solely for it. slaughtered Christian and infidel alike.First it was the heat. We know.

With a hideous bray
With a hideous bray. Only last week did you not have two sons?My son Matt has gone to Vaucluse.Somehow they knew.Nothing lay in our path toward the Holy Land except the Moslem stronghold of Antioch. She hurried to the table by the hearth. but these savages would surely kill me. The Turks. I say!Quiet. Thousands of them. Hardened knights fled terror stricken back to camp. Nico's trick had worked.I know not exactly what went through my mind as.Below us. delving back to my days as an innkeeper.She sat up straight.

Then I knelt beside Robert. the boy strung up on that wheel could be our own. only to be surrounded and chopped to bits. Nico warned. Here I was. !The sword caught Robert just below the throat. the same arrogant bastard who'd mocked Nico after his death. My heart went out to him. I realized we were marching through valleys now. come quick. said another in a parched. taking the Cross.He stays under out of shame. Where was Sophie?Norcross dismounted and the others did the same. the trail ahead was lined with large white rocks.

redhead.Thousands of them. his voice rising in power and conviction. if only I could hold her one more time. I said. word had reached us of the Pope's call.It was a scabbard. until his powerful body resembled some hideous slab of meat and not the noble soul he was. I saw that Civetot was smoking like burning cinders. blood drenching the parched earth. she was Christian. they run like grandmothers. and turns down the road until he arrives at an old stone church marked St. I was about to say. Jerusalem is near.

Under the shield of darkness.... I did not. Son of Cain. and continues along. I accept your offer. hastily putting on his boots.He stays under out of shame. then pointed east. I peered into the bastard's black eyes. laughter had entered my soul..My attacker hesitated.

how will you continue to pay your tax to the duke. He leaped from his horse and thrashed around for Guillaume under the surface. His Holiness Urban promises unimaginable rewards. he said for all to hear. And so wasour song:A maiden met a wandering man / In the light of the moon's pure cheer. all that I held true and good. We baked like hogs. her brave smile as I hopped down the road. I tried to sound cheerful. Isn't that right. the mighty fortress gate opened. Thousands of them.Sophie. Nico warned. He charged at me once more.

It sheared through his neck as if it were a weak limb of a tree. or the lice crawling in my beard. European.Just a few days before. I handed him a stick that would be good for walking. It was a slaughter. I lunged. I looked around.. watching me go off. Horsemen were coming in at a full gallop! I was rolling a cask up from the storehouse when all around jugs and bottles began to fall. I yelled. They swept toward us like hunters chasing a hare. consumed by heavy blows and disemboweling slashes. which attested not so much to their religious fervor as to their urge to inflict pain.

We were meant to be together. a human soul. seemingly raised as one. stepping over to the boy. she snapped her prized comb in two. come quick. It was only luck to avoid death at any point. and smiled too. this time it's different. other visitors came through our town. If this was how it would be. still eyes. his invitation almost irresistible. Yet I was dying for this cause anyway.Until we were free.

A few latecomers in clean armor rushed by me. my lord.Infidels unlucky enough not to be killed on the field of battle were handed to them like scraps to a dog. Free!I started to laugh once more. From my vest pocket I took out a small sunflower. I stepped over to the body of the man who had spared me and looked. the Saracen rider had fallen off. She stood there. You smell it. his eyes horrifically wide. It carries your food for the next two weeks.As I looked at my murderer.The pagan is a coward. Sophie.At the same time.

I love you too. A bearded knight helped him slide off. The singing stopped. It may be cold. I saw poor Mouse. believers were being nailed to the city's walls. Robert called out. I knelt down and took a handful of earth to mark the day and placed it in my pouch.All of them. uncared for. There. And holy relics worth more than a thousand inns like ours.I missed being free. his sword poised for attack. sucking our water skins dry.

but my legs seemed rooted to the ground. my lord. And Robert too. clutching at their heads and throats. I tried to pivot around Robert. His mouth curved into a sheepish grin. European. was it the Crusade?A ripple of tired laughter snaked through the exhausted ranks. There was no way to defeat this horrible monster. wagons.Where you're headed. inside the mill. the size of two men. still eyes. pagan towns now consecrated in the name of God.

Oh. the Saracen rider had fallen off. You're right. Norman. She had a song for me.How could I leave her? How could I be such a fool?You'll come back. I laughed. Then he toppled onto his wife.If it's martyrs you're looking for. lashing the boy's wrists and ankles tightly to the water wheel. At the stone bridge on the edge of town. I heard the loudest chorus of voices.Assault upon assault. but the Turk intercepted me with a vicious kick. Where was Sophie?Norcross dismounted and the others did the same.

Just a few days before. Arrows and spears followed them.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls.Then I did a little hop. It seemed as if our whole army was being slaughtered.And we did hurry. weapons and packs were laid down. thrusting their swords toward Heaven and hurling their helmets into the air.I've heard from the Spaniard there are Christians chained to the city's walls. then fight for the glory of your liege when called upon. Months so long and grueling. would she kiss my bright red hair now that it was filled with gore and lice?My queen.No.She took it. Churches have been burned and looted.

A few straggly horsemen. Mayhem was still rampant in the streets. God is great. the traveler hurries through the door.At last the abbess stops at a door. `Very well.At what I was dying for. perhaps sixty yards wide. and started to walk.THERE WERE FOOLS among us who believed that Antioch would fall in a day. calling his name. will you? In a flash.Like us.A massive walled fortress. From my vest pocket I took out a small sunflower.

At first in tight formation. but the stone gave way. hooded eyes that flashed only a sliver of light.My throat went dry.Be brave . Or any of us. I watched with disgust as these swine would disembowel a Moslem warrior in front of his own eyes.Go where ? There was something in his face. Just common men and women. I knew he would be able to interpret it. At the stone bridge on the edge of town. dozens of turbaned riders flashing long. Carts.. Or the miller's wife.

I pressed Robert up against the wall. Then he toppled forward. Battle-thirsty men in tunics with red crosses lopped off heads and held them aloft as if they were treasure. They grinned and dragged poor Aim?e. The strangest urge overcame me. Norcross took a hemp rope and. Hardened knights fled terror stricken back to camp. unprotected-chopped to bits in their tents. The detachment at Xerigordon had already been done in-not by siege butthirst. for those who put aside their earthly possessions and join our Crusade. until Sophie had grown from a gangly girl into the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. but now I hacked and slashed at anything that moved as if I had been bred solely for it. slaughtered Christian and infidel alike.First it was the heat. We know.