Kingdom Come (32 page)

Sean pushed himself in between Christian and Kieran, taking Rory by the hand and tucking it into the crook of his elbow.

“If you barbarians are going to start fighting, I’d better remove the lady,” he said, leading her out of the line of fire. “Please give this woman a demonstration on the idiocy of this family. Well? Go ahead and brutalize each other.”

Kieran’s brow furrowed as Sean took Rory a few feet away; he followed and reclaimed her. “Give her back to me,” he scolded lightly. “You are already married.”

Sean laughed; Rory watched him, sensing that he was a very gentle, low-key man.  “Is your wife at Southwell?” she asked him.

He nodded. “My wife and my daughter,” he replied, watching Kieran’s face light up with surprise. “The child was born last year.  She’s beautiful, Kieran. We named her Eleanor, after mother.”

Kieran clapped his brother on the shoulder in sincere congratulations. “Well done,” he murmured, his eyes glimmering with warmth. “She will have a cousin join her this fall.”

The news sent the brothers into a flurry of congratulatory hugs and slugs for Kieran. Then they turned on Rory and she was rather startled when they all descended on her with happy kisses to the cheek. Christian nearly knocked her over in his enthusiasm.  Kieran shoved his tall brother back by the head.

“Back, you animal,” he growled good-naturedly. As Christian grinned, Kieran indicated the others in his party. “I want you to meet my Saracen friends; these men have risked their lives for me so that I might return home and I want you to give them all due respect. Look not to their skin color; look to their character and heart, for I would not be here if it were not for them.”

The smiles and joviality began to fade as the Hage brothers beheld Yusef. Up until this point, they had been focused on Kieran and his wife. Now they gazed at Yusef, who dismounted his caramel colored horse and stood there, allowing the knights to become used to the sight of him. There was no animosity sensed, only varied degrees of curiosity.  Sean was the first one, as usual, to approach him.

“My lord,” he greeted, unsure what more to say. “If my brother holds you in such high regard, then I will as well. You are welcome at Southwell.”

Yusef nodded at the square-jawed brother who looked a good deal like Kieran. Christian and Andrew greeted him as well, with more confusion than anything else, but they were polite. They were all big, white, well-fed men. No one bothered to greet Kaleef at all, for the old man still sat upon the pony cart, watching the situation warily. Lacking any more to say, Kieran gestured at the cab.

“Let us escort my wife back to the safety of Southwell,” he said. “I am sure she is anxious to stop traveling.”

The brothers went to collect their horses, who were wandering around the area, nibbling on foliage.  Kieran lifted Rory into the carriage, kissing her sweetly.  She clutched his hand before he walked away.

“Your brothers seem really sweet,” she said quietly.

He smirked at her. “Perhaps to you,” he said. “But I assure you, they are ferocious in battle.”

She lifted her eyebrows and sat back in her seat. “I have no doubt.”

He winked at her and shut the door.   Rory watched Kieran and his brothers rally the army as her little party fell in somewhere in the middle of it. It was a big mass of mounted men and Rory found great interest in the horses, tack and what the soldiers were wearing.  Yusef ended up riding next to her, inside the swarm of white soldiers, and looked up at him, concerned for the dark man in a land of white people. Although the Hage brothers seemed to have accepted him right away, Rory knew a little of prejudice given that she grew up in Southern California. There were a multitude of races and she had heard and seen something of discrimination in her life.  She suddenly felt very protective of Yusef, the man who risked everything to save a man he knew by reputation only.

“Yusef?” she called to him.

He paused and smiled politely at her. “How may I serve you, Lady Hage?”

She looked up at him through the cab window, not sure how to voice what she was thinking. “Are… are you all right?”

He cocked his head curiously. “What do you mean?”

“Are you well? Do you feel well? Happy? At ease?”

His expression rippled with confusion. “I am well. Why do you ask?”

She gazed up at him, thinking he had no idea what she was talking about. Perhaps she should just let it go.

“I just wanted to make sure,” she said. “You’re in a strange country with people who are technically your enemy, so I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

Some of the smile returned to his face; he began to understand what she meant and he was oddly touched. “It is kind of you to ask, Lady Hage,” he said. “I am well.”

Rory let the subject go, sitting back in the cab and pulling David on to her lap.  The little boy fell asleep against her for the rest of the afternoon.  She slept with him.

CHAPTER TWELVE

That night, the army camped about fifteen miles from Southwell, amassed in a big group with blazing fires and the smells of cooking meat. Rory hadn’t really been around the heavy smells of roasting fatty animal flesh and she quickly realized that the smell made her very nauseous. It was a heavy, cloying smell. She wouldn’t even touch the mutton that had been freshly cooked, so Kieran broke out the earthenware jug that was about a quarter full with the wonderful orange segments,  and some bread and butter. That was about all she would eat.  After all of the trouble he went to, she was exhausted and wanted to go to bed.

She slept with David and Bud, and Kieran spent all night talking to his brothers just outside the tent where Rory and the boys slept. A fire blazed warmly and the Hage boys drank and talked, mostly about Kieran’s sojourn to the Holy Land.

Kieran eventually informed them of the secret meeting with El Hajidd and Simon de Corlet’s treachery. Although he told his brothers that it was a secret peace meeting, he did not mention the gift that would seal the bargain. The crown of thorns did not yet make it into the conversation, mostly because Kieran wasn’t sure how his brother’s would take that particular bit of knowledge.  But he also made it very clear that the king knew that he was not a traitor, courtesy of an informant, and that it was Simon who had been branded both liar and traitor.  At the end of the conversation, he informed them that Simon was thought to have returned to England to escape the king’s wrath. 

The knowledge that Simon was somewhere in England brought great ire from Christian in particular.  The man tended to be the most volatile of the four and he swore he would seek out de Corlet and deliver the man a painful death. Andrew, the youngest, went along with his brother while Sean, perhaps the most politically informed of the group, sat mostly silent. Sean, as an agent for Richard and William du Longchamp, was essentially a spy.  He knew more, and saw more, than most. While Christian and Andrew planned a slow and agonizing demise for de Corlet, Sean turned to Kieran.

“I’ve not heard any rumor of de Corlet’s return,” he said quietly. “But trust me when I say that I will find out what I can.”

Kieran looked at his brother; eighteen months younger than him, the two had always been inordinately close. He’d missed Sean a great deal and he respected and admired his brother tremendously.  While Kieran went with Richard to The Levant, Sean had stayed home to fight for Richard’s cause on English soil.  It was, in Kieran’s opinion, the more difficult battle.

“Where is the prince right now?” Kieran’s voice was low.

Sean inhaled thoughtfully. “As of one month ago, he was at Belvoir Castle.”

Kieran was silent a moment. “Sean,” he said softly, slowly. “There is something I did not tell you about my meeting with the Saracens,” he moved closer to his brother as Christian and Andrew continued to drink and spew threats. “There was a deeper purpose to that meeting, one that is at the heart of everything. You see, El Hajidd presented me with a gift for the Christian kings, something of such great Christian significance that it would provide no doubt as to the Saracen sincerity. This gift is why Simon spent nearly a week attempting to assassinate me before I was able to leave the Holy Land.”

Sean’s dark eyes glittered in the weak firelight. “What is this gift?”

Kieran thought on where to begin. “Let me give you a brief history lesson and then perhaps you will understand better,” he began softly. “When our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross at Mount Calvary, his body was taken and prepared for burial by Joseph of Aramethea among others. 'Tis said that after the resurrection, Marc collected not only the shroud of Christ's burial, but the diadem of thorns that had been cast to the floor of the vault when our Lord's body had been wrapped. As you know, Jerusalem was under Roman control and no place for Christians. Especially those close to Christ. Joseph traveled north in his ministry, carrying with him the shroud and the crown, until he came to Tyre."

Sean nodded slowly, increasingly enthralled. “Go on.”

Kieran did. “While in Tyre, he stayed with an innkeeper and his family. Romans abound, however, and the innkeeper saved Joseph’s life against a band of particularly cruel soldiers. In thanks, Joseph gave the pious man one of the only possession of value he had; the crown of thorns. The innkeeper kept the crown and passed it down through generations of his family. Eventually, the family converted to Islam, although the crown was still kept sacred. When the Crusades came, the patriarch of the family buried the crown to keep it from being destroyed by vengeful fanatics. Even as the family fought against the Christian knights, the crown was still kept hidden until the coming of Guy de Lusignan and Frederick of Barbarossa."

“And?” Sean was on the edge of his seat.

Kieran was fixed on him. "The family had risen to prestige within the ranks of Saladin's warriors, including the eldest son and heir. When the collapse of Acre became apparent over two years of continuous fighting, the heir attempted to negotiate a truce without Saladin's consent. Saladin, of course, was reluctant to a surrender of any kind, but El Hajidd, the heir apparent of this family, was convinced a peaceable treaty was necessary in order to preserve what was left of Saladin's forces. As a show of good faith, he extended the crown of thorns, the relic his family had kept safe for over one thousand years, as a peace offering, something the Christians would value above all else."

By this time, Sean was gazing at him with some shock. “And you accepted the crown?”

“I have it in my bags.”

Sean struggled not to let his jaw drop; he stared at Kieran with the most awe-struck expression. “God’s Blood, Kieran,” he hissed. “If this is true, then you hold the greatest holy relic to ever exist.  What are you planning to do?”

Kieran cocked an eyebrow. “My goal was to live long enough to bring it home. Now that I am here, I am not sure what to do. I would seek advice from you and father to this end.”

Sean was still dumbfounded; across the fire, Christian and Andrew had deteriorated into drunken revelry.  Kieran watched his inebriated younger brothers a moment before returning his focus to Sean.  The second eldest Hage brother caught Kieran’s attention and, after a moment’s pause, simply puckered his lips thoughtfully.

“Father will have something to say about this, to be sure,” he finally said. “That and the fact you have taken a wife without his permission.”

The corner of Kieran’s mouth twitched. “He will fall in love with her as I have.”

“He will want to know about her family.”

“I told you; her family is Irish nobility. The name is Osgrove.”