Conrad to accept defeat with goodwill, and nothing could be more disastrous for Outremer than a civil war. We have to find a way to accommodate them both.”
Richard grinned. “Good luck with that! Even if I agree—and you’ve got the Devil’s own tongue, lad—what about Philippe? Since when has he ever listened to common sense or reason?”
“He has his moments,” Henri said, which evoked a hoot of skeptical laughter from Richard. Then he squared his shoulders again and strode over to beard the other lion in his den.
Philippe’s greeting was decidedly cool. “If you are bearing a message from Richard, I have no interest in hearing it.”
Henri ignored the suggestion that he was acting as the English king’s lackey. “The message is mine, Uncle. I told him what I am now telling you—that we need to find a compromise, a way to accommodate the claims of both Conrad and Guy. Richard is willing to consider that. It is my hope that you will, too.”
“No,” Philippe said, and would have turned away had Henri not stood his ground.
“I ask you to hear me out, Uncle, if not for my sake, for my lady mother, your sister.”
Philippe was not moved by this appeal to their shared blood; he’d never liked his sister Marie, who’d supported the Count of Flanders in one of his rebellions. “It would be a waste of my time and your breath, Henri. I’ll never agree to crown Richard’s puppet prince. Go back and tell him that.”
“As I said, Uncle, I am not doing Richard’s bidding in this. I seek only to patch together a peace between Conrad and Guy, for we have no hope of defeating Saladin unless we do. So I am indeed sorry that you remain so adamant—and somewhat surprised, too, that you’d put Conrad’s interests ahead of the needs of France.”
Philippe’s eyes glittered suspiciously. “And just how am I doing that?”
“I should think it would be obvious,” Henri said innocently. “Your doctors insist that you return to your own lands straightaway, for they fear it would be the death of you if you do not, no? But you’ll be unable to leave Outremer until this is settled. And you know how stubborn Richard is. He’ll never agree to crown Conrad, so this dispute may well drag on for weeks, even months.” He was about to remind Philippe that if he could not sail before the autumn, he’d be forced to remain in the Holy Land until the following spring. He saw, though, that there was no need. His uncle’s expression was inscrutable, for like Richard, he could wield his court mask as a shield if the need arose. But Henri had caught it, that brief, betraying flicker of alarm, and he hid a triumphant smile, sure now that Philippe would rather spend a year in Purgatory than another month in Acre.
WHEN THE RIVAL CLAIMANTS and their supporters were ushered into the hall, there was a marked difference in their demeanors. Conrad and his men looked tense, the de Lusignans smug. Joanna had seized the opportunity to slip in with them and immediately headed for Henri. Linking her arm in his, she teased, “I do not see any blood on the floor. Does this mean you actually reached a decision acceptable to all?”
“To the contrary,” he confided. “We reached one sure to infuriate both sides equally, but that was the best we could do.”
Before she could interrogate him further, the Archbishop of Tyre rose from his seat upon the dais and signaled for quiet. “I must insist that you remain silent until I am done. It is the decision of the kings of the English and the French and the high court that Guy de Lusignan shall remain king for the remainder of his life. Upon his death, the crown will pass to the Lady Isabella and her husband, the Marquis of Montferrat. Royal revenues are to be shared equally between King Guy and the marquis. Because the marquis kept Tyre from falling to Saladin, he is to be given hereditary possession of Tyre, Sidon, and Beirut. In recognition of his prowess during the siege, Joffroi de Lusignan is to have Jaffa and Ascalon once they, like Sidon and Beirut, are reclaimed from the Saracens. Should it be God’s Will that King Guy, the marquis, and his wife all die whilst King Richard is still in Outremer, he shall have the right to dispose of the kingdom as he sees fit, by virtue of his blood-kinship