The Last Crusaders: The Great Siege Read Online Free PDF Page B

all his life for it. Once he has taken Malta, then he will fall on the rest of Europe like a ravening wolf. And as we squabble and fight amongst ourselves, weakened and vulnerable, he will devour us one by one. The entire conquest could be achieved in no more than … five years?’
    A heavy silence oppressed the small oak-dark room. Suddenly it seemed as if even here, in this peaceful corner of a quiet English shire, the shadow of an evil power in the East was arising.
    ‘His entire army,’ resumed the fairhead, ‘this numberless armada, will soon be sailing. As soon as spring comes, and the seas quiet, this army of fanatics will sail west, and descend on Malta. And you know how crude the defences of our barren island home, compared to our beloved Rhodes before. Or Acre—’
    ‘Or Krak des Chevaliers.’
    ‘And you know how many we are. Even with all our scattered European brothers, eight or nine hundred at most. Against forty thousand. Valorous we may be, but that is no fight we can win. We need all aid, brother. And we need it now.’
    Ingoldsby looked from one to the other. Nicholas felt invisible. ‘You are not men for wild exaggeration. And if Jean de la Valette has heard from his spies that the Turkish fleet is sailing soon, and the Sultan’s evil eye has fallen on Malta – then I do not doubt it. But you know that I am no longer a knight, though a thousand times I have wished I were. You know that when King Henry, and the entire realm of England, broke from Rome, the Catholic Order of St John was suppressed throughout this kingdom. And you know that each and every Knight of the English Langue was forced to make the most dreadful decision of his life. To abandon the Order – or to abandon his country.’
    His father trembled with emotion.
    ‘My Brother Knights, you are my brothers no longer. I chose my country, for I am as proud and loyal an Englishman as any. You will understand the agony of that choice. I returned to my ancestral shire, and my family, I married and became a father. Infants on my knee, daughters kissing my old grizzled cheek, tearaway sons.’ He glanced at Nicholas. ‘A very different destiny from that of a warriormonk, you will agree. Yet in my youth I fought my way through the bitter Siege of Rhodes, shoulder to shoulder with Jean de la Valette himself, against that same devil’s son Suleiman who now threatens Malta.
    ‘After some happy years, my beloved young wife … went to a better place. I farmed. I raised my children. And I worshipped my Lord and Saviour in the Catholic faith. Though this is now a Protestant country, it has been so for only six years, since Mary Tudor died. Her Majesty, Elizabeth, does not wish to pry too deeply into the private faith of her subjects, so long as they are obedient. In her own words, she does wish to make windows into men’s souls . Here among our quiet Shropshire hills, we worship as we see fit, in secrecy but not in shame. Loyal to both the Queen of England and His Holiness in Rome.’
    ‘And the knights are sworn never to draw their sword against a fellow Christian,’ said the fairhead.
    ‘Quite so. I have nothing but contempt for these damned plots to assassinate our Queen and have a Catholic monarch on the English throne once more. The People of England have ever gone their own way.’
    Blackbeard drained his wine in a single gulp. The fire crackled. The wind was subsiding a little.
    ‘Any aid you can send, brother,’ said the fairhead. ‘Gold. Guns. Prayers.’
    They drew their cloaks from the back of the chairs, still heavy with rain.
    ‘Stay one night under my roof, at least.’
    The fairhead shook his head with a sad smile. ‘Walls have ears, wells talk. We have put you in danger even coming to your door. And as I said – there is no time. I dream the same dream every night now. The vast shadow of an approaching army.’
    ‘Well,’ said Sir Francis. ‘Tomorrow I will make contact with what few English brothers remain, and set