Louis stopped walking. They were almost to the doorway of the chapel. He turned his round eyes on Simon. "Oh, yes, it is very much my wish." His thin fingers squeezed Simon's shoulder. "For more than twenty years, ever since I took the crusading vow, I have wanted one thing above all else, to win Jerusalem back for Christendom. I led an army into Egypt, and it was God's will that the Mamelukes defeated me." _God's will and Amalric de Gobignon's treachery_, thought Simon. "Now, with the help of the Tartars, we could wrest the Holy Land from the Saracens' hands," Louis said. "But if you wish to ally yourself with the Tartars, Sire, should I not bring the ambassadors directly to you instead of to the pope?" "No, I cannot make a treaty with the Tartars without Pope Urban's permission. Only the Holy Father can proclaim a crusade. If he refuses to do that, I cannot recruit an army to join with the Tartars to rescue the Holy Land. Even if he does declare a crusade, raising an army will be terribly hard. Many of those who went with me last time and endured our terrible defeat and survived with God's help have told me they will not go again--or send their sons. I must have His Holiness's full support." King Louis turned toward him fully now and put both hands on his shoulders. "You must help me, Simon. I am asking Cardinal Paulus de Verceuil to represent the cause of the alliance at the court of the pope. And Friar Mathieu d'Alcon will be there to testify that the Tartars may yet be won to Christianity. And you, too, Simon, must do whatever you can, seize any opportunity, to further the cause of the alliance." Simon looked into the king's eyes. Their blue was slightly faded, and age and care had etched red streaks in the whites. Simon's whole frame was shaken by an overwhelming love for the man. "Sire, I will do anything--everything." Louis nodded. "I know how you have suffered all your life because of the ill deeds of--one I shall not name. I have tried to shield you from being unjustly punished. But even a king cannot control the hearts of men. In the end only you can win back for the house of Gobignon its place among the great names of France. This alliance with the Tartars, and what follows from it, the liberation of Jerusalem, can help you restore your honor." Could a man have more than one father, Simon wondered. Surely King Louis had done more than anyone else to make him the man he was today. "I will work for the alliance, Sire," he said. "Not for my family honor alone, but for you." For King Louis he would guard the Tartars with his life. For King Louis he would do anything. * * * * *