Blood of Lions: The brutal war for the Holy Land... (Knights Templar Thrillers Book 3) by Daniel Colter

Author:Daniel Colter [Colter, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2024-01-05T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Emma started and ended each day with prayer. Now she prayed all day long.

O Mary, Mother of God, you who are above all creatures in heaven and on earth, more glorious than the Cherubim, firm bulwark and protectress. You are the consolation of the world, the ransom of captives, the joy of the sick, the comfort of the afflicted. Mother Mary, cover Finn with the wings of your mercy. Protect him. Protect his brothers. They are consecrated to your service. O immaculate Virgin, watch them with your protecting eye.

Emma prayed, and waited, and paid waifs to be her eyes. One lad watched the south road into Tiberias, another the road to Cafarsset, the Templar casale outside town. Days passed with no news. Each day began anew with prayer. Ended the same. What else can one do but stay vigilant and pray? Then one of the lads came, breathless and sweating, and reported six Templars had arrived at Cafarsset.

She breathed out, signed the cross, kissed an imaginary crucifix. O Mary, Mother of God, you who are above all creatures in heaven, I give my thanks…

Finn came to her in the early afternoon and she went out to meet him. A shemagh wrapped his head and sagged under his chin. It was a houndstooth pattern, once black and white, now faded to grey so the houndsteeth blurred together. Under the scarf, his cheeks were hollow, eyes ringed with circles so dark it seemed he wore kohl. Rollo and the others looked no better. The stink was overpowering, even for Templars, and the yard reeked like a bag of rotten onions mixed with campfire smoke. Fagan’s head hung at the end of his long neck like a boulder on a rope. Arlo brought oats and Fagan came to life, jigged his head in celebration.

“You look nigh dead,” Emma said to Finn, knowing formal greetings were not his way. She wanted to touch his hand, refrained, and instead offered kindness. “Stay a while. Rest yourselves and your horses.”

“Can’t. Must get to Acre. We…” Finn glanced at Rollo, who was palming his battered forehead, more grim-faced than usual. “Saladin is coming for Tiberias.”

For a moment she thought she had misheard. “Who told you this?”

“A broken-legged bird in a pointy fur hat.” He waved away her confused pout. “No time to tell the tale. Trust me.”

“What happens next?”

“Many things.” Finn took a swig from his canteen, slapped the cork home. “The king will sally. He’ll manoeuvre early, I’d wager, and claim the favourable ground at the south end of the Galilee. The river is wide and slow there. Crossing it with an army will be tricky. But there is a bridge, Sannabrah, and Guy will destroy it, to force Saladin to find a ford and maul him when he tries to use it. Bowmen on the slope to rain shafts. A wall of spearmen on the bank. Knights to charge and shove them back. We take it, we own it, we send him off…”

A fire

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