Chapter 204: Yearning
The noble ladies of several other Christians had also come for this purpose; they belonged to different factions, the three great Knights orders, duchies, counties, and lords from various places…
Baldwin and Patriarch Heraclius naturally hoped that Cyprus could become territory belonging solely to Caesar, but its location was too important, its area too vast, and its people too complex. Compared to the small city of Bethlehem, truly ruling Cyprus, even with the support of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, the Gerard family, and the Patriarch, was far from enough.
They also could not completely exclude the other forces in the Holy Land—just as the Grand Master of the Knights Templar had said, the most urgent and important matter they faced was still confronting the Saracens. They had already seen the evil consequences of acting independently—the County of Edessa, if it had received aid from the other Crusader states during its siege by Zengi, would mean that current Antioch, Tripoli, and Ayyarasa Road would not be so passive.
As for what came after, Heraclius and Baldwin were not very worried. Caesar had in his hands the two hundred thousand gold coins his father had left him, as well as Cyprus’s annual tax revenue; he could completely recruit knights from Francia, enfeoff them with land, or grant them annuities to make them serve him. He could even summon, in the name of the Count of Edessa, the knights who had originally been loyal to his father and grandfather; Baldwin believed they would surely gather under his banner with joy in their hearts.
Then, once their children were born and they fought a few more battles, Cyprus could truly belong to Caesar. At that time, he would be the Count of Cyprus, or a Grand Duke, or even possibly a King—it depended on how far he could advance.
Baldwin was of course delighted to see this succeed. As for whether Caesar would thereby part ways with him, he was not very worried. Bohemond and Raymond by his father’s side were also lords of duchies and counties, and they too had countless state affairs to handle. But when the King needed them, had they not still served the King in Holy Cross Castle?
They had never missed any war launched by the Crusaders against the Saracens.
Since that was the case, he did not need to worry that their relationship would change in any way.
He was certainly going to attend this wedding, and he would be the most weighty witness aside from the Patriarch and the Archbishop of Cyprus. While fastening a gold brooch onto Caesar, he was still complaining that the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire had not sent the Patriarch of Constantinople to officiate the wedding.
Although it was not excessive—after all, the Patriarch might not be willing to perform the sacrament for a bastard daughter—Baldwin still thought the Emperor was too stingy.
“This is also a good thing,” Caesar said. “This way, our teacher can officiate the wedding for me.”
Indeed, the Patriarch of Ayyarasa Road was a religious leader who could almost stand against the Pope of Rome or the Patriarch of Constantinople. And if the Patriarch of Constantinople wanted to officiate the wedding—Anna’s status was indeed higher than Caesar’s, and Caesar’s claim to Cyprus came precisely from her—they truly could not refuse.
But if there were only the Archbishop of Cyprus here, they would not need to worry; there was a step between the Archbishop and the Patriarch that some people could never surmount in their lifetimes.
Only when Caesar said this did Baldwin finally calm down. He naturally hoped that Heraclius would officiate the wedding, rather than the Patriarch of Constantinople. “My future wedding will also have our teacher officiate.”
Only after speaking did he realize the atmosphere had grown somewhat stagnant. He paused, then laughed again: “When I’m with you,” he said, “I always forget that I’m a patient.”
“You’ll get better.”
“I hope so too,” Baldwin replied, “but I’ll be full of regret. I once imagined that we could hold our weddings on the same day, but now it seems impossible.”
“Today you bear witness for me,” Caesar said. “Perhaps one day in the future, it will be I who bears witness for you.”
“That would truly be wonderful, wouldn’t it?” Baldwin said, but he did not take the words to heart. He no longer held hope for his condition; it was good enough that it currently had no impact on his daily life or combat campaigns, but recovery—how could that be possible?
Unless Christ Jesus returned and touched his head as he had the leper outside the city, healing him. Otherwise, his fate was sealed, and no one could change it.
Some might harbor fear for such an obviously foreseeable future and give rise to dark and twisted thoughts, but Baldwin had never had such notions. Though he was unfortunate, his father, his teacher, and his most important close friend and blood kin were all doing their utmost to support him. Though his time abiding in the firmament would be but an instant, was not a single bright star worth countless specks of dust? Why should he wallow in self-pity over his misfortune?
He had decided to live each day happily until God called for him.
He suddenly clapped Caesar on the shoulder: “Right, there’s something I forgot to ask you. Uh, I mean—earlier it seems Walter, Geoffrey, and David all came to see you. Did they…” Baldwin waved his hands lightly, a subtle smile on his face of the sort any man could understand, “Did they take you to a prostitute? Or perhaps a maidservant?”
In a rare moment, Caesar rolled his eyes at him. “No,” he said firmly. “I understand it all.”
Although indeed, people had come one after another wanting to guide him, he had refused them all. He could not tell Baldwin that, aside from scoundrels like Geoffrey and Walter, there had even been a noble lady in the castle inviting him to her room—to teach him how to become a man…
At the time, his head had buzzed, and he could hardly believe what he had heard. His expression made the noble lady laugh.
“You don’t think I’m teasing you, do you? No, not at all. We just feel that now is the time.”
In this era, children received instruction in love affairs at a very early age. No need to mention the commoners and serfs—among older couples and young newlyweds, children and elders all slept on the same large bed.
When they did those things, they were utterly without restraint, with not the slightest concealment.
And in the castle, when a young attendant first learned of such matters, there were plenty of objects for stealing the forbidden fruit. Of course, they would not allow actual relations with noble ladies in the castle, but the maidservants around them, farm women outside the castle, and prostitutes wandering the streets and alleys were enough to hone their bedchamber skills.
But astonishingly, though Caesar had such appearance, figure, and talent, the noble ladies had tacitly kept consistent: perhaps such a boy, pure in both body and mind, upright and chaste, was already exceedingly rare, like a blank sheet of paper, and no matter what, they did not want to easily tarnish him.
It was just that with the marriage imminent, the noble ladies also wanted to indulge themselves wantonly—they had jointly selected the one to invite Caesar, and she would soon leave Ayyarasa Road to return to Francia, then enter a monastery. There might be surprises, but she believed she could handle it well.
If it was just a brief night, no one could ever discover the relationship between her and Caesar.
Of course, in the end Caesar had firmly refused—in the noble lady’s regretful gaze, he had practically fled in panic, and had even been thoroughly mocked by his attendant Longinus.
But like Longinus, Baldwin was also quite concerned about this. “Are you sure? You shouldn’t have any experience.” He eyed Caesar with a gaze full of doubt.
Some said that because Baldwin could not marry, share a bed with a woman, and beget children, as his closest companion, Caesar also had to remain celibate and chaste. But Baldwin could swear he had never constrained Caesar in this regard, not even hinted at it; he was happy to see his friend enjoy what he himself could not.
It was just that he had also noticed that Caesar seemed to be the sort of person naturally indifferent. In the times they occasionally shared a room, he had not discovered him to be impulsive.
“If it fails, it doesn’t matter,” he said, gripping Caesar’s shoulder and whispering. “I hear the probability of failure the first time is very high, but it’s fine. As long as you make some slight motions, the witnesses will be satisfied.
Once they confirm you have cohabited, you’ll have plenty of time to gradually adjust.” He began daydreaming again: “Once you have children, you can campaign with me again.”
Now Syria had split into four or five pieces, with almost every Vizier and Fatah claiming to be Nur al-Din’s heir.
“It’s a pity, if not for…” He did not continue, but Caesar knew he regretted the huge losses caused by Raymond and Bohemond during the previous expedition against Mulai. That gap had still not been fully filled even now, let alone organizing another expedition against the Saracens.
“But if we wait a year, or two years, or until the timing is right, perhaps we can still achieve a great victory. As long as we can win one more great victory, I’ll write to the Pope of Rome and ask him to organize the Third Crusade. We must try to recapture Edessa,” he tightened his arm. “That is your foundation.”
——————
“Lord,” Longinus entered and said, “we’ve arrived.”
The officials of the Byzantine Empire, the Emperor’s envoy, and the nobles of Cyprus had long been waiting at the port. They held high their flags: flags of the Byzantine Empire with crescent and star, flags of Ayyarasa Road with the cross, flags of the Knights Templar and Knights Hospitaller, and even Caesar’s flag—the red flag stood out strikingly among the white and blue ones, visible at a glance.
The nobles of Cyprus had prepared a gift for Caesar, for their new lord; they seemed full of sincerity. This silver platter was as large as an adult man’s arms could encircle, engraved with the image of Aphrodite rising from the sea, her feet on a giant shell, and the shell inlaid with pearls—real pearls.
Each pearl was the size of a little finger; what most amazed people was that, besides the usual white and pink, there were golden, blue, and black ones.
This gift would be beyond reproach even if offered to a King. The leading noble of Cyprus even specially noted that there was an even more precious gift—the crown of Cyprus. It was currently in the Princess’s hands, and at the end of the ceremony, the Princess would personally place this crown on Caesar’s head, signifying that he had become the master here.
But some pious people frowned at that platter.
Though the Cypriots’ choice of this image was understandable—Aphrodite was still a pagan deity, but who let Cyprus be her island? Aphrodite was born by the rocks of Romeo on the Paphos seashore, her sacrificial culture traceable to the 3rd century BC; the Cypriots still preserved her temples, limestone and marble statues.
The Paphos region retained the “Spring of the Goddess of Love,” whose spring water was said to bring love to young men and women; people still went there to pay homage even today.
“These heretics!” Walter cursed angrily—not just about the platter, but also that Byzantine flag.
In 340 BC, Byzantium was besieged by Philip II of Macedon, the situation dire, until the hunting and moon goddess Artemis descended from heaven, bearing crescent and eight-pointed star, repelling the Macedonian army. From then on, the crescent and eight-pointed star became the symbols and emblems of Byzantium.
And the star on the crescent was also said by some to represent the Virgin Mary—though Walter did not acknowledge it.
