Kingdom Come (14 page)

She ran along side him as they made their way through the shadowed streets, putting distance between them and the burning hut. “He and the old woman ran off,” she said. “He tried to get me to go with him but I wouldn’t.”

Kieran held her fast as they continued to run. “We must make haste to put distance between us and Simon’s men.”

“Did you see Simon?”

“Nay. But I am sure he was there, somewhere.”

Horses were suddenly thundering behind them.Kieran yanked Rory into an alcove in between houses, holding her tightly as the horses drew near; he knew they could never out run the horses so it was best to hide.  He could hear the men calling to each other in English and his heart sank; if there was ever any doubt that Simon had found him, it was gone. Simon was upon them.

CHAPTER SIX

He was a big man with big hands and a crown of light blond hair.  His eyes were brown, his face sharp and hawk-like. Sir Simon de Corlet came from an extremely old family, one that had come to England’s shores with William the Conqueror, and he held the mannerisms and sense of entitlement that breeding like that produced.   He was cruel, arrogant, loud and privileged.

Simon had known Kieran Hage since they had been pages at Kenilworth Castle.  He both deeply loved and deeply resented Kieran; as the years passed, the men grew closer but Kieran, as always, was the favored one. He was bigger, strong, more benevolent, wiser, and the better warrior. Simon adored Kieran but mostly stayed close to him hoping to glean something from Kieran’s glory. 

When the secret meeting between the Muslims and the Christians took place, Kieran was at the head of the delegation and Simon only saw greater glory for Kieran than he had ever known. Simon would have none of it; at that moment his resentment for Kieran grew greater than his love.  He tried to kill Kieran and take the crown. But when that didn’t work and Kieran evaded him, Simon did the only thing he could; he sent word to the king that he had caught Kieran Hage in a traitorous act against the Christian armies.  It was a preemptive strike that he hoped would discredit Kieran in the eyes of the king so that Simon could capture or kill Kieran and say he had done it in the name of the king. 

But it was more than that; before Simon left for the Levant, he had been given a directive from his father, a man extremely loyal to Henry II and, consequently, Prince John. Simon had been given specific instructions from his father to watch Richard and to do what was necessary to preserve the cause of Henry II and Prince John. He’d stopped short of asking his son to assassinate the king, but the message had been obvious.  Simon was too fearful to outright assassinate a monarch, instead hoping that prolonged battle would accomplish the task naturally. If Kieran delivered the Muslim peace offering, then the opportunity for extended battle, and Richard’s death as a result, would be ended.

But Kieran was as wise and strong as Simon knew him to be. He had thus far evaded Simon’s attempts to kill him. But that was soon to end; having tracked Kieran to a hostel in Nahariya, Simon and his men descended upon the place only to be told by the innkeeper that Kieran had fled.

In a rage, Simon had killed the innkeeper but the man’s wife had run off screaming. It was only a hunch to follow the howling woman, a hunch that had paid off; they had found Kieran near the outskirts of Nahariya with a group of Saracens.  The savages fought fiercely on Kieran’s behalf and Simon began to wonder if the lie he fed to the king wasn’t in some part true. Perhaps Kieran was a traitor after all. He could not account for the savages willing to defend him.

He’d caught a glimpse of Kieran as the fighting started.  Then the hut that Kieran had been hiding in had caught fire and the man had disappeared into the smoke.  Simon eventually recognized one of the Saracens; the man had been at the secret meeting with the crown of thorns had been presented to the Christian delegation. As the fighting worsened and Kieran seemed to have disappeared completely, Simon sent four of his men to see if Kieran had managed to escape from the burning structure. He ordered the men that remained with him to back off of the fight.

The hut was in flames, disintegrating before his eyes.  There were several Saracen warriors inside and Simon backed off as the flames grew.

“
Sauvages!
” he bellowed. “
J'offre vous cesse
!”

The fighting continued in spite of the order to cease. Simon screamed to his own men, ordering them to halt, and they backed off even as the Saracens continued the hostilities.Simon dismounted his horse, shoving aside battling men and making his way towards Yusef.

“Al-Din,” he shouted. “
Arrêter la lutte
!”

Yusef’s sword was arched high over his head, preparing to come down on one of Simon’s men but he stopped mid-stroke, watching Simon walk towards him.He recognized the English knight, a colleague of Hage’s.  Confusion filled his face.

“You?” he spoke in a baffled whisper. “
You
are the assassin?”

Simon’s brown eyes glittered. “Sir Kieran is a traitor.”

Yusef’s puzzlement grew. “What madness is this?”

Simon motioned to the rest of his men, silently ordering them to sheathe their weapons and mount their horses.  He backed up, towards his horse, keeping his weapon leveled.

“He met with savages in a secret to plot against the downfall of the Christian armies,” Simon replied evenly. “I have told the king that Kieran is a traitor. Of course, I am in fear of my life from Kieran for the man knows that I am aware of his treachery. If Kieran returns to Richard’s camp, he will be arrested. Since you apparently have contact with Kieran, you will tell him this.”

Yusef stared at the man, wondering at the chaos of the situation. Although he recognized Simon, he did not know the man as he knew Kieran. Kieran had been the knight with the fair reputation, close to the English king, two factors that caused the Saracens to consider Kieran a man to trust for their message of peace. De Corlet had come with Kieran as a trusted associate. But now, that was apparently not so. Simon had turned against Kieran for reasons Yusef could not even begin to guess. But there was a strong sense of resentment along with his confusion.

“Why would you tell your king that Kieran is a traitor?” he shook his head, baffled. “You were at the secret meeting also. You know this is not true.”

Some of Simon’s smugness fled. “I will not explain myself to a savage,” he snarled, leaping onto the back of his charger. “You will tell Kieran that if he tries to returns to Richard’s camp, he will be killed before he can reach it.”

With that, he reined his horse brutally, digging his long, golden spurs into the side of the beast and charging off into the darkness. His men charged after him, leaving a massive cloud of dust in their wake. Yusef stood there with his warriors, watching the Christian knights disappear into the shadows as Kaleef’s hut went up in flame behind them.  By this time, some of the neighbors had been aroused and several threw buckets of sand on the blaze, trying to keep it from spreading to their homes.  As the blaze roared, Yusef and his men simply walked away.

“What do we do?” one of Yusef’s men hissed at him.

Yusef kept walking as his men grouped around them, heading for the horses that were tethered by the small livery at the end of the block. Beyond his confusion now, he was simply feeling anger and, if he were to admit it, a little fear. Something strange was happening and he began to fear for his own life, wondering if there were Muslims that felt the same way as the Christians did. Nothing was clear any longer, and good-will and benevolence were vanished.

“Find Kieran,” he snapped softly, watching his men run off and collect their mounts. “He cannot have gotten far. Find him before that Christian devil does.”

***

Horses were rushing past their hiding place and Kieran held Rory tightly, his massive arms wrapped around her protectively as the clear brown eyes watched the passing horses like a hawk.There were at least four of them and he thought he could hear more in the distance; the original peace delegation that had met with El-Hajidd and his generals had comprised eleven knights. Out of that group, six had sided with Simon and the four that had sided with Kieran had been killed. There were still three more knights out there that wanted to see Kieran dead and he wasn’t too inclined to move from his hiding place at the moment.

So he stayed put. In his arms, Rory trembled against him and he stroked her on occasion, reassuring her that all would be well. As the night progressed, she fell asleep against him and he held her fast, tucked tight into the nook that had protected them against the murderers. But at some point, he knew they would have to move and he gently shook her awake, giving her a few moments to become lucid. Whatever Kaleef had given her was making her very drowsy and he promised her they would find a more permanent rest very soon. In truth, she seemed to be taking the turmoil very well; like Kieran, she was in survival mode and all of the complaining the world wouldn’t change the fact.  She seemed oddly resigned. Making sure the alley was clear, Kieran took Rory quietly into the night.

They began to head back in the direction of Kaleef’s hut. The smell of smoke was heavy in the air and they realized it was because Hut’s burning home had set several others ablaze. Kieran kept out of sight as much as he could as they made their way down the dark and shadowed avenue when two figures suddenly emerged from another darkened alleyway. Kieran and Rory were preparing to run when Kieran suddenly recognized one of the wraiths.

“Yusef!” he hissed.

Yusef’s dark eyes found Kieran in the dim light and he ran to him, followed by one of his warriors. They were quiet and stealth as they moved. Before Kieran could speak, Yusef cut him off.

“There is trouble, my friend,” he grabbed Kieran and practically shoved him back into the shadows. “The Englishmen who came for you told of a tremendous tale. You cannot return to your king.”

Kieran’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Yusef looked nervous; the warrior beside him kept vigilant watch as Yusef continued on.

“De Corlet was with the group that attacked Kaleef,” he said in a low voice. “Did you see him?”

Kieran shook his head. “I did not. Where was he?”

“He was on horseback. He stayed back as his men tried to gain entry, as we bought you time to escape,” Yusef’s dark eyes grew intense. “De Corlet told us that he told your king that you are a traitor.”

Kieran just stared at him, hardly believing what he was hearing. “That’s madness,” he hissed. “I am not a traitor.”

“Nay, you are not,” Yusef shook his head slowly. “But you did not tell me that it was de Corlet who tried to assassinate you.”

Yusef knew Simon as part of the Christian peace delegation.  Simon had stood supportively next to Kieran as the man had accepted the crown of thorns from El-Hajidd. It was a sickening realization to both Kieran and Yusef that the Christians had turned against each other.

“Aye, it is him,” Kieran confirmed quietly.

“Why is he trying to murder you?”

“I do not know,” Kieran replied honestly. “Perhaps because he would rather see the Muslims a conquered people than see an armistice that would prevent more deaths on either side. Perhaps he does not want to see the siege of Acre end; perhaps he wants to see Saladin completely destroyed.”

By this time, Yusef’s expression was tight. “So he is trying to kill you because you have the crown of thorns, the offering of peace extended by Saladin.”