by D. N. Carter
“Will someone tell me what occurs here?” Paul blurted out.
Queen Tamar and Alisha both laughed and hugged each other again.
Port of La Rochelle, France, Melissae Inn, spring 1191
“Okay so now I am confused, Percival isn’t Percival and Queen Tamar is the elder sister of Alisha!” Simon interrupted, looking confused.
“That is correct,” the old man answered.
“And the mighty Saladin himself attended Percival and Nyla’s wedding?” Simon asked, shaking his head disbelievingly.
“Yes,” the old man nodded in reply.
“Simon, before you say any more I want you to look at something,” the Templar said, his tone quiet as he reached into his own side satchel at his feet. As he removed a small cloth wrapped parcel, he looked at the old man briefly. “Here, open that. I was given that by a knight after the fall of Jerusalem and told I must bring it here when I was given my orders to come to La Rochelle.”
Simon took the small package and gently unwrapped it. As he folded back the edges it revealed a black and yellow knight’s headband with a Crimson Thread running throughout its length.
“This…is this the same as Philip gave to Thomas and his men?” Gabirol asked.
“It is,” the old man answered.
“Things are beginning to make a bit more sense as to why my brother and I are here,” the Templar commented as Simon looked at the knight’s headband.
“It is?” the Hospitaller remarked questioningly, looking bemused, and shook his head.
“Who gave you this?” Simon asked as he studied the headband.
“Count Henry himself,” the Templar answered. “He told me that I had to come here to La Rochelle, to bring any person of my choosing to accompany me and wait to be contacted. If I was not contacted whilst staying at this inn, then I was to board a ship back for Outremer and join King Richard’s forces.”
“And have you been contacted?” Miriam asked hesitantly.
“Aye, I think it safe to say I now understand I have been,” the Templar answered and looked directly at the old man.
“And you are not joining the fleet are you?” Miriam asked even more hesitantly.
“No, my woman, that I am not,” the Templar replied and clasped her hand tightly and kissed it. “That I am not.”
Miriam sighed visibly relieved.
“What was the gift Saladin gave Paul then?” Peter asked loudly.
“’Twas a fine leather bound book. It covered all aspects of hygiene upon ships, mostly based upon Chinese and Hospitaller practices no less. It was also a manual for war fighting at sea.”
“Sorry to change the question, but this Queen Tamar. How old was she and how come they were sisters? Did Philip know?” Ayleth asked in quick succession.
“Queen Tamar as I believe I mentioned before was born in AD 1160. Her mother had a love affair with Alisha’s real father and she was the result. So they are in fact half sisters. But that story I am afraid will have to wait for another day, suffice it to say that Philip, Firgany and Theodoric knew full well the details.”
“So Taqi is not really her brother at all?” the farrier commented.
“By blood, no,” the old man replied solemnly.
“Did Taqi know?” Ayleth asked.
“Eventually he did find out.”
“The book that Saladin gave Paul. Did he use it?” Gabirol asked.
The old man leaned down and reached inside his large satchel and removed a large leather bound book tied with a crimson coloured string.
“Yes he did. You will see his notes written down the margins,” the old man said as he pushed the book across the table to Gabirol.
“Well I wish to know all about Percival. Where was he from really? Who was he really?” Simon asked as the Genoese sailor leaned closer to Gabirol as he untied the string and opened Paul’s book.
“Look inside the cover. It is signed to Paul by Saladin himself,” the old man said quietly as Gabirol opened the book.
“And this is truly Saladin’s signature?” Gabirol asked as he ran his finger carefully across the large signature.
The old man simply nodded yes. Gabirol flicked through the pages as both Simon and the Genoese sailor leaned in close to also see.
“And Percival and Nyla’s wedding was done in exactly the same manner as Alisha and Paul’s had been done, out there?” Sarah asked and pointed to the sea.
“Exactly apart from their words being slightly different. It was a lovely service and made all the more special by those who attended it,” the old man replied.
“I fear not many here would admit to having Saladin at their wedding,” Peter remarked.
“I would,” Simon said enthusiastically.
“Paul had become firm friends with Husam, despite their physical age difference, and Husam was likewise much respected by Saladin. It was no different from the friendship Balian and Count Raymond had with Husam and Saladin…and no one questions those friendships,” the old man explained.
“I am puzzled and somewhat concerned,” the Templar remarked. The old man raised his eyebrows as if to ask what. “This charge, this commission you say I have a choice to either accept or decline…does it require me to remain single and celibate?”
Miriam’s reaction was instant and obvious as alarm etched itself deep into her face. The old man shook his head no and smiled.
“No not at all. You are free to take a wife with you…if you accept the commission. Both of you,” he explained.
The relief from Miriam was just as immediate as she broke into a large smile.
“If we marry, I wish it to be like Alisha, Paul, Percival and Nyla had,” she said quietly looking at the Templar, unable to contain the excitement in her.
“We shall not have living legends attend as they did?” the Templar replied and pulled Miriam close.
Chapter 53
Queen of Kings & the Chains that Bind Us
Cairo, Egypt, January, 1181.
Queen Tamar sat on the stone bench resting her back against the cool wall. Her golden dress shimmered in the afternoon light, the wide embroidered strip folded down her front in waves until it reached her feet. She kicked off her gold thread covered shoes and rubbed her feet together. Alisha laughed as the shoes flew across the small balcony. She looked back through the door as Tenno chased Arri playfully. Paul was downstairs with Philip and the other guests.
“I just needed a few moments alone with you. We have much to learn of each other and my stay here is limited,” Queen Tamar said and beckoned Alisha to sit beside her.
“I was told that once there was talk you were to be wed to my Paul or his brother Stewart,” Alisha explained.
“I know…but I had Abi argue my case that I should be the one who chooses whom I marry. You are a lucky woman for Paul is indeed very handsome.”
2 - 50
“I am indeed…and now I have a sister too…and I do not know what to say or where to begin,” Alisha remarked and paused for a moment. “Can you tell me of your father?” she asked hesitantly.
“Oh yes, I can do that. He still lives…and he knows I came here with the main intention of seeking you out. I told him that if I found you, which I knew I would with Philip’s help, I would invite you back to my home. I was also told about you at a very early age…and that you were taken away for your own safety and survival,” Queen Tamar explained quietly. “I have so few people whom I can trust.”
“You can trust me,” Alisha said and placed her hand upon hers.
“That I truly believe. Abi I trust, and she is my uncle’s daughter, though he was killed many years back now and I never knew him.”
“So Abi is related by blood to me?” Alisha asked and shook her head, surprised, as Queen Tamar smiled yes.
“Yes. She gave me this,” Queen Tamar said and reached inside the top of her dress and pulled up a small bee pendant identical the one Alisha wore. Alisha lifted hers up and placed it beside Queen Tamar’s. “She also
gave me this,” Queen Tamar then said as she moved on the stone bench, pulled the outer cover of her dress to reveal an ornate gold looking sword. “A nightmare to wear concealed but necessary,” she laughed. “I was made Co-regent Queen at eighteen and I have carried this ever since.”
“I was given this by Abi…though I am no queen,” Alisha replied and pulled out her three pronged dagger. “Easier to conceal than yours,” she laughed. She looked at Queen Tamar in silence for a few moments. “I cannot believe I really have a sister as Kratos said.”
“Nor I. But it is wonderful. And my father, King George the Third, I know would love to finally meet you, but I warn you, he can be quite blunt and crude. And you may not be a queen…but if I were to die childless, there are nobles who know that you have rightful claim to the throne.”
“I am no queen…so do not die anytime soon please. And your adoptive father…a real king…Crude you say! How so?”
“When he announced me as his co-regent, to protect my position of legitimacy, many in the court questioned his decision. His response was quite enlightening. Crude but effective,” Queen Tamar smiled as she recalled the moment. “I am paraphrasing, and excuse my crudeness too but he said something along these lines,” she said, cleared her throat and tried not to laugh. “It became quite a famous quote…It doesn’t matter whether a lion is a male or a female, it will still use its horrific terrifying claws to mutilate your pathetic face in front of your entire family, rip your oesophagus from your bloody corpse with a face full of slavering curved fangs, and then do a fucking 360-degree behind-the-back pole axed ramming of your disembowelled spleen into your own arsehole.” She laughed as Alisha chuckled, her eyes wide.
“Crude but succinct,” Alisha laughed.
“Well it seems to have worked so far, but father has many problems with some of the arsehole nobles who are supposed to be loyal to him. In 1178 he put down a rebellion and was forced to execute several conspirators. That is when he made me co-regent. That is when I got a crown and this sword. When it was presented to me, he made me swear to unflinchingly decapitate anyone who tried to fuck with our family line. His words,” Queen Tamar laughed.
“I have never heard a woman swear so much,” Alisha laughed quietly.
“Oh I may be a queen, but it can be so liberating,” she joked. “Besides, I have had to behave more like a man at times and deal with them on their own terms in language they understand. I have faced those men down who believed that a woman could not and cannot rule as we do not know anything about the world or have the mental capacity…even that we have smaller brains than men!” She paused as she thought for a moment. “But I have plans to unite my people…and the Church.”
Alisha looked at her and sensed the enormous weight and burden her office placed upon her young shoulders. She did not envy her position one bit.
“I can consider myself lucky to lead a simple life,” Alisha said as she held Queen Tamar’s hand. “And I cannot get over how much we look alike despite different mothers.”
“Our father’s blood runs through us strongly. And I envy you…I would swap my existence for yours in a heartbeat.” Alisha looked at her, puzzled by her remark. “I am but a couple of years older than you at most, yet I have had to send men to the dungeons and command an army against my foes. The blood of men is upon my hands already and is a power I would rather not wield. Many nobles, who had wasted their time talking like idiots when they should have been building an army to challenge me, were all arrested and thrown into dungeons. But I eventually pardoned them, but not before stripping them of their power and replacing them with men, and women, loyal to me…It was something I did not enjoy.”
“That is what makes you a great queen.”
“I hope so,” Queen Tamar replied sadly and looked down. “And now I am being pressured to marry and continue my line…but no man has my heart. That is why I envy you with your Paul. I would swap places in a heartbeat like I said for what you have with him.”
“I am sure you will find a man of your own in time,” Alisha replied awkwardly.
“No, not in my position. Men see a queen first, a woman second and then me, though me as a person is not even considered.”
“Then when we can, I shall come and visit you and we shall seek out a genuine man for you,” Alisha said, smiling, trying to raise her spirits. Her mind drifted to thoughts of Nicholas.
“My sister…that sounds so lovely…my sister!” Queen Tamar said quietly as she looked at her. “But many nobles have already chosen a union for me. Yuri, Prince of Novgorod. But I delay my replies…he is very tall and handsome, but, but a little too stupid for my liking,” she said and laughed. “It would also be very dangerous for you to visit me openly at this moment in time, but when I have established some new rules, I shall call for you and to meet my father in our capital, Tbilisi. But I can return here to visit you, if you will allow it?”
“Of course I allow it,” Alisha shot back instantly. She could sense the heartache in Queen Tamar as she sat looking at her intently. “I have so many questions I wish to ask,” she sighed and shivered.
“It is getting cold. Darkness falls quickly here. Let us rejoin the main party shall we? And I have many questions of you,” Queen Tamar replied and feigned a brave smile.
Suddenly a loud report rang out and a bright burst of yellow and red sparkles lit up the area opposite the balcony making both Queen Tamar and Alisha jump. A whoosh noise sounded out followed by another loud report and more bright coloured sparkles burst out in a large circle. Both rushed to the edge of the balcony to see Tenno lighting another firework rocket. He stood back, waved at Queen Tamar and Alisha as the rocket shot upwards and exploded in another bright display. Several dogs started barking in the distance. Paul stepped into view holding Arri and pointing at the fireworks. Alisha’s gaze fell upon Percival and Nyla stood arm in arm watching the display. Today had to be one of the most enjoyable and memorable days of her life, she thought, and then looked at Queen Tamar. She was beautiful and just for a minute her heart skipped a beat with the fear that Paul could fall for her, as she looked so much like her, and was a queen. She shook her head to clear that thought.
Paul lit a lanthorn in his office as Philip moved along the rear wall bench, Theodoric shuffling beside him grinning broadly. Tenno closed the door quietly behind him as he entered the room.
“I think Ali and Tamar will be speaking long into the early hours,” Theodoric said as he made himself comfortable and rested his elbows upon the table.
“Arri sleeps soundly. Lucy watches over him,” Tenno explained as he sat himself down on a single chair at the end of the table.
“It has been a long day,” Paul remarked as he sat opposite his father. Theodoric pulled a bottle of wine closer and opened it as Paul pushed him a blue glass. Tenno declined a glass as Philip pulled one close. “We have some rosehip water,” he said to Tenno but he raised his hand no. “All our guests have now departed. I think they all had a good time.”
“Queen Tamar’s guards are all still outside,” Tenno stated and indicated with his thumb behind him.
“Fearsome lot eh?” Theodoric remarked as he poured himself and Philip some wine.
“But loyal,” Philip said as he smelt the wine. “And by now Alisha will know she does indeed have a sister.”
“Yes…all a bit of a surprise. One of several today,” Paul commented as he poured himself some rosehip water.
“Firgany and I did warn you back in La Rochelle there were many things we wished to tell you. Things I think only now are you ready to be told,” Philip said quietly as Theodoric nodded in agreement.
“I want to know why Alisha was never told that Raja was her real mother and that her real father had sired another daughter. Why hide that from her for so long?” Paul asked, staring at Philip.
“For her own safety…and as Raja begged us. You have no idea of the bloodshed caused and lost before your births. There are still those in Georgia, nobles, who would u
se Alisha to further their own political ambitions to remove both Tamar and her father,” Theodoric explained.
“But Alisha would never agree to that,” Paul stated.
“What if they held Arri as ransom, or you?” Philip asked. “What if it was known that Alisha has the blood of Christ running through her veins, as parchments and other documents in Tamar’s possession claim?”
“She would be hunted down by all sides…,” Theodoric commented and took a large mouthful of wine before placing the glass back down hard and looking at Paul. “You understand that your bloodlines must be protected and must continue so that in the future, then, and only then, can your line be revealed and used for the purpose it was intended.”
“You make us sound like a line of horses being specially bred,” Paul remarked.
“You are,” Theodoric replied and raised his eyebrows.
“Paul,” Philip said softly and leaned forward. “We never wanted Alisha to find out about her real father or that she had a sister. But we could not stop Tamar in her desire to meet her only sibling. But her best chance of survival is to remain in the shadows of history. So that you can all share and enjoy a stable and safe happy life together. And you, you must find a way of ensuring that, as well as finding a way of making certain that the real hidden history remains just that, for future generations’ benefits. If not, it will be eradicated and vanish forever. And as I have repeatedly tried to explain, who controls the past does indeed control the future. Our past shapes and moulds our perceptions and affects just how we move, act and live in the future.”
“I know all of that, Father…I have also dreamt and experienced many strange things about that very fact. But I still cannot find a way that will enable us to carry forwards, in secret, all that must be,” Paul sighed and placed both hands around his glass of rosehip water. He paused for a few moments in silence. “Though I do have an idea that may work.”