find privacy in an army camp; Richard had done the best he could, seeking out his sister in her own tent and dismissing her ladies and servants. But his precautions would be for naught if she continued shrieking at him like a wrathful fishwife.
“Explain?” she echoed incredulously. “What possible explanation could you offer that I’d accept?”
Before he could respond, the tent flap was drawn aside. “Richard? Joanna? Whatever is wrong? I could hear the shouting all the way outside!”
Richard was not pleased by Berengaria’s intrusion, preferring to discuss this alone with his sister. But he could hardly dismiss her as he had Joanna’s attendants, and even if he’d tried to do so, he suspected that Joanna would, in her present contrary mood, insist that her sister-in-law remain.
“Do you want to tell her, Richard, or shall I?” Joanna glared at her brother, looking eerily like their mother in one of her imperial rages. “Your husband has bartered me to Saladin’s brother! He has proposed peace terms based upon my marriage to al-’Ādil.”
“Richard!” Berengaria was staring at him, horrorstruck. “How could you?”
“You make it sound as if I offered to trade you for a couple of camels! All I did was to suggest that a marital alliance might be one way of ending the war. I did not—”
“You were outraged when Philippe flirted with me at Messina, would never have even considered a marital alliance with France. But now you are content to marry me off to an infidel, an enemy of our faith? I think you have well and truly lost your mind!”
“I never said I intended to marry you off to al-’Ādil! I simply said I’d suggested it to him. And as I tried to tell you, I have three very compelling reasons for making such a proposal.” Seeing that she finally seemed willing to hear him out, he said hastily, before she changed her mind, “First of all, Saladin is about eight years older than his brother and not in the best of health, so he likely expects to die first. Secondly, al-’Ādil has proved himself to be a man of great abilities, as skilled at statecraft as he is at winning battles. He is highly regarded by Saladin’s emirs and the sultan well knows it. Finally, Saladin’s first-born son is just one and twenty, his other sons much younger, and none of them have so far shown al-’Ādil’s gift for command. From all I’ve heard, there is a close bond between the brothers. But Saladin would have to be a saint, assuming Muslims have them, for him not to worry about what happens to his empire after his death.”
Pausing, he saw that his wife still looked aghast. Joanna, though, was listening. “Go on,” she said. “So you are seeking to stir up discord between Saladin and his brother. How does this marriage proposal do that?”
“Because it is not one al-’Ādil can dismiss out of hand, for it would make him a king. And you a queen, in case you’re interested.” Seeing that she was not amused by his attempt at humor, he continued, telling her of the peace terms he’d proposed to al-’Ādil. “So you see,” he concluded, “this marriage proposal is actually a trap of sorts.”
“With me as bait,” she said tartly. “You expect Saladin to accept this offer?”
“No, I expect him to refuse.”
“You’d best hope that he does, Richard,” she warned, “for I would never consent to it.”
“Not even to become Queen of Jerusalem, irlanda?” he teased, and she frowned.
“Not even to become Queen of Heaven. I am not about to join a harim. Yes, I know that Muslims can have four wives, Richard. I grew up in Sicily, remember?”
“But you’d be a queen, which would surely give you greater status than his other wives,” he said and ducked, laughing, when she snatched up a cushion and threw it at him.
While Berengaria was greatly relieved that Richard had not truly intended to marry Joanna to an infidel Saracen, she was troubled that he was treating it so blithely instead of with the seriousness it deserved. “I do not understand. Why would Saladin’s brother believe you could dispose of the Jerusalem crown as you pleased? And why would he believe that the other Christian lords would accept this?”
Richard patiently explained that no one but Guy wanted him to remain as king and Isabella could be said to have forfeited her right to the crown because of her bigamous marriage to Conrad. “And whilst some of the poulains