Chapter 9

"Dear and beloved brother,

Is it too much to ask you to give the fallowing letter to Lord Hubert Gautier of Canterbury, our precious and most trusted counsellor? Make sure you obey my order and you avoid spreading the news of my captivity, as you would surely like to.

Your King."

John yelled to Maurice:

"He insults me! And only this few lines are meant for me!"

"It doesn't matter anymore! The lord is dead. Read this, Your Highness..."

The prince, still revolted, opened the letter.

"Dear and loyal Archbishop,

First of all, you can trust the young man who brought you this letter because he was the only one who tried to protect me when the solders of the duke of Austria declared me a prisoner. Actually, I think you know him: his name is Charles Delorges, a French. He is brave and loyal to death. I'm not used with praising anybody, but this time the boy deserves it. I shall tell you the things the way they happened and if you want more details, my massager will satisfy you, as a direct participator.

On my way towards England, my ship sank near Aquileia and almost all my crew drowned. It was the second time when Charles saved my life. I travelled disguised in a Knight Templar till I arrived in the Grand Ducky of Austria. Unfortunately, I was near the castle of Durnstain when I came across the palace guards. They were escorting the duke Leopold V in an expedition, may I say, to find me. The reason, they said, to make me a prisoner, was that I had some involvement in the duke's relative, Conrad de Montferrat's murdering at Tyre, and that I insulted Leopold himself when throwing down his standard from the walls of Acre. I know the true reason is that during the Crusade, I've done many things that had upset the duke's plans.

But let me tell you how it all happened. The guards asked me where did I came from and if I had heard of the close return of King Richard of England. I told them they didn't have the right to ask me. The duke Leopold, who was approaching just then and heard the last words, condescended to ask me if it was I who had saved the life of 'poor king Richard the Lion face'- he was referring to Charles Delorges, my attendant... I still regret it, but I couldn't stick it any longer, so I wanted to unsheathe my sword and punish him myself.

All my attendants have seen my gesture, but only Charles drew his sword and attacked. He immediately killed two of the guards and wounded other five, but the overcame him. I wanted to help him, but at a sign of the duke, they immobilized me, too. I looked around to see what my attendants were doing, but two of them yielded themselves prisoners and the other four ran away. I threw an angry look to Leopold, but he was staring me so strangely that I was surprised. I fallowed his eyes and saw on my finger a ring he had given me many years ago. Maybe he read my worry in the eyes because he soon wore a beatific smile on his face. He ordered the guards to take me to the dungeon and execute Charles at once. He looked at Leopold with a derisive smile without even blinking and then he turned away his head to me.

"Sire", he said in a loud voice, "when, after this short visit of Durnstain, Your Majesty will return to England, I beg you to tell the Lord Chancellor that Justice stays at the bottom and many guilty people remain unpunished."

"How so? What do you mean?" asked Leopold, amazed by his calm.

"In England", answered Charles smiling a bitter smile, "In England, sir, the judges haven't found out, yet, that a man can be sentenced not only for treason, but also for his loyalty to his king. To be honest, such a thing didn't even cross my mind", he added, looking indifferently at the preparations for the execution. Suddenly he turned pale. He wrapped a dagger from one of the guards and jumping some steps behind:

"Either you give me a honourable death, like any gentleman can pretend", he said, showing the improvised gallows prepared by the guards, "or I stab myself with this dagger."

However, in spite of his hate, Leopold admires courage, so he smiled and said:

"So be it! You shall die honourably, but not by my order, so that you can tell your Lord Chancellor that not only England has a fair justice."

The same night, I wrote a letter to Phillip August II, the King of France and after midnight, Charles descended through the window and after killing the sentinels, he took a horse from the stable and vanished in the night. The next morning, Leopold visited me and announced that if I want to send a letter, I shouldn't hide from my own host.

"When near to the gates of the fortress, your massager ran into some 'desperados'. He killed most of them, but he got seriously hurt. Fortunately, some of my guards were attracted by the noise and arrested them all. The boy was growing furious. He was recognized by one of the soldiers and brought back here. I suppose you want to see him, sire?"

"Take me to him, sire."

"Give me your word, King Richard, that you will not try to escape from my prison."

"So it is true I am your prisoner!"

"It is."

"You have my word", I said after a moment of silence.

"So be it! Come with me."

We crossed some corridors and entered a small room with a bed where Charles was lying, severely wounded. He had sickened for the slashes for almost a week before Henri IV, the Emperor of the Holy Germanic Empire has delivered his judgment of compensation to the affront offered to Leopold. Now, that Sir Delorges has recovered and before being taken to German, I've been approved to write this letter also containing the emperor's message; a hundred thousand silver pounds must be brought for my release.

Sir Charles Delorges shall bring you this letter.

I truly hope I deserve 100.000 pounds in the eyes of my people.

Richard"