In 1099, a mysterious child of noble origin was taken in by Jews who had fled the Crusaders' arrival in front of Jerusalem.
Years later, Ada, the descendant of this child, travels through Palestine with her father. He's a merchant and knows medicin...
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt
***
Reyn gently caresses my back.
"The dreadful trophies are still on the walls of Cairo!" he confesses sadly.
"For heaven's sake!"
"The king was informed of this infamy, and he doesn't intend to stop there," he angrily predicts.
"Especially because one of the unfortunate heads thus exposed is perhaps that of his brother!"
Then he changes the subject.
"The court of Cairo is dazzling! We tasted refined dishes while admiring the dancers, the musicians. The child sultan fell asleep on his toys during the meetings with Aybak and his wife, the famous Shajar," he says, making the conversation more pleasant, "And I kept talking about you to Hugh of Roquefort, our new friend."
"And Aurel? You've hardly told me anything about him,"
"He changed a lot during our journey. He got so close to the Templars that they offered to take him in, here in Acre," he explains, a little tense.
"He won't come back to live with us!" I conclude sadly.
The news upsets me, perhaps more than it should.
"And his departure is worrying because Aurel was contributing to the rent of the house, which is expensive. So I asked Hugh of Roquefort if he would like to occupy the vacant room," he adds frankly.
But what happened between Reyn and his cousin?
"You could have taken my opinion before offering a stranger to share our home," I remark, a bit annoyed.
Reyn grasps my chin between his fingers.
"You're angry! But Hugh isn't a stranger."
"What do you mean?"
"The houses of Roquefort and Montreal have often been united by marriage. That's why Hugh is one of your cousins."
He holds me tightly to him while tears flood my eyes. I thought that Aelys of Montreal's entire line was ruined forever.
But it wasn't.
Poorly housed around St. Andrew's Church, Hugh gladly accepted the proposal. Melancholic, I carefully stored Aurel's stuff in our room while waiting for the return of the caravan he's leading with the Templars.
To welcome the lord of Roquefort, I set up a table downstairs with cooked and cooled meats, figs, dates, a few slices of the excellent bread baked by the St. John knights in their oven. I'm very proud to have bought all this with my money. The St. John Knights' Hospital kitchens also provided me Hypocras and two succulent cakes flavored with saffron and ginger.
During the meal, the conversation goes around the war.
"We're talking about seven hundred knights," Hugh of Roquefort says, "not counting the reinforcements from Greece, Cyprus, and the Christian cities of Syria."
The Egyptian disaster wasn't enough for them! So the project of the king and his knights is to form a new army!
I would so much like the dead in all the horrible battles since the dawn of time to stand up and shout their anger to the living.
"According to the latest news, the lord of Termes is raising a troop of about fifty Occitan fighters to lend a hand to the king," Hugh of Roquefort continues. "Our sovereign wrote to the seneschal of Carcassonne, and fortunately, Oliver recovered his fortress of Aguilar."
"The great crown on the rocks!" Reyn exclaims. "You fought well too, my friend! Don't you want to get your heritage back?"
"The king's benevolence gives hope to the Occitan. And I dream of my black mountain," our host admits. "On the northern side, it's covered with dark forests, then towards the west, the majestic walls of my castle dominate the valley where a river cuts deeply into the rock, forming impressive waterfalls, unfathomable chasms. The devil himself would swallow many innocent victims in the one we call "Malamort."
This legend is terrifying.
Isn't the devil known to be very dangerous?
"Montreal is in ruins, but Laurac and its vast lands would make you the richest lord in the region," Hugh adds. "You should claim these fiefs from the king because they belong to your wife."
"We'll see," sighs Reyn, "King Louis has so many other things on his mind now."
He seems to think that my Occitan ancestors' possessions can wait for the goodwill of the Capetian.
I have never dreamed of riches in this world.
But my husband might be very wealthy thanks to me.
So I'm proud!
I'm painfully aware of Aurel's absence when the meal is over. I would like to see his smile again, sometimes sad, sometimes ironic, and that nasty way of annoying me which belongs only to him.
Once the Templars' caravan is back, I intend to visit him, to know the reasons for his detachment towards those who love him.
When Eriprando of Cortenova and Hugh of Roquefort came from the distant past, Aurel disappeared from my life and that of my husband.
Alas!
***
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Malamort's abyss.
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And the Black Mountain.
Today, Montreal and Laurac are French communes located in the Aude department (France).
