‘Even so, we should wait for our contingent from Apulia and then travel together. That has always been the understanding.’

Irene dipped her head. ‘Naturally you must do as you see fit, but the Emperor intends to set up a market for you on the other side of the Arm of Saint George so that you may prepare from there.’

Alienor thanked her hostess, and the conversation turned to other matters, but the moment she could politely leave, Alienor made her excuses and hastened to find Louis.

He was in his quarters with his senior barons and churchmen. His preoccupation was telling in that he neither glared at her as she entered the room, nor sought to put her in her place. Geoffrey and Saldebreuil de Sanzay were there too, and the former exchanged a swift glance with her.

‘The Empress has just told me about the German victory,’ she said.

Louis’s cheeks were flushed and his eyes bright. ‘Fourteen thousand Turkish dead,’ he said.

‘That is a large host. Do you think it is true?’

Robert of Dreux shrugged. ‘Who knows? Numbers are always difficult to interpret and the Greeks cannot be trusted. If true, it means the way is clear to advance and that the Germans have made great progress.’

‘The Emperor says the Germans have agreed to do him homage for every place they capture along the route,’ Louis said. ‘He demands it of us also in exchange for guaranteed supplies along the way. But I say it is his Christian duty to supply us as a given, not as a matter of coercion and barter.’

There were mutters of approbation. Alienor went to sit in an unoccupied chair and rested her hands along the gilded arms. ‘He wants us to leave before the Apulia contingent arrives. The Empress Irene said as much to me just now. Perhaps he is exaggerating German successes.’

‘He fears that once our reinforcements arrive, we will prove too mighty for him,’ said the Bishop of Langres. ‘If we unite with the Germans and the Sicilians, we could seize Constantinople and use its wealth to fund our objectives.’

Louis cupped his chin and gazed narrow-eyed at the Bishop.

‘Indeed,’ Langres warmed to his theme, ‘if we put our minds to the deed, it would be easy to take the city. There are places where the walls are crumbling and would not withstand an assault. The people are inert – like gaudy slugs – and would easily be overcome. They have no stomach for war. They employ others to do their fighting and prey on those they think they can dominate – whether by threat of arms, or by treachery and subterfuge. All we need do is cut off the water supply to their conduits.’

Alienor felt a frisson of alarm. If Louis turned their army on Constantinople, it would divert them from their original purpose and they might never reach Antioch.

‘The Emperor is no friend to us,’ the Bishop continued in a belligerent tone. ‘This city is Christian in name, not in fact. Her emperor prevents others from bringing aid to the oppressed, and he is himself the oppressor. Did he not intimidate Antioch recently and demand the homage of Count Raymond? Does he not make pacts with infidels? Does he not expel Catholic bishops from cities under his sway and replace them with his own priests? Far from uniting Christian forces, he divides them.’ He jabbed his crozier towards Louis. ‘Ought you to spare the man under whose rule the Cross and the Sepulchre of Christ are not safe?’

They were emotive words and had some validity. Alienor could see men nodding.

‘But we did not come here with the intention of seizing Constantinople,’ Louis said. ‘What does it say of our own Christianity if we attack the wealthiest city in Christendom and then enrich ourselves? In so doing, we must kill and be killed. Will plundering this place expiate our sins?’ He gazed around the gathering with disapproval. ‘Do you truly believe this? The Emperor should not have attacked Antioch, but that hardly makes him the anti-Christ.’ Louis opened his hand towards the red-faced Bishop. ‘Is it as important to die for the sake of gaining money as it is to maintain our vows on this journey? Our priority is to protect Jerusalem, not destroy Constantinople. How would we control it without weakening ourselves for the remainder of our journey?’

‘If the Germans have had such great success in Anatolia, we should follow swiftly,’ said Robert of Dreux. ‘Otherwise they will gain all the glory and carve up the territory between themselves and Manuel Komnenos. I say we cross now.’

‘You are making a mistake,’ the Bishop countered. ‘The Greeks will betray us at every turn. You may wrap a turd in gold, but it remains a turd nevertheless.’

‘Enough, my lord bishop,’ Louis said tersely. ‘I take your point and I shall consider it, but for now we do nothing to upset the balance.’

The meeting broke up with the Bishop stalking from the room, shaking his head and muttering that Louis would regret his decision not to take Constantinople by force. The barons fractured into groups to discuss the matter among themselves. Alienor retired to her own quarters, but summoned Geoffrey and Saldebreuil.

‘The King made a good speech,’ Geoffrey said. ‘No matter what the Greeks do to us, it would shame us as Christians to turn on Constantinople.’

‘But you are a man of honour and chivalry, my lord, not a covetous bishop with a bellyful of bile.’ She gave him a taut smile. ‘And you are a man of Aquitaine, and therefore see the situation more clearly than most. I agree that the King lived up to his role just now, but Antioch and my uncle matter nothing to him. It is his conscience before God that drives him. That it is doing so in our direction is to our advantage, but we cannot take it for granted. Louis is full capable of digging in his heels, but he can also be swayed, especially by the Church.’

‘The Bishop was right about not trusting the Greeks though,’ Saldebreuil said with a shake of his dark ringlets. ‘They are plotting something. I fear to turn my back lest I feel the prick of a dagger between my shoulder blades.’

‘Who is not plotting?’ Alienor asked with a sour laugh. ‘We are all seeking gain of one sort or another. They want rid of us before we grow too powerful and turn on them. Can you fault them for that?’

Saldebreuil shook his head. ‘No, madam, but I dislike the way they go about it by such underhand ways and means.’

‘Indeed, we should be vigilant,’ she said. ‘But that does not include making war on them. Our duty is to bring an army to my uncle so he can deal with his enemies. We must bolster the King in this effort and keep his resolve strong. That is my direction to you. The goal is Antioch.’

‘How long before it’s our turn to cross the Arm of Saint George?’ Gisela asked. The young woman was playing with a pretty grey and silver kitten, dangling a length of red ribbon for it to chase and pounce upon.

‘Soon,’ Alienor said. They were waiting in the Blachernae for the call to go to their ships. Most of their baggage was packed and ready, and only the small fripperies remained, such as games and sewing to while away the time. Muttering to herself, Marchisa was busy checking her pouches of remedies and nostrums. She had stocked up on syrup of white poppy this morning, and Alienor was still feeling the hole in her purse, but better to have it than not in the months to come.

‘How soon is soon?’ Gisela danced the silk strip just out of reach of the kitten’s paws. ‘A few hours, a few days – a few weeks?’

Alienor swallowed her irritation at Gisela’s whining tone. They were all on edge and she had to make allowances. ‘Hours, I should think, certainly no more than a day.’ She went to look out of the window. The river bustled with ships travelling up and down the Golden Horn. The sky was overcast this October morning and the waters of the inlet choppy and grey. If it weren’t for the lateen rigging on the ships, it could almost have been the Seine.

Louis had begun ferrying their army across to the markets on the other side of the Arm of Saint George. This was partly because the Emperor had cut supplies to the existing camp to a dribble, so he had no choice, and partly because the French soldiers were itching to be on their way before the Germans claimed all the land and the glory. Emperor Manuel had been most accommodating with ships for the crossing and the embarkation was going forward at speed.

Gisela sighed. ‘In Paris the trees will be shedding their leaves,’ she said, ‘and they will be harvesting the apples. I wish I could drink a cup of new cider this instant.’

‘You risk being accused of being a barbarian,’ Alienor teased. ‘Why is Greek wine not to your palate?’

‘Because it goes down so smoothly, and only kicks you later,’ Gisela said.

Alienor had to nod at her sagacity.

The kitten tired of its game and went to curl up on a cushion of plump red silk. The last group of soldiers embarked and set off down the Golden Horn towards the lower chain across the mouth of the inlet, leaving their campsite no more than an area of bare ground, pocked with black scorch marks where the cooking fires had been.

Alienor expected an imminent summons to the quay, but the sun moved another hour on the dial without any word. Growing impatient, she sent Saldebreuil to find out what was happening. He returned looking grim. ‘Madam, the Greeks are delaying again. They say they are waiting for ships to return from the other bank and that there have been difficulties with the money changers at the new market, but I can glean no more than that. They either do not know, or will not say.’

Food arrived: vine leaves stuffed with a spicy meat mixture, and flagons of dark, Greek wine. The eunuchs pretended not to speak French or Latin, and to every question the women asked, they merely shook their heads and gave them bovine looks from kohl-rimmed eyes.