Jerusalem Royal Palace, central courtyard.
The old baron, having just hurried back to Jerusalem from Ibelin, came to the palace at once.
"Lord Godfrey, are you here to persuade me too?"
Godfrey gazed at Baldwin IV's youthful face and smiled as he shook his head. "Your Majesty, you are far more handsome than before."
Baldwin could not help touching his cheek. He had worn an iron mask ever since his face had begun to fester at the age of thirteen. If that had been his last "meeting" with Godfrey, then a full ten years had passed.
He laughed dumbly. "Ten years, Lord Godfrey. I have forgotten what I looked like back then."
Godfrey sighed softly. "Your Majesty, in my memories, you still look as you did ten years ago. I did not come to dissuade you this time. I merely wondered whether there might be some more legally justifiable means."
He had never entertained the thought of pushing the Ibelin family toward the throne. After all, Baldwin had only intended to bring Sibylla and Balian together after his health had recovered.
At that time, although Princess Sibylla's son, Little Baldwin, was still first in line to the throne, almost no one believed Sibylla could become Jerusalem's Regent Queen on that basis.
"What do you think?"
Godfrey frowned. "Why not marry Her Highness Sibylla to Lothar? Then, at least from a legal standpoint, it could still be justified."
"Lord Godfrey, you truly are..."
Baldwin laughed. "I understand your concerns, but Lord Godfrey, do you think law stands above the King, or does the King stand above law?"
Godfrey hesitated for a moment. "Your Majesty, the King naturally stands above law. But if a King turns everyone against him, then he is no longer a King."
"Lord Godfrey, power stands above the