The Crusader ("The Crusader" Prequel to "Kingdom Come") by Kathryn Le Veque

told
us a lot about how ancient people lived. They're a very enlightening
process."
    "We
know how he lived, fighting off starvation and disease when he wasn't battling
Saladin. Couldn't we just x-ray him? It would be a lot less intrusive."
    Bud
nodded after a moment. "I suppose we could. Radiographs will tell us just
as much. Maybe more."
    She
smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Bud. You really aren't such a bad guy,
after all."
    He
cocked an eyebrow. "I hope you remember that."
    Rory
watched him stroll from her tent, his hands dug deep into the pockets of his
jeans. "What is that supposed to mean?"
    He cast
her a long glance but continued walking. "When the time comes, you'll
know. Now get back to work on that journal. I want to know every gory detail of
Sir Kieran's life by morning."
    Rory
watched him go, smiling to herself. He really wasn't such a bad guy, after all.
     
    ***
     
    Midnight
came and went. The camp was dark, devoid of any activity except for an
occasional security guard. Bud and David were long since asleep, much needed
rest after a night and day of continuous digging.
    Only Rory
seemed to be awake, so deeply immersed in Sir Kieran's journal that she hardly
realized it was the middle of the night. Once she got past the beginning of the
knight's trip to the Holy Land, sailing on a ship crowded with mercenaries and
horses and weapons, the true scope of his adventures came to light and, like
any good book, she couldn't put it down.
    Surprisingly,
Kieran didn't seem to be the arrogant sort. He was frank, brutally opinionated
when he had to be, but for the most part he seemed to be even-tempered and
rational. He spoke with appalling honestly when he described heathen women,
hairy wenches with a powerful smell as he had so kindly phrased them. They
clung to him like leeches, he said with genuine puzzlement, wondering why they
found him so attractive. With his size and alien coloring, he had expected
nothing less than naked fear.
    As Rory
read into the night, she found herself visualizing the warrior wrapped in
coarse cloth and buried in the ancient Grecian temple. He had a droll sense of
humor and more than once Rory found herself chuckling over something he had
commented on. But even more than the humor and vivid descriptions of deplorable
life in a land under siege, she came to realize that Kieran had a good deal of
modern insight to the world around him.
    It was a
sensitivity that ran deep as he described giving heathen orphans food from his
own stores, or preventing his comrades from 'doing as they soe pleased' with a
female captive.  Rory, in fact, was amazed by his altruistic ideals; so many of
the crusading knights were corrupt that she found it astonishing that Sir
Kieran possessed the scruples to distinguish right from wrong. To deter a rape
and feed hungry children was an example of commendable, and nearly unheard-of,
standards.
    The
Turkish evening passed in heated silence; still, Rory remained riveted to the
pages of Sir Kieran's journal. The more she read of the man and his exceptional
ideals, the more she found herself liking him. And the more she wished she
could rouse him from his eternal sleep to ask questions until he ran out of
answers. Engrossed in the man and his tales, Rory realized that Sir Kieran Hage
was a knight taken straight from the pages of a fairy tale. Strong, chivalrous,
and exceptionally brave.
    It was
close to dawn when she neared the last pages of his journal. Rory had long
since stopped transcribing the text, instead, thoroughly absorbed in the
stories. There would be plenty of time later for translating and she was to the
point where she could actually read an entire page of medieval script in less
than five minutes.
    The
complete journal was no more than forty pages, but the beautiful sketches had
slowed her progress down considerably.  Staring at their faded quality was an
invitation to daydream of a time gone by, and Rory was entrapped in their spell.
In fact, she had been