- I want a rather unusual thing. I need you to allow the opening of a Templar courtyard in Edessa, which would deal exclusively with commercial matters there.

- Are you joking?

No. I need their bank, and I want to be sure of their absolute loyalty, because I trust them with large sums. I have enough money. I need the loyalty of those people to whom I am entrusting my affairs.

" How can we control them? "And then, they are our enemies.

- Let us conclude in writing a contract in which the number of armed and unarmed Templars will be indicated, which may be in the city. It will be exclusively a trading enterprise. You are aware of how they make a living. And the question of war can be solved by specifying in the contract that the farmstead will exist until the Templar troops begin military operations against the troops of Edessa.

- And what are the restrictions?

" Let's say ten armed men and thirty unarmed men. "I think this is enough for all financial and trading operations.

Ok. Let the representative of the Templars come to visit, we will sign a contract and find a place where they can open their branch.

Excellent! Now let's move on to more pressing matters. I took fifteen hundred horses, they do not need me. A maximum of one hundred for the convoy. I do not have any desire to drive them to Antioch. Maybe among you there are people willing to buy such goods?

" I'll take it," said Emir Homes, "I have people who want to buy them. "Good Arabian horses have never been superfluous to anyone. But why only one and a half thousand?

- The others fled, and to collect them on the sand, I did not have enough people. Yes, and this morning counterattack.

- And what happened there?

- Someone from the noble could gather in the desert to half a thousand people running and force them to go fight with me. Almost everyone died, only the back rows managed to escape again. But this is a trifle. Ok. With the horses decided. Now a girl. Rudolph, bring it closer. Okay. Could you ask her who she is and what is she doing here. She does not know Latin, and I'm not strong in your languages.

Of course.

Next was a small, short conversation on some kind of little understood abracadabra.

" Dear Baron, this woman is the daughter of the Sultan you killed, her name is Rayhan. "He took it with him, because he feared that the brother claiming the throne could kill her. She, alas, was his only child.

"And, as I understand it, the uncle will not pay the ransom for it? "

Of course. And if she somehow gets to it in hands, long will not live.

Rudolph, do you think she will like your son? Well, do not stretch that face. I would offer you, but you're sick old. We will get to Constantinople, where it will be baptized and under the crown. Do not disappear to such a thoroughbred cub.

" I I do not even know. "Your offer is very unexpected.

" Your son has become a bit hardened in battle. "Soon we will settle in a permanent place. Such brides are not lying on the road. Well? What are you? In the dowry she put five marks of silver. Oh! How did you immediately brighten up! The old grasp will not drink! Yes, you are not so red. Untie the daughter-in-law's hands. And you, amiable emir, could not translate our beauty, that she will not only live, but she will also marry a son of a worthy person. It's not easy, but with a dowry.

Ok.

With happiness, the poor girl again fainted. Rudolph brought his son, who was also delighted. But then they hit the bull's-eye. Raikhan liked him and did not like his dowry, because he was in his taste. This evening the vigil was over. Eric sent the messenger to the Templars, checked the sentries, placed the other fighters and went to sleep. The day was very hard.

In the seized train, and indeed in the camp there was a lot of such property that was absolutely not suitable for sending to the trading floors in Europe, and therefore he decided to sit a little in Edessa, the good that the attacker invited him to stay. Accustomed to combine useful with pleasant, he decided to work in parallel several tasks. Firstly, it is, of course, the rest of the fighters who were on the verge of their capabilities, after that bloody morning. They need to give rest and a little pumping in terms of the stability of the psyche. Secondly, you need to make sure that everything is properly organized for the Templars, although everything should go very smoothly, because it is very profitable for Atabek and the commercial circles of Edessa. He noticed how his eyes glistened. This is a direct and official trade and financial channel with neighbors, and not through some random and unreliable people. Third, you need to get rid of all that useless garbage, like food and not very high-quality wine, and convert it, for example, into silk so that in Europe you can cut down profits. Emir Homs was already warned that the payment of horses would be very desirable silk. Alas, we had to wait, and the time passed extremely slowly, since our hero did not have a special work and had to spend most of the time wandering around the streets of the city and messing around. He got so involved in business right after he regained consciousness in this world that he did not even notice how a lot of time had flown by. It was the very end of 1200, he will soon be 18 years old. In those days, this is already quite an adult husband, and without looking back. Of course, he achieved a lot and was now a notable figure both in European life and in the Middle East. But how tired he was! Literally a few days later he began visiting atabeyka for playing chess. Known to him the rules differed from those with whom he met in this time, but he quickly learned, which was very pleased with the ruler of Edessa, as he also was languishing with boredom and idleness. So it quickly became a tradition, and quiet evenings spent playing chess, measured, unhurried conversations and drinking good tea - the norm. But time goes on as usual and it's April 1201. The Templars settled well in Edessa and immediately launched a stormy commercial and banking activity. His goods have long been in the form of silk sold in Europe. This is apart from the fact that he additionally turned a couple of trading operations and was able to seriously increase his fortune. Now in the bank of the Templars in his name were three thousand eight hundred and twenty-four marks of silver of the Viennese standard, another ten marks were in his pocket expenses. These were simply sky-high means, which few mortals ever held in their hands at that time - 1. 1 tons of pure silver! Simply fantastic! His people had a good rest and came to their senses, and therefore were again ready for combat testing. These poor guys crossbowmen were so shocked and pumped that they approached the soldiers in a very good spiritual and psychological state, and this was developed by all available forces. In addition, he ran through all the slaves that went through Edessa, and chose those people who were not broken and fit as material in his squad. Whom he here only did not score - from the British to the Chinese. Only up to three dozen people. Of course - he chose only those who professionally fought before being captured. Therefore, by April, he already had a hundred completely natural warriors, that is, people. They are capable of professionally killing any enemy of their master. Not an ideal, of course, but in the current realities this is a solid force. At the same time, they were equipping them - he tried to weed out of the fact that he collected robbery and when trading in the market, the best and put his own guys on it. Everything went very well, except that the situation with Morrigan was rapidly escalating. She loved him, and quite madly, almost to self-sacrifice. And it was scary. Yes, true, to the last extreme, a devoted person is very useful nearby, but there was a big problem - reciprocity. After all, a loving woman who does not receive reciprocity, moreover, and stands at your back, becomes a deadly predator, ready for very much to achieve her goal. He was forced to shudder her gaze, which she looked at Rayhan, when she did not yet know that he had left this girl not himself, but as a gift to the son of an associate. If the look could be killed, the poor Turkish woman would be awaited by a terrible and extremely painful death. Those 22 years that the Irish had behind him, in these times meant a lot. A rare woman of her age had no children, and she was still a girl. And this is next to the man she loved. Actually, where did this feeling come from, Eric clearly understood, but his growing consequences required him to respond quickly and accurately. He went to the terrace of the manor, which gave him Edessa, and looked down - into the courtyard. There Morrigan chastised the servants who had confused something in her orders. She stood confidently, spreading her legs slightly. With the growth of his shoulder, she seemed so weightless that he could safely wear it all day. Yes, this fragile girl, with a confident posture of the lady, would have bewitched anyone who saw her at that moment. Especially against the backdrop of three men who stood before her with a drooping head, trying to express their humility and remorse with all their kind. Her waist and flat stomach were very intriguing, which led to the game of the roundness of her thighs with every movement. This picture was supplemented by a small, resilient chest, resembling a pair of slightly upturned fox spikes, which invitingly rose with every sigh. The fact is that a dark green dress of dense silk, though it covered her from the neck to the ankle, was sewn very sensibly and according to the figure, and therefore perfectly emphasized all her charms, while not greatly breaking out of European fashion. The general background ended with beautiful, freely falling to the middle of the shoulder blades, the girl's hair, which with her white color remarkably shaded the dress, as if framing it. All this beauty ended with a very mysterious face with large, gray eyes, high cheekbones, a small, upturned nose, a wide mouth with thin, strong-willed lips. Her pointed chin looked particularly good on a neat, slender neck, and the corners of her lips were almost always slightly raised, which added a certain charm to her. Yes - this woman was beautiful, beautiful and intelligent, and therefore dangerous. But she remained a woman with all her pluses and minuses. Sadly, it was necessary to do something with her, because Eric did not long for a dagger in the back on the ground of jealousy. There were not many options - either kill her, or reciprocate. In the first case, he lost a faithful and promising assistant, so that there is an assistant - an associate. In the second case - a certain freedom of action. Plus her pregnancy, since to fix the relationship will need to be with the help of a child. In the campaign such a lady is completely useless. Yeah - a dilemma. She finished chiding the servants and let them go. Then she froze for a moment and looked up at Eric, noticing that he was watching her. He smiled at her and asked him to come to him. There was a difficult choice, and before making a decision he wanted to talk with her. Maybe the last time.