Prince of Legend (19 page)

Still with proper caution they advanced into the dark gully formed by the high buildings that enclosed the roadway, past open doorways, fearful that a screaming mob of armed men might at any second appear from the side alleys to assault them, in their breasts still recalling the terror in Normandy’s voice when he mentioned that the city might be ravaged by disease.

‘Nothing,’ Tancred said. ‘Not a soul.’

Then he shouted, which coming without warning spooked not only his own horse but also those of Normandy and Toulouse, which got him an angry growl from the latter. All he could do in response to that was laugh, first a chuckle, then louder and louder until the sound echoed through the streets, that fading when they entered an equally deserted square hemmed in by more imposing buildings that spoke of the centre of authority. Raphania was abandoned; fearing massacre, it was now obvious: the population high and low had fled.

‘I suggest, Lord Raymond, that we have no need to camp when we have a whole city in which we might contentedly spend the night.’

‘Lances first, Tancred, let us see if when they fled they took with them everything of value.’

The pickings proved to be meagre in terms of plunder, the flight of the population having clearly been well organised, but there were storerooms full of food too heavy or bulky to bear away, so it was a comfortable place to rest for a short period while some of that was consumed, with care taken that enough was brought to a central point so as to provide the supplies needed for the onward march.

There was some discontent: without seeking permission, parties of lances set out to search the nearby countryside, the distant hills especially, in a search for the Emir of Raphania and the chests of gold they were sure he had taken with him, even to find the more lowly, the traders who might have about them money or possessions to steal. It proved fruitless: no firelit encampment was visible and the caves they found were as empty as the land around them. It was as if the inhabitants of the city had been spirited away by some divine power.

Still, it was an optimistic host that departed Raphania, that too set alight like Ma’arrat, this to avoid the need to detach a garrison, for Raymond was very aware that his numbers did not permit that
he leave a line of fortified towns to his rear. Let those who came after him, if they came after him, make their own way. Even now, with their bellies full and the pilgrims singing as they plodded along, the Count of Toulouse was in no hurry, partly hoping to be reinforced by de Bouillon and Flanders, partly eager for news as to what Bohemund was up to. Information was scant in all respects.

The feeling of well-being and easy passage was shattered when a party of Arabs, possibly from Raphania, raided the rear of the column and inflicted heavy casualties on the pilgrims and camp followers; worse they stole back a goodly quantity of the food the Crusaders had gathered from the storerooms of their city. The people the lances had hoped to find and rob had not been spirited away, and now they were intent on exacting revenge for the torching of their city.

Stung, Raymond took personal control of the rearguard, forming a strong screen of knights to protect the vulnerable. Yet progress, remaining slow – he would not be rushed by mere brigands – allowed those raiding to get ahead of the host so that the next attack came in the centre of the line of march, which obliged Tancred to wheel his Apulians in order to drive them off. This was achieved but not without further losses and the raids continued sporadically until distance intervened.

Since leaving Shaizar and that part of the River Orontes they had ascended and traversed a lengthy plateau. Now they were coming to the end of those uplands, yet Raymond’s hopes that his fellow magnates might come to join with him showed no sign of happening. If he did not understand why, others did; de Bouillon and Flanders would not march with him for to do so would be to acknowledge his leadership.

Would they ever do so, or would they abandon the Crusade
altogether? There was no way of telling and that uncertainty increased the further the distance he put between himself and Antioch. The thought that he might be alone was troubling but one he would not discuss with those who had taken his silver – indeed, he rarely sought to include them in his thinking regarding any future plan, but that could not be maintained; the time had come when alternatives to how they would progress from this point on needed to be examined and that had to be done in the light that they might, indeed, be alone.

T
he direct route to Jerusalem through Nablus was tempting, yet even if Raymond had enjoyed the full strength of the Crusade he and his noble supporters would have hesitated to follow it. First it was flanked by the major city of Homs, before it then took them perilously close to the huge and even more dangerous Muslim metropolis of Damascus.

Being only a fraction of the Latin force made such a course doubly hazardous, it being too much to expect that a city with such a numerous population, as well as one able to draw in strength from the surrounding countryside, would be cowed into submission by stories of Crusader bestiality.

It was not necessary to see Damascus to know that, unlike Homs, they lacked the power to invest such a city – there were enough local voices to relate its size as well as to boast of the defences – added to which such a route increased rather than diminished their seeming
isolation, for once committed they must proceed all the way to Jerusalem.

No news had come from Antioch since they departed Ma’arrat, so Raymond had no real notion of how he stood in relation to the final goal and the further he marched south the greater that lack of knowledge affected their chances of achieving the ultimate objective.

‘The other route is by the coast,’ Raymond said. ‘Supplies we can purchase, we will be in contact with Europe as well as the sailing fleets of Genoa and Pisa, and we can also get news from Antioch of what progress is being made by our confrères.’

The Count drew a line, with the point of his dagger, on one of the ancient maps by which, in a series, the whole Crusade had progressed from Constantinople. What the Roman surveyors had drawn to ease the passage of the legions had not physically changed in the thousand years since. It was not necessary to add that by taking the latter course he was both eschewing haste as well as avoiding the notion of closing in on Jerusalem by himself.

The air of confidence by which this alternative was advanced did not fool Normandy or Tancred; it was a tacit admission that Raymond was taking a detour because he was obliged to wait upon de Bouillon and Flanders to reinforce their expedition before he could even think of entering Northern Palestine. Mingled with a certain sense that the Count of Toulouse was getting what he deserved for his hubris was another emotion: neither man was here to parade around Syria posturing as Crusaders.

They as much as anyone in the host wished to get to Jerusalem and, either peacefully or by siege, take possession of it for their religion and their vows. If their leader was frustrated by the actions of the men they had left encamped at Antioch so were they, though
such thoughts they kept to themselves so as not to feed Raymond’s temper.

‘There are many obstacles to overcome in a march down that coast,’ Normandy insisted, pointing with a finger to such ancient ports as Tripoli and Sidon, which had Raymond drawing in a deep breath of air in preparation to make his case more vehemently, that dissipated when the Duke added, ‘But it is the better course by far.’

‘And for you?’ Raymond asked, looking at Tancred.

Well aware of his relative strength and thus his position in this triple hierarchy, the young man replied tactfully, ‘I have no choice but to bow to your superior judgement, Count Raymond, for in truth, I do not know for certain which is best.’

Normandy reached up a hand and slapped him on the back. ‘None of us know that – it is a guess, no more.’

There was pleasure to be had for the way Raymond looked affronted at such an opinion of his abilities.

As they passed through the abundant al-Bouqia Valley, still marching at a leisurely place, events contrived to underline what they might have faced had they chosen the route through Nablus: the Crusaders were subjected to the first coordinated proper military attacks since setting out from Ma’arrat. The inland side of the valley was overlooked by the mountains of Lebanon, in particular a fortress called Hisn al-Akrad, stuck on the end of a pointed and rocky promontory, which gave those who possessed it a view of the whole region for dozens of leagues in each direction. Small and reputedly somewhat dilapidated as a stronghold, Hisn al-Akrad was still reckoned by repute to be impregnable, being unassailable on three sides due to the sheer near-endless drop from the walls on the
remaining three, nothing but sheer escarpments impossible to climb.

The garrison held it for the Emir of Homs, a potential Arab enemy and that, added to the feeling of security the location generated, led them to descend from their eyrie to raid the marching and overextended Crusader columns as they crossed the plain. In doing so they inflicted much more damage, in terms of killing as well as the stealing and destruction of food and livestock, than the pinpricks they had suffered after leaving Raphania in a raid that left Raymond incandescent with rage.

‘I say we ignore it,’ suggested the Duke of Normandy.

His opinion was based on the difficulty of assaulting such a location, one that was now being examined from below by all three contingent leaders. It would involve a long climb through wooded hillsides and over barren open slopes, then an assault on the one assailable wall, which would have to be carried out with whatever they could hastily construct in the way of ladders once they got there.

‘Tancred?’ asked Raymond.

‘The damage they can do is limited and will lessen as we march on.’ With Raymond quick to frown, he was equally quick to qualify and add what to him was the paramount consideration. ‘The trouble lies in the message it sends to those we must face up ahead.’

It was Normandy who responded, not Raymond. ‘You see it as encouraging them to resist?’

‘Look at Raphania. Fear has been our friend so far and it is an invaluable asset that has kept the likes of the Emir of Homs within his walls. To let pass what happened here will surely dent Muslim caution.’

‘It is your command to give,’ Duke Robert concluded, unwilling to make a stand on his own opinion.

Raymond, his fury unabated, did not hesitate. ‘Then we will attack on the morrow.’

It was not an assault carried out at the customary time of dawn; it took all of the morning just to climb high enough to even get onto the massif at the end of which the fortress sat. It was fortunate that Raymond now led a force well fed and fully restored to vigour, for to navigate the narrow paths through the lower woods, followed by the traverse of the screed and bush-covered slopes, was exhausting.

Their arrival before the walls was no surprise either, not least because it was necessary to recover breath and organisation on what was close to flat ground. Besides, progress had been easily marked at first light, from the moment the lances set out from their camp. Now when actually facing that one exposed wall the Crusaders were subjected to a massive outpouring of jeers and insults to both their manhood and the manner of their birth.

These were ignored and they immediately set about lashing together, to form rough ladders, the lengths of wood cut from the lower trees and brought up with them, this being carried out with such energy that it silenced any catcalls from defenders who now realised this was no mere demonstration. As was the custom, Raymond, through an interpreter, invited them to surrender and march out unmolested, an offer that was refused.

‘Convey to them how happy their refusal makes me,’ he said to his Arab-Latin speaker, ‘for I look forward to their pleas for mercy as they slow-roast over open fires.’

Raymond, determined to personally lead the assault, called his lances up to join him, the men of Tancred and Normandy held back in reserve. With a loud cry the Provençals rushed forward, ladders at hand, those swiftly laid upon the wall despite a hail of arrows and
lances, with the knights climbing at pace, their own weapons out to engage.

Raymond was to the fore, his anger carrying him forward, so much so that he nearly became utterly isolated from his personal knights. Such was his prominence – he had made it plain he led the attackers – that the defenders rushed in numbers to the spot at which he was attacking in an effort to kill him and they nearly succeeded, only a furious assault by his own men driving them back.

None of these efforts broke the defence and nor was it expected that they would, the Provençals, Raymond included, soon being withdrawn so that the Apulians and Normans could take their turn to fight. If this occasioned losses to the Crusaders, it inflicted a greater number of casualties on the defenders. These men had never faced the like of these determined and mailed European warriors.

Fading light forced Raymond to call off the assault, but not before he had promised that he would return on the morrow and the day after that, with the added rider that these scabrous dogs had wounded his pride so grievously that nothing would assuage it but their heads on pikes. With torches lit to guide their way, his force of knights made their way back to the camp on the plain below, from where the defenders could watch them enjoy food and rest around their numerous fires.

The lances were marching again at dawn, following the same route and with no diminution in determination. Before they entered the trees they could just see the heads of the defenders as they marked their progress, the view soon cut off by the thick upper branches of the woods. Above the treeline, they scrabbled across that screed once more, then debouched onto the gentle slope before the fortress, with Raymond again lining up his Provençals for the initial assault. He was
exhorting them to a supreme effort, until one of his knights pointed out that there seemed to be no one manning the walls and prepared to offer a defence; within a blink they found out the garrison had fled and the place was wide open.

The rest of the day was spent casting down as much of the walls as could be achieved while the light held, not enough to completely destroy Hisn al-Akrad as a position that could act as an outpost, but enough to render it vulnerable to anyone determined to press home an attack. Apart from that there was nothing to celebrate: when they left, the Emir’s men had taken with them everything, which the Crusaders surmised did not amount to much.

Two days later, with the host still moving slowly and eating heartily, the leaders were alerted to a body of mounted men approaching from the east in a cloud of dust. With evening approaching and close to water, Raymond called for the host to camp and for his pavilion to be hastily erected, orders also relayed that allowed those riders to approach, they being in numbers insufficient to present any threat.

What they did proffer, once they were allowed into the tent, were the gifts sent by a chastened Emir of Homs who had quickly been appraised of the defeat of his garrison: more fine horses and more gold, as well as a statement of his peaceful intentions.

‘How shocked he must be at the loss of Hisn al-Akrad,’ Raymond preened, speaking in French to Tancred and Normandy, ‘to be so alarmed that he sends all this while we are marching away from his lands.’

‘How good it would be,’ Duke Robert replied, ‘to retrace our steps and show him what Homs would look like after we have finished with him.’

‘Translate that,’ Raymond ordered his interpreter, ‘and make it sound like a threat.’

Spoken in Arabic, those words saw the blood drain from the face of the Emir’s messenger. It also produced an immediate flood of pleas to discover what it would take to satisfy the Lord of the Host for the insult made to him by those fools at Hisn al-Akrad, men who had acted against his master’s wishes and whose heads, he wished to assure him were, at this very moment, adorning the gates of Homs as a message to his subjects.

‘Probably a lie,’ Tancred opined, ‘and one we cannot verify.’

The interruption made Raymond tetchy, which lent verisimilitude to his next words, harshly delivered in both Latin and translation.

‘Then let the Emir stay within his city boundaries, for should I hear that he has left them I will turn back and set the walls of his city about his ears.’

The emissary looked at the other two Latin leaders, as if seeking a more pacific intercession, both with stone-like expressions on their faces, not easy to maintain given they were inwardly amused at Raymond’s bluff: Homs would be a hard nut to crack with the forces at their disposal and was now in the wrong direction. That they knew it to be so mattered not; it was only of concern that such a message as had been outlined went back to Homs and was believed.

‘And tell him,’ Raymond added, his voice loud and overdramatically terrifying now, ‘to send out riders to the other cities that they too will face the same fate if they insult us, for our God will smite you through our swords.’

Tancred moved closer and spoke softly, using French, in Raymond’s ear. ‘Can I suggest, My Lord, that they be camped well away from our
lines, for in the morning, when they can see our true strength, they might assess that you have issued an idle threat.’

Silence was a clear indication that the Count did not want to accede to that, he was too full of his own joy at the success of his attack on that supposedly impregnable fortress. Yet the sense of what he was being advised was too great to counter: he had set out from Ma’arrat with barely five thousand lances, and even with a relatively easy passage men had fallen by the wayside, while that recent fight had cost him more.

If this emissary had a sharp eye and any military knowledge he would soon see how small was the actual crusading army and how much of what looked formidable was in fact made up of thousands of useless pilgrims.

‘Make it so,’ he finally replied, leaving Tancred to pass on a message: his pride would not allow him to do so himself.

So the instructions were issued: their camp was to be set up well beyond the crusading perimeter and they should depart eastward as soon as the first hint of light coloured the morning sky and be not visible to any western eye at full daylight.

Progress to the coast was not only peaceful, it became like a victory parade as the inhabitants of every settlement passed came out to line their route and prostate themselves, with food as gifts and even sometimes a path strewn with leaves of palm. When another embassy arrived, this time ahead of their line of march and from the Emir of Tripoli, it underlined how much alarm was caused by their approach.