May 1199, the Royal Palace and Fortress of the White Tower, London
The clink-clink-clink of chainmail echoed as Harry strode down the halls of the Tower of London behind Geoffrey FitzPeter, Earl of Essex and Constable of the Tower. He observed the defensive features from the inside, as he had done from the outside, making three circuits of the fortress before riding in. Truly, it was an impressive fortification, and yet had nothing on his own fortress.
Built on a series of plateaus up a mountainous hill, all sides were approached by a steep rocky cliff face, then hewn into the very rock itself before the fortress, was a star-shaped wall, which allowed covering fire from any of the spurs towards the others, meaning to approach one would catch yourself in a crossfire with the one you approached and the one adjacent. The fortress itself began with a gatehouse which was housed in a square keep of its own, and you could only approach it on a path between two spurs of the star.
The gatehouse keep was set in a wall that began in the side of the hill, populated with a series of squat, round towers on either side of the gate which gave a perfect field of fire and at the same time did not have the weakness against siege weapons that square towers had. You would then approach a double-towered inner gatehouse, loomed over by an immense square tower attached to the front of the main keep. The second gatehouse led to a maze of tunnels, some tall enough to ride a horse through, but all twisting and easily defended.
One of them emerged within the curtain wall of the main keep, which spread out backwards towards the sheer cliff face dropping down hundreds of feet, containing the castle home, attached to which was the looming tower. Inside was enough space for himself as Lord, two-hundred and fifty knights and a thousand assorted sergeants, infantry and archers housed there on a permanent basis.
The back of the castle had the sheer drop of hundreds of feet and four great square towers where he'd mounted ballistae, trebuchets and other assorted long-range weapons.
The Tower of London was not that grand, limited in size by the city itself. It was not a building he would personally enjoy besieging, simply because its status would risk a reprisal on an enormous scale. Two 'wards', the curtain walls in other words, a moat, and the famous keep itself.
"Announce the Count Hadrian of the La Bana." instructed the Constable to one of the two guards on the door they had approached.
"Count Hadrian of La Bana in the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Constable of the Tower, my Lord the Earl of Essex, Geoffrey FitzPeter." announced the guard, throwing open the door.
"Geoffrey, please, do sit." ordered the man seated at the head of the table, who though darker of hair, was similar to his father who Harry had named a friend; "And the Count Hadrian, please to my right." he added, gesturing to an empty seat at his right-hand side. "You have obviously met the Constable, opposite you is Henry Fitz-Ailwin, the Lord Mayor, to your left is the Lady Alicia de Coubray, a ward of the crown, and next to the Lord Mayor is my lord the Earl of Pembroke and Marshal of the Realm, William Marshal"
"We have met Your Majesty." Harry said with a slight bow, shooting a look at William.
"It has been many years though. I heard tell that Guy de Lusignan is dead, is it true?" the Marshal demanded; "It is rumoued that in his depression at the loss of Jerusalem he committed suicide."
"Five years ago. I found him ruling Cyprus, excusing all ill that he performed as being in the service of Our Lord. And yet he was strangely swift to try and silence me when I confronted him. He was never as skilled with a sword as me, and in attacking me indeed did commit suicide." Harry said lowly; "But it is ill-befitting to discuss death and killing at the table, I would prefer more pleasant conversation."
"At least I now know my uncle is avenged." said William, looking satisfied; "I am curious as to why you were first identified as a pilgrim, not arriving in a way befitting of your station?"
"I crossed the Mediterranean and made speed through France, not wishing to be accosted by the many who I have offended during my time in the Holy Land. I have over a thousand soldiers at my disposal, but I do not wish to bring them into this country without the permission of its monarch, no matter my own station." Harry replied, inclining his head to the king as food was brought in and laid on the table.
They broke out knives, very similar to the fighting daggers he carried, and wooden boards were employed where plates would one day be used. The food was almost exclusively meat, and it was noticeable that Harry, unlike the others, did not pick out one thing at a time, but took a couple of portions of meat, some of the few bits of fruit and vegetables on the table and laid them on his plate before beginning to eat.
"What is the Holy Land like? Is it truly as glorious as in the tales?" asked Fitz-Ailwin.
"No, the sand is horrific, the slightest wind lifts a sheet of the stuff up and blasts it at you. I took to wearing a thin scarf of silk given to me as a gift by a Saracen lord over my face, so that I could see and breathe in the sandstorms, and when I didn't need it, simply lowered it. In the day, because there is no water near the surface to take the heat of the sun, the sand itself heats to an incredible level, that you would burn if you touched it. Then at night because there are no clouds to hold the heat in, it leaves quickly and rapidly becomes colder than the fiercest winter. No, it is not glorious." Harry chuckled; "Yet I stayed there for twenty-five years. I left for Jerusalem in Eleven Seventy-Four, I was but nineteen years old then, and I only left for a short visit to Cyprus in Eleven Ninety-Four before returning. I did what I could to secure the remains of the Kingdom and its remaining fortresses before considering returning to England. Thus it has taken me seven years from the signing of the truce between His Majesty's brother and Saladin to my own return."
"I note your arms bear the crosses of the Knights of Saint John, are you a member, taken the vows?" asked King John.
"Aye, I am a member. Though I never took the vows with the agreement of the Grand Master because poverty wasn't going to work, money is needed for fighting, chastity is all well and good but I hold a title and under some expectations, I must have an heir, and obedience is never something I've ever been good at, I usually just do my own thing." Harry said after finishing a slice of chicken impaled on his knife; "I took a vow to protect the weak, protect the order's interests and to defend the Christian kingdoms of the west and the Holy Land. I served in the Hospital of Jerusalem for a year before I came to the attention of the young Baldwin the Fourth after a caravan I was in was attacked by Saracens and we fought back. After that, I kept fighting, built a large fortress over the main road from Acre to the Sea of Galilee, kept fighting. The only time I have ever met my match in a swordsman was duelling Saladin himself at the Battle of Montgisard, he gave me this scar." said Harry, tracing the scar down past his eye.
"Such a feat of arms as to fight the infamous Sultan and live is worthy of a reputation." John commented; "Though I am curious why a rich man leaves his castle and lands for this country after twenty-five years?"
"The Kingdom of Jerusalem's days are numbered. It will not last another century. There are too few native barons, and with conflicting ambitions, conflicting loyalties, all packed into a small country, the Christian side will tear itself apart." Harry answered; "On the outside, we are surrounded from the north, the south, the south-west and the east by Muslim countries, all of whom would happily make war on us if they believed they could win. As your brother showed, a crusade, no matter how great, is still not able to make great inroads on taking a land so far from home, and surrounded by enemies. I left because I could no longer stand the petty arguments of the self-entitled so-called 'nobles' who proclaim their rule of the nation. It would not be the first time I struck down someone who, in a fit of arrogance, challenged me."
"It is truly that bad in the Court of Jerusalem?" asked John.
"A meal at court in Acre is rarely complete without one duel to the death." Harry said with a cynical smile; "It allows one to keep one's hand in with a sword."
"I shall have to arrange for you and William, who has something of a reputation as a swordsman, to fight before us, it would be exceedingly good entertainment." laughed John; "Yet I am sure you exaggerate."
"Not entirely. Duels were commonplace, grudges great in number and depth. Whether a death duel did in fact result in death wasn't certain." Harry shook his head; "I'll tell you of one rather memorable event at the Court in Jerusalem."
July 1187, the Fortress of Sepphoris, the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
"...may we reign long and happily. Amen."
"Amen." chorused the assorted nobles, many more of duty than any belief in the 'long and happy' reign of the monarch, Guy de Lusignan, seated at the head of the table.
The banquet had been thrown when the Crusader Lord Hadrian, Count of La Bana had ridden into the city with a host of five-hundred knights after a protracted defensive campaign against Saladin, who had renewed his offensive on the Kingdom of Jerusalem.
They were sitting down to the meal when a rider dashed into the courtyard on horseback, nearly throwing himself out of the saddle and dashing over to Guy. The rider quickly handed the King a piece of parchment which he unfolded and read, one eyebrow climbing.
"Saladin besieges Tiberias. We must make haste to relieve the garrison." he announced.
Raymond, Prince of Galilee and Tiberius rose immediately.
"We cannot. The town of Tiberias can be sacrificed. Saladin's army outnumbers us, I have seen it with my own eyes!" he stated; "If we draw them into besieging us here, we can destroy his army. We cannot if he draws us onto the field of battle, which is what he will expect us to do."
"Oh, and what would you do, accursed Tiberias, have you lost your spine?" demanded one of the nobles.
"Sit down Tiberias!" ordered Guy as he began to reach for his sword.
"Raymond is right." Harry said quietly; "We can march on Saladin, leaving here undefended. We can retreat to Jerusalem, letting the Saracen army have free reign over the land. We can stay here, hold out against the army, and whittle it down, bit by bit. He would have to split his attentions, and siege equipment between Tiberias and here."
"Be silent coward! God is on our side!" yelled another nobleman, causing Harry to glare at him with such venom that he nearly wilted in his seat.
"Saladin makes a mistake, he places himself between the walls of Raymond's fortress and our army. He cannot make war with armies on two sides." announced a red-headed noble, one who Harry would happily see dead, Raynald de Chatillon; "He makes such foolish mistakes that I wonder if any but a true coward or a traitor to Christendom would do otherwise than to make war upon these infidels."
"We march on Saladin!" announced Guy; "Who here will swear loyalty to me and to the war we make?"
One by one each of the nobles offered their allegiance in the coming battle, save Raymond and Hadrian.
"And what of you Raymond, Hadrian?" asked Guy.
"To march from here to Tiberias, you must go from water to water. North-east of here, less than two leagues is Tur'an, which has a spring, thence to Hattin, it is a similar distance. From there you must go to Lake Tiberias and march south on the shoreline to come upon Tiberias." Harry said calmly, ignoring the question.
"Do not seek to advise me on military matters!" Guy snarled, suddenly enraged; "Do you think me so stupid as not to think of such? It is merely four or five leagues to Tiberias, it would be faster simply to march straight there, with plentiful water on arrival. Indeed, we march there."
"Then I will take my leave, and that of my knights. For by the time you are drawn into the arms of Saladin's army and destroyed, I will take my men to defend Jerusalem from the results of your stupidity." Harry said, his voice hardening as he rose and made to leave the courtyard.
"Halt! You will swear me allegiance."
"I go to offer your wife my condolences for your death and my services to try and hold back the results of your stupidity." Harry said coldly, not breaking his stride.
"Then end him!" screamed Guy.
One of the Templar guards drew a sword and raised it. Harry's bastard sword cleared its sheath and he dealt a ringing blow onto the steel of his attacker's sword, the vibrations going through both of him. With sheer strength, he pushed down until the Templar was on one knee, before driving one foot into the attacker's torso, bowling him over backwards. Not pausing for a second, he drove his sword into the gap in his armour between his helmet and the neck of his hauberk.
His own horse was tied up just outside the courtyard, so he quickly pulled himself into the saddle and galloped away. Riding through the encampment outside the fortress, he roused his knights and vanished west in minutes.
"And it turned out I was right. Guy took some of my advice, but not enough, he should never have left the fortress. He did go by water, but was cut off from it by the Saracens, who slaughtered the Crusader army." Harry stated, taking a sip of the wine in the goblet in front of him.