The Black Sheep by Peter Darman

Author:Peter Darman [Darman, Peter]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-15T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Luca and the rest of the Catalan Company spent a day marching following the battle, followed by two days resting and recuperating. Grand Duke Roger, on the advice of Count Michael, moved the company off the road and into the hills in a westerly direction, away from Soma and also Bergama, the capital of the Karesi Emirate. This was to both guard against any retaliation launched against the Catalans and to reach Philadelphia as quickly as possible. The shortest route to the city was directly south, but that would risk leaving hostile forces to the north, as well as having to fight at least another battle against the forces of the so-called Germiyanid Emirate, which was laying siege to Philadelphia.

Luca, stripped naked, plunged into the lake where hundreds of others were bathing in the cool waters. It was a hot day in the hills of Anatolia, but the water was ice-cold, initially taking his breath away. But after a few moments his body adapted and he let his tired limbs be massaged by the intoxicating water. It was the first time he had had a bath in months, though Ayna had insisted they both have strip-washes even during the coldest months, which had inevitably led to long periods of lovemaking afterwards. He smiled at the memory.

‘Count Michael has sent his horsemen to scour the land for game,’ said Jordi, shaking his head after immersing it in the water. ‘I pray God they come back with some meat.’

Meat did not constitute a large part of the Almogavar diet, but in the aftermath of battle they had consumed most of the meagre rations in their bags to replenish their energy reserves. And there had been no enemy camp to plunder in the aftermath of their victory. As a result, hunger began to stalk the Catalan Company. The horses could be grazed on the lush meadows dotted among the hills, as well as the grass on the slopes themselves. But for soldiers on the march, the countryside provided scant food aside from roots, berries and fruit. It was made worse by the winter that had killed a lot of the wildlife. At least Sancho Rey had ordered that the lake be fished, which so far had produced no tangible results.

‘Where are the Alans?’ asked Luca, a question on everyone’s lips.

The wild mercenary horsemen had been conspicuous by their absence, which aroused the anger of many among the Almogavars. Everyone knew how they had deserted the Romans in battle, and now they had more or less done the same to the Catalans. It did not bode well for the future.

‘It is Luca, is it not?’

He looked towards the bank to see a priest standing beside the water, dressed in a long black woollen gown, a wooden crucifix suspended by a simple cord around his neck. Luca had seen Father Ramon on numerous occasions. He was among the small number of priests accompanying the Almogavars, all being Catalans like the soldiers they preached to.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.