Ibelin Castle, Kingdom of Jerusalem, March 1171
Barry snorted. “And what about you? What are your plans now?”
Barry snorted. “And what about you? What are your plans now?”
Balian shrugged. “Hugh suggested I go
to Jerusalem.”
“Don’t tell me you still have romantic
notions about winning fame and fortune by great deeds?” he asked with contempt.
Then he added condescendingly, “It’s time you grew up, Balian, and recognized
that earning honor with great deeds is for the romances and the songs of
troubadours, but not relevant in today’s world. Face it,” he continued:
“nowadays kingdoms and baronies are inherited rather than won by the sword.
Look what happened to Reynald de Châtillon when he tried to seize Cyprus by
force.”
Balian bristled at the suggestion that
he was a man like Reynald de Châtillon, a brutal adventurer with no respect for
the Church or his feudal overlord. “I have no desire to imitate Reynald de Châtillon!”
he snapped at his elder brother.
Barry laughed, and too late Balian
realized his brother had been baiting him. “Even in our father’s day, winning a
fortune by the sword took longer than the alternatives.”
When Balian refused to answer, Barry
continued, “Your problem, Balian, is that you’re not acquisitive enough. You need
to be greedier if you’re ever going to make something of yourself.”
“Greed is a deadly sin, Barry,” Balian
answered, echoing what he had said to Henri only a few hours earlier, and adding
before Barry could make any snide remarks, “I think I’ll go to Jerusalem as
Hugh suggested.”
“Jerusalem,” Barisan countered, “is
full of younger sons from every noble house in France, England, and the Holy
Roman Empire. You don’t have a chance of standing out in that crowd. You should
go to Antioch. Prince Bohemond is still young and hasn’t been in power very
long. He will be in need of men to support him―and the competition isn’t as
stiff in Antioch.”
Balian smiled crookedly. “Thank you
for your faith in my abilities, Barry.”
“Oh, don’t be so thin-skinned! You
know I didn’t mean it that way. I just want you to be successful. After all,
the more successful you are, the more successful we are as a family.”
“I’ll try my luck with Jerusalem.”
Barisan shrugged. “As you wish, but
don’t come crawling to me if things don’t go according to plan.”
“No, Barry. Never.”
Buy now!
Buy now!
No comments:
Post a Comment