'Do you also pledge to honour the interests of the emperor in all matters pertaining to the recovery of lands, properties, treasures, and relics belonging to the empire?' demanded Alexius when the lord had finished.
'This I also pledge,' answered Raymond solemnly.
'And do you make this vow in fear of forfeiting your soul's eternal happiness, should you fail to discharge it faithfully?'
Bishop Adhemar opened his mouth to object, but Stephen wisely prevented him, grasping the disagreeable cleric by the arm and squeezing hard.
'I do so right and well, Lord Emperor,' answered Raymond readily, and without guile.
'Then we accept your vow in place of the oath which all other Christian noblemen have sworn,' the emperor said, unable to keep the reprimand to himself. 'Go now and assemble your troops. The commander of the fleet will be informed to begin the transport of your armies. The charge will be assessed at a cost of twenty marks a day for each ship required; this you will repay to the imperial treasury. Further, we will assemble a company of Immortals under the command of Taticius, who will serve as our emissary to offer counsel and look after our interests in our absence. You are to treat our envoy as you would the emperor himself. Do you understand?'
'Perfectly, Lord Emperor,' answered Raymond, much relieved to have settled the matter satisfactorily.
'Then we wish you God's speed, and swift victory over our common adversaries,' Alexius said. 'My lords, we commend you to your course.'
'Pax Vobiscum,' replied the western lords.
Before they stepped away from the throne, the emperor said, 'May we offer you a word of friendly warning?'
'Of course, Lord Emperor,' replied Stephen happily. 'Your instruction would be most welcome.'
'The Seljuqs are formidable, and they are fearless,' Alexius said, becoming the wily commander once again. 'They fight on horseback using the bow; they will harry you all day with feints and charges, seeking to wear down your numbers with their incessant arrows. Yet, they will not stand to battle. Do not mistake this for cowardice; it is nothing of the kind. Rather, it is their nature.
'We advise you, therefore, that when you are attacked you must close on them at once. Make them fight. Most likely, they will retreat, rather than meet you face to face. Should they flee, you must not give chase; their horses are faster than yours and they will easily outdistance you. Under no circumstance must you allow your mounted soldiers to become separated from those on foot. The Arab races are skilled horsemen, and can regroup in the twinkling of an eye. They like nothing better than turning on their pursuers, and taking them unawares, or circling back to attack the unguarded infantry. The same can be said of ambush and treachery.'
He watched the lords and saw that his words were having little effect on the two before him, so he concluded, saying, 'We beg you to remember, it is not courage which will win against the Seljuq, it is cunning.'
A sneer of disdain appeared on Raymond's face. 'We have heard your counsel, and thank you for it. But with all respect, Lord Emperor,' he replied, 'the Saracen will soon learn to fear crusader steel. With God and truth on our side, we have no need of cunning.'
'Then go with God, my friends.' The emperor dismissed them, and watched as they backed away from the throne. When the two had gone, Alexius turned to his kinsman, and said, 'What do you think, cousin?'
'I think the imperial treasury will soon flow with pilgrim gold,' Dalassenus replied. 'But why send the troop ships away, only to return them at hire? I cannot think you did it to save the cost of transport.'
'That?' wondered Alexius with mild surprise. 'I merely wished to teach them something about power, and their dependence on the empire. Whether they like it or not, they need us if they are to successfully achieve their conquest of Jerusalem.'
'I see,' answered the commander. 'I was thinking you had a different reason: that the gold was better given to you now, than plundered by the Seljuq later.'
'You hold their chances as poor as that, do you?'
'I am being optimistic, Basileus,' the commander assured him. 'How they have made it this far is a mystery to me. But, from what I have seen of the Seljuqs, I know these pilgrims will never set foot in Jerusalem. As you have said, if courage alone had sufficed, we would have conquered them long ago.'
Alexius, brooding now, folded his hands beneath his chin and stared before him, as if into a dark and frightening future.
'These men – these commanders know nothing of what awaits them. They do not know the land; they have no idea of distances or terrain. They lack all understanding of the Arab-none of them have even seen a Seljuq, let alone fought an amir's army. To say that they will never see Jerusalem is, I think, no more than a realistic assessment. Taking all they lack in knowledge and provision, I believe most will never even see Antioch.'
'Yes,' agreed Alexius gloomily, 'and that is a very great shame. I greatly pity the soldiers of the line. As always, they will pay for the ignorance and folly of their leaders, and the cost will be fearfully great indeed.' He paused for a moment, as if trying to imagine the enormity of the sacrifice. 'And yet,' he said, after a moment. He lifted his head and looked at Dalassenus, 'and yet, despite all they lack, they possess one incalculable benefit.'
'What is that, Basileus?'
'Belief,' answered the emperor. 'They believe they have been chosen by God to recover the Holy Land and regain Jerusalem.'
'A belief inspired by ignorance,' the drungarius remarked. 'Such beliefs are nothing more than foolishness.'
'You are forgetting, Dalassenus,' the emperor chided, 'God ever confounds the wisdom of men. And these ignorant, arrogant men are filled with the belief that they can achieve what they have set out to do. I ask you, cousin, what wisdom can stand against such exalted foolishness?'
Dalassenus nodded, accepting the emperor's observation. 'Unfortunately,' he added, 'it is neither wisdom nor folly they must meet on the field of battle-it is the might of Sultan Qilij Arslan, and that of the Seljuq amirs. God help them, I say.'
'Amen,' agreed Alexius. 'He is the only one who can.'
TWENTY-ONE
Jon Wing remarked often on the weather. Every two or three weeks, he proclaimed it a wonder. It was, he maintained, the best sailing he had seen in seven years-twice seven years, even. The days were bright and long, and the winds fair. 'This is a lucky omen,' he insisted. 'We will certainly make our fortune in Jerusalem.'
The vast treasure awaiting them in the Holy Land was something else Jon often remarked upon. At first, Murdo took this as a sign that they must be nearing their destination. Each day he waited for one of the crewmen to sing out with the news that Jerusalem was in sight; each day ended with Murdo closing his eyes on yet another strange and nameless lump of foreign coastline. Yet, despite the continual frustration of his expectation, Murdo awoke the next day all the more certain that this would be the day the Holy Land came into view. After all, how much further could it be?
But, as the days ran to weeks, and the weeks turned to months, and still Jerusalem failed to appear on the horizon, Murdo at last began to take seriously the suggestion that the voyage might indeed take longer than he expected. In the meantime, they continually scanned the wide and empty sea for any sign of King Magnus' fleet.
The king's ships proved as elusive as the Holy City, however; although they sometimes saw a strange sail or two there was never so much as a glimpse of King Magnus' fleet. 'It is fifteen ships,' Jon declared. 'Fifteen cannot sail as swiftly as one! We will find them yet.'