout.

He looked around constantly. Even seeing Cesar, he didn't approach, only opened his palm in place. Cesar tossed the silver coin to him. As soon as he received it, he immediately jumped and ran away, more agile than a weasel.

He lent Cesar some powder for cleaning teeth. Monks only use simple pumice powder or shell powder, while Baldwin's is rock salt, dried iris flowers, mint, and pepper.

When the last bit of water was poured into the silver basin, obvious gray debris could be seen. Cesar frowned. Baldwin looked like he was used to it: "The water is clean," he said: "It's just added a little salt."

The two cleaned their faces and teeth, and Baldwin took out dates from a gold box and shared them with Cesar. Dates are a specialty of the Arabian Peninsula, and their sweetness far exceeds cane sugar and honey, but it is just right for them. At this time, people only eat at noon and evening. As a growing boy, they couldn't endure this.

The time after morning prayer is usually used by Baldwin for reading. Today, he used this time to point out the new attendant's dress. Cesar was still wearing the clothes he had when he came out of the monastery, linen inner underwear, long socks, and a wool robe, using a thin rope as a belt.

"As an attendant in the monastery, your dress is not inappropriate at all, but as a Prince's attendant, your dress will cause dissatisfaction and ridicule from many people—your figure is about the same as mine," Baldwin said: "Just tighten the belt."

He opened the clothing box and let Cesar put on a thick satin coat of dark green, tie a leather belt with copper buckles, put on tight pants of bright red thin wool, wear yellow silk gloves, and took out a pair of deer-skin short boots from another box, took a short knife from the wall and hung it on the leather belt.

Finally, he took out a heavy silver cross and let Cesar hang it around his neck.

Cesar was originally born incomparably beautiful and tall. Dressed like this, he was not inferior to Baldwin. So much so that when the castle steward Kram saw him, he thought he was the son of some lord.

Afterward, he felt a trace of relief—as the castle steward, he is responsible for recruiting and managing all servants. The fact that Amalric I brought Cesar directly to Baldwin made him very uneasy. Considering the servants he had been ordered by the King to find before failed to be approved by the Prince, he couldn't help but worry that this would be a bad omen.

But now it seems that if the King's requirement is to compare with this child, anyone who comes to blame him for not carefully selecting servants for the Prince is being harsh.

Kram was ordered by the King to take Cesar to familiarize himself with the castle. Before, Amalric I had briefly described the general composition of the Castle of the Holy Cross to Cesar, but how it was specifically, Cesar had to go deep and feel it himself.

Cesar's feeling was that rather than a huge castle, it was more like a miniature city.

Later generations always imagine castles, especially castles with political and military functions like the Castle of the Holy Cross, should be how solemn, quiet, and dignified. In fact, there are fishermen fishing in the moat, the spacious area between the outer city wall and the inner city wall has become the world of merchants, and further inside, the dusty square is crowded with people, horses and mules are leisurely snorting, sometimes stretching their legs, and starting to urinate at will.

In the open-air iron workshop, fire is splashing everywhere, dark slag stones stand like signs beside the pillars, a few weapons and chainmail are placed on the long table, which are finished products and also samples for people to watch. The blacksmith and his apprentices are working hard while bargaining with knights or squires.

And in the tent on the other side, two leather merchants are playing chess carelessly, letting a few pages turn around the beautifully decorated saddle—the pages don't even have their own horses, of course, they are not the customers they expect.

A Templar knight with a red cross embroidered on his white surcoat and a Hospitaller knight with a white cross embroidered on his black surcoat stood like two bulls not far from them, arguing about the ownership of a beautiful Gaul horse, and finally decided to go to a small open space in the shadow of the city wall and use swords to decide who is the master of this good horse.

The duel between the two knights attracted a large crowd of onlookers. Kram watched with relish until the end, and then satisfiedly released the guards who had been eyeing them for a long time. They beat the servants who appeared here for whatever reason, to punish their laziness and dereliction of duty. The beaten servants ran back to their workplaces with half-true and half-false wails—water rooms, kitchens, stables, slaughterhouses, and textile workshops, complaining endlessly in the ridicule and spit of their companions.

The basement of the tower has water storage tanks, but this is for emergency use when the enemy breaks into the castle and holds the tower. The food and washing water for hundreds of people and livestock in the castle still fall on the water room. It reminded Cesar of the factory buildings of later generations, empty and tall, and because there was a large water storage tank built with stone bricks, it felt a bit cold.

The water of the Jordan River is introduced into the moat and dark waterways respectively. The water in the waterway enters the water storage tank and must go through more than three purifications. People here look more orderly than in other places, after all, this can be counted as a military restricted area.

Beside the water room are three large bread ovens with roaring fires. The fire here is rarely extinguished—they have to supply enough bread for hundreds or thousands of people. The kitchen is as high and wide as the water room, the light is dim, and the air is filled with a heavy sea smell—salty and fishy.

In the center of the room is a heavy wooden table large enough to accommodate knights to gallop on it. Opposite the stove is a water channel. Hundreds of large and small brass pots are hung on the wall. In the baskets are large spoons, shovels, various cutting tools, and weighing tools.

Everyone here is busy cleaning up the game obtained from yesterday's hunt, so that they don't rot in the hot weather. Whether it is poultry or beasts, they must be stripped of fur and feathers, pickled or smoked, so as to store them for a longer time.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 6 =====