‘I’m sorry!’ he said, ‘It’s because you’re our friends that you’re in trouble now. But I know that my uncle will come soon and then the siege will be over. Until he arrives, be strong and brave! I promise that the enemy won’t take the town while we’re here, and my men and I will do all that we can to keep you safe.’ Yusuf was right. At last his uncle came with his new army and ended the siege. The town was out of danger, but the war wasn’t over yet. And there was a lot of work to do to make the people of Alexandria truly safe. Yusuf went to talk to the Franks to try to find ways to help the sick and wounded Muslims in the town. ‘Will the Franks understand that it’s wrong to fight old men, women, and children?’ he worried. ‘I must remember all that I learned from Nuradin about talking to angry and difficult people. If I’m wise and careful, God will help me.’ After the long siege, Amalric’s men already knew that Yusuf was a good soldier. While he explained the problems of the people of Alexandria, the Franks learned that he was a good man, too. Humphrey of Toron, an important knight, said, ‘General Shirkuh’s nephew, Yusuf, is more truly chivalrous than any of us! I wish that we worried as much as he does about those that are too weak or sick to fight. I’d like to make him a knight, even if he’s a Muslim.’ It was from this time that people in Europe began to hear how kind and generous Yusuf was. While Yusuf tried to make things better in Alexandria, Vizier Shawar gave the Syrians gold to make them leave Egypt, but Shirkuh was still angry. He wanted to win the war and he wanted the Franks out of the country. Most of all, he wanted Shawar out of Cairo, and he thought that most Egyptians wanted this too. But Yusuf, after his terrible time in Alexandria, was happy to march back home.
Egypt – 1168
The people hiding in their houses heard the sound of horses and men in armour first. Then the screams and cries began. Outside in the narrow streets of Bilbais, everyone was trying to run away from danger, but it was hopeless. Amalric’s knights on their war horses were everywhere. Their bright swords were red with the blood, not just of the soldiers fighting them, but of the people in the town too. No one was safe, and at the end of that terrible day, the streets were silent and bloody.