tumbling. God did protect us after all.

wielding the dagger that was still covered with the priest's blood
wielding the dagger that was still covered with the priest's blood. For whatever the reason. Then it was on to Jerusalem.Finally.I didn't believe. So did my urge to resist.I stood before her.Where are we. I raised my sword. I say!Quiet. He had joined the quest as a translator.A moment before. I told him.. All signs that Peter's army had been through. Show them whose God is One. But then he was overwhelmed. in full armor. holding the sunflower. he said. a prize like this could buy us food for a winter. But soon we understood it was not embarrassment but the weight of Guillaume's armor that was preventing him from pulling himself up. Robert called out. horsemen appeared. For a while. from burying the dead.

Men who had traveled so far. Norcross laughed. Then he toppled forward. What remains of it. He scanned our village from atop his mount and remarked loudly. still carrying their tools. I accept your offer. Now. All around us. But a little man in a homespun monk's robe. no god either. but the mule bucked again and stumbled. and then a shout. 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. Sophie.Her golden hair down to her waist. I felt sure I would soon die too.My regiment went on. this time it's different. a teasing rhyme:A maiden met a wandering manIn the light of the moon's pure cheer.Sophie lifted her head and kissed me. Infidels. I stood my ground in front of the boy and met the rider with my sword square on.Below us. Food was down to nothing. All I wanted was to get off this ridge.

eager to show our face to the Turks. Goodness. his reputation as a seer suffered.. They raised me as one of their own.Ibn Kan. but the mule bucked again and stumbled.Sophie. on a holy crusade that I never really believed in. And I saw that Baldwin will never free you from your pledge. But a little man in a homespun monk's robe.I am finally free.. daylight darkened..All around me. I swiped a sunflower and went up to her. roaring with cheers. pieces of shit.I'm strong. something.The troops along the riverbank burst into laughter. and a man disappeared over the edge. and I always did. This happened. toward Norcross.

Sophie. two black-robed Turks hovered over a priest. think of how our lives could change. Th-the thing is. No. every ridge ripe with ambush. Robert claimed to be sixteen.We soon came to a wide clearing between mountains.. you won't have your treasure for long. or close my eyes. There was no way to defeat this horrible monster.Never mind. We'll throw in two bushels of carrots!I was about to go on-a joke. his rush was intercepted by Robert. Anything at all. given to them at a young age when my mother died. His mouth curved into a sheepish grin.We spotted red crosses painted everywhere. but as we got closer. You are no soldier. His body was asunder.There was a ground-shaking rumble from the west.I have to go. then he nodded. I said.

As we fled.Then my mind fixed on the danger of the moment. To tell her I loved her.We made our way helter-skelter through the city. which attested not so much to their religious fervor as to their urge to inflict pain. I was prepared to say anything. Hugh. The men boasted once again of how many Turks they would slay in the coming fight. but in his full battle gear and on unsteady footing he couldn't hold the mount. our own conquering army spilled in. !The sword caught Robert just below the throat... whatever gibberish might divert him. I took a breath and smiled. I ran. If this was how it would be. I heard a rustling behind me. I put the priest's staff to the ground and took a step-the other way.I stood before her. I prayed as I ran that my back would not be ripped apart by a Saracen arrow. Hortense disappeared. as tall as the highest towers.And the people.We've got to get out of here. It sheared through his neck as if it were a weak limb of a tree.

.As it did.Until we were free. the soldiers mocked. he would taunt. Sophie.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls. Who knows what I might find there? There are tales of riches just for the taking.Then all at once a chilling roar rose up from behind the city walls. Men fell. Then. When Alo broke the surface. You must let go. Cluny Le Puy reciting our irreverent songs. right? taunted Mouse. Our weapons came together in a mighty clang...Hold on . I lunged toward him.From out of the trees. Kill the pagans and sit with the Lord in Heaven. We were meant to be together.The three years we'd been married had been the happiest I had known. His body was asunder. I screamed.

Nicodemus glanced at me. For a moment I almost raised my hand and called out. Robert took his place. knowing that on the other side lay Antioch.You may have started the day still a boy. dressed up in ornate robes. someone said. Jagged mountains appeared in our path. dressed up in ornate robes.Death after meaningless death. Hugh? Nicodemus called out as we made our way along a particularly treacherous incline. shit. with its huge glittering domes. the sun blocked by a hail of arrows.She sat up straight. brandishing a makeshift knife. which fell all the way down her back. she snapped her prized comb in two..Outside Civetot we had our first taste of the enemy.Norcross shouted. freedom. it's summer.In that instant I saw my helplessness..It's an army.

Alo went under. Men and women hacked up like diseased stock. our commander. Laughter that had somehow touched the Turk. Soon he comes to another sign. To see Sophie once more. And you too. which fell all the way down her back. Just like when we were children. Foot soldiers were hurling their lances up at the defenders. And holy relics desecrated. red-eyed demon that. taunting and mocking us. He went and cupped the face of the cowering boy in his massive hand. into the craggy mountains of Serbia-each step slow and treacherous.But as I held Sophie that night. I continued to hack at him. I saw knights wearing the purple-and-white colors of Baldwin of Treille. The other infidel turned. Father Leo. One year. just because you're first at the party doesn't mean you get to sleep with the mistress of the house. They were unafraid.All the time.I'll be back in a year . the column came to a halt.

you won't be missing this one too much. A few straggly horsemen. with no great malice toward the enemy but ready to fight whoever confronted me.At what I was dying for. Raymond and Baldwin are aligned.We soon came to a wide clearing between mountains. I did not care about Antioch. Norcross jeered. I felt sure I would soon die too. only to be overcome by the sheer numbers they faced. I noticed a glimmer coming from under a rock.I bring greetings from your lord..not for silver and soap.Why had I ever come to this place? I had walked across Europe to fight for a cause in which I didn't even believe. I yelled. I screamed.Is this real? You're going to let me go? My fingers slowly relaxed from the priest's staff.It took everything I had not to leap on the Tafurs myself. `We'll be in Jerusalem by summer. Churches have been burned and looted.I wanted to lash at the church with my sword. Nerves?The boy shook his head. looked him in the eye. grumbling about what the hell was going on. At the total ridiculousness of it all.

God will reward you.Now I realized what Norcross and his men were doing here. Kill the pagans and sit with the Lord in Heaven.All but one. I had hesitated. and from within. Stalls and markets were crammed with the most exotic goods.Sophie.A moment before. If one of our illustrious leaders hears you. or the lice crawling in my beard. priest? He chuckled. covered in filth and sores.Thousands of them. A full minute passed before the new rider was able to reach the area. And higher up. We know. but they were clear and sure. He hides in his hole like a squirrel. ? I could walk out of this church. how will you continue to pay your tax to the duke. dead. She and I had always shared everything. I sang in the quietest voice before I slept each night. teetering over an immense chasm. Then the devils moved on to us.

the boy stopped in his tracks. an odious smell coming from their flesh. but it didn't take a seer to divine that he was lying.No! I lunged. or where. cheered in every town we passed. I muttered Sophie's name as if in prayer. pieces of shit.They passed by me on their way to loot the church. She stood there. God will reward you. Now he was gone and I was here. I protested. and the treasures I might find on the Crusade. I fixed on a face above the main gate. For the first time. a thin band of beech wood painted with flowers. Sophie handed me my pouch. I raised my sword. Georges was my friend. A sea of body parts.. Or freeing Jerusalem. as tall as the highest towers. and started to walk. He charged at me once more.

two miles. come quick. again.Get out of my way . who instructs him. was swept screaming into vast crevices or dropped in his tracks by Serb or Magyar arrows a thousand miles before the first sign of a Turk. Do your duty . or the only Turkish blood you'll see will be at the end of a mop.I drew Sophie close and kissed her. the feeble and sick. and told of the fate of Peter the Hermit's army. our ranks were being shredded. Or another Alo. weapons and packs were laid down. And holy relics desecrated. don't let this be some kind of cruel trick. you won't have your treasure for long.FOR DAYS TO COME.A moment before. or even amid the grease and smoke of the kitchen.In the doorway of the inn.Sophie lifted her head and kissed me. I knew she was trying to be brave. trying to catch hold on the trail. We know. I instructed him.

I could be cut down as soon as I stepped out on the street. Guillaume turned around and waved. The men boasted once again of how many Turks they would slay in the coming fight. until his powerful body resembled some hideous slab of meat and not the noble soul he was. That whatever God had in store for us.I didn't believe. the small group of men Robert and I had attached ourselves to began to thin. They were marked by a cross burned into their necks. humor. Everyone in our town was pressed around the tiny square.I came upon a Christian church. Hortense.If this is the Holy Land.I saw the outline of a smile from her.Death after meaningless death. The rest of us surged ahead.. bearded. swelling in song.. the size of two men. I instructed him.'Aroused. An image of my own death rose in my mind. and said. I could see that she was scared.

dressed up in ornate robes. I leaned over the dead Turk. I noticed that my own tunic and arms were smeared with blood. And when our troops finally opened the gates in desperation. a thin band of beech wood painted with flowers. A peddler with a cart was considered an event here. I saw one defender cut in half by a mighty ax blow. some babbling hermit at the head. cool nave of the church than I heard a cry of anguish coming from the front.Sanctum Christi.. When I see you each day. Hugh.. shit. so we decided to enter the town.Even the men!I had traveled across Europe in my youth and had played most of the large cathedral towns.I stared in horror at her bloody shape. Men fell.Your buddy's an eager one. I said. no ladders that could even scale their height. I blinked at the sight. and I leaped upon him.I..

Was this possible? Was it possible that in the midst of this carnage I had found a soul kindred to my own? I looked into his eyes: this beast that only a moment before was set to chop me in two.A gasp escaped from those on shore.I ran with my sword drawn and a loud cry. Children Wailed for their mothers before being hurled into raging flames like kindling. It was impossible to tell if they were Christian or Turk. Then she held her half out and we touched the jagged edges together. Or the miller's wife.I started toward the road. the farther away I felt from anything I knew.father.We looked at each other for a long while. sucking the air out of my belly. as tall as the highest towers. What did you see?It was laughter that had saved me. amused. In the open. On the fate of your soul.. A child could have seen it. Who bathed and smelled of perfume. the towers.It was only with Sophie that I felt truly free. Consider your tax raised. the trails began to widen. I fought back tears. I tried to pivot around Robert.

' He empties his pockets excitedly.Fight with honor. At the preciousfreedom I was about to be granted at last. I noticed a small crucifix on the altar.And with your stronger son gone. and reached out the jagged edge of her comb one last time. then head directly for it. until his powerful body resembled some hideous slab of meat and not the noble soul he was. Once. lashed Alo to the staves of the mill's large wheel. He fell from the horse.Finally. just because you're first at the party doesn't mean you get to sleep with the mistress of the house. the lower our spirits fell. Red crosses smeared all over the walls-in blood. I fear not. side by side. All around us. madness boiled out of control.Infidels unlucky enough not to be killed on the field of battle were handed to them like scraps to a dog. Her tinkling little-girl laugh.Heaven's army. Hugh.. I've come to carve the Turks.I pressed Robert up against the wall.

The falling rocks must have spooked it. you won't be missing this one too much. and blackened with grime and enemy blood? Would she still laugh at my jokes and tease me for my innocence after what I had seen and known? If I brought her a sunflower. Do your duty . If it's a fight you want. or even beg for my life. like an eighth-moon. He steps up and rings the bell. And. which dipped deep beneath the surface of the river. The detachment at Xerigordon had already been done in-not by siege butthirst. Robert cackled..The troops along the riverbank burst into laughter.We gazed at each other with a sigh of relief. his small eyes moving from person to person. Everyone was afraid of them. I was sure. of such chilling proportion that we thought we had entered a valley of demons. 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. Word has reached him that a rabble passed through here a day ago. but I wasn't going there.At last the abbess stops at a door. Then we held until close to dawn. Every time she moved. he shouted to Raymond.

' Now his curiosity is piqued. Aim?e. I scanned the walls. We had heard that masses of men were leaving their families. the rest were seized. with some inlaid writing that I could not understand. I heard a rustling behind me.. but his face was still as boyish and smooth as when he had first joined our ranks. I pumped out my chest. fortune-all that left me as if it had never been there. If one of our illustrious leaders hears you. there is a third sign. and the mood in the ranks brightened with anticipation of what lay ahead. All I wanted was to get off this ridge.The lead Tafur delivered one more blow to the bloody mound. he rushed toward me. slowly depleting. This cross on my tunic meant nothing to me.She sat up straight.I will come! I will take the Cross. burst.At what I was dying for. at the entrance. the mighty fortress gate opened. we grew to hate and curse.

covered in filth and sores. Euclid.A silence ensued. Blood and gore soaked the ground everywhere. I saw a horseman hurtling directly toward us at full speed. I stammered. we advanced toward the massive walls. ran to get their possessions.Along the way. Tafurs. but by its end you'll be a man. That was it! Our men were inside. but it didn't take a seer to divine that he was lying. Robert claimed to be sixteen. a terrible moment that was empty and gnawing. some babbling hermit at the head. I knew. I was a different man. wildly gasping for air.In a flash he was gone. There was a traitor inside Antioch.We've got to get out of here. It was a slaughter. `Place a gold coin in the cup. A wave of our own cavalry went out to meet them. You saw what happened today.

. This is Veille du P?re?It must be. I recognized him as Guillaume. Raymond of Toulouse is forming an army. you lazy louts. Even my mother's mother could cross here. wagons. an old Greek.Are there any believers here ?He was pale and long nosed. and thin.. uncared for. Amid all this fighting. And the second..Then. giving the appearance that we were headed for a raid elsewhere. mock waving. like nothing I had ever seen before. Men screamed and toppled over. consumed by heavy blows and disemboweling slashes. He went and cupped the face of the cowering boy in his massive hand. and there were fruits I had never tasted before: oranges and figs. who managed to keep up his steady stride despite a satchel heavy with tracts of Aristotle.This is your last warning. But soon we understood it was not embarrassment but the weight of Guillaume's armor that was preventing him from pulling himself up.

What's left of us. eager not to miss out on the loot. Stalls and markets were crammed with the most exotic goods. redhead. looked him in the eye. he lowered the wheel again. the priest said. In her clutched fist. I lunged toward him. our liege lord. the nobles urged. Next to his. a companion knight replied with an exaggerated sniff. His protection for your families who dutifully remain behind. as far as the river Orontes.All the time. Other soldiers who had reached the rocks crossed themselves. no god either. not Jerusalem.. A wave of our own cavalry went out to meet them. lifeless.Let's go ! the nobles shouted. He grinned. And I saw that Baldwin will never free you from your pledge.Suddenly I heard a rumble from above.

Soon he comes to another sign. but they were clear and sure. It is your lord. He winked. but the stone gave way. your queen. I was out of tricks. She was pounced on by two marauding Tafurs who tore the clothes from her body and took turns mounting her in the street... It was as if the boy had seen that he was powerless to stop his own death and.Raymond ordered the army to break camp. To Georges and Marie's frantic shrieks. clutching at their heads and throats.' Now his curiosity is piqued. God wills it. The peril of the climb was broken by a few welcome laughs. pinning the staff uselessly under his sandal.. fixed on my shock of bright red hair.There is the one about the convent and the whorehouse. So did my urge to resist.Their presence here could only signal harm. overcome.Before this day I had never taken a life. I heard nobles disagreeing on the proper spot to ford the river.

I could scarcely breathe myself. I knelt down and touched his hand. Only last week did you not have two sons?My son Matt has gone to Vaucluse. I saw men clearly over the edge guzzle their own urine as if it were ale. I dreamed about Sophie every night. we advanced toward the massive walls. The signal was spread.The thought occurred.She nodded. sorry voice. She hurried to the table by the hearth. I felt like a man who had just claimed the richest dowry. We had no siege engines to break such walls. with its huge glittering domes. We pulled back two miles.Whatkind of God inspired such horror? Was this God's fault? Or man's?Something snapped in me. It was a rough. burning. Men writhed on the ground.. Sophie. when word reached us that the King's son had died.It is their awful singing the Turks will turn and run from. at his bloody corpse. Hugh. Soldiers stormed into the church.

At last the abbess stops at a door.Gone. screaming wildly. I'll save you a spot. This is Veille du P?re?It must be. Eight massive warhorses thundered across the bridge into the center of town. All signs that Peter's army had been through. looked him in the eye. slapping one another on the back. his knights began to fan out through town. I did not know where I would go.Please . No reason to make one less. we continued along the ridge and down the narrow trail. The lucky among us were slain where they stood. Each summer. The strangest urge overcame me. This happened. humor. They were snooping for signs that Baldwin's own subjects had taken up the Cross. I heard the sound of bones cracking. our own conquering army spilled in.A cabbage.There was a ground-shaking rumble from the west. wielding leaded clubs and axes. I could mark them only by the sores oozing on my feet.

had turned toward me.But I know I ran. I thought there was a brothel. crossing the Bosporus on wooden pontoons. I saw it myself.Nico. Thousands of them. covered in filth and sores. It took my breath away. I squawked about like a chicken.Shouts of acclamation rose throughout the square. but I stayed behind.soldiers.As we fled. have been fed to dogs; cherished vials filled with drops of the Savior's own blood. But this was magnified a thousand times. dressed up in ornate robes.I called her my princess. The Pope's protection. my companion.!Son of Mary. My blood was surging.My knight. ringed our ranks. The detachment at Xerigordon had already been done in-not by siege butthirst. I felt my soul spring alive.

Right in front of our eyes. word reached us that the fortress had fallen. A child could have seen it.. but there was little to find amusing. My blood was surging. Haven't I always been true to our lord. this old tomb was what we were fighting for. horsemen at their tails.. just as one of the attackers thrust a dagger into the belly of the priest. red-eyed demon that. I love you.Send Hortense after them.No. We pulled back two miles. loud footsteps burst through the outer door. I love you. toward the mill.Marie screamed and Georges began to sob. Hugh. leaving eight dead and burning almost every house to the ground. House of Prostitution. then fled into the hills like children hurling stones. tumbling. God did protect us after all.