'That's easily enough accomplished,' Hunter said. 'Take my gun and shoot the bastard.''
'No. With such an awesome weapon, his death would be too swift and I could take no pleasure in it. He dies by my sword, gazing at my face.'
'Well, I won't try to talk you out of it,' said Hunter. 'Revenge is something I can understand. However, do you see that your being abroad now constitutes a risk, and that if you remain here after you have avenged your brother, they will surely find you? I assure you, you would be defenseless against them.'
'Once I have avenged Marcel, if you are still willling, I will seek you out and gratefully accept your offer of escape, since I wish to survive and I am most curious to learn of these strange and wonderful things you speak of. Perhaps it will prove the end of me, but I have never been one to turn back from a challenge. I will go with you, but we go as comrades in arms and nothing more, else I do not go.'
'Understood.'
'Then I must leave you now to seek out Bois-Guilbert.'
'If you will allow me-'
'This is a thing which I must do myself,' she said.
'And so you shall. But there is no reason not to take precautions. There is still time in which we can be safe here. Let me seek out Bois-Guilbert. I have greater mobility than you and can do so quickly. Then, once I've found him, I'll take you to him. Past that, I promise not to interfere. Is it agreed?'
'Agreed.'
15
'I've found him,' Hunter said.
'What, so quickly?' Andre shook her head in wonder. 'And this is not sorcery, you say. You vanish before my very eyes and then appear again as if by magic, and yet it is not magic. I wish that I could accept this.'
'You will,' said Hunter. 'It won't take a bargain with the devil, either. There's a way to gain a lot of knowledge very quickly. There are others like me, in other times and other places. We speak in many different languages, yet we understand each other. We are a strong society.' He grinned. 'There's such a thing as an implant that can't be traced. You don't know what that is yet, but it will enable you to learn and understand. Meanwhile, there still remains the matter of your revenge.'
'Where is Bois-Guilbert? Take me to him!'
'It's not as simple as that,' said Hunter. 'I found him for you. But he won't be easy to get at. He's very well protected. He fled to Templestowe with Rebecca of York as a hostage.'
'The Jewess?'
Hunter nodded. 'No doubt, he wanted to set up light housekeeping at the Templars' residence. The only problem is, there's a shake up in the works.'
'A… shake up?'
'I beg your pardon. A series of radical reforms. Albert Beaumanoir, Grand Master of the Order of the Knights Templars, has arrived at Templestowe with the intent of showing his warrior priests the error of their ways. Consequently, it would look bad for Bois-Guilbert to co-habit with a woman at this time, and a Jew no less.'
'So he is in disfavor with his superiors,' said Andre. 'How can this work against me?'
'Well, he would have been in trouble with the Grand Master if it wasn't for the fact that friends interceded for him. They convinced Beaumanoir that Sir Brian's been ensorcelled by Rebecca and the poor woman was made to stand trial for witchcraft. Naturally, they convicted her.'
'The countryside teems with sorcerers these days,' said Andre wryly.
'That poor girl has been made a victim, by Bois-Guilbert and now by Beaumanoir. She's to be burned at the stake. But she has appealed for trial by combat. Bois-Guilbert's advice, no doubt. She'd never have thought of it on her own.'
'It is good advice,' said Andre. 'If Bois-Guilbert appears in the lists as her champion, the matter will be decided by the will of God. Should Bois-Guilbert win, and there are few who could defeat him, then he could not have been ensorcelled, since God would have granted him the victory. Rebecca will be cleared of the charge of witchcraft and Sir Brian will be free to find another way to keep her. A sound plan.'
'Only the plan has a hitch,' said Hunter. 'It seems that the Grand Master has selected Bois-Guilbert to champion the Temple. I guess they don't mind if an ensorcelled knight represents them.'
Andre smiled. 'Sir Brian has been neatly outflanked. If he loses, he forfeits his life and the charge is proven true. If he wins, as he must strive to do, since he will not want to give up life and breath for a lowly Jewess, then God will have overpowered the enchantment. Rebecca will die and Bois-Guilbert will have to go into retreat for purification. If he chooses not to enter the lists, then he is disgraced. He will lose his rank and armor and his dreams of leading the Knights Templars will come to nought. And if no champion appears to defend Rebecca, she dies at the stake.'
'Isaac of York is desperately trying to find a champion to represent his daughter,' Hunter said.
'There are few who would undertake such a cause, even for money,' Andre said. 'Brian's prowess is well known. Yet she will have a champion. I will appear for her.'
'I was expecting you to say that,' Hunter said. 'But I just want you to be aware of the risk involved.'
'There is no risk,' said Andre. 'With this armor made by those master artisans you spoke of, Brian will stand no chance against me. It will all go as before, when he should have died beneath my blade.'
'Yes, well, that's precisely why it's risky,' Hunter said. 'The nysteel will protect you, but it won't make you completely invulnerable. You'll have to get it over with quickly. If you and Bois-Guilbert spend any time slamming away at each other, they're bound to notice that the combat is affecting his armor and not yours. Remember, they'll be primed for a witch burning. If you are seen to take his strongest blows with barely any visible damage to your armor, they just might decide that one witch has summoned another to defend her. And you can be brought down if they attack you in sufficient numbers.'
'It is a risk that I will have to take,' said Andre.
'I figured that you'd say that, too. So here, take this, then.'
He handed her a PRU.
'The wizard's charm?'
'Call it a charm, if you like,' said Hunter. 'I control it now. Keep it as my favor when you fight with Bois- Guilbert.'
'I will keep it.'
'Just don't lose it.'
'I do not accept a favor lightly,' Andre said stiffly. 'I will not lose it and I will try to do it honor.'
Hunter smiled. 'That's all I ask.'
A great crowd had gathered at Templestowe to witness the witchburning and, with any luck, a lethal passage at arms, as well. A little sport before the roasting would be a welcome diversion, but no one truly expected it. All they had to do was look at Isaac to see that the man held out no hope at all for the deliverance of his daughter.
Isaac had offered up everything he owned in an effort to recruit a champion to represent his daughter, but there had been no takers. A fortune would be of little use if one did not live to spend it, and Bois-Guilbert was held in high esteem by those who had tilted at him in the lists and lived to tell the tale.
Only two knights were known to have bested him, Ivanhoe and Coeur de Lion, himself. Perhaps it was a lot of money, but to die fighting for a Jewess? Surely, it would be best to offer up one's life in a more fitting cause and one whose outcome was in some greater doubt.
Isaac wandered among the rapidly filling galleries, shredding his clothes and wailing. He called on God to visit whatever sins he had committed upon himself, rather than on his innocent daughter. There was absolutely nothing he could do except pray and he did not honestly expect his prayers to be answered.
A fanfare sounded and the gates of the preceptory were thrown open to the procession, which came forth beneath Le Beau-seant, the black and white standard of the Knights Templars. Bois-Guilbert rode just behind the
