be taken?” He tried to dampen down his excitement, then, for he owed his uncle honesty. “But could you come back without putting your own realm in jeopardy?”
“We could not take Jerusalem because the Saracens were united, as they had not been when it first fell to the Christians. Had we not faced Saladin, had we not been subverted at every turn by Burgundy and Beauvais, our chances for success would have improved dramatically. Saladin is a great prince, but as he himself pointed out to me, he is not a young one, and his brother is far more capable than any of his sons. By the time I return, his empire might well be torn asunder. As for my own empire, it will not be easy, but it can be safeguarded. I’ll start by putting the fear of God into Johnny. Then I’ll teach Philippe that there is a high price to be paid for treachery.” Richard’s face had hardened as he thought of his disloyal brother and the unscrupulous French king. But after a moment, he smiled at his nephew. “With you as my ally instead of Conrad and without the French to hinder us, think what we can accomplish!”
PIERRE AND JEAN DE PRÉAUX had delayed their departure as long as they could, anguished by the prospect of having to leave Outremer with their brother still a Saracen prisoner. They’d even discussed remaining until the following spring, but they both had families of their own back in Normandy. They’d reluctantly decided to sail with Richard when he left, and that day was fast approaching. Richard had been busy settling all of his outstanding debts and arranging for a horse transport for Fauvel and his Arab stallions. He’d had a public crier proclaim that his creditors should present themselves at the palace and he’d made sure that payments were made to the garrison at Ascalon, to masons for work done on Jaffa’s walls, to merchants for supplies provided to his army. After being told by Baldwin de Bethune that Richard expected to leave by week’s end, the Préaux brothers paid their own debts and informed the innkeeper that they’d be vacating their chamber in two days. They were heading for the market to buy St Denys medallions, for they’d be sailing on his name day, when the summons came from the king.
They hastened to the palace, hope flickering. In the past Richard had twice managed to relay to them messages from their brother, and at Jaffa, he’d promised to ask al-’Ādil to pass on a message to Guilhem. As painful as it was to leave without knowing his fate, it would be even worse if they had to depart without bidding him a word of farewell. Upon entering the great hall, they were told Richard was awaiting them in the solar and they hurried into the stairwell. To their surprise, Richard himself opened the door. Jean’s view was partially blocked by his brother’s shoulder. He thought he saw Henri standing behind Richard and he wondered why they had not thought to ask the count to get a message to Guilhem; he was known to have a good heart, after all, and he’d have the time that Richard did not. But it was then that his brother shocked him by pushing past Richard into the solar. Mortified by such a breach of protocol, Jean started to stammer an apology on Pierre’s behalf. Richard just laughed and swung the door open wide, enabling Jean to see the man caught up in Pierre’s bear hug. With a hoarse cry of disbelief, Jean lunged forward so he, too, could embrace Guilhem.
What followed was bedlam, with all three brothers talking at once, laughing and weeping and pounding one another exuberantly on the back, while Richard and Henri watched, smiling. Guilhem was noticeably thinner; his once-round face now had angles and hollows. He looked older, too, to their searching eyes. But his humor had not changed, nor had his hearty, loud laugh. “Who’d ever have thought,” he joked, “that your little brother would turn out to be worth a king’s ransom!”
“Actually an emir’s ransom,” Henri corrected with a grin, “or ten emirs, to be precise. My uncle freed ten highborn Saracens to gain Guilhem’s release.”
Guilhem’s grateful brothers began to acclaim Richard for his generosity, marveling that he’d have given up such a vast sum for a Norman knight, one who’d merely been doing his duty to protect his king. For Richard, this had been a