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understand, for the ?rst time, the true nature of the demon-bird he had fought at Turnberry Point.
"Sweet Jesus, and I've left Bruce all unguarded," he murmured, turning a sick gaze on Flannan and
Aubrey.
Flannan shook his head. "From what you've told me, you severed the link. You mebbe even killed
whoever sent the creature."
"But he may have associates," Aubrey pointed out. "And they may have other weapons."
"We can only do what we can do," Flannan said. "For now, we can make the rendezvous with Bruce as
quickly as possible. But ?rst, both of you should get some sleep."
Chapter Twenty-one
August-October, 1307
IN PARIS, THOUGH ARNAULT DE SAINT CLAIR KNEW ABOUT the gold sent to aid Bruce's
cause, he and the rest of le Cercle had been obliged to focus all of their energy of the past several months
pushing the boundaries of the Temple's intelligence network, in an effort to discover the true intentions of
king and pope-and attempting to minimize the consequences of the Grand Master's apparent blindness to
the signs that calamity was approaching.
De Molay had, indeed, convened a General Chapter late in July, as Flannan Fraser had reported. In
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addition to the general convent, attended by all members of the Order, the Grand Master had held
several private meetings with various of his senior of?cers. Oliver de Penne had been in attendance at
several of these, as part of the staff of Hugues de Paraud, the Visitor of the Order. He, in turn, had
relayed details of these meetings to le Cercle.
"The king apparently said nothing to indicate that anything is wrong, in that one meeting he had with de
Molay," Oliver said, "but the Holy Father got his information from somewhere-and who but God and the
king has the power to put fear into the heart of a pope? Apparently, Clement gave the Grand Master an
astonishing assortment of alleged `irregularities' within the Order, and asked if any of them were true."
Oliver had then proceeded to enumerate a catalog of supposed offenses, ranging from simple infractions
of the Rule to sodomy, blasphemy, and outright heresy.
"It's clear that the Grand Master doesn't understand the implications," Oliver said. "Since the question has
been raised, the Holy Father must investigate-and apparently, de Molay has welcomed the chance to
defend the Order. What worries me is that I've been getting whispers of rumors about charges being
drafted by the king-that this will become a civil matter. If it does, I'm not sure the pope can protect us."
Oliver's in?uence with Hugues de Paraud had been partially instrumental in persuading the Grand Master
to issue a directive reminding all brethren to be mindful of the section of their Rule that forbade discussion
of the Order's internal rites and disciplines with any outsider. De Molay had also ordered the burning of
certain written documents that, in the wrong hands, might have been used against the Order. Arnault's
young cousin Jauffre had been among those charged with collecting and disposing of said documents.
Meanwhile, le Cercle took measures to protect the Temple's more esoteric interests, though they were
hampered by the delays in establishing Robert Bruce in a secure Celtic monarchy. Gaspar des
Macquelines, in his capacity as an assistant treasurer of the Paris Temple, had begun late in the summer
to divert consignments of the Temple's wealth to safer havens-and since only le Cercle knew the true
extent of what the Temple held in the way of less conventional treasure, he was able to send many of
these out of the country.
By the end of September, he had persuaded certain senior of?cers to consider a more of?cial removal of
Templar treasure beyond the reach of the French crown, for it was believed that King Philip was
developing an active but thus far secret plan to appropriate the Temple's wealth in much the way that he
had seized the wealth of the Jews.
Meanwhile, le Cercle continued putting out its intelligence feelers, and prayed for a favorable turn in the
fortunes of Robert Bruce. For Arnault, the waiting grew more and more intolerable, for he longed to be
at Bruce's side. Yet he knew that, for now, le Cercle needed him where he was- and knew that, if
disaster came, he was obliged to ?ee Paris at once, abandoning his fellow knights-and ?y straightaway to
Bruce, in hopes that, in time, another change of fortune might make it possible, after all, to establish that
vital Fifth Temple in another land.
And the others would have their tasks as well. For hidden deep in the bowels of this physical Temple
was a carefully hoarded collection of mystical artifacts amassed by the long-ago founders of the Temple
and their spiritual successors, of diverse origins, that were bridges between the earthly and heavenly
Temples: precious hallows that the Inner Temple guarded, sacred to many faiths.
One of them, the High Priest's Breastplate, Arnault knew well-and was, in fact, more skilled than any
other in le Cercle at focusing its virtues in the service of the Light. There were others that he had never
actually seen-and one, most precious, by far-so sacred that its name was never spoken save in the matrix
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of a ritual of initiation, when oaths were sworn upon it. Sometimes, during those tight-wound days of late
summer, helpless to make any meaningful impact on what was brewing for the Order at large, Arnault
retreated to the secret chapel where it resided, known only to the Temple's inner order, to take comfort
from merely being in its presence.
That hallow was in Christoph's charge; and often Arnault found him there before him, kneeling in rapture
before the altar where it lay. The long, shallow box that housed it was clad in gold and studded with gems
along its edge; but what lay inside, behind a golden grille, was the true Treasure- the image of a face
imprinted on a yellowed cloth.
Arnault did not know whether it really was the sacred Shroud, folded to show the face of the cruci?ed
Christ; but Christoph believed that it was; and Arnault had no doubt that the ancient relic was imbued
with a powerful imprint of the Holy-so he was content to accept that it was what Christoph believed. If
the time came when it must be removed to safety, Christoph had asked for Jauffre to accompany
him-though Jauffre did not yet know this. Arnault feared for his young cousin, if that came to pass; but he
knew that Jauffre would not shrink from this charge, whatever the cost might be.
But as the days passed, and neither king nor pope made any move, Arnault began to hope that their fears
had been exaggerated. He kept calling in his sources of information, in conjunction with Oliver and
Gaspar and the others, and shared their frustration that no further details were forthcoming.
Early October brought with it the ?rst lessening of the summer's heat-and also the death of the king's
sister-in-law, who was married to Charles of Valois. The funerals of the highborn always occasioned
great interest in the capital, and never more than when the deceased was royal. The impending obsequies
of the Princess Catherine became an occasion for signi?cant preparations, focusing the attention of all the
court on the spectacle of the coming state funeral. The date selected was the twelfth of October.
As was traditional, the place appointed for her entombment was the Abbey of St. Denis, where the kings [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]