Chapter 55: Visitors from the Eagle's Nest (Part I)

This young knight was handsome, tall, and had a gentle smile on his face, which made people feel good at first sight.

It was just that his overly robust figure was inconsistent with that delicate face. His shoulders were so broad that they could almost let two children sit on each side. And his arms hung down, almost touching his knees.

Such long arms must allow him to gain advantages that others cannot in battle. After all, no technique is better than hitting your enemy before he hits you.

The knight knelt in front of Baldwin and Cesar, carefully observing their clothes and expressions, and stayed on the two gold crosses for a while. Then he looked at their eyes, a pair of blue eyes, a pair of green eyes, and he immediately remembered something, his attitude became more respectful, and his voice became softer.

He knelt on one knee, as if afraid of scaring them, "How did you come here? Did you make an appointment with someone?"

"We just wanted to see the squire's work," Cesar said truthfully: "We are about to become squires."

"Are you about to become squires?" the young knight asked, "Are you fourteen years old yet?"

"Neither is." Baldwin said, "Since you have recognized us, you should know that we have both received God's blessing, perceived the saint, and can already go to the battlefield. Maybe it's a bit early, but in Arasalu, being able to throw yourself into battle earlier might not be a bad thing—you are also very young."

The other party laughed ha ha ha. He said: "Yes, I am very young, but I honestly served as an attendant for seven years, then as a squire for seven years, and a novice knight for three years, before finally becoming a knight."

Cesar calculated silently in his heart, "You just became a knight, right?"

"This is my first martial arts tournament after becoming a knight."

This time even Baldwin showed an unbelievable expression. He defeated so many people in his first martial arts tournament?

"Were these all obtained in melee combat?"

"Not all." The young knight followed behind them, letting them turn over the chain mail, helmets, and weapons displayed horizontally and vertically that were piled up like small mountains, "There are seven or eight people here, did you get the laurel in the martial arts tournament?"

Hearing this, the young knight's squire showed a trace of anxiety. He took off the round hat on his head and pointed to the cloth strip wrapped around his head: "In the last melee combat, I was hit in the head, and my master withdrew from the field and dragged me to the side. He also gave up the competition. Although my master's team won this game, my master didn't ask for ransom and other honors."

"Alright, alright," the young knight interrupted him good-naturedly, saying: "I can't watch you flowing blood like a broken water jar. I only have you as a squire. If you die, who will help me wash clothes, polish armor, and run errands? I don't want to do it myself," he looked fearfully at the pile of spoils, "I would definitely throw them directly to the merchants and let them pay whatever they want."

"That won't work," the squire immediately expressed opposition: "You don't know how cunning and how evil these Isaac people are."

The young knight waved his hand. Obviously, he didn't intend to speak ill of others in a strange land, even if those people were Isaac people.

"I seem to have not introduced myself yet." He said, "I am an Englishman, two respectable guests, my name is William Marshal. My grandfather Gilbert followed William the Conqueror into England, and my father was the stable manager of Henry II and was responsible for hosting knight duels. I am his second son and was only knighted not long ago.

I heard that the King of Arasalu was marrying the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor, so a martial arts tournament lasting a month would be held. I think for a young man, there is no better sacred starting point, so I bid farewell to my father and ran all the way here from London.

I luckily won some victories, but this is not worth mentioning. The knights I fought against were also good. It's just that because of negligence or humility," he waved his hand, "they were willing to leave the armor to me, so I accepted it. If they really had some difficulties of their own, or had vows they had to keep, I would also be willing to let them leave without asking for a penny of ransom."

He invited the two into the tent and heated a pot of coffee for them on the small stove in the tent, "This is really a good thing." He exclaimed, "After drinking it, I am full of energy and blood boiling. Even if I have to fight on horseback for three days and three nights, I won't feel the slightest fatigue."

"Did you pass the selection ceremony?"

"Of course, didn't you hear the herald announce my name loudly in the martial arts tournament venue. They would add the name of the saint I perceived before my name, and they would not arrange knights who had not received blessings and knights who had received blessings in a group. This is not fair." He asked curiously: "If I didn't guess wrong, you didn't go to the martial arts tournament?"

"We were still in class before today." Baldwin answered stiffly.

The young knight found that he had asked the wrong question and showed embarrassment. Of course, he didn't expect that such a wonderful grand event would have parents who could bear to not let their children take a good look.

But Amalric I could.

He thought Baldwin and Cesar both needed to make up lessons—although they performed quite well at the welcoming ceremony.

But after the banquet ended, the two children were still ordered to stay in the Castle of the Holy Cross. For the past ten days, they had been training, praying, and learning etiquette, music, and poetry. As long as they opened their eyes, there were endless classes.

Cesar guessed whether Amalric I did this because he was worried about other undiscovered conspiracies, or to let them avoid a bigger whirlpool, so he intentionally hid them—his guess seemed to be right. The day they were allowed to leave the Castle of the Holy Cross was the day those Byzantines left. Prince Baldwin of course had to be in the ranks of those seeing them off.

However, these Byzantines might not care who came to see them off at all. They ran as if they were fleeing for their lives, but I don't know how many of them would die in Manuel I's prison after returning.

What Cesar didn't know was that Amalric I chose to hide these two children, besides those Byzantines, because there was another batch of dangerous and tricky enemies visiting.

This matter can be traced back to the "Selection Ceremony" on January 6th.

Not long ago, that thrilling rebellion not only almost caused Baldwin and Cesar to die of epilepsy and respiratory arrest caused by drug overdose, but also almost took the life of King Amalric I.

The Castle of the Holy Cross was a castle built by three generations of Arasalu kings with all their efforts. The guards were strict and almost flawless—except for Prince Baldwin getting leprosy—it was difficult for ordinary assassins to come to his side.

But that day, for Baldwin, he rarely stayed in a place outside the castle, which allowed the assassin to break into his bedroom.

There might be some Knights Templar pushing the waves behind this, but those guys still killed the six Knights Templar guarding outside the Temple Church without hesitation—Amalric I thought this was to clear the suspicion of the Knights Templar, after all, the King was assassinated in their fortress.

It was just that after the chaos passed, the Knights Templar still asked the King with full indignation, hoping that Amalric I could find the murderer—although it is not known how many of them were thieves shouting to catch thieves.

This was not a difficult task for the King. There were not many people who could have this kind of skill and strength. This style did not belong to the Franks, nor did it belong to the Saracens, or rather, it did not belong to those Saracens they encountered on the battlefield.

Not to mention the dagger left in Amalric I's bedroom.

He knew there was such an organization that was good at placing a cold dagger on the bedside while the target was sleeping soundly, as a means of deterring enemies.

Although this dagger was not just placed in front of Amalric I's bed, but wanted to stab directly into his chest, there was no difference between the two.

Even without the request of the Knights Templar, the King would send a letter of accountability to the leader of this organization, questioning him why he betrayed the agreement they had made before and brazenly launched an attack on him. He swore that he would take back all his protection for them and regard them as enemies of this life, and would never stop until he trampled them under his horse's hooves.

The reply came quickly. In the reply, the leader of the other party—perhaps it shouldn't be said so, they never admitted that they were "commanders," only willing to let people call themselves "elders," and these "elders" brought people not love and comfort, but fear and murder.

The "Elder" said that he did not know about this matter, and was sure that his subordinates did not disobey and dare to violate the "Elder's" will to come and attack Amalric I and his heir.

But he only became the "Elder" in '64, and some forces or opponents were still wandering outside. He begged Amalric I to extinguish his anger, at least he should listen to his explanation.

He swore to Amalric I that he would find the person who took the bribe and execute the members who violated the regulations one by one—right in front of Amalric I. He could not hand over the members of the Eagle's Nest to the King, but he could let him watch their blood flow into the sand.

In fact, Amalric I also knew that this new ally of his would not do such a stupid thing.

When he dealt with this "Elder," he was only the manager of the Eagle's Nest-Syria branch. Compared with the Eagle's Nest headquarters far away in Iran, the Syria branch was located in the encirclement of the Zengi Dynasty, the Christian Kingdom, and the Fatimid Dynasty, facing enemies on three sides. He had been trying his best to maintain the balance with these three huge forces, carefully distinguishing every task assigned, so that this small nest hanging alone outside would not be completely overturned.

And even Hassan, the founder of the Eagle's Nest, would not be easily bribed by money to assassinate a king. They knew very well that once this happened, it would easily trigger a full-scale war, and the Eagle's Nest, in the final analysis, was just a "Hall of Scholars."

They said so, but Amalric I wouldn't believe it, especially since there was another assassination attempt against Princess Maria at the welcoming ceremony. Although it could be determined after interrogation that it was an infighting among the Byzantines, he didn't dare to take it lightly. After the visitor from the Eagle's Nest promised to bring the members who had previously accepted the Patriarch's commission, he restrained Baldwin and Cesar and didn't allow them to leave the Castle of the Holy Cross at will.

It wasn't until he re-signed the contract with the envoy of the "Elder" and supervised their departure that Baldwin and Cesar gained short-lived freedom.

"Wait," as the sky darkened and Baldwin and Cesar wanted to go back, William suddenly called them: "Do you have anyone with you?" Baldwin nodded. Of course, they had people with them, but they weren't wearing conspicuous surcoats. In this camp where fish and dragons were mixed, it didn't attract much attention. William scratched his hair, or scratched his cap, "Can you wait a moment? Please allow me to send you back."

For a knight, he should indeed do so.

Baldwin didn't refuse. William quickly put on his chain mail and put on his surcoat, "Did you ride a horse?"

"Yes, outside the camp."

So this young knight, together with other attendants, sent Baldwin and Cesar directly back to the Castle of the Holy Cross. He stood at the other end of the drawbridge, looking at them walking into the castle, and then sighed deeply.

He didn't expect that he would see the King's heir before seeing the King. He had also heard of the various misfortunes encountered by this prince—just like Cesar in the past. He thought he would see a child with an extreme temperament, suspicious and irritable, but didn't expect...

If the blessing of God and the favor of the saint could let him live longer, I don't know if he would gradually become a mediocre person, or if he could create a more brilliant achievement than his father Amalric I.

However, at this moment, what the young knight was thinking in his heart was that when he returned to London, he must tell this wonderful experience to his little friend Richard.

Prince Richard was the second son of Henry II and was already the Count of Aquitaine. He was born in '57 and swore to be the greatest knight at the age of seven.

William had briefly served as an attendant to this prince. Although he left Richard shortly after accepting other positions, these friends with a somewhat large age gap had never broken their correspondence.

Richard heard that he was going to the Holy Land to participate in the martial arts tournament held by the King of Arasalu and wished he could come with him. But he was only twelve years old and not yet an adult. Henry II would only hold a selection ceremony for him next year. In any case, William couldn't take on this heavy responsibility, so he could only regretfully write to Richard's mother, Wang Hou Eleanor, telling her to keep a close eye on little Richard, and then set off alone.

He guessed that he would inevitably be met with Richard's angry accusations after returning, perhaps even a few days of cold war,

But he witnessed the heroic achievements of Prince Baldwin and his attendant at the welcoming ceremony. Their bravery, their tacit understanding, and their piety could certainly move Richard's heart.

He could persuade Richard to at least wait until the selection ceremony was over before obediently staying in his father's castle and not always shouting that he wanted to go east, which made Henry II and Wang Hou Eleanor very troubled.

When he returned to the camp, his mind was still on the letter he was about to write to Richard. William suddenly felt a little regretful. He should have asked Baldwin for a token or a small gift and sent it to Richard along with the letter.

Richard would definitely be very happy.

He thought very carefully and didn't notice a pilgrim standing by the road. After the knight's horse hooves gradually disappeared in the distance, the pilgrim slowly took off his hood. He looked no different from an ordinary pilgrim, old, haggard, and gray-haired.

"Is that the child who has been favored by the prophet of the Christians?"

"Do you think he will be a threat?"

"Threat? If... he might become a threat to the Eagle's Nest and even the Saracens, but the person beside him—"

He didn't continue, but walked quietly towards the mountains outside the city. Others followed behind him like his shadow, silent and loyal.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 56 =====