[MR] Futher news of King Richard

[Karen Setze]

Citizens of Atlantia:

I, Lady Yseulte Trevelyn, of Bright Hills, have heard of political scheming related to the tardy return of King Richard the Lionhearted to England. Rather than try to tell you myself, allow me to share a letter his mother, Queen Eleanor, received from the king’s chief of staff, the Bishop of Salisbury. 

To her Majesty, Eleanor, Queen of England, Duchess of Poitou and Aquitaine, etc. does Hubert Walter, Bishop of Salisbury, send greetings.

Your Majesty, I am writing to convey news that could affect the safe return of your son, King Richard, though his safety should be assured since His Holiness had declared that a Truce of God applies to all returning crusaders.

 As Your Majesty knows, I had accompanied His Grace on crusade, serving as his chief of staff, and even negotiating with the Saracens on his behalf. A few months ago, as he had determined to follow your advice and return to his realm, he asked me to ensure that his English fighting men returned home safely while he traveled by another means. 

A few weeks ago we arrived here in Sicily. Recently I learned from Tancred, lord of this island, of a secret meeting and diabolical agreement between two of your son’s most bitter enemies: King Philip of France, and Henry of Hohenstaufen, who styles himself Henry VI Holy Roman Emperor, though his most of his subjects are German. This false crusader and unworthy emperor agreed that if on his journey home King Richard entered any lands ruled by the emperor, King Richard would be “arrested” and held captive! And perhaps Your Majesty can best judge whether there is anyone in England who may also be privy to this information and hoping to use it to his advantage.

If Your Majesty is in communication with the King, I would ask that you make clear the dangers he now faces and how carefully he must chose his route home.  Your Majesty undoubtedly knows that there is no ship now afloat that can buck the current and sail west through the Straits of Gibralter, so the King must land somewhere in the Mediterranean and travel overland to an Atlantic port.

  Of course, all of the French ports are closed to him, and he should assume the Spanish coast is also unsafe, since Philip is likely to have offered a substantial bribe for his capture. And while Sicily remains friendly, there is no safe port on the Italian mainland, which is dominated by the German emperor.

 While I am sure that his enemies have strategic reasons for their determination to unite against His Grace, I suspect that they are also motivated by jealousy of Richard’s prowess as a warrior and leader of battle. While your son, with a small band of hand-picked knights, relieved the garrison at Jaffa from Saladin’s siege, the German emperor was forced by disease and the heat of summer to abandon his siege of Naples and his campaign to retake Sicily. 

Many times during the crusade, Richard’s courage and decisiveness made Philip’s weakness and timidity all the more obvious. Soon after their arrival at the siege of Acre, both he and Richard fell victim to a scourge that caused their hair and fingernails to fall out. While Philip cowered in his tent, your son the King had his sickbed carried near the city wall where he used a crossbow to pick off defenders. 

I have heard, to my great relief, Your Majesty, of your plans to spend October at the royal castle at Nottingham, visiting Baroness Martelle von Charlottenburg of Bright Hills. I feel confident you will be safe there, since the barony’s stout fighting men and famed archers should be proof against the bandits rumored to be lurking in the Royal Forest of Sherwood. May God grant that your royal son will soon be able to join you there.

For now, Your Majesty, I shall remain here in Sicily, to await any reports of King Richard’s travels, with my promise that I shall send any news by swift courier.

By my hand on this the vigil of St. Thomas, the Apostle.