Chapter 78: Curfew
Chapter 78: Curfew
The scorching sun baked the earth. Viewed from a high vantage point, the long, narrow marching column resembled a cavalry spear, piercing through the entirety of Jerusalem.
On the viewing platforms, the noble families’ servants, holding golden trays laden with silver goblets, were already presenting ice-cold, sweet wine to their masters. Some nobles’ goblets were even inlaid with large rubies, flaunting their opulence.
Noblewomen ostentatiously discussed their newly acquired jewelry, casting disdainful, cold glances at the Saracen or Persian female slaves with their graceful figures. Maidservants trained in Eastern-style courts were far more beautiful and "skilled" at serving people than those in Western courts.
But a noblewoman was a noblewoman because of the dowry she could bring to her husband’s family and the powerful political assistance she represented, not merely how beautiful her appearance was.
Without noble status, no matter how beautiful a woman was, she was merely a plaything. And Princess Sibylla was, naturally, Jerusalem’s most beautiful pearl. The dowry she potentially represented—a crown—made her like a treasure exuding an alluring aura, attracting countless scions of noble families to pay her court.
But Princess Sibylla herself seemed rather disinterested. While politely acknowledging them, she was observing Lothar, who stood before the church, wearing a red cape emblazoned with a black eagle insignia.
It wasn’t just Princess Sibylla. Many noblewomen, like her, were focused on Lothar. In their eyes, Lothar was shrouded in far too many captivating and mysterious legends.
Slaying a werewolf as a mortal man at a knightly tournament. Gaining the favor of His Majesty the King, who rarely appeared in public, shortly after arriving in Jerusalem. Being successively promoted from knight to baron, then appointed Grand Master of the Royal Knights. Subsequently, with thunderbolt methods, ousting the former commander, Count Philip, who had the strongest faction within the Knightly Order.
Added to this were the tales many nobles delighted in retelling: the treasures he had seized from desert bandits, measured by the cartload, and the fine equipment of his cavalrymen.
Baron Lothar had long since become associated with all manner of positive attributes: handsome, wealthy, valiant, and wise.