CHAPTER 108 - 108: THE GREEN JEWEL BELOW

July 20th, 1180 — The Slopes East of Damascus

The sun was just cresting the jagged spine of the Anti-Lebanon mountains when the vanguard crested the last ridge.

Baldwin halted his horse and raised a gloved hand, commanding the line behind him to stop. For a moment, he said nothing. No order. No flourish. Just silence as his eyes swept the valley below.

There it was.

Damascus.

The green jewel of Syria.

It lay stretched out beneath the morning haze like a vast emerald tapestry—domes glinting gold, minarets stabbing the sky, and the thick oasis belt of orchards and groves surrounding it like a living moat. A web of canals shimmered in the light, feeding gardens and date palms, while beyond the walls, smoke curled lazily from the cooking fires of peasants and soldiers alike.

Even from here, the city exuded life.

Beside him, Balian of Ibelin reined in, awed.

"By God... it is beautiful," he murmured.

Baldwin did not answer at first. His gloved hand clenched the reins tighter. Then, finally, he spoke—not loudly, but with the iron certainty that had guided them from Aleppo to Homs.

"It will be ours," he said. "Even paradise may be conquered."

Behind him, the ridge filled with knights, squires, crossbowmen, and Gascon mercenaries, each jostling to see the target of their campaign. Richard of England, having joined two days prior with his host from the north, squinted from beneath his lion-emblazoned helm.

"She's as fortified as the Pope's own treasury," Richard muttered. "Those walls will not fall easy."

"They won't have to," Baldwin replied. "If they starve before we storm them."

He turned to the entourage. His white cloak, now dusty from weeks on the road, stirred in the warm mountain wind.

"Sound the horns. Begin the descent. Let the people of Damascus see us."

Camp of the Cross — That Evening

The army sprawled across the foothills like an iron tide. Banners from every kingdom of Christendom whipped in the hot wind—Jerusalem, Antioch, Sicily, England, Burgundy, and Flanders. Soldiers unpacked siege tools, erected tents, and watered horses from diverted streams. Engineers laid out plans for artillery emplacements.

Baldwin stood at a broad war table beneath a canvas pavilion. A rough, scaled topographic model of Damascus and its surrounding defenses had been hastily assembled—built from clay, stones, and wooden markers.

"The city sits in a basin," said Balian, tracing with a stick. "Oasis all around, and the Barada River along its north. Strong stone walls—older Roman foundations beneath Ayyubid additions. Six main gates."

"And towers every fifty paces," added Amalric of Lusignan. "Archer nests. Balconies. It will be a meat grinder if we try to scale it outright."

Richard leaned over the model, brow furrowed. "The eastern side's weakest," he said. "Flatter. Fewer fields. But their reinforcements will come from that direction too. Egypt, if they ever rouse."

"They won't," Baldwin said. "The Sicilian fleet watches their ports. Egypt stays silent."

One of the scouts approached, saluting crisply.

"My king, the enemy has been sighted on the northern walls—patrols only. Light forces. And smoke from within—perhaps signaling."

"Let them signal," Baldwin said. "We'll answer with fire."

A moment passed. Then he looked to Hugh of Tiberias, his Marshal.

"Order the earthworks begun," Baldwin said. "I want a trench dug around the entire eastern and northern sides of the city. No supplies in or out. We'll build mantlets and raise siege towers as soon as the ground allows. Trebuchets to be mounted on the ridges—hidden until the bombardment begins."

"And the canal systems?" asked Balian.

"We divert them. Starve the city of water. Dry their fields, foul their cisterns. We'll see how well Damascus prays when their wells are dust."

He paused, then turned to his scribes.

"Send riders to all commanders. The siege begins in three days."

Later That Night

Baldwin sat alone atop a low hill, away from the tents and clang of hammers. Below, the city glittered in the dark, its minarets glowing faintly with lamplight.

He could hear the muezzin calling the evening prayer, a haunting, melodic chant that carried even across the valley.

God is great. God is great.

His gloved hand reached into the pouch at his side and drew forth a rolled parchment—the report from their spies in the city.

Saladin was still alive. But gravely wounded.

Bedridden, weak, and fevered. The bolt under his ribs had nearly killed him. But he lived. And if he recovered...

Baldwin narrowed his eyes.

He could not allow Damascus to become a rallying point again. Not this time.

This time, he would break the city. No sacking, no looting—but a conquest that would destroy its will to resist. That would end this war.

He turned his gaze toward the glow of the city walls.

"Your time is done, Salah ad-Din," he murmured. "You built your house on blood and prayer. I'll return it to dust and ash."

Behind him, the siege of Damascus had begun—not with steel or fire, but with silence, preparation, and the knowledge that a storm was coming.