The king glanced at de Coulanges. ‘You have never mentioned this,’ he said.
De Coulanges stamped his foot. ‘A lie! They seek to make the place sound stronger than it is. Perhaps they are in league with the infidels. Make the Jew eat a piece of pork.’
Sabraham was growing red under his dark skin and I could see the tension in his shoulders.
‘The old harbour is deep enough for any ship, and we will have an easy landing there, right in the face of the enemy,’ de Coulanges insisted. ‘The state of this great castle is of no importance.’
Fra William stroked his beard and fingered the beads at his belt. ‘May I speak, your Grace? It seems to me unlikely that this man, your chamberlain, no matter how worthy, knows more of Alexandria than these two who were there but two days ago. Sabraham, how often have you been at Alexandria?’
‘Not more than twenty times,’ Master Sabraham said. ‘I believe that the worthy gentleman is exaggerating the weakness of the place because he desires his revenge against it – a worthy desire, but not one to generate an accurate report.’
De Coulanges opened his mouth to speak and de Mézzières put a hand over his mouth. ‘You have said enough,’ he snapped.
Silence reigned.
‘Do you think we can take Alexandria, Master Sabraham?’ the king asked from one elbow.
Sabraham sighed. ‘Only with the grace of God and a miracle, your Grace.’
King Peter swung his legs to the floor. ‘They have ten thousand men and a double-walled city of forty-three towers. We have half their numbers, but by God, messieurs, we have the best knights in the world, and I say it is better to stumble in a great empris then to take some village in Asia of which no one has heard.’
That morning, after he heard Mass aboard his flagship, the king announced to all the captains that the target of our expedition was Alexandria. He waited until we were all together, and he announced that no ship would be allowed to quit the fleet. He was open in his concern that the Genoese or the Venetians might betray the expedition.
I saw Admiral Contarini’s face when the king made this remark.
The king gave orders.
We were to follow him straight south. We would rally the fleet in the Porto Vecchio, the old harbour, and when the king sounded his trumpets, we would attack.
We crossed the sea in two days, and it would have been better if we’d taken three. By good fortune and ill, we raised the great castle of Pharos and the spire of Alexander’s tomb well before the sun had set after a perfect passage on the blue water without a sight of land and we descended on them like a bolt from the blue.
Unfortunately, the sun would not stay in the sky for our attack. As the sun set, we were coming up into the roadstead and the king was unwilling to try the anchorage in the dark. So the Alexandrines saw us, and all chance of surprise was lost.
At last light, King Peter summoned all the admirals to him. While they were meeting, I received word from Fra William that I was wanted on the Hospitaller galley, and the Venetians rowed me across to the turcopolier with great willingness.
The sun was going down in the west, a great red ball, and the temperature was perfect, neither too warm nor too cold. The stars were just coming out, and the muezzein’s calls filled the air – alongside alarm bells and gongs and the cries of soldiers which carried across the water as if they were on the next ship.
I climbed the ladder and was taken on to the command deck.
Father Pierre stood with Fra William and Fra Peter – and Sabraham.
I bowed, knelt, and kissed my lord’s ring. He hugged me. ‘So far away!’ he said.