Until the fourth day, Bohemond, who had been tormented by spiritual desolation and disappointment, and who had been deprived of his duchy after a military defeat and had been reduced to a prisoner, was looking down at the dirt under his feet, the tips of his boots were kicking against the dirt, drawing something, whether it was words or graphics, and no one cared about the jailers outside—a squeak, and an Armenian officer warrior from Marlash Fort entered through the open iron gate. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

Then Bohemond's shackles were opened, and a wooden chair was brought and the former duke sat there.

Sunlight streamed through the high windows, through the barrel-shaped eaves, on Bohemond's cheekbones and red hair, his collar unbuttoned, lying on a chair, and now he could not kill the Armenian warrior in front of him, for his hands and feet had lost their sense and strength under the long confinement, and he could not kill anyone.

"Your nephew has repelled the attacks of Ridwan and Kobha, and has preserved the city of Antioch."

"Then my hope of redemption will be even more slim."

"No, there is an envoy from Antioch who says that if you are willing to renounce your titles as Duke of Antioch and Duke of Apulia and return to your homeland, you will soon be able to redeem you with money."

Bohemond raised his hand, looked at the warrior, wiped the blood stasis from the corner of his mouth, and laughed, "My uncle Roger has possessed the whole of the rich Two Sicilies, and he has asked me for the latter's title for many years, and I have not yielded. Why would I believe now that I would give up two titles to a fledgling cub? ”

The samurai shook his head, "You're stubborn. ”

"That's all you brought me?"

"No, there's another one." With that, the warrior took out the roll of paper and handed it to Bohemond.

Bohemond hesitated for about two seconds, then took it, the texture of the paper was clear, with vegetal ribs, apparently from that region.

"There is one man who is willing to redeem you, and that is the king of Tarsus, the patron of the Seleucian hospital, the White Death of the Turks, who is negotiating with our envoys in the city of Castabara."

"What else to talk about? Only by taking out the ransom money can it be regarded as expressing sincerity. The hypocritical Varyag barbarian. Bohemond rolled up the paper and threw it at his feet, then he raised his forehead and smirked at the Armenian warrior, "I have true sympathy for you, for your lords and nobles have sold your lives for the ransom you demanded. Three hundred pounds or four hundred pounds of gold, that's how much money you have, and you have betrayed your blood and your life."

"Soon the emperor of Constantinople will come east, and I will die after you and the white death of that Turk. After all, the emperor is blessed by the Lord and the holy apostles, how can you grass-headed rebels and thieves become a big thing? The warrior laughed at the whimsical Bohemond with a serious attitude.

"The Emperor," said Bohemond, his red beard cocked, and then with a shuddering smile, he shrugged his shoulders and gulped out mocking laughter, and his gaze soon turned into a sharp dagger, "Soon he will be afraid of my shadow, and in this ocean the flames of war will be completely ablaze. Morality. Tver swore in his family name that sooner or later I would graze his horses in his palace full of women and eunuchs. ”

In the woods outside Kastabara, Gawain met with the ceasefire representatives from Marash, whose more important purpose was to negotiate Bohemond's ransom - a rare case where anyone was willing to make a real offer.

"Two hundred pounds of gold, no more." Gawain went straight to the point and quoted his price to the messenger.

"We can make appropriate concessions, how about three hundred and fifty pounds?"

"You think I'm a baddler haggling in the bazaar, and I'm talking to you again in my capacity as the chief guarantor of the hospital, about something serious, a matter that is at stake in Bohemond's life." Gawain leaned down sternly and sat steady in his seat.

But the messenger was not relenting, "Two hundred pounds of gold will be fine, but by the way, I will return the brothers and sisters Torus and Lolita who have been imprisoned by you to Marash, and we can return the financial agents of the Holy See, Bill Leoni and Bohemond, as well." ”

"How dare you say such brazen words, that Torus is enjoying a comfortable and noble life in my court, learning elegant manners and philosophy, and if you welcome him back as king, I can send two brigades to escort him to Marash, but will your consul Fell accept it?"

"I'm sorry I couldn't agree with you."

"My friend, it's easy to get a consensus, just make a commercial contract. In this way, I am willing to release all the armed regiments on the eastern border, let them out of the forts, restore their freedom and that of their families, relieve the present life of war, and set up a field on the border between our two sides; You must release all the former prisoners of the Gemagis Brigade, and I am willing to pay an additional ransom for my captured soldiers. Gawain proposed the final plan.

The messenger hesitated a few times, and then agreed.

As soon as the ransom was discussed, Gawain quickly wrote a letter and told the horses to gallop to the city of Tarsus, and he asked the magistrate Andy Odat to open the small treasury, and took out the two hundred pounds of gold that the emperor had given to the dead ghost Prince Reuben and bearing the mark of the imperial princess, and loaded it into a cart drawn by oxen, and escorted it to the city of Castabara, escorted by twelve postmen and thirty soldiers of the people's army. Richard and Rainold, and the remaining forty or so knights from all over the world.

They walked out of the Great Fort of Nick Hill on foot, and the soldiers guarding the gate brought two donkeys, but Bohemond did not want to ride such a lowly animal, so he hung some of his luggage on it, and continued on foot with the others, until at Marash Castle Billleoni and fifteen merchants were also released and joined in.

"Where are you going?"

"My money has been lost in Marlash, so I must try my luck at Iconium and go to Gawain to put it bluntly - allow me to resign for the time being as 'Generalissimo of Latakia'." Billleoni did not abandon his thirst for money, and when he said this, he pulled out a thin trunk of a thin hardwood tree from the grass by the side of the road, and used it as a walking stick, "What about you, Lord Prince. ”

"I can't think of anything else to do in the rest of my life other than revenge. But now it is dangerous for me to stay here or to return to Antioch, and my former friend has become a bitter enemy, and even Godfrey's assurances do not reassure me that since my former enemy Gawain has paid me back my freedom, I will go straight to the Gulf of Issus. (To be continued)). If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point to vote, your support is my biggest motivation. For mobile phone users, please go to read. )