The Book of the Lion Chapter 16 Summary

  • The crew gets impatient, and feels that they are too late to participate in the Crusades. Hubert convinces Edmund that they will be able to fight—the war won't end before King Richard arrives. No way, no how.
  • The crew switches ships, moving from the Saint Agnes to an official Crusade ship. Before they can board, though, they have to be examined by a doctor. The examination crew makes jokes about Edmund's good looks, though they go right over his head.
  • Edmund is not a fan of Venice. After traveling by sea so much, the last thing he wants is a city built over the water.
  • Edmund wanders through Venice, fascinated by all of the wine, women, and gambling. He and Hubert decide to have their own fun so they buy a couple of wine skins and wander around.
  • Hubert finds a little dog that's been trained to walk on its hind legs. Fighting and roughhousing ensues after Hubert tries to make off with the dog, and eventually the two drunk boys are thrown into the canal, pulled back out, and given more wine.
  • Edmund sobers up enough to realize that they're in trouble and he is about to be attacked. He jumps on the dark cloaked figure, and when he sees the fear in the man's eyes he realizes how easy it would be to kill him.