The Holy Land - 1191 AD

The Crusader armies were leaving the plains around Acre. Now that the city was in the hands of its Christian monarch once more, Richard of England and Philip of France had turned their attention to the city of Jerusalem. That this city - held sacred by the Christians, the Jews and the Muslims - was under the control of Salah ad-Din was unthinkable! If the Holy Land was to be returned to Christian rule, then Jerusalem would have to be liberated. And so the Crusaders began the task of breaking camp and marshalling their forces for the march southwards.

From a ridge to the north of the city of Acre, Emrys Wledig and Richard of Warwick - the Golden Knight - sat on their mounts and watched the great mass of men prepare to decamp. They scurried back and forth, like ants swarming, dismantling the tents and breaking down the siege engines that only a month or so before had hurled missiles to crack the walls of the city. The wind carried the cries of the men as they went about their tasks to the ears of the travellers.

"I should be with them," Richard said to his companion. "I swore an oath."

"Heh." Emrys chuckled softly. "You have changed your tune, young knight. Do you still seek glory in the heat of battle?" The scholar and wizard pointed towards another camp, maybe a dozen miles or so to the east of the city. That camp was also a scene of much activity, Like the Crusader army, the followers of Salah ad-Din were also intent on leaving Acre. "If you do - well! I am sure that you will find your fill back there."

Richard reached down to stroke the neck of his snow-white mount, King. "I have had enough of glory for now. I have seen what it has brought." His thoughts went back to the day when the siege of Acre ended, to the day when Richard the Lionheart had ordered the massacre of more than a thousand hostages. And for what? The Golden Knight shuddered as he recalled the plot that Wu Gu Xian has set in motion. There was now an awful stain on his soul - a stain that he had to purge.

"Good." Emrys Wledig wheeled his mount so that the pair of them faced north. "Then you are willing to come with me?"

"Do I have any choice?"

"As much as any man does in this world. Who knows what the gods intend, eh?" The scholar stared into the distance, as if trying to make out some far-off landmark. "But I know that my destiny lies that way."

"And that I am to accompany you?" Richard tugged on the reins dangling from King's bridle. The horse turned at his bidding, its feet dancing across the stony ground as it did so. "It sounds like I have no choice but to come with you. Where are we heading?"

"Damascus."

For a moment, Richard doubted what he had just heard. Was Emrys mad? "But ... Damascus is one of Saladin's strongholds!"

Emrys glanced sideways at the knight. "And so it is. It is good to know that you have been paying attention."

"And we are going there?"

"Did I not just say so?"

Richard took a deep breath. It would not do to let this folly go unchallenged. "And I suppose that we are just going to ride up to the gates and announce ourselves? And that the gatekeepers are going to smile and salaam us into the city?"

"Of course not. That would be madness." The scholar gave Richard a smug smile. "And we would deserve everything that we would receive if we were to try such an approach. No. We shall gain entry by more stealthy means."

"By watercourse?"

This time it was Emery's turn to shudder. "No. We will go in through the gates. But I think it would be best if we were to be disguised. A Christian knight such as yourself will not be welcome in Damascus for a long time. But, a pair of itinerant traders - now there's a different story, eh?"

"So, we are to sneak in like thieves in the night? And what is it that we seek?"

"The True Cross."

For the second time that morning, Richard was dumbfounded by the scholar. "The True Cross?" he repeated.

"Are you deaf? Has the sand stopped up your ears already? That is precisely what I said. Now, we must ride north to Tyre. Come." Emrys kicked at the flanks of his horse, urging it forward at a slow trot. The packhorse that was tethered behind it followed obediently, the bags and chests along its side swaying gently in time with the horse's gait.

With a single command, Richard set King in motion and brought him alongside Emrys's horses. "I thought that the True Cross was in Jerusalem."

"It was. But Salah ad-Din had it taken from there and brought to Damascus. As you have said, it is one of his strongholds, and it has the advantage that the Lionheart has not decided to march against it. It would take a fool or a hero to even consider such a bold move."

Richard thought on this for a minute or two before answering. "And do you intend to liberate the True Cross?" There was an eager note in his voice. "That would be a great deed - and it would be a great insult towards Salah ad-Din and his followers."

"Careful young knight." Emrys reached out a wrinkled hand and placed it on Richard's left shoulder. "There are things that must be done first - remember?"

Richard nodded, then a though struck him. "Emrys, how do you know of this?"

The old man just tapped the side of his nose with his index finger, and urged his horses down from the ridge and onto the road to Tyre.