Read Online 00 - Templar's Acre by Michael Jecks - Free Book Online

already. We would have to spend prodigiously to afford all this work!’ a man called.
    ‘Very well. My walls here, at my tower, are almost thirty feet thick,’ the Grand Master stated equably. ‘
I
shall be safe when your house is burned to the ground, with
both your daughters and your wife inside it. Need I remind you how Tripoli fell? You have all heard of the violent conflagration that overwhelmed our friends there. How many of us lost friends in
those massacres? Who can count the young women and children who were marched off to be sold into slavery? How many of us know women who even now are held in captivity, to suffer the shame of rape?
Is that what you want for your daughters? Your wives? Do you want to die knowing that you failed to protect your families for the cost of a few ounces of silver?’
    ‘What of the other Orders? There are only Templars here. What of the Hospitallers?’ a man shouted.
    Baldwin could see him. He half-expected a Templar to grab the fellow and pull him out for his rudeness, but no one made a movement.
    The Grand Master nodded. ‘I know you, Master Mainboeuf. You and I have worked together often enough. I will say this: I will ally myself with any man, any Order, any nation, in order to
protect our city. I have asked the Hospitallers to join us here, but I fear they did not heed my invitation. I hope, and pray, that they will come to discuss this before too long. Perhaps if you,
or your companions, could speak to the Grand Master, he may be persuaded to come to us and talk about how we might best defend our city.’
    ‘You say you want wood,’ a man called. ‘Will you tell the Venetians to stop selling it to our enemies?’
    The Grand Master allowed a wintry smile to pass over his lips. ‘I already have.’
    It was almost noon when the meeting was closed, and the room gradually emptied. Baldwin walked out behind Ivo, blinking and covering his eyes against the sudden glare of the
sunshine.
    ‘Those men were not very respectful,’ he commented.
    ‘Did you expect them to be?’ Ivo grunted.
    ‘I thought they would show the Grand Master respect in his own hall.’
    ‘He was hoping to bolster confidence. Attacking his audience would not help.’
    ‘I see.’
    ‘So, do you feel you understand the city’s position more clearly now?’ Ivo asked.
    Baldwin said, ‘I would have been happier with the Hospitallers in the chamber with us.’
    ‘At least it shows that the merchants appreciate the dangers at last,’ Ivo said. He snorted, hawked and spat into the street. ‘I don’t think they realised how perilous
our situation has become.’
    Baldwin nodded, but as he did so, he saw a flash of emerald.
    ‘That woman! I know her!’ he cried.
    ‘Who? Where?’ Ivo asked distractedly.
    Baldwin could see the gleam of her bright silken robes. Two dark-skinned warriors followed close behind her. He wondered at first whether she was a Saracen princess, until he saw her pale hand
and wrist.
    She passed through the crowds serenely. There was no need for gestures or threats, the people moved aside as she approached.
    Ignoring Ivo, Baldwin hurried after her. He had to see what she looked like – but this time he wouldn’t scare her, the way he had before. Noticing a gap in the throng before him, he
forced his way through it and managed to reach her side. He caught a heady odour of sandalwood and spice as he passed, and then turned to look at her.
    ‘My lady,’ he said, and bowed.
    That was as far as he got before the nearer of the two guards whipped out his sword and rested it on Baldwin’s throat.

CHAPTER NINE
    Baldwin smiled at her. The blade didn’t worry him. Even the most determined felon would hesitate before committing murder before so many witnesses. And besides, Ivo was
lumbering up nearby.
    In any event, the woman was worth pausing over.
    She was shorter than him, but only by an inch or so, and her body was entirely concealed beneath her flowing robes; for all that,