Atefeh at Montgisard.

When word had reached their caravan that Saladin’s army approached from the East, their guard had quickly ordered his Royal charges into the relative shelter of Blanchegarde. It was only a matter of hours before Saladin’s army fell on Blanchegarde, laying siege to the Lord of Beirut’s Castle, unknowingly with his own daughter inside.

Atefeh had waited with the Lady Comnena and her flock of frightened hens in the highest tower, subject to the spiteful, wine-fuelled rants of Baldwin’s stepmother.

“Come morning, if the city falls, it will be expected of me to go out onto the walls and beg your Father,” a flash of such hatred. “To spare us. Ransom us, while these women’s husbands, fathers and sons lose their heads.”

Maria takes a sip of her wine, watching her daughter sleep in the arms of her nurse. “Perhaps I should give him you as a peace offering. You can beg for our lives.”

“I will go, if it comes to that.”

Maria stills, her eyes narrowing further. “Very well, then… but your brother will march this kingdom upon Saladin and the entirety of Egypt and Syria to win you back, I should think.”

In the morning, Atefeh resolves to avail herself to her father to spare the city any further bombardment and to plead for their lives.

… The last thing anyone expects is the King of Jerusalem.

“Allah, what is he doing?”

Part of the From Eden series.