Harold Lamb

“ Then the Greeks had overpowered her few attendants and had led out every good horse from the stables. At the western gate they had met Grigol of Thor, the castellan, who had mustered a few men-at-arms when he heard the clash of weapons. Evidently the Greeks, who were in full mail, had ridden down the Georgians and had escaped from the hill of Tphilis before dawn. They had carried off Rusudan.
The wearied men who mustered around John the Constable took up pursuit, finding horses where they could. Shotha Kupri went off to rouse other bands in the forest. ”

“ A few leagues to the north the tracks of the seven riders entered the broad trail of the Horde, where in the multitude of marks of cattle, men and carts Avak had lost all trace of the seven riders.
“Beyond doubt,” he insisted, “they followed the Horde.”
It seemed to Rupen and Shotha Kupri that the crusader had lied to them, because he had turned from the Trebizond road to go after the Mongols. A patrol left behind to watch the Georgians had picked him up by agreement or by chance. ”

“ Since the flight of the strategos feeling had been bitter against the Greeks.
“He came to us from the pagans,” Shotha Kupri declared, “and he bore himself boldly. He warned us of calamity, and it happened as he had said. It is clear that he is no spy, but a man who has seen more than one battle. He knows his own road. Let him go and come as he chooses.”
Now Hugh greeted them, and asked leave of the constable to go from Tphilis. ”

“ Choaspes, Strategos of Anatolia, to John Lord of Tphilis and high Constable of Georgia—greeting. This is a time of trouble, and they who are wise will not lack fortune at the end. Thy name hath been extolled by friends at the court of the Eternal Emperor. Favor will be shown the Keeper of the Gate. The girl Rusudan, last of the Lasha lineage, is more fitted for a camp of vagabonds than a throne. Under the care of the Eternal Emperor she will meet no harm. ”

“ If Rupen, who had been crippled by the crusader's ax, had no blame for the wanderer, they bore him no ill-will.
Rabban Simeon had been talking to the Armenian merchants, and it was rumored that the emperor of the Greeks had offered five thousand pieces of gold for the head of the Frank. ”

“ Meanwhile a strong hand is needed in the Khaukesh. Drive out the barbarians and thou wilt earn a reward greater than that given the conqueror of Mithridates, the Parthian.”
“In God's name,” cried the constable, “what means this?” ”