The Wolf and the Snake (English version)

Chapter 10

With Badiya, we were returning from the market, and Aurel was waiting for us. I was surprised because usually, he comes back from the Templars' citadel tardy.

He looks tense.

It's probably because of my mood swings and my coldness towards him. Or maybe the rumors that the Genoese, the Catalans, and the St. John's knights openly disavow Queen Plaisance cause him concern.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy a good meal! Badiya haggled for mussels," I say with a laugh, hoping to cheer him up.

Then Reyn shows up, sword in hand, drunk with rage.

Immediately, Aurel also drew his sword.

My heart stopped beating for a moment.

It's a horror that they fight each other without the protection of their hauberks, helmets, and shields.

Each violent blow is dangerous, possibly deadly. They hit each other non-stop to slaughter the other before the fatigue reduces their strength. Aurel is agile and skillful in compensating for his opponent's incredible power, but he starts to weaken.

I know that Reyn won't stop fighting as long as Aurel remains on his feet. I see metallic, icy glints in his gaze that never exist in the eyes of ordinary men.

Suddenly, Reyn wounds Aurel's shoulder.

It's serious!

Eyes wide with fright, I scream for my husband to spare his cousin's life, not to erase the affront in a flood of blood, as a knight's honor demands.

"Reyn, please! He will never appear before your eyes or mine! And I'm as guilty as he is! If he deserves death, I deserve it too!"

Aurel got up with difficulty and is bleeding a lot. I pray that his wound isn't too severe.

"Go away!" Reyn orders him.

Aurel's blue gaze is searching for mine, and I try not to see the disturbing pallor on his face as I look away. He has to realize that this is over if he wants to survive. At this moment, I can hardly think, nor elaborate words or sentences to justify myself to my husband. Badiya remains strangely motionless near me while Aurel resigns himself to move.

I breathe a little better as his figure fade away. He's on foot, but he's a Templar; he'll find help soon enough.

Is this terrible day finally over?

May I look up at my husband, at Reyn?

So many memories rush through me: joys, pains, laughter, and tears. Tears already blur my vision when I notice Badiya's hand around that long, curved dagger she never lets go of.

Then the traitor jumped like a wild beast toward Reyn.

He turns his back on her. I scream to warn him and try to get up.

A vain attempt, of course!

Good heavens!

What got into this Bedouin woman to turn her into an assassin? The escape from the harem was a lie, alas.

But Reyn is a soldier, used to all sorts of attacks and traps. He was so quick that I didn't immediately realize what was happening.

Then I stare in horror at Badiya's headless body, the torrents of blood pouring out of it, arms and legs making a few last disordered movements. Finally, immense nausea turns my guts, and I vomit the contents of my stomach right next to my wheelchair.

Reyn took care to wipe his sword on the lifeless carcass of my Bedouin before moving toward me.

I have seen him kill before.

I shouldn't be shaking this much.

"She ... she's dead," I mutter as he stands beside me, towering over me.

"She probably worked for the Mohammedans," he replies. "But maybe not willingly! We will never know."

I spot my two maids fearfully leaving the house.

"You two!" Reyn calls out to them. "Go and get a carriage from me to the royal castle and make haste."

The time seemed to me very long until their return.

A heavy, unbearable silence settled between my husband and me.

He's much less embarrassed than I am, taking a few steps here and there with his nose in the air. Unfortunately, the smell of the nearby vomit goes up in my nostrils, so I start risky maneuvers to move my wheelchair.

He immediately comes to the rescue.

I'm so ashamed to show him the sad spectacle of a cripple stuck in a wheelchair.

I'm so afraid to see pity in his beautiful amber eyes.

And the tiny being who already wriggles in my belly could deprive me of a hypothetical future with Reyn.

But I have the courage of some words. "The child I carry! I may not be able to bring it into the world. And..."

"And?" he asks. "What do you mean, Ada? So I find you alive, hundreds of leagues from Marseille, where you're supposed to have fallen, and you might die in childbirth?"

At that very moment, I would like to be able to walk and take refuge in his arms for a few seconds.

A few seconds to remember forever a life too short with him!

"That's it!" I confess, unable to face the extent of the disaster I forged.

The maids came back with a large carriage pulled by two horses. They pile up blankets and some of my clothes in a hurry. Then, without a word, Reyn lifts me into his arms and puts me in the carriage.

Despite myself, my heart burns in my chest as we set off.

***