The Heart of the Lion Page 8

  With the flat side of his own sword he broke the knife in two and the peasants realised that this was clearly a knight practised in any form of warfare. Even so Richard needed all his skill to save them from the righteous wrath of the peasants.

  Finally, hawkless, they managed to escape.

  ‘The fools,’ said Richard. ‘I would have given them two or three times what the bird was worth.’

  ‘They would never have believed that, my lord,’ said his attendant.

  ‘And now I shall never be able to test it.’

  ‘I am grateful, Sire, for your skill in bringing us safely out of that.’

  ‘Ah, you were afraid, my man. If they had harmed you I would have slain them all.’

  And as they walked to their ships which lay at anchor he was thinking of what Philip would have said had he been there. He would have taunted him with making strict rules for his men which he himself flouted. Philip could never resist making a long discussion over such a point. There was little Philip liked better than an argument and the reason was that he always emerged the victor.

  ’Twas not robbery, Richard reminded himself. I would have paid the fellow. No one can accuse me of a lack of generosity.

  ‘It is not the point . . .’ He could almost hear Philip’s voice.

  He must stop thinking of Philip. He should be preoccupied with thoughts of his bride, for by now his mother would be waiting with Berengaria for him to have extricated himself from the engagement with Alice so that he might, to the satisfaction of the world, take to be his bride the daughter of the King of Navarre.

  Chapter IV

  THE SICILIAN ADVENTURE

  The English fleet had arrived from Marseilles and lay off the

  Sicilian capital. There were a hundred galleys and fourteen large busses in which were soldiers, provisions, arms and horses. Pennants and banners fluttered in the wind and from the shore the Sicilians marvelled.

  Tancred was seized by a great fear. This mighty fleet belonged to the brother of Joanna who was now his prisoner. What would Richard do when he arrived? Fortunately for Tancred Richard was not yet there. He had left Marseilles before the fleet and had come via a different route, but Tancred had to face the fact that he could reach Messina at any time now.

  The Sicilians, who had heard stories of Richard’s might, and knowing that their King had imprisoned his sister believed that the King of England had come in anger, trembled to contemplate what might happen next.

  Meanwhile the French fleet limped into Messina. It had been beset by severe storms and it was said that only a miracle had saved it from disaster. As it was horses and provisions had had to be thrown overboard to lighten the ships and save men’s lives.

  It was with some relief that Tancred received Philip and his men. They were in a sorry state and needed shelter and the time to repair the damage to their ships; but at least this was the King of France and the storm’s havoc could only be a temporary setback. It seemed to Tancred that if he fêted Philip he could find an ally in him but when he looked at the magnificent ships of the King of England and compared them with the shattered ones of the King of France, he was uneasy. All the same he felt he might be in urgent need of help, and Philip was at least King of France.

  Tancred entertained Philip in his own palace and told him how much he admired his resolve to go and fight the Infidel.

  ‘How I wish I could go with you,’ he told him. ‘It would be the desire of my life fulfilled.’

  ‘Why not join us?’ asked Philip slyly.

  ‘I have just taken over this kingdom.’

  ‘Ah yes, and your presence is needed here I see. You fear that Henry of Germany might take action on behalf of his wife if you were not here to protect your newly acquired possession.’

  Tancred shifted uneasily.

  ‘When one has possessions,’ he said, ‘one has to be constantly prepared for enemies.’

  ‘In particular when others feel they have a prior claim to them,’ added the King of France.

  Tancred was unsure whether the King of France would be with him or against him. He had heard that there was a friendship between the Kings of France and England but he did not altogether believe that those two monarchs could be anything but rivals and therefore enemies.

  He said: ‘As you know the sister of the King of England is in Palermo.’

  ‘Your prisoner,’ added Philip.

  ‘Scarcely that. She is . . .’

  ‘Under restraint?’ Philip suggested.

  ‘She had to be prevented from communicating with my enemies.’

  Philip shrugged his shoulders.

  ‘Your losses must be great,’ said Tancred. ‘I hear the storm was terrible.’

  ‘It was nearly the end of us.’

  ‘You must at this time be in need of money.’

  ‘There is rarely a time in a king’s life when he is not in need of money.’

  Tancred leaned forward a little. ‘I am rich,’ he said.

  ‘Ah yes, you . . . er . . . inherited great wealth recently, I know.’

  ‘If I could be of use to you . . .’

  Philip looked at him shrewdly. ‘You would bargain with me?’ he asked.

  ‘I would wish to help you, my lord. Would you call that bargaining?’

  ‘You are new to our profession,’ said the King of France. ‘It is customary when one King helps another that he requires to be paid for it.’

  ‘I would be amply paid by your friendship.’

  ‘The friendship of the King of France would have to go at a somewhat high price. Come, my friend. You see out there the galleys of the King of England and because you hold his sister captive you fear he comes in wrath. You perceive that you may need powerful friends and lo, here is one sent to your shores as if by Heaven.’

  ‘I am ready to pay dearly,’ said Tancred.

  ‘You greatly fear the King of England, Tancred, I perceive.’

  ‘They say he is a mighty warrior but not more so than the King of France.’

  ‘Then they lie. There is not a better general in the world than King Richard. There is not a more courageous fighter. On the battlefield he has the strength of ten men and is worth twenty. Perhaps I can vie with him in strategy. Perhaps I can outwit him with words. If you could choose your ally you should choose Richard, but since you cannot, for he is the enemy, you are perforce obliged to try for me.’

  Tancred was bemused. He did not understand the King of France. He fancied he mocked him, but he was in too desperate a position not to seize any chance that came his way.

  ‘I can offer you a fortune in money,’ he said. ‘If you will allow your son Louis to be betrothed to one of my daughters.’

  Philip shook his head sadly. ‘The King of England and I have sworn an oath. We are going together to the Holy Land.’

  Tancred knew then that he could not expect Philip to help him stand against Richard.

  The Sicilian people were crowding on to the beaches for on the horizon appeared a wonderful array. The rest of the English fleet was approaching and with it came King Richard.

  Those who had already arrived mingled with the French and told each other that this would be a day of rejoicing.

  Near to land came the ships. The sea was frothy with the motion of the oars and on the decks stood the men, the sun shining on their polished armour; banderols fluttered with the pennants and banners. Never before had the Sicilians seen such a glorious array. Trumpets rang out; those on the shore who had been awaiting the arrival of their leader began to cheer. The French as well as the English expressed their delight that King Richard had arrived safely at Messina.

  Philip, hearing the tumult and seeing the magnificent array of ships off the coast, smiled wryly to compare them with his own fleet. A fair escort, he thought, for the most handsome of kings; and because he longed to see Richard, to take his hands and look up into those ice-blue eyes which could warm on occasions, he went down to the shore to be among those who first greeted
him.

  There was a hush among the people as Richard came ashore. He certainly had the bearing of a god. None was as tall as he, none stood so straight, none had those clean cut beautifully modelled features, that brilliantly fair colouring.

  Philip forgot all enmity, all rivalries as he went forward to greet him.

  They embraced not as rival kings but as the dearest friends they were at such moments.

  ‘I feared for you,’ said Philip.

  ‘Did you doubt then that I would come?’

  ‘I knew only major disaster could prevent you. But alas such disasters there can be. See how my own fleet suffered.’

  ‘’Twill not delay you?’

  ‘Nay. I hope to leave at once for Acre . . . now you are come.’

  Richard nodded and arm in arm the Kings of France and England left the beach.

  Philip accompanied him to the house set among vineyards which belonged to a certain Reginald de Muschet who had felt himself honoured to place it at the King’s disposal.

  ‘So you got there first,’ said Richard. ‘Who would have believed it when I saw you on your sickbed in Genoa!’

  ‘My illness passed as soon as I had seen you, and I set out.’

  ‘Determined to be here first.’

  ‘That I might be here to greet you,’ said Philip with a smile. ‘You look . . . magnificent.’

  ‘It has been a long journey. Acre is only fifteen days away. How soon shall we set out?’

  ‘You know what is happening here. You know Tancred is now the King.’

  ‘I had heard he had taken the crown on William’s death. That is an affair for the King of Germany.’

  ‘He has imprisoned your sister.’

  Richard’s face turned pale. ‘For what reason?’

  ‘She has opposed Tancred. He is a usurper, she declares.’

  ‘If he will give me her dowry back, which is what I have come to claim, I should have no quarrel with him. But if he has imprisoned my sister by God he shall free her.’

  ‘I thought that was what you would say, and I trust this matter will not delay your stay in Messina.’

  ‘I shall certainly see that my sister receives her dues,’ said Richard. ‘I will send a message at once to Tancred demanding her release and the return of her dowry. By God’s eyes, if the man does not free her and return her dowry I will take the whole of Sicily from him.’

  ‘Send to him then without delay. I have no doubt that he, trembling, awaits your commands.’

  In her apartments in the Palermo palace Joanna knew that great events were on the way. Tancred had come with all speed to Palermo and her guards had suddenly become more respectful.

  From one of the women who were in attendance she heard that the English fleet had arrived at Messina and that the King of France was there with his, which had been considerably battered by the storm. When it seemed that Richard’s arrival was imminent, Tancred had apparently thought it wise to leave Messina for Palermo.

  And Richard would soon be here – the handsome invincible brother. She exulted at the thought. She spent long periods watching from the window expecting to see him riding into Palermo any day.

  It was not long before she received news.

  Early one morning the guards told her that she was to prepare at once for a journey. She was going to Messina and she was free.

  ‘So it would seem that King Richard has arrived,’ she said.

  ‘That is so, my lady,’ was the answer. ‘He is now at Messina and wants you to join him there.’

  With what joy did she ride across the country to Messina. Foolish Tancred, to think he could flout the sister of a man like Richard, of whose power the whole world must be aware.

  Messina lay before her; she sent riders ahead to tell her brother that she would soon be there. She wanted their greeting to be public so that all might recognise his power. The people would know that Tancred had imprisoned her but that Richard only had to appear and she was set free.

  It was as she had planned. There he was riding out to greet her, more magnificent than ever. He embraced her while the people looked on; and then they rode side by side to the villa of the Knights of St John where she would stay until a residence worthy of her rank was made ready for her.

  ‘It is an act of God,’ she said soberly, ‘that you have come at this time. If you had not who knows how long I might have remained Tancred’s prisoner.’

  ‘I should have come to your rescue when I heard.’

  ‘But you might have been in the Holy Land and I a prisoner for a year or more while awaiting your arrival. Suffice it that you have come and I am free and I thank God for my good brother.’

  ‘I have a further score to settle with Tancred. You arrived in Sicily with a good dowry. I want to know what happened to that golden table, the silk tent, the galleys and the golden plate.’

  ‘Tancred has taken them as he has everything that was mine and William’s.’

  ‘My first task was to free you, sister,’ said Richard. ‘My second will be to regain the treasure. Your husband left a legacy to our father and as he is dead I shall claim that. I need all the money and treasure I can lay my hands on for the Holy War.’

  ‘I shall pray for you, Richard.’

  ‘Doubtless we shall need your prayers.’

  ‘The King of France is your ally in this venture?’

  ‘Aye, he is my ally . . . I think.’

  ‘You are not sure?’

  ‘There must necessarily it seems be rivalry between kings.’

  ‘I have heard that a great friendship exists between you two.’

  ‘It has its uncertainties,’ he said shortly, and Joanna sensed that he did not wish to speak of it.

  ‘You will ere long see our mother, I doubt not. She is at this moment in Brindisi with Berengaria, the Princess of Navarre.’

  There were tears in Joanna’s eyes. ‘Forgive my emotion. But a short time ago I was a prisoner and now this is too much joy too suddenly. I have often thought of our mother when she, like myself, was a prisoner. I can sympathise with her more readily now.’

  ‘Her imprisonment is over as yours is.’

  ‘And all thanks to you, Richard. How grateful she must be, as I am.’

  ‘Think not that I should allow my mother and my sister to be ill-treated if there was aught I could do to prevent it.’

  ‘Thank you, Richard. A thousand thanks.’

  ‘Come, let us talk of other things. I will tell you of my adventures.’ He described to her how he had arrived at Marseilles and found his ships not yet there and in great impatience he had gone on without them. Hence the fleet’s arrival at Messina before him. He told her of how he had tried to take the poor man’s hawk and nearly lost his life.

  ‘If you had what would have become of us?’ she cried.

  ‘Oh, I am not so easily disposed of. We have heaven’s blessing on our crusade. I have evidence of this. My sailors have told me that when a great storm blew up off the coast of Spain, they prayed to God and there appeared on the seething waters a vision of St Thomas à Becket of Canterbury. “Have no fear,” he told them, “for God has appointed me guardian of this fleet and if you repent of your past sins and commit no more, you will have a prosperous voyage.” And the men took heart and soon the storm abated and they came safely to Marseilles.’

  ‘God is on your side, Richard.’

  ‘So must He be when we are engaged in his holy war.’

  They had arrived at the house and servants came out to welcome her.

  Having made sure that everything was there for her comfort Richard left for the Villa de Muschet.

  The next day Richard called to see his sister and with him he brought the King of France. Philip was clearly impressed by her beauty and charm and they talked long and earnestly together.

  Philip wanted to know where she would go when he and Richard left for Acre. She was not at all sure, she told him, but she was hoping to join her mother.

  This raise
d a certain awkwardness because Philip would know that Queen Eleanor was with Berengaria and he would wonder how there could be a marriage between Richard and the Princess of Navarre when he was betrothed to his sister Alice.

  Philip knew this but he was determined to be courteous and the unfortunate subject of Alice was allowed to lapse. Joanna would be naturally curious to learn how the matter was to be resolved but she could see that she could not raise it when Philip was present.

  As for Richard he knew that Philip was waiting for the opportune moment to bring up the matter of his betrothal; and then he could be sure that it would be the King who was bargaining and he, Richard, could not hope to escape lightly, nor would Philip allow him to if he could help it – great friends though they were.

  Richard said hastily that he had no intention of leaving Messina until he had settled the matter of Joanna’s dowry.

  ‘Which could delay you for some time,’ Philip pointed out.

  ‘Then delay there must be for I’ll not allow this avaricious fellow to take what is mine.’

  ‘I believe,’ said Philip to Joanna, ‘that your brother cares not if I take Acre without him.’

  ‘You will need my help,’ said Richard, ‘as I shall need yours. We may be assured that the place will be well fortified.’

  ‘If we delay too long the winter will be upon us.’

  ‘Still, I shall not allow Tancred to flout me.’

  Philip shrugged his shoulders. He devoted himself to Joanna and told her about his little son Louis whose welfare gave him so much concern and how his heart was torn between the desire to lead a campaign into the Holy Land and to be at home to govern his kingdom.

  ‘You see,’ he explained, ‘when I planned this crusade my Queen was alive. She was there to care for our son. She was to be my Regent, and now I have lost her.’

  There was a rapport between them. Joanna had so recently lost a beloved husband. She shared his sense of bereavement which was increased as it often was in the case of people in their position by a loss of security.