Chapter 70: Smoke Over the Delta
Date: April 20th, 1180
Location: Fustat, Egypt
The scent of burned timber and saltwater still clung to the winds blowing inland from Alexandria. In the vast gardens of Fustat, far south of the devastation, Emir Qara al-Fadl paced in tight circles beneath a shaded arcade. Scrolls and sealed letters lay scattered on the marble bench beside him, their wax cracked open, the words inside burned into his memory.
The Sicilians had not just raided a fishing village.
They had struck Alexandria, the great city of the sea.
They had taken gold, torn through the harbor, desecrated a mosque, and burned the lighthouse steps.
And then, like wolves, they had vanished.
The Emergency Council
Within hours of receiving the first messenger — a half-dead courier from a merchant galley that had escaped the harbor as flames rose — Qara al-Fadl had called an emergency session with other regional emirs. The courtyard of the governor's residence was filled with raised voices, clattering sandals, and the scraping of parchment.
Emir Yahya ibn Tamim of Bilbays arrived pale and sweating.