On the side of the mighty lake of Nicaea, Gilligi. Arslan's flag flew high in the center of the camp, and according to the Crescent doctrine, no physical objects, portraits, or even totems were allowed on the banner of the Holy Army, because this would cause idolatry, and in the end, only words and geometric figures would appear on them.

However, Gilligi was very clever, and he was unwilling to give up the good name of "Roma", so he deliberately imitated the totem of the Romans, and placed a crimson eagle on his imperial flag, but he could not make the eagle concrete, so he directly embroidered the abstract pattern of the eagle with straight lines.

In a tent full of golden threads and silver-plated pillars, a small prayer room was deliberately opened out of a curtain, and Giliki sat quietly, opposite his personal imam and court vizier ibn Ibn Gilliki. Maimun.

Giliki slowly placed a scroll in front of Ibn and said, "Dear Teacher, I do not know whether what awaits me now is the opportunity given by Allah or the catastrophe that the kingdom of Roma will endure. Our kingdom began with the defeat of the Greeks who assumed the name of the Roman Empire, but please forgive me for not being able to shoulder the title of 'Roma'. ”

"Sultan, when you were a young man, you traveled as a hostage throughout the East, Damascus, Antioch, Baghdad, Khorasan, etc., and as far as you see it, where is our kingdom going?" Ibn . Maimun smiled and asked the young sultan.

At this time, in the dark room, Gilici's eyes were shining brightly, "The Turks should give up their tents and enter the great city, since ancient times, at least from the classics I have read, people will have a city before they will put the flame of civilization and prosperity in all the wild corners, and the city is the great bonfire and lighthouse - the great empire, such as Rome and the Tang Kingdom, is all the same, so we Sultan Roma not only occupy the rich plains of Roma and Chiqiria to grow food, The best way to preach morality was to use Anatolia and Cappadocia to graze cattle and sheep, and then sell them through Tarsus, Sinop, and overland trade routes, so that mosques, colleges, government offices, and military camps would gradually increase, and the power of the sultan and the believers would become stronger. ”

Ibn nodded repeatedly, "The city is the center, and the Holy Land is no exception, only it can attract the attention of the whole world and spread its majesty to the whole world." Sultan is right, take this opportunity, not be restrained by pedantic and pagan covenants, go to war against the Greek Empire, annihilate their forces in Asia Minor, and extend your territory first to the shores of Abydos and Smyrna, and then eastward to the Taurus Mountains, and build a proud and holy kingdom that can proudly stand on the top of Anatolia. ”

Then there was a sound, and it was Giliki who stood up, and who had gained great confidence in his conversation with his mentor, and then went to the tent's bedchamber, and saw his beautiful Persian wife from Khorasan, who was sleeping soundly on a couch surrounded by precious blankets and silks, and this scene gave great courage to her husband and father of the children, Sultan Gilikhi. Arslan had decided to renounce peace with the Byzantine Roman Emperor.

Behind the lifting of the curtain outside, a great uproar came to the face, and many of the warriors and princes of the Sultanate of Rum, who had been waiting here for a long time, most of them were strongly advocating an attack on the Greek army while George was deposed and blinded by the Emperor of Constantinople, but a considerable number of them were fiercely opposed by the fierce opposition of the Sultanate for reasons of faith, or by the fact that they had been bought by Alexios, until Gillichi. Before Arslan entered, they were still arguing.

Then everyone fell silent, their eyes fixed on the grave-looking Sultan, and Gilligi walked twice up and down on the multicolored Persian carpeted countertop, and then reached out and carefully drew an arrow from the pot on his left side, "Send this arrow to the camp of the Tevris, and say to their consul that I hope the women's covenant will not be dust." ”

Then, as everyone continued to hold their breath, Gilligi drew another arrow and put it into the hands of another herald, "Seeing this arrow, if you see the Sultan, I want you to take this arrow in your hand and gallop all over Anatolia, Chikuria, and the Romani plain in three days, and gather all the strong men who can draw bows and shoot arrows, and besiege and destroy the army of the Greeks in the mountain passes here in Nicaea!" ”

Then the herald turned around and raised the Sultan's arrow aloft to the crowd, and the whole tent burst into cheers!

One night later, in the barracks of the Tevris, the consul Kabeamia, with his golden gloves, held an arrow sent by the Sultan, and addressed all the Paulicians present, "All the co-workers (the Paulineans are not strictly referred to as superiors and subordinates, but all are called co-workers), the stars in the night sky and the rising sun, all indicate the emergence of the truth of salvation, and the false kings of the world are reaching out to continue to do evil, let us raise up the sword of faith to purify sin - back then, After the death of my patriarch, the Archon of the Golden Hand, at the foot of the city of Tevris, the Greek heretical Emperor Vasily the Great (referring to Vasily I), a lowly man born as a groom, fired three arrows at my ancestor's head in front of all the Greek courtiers, insulting and trampling on them. Today is the time of vengeance, we have agreed with the Sultan of Rûm, and then all of Trabizon and Paphragonia will be ours, and the day of the re-establishment of the republic is just around the corner, and the heretical church halls will be the place where our war horses will eat grass and, and soon Thrace, Bolgar, and even Armenia in the west will be the places where we proclaim the truth of justice. So today, we fight side by side with Sultan Roma, and may the god of fire and light bless us in victory! ”

Gawain let out a long yawn in the light of the morning, and then went out into the bushes, unbuttoned his robe and bottom, and fired a rapid shot at the bottom of the mountain road, and Sabina stood beside him, constantly reaching for a young leaf from a small tree with her mouth. In front, the captor Theognes, with a constipated and unhappy expression on his face, sat in the saddle and waited for Gawain's unties, his wine bag hanging behind him, in short, to end this annoying errand as soon as possible, and return to the camp - without seeing Gawain, the nasty bastard, and fulfilling the task of reconnaissance.

When the whoosh was over, Gawain shook twice, then called it a day and got on his horse, behind him were four Varangian warriors who were directly under him, and red-haired Eriksen who carried a battle axe and wore the black armor of Turkic slaves, and behind the captor were eight lightly armed scout soldiers, not in armor, only quivers and bows.