"I do promise it."
The two Christian warriors on horseback faced each other, the count in purple and the cardinal in red, looking almost as if they might fall to fighting.
"You need not argue," Daoud said. "I will not surrender."
De Gobignon stared at him. "You will be throwing your life away."
"No," said Daoud. "I am giving my life to God."
He could not help anyone now. Not Manfred, not Baibars, not Sophia. Like Manfred, he had only one choice left to him. The manner of his death.
"Very well, Messer David," said the young count. He swung himself down from his charger. At his gesture one of his men pulled the horse away.
"Monseigneur!" a young man called from the circle of Frenchmen that surrounded them. "Victory is already ours. Don't risk your life to fight one God-accursed Saracen."
"I am the Count de Gobignon," said Simon quietly, "because I uphold the honor of my house."
De Gobignon turned to de Verceuil, who still sat on his horse holding his bloody mace in his hand. "Kindly clear the field, Cardinal."