 The main source of tension in the story is between:
] This is a science-fiction story. History is a science; the other part is, as all Americans know, the most fictional field we have today. Ahead of him, in serried array, with lances erect and pennons flying, was the forward part of the column. Behind the Templars rode the mailed knights of Brittany and Anjou. These were followed by King Guy of Jerusalem and the host of Poitou. Further behind, the Knights Hospitallers protected the rear, guarding the column of the hosts of Christendom from harassment by the Bedouins. "They assail us from the rear, and they set up traps in our path ahead. It were foolhardy to attempt to seek them in their own hills, and yet they must stop us. He has reason to be bitter against Philip of France, as do we all. He has returned to France in haste, leaving the rest of us to fight the Saracen for the Holy Land leaving only the contingent of his vassal the Duke of Burgundy to remain with us." "Could we have permitted a quarrel to develop between the two finest knights and warleaders in Christendom at this crucial point? Like a wash of the tide from the sea came the sound of Saracen war cries and the clash of steel on steel mingled with the sounds of horses in agony and anger. They clashed with the Hospitallers, slamming in like a rain of heavy stones, too close in for the use of bows.
 Allegiance to authority and breaking from authority
 The English army and the French mercenaries  The religious factions from Christianity and Islam  Allegiance to authority and breaking from authority  An outward demeanor of strength and interior reality of fear and doubt