{1110 AD - Kingdom of Deutschland}
In the capital of the kingdom, Arbanach, specifically in the royal palace, Gabriel looked at the throne room calmly
The king of the kingdom, the nobles and the clergy were gathered at this moment in the throne room to talk about the fifth Holy Crusade launched by Pope Peter VII, accompanied by an alliance of Christian kingdoms against the Islamic kingdom of Petra in the East
The enmity was between the Christian world led by King Alfred the Lionheart and the Islamic world led by the Arab Caliph Abdul Rahman III
*The king's ministers and the clergy continued to argue about this matter for several minutes until the voice of the elderly king was heard. King Gunther the Great was a man with a short gray beard and long white hair. He was wearing the traditional attire of the king of his kingdom*
"Silence!"
King Gunther roared loudly and with that the disputes between the ministers and the clergy stopped
*The king looked at the priests and spoke*
**"Gentlemen... your arguments will lead us nowhere, we must make a decision..."**
They were arguing about the Arab prisoner that the Knights Templar had captured during the war and who turned out to be the daughter of the Arab Caliph Abd al-Rahman III
*A bishop named Father Anselm spoke and started the argument with his words*
"Your Majesty!"
Father Anselm spoke in a firm voice
"This Arab prisoner could be an important bargaining chip! We can use her to negotiate a truce with the Caliph!"
*Several other clerics nodded in agreement with Father Anselm's words*
*Many noble figures also agreed with the clerics, seeing the Arab captive as a valuable means of gaining an advantage in negotiations and perhaps forcing a truce with the Islamic Caliph.*
"Your Majesty, we must at least try to use this captive to our advantage! Who knows, this may be our only chance to negotiate a halt to the Holy Crusade and save many lives!"
*Meanwhile, Gabriel was silently watching the argument and did not say anything yet, but he was listening to everything with interest*
The old King Gunther looked at his entourage with a strong sense of pressure
"If we tell him that we captured his daughter, that savage Caliph will kill all our prisoners in his custody and may even wage war against the Holy Capital in Rome"
He said anxiously
*The hall fell silent in response to the King's words that the possibility of the Caliph launching a campaign against Rome was something that no one dared to think about*
*"Your Majesty, are you sure that the Caliph's daughter will have such a radical impact?"
Father Anselm asked nervously as he did not dare to ignore the possibility of a possible attack on the Holy Capital*
Hearing that, the old King sneered nervously
"She is his only and beloved daughter. What reaction do you expect him to show when he learns about our capture of his beloved daughter in Deutschland?"
*More silence followed the king's words. The king was right. No one present in the throne room could predict how the caliph would react if he knew that his only daughter had been taken captive.*
*All eyes were focused on the old king. He could see the uncertainty and tension in the air. No one was willing to make a decision about the situation for fear of the possible consequences.*
*Father Anselm stepped forward and cleared his throat nervously.*
"Your Majesty, I still think that we should at least try to use the prisoner as a bargaining chip, even if we have to be discreet."
He spoke again and still tried to convince the king*
*Father Anselm's words made the other clergymen and nobles in the room agree, some of them nodded, meanwhile the others in the room were still unconvinced, including Gabriel who remained silent and did not express his opinion*
Gabriel was the third son of the king from his commoner concubine, so he had no real influence in the political arena of the kingdom, even his father the king sent him to the church to be a priest.
However, despite his little influence in the political arena, and despite his father sending him to the church to become a priest, Gabriel gained a good reputation and kindness widely among the common people and the clergy.
Watching his father and his entourage argue, he could not remain silent any longer.
"Your Majesty"
Gabriel spoke, attracting the attention of everyone in the throne room.
*Everyone in the throne room turned to Gabriel, curious to hear what he would say, even King Gunther looked at his son With a raised eyebrow*
King Gunther said
"Explain yourself, Gabriel."
*Gabriel took a breath before speaking carefully, his voice calm and controlled.*
*Gabriel paused for a moment as he carefully gathered his words.*
"I understand the desire to use the Arab prisoner to our advantage, but we must ask ourselves."
Gabriel spoke in a soft voice, trying not to sound too confrontational.
He asked.
"Are we willing to risk provoking a war over a single prisoner?" Shouldn't we seek peace and dialogue instead of conflict?"
He was right, the kingdom's economic situation did not allow for the continuation of this crusade, unlike the Frankish Kingdom led by Alfred the Lionheart, which insisted on completing the crusade
*Gabriel's words caused the other courtiers to fall silent, as they did not expect such reasonable words from one of the young princes*
King Gunther looked at his son, a little surprised by the thoughtful comment
King Gunther said, nodding his head
"You speak wisely, my son, this is exactly the worry that is on my mind"
The king had been thinking from the beginning of stopping participating in the Holy Christian League to reclaim the Holy Lands because he found, frankly, that all these campaigns were useless
The Arabs were always winning while they were losing their economy and resources, emotionally swept away by the speech of the Great Pope and King Alfred
The idea of launching a crusade against Abdul Rahman III was a stupid idea from the beginning
They were seriously thinking of fighting the man who was able to eliminate the Vikings who They terrorized Europe in the past, and he was only thirteen years old after sitting on the throne for only one month!!!
*Everyone in the throne room understood the king's frustration with the war against the Islamic Kingdom in the East*
*Meanwhile, Father Anselm, one of the clerics, intervened again*
"But Your Majesty, we have invested huge amounts of our limited financial resources in the Holy Christian Alliance... Are we going to get rid of them?"
"It was you who pressured me to join this damned campaign, Anselm!!!"
The king shouted at Father Anselm angrily
"Then choose now, do you want to die at the hands of the Caliph of the world or bear the wrath of the Pope and lose some money?"
*Father Anselm and the rest of the clerics were speechless, and did not know what to say in response to the king's words*
*Meanwhile, the other nobles also fell silent, and looked at their king with expressions on their faces that said "The king has a point"*
Caliph Abdul Rahman III was the greatest and most severe man from the Arab Jahramite dynasty, the rulers of the Kingdom of Petra Power and brutality
He was able to expand his kingdom to include large parts of the European continent, so that his borders reached the west of the Frankish Kingdom
He was a man who sat on the throne of his kingdom at the age of thirteen to eliminate the Vikings, the sea monsters who feared the world and tried to crawl into Europe after he sat on the throne for only one month
He was a terrifying, powerful and brutal king that the idea of confronting him and bearing his anger face to face was something that the Kingdom of Deutschland could not bear
*The priests and nobles were aware of the reputation of the Caliph and the terror that his name instilled in the people. He was a king who ruled with an iron fist and was responsible for expanding the Islamic world to great horizons.*
*However, Father Anselm was encouraged again*
"We have the support of the great Pope and the Christian kingdoms! With their support we can confront the Caliph and show the power of the Christian world!"
*The king was tired of Father Anselm's insistence on this conflict*
"Enough of this damned war, Anselm!"
Günther shouted again at Father Anselm, saying:
"I will not sacrifice the life of a single German soldier for the vain ambitions of King Alfred and the Pope!!"
*Father Anselm remained silent, his confidence fading away*
*The room was filled with a stifling silence once again. Everyone present was aware of the king's decision and knew that there was no room for discussion*
*King Gunther sat on his throne and spoke in a firm voice*
"We will withdraw from the Holy Christian Alliance and no more German soldiers will die in this foolish war," he declared.
*When the king made his final decision, Father Anselm and the other clergy members looked at the king with disappointed expressions on their faces.
"But, Your Majesty…"
Father Anselm tried to speak but the king's stern gaze silenced him.
*The king's gaze was enough to silence Anselm who now realized that there was no point in trying to convince the king further.
*King Gunther looked at the group of priests and nobles in front of him.
The king said firmly.
"This is my final decision. We will withdraw from the Holy Christian Alliance and focus on rebuilding our kingdom."
"And what about the Caliph's imprisoned daughter?"
Gabriel suddenly asked.
*The king turned his gaze towards his son, a little surprised by his question as all eyes had been focused on the king's decision up until this point.
"What about her?"
The king asked as he looked at his son with interest
"Yes, what about her? How do we return her to the Caliph without causing political problems with him?"
Gabriel said seriously
*The king's eyebrows furrowed as he thought about the question because this was indeed a difficult situation*
The king admitted, saying
"You are right, my son, if we simply return her, the Caliph might interpret it as an act of humiliation, and we do not know what his reaction will be after that."
*Father Anselm spoke again*
"Your Majesty, what if we offered the Caliph some kind of compensation in exchange for releasing his daughter?"
*The king looked at Father Anselm as he thought about the proposal*
*The king nodded in agreement*
He said
"Yes, this could be an option, but we must be careful about what we ask for. It must be something that is valuable and acceptable to the Caliph, but at the same time does not put us at a political disadvantage."
Thus, the issue of the Fifth Crusade was resolved.
But contrary to what was expected, when Gabriel returned to the church and during his period of seclusion for prayer, one of the royal knights came to tell him that the king had asked him to take care of the imprisoned princess until the time for negotiations came.
*Upon receiving this news from the royal knight, Gabriel was surprised for a moment. Taking care of an Arab princess? Was the king serious?*
However, as a loyal son and a faithful servant of the king, Gabriel could not refuse such a command.
* Gabriel nodded his approval and quickly got up to follow the royal knight. He knew that it was a heavy responsibility that had been given to him, but he also could not allow himself to disappoint his father.*
* As he followed the royal knight through the palace corridors, his thoughts raced. Taking care of an Arabian princess? How would he manage it?*
* When Gabriel arrived at the quarters where the Arabian princess was being held, he was surprised to find that she was not in a cell, but in a comfortable but tightly secured room.*
* The guards guarding the door greeted him respectfully,
recognizing him as the king's son.*
"We greet His Royal Highness the Third Prince."
"May God protect you," he said humbly as he entered the room.
* Gabriel took a moment to assess the room, noting that it was spacious and furnished with some luxurious and comfortable furniture. The king seemed to have prepared this room properly, instead of leaving the princess to suffer in a
dungeon*
*Then he turned his gaze to the princess herself sitting on the edge of the bed. She was wearing an elegant dress and her long hair was braided to her waist*
The princess sitting on the edge of the bed in a lazy position was a beautiful woman with long, thick black hair braided to her waist
Her skin was like the skin color of most Arabs who live in warm desert areas, soft and clear wheat
She had beautiful sharp facial features with large brown eyes with thick eyelashes and thick drawn eyebrows and a sharp nose and full lips
The elegant dress she was wearing was in the traditional German Deutschland design and was a beautiful white color
The only Arab thing she was wearing was her jewelry, most of which was made of pure gold
Those brown eyes looked at him scrutinizingly
"....."
Silence reigned in that room
When his turquoise eyes met The blue-green with her big brown eyes Gabriel felt for a moment that the words he had been preparing in his mind all the way from the church to the royal palace had completely evaporated.
*Gabriel cleared his throat and spoke in a calm and composed tone, trying his best to sound coherent.*
"Good day, Princess. I am Prince Gabriel, son of His Majesty King Gunther."
"....."
*Gabriel waited for a response from the princess but received only a blank stare. He realized that the princess probably didn't understand his words due to the language barrier.*
*Then he decided to try a different approach and spoke very slowly and clearly, enunciating each word carefully.*
"Do you speak German, Princess?"
"....."
*Gabriel looked at the princess, her continued silence confirming his suspicions. She did not understand a single word of German.*
*Gabriel's mind quickly ran through the possibilities. Perhaps she only spoke Arabic, which meant that he had no direct means of communicating with her at the moment.*
It was only at that moment that the silent princess opened her mouth to say in a perfect German accent that carried a veiled sarcasm.
"The son of a king wearing ballet monks' clothes?"
*Gabriel was completely surprised by the princess's sudden speech, not to mention her perfect German. It was unexpected to say the least.*
*He did not expect the princess's first words to him to be a clear attempt at mockery, especially regarding his monastic clothes.*
"Ballet?"
He repeated in surprise.
"It is Christian clothing, not (ballet clothes)!!"