But Saladin cried again:
“They are worthy of death, and he who disobeys my command shall himself be slain.”
“Sultan,” said Godwin, “we cannot witness such a crime; we ask that we may die with them.”
“Nay,” he answered; “you have eaten of my salt, and to kill you would be murder. Get you to the tent of the princess of Baalbec yonder, for there you will see nothing of the death of these Franks, your fellow-worshippers.”
So the brethren turned, and led by a Mameluk, fled aghast for the first time in their lives, past the long lines of Templars and Hospitallers, who in the last red light of the dying day knelt upon the sand and prayed, while the emirs came up to kill them.
They entered the tent, none forbidding them, and at the end of it saw two women crouched together on some cushions, who rose, clinging to each other. Then the women saw also and sprang forward with a cry of joy, saying:
“So you live—you live!”
“Ay, Rosamund,” answered Godwin, “to see this shame—would God that we did not—whilst others die. They murder the knights of the holy Orders. To your knees and pray for their passing souls.”
So they knelt down and prayed till the tumult died away, and they knew that all was done.
“Oh, my cousins,” said Rosamund, as she staggered to her feet at length, “what a hell of wickedness and bloodshed is this in which we dwell! Save me from it if you love me—I beseech you save me!”