by Griff Hosker
It was a justly deserved rebuke. “I should have and for that I am sorry. I was sworn to secrecy by the Queen. Even her son does not know of the danger.”
“And two brave men have died because of that oath.” I hung my head. “I do not blame you but now that we know that assassins are abroad I will have my men keep watch. We know of them.”
Robert said, “Lord, we have wounded men.”
“Of course. “Could you have your men look at Jean and the others. They were wounded when we scouted Damascus.”
The old master looked appalled, “And I have reproached you when you were doing your duty. I am sorry, lord, I did not know.”
“You were right to rebuke me and I will make up for it. Now I must report to the king.”
The sentry allowed me to enter. The king had been awakened by the noise and he was on one elbow, lying on his bed. “I heard noise in the night. No one woke me. Is all well?”
“Someone tried to kill you, your majesty. Brother Günter killed the killer but paid with his life.”
He stared at me, “You were supposed to be watching me and I sent you to scout!” I nodded. “I will pray for his soul.”
“He was a good man, your majesty. He will be in heaven.”
“And what did you discover?”
“There is naught between us and Damascus. To the west of the city the farms and the orchard will give us shade, water, food and grazing. But the walls are high and they have a ditch. We will need to make siege engines; there are trees for timber.”
“That is for someone else to worry about. Rest.” He stood. “Did you lose any men?”
“Three men are wounded but they will fight again.”
“Good.”
Once outside I saw that the camp was coming to life. “Robert, have the men rest. They will break camp today. It will take them all day and part of tomorrow to set up the new camp. We will wait here until this evening. I want the men rested. Tonight, we will have no sleep. They have sent one assassin. There may be others.”
“Aye lord.”
Before I retired I went to look at the body of the killer. Although he was a man his body was that of a youth. There was not an ounce of fat on him. Beneath his headdress his hair was oiled and tied back. His dagger lay where it had fallen. It was not as curved as most Turkish blades but I saw that it had a groove running its length and it was etched with a serpent. The handle itself was a coiled snake. It was distinctive. I sniffed the blade. Apart from blood I smelled something else, wolf’s bane. The groove and the etching would hold the poison in place. I had learned much.
I took the man’s headdress and wrapped it around the knife. I took it with me. I wanted to clean it and study it. Perhaps daylight would help me to see more.
My prayers, before I retired, were longer than usual. I had two more souls to pray for.
By the time we rose, the king and the other leaders had all left. It would not do for them to travel in the dust of lesser mortals. The tents were still in the process of being dismantled. Garth had organised food and we ate while our tents were taken down. John and Henry went to fetch the horses and we picked our way through the camp. I saw that the two Hospitallers’ bodies had been taken away but the murdered killer’s lay where it had fallen. In the daylight, the killer looked even more insubstantial. Brother Günter had paid dearly for the information but the body would help me to find another assassin should one attempt to kill the king.
We made our way through the slow-moving foot soldiers who moved inexorably east. Our horses did not need the road and so we rode on the rougher ground alongside the road. As we neared the front I saw that there was an unholy alliance ahead. The knights and sergeants of de Waller were marching with the Lombards of the Count of Provence. It filled me with apprehension. Nothing good could come of it. Alf had a heavily bandaged head and would not be recognised. The rest of us wore our new cloaks and were helmed. For some reason, I did not want my enemies to know I was with the army. They would bear watching.
We hurried through the ranks until we were with the Hospitallers who rode just behind the king. I joined the Master. “You buried your brothers?”
“We did. They are at peace now. Brother Günter was a good man. He had been a great knight before he joined the order. He had a true vocation. He admired you. He saw greatness in you. When you eliminated those scouts, he was amazed at such skill in one so young.”
“I have been at war since I could ride. I was born into civil war and my father fights it still.”
“And in your heart, you would rather fight for him than this desert and rock.”
“I would. But I must do penance before I can go home. I have told the king that I will serve him until Ascalon is taken.”
He nodded, “Now I see why you do not like this crusade. It attacks the wrong city.”
“Do you think it is right?”
“I am unsure. This army has yet to fight together. When it does so I will know if this be right or not.”
The city was harder to see because of the dust raised by the vanguard. Robert de Craon had insisted that the Templars lead the army. They made a magnificent sight with their white cloaks and red crosses but I think the Master of the Hospitallers thought it arrogant. His order were true warrior monks.
Our approach had been seen. I spied ranks of infantry and horsemen gather before the low wall.
When we reached the edge of the orchard Robert de Craon halted. Theobald rode from the side of King Baldwin. He smiled, “You did well, young William. Now we must chase these Turks from before the wall so that we may begin to take the walls themselves. Are your men able to fight alongside us? I could use your archers.”
“Of course, lord. Will the Templars be alongside us?”
He shook his head, “Their master deems that they have done enough for the day by riding ahead of us.” I looked at him and my mouth must have been open. Theobald nodded, “I agree with you but the Master has more knights and sergeants under his hand than any king or count here. He attacks when he chooses.” Just then a rider galloped from the king. “Yes Guy?”
“His majesty has just been told that King Conrad of Germany will support our attack.”
Theobald looked at the dust heading from the west, “But he is the rear guard. It will take him some time to pick his way through the army.”
Guy said, “I am sorry, lord, I am just the messenger.”
Shaking his head Theobald said, “When we attack I intend to use both mounted and dismounted soldiers. I want you on the left flank. We will be attacking on a narrow front and you will prevent them from outflanking us on that side. Your archers should be able to hurt their horse archers. Our spies tell us that your encounters have taught them to respect your war bows.”
I turned my horse. We had three wounded men and I left Jean in command of the horses and supplies. “Take them to the rear of the orchard. Find us a camp. When I find where the king will sleep we may move some of us closer.”
“Lord, the wound is nothing. Let me fight.”
“This battle we fight today will not decide the outcome of this siege. You will get your chance to fight.”
We left our cloaks with Jean. The orchard would give us some shade and we needed to be unencumbered. We moved back to the line of men which was being assembled. I saw that de Waller’s men were on the right flank. Was Theobald deliberately keeping us apart? Neither of us had made any attempt to disguise our animosity. The second rank was made up of Hospitallers and that gave me hope. I knew they would fight well. I had yet to see any of the other knights and sergeants who served Baldwin fight. Today would show me their mettle.
We were ready quickly but then we had been fighting for many years. It took the rest longer. Garth and his archers had left their horses with Jean. However, we had devised and practised a way of moving to battle quickly, they lay across the rumps of our horses and clung on to the cantle. It was neither elegant nor comfortable but it meant we would be in position first.
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br /> The horns sounded. Tom had my banner and when the other banners dipped forward he did so with mine. This was the first time we had gone into battle beneath its fluttering gryphon. As I had expected we moved more quickly than the knights to our right. The spearmen and the levy who walked beside the horses slowed them up. As we neared the enemy lines I saw that they had shields erected and archers prepared. Horsemen and horse archers were gathered behind the shields. They would allow us to attack and then make us bleed on their shields. When we were weak they would attack. Their arrows landing in front of us told us when we should halt. We stopped and the archers slid form the backs of the horses. We had plenty of arrows. Tom planted the standard in the ground in the middle of the arrow quivers.
The five of them chose their best arrow first. They would wait for Garth to release first. “Hit their archers Garth. Let us see if we can annoy them into attacking us before the rest arrive.”
“Aye lord!”
The advantage of the curved bow was that it could be used on horseback and, for a shorter bow, had greater strength than a similar size bow made from a single piece of wood. The long war bows my archers used were poor when used from a horse but had a better range when used on foot. Garth and his archers put that greater range to good effect. Garth’s first arrow sailed high and true. The Turks had a leader parading up and down before his men obviously extolling them to acts of great valour. Garth’s arrow threw him from the saddle. The effect was instantaneous. The shields were lowered to allow the Turkish archers to send their arrows back at us. My archers sent their arrows into the archers’ ranks. While their arrows fell short my men’s arrows found flesh. They kept sending arrow after arrow into them until the shields came up.
“Well done Garth. Rest while you may.”
“Aye lord.” My archers drank deeply from their skins.
I turned to Robert. “They have a choice. They can try to move the shields forward or they can try to dislodge us.”
“There are but five archers, lord.”
“And how many men did they slay? Archers take time to train. Keep a good watch. I think that they may send some arrow fodder here to shift us.”
I looked to my right and saw that the Knights of Nablus had joined us. Their leader, Jocelyn of Tyre, waved a hand at me. “You have made a good start, Sir William, but it might have been polite to wait for us.”
“I just thought to warm them up, lord.”
He laughed and waved his men forward. We had been tasked with holding the left flank and so we let them move forward. The long shields would afford them protection but their slow advance, for they were on foot, would force them to endure long periods of attack from arrows. However, to use their bows they had to lower their shields and my archers were waiting. As soon as the sergeants of Nablus were in range then the shields were lowered to allow the Turkish archers to release. Garth and my four archers sent arrow after arrow into them. The Turkish arrows caused some casualties but not as many as we had feared.
“Lord, the enemy. They are moving!”
I dragged my eyes from the attack and saw that thirty horsemen had emerged from behind their shields. They were the lightly armed horsemen who fought with a spear, curved sword and small wooden shield. They rode fast, small horses. They would come for us.
“Form line. Garth, try to thin them out a little on the flanks, eh?”
“Aye lord.”
There was no command, the line of horsemen just began to gallop. They rode loosely. We rode boot to boot as knights did. Robert was on the left flank and Gregor on the right. John and Henry flanked me. We had lances rather than spears. A forearm longer than a spear they had no metal point but a sharpened wooden one. They were perfect for the men we charged. We had the advantage that the trees of the orchard did not break up our line as much as the others. It was hard to maintain cohesion in the orchard.
Even as we closed I saw our arrows taking their toll on the men on the flanks. Horses and riders were struck. The enemy were moving quickly and their ragged line was spread out over a large area. I pulled back my arm. My weapon was much longer than the Turk’s and I impaled him. I allowed my arm to drop so that his body slid from the end. I pulled back and punched at the second Turk who swerved his horse to avoid trampling his comrade. The spear smashed into his head. The lance was ruined but the rider fell dead. As I drew my sword I saw that we had broken their charge. “Back!”
As I turned I saw that Henry had also lost his lance in a Turk’s body. He had drawn his sword and, even as he wheeled he leaned out to decapitate in one blow a rider who had fallen from his horse and was attempting to rise. An arrow smacked into my cantle and another hit my helmet. And then we had reached Garth and the archers. We were out of range. The survivors headed back to the walls of Damascus. There were seven of them.
The trees of the orchards had helped us. Some of the advancing men had been protected by the trunks and branches of the fruit trees. The men of Nablus had suffered casualties but they had reached the enemy line and a furious fight ensued. Garth and his archers hit any Turk that they could see but he did not want to risk hitting a crusader and we waited.
I had just stroked Remus when Tom shouted. “Lord, the lord of Ramelah and his men! They are withdrawing!”
His words made my heart sink into my boots. I looked to the right and saw that de Waller was leading his men away from the battle. Our right flank was exposed. We were betrayed!
Chapter 13
The effect was immediate. The Seljuqs poured into the gap and threatened the flank of the men of Nablus. Even as I watched I saw Raymond de Puy Provence lead the Hospitallers from the second rank to block their advance. It made the front line thinner and the enemy took advantage. They sent more horsemen from behind the defences to drive us from the field.
“We must stem them on this side to allow our men the opportunity to retreat in some sort of order.” I turned Remus to face our front. Garth and the archers continued to pick off the leaders and archers amongst those who faced us. Already another line of horsemen was preparing to rid themselves of the insects who had annoyed them. This time I saw mailed men with them. My lance shattered I picked up a spear as did my other men. “Remember we make them recoil and then return here. I want no heroes. Henry son of Will!”
He laughed, “Of course, my lord.”
We spurred our horses on. The enemy line charged too. The enemy had to negotiate their own dead and the trees of the orchard. There was little chance that they could maintain one line for long. We did not gallop. Our horses had made one charge. We would advance steadily and use the protection of our mail and our skill with swords. The advantage was that our line held firmly. We were a solid line of spears. I saw some Seljuqs decide to use their superior speed and charge around our unprotected left flank. Garth and my archers saw the threat. They aimed their arrows to the left. To the right the men of Nablus were falling back but they were in some sort of order. I couched my spear. We were so close to each other that I felt John’s boot touch mine. God must have been smiling on my retinue that day for an arrow struck a horse whose rider was attempting to flank us. It fell and two horses close by were brought down. It created a wall to our left and the men who were trying to get around us were halted. My archer’s arrows found more targets for their horses were stopped.
And then we struck the line. Thanks to our close line ten spears struck five Seljuqs. They were thrown from their saddles and the four men following behind were also unhorsed. Their attack was in disarray. My archers, the trees of the orchard and our tight line of horsemen meant the Seljuqs would need time to reform. Had I had more men I would have charged the rest but we were isolated. The men of Nablus had been forced back. I saw the dead sergeants and knights mixed with Seljuqs. I saw one pinioned to a peach tree. His arms were folded across his chest by the spear which pinned him there. “Fall back!”
We whipped our horses to the right, holding our shields up. It was fortunate that we did so for a shower of a
rrows struck them. Guy’s horse was struck and I saw blood spurt. The horse kept going but, as we neared our standard its legs began to give way. Guy threw away his spear and, kicking his feet from the stirrups was able to jump from his dying steed as it fell. He stood and had the presence of mind to grab his spear before running back. A Seljuq saw his chance and he galloped towards Guy’s unprotected back. Tom whipped his horse’s head around and rammed his spear into the side of the Seljuq who fell from the saddle. His horse continued towards our standard. Henry son of Will reached over to grab the reins. When we reached our standard, Henry held out the reins. “Here you are Guy. It would not do to have you go afoot!”
“Thank you and thank you Master Tom. I owe you a life.”
“I think you have watched my back enough times before Guy.”
“Turn and face.” I envisaged us having to do this all the way back to our camp. I could not see us all surviving. We had, however, halted the attempt to out flank us. We were now an oblique line for the Hospitallers had been forced back.
Then I heard trumpets. Theobald was still alive and he shouted, “Open your lines, open your lines!”
I turned and saw King Conrad of Germany leading his knights. He had managed to make it through the army and his fresher men charged the Seljuqs. It was not the classical Frankish charge. They had to negotiate the dispirited and disorganized men of Nablus but once they were through King Conrad slowed them down until they could form a line and then they charged. Like the enemy, he found it hard to maintain a continuous line because of the trees. His men rode in conroi. That worked to their advantage for they were fighting for their lord who led them. The enemy were caught. They had thought we were defeated and had not expected to be attacked. They were not in a solid line. Their archers were still behind the shields and the horsemen they had sent were not as heavily armoured as the Germans.