Chapter 2 – A chance to prove himself
Aleppo, Syria – 1152
Yusuf felt sad saying goodbye to his mother and sisters before
he left Damascus with his father. At first he was excited to be
starting a new life, but after four days of hard travel on hot dry
roads, he was worried. He asked himself over and over again,
‘Will I be a good soldier?’
‘Yusuf, look! That’s where you’ll live,’ his father said while
they rode through some small villages just outside Aleppo.
On a high hill in the middle of the town, the boy saw the tall
walls of the castle climb up towards the sky. They made Yusuf
feel very small and unimportant. The building looked like it was
growing even taller while he rode through the town towards it.
Yusuf wanted to go back home, but he knew that he couldn’t say
anything to his father. Ayyub rode up into the castle and Yusuf
followed silently. They found the general talking to his men in a
large room full of swords. Shirkuh was an ugly man, with only
one eye. No one could say that he looked like a general, but he
was brave and he knew everything about the best ways to fight
and win.
After the soldiers left, the general turned to the boy.
‘Well, Yusuf, are you sure that you want to be a soldier?’
‘I’ll do my best, Uncle.’
‘If you want to be one of my soldiers, you’ll do what I tell you.
Do you understand?’
‘Yes, Uncle.’
Shirkuh now turned to his brother.
‘Ayyub, I’ll take the boy, but only because you and I are
brothers. I don’t think that he’ll be a good fighter or a soldier,
but we’ll see. If he’s any trouble, he goes home – at once!’
Yusuf wanted to do well, but it was difficult. He tried hard to