Chapter 958 - 181: Execution
The battle ended very quickly.
Though the Kasaji Guard was formidable, with many elites among them who had drunk magic potions, under the effect of multiple auras and the charge of the Monastic Knights who wielded Holy Light Power, they still soon fell into disadvantage.
There was another reason the battle ended so fast: having personally witnessed Saladin’s death, many among the Kasaji Guard had already shifted to a mindset of actively seeking death.
They would rather trade life for life than retreat even a step.
By the time the gates of the Royal Palace swung open, corpses lay strewn everywhere.
Losa dismounted, walked past the carpet of bodies, passed one domed palace after another, flat-roofed palace after palace, and finally reached the very heart of the Damascus Royal Palace.
Saladin’s personal style was quite frugal—historically, when he died he left behind only one Dinar Gold Coin and forty‑seven Dirham Gold Coins—yet this palace was still magnificently grand. No one knew whether Saladin had built it himself to display his majesty, or whether he had merely inherited the residual splendor of the Zengi Dynasty.
Dong—
In the distance, after a lapse of several centuries, the bells for evening prayer once again rang out over Damascus.
Losa instinctively turned to look; beside him, Lord Leopold could not help but laugh and say, "Your Majesty, this shows that Damascus has already completely fallen into Your hands."
Losa nodded slightly. "The campaign is decided. Lord Leopold, pass my orders: take inventory of the palace’s treasures, seal off the halls, and do not allow idle rabble to approach."
A sudden commotion arose outside the palace gates.
Derum, the Imperial Knight of Kurdish origin, was at that moment leading his Farmer Soldiers, shoving a man who was tightly bound towards the palace.
"Damn you, you’re just a Knight—how dare you treat me like this!"
Reynard roared in fury.
Derum sneered. "Lord Baron, you have violated military law."
He and his Farmer Soldiers had been assigned as a Supervision Team and had personally seen Reynard and his Personal Soldiers break into a townhouse to burn, slaughter, and loot. Blood had flowed out under the door.
Reynard retorted unwillingly, "We fought so hard to take Damascus, yet the division of lands has nothing to do with us. Are we not allowed to obtain our deserved reward with our own hands?"
"Your Majesty has already given you the reward you deserve."
"That’s not fair!"
"Not fair?"
Derum gave a cold laugh. "You fool. With just you—by what right do you think you could have stormed a stronghold like Damascus? Even now you feel no remorse. Then we’ll see how Your Majesty decides to deal with you."
With that, he sent someone ahead to report.
Reynard suddenly realized something; his voice began to tremble. "You did this on purpose, didn’t you? Losa... His Majesty sent you to keep an eye on me, didn’t he? You lot want to purge dissidents. I refuse to accept this—I demand that His Majesty Philip be summoned here!"
His voice cut off abruptly when he saw the young King wearing the Golden Crown walking towards them.
Losa’s expression was cold; sword at his hip, he stood on the steps. "Why must His Majesty Philip be summoned? Are you, Reynard, not my Vassal? Or is it that you do not recognize this Crown of Jerusalem upon my head?"
Reynard of Châtillon, ever since losing his lands of the Transjordan County and Hebron, had no longer been considered any sort of enemy by Losa. He simply wasn’t worthy.
But now, since Losa on all sides needed a few chickens slaughtered to frighten the monkeys, it was still best to deal with this fellow Reynard, who had always been rather restless.
"Your Majesty, I know I was wrong—please, grant me mercy!"
No matter how arrogant Reynard might be, when he met Losa’s gaze, full of killing intent, he knew this time the King was absolutely serious. He dared not keep resisting to the death and dropped to his knees with a thud.
Losa did not look at him, but turned to Derum. "According to military law, what is the punishment for slaughtering civilians and looting wealth?"
Derum answered without hesitation, "He should be executed by hanging."
This Knight from the Kurdish Tribes had spent time learning under both Ulm and Urding. Now he counted as a talent worth employing.
Reynard hurriedly cried, "I’ve been framed! They weren’t civilians—there were many armed men in that household. After You captured Damascus, these people became unstable elements within the city. I was helping to ease Your burdens!"
Derum leaned close and whispered a few words in Losa’s ear.
Losa’s lips curled faintly.
Armed men?
At such a chaotic moment of war, who wouldn’t keep some weapons hidden at home? If all those so‑called "unstable elements" Reynard spoke of were dealt with, there would hardly be anyone left alive in the whole of Damascus.
"I’m sorry, Lord Reynard. Military law is as unyielding as a mountain."
Reynard stared in disbelief. "Your Majesty, are You truly going to execute a Crusader Soldier who has always fought on the front line against the Heretics, just for the sake of the lives of Heretics who have a blood feud with us? Do You know how many Christians, how many nobles die at the hands of the Heretics every year?"
By this point, among the nobility of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, who didn’t have a few relatives buried at the hands of the Heretics?
In the Kingdom of Jerusalem and Antioch, the reason there were so many "sons‑in‑law" taking wives as heiresses was that the original heads of houses had died in battle. Women, unable to fulfill the obligations of Vassals, had to "marry" a husband into the family.
Reynard had become Duke of Antioch through this route; after losing his ducal title, he had likewise become Count of Transjordan by this route.
But after all, he was merely a son‑in‑law; after Lady Stephanie’s death, he had to face the competition from the other male members of the Torun Family.
Now that Losa was King of Jerusalem, he naturally would not allow Reynard to continue occupying Kaler Castle and Montreal. Yet as a Monarch, he would not lightly return those places to the Torun Family either.
There was still much wrangling to be done. After all, the Torun Family had so many male members: who should inherit? Should the lands be partitioned, or passed by primogeniture? Everyone had their own arguments.
Reynard had originally sought to hold Kaler Castle and Montreal by invoking the "Imperial law" widely used in his native Southern Gaul, specifically the provisions on "iure uxoris," whereby a husband could obtain rights and status through his wife’s title.
Rather than the "Salic law" widely used in Northern Gaul, which restricted female heirs.
It wasn’t only the nobles of the Holy Land who had deep blood feuds with the Saracens, with families full of "martyrs"; common folk were even more so.
The Frankish slaves crowding the Saracen court—no one needed to ask where they came from.
Losa shook his head. "Even so, military law is military law."
Reynard shouted, "You can’t do this! I am a noble, the Baron of Kaler Castle and Montreal. You cannot treat me as You would common folk. I demand a formal trial!"
Losa shook his head. "Even so, military law is military law."
Reynard shouted, "You can’t do this! I am a noble, the Baron of Kaler Castle and Montreal. You cannot treat me as You would common folk. I demand a formal trial!"