fall upon King Charles. There is
no one near to help him. We must go down there now and stop them.
Straight over the side of this ridge. Mount your horses."

"But, mercy of God, Monseigneur!" cried de Puys. "That slope is long and
steep. There is a forest. The men will fall. The horses will break their
legs. We must find a path."

"There is no time to explore, de Puys. There are many paths down. We
will find them. The horses will find them. We must go now. In a moment
King Charles will be dead!"

The equerries holding the Gobignon and crusader banners rolled them up
to take them through the forest.

Valery brought Simon's favorite war-horse, the pearl-gray destrier
called Brillant. Simon braced himself for the effort, in full armor, of
mounting the huge horse. He set his foot in the iron stirrup, hoisted
himself, swung his leg, heavy with mail, over the saddle, and settled
himself. He drew the Saracen blade Roland had given him.

_A Saracen blade to fight Saracens._

He put fear and doubt out of his mind, drew a deep breath and roared,
"Suivez-moi!"

He spurred Brillant and slapped the charger's neck. "Good horse! Find a
way down."

Then he had plunged over the edge and into the forest on the other side.
He crouched, hiding his face behind Brillant's gray neck, as thick as a
tree trunk. A branch struck his helmet with a clang, stunning him
slightly, and he bent his head lower.

Twisted trees rushed at him and past him. All around him he heard men
shouting, some yelling in wild abandon, some crying out in fear. He
heard a terrible crash and clatter and the mingled screams of a man and
a horse. Behind him came a thundering like a landslide as more and more
of his knights plunged over the edge of the ridge.

He had time to think in jubilation that he had given a frightening,
difficult order, and the men had obeyed. Hundreds of knights and
men-at-arms were plummeting down this perilous slope because he had told
them to.

_If I die today, I die a leader._

But would they reach the valley in time to save Charles d'Anjou? While
they rushed and fell and fought their way through this forest, that
battle line of Saracens was galloping over easy, rolling ground with
only Charles's archers to impede them. Just now Simon was crashing
through woods so thick he could not see the battlefield.

Then there was light ahead and a meadow of brown grass. Brillant broke
through the brush at the bottom of the slope.

The re