CHAPTER TWENTY
It was impossible to ignore the discontent that began to surface in the ranks of Tancred’s men; they felt cheated, and not having responsibility to the whole of the mission they also felt free to be angry with him for not either outwitting Baldwin or fighting him for possession of Tarsus. All he could do was to refuse to respond to their misery and talk confidently of what was to come — other rich places and the booty they would provide — with the added assurance that if he had been outwitted once it would not happen again.
The sight, after two days’ riding, of a medium-sized walled town on the horizon raised all their spirits, only dented when, in coming close they saw a strange banner flying from the highest tower, deep blue and bearing heraldic symbols that were unrecognisable to Western eyes.
‘Armenian,’ Anastas said in Greek, aware that the identification did not bring a smile to Tancred’s lips.
Naturally their approach had been spotted and as they came close to the town they saw the gates open. Soon a substantial force of mixed cavalry and foot soldiers exited to draw up on the plain in battle order and under that same blue banner, clearly intent on defending the town. A small party detached themselves and rode forward to a point well ahead of the battle line and stopped, clearly inviting a parley, and Tancred, ordering his men to prepare for a fight, rode to meet them. The leader, tall, handsome and dark-skinned, was out in front, mounted with his standard-bearer at his side and he disarmed Tancred immediately by bowing in greeting and welcoming him to Adana in fluent Greek, giving his name as Oshin and getting that of Tancred in return.
‘As you will see, My Lord, the town is no longer in the hands of the infidel. We Christians have taken it from them.’ There was no choice but to look pleased. ‘But I must add that they were ready to depart for they had heard of the coming of this great host from Europe. If we rose up and drove them out it was with your aid, even if you were not present.’
‘So Adana is now Armenian.’
‘It is,’ Oshin replied, his chest swelling. ‘And soon all of our lands will throw off the yoke of the Seljuks, for we Christians combined will drive them away, back to the East. Now, My Lord Tancred, I invite you and your lances to enter our town as guests, to pray with us in our churches and to eat and drink all that we can provide.’
There was no choice but to accept, and also no alternative to sending back a messenger to tell his knights to take off the chain mail they had just donned, for there would be no fighting — they would be feted as liberators, yet Tancred knew that would not still the moaning. His men had not come all this way for wine and provender, and the fact that Adana was in Armenian hands, a race he knew the Crusade leaders saw as potential allies, meant the people and the property would have to be respected.
It raised the mood of all a little as, after entering the town, they rode through the streets to the cheers of a multitude of happy citizens, with flowers thrown at them to form a carpet under their hooves. When it came to providing sustenance Oshin was as good as his word, for the food was superb and the wine flowed, which gave some concern to Tancred who knew that, when drunk, some of his men were likely to go wild and start to look for women and booty, regardless of the fact that they were with future allies. He mentioned his worries to the Armenian leader, pointing out that would only increase the longer they stayed.
‘So we must move on at the rise of tomorrow’s sun for the Belen Pass.’
If Oshin was surprised that the cause for so many Crusaders was profit not absolution he hid it well. He was also wise enough, when told of what had occurred at Tarsus, to sense what Tancred was not saying: that his men were hungry for more than he could provide.
‘My Lord Tancred, to get to the Belen you must pass Mamistra.’
‘And pass it is all I will probably be able to do, for you will have seen that I lack the strength to take it if they resist, and if I camp outside to try to winkle out the defence, then the Baldwin I mentioned to you will only come and seek to dislodge me. I doubt I could stop that turning into a fight.’
‘The garrison of Mamistra is weak.’
‘And so am I.’
‘If you were stronger?’ Seeing Tancred’s eyebrows lift Oshin added with a smile, ‘It would aid Adana if Mamistra too was stripped of its Turks. People travel frequently between here and there to trade, for it is a far richer place than where you now sit. I know the Turks have heard of your arrival in Cilicia and I am informed they are in terror of seeing your banners from their walls. I wonder how they would act if they saw ours at the same time?’
‘You think they might surrender?’
‘If they fear you, they fear we Armenians just as much, for they have been oppressors and the fate of such people is not a mystery when power changes hands. The Turks of Adana did not die easily or swiftly and that will be known to them in Mamistra.’
‘A joint attack?’
Oshin nodded and quickly added, ‘We need nothing for ourselves, for with Tarsus and Mamistra in friendly hands our town of Adana is secure. It would serve both our causes well if a Frankish banner flew over both our nearest neighbours.’
Tancred could not keep the surprise out of his voice. ‘You are offering me and my lances a gift?’
‘One, I must remind you, that is not yet mine to give. But I will accompany you with part of the force that greeted you, enough I hope to terrify the Turks into surrender.’
‘Do not denude your own town, for Baldwin will be hard on my heels.’
‘Never fear, I will leave enough men to check him should he prove greedy.’
‘Then we still must depart at the rising of the sun.’
‘We shall, side by side,’ Oshin replied, ‘but may I suggest that you let your men know we do so as allies, so that before we go they do not misbehave.’
‘Do you trust him?’ Robert of Salerno asked, when he was told of the plan.
‘Yes. He wants security for Adana.’
‘But has he made a pledge?’
‘Robert, I am in no position to demand one, but I do know we cannot stay here. We both know we must ride on, and not just for the sake of the task we have been given. The men are upset after Tarsus and I know they blame me.’
‘A few malcontents.’
‘That is all it takes to break the peace between the Armenians and us. If we rest here for any time those “malcontents”, as you call them, will start eyeing what is available to steal, and once that commences every one of our lances will join in so as not to miss out. I think Oshin knows that too, which is his other reason for offering support. He wants us gone, and if we are going to plunder anywhere, let it be his neighbour.’
‘Baldwin?’
‘If he comes here the gates will stay closed against his men, but he will be allowed to enter himself and treated with courtesy.’
‘Pearls before swine,’ Robert spat.
Tancred grinned. ‘I have a higher opinion of pigs than you.’
Oshin and Tancred rode out in company, leading a combined force that now numbered near five hundred men, all mounted, for the Armenian had left his foot behind to hold Adana. At his insistence they did not hurry, he sure that word of their coming should reach the Turks before they arrived.
‘For their imagination of the fate that awaits them will do more to aid our cause than even your chain armour.’
That night, round the campfire, Tancred and some of his Greek-speaking lances were entertained by Oshin with tales of what Armenia had once been, a great and ancient nation that had dominated the whole of Asia Minor. He was proud that his race and its then ruler had adopted Christianity as the state religion before the mighty Romans; Armenian bishops had been prominent at the Council of Nicaea and they had held to their faith through invasion and occupation with an iron will that not even the sons of the Prophet could dislodge.