The mood was somber as King Zavie led the Aquitanian army back through his conquered Spanish lands. Entering Burgos he found the city half prepared for siege, since many had thought the Toledoan force that had captured Soria would press their attack on the other recently liberated Christian cities. Zavie’s signing of the peace treaty had avoided that calamity, but the sting of defeat still hung over him with significant weight. Even the announcement that the Pope had issued a bull declaring the Crusade a success did little to lift the disposition of the King.
Even now, Zavie thought, Christians and Moors battle. The other burden on the Aquitanian King’s conscience was his failure to assist his ally Brittany in their conflict with the Emir of Almeria. His vassals had waged a successful campaign against the Emir’s vassals to the north, netting the province of Urgell as a prize, but the war still raged to the south. Each side had made gains on the other but a stalemate had developed as more Breton (black) and Almerian (red) reinforcements arrived in theatre. Zavie earnestly prayed that Brittany would be able to hold on despite the lack of Aquitanian assistance.
The march continued through the late fall and early winter of 1111 with no events of note to mark the army’s slow movement. Peasants in their fields turned out to watch the force continue toward the port of Viscaya, some even cheered heartily in a tongue his scribes identified for him as Castillian. Looking out over the fields, groves and hills of the land, glancing at the faces of those that watched his army’s passage, King Zavie’s mind turned to wondering if the whole Crusade had been worth the undertaking. Were these common laborers, the meadows and cropland, the cities themselves worth the sacrifice Aquitania had laid down for them. Thousands of men would never see their homes again, families would be left destitute with no providers, land would lay fallow for want of men to plow it, children would starve. Some districts would stand as much more afflicted than others and be left in poverty, migration would kick in and people would be forced off the land they had settled generations ago. Zavie’s mind was afloat on a see of confusion, trying to comprehend how his choice to go on this Crusade would in turn effect every aspect of the Aquitania he ruled and loved.
The Aquitanians reached Viscaya in November of 1111. The city seemd little different than when Zavie first entered it a year before, it would seem daily life went on regardless of whether Christian or Muslim ruled. King Zavie received an update on the North African situation just as he was about to embark on a coastal barge back to his capital in Bordeaux. Genoa, after a five year war, had finally gotten the upper hand on the Hammadid forces in the region and forced a peace upon them. Three provinces, one Breton (black) and two Genoan (red) provinces now stood on the continent that had been lost to the forces of Islam centuries before. While Zavie was pleased at the progress, he knew that it would likely be only in centuries ahead that Christian power would be fully reconstructed in the region.
The King's return to Bordeaux was a generally muted affair. The army itself was still in transit and Zavie had sent word ahead that he did not wish for any festivities to be planned for his homecoming. His wife Rosa warmly greeted him as he entered the castle and proceeded to inform him of the running of the estate and shifts in local politics in his absence. Truthfully, Zavie considered his return to the company of Rosa as the highlight of the entire episode.
Zavie looked in on the playtime of his oldest son, three year old Guitard as he romped with other noble children in one of the side courtyards. He wasn't surprised when the child didn't recognize him as he moved to converse with the adult overseers. His child was energetic in play, they said, and had the begginings of a bright mind. Guitard's prize possession was a small pennon-kite his mother had purchased and that he let loose from the castle's battlements, asking his supervisors about how it accomplished flight. The King was encouraged by their report on his son's character and promised to visit the child more later.
Zavie also visited with his daughters Dolca and Azalais. The reunion went well and set the wheels of the King's mind in motion. Dolca had grown into a fair and conservative minded maid since he left for campaign he knew it was time for him to find her a husband. Rosa had already drawn up a list of possible matches that would be politically expedient. Zavie set down with his wife and a close group of advisors to discuss the issue later that week. At the top of the list was Karlz Kerne, brother of Marc Kerne King of Brittany. As a match, it was everything that Rosa considered beneficial. Dolca would be marrying into a prestigious royal family, their ages were the same, and it would solidify the alliance between Aquitania and the Breton Knigdom that had been recently tested by events in Spain. A white peace had broken the Almerian-Breton conflict and it was perhaps the perfect time to celebrate peace in both kingdom's by marriage. Zavie himself gave the approval to send a messenger to the Breton court.
Only a few short weeks later, Zavie was preparing to see his daughter off to Brittany's capital at Rennes for her marriage to Karlz. Marc, fresh from the battlefields of south Spain, had been very much in favor of the match, seeing significant benefits for his own Kingdom in closer relations with Aquitania. Loaded down with wedding gifts and her entourage, the coastal barge needed only its last item of cargo to depart. Dolca embraced her father at the foot of the docks, thanking him for her upraising and the match he had made for her. Zavie promised his own undying love for his daughter and barely kept a dry eye as his oldest child left on a voyage that would likely take her away from him for years at the least and quite possibly forver.
Dolca's marriage brought advantages at home to the King as well. The major nobles of the Kingdom all sent gifts for the bride's father in celebration of the event, ranging from masterfully worked furniture to rare and unique books. Zavie thanked each for their generosity, but quietly informed the castle steward to convert the various presents into disposable income to alleviate the King's finances. This was done quickly enough for Zavie to save several of his tax producing holdings from sale or complete disrepair.
With his daughter married well, King Zavie turned to other domestic issues. His wife reported that several of her informants at court had overheared complaints from minor nobles over the King's choice of keeping nearly all of the lands he had conquered as personal fiefs. Surely, they were said to mutter, there had been enough heroes in the campaign to justify granting them title over some of the territory. His wife recommended picking one of the courtmembers to rule over one of the conquered provinces. Zavie himself, still bitter over the entire affair and eager to maintain his reputation as a fair ruler, decided to grant all of the new Aquitanian lands to members of the former ruling families in the region. They would still be nominally his vassals, but the former elites of the land would return. Rosa and the majority of the advisors spoke out against the drastic action, but Zavie would brook no argument on the issue. The King called for scribes to draw up the needed documents and to contact the Spanish refugees.
Isabel de Barcelona, a refugee from that dynasty's last stand on Minorca, was granted the title to Urgell. As her title was announced, she broke down in tears and pledged her bloodline's unwavering commitment to the Aquitanian throne.
Always eager to reward devoted service, Zavie also granted his Marshal a title to the province of Viscaya. Emmanuel de Caumont was so shocked at the announcement that his sixty year old legs nearly collapsed as he made his way to the throne, thanking the King profusely.
Urraca Jiminez was granted title over the Crusade's target of Burgos, her family's former capital. This was perhaps the least surprising of all Zavie's appointments, since the Jimenez dynasty in exile had been pressuring for such a move ever since that city's liberation. Still, Urraca swore fealty to the Aquitanian King and promised to never forget the personal kindness of the monarch.
Months passed and life settled to a calm across the land of Aquitania and the court of its King. Zavie was enjoying the company of his wife, the pleasure of watching his son grow and eagerly overseeing the maintainance of prosperity across his domain. His days were long, but no crises threathened to overthrow his happiness. Taxes flowed to the court at Bordeaux in amounts never dreamed of by even the most optimistic stewards. The seasons turned, snows gave way to spring blossoms. Zavie considered the future. He was no longer the young, energetic and ambitious man that had ruled a mere duchy in service to the French Capets. In the past five years, he had broken from their rule, watched vigilantly for threats to his new kingdom, experienced both the heights of victory and the pains of defeat in his grand Iberian campaign. He now ruled a powerful, rich and expanding kingdom, his succession was secure, he was married to a woman he loved and peace was the rule of the times.
The Emirate of Badajoz attacked Burgos in April of 1112