Authors: Unknown
“His business?” Guillaume’s reserve fell away at these words. “I am not doing this to help any of your
businesses
, Vitturi. Remember that.” He drained his wine and swung away from the Venetian.
“Of course, my lord, of course,” said Angelo with mock gravity, claiming back some of his authority as the grand master’s poise slipped. “I was just trying to divine his possible motives.” He watched Guillaume pace the chamber. “The most important thing now is to discover what damage has been done. We need to know if Soranzo has betrayed us all. If he has exposed our plan.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I will go to his house immediately and speak with him.”
Guillaume stopped pacing. He looked at Angelo derisively, his composure returning. “You expect him just to offer up this information to you? No, I do not think so. And he will have personal guards, will he not? If he is the one responsible for my attack, he will know that his death will be required as punishment. I doubt you would have much opportunity to question him with a sword in the gullet.”
Angelo drew himself up. “Then let me lead a company of your knights and I will arrest him by force.”
“A merchant lead a company of Templars?” Guillaume went to the door. “I will send them myself.”
“I know Guido, my lord,” called Angelo at his back. “He won’t speak to your knights. We are not the same as you. We deal in money, commodities, not swords and battle lines. I understand him. I can make him talk.” Guillaume halted at the door. “It is not just you who has been affected by his betrayal,” continued Angelo. “Indeed, if we have been exposed, out of all of us, you stand to lose the least. We came to you with this plan, my father and I. Let me deal with Soranzo in my own way.”
“No Templar would ever be led by you,” said Guillaume, turning back to him.
“They would if you ordered it,” countered Angelo. “Tell them I’m a former associate of Soranzo’s, brought in by you to interrogate him. Put one of your men in charge, by all means, but let me question Soranzo. You know I’m right,” he added. As Guillaume’s eyes flashed with anger, Angelo thought he had gone too far. He was searching for some way of retracting his words when Guillaume opened the door. “My lord,” said Angelo, worriedly.
“Zaccaria.”
There came the sound of footsteps.
“Yes, sir?”
“Gather the others.” Guillaume paused. “And find Commander Campbell. He will escort Angelo Vitturi to Soranzo’s house.”
Angelo felt a surge of triumph. A moment later it faded into a simmering rage. For months he had been forced to put up with Guido Soranzo’s snide comments and foul temper, and now it seemed that all the while he had been plotting against them. How much damage had been done to their plans for war, and, ultimately, to his plans to salvage the Vitturi business, he did not know. But one thing he was certain of was that Guido would pay for this. And pay dear.
11
The Genoese Quarter, Acre 12 MARCH A.D. 1276
“Secure the gates. Don’t let anybody through.”
“Yes, sir.”
Guido Soranzo watched the guard head down the corridor, sword in hand, but felt no reassurance. He jumped as a hand touched his shoulder. His wife was behind him, her face filled with confusion and worry. She was wearing a richly embroidered cloak over a white silk nightshift that ballooned around her ample middle.
“What is happening, Guido? My maid has just woken me and told me that you want us to leave?”
Guido grasped her firmly, making her gasp. “I need you to rouse the children and pack as many belongings as you can. Take only things we can carry to the harbor.” He stared around the wide corridor at the ornate tapestries and life-size statues, torchlight reflected in the marble surfaces. “We’ll just have to leave the rest.”
“Guido, you’re scaring me.”
“Do you trust me?” he said urgently.
She nodded tentatively.
“Then do this for me. I will explain everything later, but we need to get to a ship as soon as possible. I want to sail for Genoa tonight.”
Dazed, but compliant, his wife allowed him to press her in the direction of their children’s bedchambers.
When she had gone, Guido hurried to his study. In the crisp air, he could smell his own sweat. Entering, he went to a chest behind his desk. He paused before he reached it, his eyes drawn by a leather ball on the floor. For a second, he felt annoyance; how many times had he told his son not to play in here? Then reality crashed in and he had to fight back an urge to sob. He had put them all in peril. And for what? More gold? No, he told himself savagely,
not
for gold. He had done it because it had been the right thing to do. The grand master and the others had to be stopped: they were going to destroy everything. But deep down inside him a sad little voice disagreed.
He had been in the church of San Lorenzo for Vespers when he’d heard about the raid on the Saracen. Templars, people were saying, had arrested the landlord and freed Muslim slaves. Unable to glean any clear information from their whisperings, Guido slipped out of the aisles and left the church. His mind spinning, he hastened to the tavern, skidding through the dirty streets, his velvet hose soon caked with mud and excrement. He was followed by a company of ragged Genoese children who started clamoring for money, then chased the panting, sweating man for the fun of it, laughing and whooping. By the time he reached the Saracen, Guido was drenched and gasping. Seeing a Templar coming out of the tavern with several men wearing the colors of the Genoese guard, he decided to go no closer. It hadn’t taken him long to find someone willing tell him what had happened: the whole district was buzzing with the news. For a couple of coins, several eager informants were tripping over themselves to tell him how Templars had arrested Sclavo for the attempted murder of their grand master.
On hearing those words, Guido returned home as if the Devil himself was at his heels. But he had approached the palazzo with caution, dreading to see Templars moving inside the grounds. His fear for his own life initially overtook his concern for his family, and for a few moments, he thought of running to the docks. Then, sickened by his own weakness and inspired by guilt, he had been filled with an almost valiant desire to defend them and had stridden determinedly inside, ready to fight all comers.
Now, as he opened the chest to reveal an ornate silver dagger, he realized how violently he was shaking. But surely having a weapon in his hands had to feel better than this cringing helplessness? Through the windows came the sound of hoofbeats, shattering the quiet night. Guido curled a meaty hand around the hilt. He heard shouts from his guards, then an agonized cry. The gates of the palazzo clanged harshly as they were flung open.
THE TEMPLE, ACRE, 12 MARCH A.D. 1276
King Hugh III of Cyprus sat easily in his saddle, head held high, as he steered his white mare down the Street of St. Anne, past the convent of the same name, whose lofty bell tower disappeared in darkness. The area was hushed, with most of the citizens now in their homes for the night. Hugh and his entourage, made up of royal guards and his solemn advisor, Guy, moved in a glowing amber sphere cast by the torches three of the guards held. The flames shone on the outer walls of the Temple that rose up to their right, where creepers trailed green fingers across the stonework and tiny black lizards darted away as the light passed over them. After a few more yards they could see the massive tower that straddled the Temple’s gates, the four gold lions that capped its turrets visible as patches of glittery brightness far above. The gates were shut.
Hugh caught his advisor looking at him. “What is it, Guy?”
Guy seemed hesitant to speak, but did so. “Are you certain you wish to do this now, my liege? Would it not be better to wait until morning?”
“If I come in the morning, he will be in chapel or eating or in a chapter meeting, or doing something else that
regretfully
cannot be interrupted.” Hugh’s tone was caustic. “At this time of night, I defy him to think of any such excuse.”
Guy nodded, but didn’t looked convinced.
“I will go in alone.”
“My liege ...”
Hugh raised a gloved hand. “I wish to speak with him in private, one man to another. Perhaps then he will afford me the respect he has so far withheld.”
The company reached the gates, and Hugh swung himself easily from the saddle, straightening his gold cloak that snugly fitted his lean frame. One of the guards took the reins of the mare; another jumped down and approached the door cut into the huge wooden gates, crisscrossed with bands of iron. He banged on it with a mailed fist as Hugh slipped off his gloves and passed a hand through his dark, curly hair. His olive-skinned face was taut with anticipation.
A bolt slid back on the other side of the door. Torchlight spilled out and a man appeared, clad in the black tunic of a Templar sergeant. He wore a helmet and had a short sword strapped to his hip. “Yes?”
“My liege lord, Hugh III, king of Cyprus and Jerusalem, demands a meeting with Grand Master de Beaujeu.” The guard spoke loud and clear, as if addressing a much larger audience.
The sergeant looked a little surprised. “I’m afraid Grand Master de Beaujeu is seeing no visitors.”
“Then he will tell me that himself,” said Hugh, stepping forward, so the guard could see him.
“Your Majesty.” Looking discomforted, the guard offered Hugh a bow. “I have been given strict instructions not to—”
“I am a king,” said Hugh patiently, as if the guard hadn’t spoken at all. “King, indeed, of this whole region.” He swept a slender, ring-encrusted hand out behind him. “It is my privilege to go where I will, man. Your grand master is well aware that I wish to speak with him. And have for some time.” His calm began to slide away. “Thrice, I have invited him to an audience and thrice I have been refused. You will let me in or I swear Master de Beaujeu will know my anger!” He spoke these last words with such vehemence that the sergeant took a step back.
“I will tell him, Your Majesty, but I cannot guarantee a favorable response.” The sergeant opened the gate wider. “Bring your men inside. You can wait in the guardhouse if you wish. We have a fire there.”
Hugh settled a little at this. “Thank you,” he said cordially, stepping through the gate, followed by his men, who led the horses in one by one.
The sergeant spoke quickly to his comrades in the guardhouse, then set off across the yard toward the grand master’s palace. The royal company filed awkwardly into the cramped, stuffy chamber at the bottom of the gate tower, eyed by the Templar sergeants. Hugh stood in the doorway brooding, his eyes passing over the expansive courtyard, bordered by impressive buildings. He resented the preceptory’s high walls that shut him out; resented that the Templars were untouchable inside them, locked away in their own sacred space. The rest of the city was much the same in its divisions, but at least he always felt he had authority in the other quarters. People listened to him there, treated him like a king. Here, he felt as if he were imposing, as if he should apologize for intruding. And he hated that feeling. Raising his shoulders, he made himself stand erect. He didn’t care who the knights thought they were or how favored they were by the pope in Rome. He might not be able to touch them here, but back in Cyprus their holdings weren’t fortresses like this. Back in Cyprus they were vulnerable.
He had power over them. And if they pushed him too far, by God he would use it. The thought lent him renewed confidence, and by the time the sergeant returned with the news that the grand master would see him briefly, Hugh felt almost cocksure.
Five minutes later, he entered the grand master’s solar. Guillaume turned from the window as the sergeant shut the door. His face was half in shadow, his expression unreadable. The two men faced each other across the room. Hugh was shorter, slender rather than muscular, and at twenty-six he was fourteen years Guillaume’s junior, but he maintained his erect pose in the presence of the grand master. There was a long moment of silence as neither man moved, both expecting the other to bow first.
Finally, Hugh, clasped his hands behind his back. “I am glad that you acceded to see me, Master de Beaujeu.”
“It seemed I had no choice,” answered Guillaume. “It is late, my lord. What is so important that you needed to see me at this hour?”
“It is not yet Compline,” retorted Hugh, irritated by Guillaume’s aplomb. “And I believed that this must be the best time to see you, being that I have summoned you at other hours of the day and have been told that you are occupied with some business or other.” He fixed the grand master with a glare. “I would like to know exactly what business has kept you from addressing me since your arrival in my lands. It is customary for dignitaries to pay homage to their king. Or were you simply unaware of this etiquette?”
Guillaume’s eyes narrowed, but his tone, when he spoke, remained flat and low. “I did pay homage to my king. Back in Sicily.”
Hugh wanted to explode at this comment, but with Herculean effort he managed to dampen down his fury, Guy’s advice from earlier sounding in his mind.
You must try to turn the grand master to your side. I’m afraid it may be your best chance of keeping Charles d’Anjou from your throne.
“Charles may be your king in Sicily, Master de Beaujeu,” said Hugh, pushing the words through clenched teeth. “But in Outremer I am sovereign. The High Court has decreed it. I have the greater claim to the throne. According to the law I, not Maria, hold the right to Jerusalem’s crown. It has been settled.”
“Not as far as the pope is concerned. Not as far as I am concerned.”
“Why do you dispute my right?” demanded Hugh. “Because Charles is your cousin? I thought you above petty nepotism.”
“It has nothing to do with blood and everything to do with power,” replied Guillaume. “Charles has the power to raise armies and lead a Crusade. He has the power to turn the tide that threatens to drown us. You do not and have shown no willingness to take back our lost territories. Indeed you pandered to Baybars’s demands at Beirut rather than risk any hurt to your position. I have been told you even pay him a tribute now. Twenty thousand dinars a year?” Before Hugh could answer, Guillaume continued. “The pope knows this, which is why he advised Maria to sell her rights to Charles.” His tone was forthright rather than malicious. “You should stand down, Hugh, let Charles do for us all what you will not.”