Crusade

‘Very well, but I beseech you to take care, and your menfolk to look out for these two ladies.’

I could sense Adela stiffen next to me and I nudged her knee with mine to encourage her to hold her tongue, but it did not have the desired effect.

She clasped the hilt of her sword and straightened herself.

‘Majesty, we will all take care of Estrith.’

The Emperor looked annoyed at first — few people as lowly as a knight, particularly the oddity of a knight in female form, would have spoken directly to him before — but he soon smiled.

‘How fascinating; I would like to learn more, but I have matters to discuss.’

He then went through the details of the campaign as he saw it, outlining the specifics of the logistical support he planned and giving us the benefit of his vast combat experience against the Muslim armies. Worryingly, it soon became clear that he was already frustrated at the attitude of several of the more forthright Crusaders.

When he had finished, we thanked him profusely for his guidance and wisdom.

Robert then broached the subject we had waited so patiently to raise.

‘Your Majesty, Prince Edgar begs your indulgence; he has a question for you.’

‘Of course.’

‘Majesty, you wear an amulet on your belt. We think it is something we recognize, an object of great importance to us.’

‘I think you must be mistaken; it is a charm I bought many years ago from a trader in oriental treasures. It is from the lands far to the east.’

Once again, Adela had the temerity to speak up. I made to stop her, but the Emperor gestured for her to continue.

‘Your Majesty, the stone contains the image of the Devil and his familiars, entombed by a splash of the blood of Christ. It is called the Talisman of Truth. The last time I saw it, it was being worn by Estrith’s father, Hereward of Bourne. He and his wife, Torfida of the Wildwood, were the Talisman’s guardians.’

‘I’m sorry to disappoint you; this is a very different amulet, nothing like the one you describe. It is amber, but has no images in it, just a few trapped insects.’

The Emperor then stood and we were abruptly dismissed.

The journey back to our camp became a long discussion about whether the Emperor was telling the truth. All of us thought him perturbed by our questions, but could not understand why he would want to hide something from us.

Estrith was certain that what he carried was the Talisman.

‘He knows something. It is definitely the Talisman, and the infuriating thing is that whoever gave it to him probably knows what became of my father.’

Edwin was more pragmatic.

‘You were a few feet away; you could have been mistaken. As for the Emperor’s reaction, he probably thought it discourteous of us to ask.’

Although I had not seen the Talisman as many times as Estrith, I was also sure it was the amulet Hereward had worn. But I thought it unlikely to be still linked to Hereward after all these years.

‘Even if it is the Talisman, it could have gone through many hands before arriving here — anyone could have picked it up at Ely. But, I agree, it is an amazing coincidence that we should find it hanging from the gilded belt of the Emperor of Byzantium.’

The others had been too far away to see what Estrith and I had seen, but Sweyn was adamant.

‘The Emperor is hiding something. All he needed to do was show it to us and that would have been an end to it. It’s the amulet all right. And when we’ve finished our business in the Holy Land, we’ll get to the bottom of it. Then it will lead us to Hereward.’

Robert pointed out that that might be easier said than done.

‘Sweyn, emperors are not usually in the habit of bending to the will of anybody — let alone a lowly duke and an even lowlier knight.’

‘On the contrary, chivalry demands that he return it to Estrith. It is a sacred relic, entrusted to the care of Hereward and Torfida by her father, the Old Man of the Wildwood, and before him by Emma, Queen of England, and a long line of forebears stretching back to the emperors of Rome. Estrith is Hereward and Torfida’s only surviving relative, thus she is now the guardian of the Talisman. It belongs to her and her alone.’

Robert did not respond. Like the rest of us, he was impressed by the clarity of Sweyn’s answer and the forthright way in which he delivered it.

Edwin brought the discussion to an end by reminding us of the practicalities we faced in the expedition we were about to undertake.

‘We have three weeks to get ready for the crossing. There is much to do. Let’s deal with the dilemma of the Talisman when we return.’

Ships arrived from every port in the Mediterranean for the crossing. The distance was not great — only about half a mile in places — but the number of Crusaders was huge and the volume of supplies immense. The Emperor rode down to the quays every morning to check on progress and each time was hailed as the great leader of Christendom and cheered wherever he went.