The Codex Lacrimae: The Book of Tears

Chapter 29: Saladin and the Norn of Fate

Saladin returned to the relative safety of his reinforcements with but a fifth of the men who'd begun the battle with him. Khalil, Clarinda, and Alexander rested behind one of the siege engines at the edge of Hisn al-Akrad. Saladin stalked back to the tallest tower he could see, his fury as restrained as a caged leopard as he scaled the ladder to get some perspective.

The sultan's eyes gravitated past the corpse-littered plain to the area near the Krak's front gate. Santini and Fafnir stood in that clear expanse, apparently discussing a matter with complete disregard for the dwindling battle around them.

Suddenly Saladin grew aware that the nearby fighting had ceased. The dead warriors were retreating across the plain, creating a broad band between his troops and the fortress. He didn't know why Fafnir's warriors had stopped attacking, but their withdrawal demanded a tactical response.

He descended the ladder to find Hamzah al-Adil awaiting him. The others who had fought beside Saladin were also there, Khalil cleaning his saber and dagger, and Clarinda and Alexander speaking in hushed tones.

"Do you see them?" Al-Adil asked, cocking his head toward the Krak.

"Yes," Saladin replied, "they've stopped fighting. We're going to drive two wedges into them, using catapults to launch pitch-fires into the middle."

"It will be done," Al-Adil said, "but I mean, did you see the men on the ramparts of the castle?"

"The archers?" Saladin asked. "They'll be a concern only when our men—"

"No, no, no! Look above the gate—it's them."

Irritated, Saladin climbed two of the rungs, then saw the distant figures. "What about them?"

"They are Farbauti and Morpeth!" Hamzah al-Adil hissed, his eyes wild.

"We can't tell from this distance, but if they are, we'll be there soon."

"It's them," Clarinda said,"and Fafnir speaks with our Hospitaller ally."

"He's not an ally!" Saladin said. "There was no choice out there, but never again will I ally myself with any franj."

"Does that include us?" Clarinda asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

"My debt to you for ridding me of the Templar garrison at Caesarea ends here, woman," Saladin said. "If you'd fight again, we shall be on horseback within five minutes. I intend to drive to the gates and through them."

Khalil started to move toward Clarinda, seeing color flushing the Venetian girl's cheeks, but then he heard the dry voice again.

Palomides. I am Palomides, Khalil, and the time is come. The allies of Veröld Martröđ will gather soon to build a runeporte between the worlds. We must return to the Krak.

The shaykh idly fingered Thaqib's amulet at his chest, unsure what to say to the voice in his mind, but then he heard the sound of approaching horses and looked up.

"Fatima?" Khalil said in a startled voice.

Saladin followed his gaze, surprise showing on his features.

Khalil's wife rode towards them upon a great stallion, accompanied by a large company of bedouin.

Whether out of exhaustion from the recent fighting or simply irritated at the violation of custom and religious law, Saladin groused at Khalil, "Bad enough that we have one woman here, Khalil, but now you are allowing your wife to take the field?"

Khalil looked at him with an injured expression. He started to say something, and then thought better of it, his face steeling into a mask that was a mixture of annoyance, concern, and curiosity. "Someone rides with her," he said, and within seconds both Khalil and Saladin had the answer for her appearance.

"Ho, Ibn-Khaldun, is that you?" Saladin shouted.

The horses thundered to a halt; Fatima slid off the stallion and helped her father dismount. Saladin watched as an 'alīm of his people approached, unable to believe that the aged man was here on the battlefield in a rainstorm.

"Indeed, it is me, Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb," Ibn-Khaldun replied. "Hail."

"Hail." Saladin smiled. "But you always call me Yūsuf, old man." The sultan embraced his friend, then waited while Khalil made his own reunion with his father-in-law.

I am Palomides. The voice whispered again. As are you. Free me, so that we may find the Questing Beast. This one is a Keeper of Codices, Khalil. In protecting and cleaving to him, our hunt for Veröld Martröđ may resume.

"Stop it, Palomides," Khalil said under his breath, frustrated and distracted by the druid-speech. "I can't think this way, and—"

"What did you say, Khalil?" Ibn-Khaldun asked, his face stern and eyes searching.

"I ... I've been hearing ..." he started to say, then glanced at Saladin and Fatima who were regarding him curiously, though obviously for very different reasons.

"Well, hear this, Khalil," Saladin began, but Ibn-Khaldun raised a hand. "With respect, my friend," he said gruffly, keeping attention on Khalil. "What was that name you just said, son?"

"I ... it's nothing." Khalil pointed to the amulet on his chest. "This was Thaqib's, and, well, since he died, I've been thinking that I've been hearing voices sometimes."

"The name, Khalil?"

"Palomides. I keep hearing the name Palomides, and I don't know what to make of it."

Ibn-Khaldun grimaced. "That's all I wanted to hear. We shall discuss this later."

"We're in the midst of a battle, wise one," Saladin said. "Return with Fatima to the camp, and we'll get reacquainted at day's end."

"I appreciate the offer," Ibn Khaldun replied, "but this siege is what we must discuss. I come in embassy from the Hospitaller side." He frowned, apparently thinking through a problem while regarding the front of the fortress. "Khalil, that name ... Palomides. It changes things. You'll have to come with me, now, but I think that we may already be too late."

"Hold, Khajen. You go nowhere until you tell of this embassy. What would you say?" Saladin asked in confusion.

"Yes ... yes. I'm sorry. I was told by someone I ... respect, that the word Palomides had some importance, but first things first. Yes, Yūsuf, I come in embassy from Grand Master Arcadian. The Hospitallers would parlay with you, for territorial considerations."

"You speak for them?"

"Yes, upon condition that I treat with you separately from your ally."

Clarinda gasped audibly, then, her head snapping toward the Krak. "Oh, no. Aurelius, don't ..." She launched herself upon Fatima's horse, and from that vantage could clearly see the area by the front gate. "Saladin, mobilize now, if ever you want to defeat these creatures!"

"I'll not be told how to run my army by a woman," Saladin said, though he raised a hand in a ready-signal to the cavalry commanders and looked at the fortress.

On the battlefield, Fafnir and the tall Hospitaller knight remained standing in the circular area before the fortress. The youth had crossed his hands over his chest and had his head bent down as if pondering something Fafnir said.

Saladin saw Fafnir suddenly retreat a space from the knight, then a massive sheet of flame appeared on the plateau.

Greek fire? The sultan thought wildly, shielding his eyes from the heat wave. Where did that explosion come from?

Then an incandescent silvery white flash filled the world and something horrible screamed into Saladin's mind. For a time he knew only that his mount was leaping forward with all the others, and then he knew no more.