(Author
My bad if The order of chapters are not correct now moving forward I will make sure the chapters are in their correct order)
Enjoy chapter 5
Jerusalem rose from the desert like a miracle carved in stone.
Sunlight glinted off the white walls, the towers standing proud against the endless sky. To Roland, riding in through the Lion Gate beside Lucien and Sir Aldred, it felt unreal. He had seen pictures once — in textbooks, documentaries — but nothing compared to standing here, breathing the dust and incense of a city alive with faith and fear.
People pressed along the streets as the knights entered. Merchants in bright robes. Pilgrims whispering prayers in a dozen languages. Beggars. Priests. Children running barefoot on the stone roads.
Roland watched everything — the layout of the streets, the water sources, the guard positions.
Everything here is fragile, he realized.
Too few soldiers. Too many mouths. Supply lines stretched thin, walls in need of repair.
The kingdom looked powerful on maps…
…but on the ground, it was a miracle it still stood.
Lucien nudged him. "First time in the Holy City?"
Roland nodded. "First time."
"Then keep your head down," Lucien said with a grin. "Kings and priests walk these halls. Better men than us have lost their heads here."
The Court of Jerusalem
The royal palace wasn't grand like Roland imagined — no marble columns or gold-plated halls. It was practical, solid, built for war more than luxury. That alone told Roland the kingdom was stretched thin.
Inside, the High Council gathered around a long oak table. Nobles, generals, bishops — each eyeing Roland with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
Sir Aldred introduced him.
"This is Sir Roland of Acre. The mind behind the victory at the gully."
A ripple of murmurs passed through the room.
One man, thin and sharp like a hawk, leaned forward. "You used the terrain to break a cavalry charge?"
"Yes, my lord."
"You weren't commanding. How did you know to do that?"
Roland met his gaze steadily. "Because the land always tells you where battles are won or lost. Men just don't listen."
A few nobles frowned. But a few others — especially the younger ones — nodded with interest.
The bishop from the camp stepped forward. "Jerusalem needs men who can see the unseen," he said. "Our enemies grow stronger. We must grow stronger as well."
Roland bowed his head, hiding a smile.
Good. Let them think they found a miracle. Miracles are easier to follow than men.
Seeds of Change
After the council, Roland was given quarters in a stone tower overlooking the city. From the balcony, he watched Jerusalem glitter in the fading light.
Lucien joined him, leaning on the railing. "You impressed them. Some fear you, some admire you… but all of them noticed you."
"That's the first step," Roland said.
"First step to what?"
Roland didn't answer immediately. His eyes traced the rooftops, the market streets, the walls that held the kingdom together.
"In my world," he said slowly, "cities didn't fall because of swords. They fell because of hunger. Disease. Weak leadership."
Lucien frowned. "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying Jerusalem has potential," Roland replied. "But it's a candle in a storm. If no one strengthens it… Saladin will blow it out."
Lucien stared at him. "You speak like a man planning something."
"I am," Roland said. "But not alone."
And for the first time, he looked at Lucien not just as a friend — but as the first of many pieces he would need to reshape the kingdom.
Quiet Changes
In the days that followed, Roland walked the city with purpose.
He visited the barracks — counted armor sets, weapon quality, food stores.
He walked the walls — noted weak spots, blind angles, cracks in stone.
He met merchants — learning which goods were scarce, which caravans were late, which trade routes were failing.
He didn't change anything yet.
Not openly.
But he listened.
He learned.
He planned.
And slowly, quietly, people began to talk.
The mysterious knight who understood logistics better than most generals.
The man who treated commoners and nobles with equal respect.
The knight who walked the city like he already belonged to it.
Rumors grew.
Respect grew.
Influence, the kind that mattered, grew as well.
The Kingdom of Jerusalem did not yet change — but it shifted, almost imperceptibly, as Roland's presence threaded itself through its streets and halls.
That night, as the city slept under a sky of desert stars, Roland wrote a single sentence onto a scrap of parchment:
"A kingdom is built one stone at a time. Tomorrow, I place the next one."