"Where is Richard?" "Enough!" "You will marry Athelstane and you will sit at my table tonight!" " But will it be worth it?" " Hm?" "Will a great Saxon nation unite and rise to overthrow Prince John all because I'm wed to Athelstane?" "He is dead." "But you may live, my Lord Bois Guilbert." "The world will learn how Lord lvanhoe betrays his king, begging for my mercy." "And every word a lie!" "Ivanhoe did not betray his king!" "No ghost, Rowena." "Ivanhoe." "Show off your champions tomorrow." "Let Bois Guilbert, de Bracy and the rest cover themselves with glory in the tournament." "I have packed some provisions for your journey." "Small repayment for my father's life." "The Jews of York must have paid the King's ransom." "He is back from the Holy Land." "Sire..." "Richard rides in the tourney." "Have we got horses for Egburg and Ellingtham?" "Aye." "They won't look like much, mind." "I don't care what they look like." "If they've hearts as strong as Saxons, they may look like old Lug himself." "Now wake Lord Athelstane..." "while I stir Gurth from his pit." " Yes, my Lord." " Gurth!" "Gurth!" "Demons indeed." "He's gone." "He's broken his bond." "And I shall hang him for this!" "Trust me, sire your brother is not yet in England." "Your Forest Keeper is mistaken." "Oh, he may be a king, my Lord, but even he cannot work miracles." "No?" "He has the love and loyalty of every soul in the land." "Oh if he were infallible there would have been no cause for us to invite you to govern in his absence." "Would there?" "Hm?" "When we were but children, Fitzurse," "Richard had a hound for his own." "And I, a young peregrine that I'd found wounded." "Night after night, I sat with the bird till its wing mended." "It slept on my wrist." "Then one night, Richard's hound took the bird from its roost." "Destroyed it." "I complained to my father." "But Richard showed him how the hound could roll over, and stand on its hind legs, turn somersaults." "My father laughed." "He told me to find a new falcon." "Sire, I... fear it's dangerous to allow childish resentment..." "Do the minstrels sing... of John, toiling to rebuild this country stone by stone?" " Do they?" " No." "No." "Do they strum their harps to the glory of John who fights to keep the barons in order so they may all live in peace?" "Hm?" "Do they?" "Do they?" "No." "Of whom do the minstrels sing, hm?" " Of Richard." " Of Richard!" "Yes, of Richard." "Who bankrupts them to conduct his slaughter a thousand miles away." "You tell me he cannot work miracles?" "Acre was the key to the whole of Palestine." "It had been under siege for two years before we got there." "All the chivalry in Christendom camped outside its gates." "Some holy crusade!" "But did you take the city?" "The Templar Knights rode through the streets cheering, their armour glinting in the sun, their leader crying for God and Christendom." "On the point of his lance was the head of a girl he'd raped, no more than 12 or 13." "Oh, yes... we took the city." "Come on!" "Tourneys such as these must seem poor sport, de Bracy, after Palestine." "It is sport nonetheless, Monsignor." "We're not here to play games." "We're here to crush the Saxons to pulp." "I think we may demonstrate Norman superiority without barbarity." "Your thinking has quenched the fire in your belly... my Lord de Bracy." "Then perhaps I shall not burn so fiercely in hell, my Lord Front de Boeuf." " Bois Guilbert." " Malvoisin." " Good to see you." " My Lords." "Now... we are assembled." "The cry that led the Crusaders into battle sounds just as well across an English field." "Deus vult, my sons." "God wills it." "Days and nights we went." "Richard calling himself Hugh the merchant, Bois Guilbert and I his attendants." "We'd almost reached Vienna when we were taken by spies and brought before Archduke Leopold." " Everyone says..." " Says what?" "...that's when you betrayed the king." " I betrayed no-one, Gurth." "Then who did?" "Bois Guilbert knows the truth, he was there." "Only he can restore the good name of Ivanhoe." " And how did you escape?" " They left me for dead." "I made my way into France, where I heard tell of Bois Guilbert." "I followed him to England." "They say he's Prince John's finest champion." "He was King Richard's." "How does it feel to be a free man?" "So... where's your friend gone to, then?" "How should I know?" "You, you always know more than you let on, you." "It's a good living, swineherd." "Why did he want to go and be a free man?" "All I know is Gurth's always valued his master more than his own freedom." "Nothing's ever as lost as you think." "All is yet to play for." "It should be an interesting day, then." "Eh, my Lady?" "Are you gonna be as bad as last time?" "That'll do." "I take no interest in Price John's childish antics." "Let his witless, arrogant knights break their heads if they want to." "My interest is the same as John's." "Money." "Not every knight is witless or arrogant." "Rebecca!" "Rebecca!" " My Lord!" " My Lord!" "Sire." "My Lord, welcome!" "Move on, Jew!" "I have business with the prince." "You stay here." "I will be as quick as I can." "Please." "Ah, the Hebrew." "Please sit." "What are you doing here, Jew?" " Oi, leave her alone." " Take your hands off me!" "We have business with the prince." "Get away, fatty!" "You..." "Argh!" "Isaac of York who is it that cares for your safety?" "Who is it that protects you and your daughter from er...persecution and abuse?" "Why, you, sire." " And no other?" " No other, sire." "I hear otherwise." "I hear that...you and your brethren, amongst other things, have used money destined for me to pay my brother Richard's ransom." " No, sire." " No?" " No." "No?" "A laudable venture, Isaac." "But it is one that I, not you, must command." "Your loyalty is to me and no other, hm?" "I believed..." "I was your friend, Isaac." "And deserving of your love." "Your undivided love." " Can you doubt me, sire?" " Easily." "Look, I have letters of credit here." "All the money you need for your tourney." "Ah!" "We thank you for it." "And... never doubt His Grace's anxiety about his brother's safety." "There it is, my Lady!" "We're here!" "Come on, my Lord!" "Come on!" "Bois Guilbert!" "There are hundreds of spectators out there, sire." "Yes, I know!" "Wine!" "Sire?" "Sire... you have offered them spectacle and they are here to revel in it." "Richard may offer them songs of glory, but nothing more." "You give them charm, and a little blood, they'll be yours forever." "Except that I am not a king." " Kingship is a performance, my Lord." " I imagine it is." "He is a king who behaves like one." "And he is a Chancellor who constantly admonishes his king." "He is a Chancellor who serves his king the best." "My Lords accept all challenges obey the laws of chivalry... and of God be stalwart in defeat and courteous in victory." "My Lord." "The tide has turned, my Lords." "The blood of Alfred the Great..." "flows through his veins." "Show these Normans his spirit beats in your hearts." "You ride with them." "I've never ridden with a lance in my life." "But tomorrow, in the melee," "I promise you, my Lords," "I can swing an axe or broadsword as well as any man in England." "Well said." "Courage, my Lords!" "Our time has come." "But whom shall we choose as the Queen of Love and Beauty?" "Your daughter, Fitzurse?" "Ah." "I thank you, but er..." "I rather think the Saxon Lady Rowena would be a more popular choice." "I would rather the Jewess Rebecca." "Or the demon Lilith herself." "So, now the Saxon takes a lance and er..." "he challenges a Norman." " A challenge." " To Sir Reginald Front de Boeuf." "No!" "Get me one without a coronal!" "That's it!" "For the honour of Normandy!" " Didn't the Saxon choose a courtesy joust?" " Obviously not." "That's Lord Cedric of Rotherwood." "Let the champion choose whomsoever he pleases." "Hm?" "You'll have him this time!" "That's handsome." "Hey!" "Don't fret." "We only rob Christians." "Come on!" "He's dead, my Lord Cedric." "Quickly!" "Bloody hell!" "We're getting slaughtered down there." "Egburg's dead, Barnby's arm's near torn off." "The Normans are out for blood." "Then they shall have it." "Perhaps he met with an accident on the road." "Accident?" "No, he's fled with my goods." "Damn Saxon!" "You'd better mind your tongue." "We may rule out Sir Reginald Front de Boeuf as champion, I think." "Sir Maurice de Bracy met his opponents with grace and courtesy." "But Bois Guilbert met his with such pleasing finality." "The Templar champion pleased you, Monsignor?" "Well then, if there are no others..." "On whose behalf do you challenge, Sir Knight?" "On behalf of every loyal Englishman." "Choose your opponent." " Father." "Is it him?" " Look at his armour." " Is it who?" " No-one." "The Saxon's challenged all of us!" "Leave a little for me." "Is he a Saxon?" "Whoa, whoa." "Quiet, man, he can feel your fear." "Go on!" "Tip him on his French arse!" "Get out of my way!" "It's not over yet!" "He's riding shy of him!" "We did it!" "We did it!" "Show yourself!" "Yay!" " By what title are you known, Englishman?" " Desdecado." "Then, Sir Desdecado, as Champion of the Lists, you have the honour to choose a lady to reign as Queen of Love and Beauty." "Was there ever any doubt?" "You've dismissed our Norman champions, perhaps you'll be more generous with our Norman ladies?" "Desdecado?" "Disinherited, my Lord." "Well done." "May I hope for such a look from you in my trial for the melee?" "Where the sweet oxen graze low" "And each lad takes his lass" "All upon the green grass" "For a minute there, I could have sworn that was your betrothal crown." " We seek Sir Desdecado." "What for?" "The horses and armour forfeit to him, sir, from his victories." "I have no need of either horse nor arms." "Then we are to offer gold." "From Sir Ralph de Vipont," "Sir Maurice de Bracy, and Sir Reginald Front de Boeuf." "And from my own master, Sir Brian de Bois Guilbert." "No!" "I want nothing from Brian de Bois Guilbert." " But..." "You heard!" "Sire." "So what are you gonna do with all this?" "Send you to pay my debts." "For my part, sire, I take it as a compliment the Saxons have made such efforts to match us." "It shows they have a proper respect for our power." " My advice..." " Will be taken when it is required, thank you." "He has refused the horse and gold." "God's blood!" "I understand that you Templar Knights obey no laws but your own, but you would do well to remember that you sit at my table, and not in the dirt of Palestine." "Do not presume to question whose laws I obey, Prince John!" "They're given by God and His Holiness the Pope!" "But my guards stand outside the door." "The Saxon has returned both my horse and my gold offered in honourable forfeit!" "He intends to have me dead." "I had you down as my Chief of Arms." "Are you afraid of him?" "I stand square with any man on earth." "And I will prove my worth to you when I destroy him!" "I've only just arrived." "How went the joust today?" "All was forfeit to one man." "He calls himself Desdecado." "Take care." "Come in!" "My father will be pleased to see you." "You see?" "Master Wilfred..." " Have you brought my horse and armour?" "No, sir." "Master Wilfred..." "Is he well?" "He looked to have taken some injury." "Nothing that a hot poultice won't sort." "Master Wilfred said he is deeply grateful for your assistance in his hour of not having any other and to please take the value of the horse and armour out of that." "Ah!" "The world would be a happy place if all Christians were as honest as your master." "This repays me well." "And the world would be a happy place if all Jews were as trusting as you, Father." "I believe our cousin Nathan has misled you as to the true value of the horse." "Return this to your master with our thanks." " Will you take some refreshment before you go?" " No, Lady." "Best get back." "Then give Lord lvanhoe my wishes." "For as much glory tomorrow as he won today." "His fight with Bois Guilbert made my heart stop." "Huh?" "And take this for your own kindness." " Travel safely, Gurth." " I'll do my best, Lady." "Good night." "You would have taken interest from Lord lvanhoe?" "But not as obviously as you take interest in him." "Hm!" "What's your business so late in the woods?" "None but my own." " What's Isaac of York paying you for?" " Eh?" "You visit Prince John's banker at dead of night, leave his house with gold?" " Give that back!" " Give me a reason to." "If you don't, I'll break every head here!" "Ho-ho-ho-ho!" "You can try me!" "Are you ready?" "Isaac of York lent my master horse and armour to ride against the Normans today." "That gold is what's left from paying him back." "Now, if you want to argue with me about that, so be it, cos I can go on like this all night." "I'm sure you can." "Desdecado." "Any man who'll stand against our Norman masters, I call him friend." " Tell me his real name." " If you'll tell me yours." "Robin of Loxley." "My name is Gurth." "And my master is Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe." "See him safe home." "For all their arms, the Normans have hearts no greater than yours." "Our Saxon champion leads you with our Saxon prince Athelstane by his side." "Keep courage." "Keep heart." "There was no need to risk ourselves again, he has repaid the loan." "And it might cost him his life." "For a wise woman, you can behave very foolishly." "Right, are you ready for this?" "Watch." " Got it!" " Yes!" " Keep an eye on John's banker, yeah?" " Aye." "I do not want one Saxon man left on the field." "You understand?" "I want them utterly, completely crushed." "Sire." "And do not fail me, hm?" "There is only so much he can do, sire." "The melee is but a mock battle." "Not any more." "Any man un-horsed..." "may only be fought by another on foot." "Honour the laws of chivalry, my Lords, and pay homage to the Queen of Love and Beauty." "And the devil take the hindmost." "Father." "Father." "Daggers." "That's not right." "Athelstane!" "This is dismal sport, my Lord!" "Call a halt!" "No." "Why doesn't Prince John stop them?" "Father, look!" "Argh!" "Stop!" "You faced worse odds at Acre, Sir Wilfred." "My Lord?" "Once more you are our champion, Sir Desdecado." "Take the laurels from your queen." "You must come a little closer, sir." "Please, sir." "Ivanhoe, I can bear to be parted from you by death son's infamy is the stock and trade of every balladeer in England!" "...King of England's too valuable a prize." "He is badly wounded." "They will never let him live." "Gurth?" "Forget him." " We're taking him." " No, it's all right." "We'll take him." "My Lord." "I think we may count the tournament a notable success, sire." "Hm!" "For Sir Wilfred of Ivanhoe." "And the Black Knight." "Not for me." "Not for me."