Author's Note: Although this scene itself is fictional, King Amalric (Baldwin's father) did have this difficult decision to make, and Count Stephen of Blois was the cause behind it.
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The night is far too still for a father's deep musing.
No wind makes ghosts out of the linen drapes.
Low burning candles cast no dancing shadows across his solemn face.
His dark eyes stare lost into the dying flame.
He offered the man the kingdom if he would marry his daughter,
but the man named a price—
the exile of the rightful heir, his only son, his dear boy,
the leper child.
Should he concede and cast out the child?
He could send him to the Order of Saint Lazarus.
The boy could become a knight there among his kind,
yet as the prince remained here, he was treated well and fair.
Elsewhere he would surely die.
What then would be the purpose of his life?
Why was he ever born if he could not have his inherence?
His heart tightens within him.
He clenches his fist with the document in hand,
and then the candle flares to life as he feeds it the parchment.
Count Stephen of Blois be cursed.
King Amalric had no need for a cowardly heir, who felt threatened
by a boy not yet a man,
who shall never have the strength of a man
but the strength of something greater.
His son would be king.
Perhaps his illness will make him more
than a mere man.
A gust of wind whips through the curtains and snuffs out the candles.
Darkness descends,
but a calm has claimed the boy's father.
His decision had been made.
YOU ARE READING
King Baldwin IV
Historical FictionYear 1174, a boy at age thirteen is suddenly thrust into power upon the death of his father, King Amalric. He inherits a kingdom at war--the Kingdom of Jerusalem. However, he possesses a secret. He is dying of leprosy. Knowing he could be cast out o...
