Stewart Binns - Crusade

‘Yes, but it’s a Crusade that slaughters Muslims like animals.’

‘I’m not condoning it, but people like Count Raymond think our enemies are animals.’

‘But only because of what we do, which makes them retaliate against us like animals. It is madness!’

Hereward then offered some wise advice.

‘Let’s discuss the virtues of the Crusade another time. For now, it’s important that Sweyn speaks to Adela; then we must bring Robert into our confidence and decide as Brethren what we are going to do.’

Two days later, with a blood-red sun sinking below the horizon beyond the Orontes River, we sat in Robert’s tent within sight of the mighty Dog Gate of Antioch. The setting sun brought a rush of cooler air from Mounts Staurin and Silpius behind the city, a welcome breeze at the end of a warm autumn day.

Adela had been carried in like a babe in arms and sat impassively. Sweyn and Estrith looked uncomfortable. Robert took the lead in the discussion.

‘Adela, how are you?’

‘Sore, just as you would be if someone kept searing your arse with a hot iron.’

‘Sweyn has spoken to you?’

‘He has.’

‘And what are your thoughts?’

‘I am concerned for our Brethren. Estrith and Sweyn know their own minds and are free to make their own choices, but it might have been wiser had relationships within our Brethren remained platonic. And the child makes that even more difficult.’

Adela looked at me, and I looked at Estrith, remembering the time when I had made my own clumsy proposition to her, and thinking of how events might have unfolded if we had let our relationship become a sexual one.

Estrith stood and paced around nervously.

‘Sweyn and I were in extremis – the odds were we would not survive. What happened, happened. We shouldn’t have let it continue when we got back to the camp, but forbidden fruit can be very tempting. It was a mistake; we’re sorry.’

Sweyn then spoke.

‘I make no apologies for what happened. They might have been our last hours on earth; our moments together were tender and loving, and I have no regrets. When we came back to camp, I couldn’t just end it. I hope Estrith feels the same way.’

She did not respond, so Robert asked the most important question of all.

‘So, now that we have a new member of the Brethren of the Blood of the Talisman, how shall we ordain his or her arrival? Once we have decided, let us celebrate!’

Robert was being typically considerate, but he knew it was not as simple as he implied.

It was left to me to play Devil’s advocate.

‘As one of the senior Latin Princes of this righteous Crusade, what will be the reaction among your peers and within the rank and file? After all, Sweyn is a senior knight, now lauded for his leadership against the Seljuks, as is Adela; Estrith is the Abbess of Fécamp and the “angel” of the camp among the sick and wounded. If Sweyn’s fathering of the child is concealed, we still have to find an alternative sire, which might make matters worse.’

Sweyn now got to his feet. ‘There will be no denial of my role as the child’s father. It is our child and I will be a loving father to it.’

Robert pondered the situation for a while.

‘Well, it might be difficult at first, but it will blow over.’

‘Robert, you know as well as I do that it won’t “blow over”; at the very least, Estrith will have to leave the Crusade. Adhemar Le Puy, the Papal Legate, is an ambitious and devious man and he knows that the zealots won’t tolerate a pregnant abbess in their ranks. Worse still, Raymond of Toulouse still holds a grudge against us after the argument Sweyn had with him in the crypt of St Sernin’s in Toulouse; he could call for Estrith’s excommunication, or worse.’

Hereward spoke for the first time. ‘Estrith, do you want this child?’

‘Do you mean, will I get rid of it? The answer is emphatically no.’

‘That’s not what I meant. Will you nourish it and nurture it and devote your life to it?’

‘Father, it is my child and I will do everything in my power to care for it as it should be cared for.’

Hereward stared at his daughter for a long time before making a suggestion.

‘I would like some time to talk to Estrith alone and also to have some time with Adela and Sweyn. May we reconvene at the same time tomorrow?’

We all thought this a good idea and agreed to his plan.

There was no setting sun the next day. The long hours of sunshine were becoming fewer, reminding us all that winter would soon be upon us, and that even in the eastern Mediterranean the days could be cold and miserable.

It was my turn to lead the meeting; Hereward asked for permission to speak.

I often wondered what words had been said by the three of them in the hours between the two gatherings, but they had been spoken by a very select group within our Brethren: two sons of Bourne, a daughter of Bourne and one of its granddaughters; and they concerned yet another generation from that small but far from inconsequential Fenland village.

‘I have a suggestion which I believe will resolve the dilemma we face and, more importantly, is in the best interests of the child. This siege is going to take many months. Antioch must fall if Jerusalem is to be taken, so the army will be camped here for some time. Adela should not be here in her condition throughout the winter; she needs warmth and the care of the best physicians. Estrith hardly shows, so we are the only ones who know she is pregnant…’

Hereward paused to gather his thoughts before continuing.

‘Estrith and Sweyn have agreed to the following; it is important that it is endorsed here, so that our Brethren can continue in its bond of loyalty. What will be agreed here will be known only to us, until such time as Estrith, Sweyn and Adela decide to tell the child about our decision. If that hasn’t happened at the time of the death of the last of us, it falls to the last surviving member of the Brethren to care for the child and tell it the truth about its birth. In due course, the child will be admitted to the Brethren in its own right.’

He put his right arm around Estrith’s shoulders and sat her down next to Adela. Then he asked Sweyn to sit on her other side.

‘We four are now the only survivors of our home in Bourne. Until recently, it looked like its lineage would die with us, but now, miraculously, my grandchild will continue not only that ancestry, but also Torfida’s and mine. Estrith and Adela have agreed to travel to the coast at St Symeon, where the Emperor is establishing a supply base for the siege here at Antioch. They will then sail to Constantinople, where Estrith will enjoy her confinement under the protection of the Emperor and where Adela will be able to recover away from public view in the Blachernae. I have spoken to Tacitius; he will provide an escort, make the arrangements with the Emperor and tell him about our deception and need for the utmost discretion. If, by the time the child is born and weaned, it is safe for it to return to the Holy Land, they will join us, hopefully in a liberated Jerusalem.’

There were smiles all round from the four children of the Fens, but Hereward had saved the crucial part of the plan until last.

‘After the birth and weaning, the three of them will emerge from the Blachernae and Adela will be presented as the mother of the child. No one will know otherwise, except us. Estrith will, of course, stay close to the child, but it will be raised as the natural child of the marriage of Adela and Sweyn. In truth, we Brethren will all be its family and guardians, as we are for one another. We will tell the Princes and those whom Estrith has been caring for that she is returning to Constantinople to care for Adela’s wound and to help her with what would be a very difficult pregnancy.’