Leopold paused then, as if to savor what was coming next. “There is one more condition for your release. The emperor will hold your hostages until you have persuaded the Pope to absolve me in the event that I am unfairly excommunicated for taking you prisoner.”
It was one of the few times in Richard’s life when he was speechless. He stared at them, thinking that he’d fallen in with madmen. One hundred thousand silver marks was a sum so vast that it beggared belief. And did they think the world would be fooled because they called it a dowry, not a ransom? The demand that he help personally to overthrow his ally Tancred was beyond vindictive and would reduce the King of England to the status of one of Heinrich’s German vassals. The other terms were just as outrageous. Turn two hundred hostages over to Heinrich’s mercy and wed his niece to Leopold’s son? Free that whoreson Isaac Comnenus and give Anna back to him? Plead with the Pope on behalf of the man who’d abducted him?
“I think you have both lost your minds. I will never agree to any of this—never!”
Leopold flushed angrily, but Heinrich continued calmly sipping his wine. “Oh, I think you will,” he said, with another of those frigid smiles. “You see, if you do not agree, then you’re of no value to me, and I have no reason to keep you alive.”
As a bluff, it was well played. But Richard knew it was a bluff, for these greedy lunatics were not going to kill him, not when they thought they could plunder England’s coffers like Barbary pirates. “Well, then, we are at an impasse, for I would die ere I ever agreed to these terms.”
His defiance did not seem to disturb Heinrich’s composure in the least. “I will give you time to think it over.” He gestured to the guards, who moved forward to encircle Richard again. Realizing he’d just been dismissed as if he were a servant, Richard felt a surge of hatred so strong that it momentarily blotted out all else; never had he wanted a sword in his hand as much as he did at that moment. He did not resist the guards, though, unwilling to give Heinrich that satisfaction. The emperor watched as they started toward the door, waiting until it had been opened before he spoke.
“There is one more matter. Your trial begins on the morrow.”
CHAPTER TEN
MARCH 1193
Speyer, Germany
Richard was back in the cathedral’s chapter house, for Heinrich had decided that his trial would be held in the great hall of the Bishop of Speyer’s palace. He was awaiting Hadmar’s return and had begun to pace restlessly, while his Austrian guards tried to give him a little privacy by withdrawing to a corner of the chamber. He sensed their sympathy, but knew he’d be encountering a far more hostile audience when the Imperial Diet began, for Hadmar had already informed him that this was not to be a representative assembly of German princes. Since half of them were in revolt against Heinrich, they, of course, were conspicuously absent. The Austrian duke was present, with his brother, the Duke of M?dling, and his sons. Heinrich’s closest kin were in attendance, too: his uncle, the Count Palatine of the Rhine, and two of his brothers: Conrad, the Duke of Swabia, and Otto, the Count Palatine of Burgundy. Hadmar had reported that the Archbishop of Trier was in the great hall, as were the bishops of Speyer, Worms, Passau, Freising, and Zeitz. So were the imperial ministeriales, led by Heinrich’s marshal, Heinz von Kalden, and his seneschal, Markward von Annweiler, along with churchmen, envoys sent by the French king—and Boniface d’Aleramici, Marquis of Montferrat, younger brother of the man Richard was accused of murdering.
It seemed utterly unreal to Richard that he should be facing a trial, charged with betraying the Holy Land, and it felt like an eternity until Hadmar reappeared. “They are ready for you now,” he said somberly. “You will not be entirely friendless, for the emperor has permitted the Bishop of Salisbury, the Bishop of Bath, William de St Mère-Eglise, and the abbots to attend.”
The Bishop of Bath’s presence was a surprise to Richard, and not an entirely welcome one, for he did not trust the man all that much. “But they do not get a vote, do they?”
Hadmar glanced at the guards and then lowered his voice, even though he knew they spoke no Latin. “May I offer you some advice?”
“I’d rather you offered me a fast horse and a head start,” Richard said, with a tight smile. “But I’ll take the advice, too.”
“I think you ought to kneel to the emperor.”