Chapter 15 #3
“Follow me,” the guard said without expression through his helmet.
He walked along the sea toward the westernmost wall, and I walked several paces after him, taking in the sight of the town: pretty stone houses, one floor or two; several open workshops along the main cobblestoned street, from which a few narrow dirt lanes branched.
Plum trees in purple bloom abounded. The houses looked like toys in the shadow of the enormous citadel that towered beyond the western wall.
When we arrived there, the guard momentarily joined another guard, standing at the gates.
This one looked at me in wonder but nodded in resignation, like a man who has seen it all. “Wait here,” my guard said to me.
I stood by the gate and tried not to stand out.
A large man crossed the street, startling a flock of chickens, and when he saw me, he stared without stopping.
He arrived at what appeared to be a smithy and exchanged a few words with a thick-bearded man working there, and then he sat down on a stool and continued to gawk at me.
I should have brought some sort of scarf or kerchief, I told myself.
I’m so stupid. My heart began beating wildly, and for the second time it occurred to me that I had made a stupid mistake coming in here.
Visions of a medieval madhouse flashed through my mind again, and I almost turned back.
Only my fear of the attention that my sudden walking might attract kept me rooted to the spot.
The guard returned and with him another knight, this one in a white mantle with the red cross.
They spoke briskly as they approached me.
“And how many did he receive?” mumbled my guard.
“Fifty lashes,” his friend replied. The guard sucked air through his teeth and shook his head, looking pained.
“For just one extra glass?” The second knight shook his head and said nothing.
“A message has been sent to Count Arsur,” my guard told me.
He had removed his helmet in the meantime and appeared more sympathetic.
I nodded my head at him with a small smile of gratitude, and his eyes expanded in a strange way.
I looked away in embarrassment and leaned my back against the wall.
My body was still, but my eyes raced around frantically.
I was hit with an abundance of smells—of sheep and of fertilizer, and of freshly split wood, roasted meat, cat urine, and sweet pea.
The smell of human waste was stronger here, too, but merged harmoniously with the multitude of other smells.
A woman, her head covered with a white wimple, rounded up the chickens that the staring man had scattered before.
When she noticed me, her mouth gaped, and she hurried into one of the houses.
I tingled with the urge to run away but did not dare move.
I looked at the fortress. Considering its size, it would probably take at least half an hour until the message would reach Jean and he could make it here.
I felt a rush of anxiety. What if he was not here, and this was all a ruse that would end with me being thrown into some dungeon, and no one would ever know what became of me?
Or what if Jean’s wife arrived, and that’s why he isn’t coming?
Why did I not simply dive back to my own world when I saw that he wasn’t coming?
Why did I go after him? My hands began to tremble.
The two knights went on talking among themselves.
I’ll just go, I calmed myself. Don’t make drama, I added and turned toward the eastern wall.
“My lady,” the guard stood before me. I froze, my heart pounding.
“I apologize from the bottom of my heart for my impertinence earlier. These are overwrought times, but there is no excuse for un-knightly comportment. Please forgive me, and the Good Lord will forgive your sins too.” He was large and fair, with straw-colored hair and a slightly stooped back.
“I grant thee my forgiveness,” I said with a nobility that I later replayed over and over in my head with great pleasure.
“You bear great responsibility. But there is much you do not know about the world around you, and there is a reason why I do not appear as you might expect.” I hoped that I had not overdone it again.
“Please forgive me, whole of heart,” said the guard, in a begging tone that surprised me.
“Of course, I forgive you, wholeheartedly!” I said, touched, and almost went over to lay a hand on his arm. But something in his eyes stopped me. His friend placed his hand on his shoulder.
“Well, I’ll be.” A voice was heard from the wall above, accompanied by an outburst of barking.
My heart leaped like a helium balloon set free.
I looked up and saw Jean d’Ibelin, Count of Arsur, leaning toward us from a nearby tower.
I could not see well, but it seemed to me that he was trying to hold back a smile.
Brunette must have been at his feet. I heard her barking but could not see her.
“The honorable Lady édith, in the flesh and on her own at the Pilgrim Castle,” Jean nodded.
“You know her, my lord?” the guard asked, chastened.
“Certainly,” Jean replied. “Show her here to me.”