In 1099, a mysterious child of noble origin was taken in by Jews who had fled the Crusaders' arrival in front of Jerusalem.
Years later, Ada, the descendant of this child, travels through Palestine with her father. He's a merchant and knows medicin...
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding.
Albert Einstein
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Palestine, Acre, 1253
In 1253, an army commanded by the Mameluke leader Aktai and supported by his two loyal lieutenants, Baibars and Qalawun, fought decisively in Syria against Saladin's great-grandson, Al Nasir Yusuf.
He had indeed sworn to destroy those who had seized the Egyptian throne by force. And this, although the Caliph of Baghdad had demanded that Aybak transfer the sultanate to a six-year-old child, a vague cousin of Touran Shah.
Victorious and convinced that palace quarrels had subsided, the three companions returned to Cairo. They had just nipped in the bud a revolt that could have broken the still fragile power of the Mamelukes.
Radiant, Aktai married an authentic princess, a descendant of Saladin the Great. And thanks to this union, he intends to enter Cairo citadel as a conqueror.
While his army waits quietly outside the high walls, the Mameluke chief is received by Aybak, who now rules Egypt in the shadow of the child sultan.
I can't imagine Baibars and Qalawun's reaction when their leader's head went down the slope formed by the citadel's fortifications. They must have acted like good lieutenants, quickly dragging their soldiers as far away from the poor head as possible.
A clear message from cruel Aybak, who immediately ordered the seizure of all property belonging to the followers of Aktai, Baibars, and Qalawun!
This story amuses all Acre. One wonders, laughing, where the unfortunate Aktai's head could have fallen exactly. The funny thing is that the fleeing army, now commanded by Baibars and Qalawun, couldn't find anything better than to take refuge with Al Nasir Yusuf.
The man whose butt they had just kicked!
I hope, however, that Baibars was able to get Assia and her son to safety away from Cairo. Because according to Mohammedan merchants, the detestable Qutuz is overzealous in hunting down and murdering the fugitives' families.
King Louis takes the opportunity to sign a peace treaty with cruel Aybak for about ten years.
The truce was concluded in Jaffa. The lord of the place is Count John of Ibelin. It's said that his castle overlooks a plain covered with gardens where palm trees, pomegranates, orange, and lemon trees flourish.
Every day I go to the St. John Knights' Hospital. I return to the Venetian quarter every evening, except when I work during the night.
When I see a child in front of my door, trying to fight the lion of Venice engraved in the stone, I immediately guess who this child is and how much children can mean life.
Assia's fragile figure emerges in the half-light. I let them both in without asking too many questions. The child is tired, and she doesn't mention Altan's death or her accident.
"We barely escaped from that cursed Qutuz," she murmurs. "Baibars ordered ten of his men to take us to the Christians, to your house. It's only temporary, two or three weeks at the most until he finds us another refuge."
"It's okay," I say, admiring the adorable child I helped to give birth to. "You're lucky because my husband is in Jaffa with the king and the whole army."
But she doesn't seem surprised.
And how did they find my house?
Would Baibars and Qalawun spy on me without my knowledge?
I put Assia and her son in Hugh of Roquefort's room. He won't be back for several weeks and will probably make a stopover at Pilgrim Castle because the pretty widow is still there.
Reyn's absence weighs on me more and more, despite the company of Assia and the child. The young woman's condition remains worrying as she walks very badly and tires quickly. I examined her with no illusions about the seriousness of her leg injuries. The horses' hooves shattered the right one, but Johannes miraculously avoided amputation. Assia can stand on her left leg, which remains functional. She can ride a horse with help but no longer move around without a wooden crutch.
On my watch, the child lets the unfortunate woman breathe a little. I love the smell of his tender skin, of his light hair. And an immense desire to be a mother overwhelms me when I hold him close to me.
Reyn sends me regular updates through our pigeons. The last ones I receive the same evening after Assia's arrival are worrying. Despite the truce, groups of armed Saracens came near the camp of Jaffa. Several days passed in which the Mohammedans and the Christians observed each other.
The Lord of Termes has been in the Holy Land for several months now. He was kind enough to visit me at the St. John Knights' hospital as soon as he arrived. He cautiously mentioned Bernard of Congast, whose remains haven't been found and who is still believed to be a prisoner of the Mohammedans. It didn't take more than a glance between us for him to understand how rough things had been. But, to my great relief, we spoke very little about that trying night when I fled from Cairo.
He commands about a hundred fighters, among whom were many Occitan lords and knights sent by Alphonse of Poitiers. However, his rapprochement with the Capetians displeased his most unyielding former companions, and they ravaged his possessions in Occitania.
After a few weeks, Baibars' soldiers come to get Assia and the child. They're arrogant and unpleasantly stare at me.
"I go back to Cairo," she says to me with joy, "everything is arranged!"
And the following days confirm my fears.
The truce is broken. Aybak preferred to conclude an alliance with Al Nasir Yusuf. Yesterday's enemies are now united against King Louis and his army of about seven hundred knights, a number far too small to face the combined forces of Syria and Egypt.
The sovereign is in Caesarea when the Mohammedans open hostilities under the walls of Acre, threatening to destroy the surrounding countryside. They demand fifty thousand gold bezants to leave our ramparts.
I have climbed to the top of our solid fortifications, north of the city. I'm sure they're there, Baibars and Qalawun, beyond the double walls and the great moats surrounding the town to the east and northeast.
Determined assailants might attack our towers with war machines.
Under arrows, Medea's fire, Acre would fall.
But on that day, the Mamelukes and their allies come from afar. And they're overwhelmed with fatigue, cruelly lacking food.
On that day, Acre avoided the worst!
***
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Medea's fire is also called "Greek fire" (undoubtedly one of the first weapons of mass destruction, alas.)
