Chapter 106: Before the Next Blow
Smoke curled lazily from the broken towers of Baalbek, the last embers of resistance dying in the mountain wind. The storming had been bloody, but swift. Now the Franks held the city, and their standards—golden crosses on white—fluttered from ramparts once marked by the crescent.
King Baldwin IV sat in his field tent, weary but resolute, his hands bandaged from days in the saddle and battle. The mountain air brought no comfort to his lungs. The mold-based salve that the Hospitaller physician applied daily to his leprous sores staved off infection, but it did not restore strength. He endured, as he always had.
The tent flap parted. Balian of Ibelin entered, nodding to the king before stepping aside for a dusty courier.
"Sire, message from Richard of England. From the north."
Baldwin took the scroll, noting the wax seal—Richard's. He broke it, read the parchment, and set it down with a heavy breath.
"Well?" Balian asked.
"He's taken several towns north of Homs," Baldwin said. "Qarqur, Shayzar, and some fortified villages. No major resistance. But Hama remains in Saracen hands, and the larger towns along the Orontes have either emptied or hunkered down."
"So he hasn't struck at Hama or moved south yet?"
"No. He writes that he's consolidating. Waiting for the rest of his men to regroup before pushing further."
Balian frowned. "If the Saracens retake those mountain roads behind him, he'll be cut off."