Chapter 57: Visitors from the Eagle's Nest (Part III)

As soon as the King, no, the commander of the opposing side, was knocked off his horse, Count Raymond's knights cheered loudly. Their squires and armed attendants immediately rushed forward desperately, wanting to drag Amalric I from under the chaotic horse hooves and tie him up—Amalric I's knights were not willing to suffer such humiliation, and immediately rushed up crazily. Their squires and armed attendants also wielded axes and hammers to face enemies of the same class.

This instead put the King in danger.

It can be said that if Count Raymond's squire attendants dragged the King away and made him a captive, he would be in the safe zone; conversely, if the King's knights dragged the King away, he could also return to his safe zone to re-equip and fight again.

To take a step back, if the participants in this melee combat had not received blessings, the danger the King encountered would not have been so great.

When he saw the arena camp before, Cesar was still confused—the temporary buildings at this time, such as the high platform when welcoming Princess Maria, were all built with wood. Only the arena was built like a city wall, wide, thick, and over thirty feet high—it turned out that knights who prayed for the saint's favor could be compared to a group of monsters cast from steel.

They collided with each other like cracking cliffs, hacked at each other like intersecting thunder, and smashed into the stone walls, leaving distinct marks, and could continue to fight immediately. Some knights were shrouded in holy light and rushed straight to the enemy camp, remaining unharmed despite spear stabs.

However, it can also be seen that even if they are knights who have received "grace," the grace they receive is different. Some are weak, some are strong, some are short, some are long, some tend to attack, some tend to protect. This depends on the commander's understanding of the knights and judgment of the battle situation. Who is responsible for charging, who is responsible for suppressing the formation, who is responsible for breaking out...

In this regard, Amalric I was slightly inferior to Count Raymond. Almost all the knights around Count Raymond were Franks, but because the King invited William Marshal, several English knights also followed him to the King's command. They did not hide anything from the King, but they were not as handy as the original Frankish knights.

Bohemond, the referee of this game, also noticed that the King's horse had fallen, and there were at least ten knights fighting around him. Count Raymond, however, was entangled by several Knights of the Holy Sepulcher under Amalric I and failed to notice the situation here in time.

Bohemond stood up suddenly from his seat and ordered the musicians to blow the horn.

The horn blew, but the knights who were fighting fiercely could not stop immediately—they were too close to each other, everyone had to do their best to guard against several enemies. Dust filled the air, and both people and horses were howling. Squires and armed attendants also went into battle, and their consumption was even greater than that of knights.

After all, some of them were of ordinary origin and couldn't afford the money to hold a "Selection Ceremony"—but in order to win a background, even if they knew that ordinary people were just wheat in a mill in this kind of battle, they had to go up!

Their own blood and the blood of their companions could not shake their desire for money and glory, especially that chain mail shining with gold...

Even in a martial arts tournament, being able to make a king a captive was a ladder to heaven! Especially in the mouths of poets, it was not only knights who would be appreciated and valued in martial arts tournaments. Squires and attendants could also be!

In this kind of chaos, even if the earth cracked a gap and the devil crawled out of the gap, they would inevitably be hit by a hammer!

In this chaos, Amalric I tried to get up several times but failed. Although he was still shining with holy light, it was indeed weakening.

"No!" Baldwin said urgently, "I want to go down!"

"Wait!" Cesar held his arm, "Look!"

William Marshal knocked down the enemy in front of him with a hammer, and finally finished the last prayer. He could feel the brilliance of Saint Patrick covering his body like every time before, and then let out a loud roar, rushing to the center of the arena—he didn't distinguish between friend and foe. Whoever stood in front of him had to fight him, and in front of him, almost no one could take a single blow.

Weapons broke, knights overturned, horses fell to the ground, as if in an instant, he rushed into the whirlpool surrounding Amalric I, pulled the King up from the ground, let him fall behind him, and then rushed out of the battle circle like a tiger again.

"Stop him!" someone shouted.

On the way back to his own safe zone, William encountered more than one brave knight, but no one could hinder him. His squire followed closely behind him, tying up all the fallen knights and dragging them back to his master's side—these people were William Marshal's captives.

Amalric I got off his horse in the safe zone. He was a bit embarrassed. The sand and blood made his gilded chain mail lose its color, but he was not injured.

The King swept roughly and found that there were four or five knights dragged in by William's squire, and the distance from the center of the battlefield to the safe zone was only a few hundred feet. He couldn't help but show appreciation. At this time, the squire also led a new horse to him and offered a new broadsword. He looked at William, seeing the light on him almost no less than himself, and was even more joyful, "Can you still fight?"

"No problem fighting for three days and three nights!" William answered loudly.

"Then follow me!"

So the two of them rushed to the battlefield again. The King's knights were retreating. Seeing the shining gilded chain mail, they immediately gathered around Amalric I. They regrouped and fought with Count Raymond's knights again. But perhaps because of the previous negligence, Count Raymond, who felt guilty in his heart, was no longer so aggressive. The team that lost its sharpness could not compete with a team that was in high spirits. As Count Raymond was hacked off his horse by the King, victory or defeat was decided.

Bohemond breathed a sigh of relief. The most worrying thing for the host of the martial arts tournament is encountering this kind of thing, especially when the king or lord is originally a brave general—you can't be sure when to stop the competition... The audience will laugh at the cowardly host, the monarch will be unhappy, and the knights will feel humiliated.

The problem is that knights who have received blessings are originally killing weapons that can change the battle situation, and you can't persuade them to use weapons without lethality. Every battle, especially melee combat, which involves dozens to hundreds of people, if the battle situation is deadlocked, or there is a grudge, the two sides may even kill until their eyes are red, turning a martial arts tournament into a real battle...

Cesar kept pressing Baldwin's shoulder, and it took a while before he felt it relax, "William Marshal," Baldwin murmured: "He is really an invincible giant."

"We haven't grown up yet," Cesar wouldn't deny others' excellence, but he wouldn't underestimate himself and Baldwin: "He is in his twenties, and we are only nine years old." And from what he saw and felt, even as a leper, Baldwin's strength would definitely not be inferior to any peer.

The sky darkened. This was the last game. The laurel naturally belonged to King Amalric I. He changed his horse and chain mail, picked up the wreath with a spear, and handed it to the Byzantine princess who stood up in the cheers of the people. The princess took it and put it on her head, and tied a silk scarf to the tip of the spear.

And among the knights, the most popular one, besides William Marshal, was no other. Although because the Anglo-French dispute had begun to emerge at this time, even the most narrow-minded knights had to submit to his generosity and martial arts. What's more, the saint's favor also showed how pious he was. Without waiting for the banquet, noble ladies in the arena threw flower branches and gold rings to him. William accepted them all, but declined more requests.

Amalric I saw that he refused all noble ladies, so he asked: "Are you still going back to England?" He asked: "There are four more martial arts tournaments later, I will not participate again, you might be able to get the laurel."

"Did you see my flag, Your Majesty?"

"I saw it." Half red and half green background, with a lion drawn in the middle.

"This is the coat of arms given to me by my mistress Eleanor of Aquitaine," William said sincerely: "I have promised her that I will set off to return after participating in one martial arts tournament. When I return to London, I will become King Henry's martial arts coach and chief attendant."

Amalric I indeed intended to include William Marshal in his command and become a member of the Crusades, but he also heard that when William was still an ordinary knight, he followed his lord, the Earl of Salisbury, to escort Wang Hou Eleanor back to Aquitaine. Unexpectedly, they were attacked by rebels on the way. The Earl died, and William blocked the rebels at all costs, letting Wang Hou Eleanor escape, but he was captured.

At that time, William was still an abandoned second son. His master was dead, no one came to redeem him, and he was seriously injured. He didn't have money, so he could only tear off his knight's cloak to bandage the wound on his thigh. At that time, he thought he would die, but didn't expect that as soon as Wang Hou Eleanor returned to the palace, she asked about his affairs and immediately paid to redeem him.

With such a kindness, William Marshal would not betray Wang Hou Eleanor. Amalric I could not force him, so he could only send him a set of silver-plated chain mail and a box of gold coins.

It would be a lie to say he wasn't regretful. Amalric I saw with his own eyes how easily he knocked down three knights who surrounded him at the same time in the blink of an eye, along with the squires and armed attendants who rushed up after the master fell. If William Marshal could be in his army, he would inevitably shine in the subsequent Holy War.

"You can go see William Marshal more." He said to Baldwin: "He is a born warrior and has received extraordinary gifts from Saint Patrick, very similar to you," the King said: "Although I let Raymond and Bohemond teach you, I have to say that even if they can be trusted, in other respects... they can only be called mediocre—if William can stay, I don't have to worry too much."

Baldwin of course would not disagree, but he thought for a moment and asked: "Can I bring Cesar?"

"As long as you want." Amalric I said. Heraclius told him that Cesar presented a "shield," and later it looked like "chain mail," but this didn't matter much. Just like Count Etienne perceived Saint Pelagius, but his power could briefly present the state of a spear and be divided into several small shields to protect others.

As long as Cesar's saintly favor was more inclined to "protection" rather than "offense," Amalric I's heart could be much calmer.

After Baldwin left, Amalric I called an attendant beside Princess Sibylla and asked about his daughter's situation—he originally didn't pay much attention to Sibylla, not because he didn't love his daughter, but because most fathers at this time did so—food, clothing, housing, and transportation were not lacking, personal safety was guaranteed, and then find her a well-matched husband.

But not long ago, because of Count Etienne's refusal to marry, he suddenly discovered that his daughter could also cause big things... He indeed scolded and punished Sibylla, but he couldn't just send her to a monastery—he could only put some heart on her.

He was worried that William Marshal performed so well, and he rewarded him so generously, would someone misunderstand that he intended to let an Englishman be his son-in-law... And would Sibylla do anything irrational? Fortunately, he heard from the attendant that the Countess of Jaffa had been paying close attention to her daughter's movements these days, and Sibylla had also been well-behaved and almost never left her room.

By June, Amalric I thought, he could hand Sibylla over to Princess Maria for discipline. After a few years, the storm would subside, and he could find her a suitable husband.

He kept this light mood until midnight. When the King returned to the bedroom, he saw a dagger placed upright in the middle of the bed.

——————

The movement that night alarmed even Baldwin and Cesar.

They heard that Amalric I was very angry and scolded those "treacherous Saracens" loudly, but the next day, another team of Saracens wearing big robes and covering their faces walked into the Castle of the Holy Cross.

They were a mission from the Eagle's Nest. Coming here was not to explain and apologize like last time, but to question the King why he didn't keep his promise.

It wasn't until Heraclius came to teach that Baldwin and Cesar knew that during the "Selection Ceremony," someone in the Assassin organization accepted a bribe and privately took on the assassination mission against Amalric I—Amalric I therefore held the "Elder" of the Assassins accountable. For this reason, the "Elder" sent a mission to catch those traitors and ended their lives in front of the King.

This matter should have ended here—although the inside story might not be so, but what neither the King nor the "Elder" expected was that this team was intercepted and killed by the Knights Templar on the way back to the "Eagle's Nest," and none survived.

Amalric I was planning a second expedition to Egypt. For this expedition, he spent a lot of effort and also used his marriage as a bargaining chip. Of course, he couldn't tolerate any mistakes—if Nur ad-Din of Zengi was an old giant bear, and Saladin of Fatimid was a young tiger, then the Assassins were a poisonous snake in the desert. He would rather share some benefits to appease this poisonous snake than be bitten again at some point.

But the Knights Templar obviously didn't think so.

(End of chapter)