"Submit to Islam and you can stay safe, or agree to the payment of the Jizya, then you and your people will be under our protection, else you will have only yourself to blame for the for your destiny, for I bring the warriors who desire death as ardently as you desire life."
- Khalid ibn al-Walid "Sword of Allah"
"Come with me." Orhan Çelebi stared at the eyes of Antonius directly grabbing both of his arms. "Help me take back the throne of the Ottomans, and I shall grant you the Beylik of Izmir, mark my words, come with me, my friend."
Antonius hesitated.
But still, reality and logical thinking took over his head replacing the lure of temptations and lust, he slowly shook his head and looked back firmly into Orhan. "I am sorry, prince, but I need more time to think about it."
Orhan sighed, patting Antonius' hand palm and exclaimed. "With you joining my forces helping me take back the throne, we will build a Sultanate, a nation right as described in the Hadith, a land blessed by Allah… A land of Jannah… A kingdom of heaven!"
Antonius is aroused with interest and went on asking. "Prince Orhan… What will your version of the Kingdom of heaven be?"
"Great question!" Prince Orhan licked his lips in excitement over his broad blue print for his kingdom. "My Jannah… My kingdom of heaven on Earth, shall be a land, where I shall be the strongest monarch in the entire known world, re-build the age old legacies of Rashidun, conquer the lands that the Umayyads once walked, and build a not only cultural, but also economical and religious dominance following the path of the Abbasids, and of course, you shall be my Khalid ibn al-Walid, my sword, and together we will conquer so many great cities, defeat so many mighty armies, and build an empire that no one can surpass…"
Antonius interrupted. "What about the people?"
"The what?" Prince Orhan did not quite catch what is Antonius talking about.
"The ordinary people, peasants labouring in the fields, workers shoving in and out of iron works, lumberjacks bustling in the forests, soldiers marching among the sand, sailors yelling against the tides, and many other commoners? Will this be the Kingdom Of Heaven for them also?"
Prince Orhan paused his speech as all words are stuck in his throat.
"I don't understand what you mean by commoners…"
Antonius looked at the soldiers beneath him as he speaks with Orhan. "Do you understand them?"
"Them? Why should I?"
Antonius sighed. "Prince, with my utmost respect to you, I suggest you communicate more with your men, speak with them, listen to their doubts and to the greatest extent satisfy their needs."
Orhan laughed with his hands on his waist. "Don't worry, my friend Lord De'Ricci, I understand how to handle my troops, my family believes in an ideology of educating the ordinary troopers with blade, the Quran and whip in hand, make their fear over the commanders even more than the swords of their opponents, stay faithful to the All Mighty Allah, and charge for the glory of the house of Ottoman."
"Oh really." Antonius gave a cold snort. "Then what about your junior commanders, you ignore them as well?"
"Lord De'Ricci." Orhan slowly stopped laughing and released Antonius' hands. "I am speaking to you because you are a high noble of the Rumelian, remember, I am a prince of the house of Ottoman, the right descendance of the legendary white horse, a royal, it is already a great honour for me to live together and talk to these peasants, what more would they expect?"
Antonius remained silent, looked at the noble prince before him, and then swept his eyes across the Ottomans beneath him and commented. "I can only say that we two believe in a different ideology… I believe in building bonds and brother hood with my men, while you believe in strict discipline and injecting the sense of obedience through the vast gap in social statues. Although I do not agree with your way of leading your army, but I am in no position to judge you, prince Orhan, I am sorry."
Prince Orhan hesitated a while, reaching out his hands still not giving up on recruiting Antonius into his team and asked. "Tell me, my friend, tell me. What is your Kingdom of Heaven in mind? A Kingdom like the crusaders? Ruled by the seven virtues and the grace of your God?"
Antonius nodded initially but soon scrupled, and then shook his head slightly.
"Yes… And no."
"An advice, my friend." Prince Orhan feels like he suddenly lost the motive to continue having this chat with Antonius. "Go and dig more on what the Crusaders have done on the sacred land… Especially what have they done in this city, this land we are stepping on right now…"
"…Then you will emphatise with them, especially if you are that knight of seven virtues."
"My projected Kingdom of Heaven…" Antonius pondered for a while and responded looking at the sea farers bustling around on the busy port side, women sailing precious winter vegetables, children playing a new thing called the kites, soldiers yawning at the gates. "I wonder, if I build a Kingdom of Heaven according to my template…"
"…will the poor be granted a piece of land to cultivate agriculture and feed themselves? Will town folks get a stable job for a living? Will merchants not be sucked of their wealth? Will soldiers be respected with pride and not used as forced labour? If I, or anyone, can achieve a kingdom like this, it can be called a kingdom of Heaven."
The noble prince Orhan cannot get it, question marks filled his mind at the current moment, he does not understand why is this man, the supposed noble class in the state of Rumelia, cares so much about those low class commoners?
After a while of thinking Orhan finally thought it through, a smirk appeared on his face as he looks down on Antonius and refuses to talk with him anymore. He finally remembered what his father has tought him when he was young.
"Those who are born noble, with a pure noble blood, stays as a noble… Those peasants who earnt millions of fortune, or managed to climb onto high places by luck gifted from the sky, will still stay as a low peasant."