kingdom of nations

Chapter 11 Princess Sibylle

The first one to stride in was of course Princess Sibylle.

Like Baldwin, she had inherited Amalric I's blue eyes and their late mother's dark brown hair, which undulated gracefully like seaweed in the waves, plaited and piled up to be hidden by a heinan—a tall, pointed conical hat with a wire interior to hold it in place.

The princess's hat was covered with a layer of white satin that matched the long-sleeved petticoat underneath, with layers of tulle hanging from the top, which looked like clouds or feathers surrounding her when she moved.

Her eyes were blue, but unlike Amalric I, whose grey-blue eyes were as cold as steel, nor like Baldwin, whose eyes were as pure as a lake untainted by dust, her blue eyes were like the deepest part of the ocean, with a circle of brilliant golden cracks surrounding her black pupils, as if bright magma was surging from the eye of the sea, which was so breathtaking that it was hard to forget.

Her skin was like snow, a bottomless mass of snow. This extreme whiteness even gave her cinnabar-red velvet cloak a hint of melancholy, imbuing her with a majesty that transcended both gender and age.

Unlike the deserted entourage around Baldwin, the princess was accompanied by at least twelve maids, followed by attendants and servants. However, only the four maids who were most trusted and boldest by the princess entered the room. They were all young, with exquisite makeup. They either wore henan hats or flower crowns, and held bouquets of flowers. Two of them had tambourines hanging on their waists and held lutes respectively.

Although they had heard of Cesar's name a long time ago, when he was still an unknown servant, any unnecessary attention and favor would be a sully to the reputation of the noble lady. Now that the princess allowed them to see him, they no longer had this concern and could take a closer look at Cesar without hesitation.

The maids surrounded the black-haired, blue-eyed boy, all smiling and looking relaxed. Although they couldn't touch his face, hold his hand, or kiss his lips, they were content.

Sibyl and Baldwin watched them with smiles, as if they were watching a group of kittens circling a new puppy. Then Sibyl called over a maid who was probably only seven or eight years old, with a round face and eyes. "This is Damara," she said. "Gerald's Damara. If you have any problems in the future, you can come directly to her."

"Is this Damara's knight?" The maids laughed louder and teased Damara, whose cheeks were flushed.

"He's not a knight yet." Damara blushed, but remained calm and said seriously, "Wait until he cuts off his swallowtail pennant (a symbol of knighthood), then he can offer his loyalty to me. I won't mind then."

She took off her gloves again, a little shyly, small, white satin gloves, and gave them to Cesar, saying, "You are not a knight yet, so you cannot wear them on your helmet, but you may put them on your chest."

Cesar had already learned from Baldwin that in this era, any young man who became a knight should have a lover, or a noble lady who reached the age of marriage should have a knight who was willing to be loyal to her forever. This kind of love does not involve the real body or marriage. They will marry others, but this feeling, especially for the knight, is worth defending with his life.

Although Cesar completely did not understand this behavior that was considered extremely noble and beautiful by people - he had never thought that to declare a woman the most virtuous, the most beautiful and the most intelligent, he had to challenge the dissenter to a duel, or that one party had to surrender as a prisoner or die.

But Damara was a daughter of the Gerard family. He had only known one person in the Gerard family before, and that was the fat Abbot John. Abbot John's care for him was beyond doubt, so he thought for a moment before stepping forward and, as was customary at the time, kneeling on one knee before Princess Sibyle (for she was Damara's master), he said, "Although I am not a knight yet, and this lady is not yet of age, I can promise that if I become a knight in the future, I will come and swear an oath to her."

The maids cheered, but except for Damara, who was genuinely happy, everyone else couldn't help but feel a little sour. Even Sibyl couldn't help but say, "Are you sure, child? An oath is not something to be joked about!"

"I am sure."

"Alright, alright," Sibyl clapped his hands. "It's settled. I'll be your witness. When you become a knight, you must repeat this oath to the priest before God and the cross."

These words seemed to turn on the switch of celebration, and everyone present immediately became joyful. Damara handed the tambourine to another maid, who began to play music with the maid holding the harp, and everyone began to dance happily.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is no need to question whether the venue is too narrow. The dance at that time, especially in the palace, was quite solemn. Men and women hung their hands at their sides, an arm's length apart, and gracefully rotated around themselves or each other. The only contact was the eye contact.

If you want to hold hands with others, that would be a hellish dance that would be severely condemned by the church, so as long as there is a place where everyone can stand with their arms raised, it is fine to use it for dancing.

Soon, servants arrived with large plates of delicious food, ranging from roast venison to dried figs and walnuts and almonds. As a squire, Cesar should have stood behind Baldwin, but everyone agreed that he should sit next to Damara and share the food. "Even though you're not a knight yet," Sibylle said, "you might as well start learning now."

Although Damara was still a child, she was as sweet and lovely as her name (Damara means date palm). She was not very arrogant and was very courageous. She ate everything that Cesar put in her mouth. Sibyl looked at them and smiled. "They look very good together, don't they, Baldwin?"

Baldwin took a look and really didn't want to go against his will. Damara was very cute, but the biggest difference between Cesar and his peers was his calmness and restraint. When he was with Damara, it was just like an elder taking care of a young child, without any ambiguity: "Maybe." He said, but he didn't mean to object too much.

Sibyl looked away, as if she had just said it casually, and glanced at Baldwin's plate. "Why not venison?" She said, "Today's venison is very tender."

"I'm fasting."

"But today is not a fasting day."

"I made a wish," Baldwin said.

Sibyl did not ask any further questions. After the meal, they danced together again. This time, Sibyl danced with Baldwin, who kept wearing a veil and gloves.

After that day, Cesar seemed to have suddenly shed his invisible persona. Just like those noble ladies, everyone knew Baldwin had a new squire, but it wasn't until Amalric I brought him to the altar like the son of a duke and an earl, and Princess Sibyle promised him a knighthood as a future knight of her ward, Gerard of Damara, that they finally woke up and discovered this beautiful squire.

Before this, Cesar's social circle, apart from Baldwin and priests like Heraclius, was limited to the servants in the castle. Now, when he walked out of the room, the servants would bow to him respectfully and say "Master Attendant".

The tolerance and warmth they once showed to Cesar were now transferred to the higher-ranking page boys or attendants. They either smiled or nodded, and even if they did not dare to invite Cesar to drink and play games together, they still brought him a lot of toys.

Yes, that's right, it's toys. This is a surprising thing. At that time, children, regardless of their wealth or status, rarely received special treatment with warmth and affection. They were either regarded as animals or as defective humans. People in later generations believed that they might not have had a childhood at all.

But human nature can never be changed or curbed. Toys are presented in the form of tools or teaching aids. What Cesar has now are spinning tops, stilts, bubble-blowing tubes, small drums, and dolls with rotating joints and heads.

When Baldwin saw the gifts that Cesar brought back, he also took out the toys he had stored in the box with great interest - he thought he had put them away when he went to the monastery. The prince's toys were indeed superior to everyone else's. In addition to the things mentioned above, Baldwin also had a bronze statue of a knight - the man and the horse, the helmet and the sword could be separated from each other, a pure gold Holy Child and His silk cradle, and a set of Chatelaine chess made of walrus.

Cesar picked up the Bronze Knight and the Pure Gold Holy Child and put them down after just a look. Baldwin noticed that his eyes were fixed on the Chatlanz chess piece.

"Can you play chess?" Baldwin asked. Although chess is one of the seven required skills for a knight - riding, swimming, archery, fencing, hunting, poetry and chess, just like most knights would rather lift a heavy two-handed sword than pick up a light feather pen, the latter two are often ignored by knights or only dabble in them.

"I don't know if the rules I remember are the same as here." Cesar picked up a chess piece and twirled it between his fingers.

"Let's play a game and talk while we play." Baldwin was interested and he and Cesar set up the chess pieces together.

There are three major differences between the Chatelaines chess of that time and the chess played hundreds of years later. The first is that victory is not achieved by capturing the king, but by the complete destruction of one side's army, which is very consistent with current customs. The second is that there is no queen, and the king is accompanied by a prime minister, which is also in line with the status of women today. The third is that not only the first and second moves are determined by the size of the dice, but also the number of moves that can be made afterwards is determined by the number of points on the dice.

At the beginning, Cesar lost because he was not familiar with the rules; later, Baldwin lost a few games because of his carelessness, and in the end they were tit-for-tat, and it was evenly matched - Cesar was calm and cautious, and thought everything through. Even when he was at a disadvantage, he could unexpectedly turn the situation around at the last moment; Baldwin's chess moves were sharper and more aggressive, and he often took risks, so that he either won big or lost big.

Before they knew it, the light had completely dimmed, and Cesar could no longer see the chess pieces. They realized it was time for evening prayers, and according to religious doctrine, they could not eat after sunset. Baldwin didn't care. "Just some dates will do."

Cesare disagreed: "Your body needs adequate nutrition." He said: "The kitchen has prepared a meal for you." This was one of the requests he made to Amalric I.

Baldwin had no choice but to put down the chessboard with regret, walked over and lit the candle, "Then I'll wait for you, come back soon."

When Cesar returned from the kitchen, even in the vast open space, only a few dim lights of the setting sun remained. Several servants, riding ponies and holding long wooden sticks, were circling a shooting post in the corner of the eye. This was an act that could be called both a game and training.

The shooting stake can be seen as a large weather vane standing on the ground. A horizontal bar that can rotate 360 ​​degrees is fixed on the top of the wooden stake. A shield is fixed at one end of the bar and a sandbag is suspended at the other end.

When someone on horseback rushed towards the shield and hit it, the crossbar would rotate due to the force and drive the sandbag at the other end, which would shake and hit him hard, perfectly replicating the situation on the battlefield. It was very helpful for training how to use a lance and prevent being hit by other people's weapons.

The shooting stakes used by the servants were slightly different from the common ones. The height was lower, the sandbags were smaller, and the horizontal bar was changed from one to two and crossed. Looking down from above, it looked like an equal-length cross, with shields and sandbags installed at intervals.

Here a page stopped Cesar.

"I am David of Tripoli," the attendant, who was still on the border between childhood and adolescence, said arrogantly, "My father is Count Raymond of Tripoli. I challenge you now. I say that in Alazarus, the Arabian Peninsula, and even the entire world, there is only one most beautiful, virtuous, and intelligent woman. That is Princess Sibylle, the daughter of the King of Alazarus. No other woman can compare to her."

Cesar put down the food basket and asked, "Did you swear to her?" He was not a knight, but neither was David. They both had to wait until they were eighteen to twenty years old to be knighted.

"No," David said, "you didn't take a formal vow either. But that doesn't stop us from being loyal to the ladies."

Cesar looked around and saw several knights paying attention to this place, but they had no intention of stopping it. Indeed, people at that time were happy to see boys showing a desire for honor and victory from an early age, and not afraid of pain and death.

Although he did not think this behavior made any sense, just as he had never forgiven the servants who attempted to murder him, if he retreated and refused, he would only be regarded as a coward and would only receive more contempt and bullying. If Amalric I and Baldwin felt deceived, his fate might not be worse than that of Witt.

"I promised," Cesar said.

David nodded reassuringly: "Then it's up to you to choose the weapon and method." He did so strictly in accordance with the rules of the knights.

"God has chosen for us," Cesar pointed to the target pile next to him. "We take turns hitting the shield with the stick. Whoever gets hit by the sandbag first loses."

"What if none of us got hit?"

"The timer will last until the sun sets completely and it becomes dark in here and we can't even see our shields. The person who hits the shield the most times wins."

"That sounds fair enough, but the knights say you're not very good at fighting on horseback."

"That was before," Cesar said, "I had a good teacher." Baldwin, after the martial arts class resumed, Baldwin found that Cesar could ride a horse, but was not good at wielding weapons on horseback, so he became his second teacher, training him while reviewing his own skills.

Before Baldwin fell ill, his martial arts teacher was Raymond, Count of Tripoli. His inspirational saint was the brave Joshua. On the battlefield, he was like the warrior who assisted and succeeded the saint Moses as the leader of the Isaacs. He was loyal to Amalric I and invincible.

With such a martial arts teacher, Baldwin, even at the age of nine, had mastered more skills than other children. He did not hold back on Cesar in this regard. Cesar's words softened David's expression. "Now it's more than just fair," he said, turning to his companions. "Who's willing to lend his horse?"

(End of this chapter)