Chapter 2

Disobedience

Robin of Locksley made up his mind: he couldn't kill almost three thousand unarmed Saracen prisoners. If he murdered them himself or gave the command to begin the slaughter, he would be no better than a wild animal. Killing these people these people so brutally went against his honor and everything he believed in. Killing them would have destroyed his heart and soul.

Robin strode towards King Richard and dropped to one knee in front of his liege. The guards stared at the young Captain in amazement; they began gossiping and discussing.

"Silence!" King Richard's voice boomed. "Captain Locksley, you may speak."

Robin bowed, struggling to keep a calm façade. When he lifted his eyes, his gaze locked with the King's. He spoke in Norman-French in a high voice. "My liege, I humbly apologize for my disobedience. I don't ask you to pardon me. I know that my behavior is a great offence to you. I realize that there will be consequences. I willingly submit myself to your fair judgment."

Still standing on his knee, Robin bowed again his eyes downcast. A long silence ensued, and the guards stared at their Captain, openmouthed and shocked with Locksley's bold and honest speech.

More shocked than startled, Hugh of Burgundy waited for King Richard to speak, condemning the Captain's foolish behavior. Although he was much older than Richard and had led martial life for years in France, Hugh had never seen anything like this, especially from the King's favorite.

Robin felt a rising tide of panic fill his soul with mortal terror. He half expected that the King would order to arrest him right there. He tried to speak eloquently and clearly, putting as much humbleness, reverence, and devotion in his tone and words as it was possible. However, it wasn't enough to compensate for his crime – insubordination and, perhaps, even treason.

The Earl of Leicester watched the King of England and Robin. Like everyone, he was fearful of Richard's hot Angevin temper that could flare up. As he noticed that the King's eyes were not angry, he chuckled to himself. Leicester knew the King very well, and now he was sure that there would be no harsh consequences for Robin. Robin could be spared even a public reprimand from the King, if it was what Leicester supposed – the King's test of Robin's humanity.

"Very well, Lord Locksley," King Richard replied coldly. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes danced with mischief; Robin didn't notice that as his head was bowed. "Rise and go to your tent. Take Much with you."

Robin was at a loss. Did the King dismiss him without an arrest? Will he be arrested later? He blinked and rose from his knees and looked at King Richard. As their eyes locked, Robin saw the strange blue fire in the King's gaze. Yet, he no longer felt as frightened as he was when Robin decided to stand against the King's order.

King Richard referred to him as Lord Locksley. Did the King already strip his position of the Captain of the Guard from him? Most likely, Robin was no longer than a disgraced nobleman at that stage. If the King addressed to him as Lord Locksley, maybe the King would be merciful and send Robin and Much home in disgrace because of Robin's insubordination. Maybe Robin would be let keep his title and lands. It would be the best outcome, but he didn't dare to hope for that.

"My lord, you may arrest me whenever you wish. I am at your disposal." Robin bowed again.

"Leave now, Locksley," the King said sternly, but a crooked smile curved his lips. His eyes were not angry and cruel: there were curiosity and something else in his gaze.

Robin nodded. "As you command, sire."

The Earl of Leicester's eyes met Robin's, and Leicester winked at Robin, signaling that all would be alright. The King noticed Leicester's signal and frowned at him. Richard shouldn't have been worried because Robin didn't understand the true sense of Leicester's wink.

Robin turned to face Much whose eyes were full of fear and pain. Much expected Robin to be detained after his speech. Then Robin hurriedly walked away from the King and the congregation of soldiers without a backward glance. Confused and frightened, Much trailed behind his Master.

After Robin and Much had disappeared from the hill, King Richard himself ordered the Private Guard to begin the massacre. The English and French guards unsheathed their swords and stalked towards the prisoners. They were not allowed to kill the Saracens with arrows because wood was a luxury in the desert. The guards used curved swords, broadswords, and axes for the execution.

"Humanity doesn't have a place in war," Hugh of Burgundy told the King of England.

King Richard inclined his head. "The Earl of Huntingdon doesn't agree with you, milord."

"Huntingdon did a stupid thing today. He showed his disrespect to the holy war."

"Captain Locksley respects our war and his King," Richard parried in a flat voice.

"A soldier, all the more Captain of the Private Guard, cannot do such things," Hugh snapped.

The King's lips curled into a wry smile. "We do appreciate Captain Locksley's bravery, boldness, and honesty. We don't think these qualities are weaknesses."

Hugh chewed his bottom lip. He was also impressed by the boldness and challenge of Locksley's actions, but he, the bloodthirsty old warrior, didn't like them. "Sire, if I may ask a question, are you going to punish Huntingdon? He deserves a harsh punishment, maybe a flogging."

"Lord Locksley won't be punished. We will do nothing to him. He is and will remain Captain of the Private Guard," the King replied unhesitatingly.

"Sire, I know that you hold him in such high favor, but he gave a bad example to your soldiers."

"We respect and value Locksley too much to let this small incident change our attitude to him."

"He showed ignorance of your orders."

"It was disobedience, but not disloyalty." The King shook his head. "Robin is utterly loyal to us. He loves and respects us. But his heart is kind and gentle, although he is a man of duty and fights for his country and his king. He couldn't kill these unarmed prisoners, but he would have killed all our enemies in battle. He will gladly sacrifice himself for his King. It is difficult to find a man as loyal to his King as he is. His loyalty can never be bought, and this is what we value the most."

Hugh of Burgundy heard many tales about Locksley's humanity, and he knew that Captain of Richard's Guard had saved Saracen women and children from being massacred after raids on villages and towns, but he never saw that himself. He also heard about Robin's staunch loyalty and deep affection for King Richard. "Then, he is a rare man," he commented.

Richard smiled. "Robin is an unusual man. We have known this since our first meeting."

The Lionheart suspected that Robin wouldn't be able to order the guards to begin the slaughter. He expected Robin to do something unusual or foolhardy, and he was correct. The King didn't send Robin away on any mission that day because he wanted to test Robin and to see how his favorite would behave before the execution. Everything was as the King had anticipated! Richard didn't intend to punish Robin as he loved Robin and as he himself put Robin into this situation.

Richard was impressed with Robin's speech. He was secretly pleased that Robin had managed to keep his humanity even after all the bloody battles he fought on the Crusade. The same was with the Earl of Leicester, who also voted against the execution of the prisoners. Richard was proud of Robin's boldness, chivalry, and honesty, but he would never admit that aloud. He had never met knights who were as chivalrous, brave, loyal, and honorable as Robin. Robin was a unique man.

The King's heart hardened after many battles he had fought for his survival and for the throne. Locksley and Leicester's chivalry and humanity reminded Richard of what he himself had wanted to keep in his heart but had failed because royals can rarely be as compassionate and merciful as common people. Richard loved Huntingdon and Leicester more like brothers than his favorites; he especially loved in these two men those features which he didn't have or lost in bloody battles.

Huntingdon and Leicester's compassion and chivalry made the King's heart beat faster and filled it with warmth. The Lionheart, the greatest warrior King among all Christian Kings, couldn't reveal to the world that he didn't consider humanity a weakness. Some things had to remain unsaid.

The slaughter was gruesome and appalling. At first, the male prisoners attempted to endure the agony bravely, but soon some began to beg their executioners in Arabic for mercy. Women and children were screaming, weeping, and beseeching Allah to help them. The guards ignored all these cries and continued doing the evil deed, and there was no mercy for the infidels. The spilled Saracen blood painted the yellow sand in a crimson hue, and cries and screams of horror and pain echoed in the hot air like an anathema for those who were committing this atrocity.

Robin and Much didn't return to Robin's tent. They stopped on the vantage point, a little afar from the place of the execution, and silently watched the murderous slaughter. The execution was continuing in accordance with the plan, like a well-rehearsed performance. The soldiers finished one row of the prisoners, and then started cutting a new row of the Saracens. Sometimes, the guards paused to clean the red filth from their swords with hands, and then began their job again. More and more the Saracens dropped dead, their heads rolling over the ground.

Much threw up his breakfast and dissolved into tears. "I cannot believe that they are murdering them!" He swallowed a sob. "I cannot believe! I cannot–" He broke off abruptly.

Robin observed the massacre with empty and cold eyes, his face as of carved from marble. He wanted to imagine that it was a hideous nightmare, but he couldn't. He was shuddering inwardly, and his heart was bleeding. His blood burning with a feverish rage from the pain and helplessness he was feeling at the moment, for he couldn't stop the execution. He was also incensed at himself, thinking that he should have done something to save the unfortunate prisoners.

Who is guilty: God, King Richard, or Saladin? What should I do now, Robin asked himself.

Robin didn't know whom he could blame for this terrible injustice, and stubbornly he didn't want to blame God and his beloved King Richard. He tried to banish these thoughts from his head. Richard was his king, and his actions were beyond reproach. As God's incarnate, King answered only before God, and subjects had no right to question their King's decisions.

Much vomited again as they saw how one executioner – a young member of the Private Guard – missed the head of his victim, whacking into backbone, which caused the laughter of the other soldiers. Unbearable pain coursed through Much's heart, and he began to cry harder. He couldn't believe that such a cruel massacre could take place in front of him.

"Much, don't watch," Robin recommended; his face was inscrutable.

Much stepped aside from the place where he had thrown up. He swiveled so that he didn't see the massacre in the distance. "It is a good idea."

Robin continued watching. "Too much blood," he murmured.

"Why didn't they use arrows? It would make a prisoner's death less painful!"

Robin sneered. "Don't be naive, Much. We are not in Sherwood – we are in the desert. There is almost no wood here." He laughed bitterly. "And our noble knights don't possess my deadly accuracy with bow. They cannot shoot better than me. After the King had allowed me to leave the spectacle, they had no choice and decided to use swords to kill the Saracens."

"You are still able to jest, Master." Much did really appreciate Robin's dry humor at the moment. "Master, what will happen to you, to us?" he asked as he finally got his emotions under control. At last, he turned to face the execution and cast a sideway glance at Robin.

"I don't know." Robin's voice was edged with chillness that made Much flinch.

"Will the King arrest you? Will he do something else?"

"Maybe." Robin took a deep, painful breath. "What has happened to the world? Why didn't God stop this? The more I think about the Crusade, the more I doubt that we should have come to Acre. Now we are trapped in this unholy place, without any mercy and hope for atonement."

Much sighed deeply. "Soon we will be in the cold cell. We will be executed. I will always be with you, Master. I won't leave you alone in trouble. I promised near the grave of your parents that I would be at your side during the Crusade. We will never return home, to Locksley. You will never see Marian again." He raised his voice. "But we will die together if the King wants to execute us. I will ask him by myself to take my life if he condemns you to death for treason."

"Much, shut up!" Robin said between clenched teeth. "At least we are not participating in this madness." He glanced away. "I feel hollow. I don't even care what the King will do to me."

"It is awful," Much muttered.

Robin tried to soothe his friend's fears. "Much, don't worry before we have word from the King. Maybe our liege will be merciful to me and will send us home in disgrace."

"But the King must have been shocked with your actions, Master!"

Robin managed a smile. "King Richard wasn't pleased with me today. But he surely remembers what I did for him here, in the Holy Land. I saved his life many times. I won many battles. The King is always grateful and generous to those who are loyal to him and serve him well."

"I hope against any hope, Master."

"We should return to our tent, Much. Let's obey the King and do at least this."

Much gave a nod. "Let's go. I hate this place. I hate it more than anything else!"

"Much, don't grumble!" Robin growled.

As Robin and Much disappeared, the slaughter went on and on. Screams of bleeding and dying people filled the air, sounding like a hollow echo marking death. Soon only lifeless bodies that resembled carcasses of butchered animals remained from the prisoners.

In spite of Robin and Much's fears, nothing happened in the evening. Robin wasn't arrested, and he wasn't dismissed from his position of Captain of the Guard; he wasn't stripped of his titles and lands. On the contrary, on the same evening, King Richard invited Robin and the Earl of Leicester to his tent for a private dinner. They devotedly discussed their plan to liberate Jerusalem and Saladin's strategy aimed at tricking them and delaying their march. Nothing was said about Robin's disobedience in the morning, as if it had never happened.

During the next few days, King Richard didn't change his attitude to Robin and favored him as much as before. The guards were amazed with the absence of the King's reaction and even public comments, but they tried not to discuss the matter in public. Robin was Captain of the Guard and the King's grand favorite, and many men simply thought that the King had valued and loved Robin too much to punish him. Some of them secretly admired Robin's boldness and ability to stand for his principles at any cost; others thought that he was stupid as he had risked his life, his titles and lands, and his favor. Their thoughts didn't matter: King Richard didn't disfavor or even publicly reprimand Robin, and everyone accepted that nothing serious had happened.

A perplexed Robin didn't expect that the King would be ignorant of his serious transgression. He was grateful to his liege for the granted forgiveness. Robin knew that his case was special: he wasn't punished only because King Richard loved him a lot. His admiration for Richard increased, and Robin felt that he loved his King even more because he knew that Richard had understood his inability to kill those helpless men and, thus, had allowed him to not participate in the execution. After all, the King was probably the only man who understood the grown-up Robin very much and offered him a fatherly guidance which Robin needed so much in his early adulthood.

The King of England was able to order the ruthless execution of the Muslim prisoners, but he also showed his mercy to his loyal subjects, who loved and respected him. The King's generosity towards Robin impressed the young Captain a lot, making him more loyal to King Richard and England. He felt that he was in debt to his liege, and he also felt guilty that he had put the King in that embarrassing situation as everyone had probably thought that Robin had been pardoned only because of being in the King's favor; that was true, and Robin didn't deny that.

Robin didn't like many of the King's decisions, but he would never question his liege's decision and would always protect Richard. He hoped that he would always have the understanding which he had reached with the King, and that in the future, his liege would keep him away from staining his hands with blood of innocents. Yet, Robin was convinced that if he were ordered to execute innocents, he wouldn't do that, and that could even cost him his life. Robin swore that he would never betray King Richard, and he hoped that the king would never place him in the situation when he would have to betray this loyalty in order to remain loyal to his own code of honor.

I hope you liked it. I think Robin wouldn't have been able to kill these prisoners.

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