the countryside to keep us from living off the land. We cannot just turn them loose, not without risking a riot from our own men. Many of them were not happy with the surrender, feeling they’d earned the right to storm the city and take vengeance for the deaths of their friends and fellow soldiers. If we free so many Saracens to fight again without getting so much as a denier, they’ll be outraged and, once again, who could blame them? That leaves us but one choice as I see it—we execute them.”
None could fault his logic, but not all of them were comfortable with the decision, for the Saracens had fought bravely and surrendered in the belief that their lives would be spared. Henri was the only one to express these regrets aloud, though. “A pity, for they showed great courage during the siege. Had they not been infidels, I’d have been proud to fight alongside any of them.”
Some of the other men nodded in agreement, but Guy de Lusignan, the Templars, and the Hospitallers were enraged. Several of them began speaking at once, drowning one another out, until Garnier de Nablus prevailed by sheer lung power. Glaring at Henri, he said wrathfully, “Courage, you say? I’ll tell you about courage, about the two hundred and thirty-four Templars and Hospitallers who were butchered by Saladin two days after the battle at Ḥaṭṭīn. Not only did he put these brave Christian knights to death, he set their accursed holy men and Sufis to do it, men who’d never even wielded a sword before. Save your pity for them, my lord count, not for pagans whose hands are wet with the blood of our brethren!”
The vehemence of the Hospitaller Grand Master’s attack took Henri by surprise, but he didn’t back down. “I mourn those good men, too, my lord Garnier. But courage is worthy of admiration, and I think the Saracens who held Acre for two years deserve to have their bravery acknowledged, especially if they are facing death and eternal damnation.”
“I agree with my nephew,” Richard interjected before any of the other Templar and Hospitaller knights could chime in. “They are indeed brave men. But they are also our enemies and their lives were forfeit as soon as Saladin refused to honor the terms of the surrender.” He glanced then toward Hugh. “Half of these men were claimed by your king, my lord duke. Do you agree that they must be put to death?”
Hugh nodded. “I do not see that we have any other choice. But what of the commanders and the emirs taken when the city fell? Surely we are not going to kill them, too? Some of them might well be rich enough to pay their own ransoms.”
“I agree,” Richard said. “We will keep those men at Acre, for they can be used, too, to barter for some of our prisoners at a later date.”
There was one man present who’d been shocked by the decision to slay the garrison. Humphrey de Toron did not approve of killing men who’d surrendered in good faith, even if it was their own sultan’s actions that doomed them. He’d long known he was not suited for warfare, even before he’d taken part in the disaster at Ḥaṭṭīn. It was not that he did not understand the reasons for reaching this decision. But he knew he could never have summoned the ruthlessness to put so many men to death in cold blood.
“We are in agreement, then?” Richard glanced around the tent. “Does anyone have something else to say? If there is another way, speak up now.”
Humphrey kept his eyes averted, shamed by his silence even as he told himself none would have heeded him. No one else spoke, either, agreeing it was a military necessity. Some were glad, though, that they did not have to be the ones to make the decision, and were glad, too, that Richard was willing to take that final responsibility and do what must be done. Scriptures might hold that “Blessed are the merciful,” but mercy could be a dangerous indulgence in a war against the enemies of God.
SOON AFTER MIDDAY, Richard led his troops out onto the open plain southeast of Acre. Saladin’s advance guard had been watching from the hill at Tell al-’Ayyāḍ iyya, but they now retreated a safer distance to Tell Kaysān, disturbed and puzzled by this sudden maneuver. Once Richard’s knights had lined up in battle formation facing their Saracen foes, the city