East of Ashes
Page 18
Leala knew she should feel shock, but the pope's verdict was by now too predictable.
"It is also clear to me," the pope continued, "that you feel no remorse and that you do not repent."
"And so the only way to stave off Satan's work is for you to be executed tomorrow morning."
The pope motioned for the guards to come forward and then ordered that Lamech be taken away.
While the guards dragged Lamech away, Leala and Joash watched him. He was looking at them too and, although he was clearly shaken by the events, he was still smiling - as if to encourage them. Leala's heart twisted and pain crushed her chest with a gasp. In a moment she had regained the life of her beloved at the cost of a man who had willingly laid down his own.
When the guards had left the hall with Lamech between them, the pope turned his attention to Joash.
"As for you, Joash: Although you are cleared of the accusations brought against you, it is clear to me that you are in deep rebellion against the church and its holy Crusade. I therefore excommunicate you from the church and you are hereby ordered to leave Europe immediately."
The pope hesitated for a second then added: "You may stay until after the execution, but then you must leave and never return on pain of death."
"That is all," he concluded.
Before Leala could say anything Joash turned to her, put his arm around her and steered her to the door. She was looking at him, tears streaming down her beautiful face.
"It's not fair!" she whispered.
"I know," he replied and kissed her lovingly on the forehead. Then he led her outside where they were met by a cold, dreary morning.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee
from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens,
you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths,
you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side
of the sea,
even there your hand
will guide me,
your right hand
will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness
will hide me
and the light become night
around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
Psalm 139:7-12 (NIV)
CHAPTER 15
--- Avignon, August 1098 ---
A small crowd had gathered the next morning at the site where Lamech was to be executed. It was a thickly overcast morning, with dark clouds covering the sky from edge to edge.
Joash had come alone as Leala had said that she couldn't face it. Truth be told, he wished he could have stayed away too, but he owed it to Lamech to be there.
They had visited him in prison the previous night and were once again surprised to see how peaceful he was. They had gone to be with him and to encourage him during the night because Joash knew all too well how murderous those nights in prison could be when one faced them alone. But he could only imagine what the night before something like this must have been like.
In the end though, it had been Lamech who had encouraged them.
Where had that piece of scripture he had quoted them come from again? Ah yes, it was from the book of Proverbs. Joash had memorised the words because so very little of the scriptures were available to ordinary people. The church kept a close watch on the texts and, besides, they were in Latin.
But the previous night Lamech had shared with them a piece from Proverbs that a friend of his had shared with him during the Crusade. Joash didn't know where he had found the translation, but the words had left a deep impact.
At the time Joash had asked him why he had knowingly placed himself in harm's way for his sake. Lamech had explained that so much death had come from his life that if his death could bring life, he was willing.
And then he had quoted the scripture: In the way of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.
As he remembered the words again, Joash felt goose bumps. Lamech's intention in quoting the words was clear enough. Even now, it still left Joash's mind spinning.
He was dragged back to the present when a loud cheer went up from the crowd. Craning his neck to see over all the people from where he was standing, Joash could barely make out Lamech being brought out with guards on either side.
Joash was surprised to see they hadn't shackled him as they usually did with prisoners about to be executed. He was walking under his own free will and climbed the stairs to the raised platform.
Normally they made a spectacle of things like this, but no church official was in sight. Apparently the official assigned to make a speech at the execution had come down with a stomach ailment during the night and couldn't attend. The pope and the rest of the church leadership had left for Rome shortly after the hearing had concluded, which left only Lamech and his guards on the platform.
Joash could see him having a quick word with them. The executioner was holding a massive axe in his one hand and a hood in the other. As Lamech was talking to them, however, he nodded his head and then threw the hood to the side.
Joash realised with a start that in the absence of anyone to drag it out with a speech, they were going to get the execution over and done with very quickly. He didn't know whether to be grateful, or saddened that time had run out so quickly.
And then a beam of light broke through the clouds as it parted right over the spot where Lamech was standing. The light thickened and enveloped the platform so that it was basked in warm, yellow light.
Joash wasn't sure whether he had imagined it, but it seemed like Lamech in particular was highlighted by it - as if God Himself had reached down to bask His homecoming son in one last glory moment.
Lamech turned his face to the sky, closed his eyes and inhaled the air deeply. He held it for a long moment and then exhaled slowly. He turned around to the executioner, nodded once and then kneeled at the block. He turned his head to face the crowd and then carefully laid his head on the block.
But through it all his eyes remained closed.
The executioner didn't waste any time. He looked at Lamech with regret on his face for a moment, then grabbed the axe with both hands and heaved it up in the air.
The axe hesitated in the air for the briefest of moments before coming down in a decisive arc - and then it was over.
Joash looked away, his eyes closed as tears streaked down his face. But even as the terrible loss wrecked his emotions, his heart was filled with light.
Because in those final moments before he was ushered into the throne room of God, Lamech had been smiling.
He will swallow up death
for ever.
The Sovereign Lord
will wipe away the tears
from all faces;
He will remove the disgrace
of His people
from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.
In that day they will say,
"Surely this is our God;
we trusted in Him,
and He saved us.
This is the Lord,
we trusted in Him;
let us rejoice and be glad
in His salvation."
Isaiah 25:8-9 (NIV)
A WORD ON THE CHARACTERS AND EVENTS
FICTITIOUS CHARACTERS:
Lamech
Leala
Joash
Othniel
Gaal - although Pope Urban II did tour Europe to preach the First Crusade.
Kenan
Gedi
Sarah
Armand
HISTORICAL CHARACTERS:
The following characters in this novel were all actual individuals who played a significant role in the history of the First Crusade.
In most cases very little is known about th
eir personalities though and as such I have given them what I believe to be likely personalities, based upon their historically recorded actions.
It is but a guess of course, but hopefully I haven't done them too big a disservice.
Pope Urban II
Bohemond of Taranto
Godfrey of Bouillon
Raymond of Toulouse
Firuz
EVENTS:
For the most part the events in this novel can be divided into two fairly neat categories. Whenever a scene touches on events pertaining to the First Crusade itself, I've tried to keep them as historically accurate as possible.
Any event that does not directly have anything to do with the First Crusade, however, is mostly fictitious.
In some places I've blended the two slightly to keep the setting historical, but to let the story flow without hindrance. In other cases where history doesn't tell exactly how an event took place - only that it did - then I used my imagination to describe as best I could what most likely could have happened.
A good example of this would be where Lamech and Othniel take part in the raid on the Caracen garrison of Harim: we know that the raid took place and that Bohemond commanded it. We also know roughly what happened, but not enough to place a character in the events and describe them from their point of view.
Likewise for Firuz: we know he helped the Crusaders onto the walls of Antioch, but we don't know exactly what his motivations were. One of the leading theories was that there was some bad blood between himself and the commander of Antioch over confiscated property, but we don't know what and why. I couldn't very well leave his motivation for turning traitor out though, so I had to come up with a best guess as to what must have gone through his mind while standing on that wall.
These are small liberties with history though and I believe that this novel should give you a good idea of what unfolded in front of the walls of Antioch. Of course, as pivotal as the fall of Antioch had been, it is but a small part of the First Crusade. Things were far from over and the Crusaders still had huge battles on their hands before they finally reached the walls of Jerusalem.
I encourage you to read up on that as it's massively interesting and goes a long way in describing the horrors that religion can lead to when manipulated by evil men.
Lastly, I want to just say something about the violence in East of Ashes: when I first set out writing this novel, I was mesmerized by the horror of the First Crusade. Here were men who professed belief in God but did horrible things in his name. Most of the bloody events I described in the novel are things that actually happened during the course of the war. One example is the Crusader knight and the Caracen maiden who were caught in an orchard and beheaded - that actually happened. And their heads were catapulted into the Crusader camp.
Why add these violent events, you ask? Two reasons: firstly, they did happen and we must be aware of the violent Christian history that lies behind us. It is a wake-up call, showing us how important it is to watch ourselves to make sure we don't fall into dead religion. Dead religion is a dangerous place to live in.
Secondly, I wanted to set a contrast between the darkness from which Lamech came to the light he was brought into. To appreciate the magnitude of your salvation, one needs to know what you were saved from.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
I made use of a number of sources to fill me in on the historical events of the First Crusade. Naming them would be fairly pointless as most of them only offered small pieces of information.
However, one source deserves special mention: Thomas Asbridge's The First Crusade: A New History. It is simply superb. It's very detailed but magnificently easy to read. I used it as the basis for most of the historical events described in the novel.
I highly recommend it to anyone interested in reading up on the rest of the First Crusade.
Lastly, I would like to thank all of those who helped me with this novel. Your comments and encouragement is deeply appreciated. I look forward to tackling the next novel with you too!
CONTACT ME
I'd love to hear from you! Hopefully you enjoyed the novel - but if you have some constructive criticism I would really appreciate it if you could drop me an email at gideon@eastofashes.com. And if you just feel like chatting, you're also welcome!