/I don't own anything you recognize in this story. /

Chapter Seventeen

"What a blessing it would be if we could open and shut our ears as easily as we open and shut our eyes!" –Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

"You lied to me!" a shrilly voice rose through the halls of the palace. Saladin winced as he recognized stormy face coming toward him. Somehow he knew that Sibylla had found out about Balian.

Sibylla came to a heaving stop with her hands clenched and breathing hard. Saladin could almost see the smoke coming out the top of her head. So much for that little measure of secrecy and now he had to explain everything. Maybe.

"Now, Sibylla, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Saladin stated half-heartedly.

"I'm not getting ahead of myself," Sibylla yelled. "I want to know why you lied to me about Balian being dead! I found out from a source that you let him go."

Saladin gritted his teeth and tapped his foot. He was in a right fix now and he couldn't lie again or he'd be deeper in the hole before he knew it. Oh, how he wished he knew who told Sibylla about Balian so he could wrap his hands around their scrawny neck. But in all actuality, he probably wouldn't find out, Sibylla was too smart to tell him who it was.

"Because I want to marry you, Sibylla. You remind me of my former wife and you've brought me so much happiness that I've never known since then," Saladin explained. "Surely you can't blame a poor man for falling in love."

"But you still lied and I should've known that's all I should've expected from someone like you. After all, you are the enemy," Sibylla spat. "I want you to release me now."

Just then, a man appeared, running as fast as he could. Reaching Saladin and Sibylla, he stopped. Saladin raised his eyebrows as if to say, "What's the matter now?"

"There's an army just outside the Jerusalem walls, my lord," the man exclaimed, bowing slightly. "The soldiers on the wall say it's the Christian armies. The captain wishes for orders from you, sir."

Saladin cursed. So the Christian armies weren't going to be satisfied with receiving just Balian. He should have known that this was coming, but now it was too late. Glancing over at Sibylla, Saladin noticed an odd shining of hope in her eyes. This news was obviously a message of hope to her.

"Assemble the armies and do what you can in the time allotted to you, but don't fire until I reach the wall. As for you, Sibylla," Saladin turned to the woman, his eyes flashing, "you are to go to your rooms and stay there. I do not wish you to be hurt."

"Do you honestly expect me to obey you when I know that my rescuers are outside for me?" Sibylla asked, "that is madness. I'm going to leave and try to reach them, thank you very much."

"I'm sorry that you don't have any say in the matter," Saladin informed her. Turning to the man, he said, "Seize her. And make sure that she stays in her chambers. Lock the doors if you have to."

"Yes, sir," the man exclaimed and grabbed Sibylla by the arms and began to drag her away.

Sibylla began to yell and scream. "You can't do this, Saladin! I'm a powerful woman, I'll have your head for this, you just wait and see!"

Saladin watched her disappear around the corner, his heart breaking. Why did everything have to come down to this? He shook his head sadly. Well, if he wanted to help his people, he'd have to fight.

Turning towards the opposite direction, Saladin started outside toward the wall. It was time to fight for his beliefs, no matter what the consequences.

It had been hours since Balian watched John lead the army away towards Jerusalem early this morning. The only people left was a messenger boy in case he needed anything and a couple guards to make sure Balian didn't leave and follow after the army. It was so painful just waiting and wondering what was happening out there.

Before they left, Balian had begged John to allow him to go with them; John had opted against it, saying Balian was too weak to go. Someone much stronger than Balian would be able to save Sibylla and Balian wasn't that person.

"I wonder if they've reached the Jerusalem yet," one of the soldiers said out loud.

Balian said nothing. He didn't really want to have a conversation at the moment. Everything right now made him nervous than he ought to be. He hoped they were there and getting ready to fight for Christianity and for Sibylla.

The guard looked at Balian curiously. "You don't speak much, do you?"

The second guard laughed. "Maybe he's dumb. You see them from time to time. Those kind like him don't like speaking much because they know their stupid."

Balian growled. "Watch what you're saying."

"Ah, so you're not deaf after all. We finally see the side of Balian that John had kept saying he respected all this time. So you're not dumb and stupid after all."

This was too much. Balian let out a roar of anger and tackled the soldier. Letting out a yell of surprise the soldier tried pulling Balian off. Finally knocking the man unconscious, Balian felt a pair of hands pull on him tightly. It was the other soldier.

"What are you doing, you son of a—" the soldier began, but suddenly Balian heard a thump and the soldier fell to the ground beside his comrade.

Looking down, Balian saw the messenger boy, still clutching a second rock. Balian gave a small smile and the boy smiled back.

"I thought you might need some help, lord Balian," the boy said. "I wouldn't have taken all of what they said, either."

"I just hope they'll wake up," Balian said worriedly, "I wouldn't want to turn John against me."

The boy shook his head. "No, they're just knocked out, is all. They'll wake up in a couple of hours."

Balian nodded. "Well, that'll give me enough time to reach Jerusalem. It's only about half an hour or so from here, by foot."

"Well, before you go, let's put them under the tree so they won't fry," the boy said and Balian nodded, the two of them beginning to drag the two soldiers toward the tree.

After finally putting them safely under the tree, Balian stood and stretched his stiff arms. Those men were not light. The boy beside Balian studied him thoroughly.

"You going to Jerusalem now, lord Balian?" the boy asked.

Balian nodded. "Yes. There's no other choice but to go. I have to get Sibylla or I'll never rest peacefully."

"Well, I'm going with you. You might need help," the boy said. "My name's Eamon."

Balian smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Eamon. And I'm glad you'll be coming with me. It'll sure make the trip faster."

Eamon nodded and soon the two of them gathered a small amount of things to take with them and were soon off. Balian was glad that he was finally doing something to help Sibylla and during the walk, all he could think was that he hoped that he'll arrive in time before it was too late.