Only with the belief that one day he would come back and win Jerusalem could he be at peace with himself.
The land faded from sight. The crusade was over. He would not brood on the number of lives which had been lost, the amount of blood that had been shed, the torture and agonies which had been inflicted on myriads.
He must think now of what was happening at home; he must make plans for defeating the traitors. But first of all there was the hazardous journey ahead of him.
Chapter XIII
THE ROYAL FUGITIVE
The journey to Corfu was uneventful. During it Richard fully regained his health and had time to assess his situation.
The crusade had failed in its purpose. He might have left with Philip for he had gained very little by staying. Had he gone back to England then, he could have prevented whatever trouble was brewing with John, and he could have planned a greater crusade in the light of what he had learned from the last one.
He had emerged with but little gain: merely the three years truce during which time Christians could visit Jerusalem. But his reputation as a soldier had grown to spectacular magnitude. Richard the Lion-hearted was known throughout the Christian world; minstrels sang of his prowess and his courage in battle. He was the greatest soldier of his age and yet he had not been able to vanquish Saladin. Perhaps in his heart he had not wanted to, and he believed that Saladin had not wished to destroy him. Saladin would have preferred to make him his hostage. He knew that, because there had been several attempts to take him when he was in a vulnerable position, perhaps in some lonely spot with but a few of his knights. He could visualise such a situation. The courteous treatment, the honours, the conversation, the growing friendship. It would have been as it had in those long ago days when he had been a hostage of Philip of France. He would not have believed it possible then that Philip who had loved him so dearly in those days should now be plotting against him.
He had many enemies. This journey of his could be full of dangers. If he were to be washed up on some alien coast defenceless, many willing hands would seize him, and not in order to honour him. The French hated him. They had never agreed during their sojourn in the Holy Land. How often they had shown their enmity. And the Germans disliked him. Henry the Emperor would not forgive him for making an ally of Tancred and Leopold had a personal grudge against him.
He must get back quickly, and to do so he must go as far as possible by land, for who could tell when the sea was going to make progress impossible. At any time ships could be driven on to a coast if they were lucky and kept there for months waiting for favourable winds.
Time was important. His mother had made it clear that urgency was needed; and even after receiving her warning he had delayed.
He would make the journey by land and as it was going to be a dangerous one it would be folly to let it be known that the traveller was Richard of England. He must disguise himself; it was not easy for a king. He could wear the clothes of a beggar but somehow the arrogance, the dignity, the kingly air would seep through and betray him.
Such were his thoughts as he sailed away from the Holy Land and a month after leaving he reached the Island of Corfu.
Two days out from Corfu Richard sighted two vessels on the horizon.
He shouted to his friends to come and see.
‘By God’s eyes,’ he cried, ‘I know not to which country they belong. They would seem to be pirates.’
‘Better pirates, Sire,’ said one of his friends, ‘than French or German.’
‘Be ready,’ cried Richard. ‘We may have to fight them.’
One of the ships came alongside. It was well armed and Richard regretted that his fleet was not with him. He would have made short work of the impudent fellows if it had been there.
The sailors were ready with arrows and stones but Richard did not give the order to attack. He said that first he would try to parley with the pirates.
Using his trumpet he did this. It was not easy. They spoke a variation of Turkish and Arabic; but the stay in Palestine had helped him to understand something of this language and it was just possible to make himself understood.
The vessels were indeed pirates, looking for booty.
Richard had an idea. He cried: ‘If you attempt to board my ship I will have the blood of every man of you. But there is a way in which you could gain a great deal of money without fighting for it.’
The pirate leader was interested and Richard said that he would board the larger of their vessels to parley with him, accompanied by only two of his knights.
The pirate leader was astonished that he could so trust them, and said so.
‘Why, fellow,’ said Richard, ‘if you attempted treachery we would sink your two ships and your men with them. Have no doubt of that. But you have given me your word and I have given you mine. Wise men know that it is never good policy to betray a trust. If you wish to fight and take the spoils of my ship, then I will return to it and we shall battle together. But you are not so foolish.’
‘You are a great lord,’ said the pirate. ‘What is your will?’
‘I wish you to take me on board and convey me and a few of my followers to a spot I shall choose on the Adriatic coast. If you will do this you will be amply paid. If you fail you will surely die with all your sins on you – and a pirate could scarcely pursue his trade without indulging in a goodly number.’
‘You are a brave man,’ said the pirate.
‘It has been said of me.’
‘There is about you a manner different from that of other men. I would say that only great lords and kings have such manners.’
‘Then perhaps you are a discerning man.’
‘There is news around,’ said the pirate, ‘that a great king is on his way back to England.’
‘You hear news then.’
‘We pick it up here and there. It is said that many great lords are looking for the King of England.’
‘For what purpose think you?’
‘That which would brook no good to him, I trow,’ said the pirate with a laugh.
‘And if they were to find him, I trow that would brook no good to them.’
‘He is a mighty man. One ’twould be good not to cross.’
Richard nodded and the pirate smiled slyly.
‘We will do your bidding, my lord,’ he said. ‘We will take you and some of your friends to the spot you choose and if you wish to reward poor men for the trouble they have had, they will be grateful.’
‘You shall be rewarded,’ said Richard. He looked down at the clothes he had adopted soon after leaving Corfu. They were those of a Templar. ‘You see me thus garbed.’
‘My lord, it does not become you as other garbs might.’
‘Then mayhap I should change it. I shall come to your ship as a palmer. Would that fit me better?’
The pirate shook his head. ‘Mayhap ’twill pass but I see you in shining armour, my lord, with a red cross on your breast.’
‘And I see you are a man of insight,’ said Richard, ‘which if it is tempered with discretion should serve you well.’
Thus Richard, in the garb of a humble pilgrim, and a few of his most trusted men boarded the pirate ship. His own he sent off to join his fleet if possible; if not to return to England.
The pirates treated him with a respect which grew during his voyage with them. That he was a man of great courage was obvious to them, that he was Richard the Lion-Heart was almost equally so. They knew they could trust him to reward them if they landed him safely for his honesty was as renowned as his courage. He was a guileless man in many ways; he gave a straight answer and he had so often been deluded because he had trusted others to be as frank as himself. Richard Yea and Nay was a man whose word was his bond.