Page 140 of The Robber Knight's Love
“What kind of monster is that?” a Germanmerchant in the crowd whispered.
One ofthe Sicilians shook his head. “No monster, Signore. This is what iscalled an elephant—a magnificent beast given to the Emperor as apresent by a Saracen king, they say.[55]In theirstrange land, such beasts roam free.”
Staring up at the massive gray form whicheyed the people around him with supreme indifference, Reuben made apromise to himself to one day visit these lands. What a thrill itmust be to hunt such gigantic prey!
With a gracious nod at the crowd, the Emperormotioned to his black servant to continue, and the elephant,surrounded by soldiers and musicians, marched up the street towardsthe Royal Palace. People flooded after it, starting to cheer andcall out the Emperor's name.
As he followed the Imperial procession up tothe palace, where all the knights competing at the tournament wouldfirst assemble, Reuben caught a glimpse of Sir Wilhelm in thecrowd. He smiled, remembering the last part of his discussion withthe herald, a few days earlier. Reuben had been about to leave,when he had remembered that he had forgotten somethingimportant.
Turning, he had said to the herald: “Just onething more...”
“Yes?”
“My opponent in the joust. Could it bearranged for me to joust with a particular knight, you know, one Imay have a score to settle with?”
“Well... it has been done before, Sir, thoughunofficially. Would you wish me to...?”
“That would be very kind.”
“And which knight, if I may inquire, Sir?”asked the herald, taking up another, larger piece of slate.
Reuben smiled. “Sir Wilhelm vonRichtershalden.”
The Dressing of theWorld
Reuben's horse waited for him where he had left it,tied to an iron ring in a wall not far from the main road. He hadleft it behind before approaching the procession, thinking that itwould be presumptuous to be on the same level as the Emperor whenhis majesty rode into the city.
As things were, he thought with an ironicglance at the retreating backside of the gray monster, at leasttwelve feet in height, he need not have bothered.
Quickly, he untied the horse and swunghimself into the saddle. Apart from his helmet, he was already infull armor. Some knights waited till the last moment to arm up, toconserve their strength, but Reuben spurned such behavior. As ifhis strength could ever be spent!
“Hüa!”
Calling out encouragement to his noble steed,Reuben spurred Ajax on. The few people who had not yet gone offafter the Emperor's elephant, yelled in surprise and sprang out ofthe way as the huge horse galloped past them over the cobblestones,up the main road.
It took Reuben only half a minute to catch upto the rear of the procession. He rode in its wake, and as it movedup through the city and towards the castle and jousting ground,more knights joined him, coming out of alleys to the right andleft, their bright surcoats and shields displaying their crests infull splendor.
His eyesnarrowing, Reuben took in the knights. He wasn't merely gawping,like the hundreds of commoners on either side of the street. He wasexamining the competition. And competition they would be, forunlike in the small tournaments near his father's residence at BurgCastle,[56]there wouldn't just be thelocal lads here, whom Reuben had surpassed long ago and beaten intothe dirt a dozen times each. This was the Emperor's Court. Here,there were real knights.
He couldsee a mountain of metal up ahead; his dark red surcoat and shieldbore a double-barred white cross. Polish, maybe? Reuben fanciedhe’d seen the arms before. To the gigantic knight’s left, lookingalmost as if he were riding in the other man's shade to shieldhimself from the hot sun, was a tiny, wiry fellow bearing the samearms, who looked as if he couldn't last two minutes in a joust, letalone a melee.[57]
Yet there he was, still alive, and not a scaron his face, looking serene and relaxed. Reuben immediately made amental note not to underestimate him.
His eye passed over a few young fellows whowere joking and passing around a bottle of wine. By the timeeverybody had reached the castle, they would be too drunk to stayon a horse. You would hardly have to give them a nudge to make themfall.
Wandering beyond the drinkingknights, his gaze fell on something black and white, andimmediately snapped to the man displaying the colors. His firstglance had not betrayed him. The man wore a black cross on whiteground, the official crest of theOrdo domusSanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum, or asthey were known by people who had no desire to tie a knot intotheir tongue, the Teutonic Knights.[58]Whoever thisman was, he had probably fought in the Holy Land,[59]Egypt, Arabia, and other places Reuben had never heard of. He heldhimself stiffly erect, already clad in his armor, and, unlikeReuben, already wearing his great helmet. The metal shone brightlyin the midday sun, seeming to make the eyes beyond the visor darkerthan they already were.
Again,Reuben's eyes flitted over a few knights who were obviously green,and not because their coat of arms contained that color. The nextknight his gaze fastened on was... well. He was not sure whetherthis man should be called a knight at all. Yet the mere fact thatthe others did not challenge his presence here spoke volumes. Hisskin was dark, dark as ebony. On his head, he wore a peculiarspiked helmet which left his face free. He wore a round shield, theonly device[60]of which was a crescentmoon. Reuben did not have to be an expert in heraldry to guesswhere this man came from.
“Who is that?” he heard one of the drunkenknights whisper.
One of his friends muttered a low oath. “Aninfidel, of course! Can't you recognize the devil by his blackenedskin? I can't for the life of me remember his name. He's some sortof envoy from one of their bastard kings, and I've heard that as a'diplomatic gesture' the Emperor has allowed him to compete in thetournament.”
“Ha! More likely so we can show him what atrue Christian whose arm is strengthened by God is capable of!”
The Saracen, who seemed to have heard thelast words, turned his head and regarded the two young men for amoment with the air of a tiger looking at two deer, contemplatingwhich he should sink his teeth into first. Reuben had a feelingthat the true Christians next to him would soon find out what ablack devil was capable of, one whose arms had been strengthened byyears of violent combat.
His hand slid down his side, until it came torest on the pommel of his sword.
