The Cardinal carefully removed the lid then lifted the old glass cup from the golden cradle and held it to the light and he saw that Gaspard, in a moment of unwitting genius, had put an almost invisible layer of gold leaf around the cup so that the common glass was given a heavenly sheen of gold. The real Grail,“ he told his brother, is supposed to turn to gold when the wine of Christ's blood is added. This would pass for that.”
So you like it?'
The Cardinal reassembled the chalice. It is gorgeous,“ he said reverentially. It is a miracle.” He stared at it. He had not expected anything half as good as this. It was a wonder, so much so that for a brief instant he even forgot his ambitions for the papal throne. Perhaps, Charles“, there was awe in his voice now, perhaps it is the real Grail! Maybe the cup I bought was the true object. Perhaps God guided me to it!”
Does that mean,“ Charles said, unmoved by the cup's beauty, that I can kill Gaspard?”
And his woman,“ the Cardinal said without removing his gaze from the glorious thing. Do it, yes, do it. Then you will go south. To Herat, south of Toulouse.”
Berat?“ Charles had never heard of the place. The Cardinal smiled. The English archer has appeared. I knew he would! The wretched man has taken a small force to Castillon d'Arbizon, which I am told is close to Berat. He is a fruit ripe for the plucking, Charles, so I am sending Guy Vexille to deal with him and I want you, Charles, to be close to Guy Vexille.” You don't trust him?'
Of course I don't trust him. He pretends to be loyal, but he is not a man who is comfortable serving any master.“ The Cardinal lifted the cup again, gazed at it reverentially, then lay it back in the sawdust-filled box in which it had been brought to him. And you will take this with you.”
That!“ Charles looked appalled. What in Christ's name do I want with that?”
It is a heavy responsibility,“ the Cardinal said, handing his brother the box, but legend insists the Cathars possessed the Grail, so where else must it be discovered but close to the last strong hold of the heretics?”
Charles was confused. You want me to discover it?“ The Cardinal went to a prie-dieu and knelt there. The Holy Father is not a young man,” he said piously. In fact Clement was only fifty-six, just eight years older than the Cardinal, but even so Louis Bessieres was racked by the thought that Pope Clement might die and a new successor be appointed before he had a chance to make his claim with the Grail. We do not have the luxury of time and so I need the Grail.“ He paused. I need a Grail now! But if Vexille knows that Gaspard's cup exists then he will try to take it from you, so you must kill him when he has done his duty. His duty is to find his cousin, the English archer. So kill Vexille, then make that archer talk, Charles. Peel the skin from his flesh inch by inch, then salt him. He'll talk, and when he has told you every thing he knows about the Grail, kill him.”
But we have a Grail/ Charles said, hefting the box. There is a true one, Charles/ the Cardinal said patiently, and if it exists, and if the Englishman reveals where it is, then we shall not need the one you're holding, shall we? But if the Englishman is a dry well, then you will announce that he gave you that Grail. You will bring it to Paris, we shall sing a Te Deum, and in a year or two you and I shall have a new home in Avignon. And then, in due time, we shall move the papacy to Paris and the whole world shall marvel at us.'
Charles thought about his orders and considered them unnec essarily elaborate. Why not produce the Grail here?“ No one will believe me if I find it in Paris/ the Cardinal said, his eyes fixed on an ivory crucifix hanging on the wall. They will assume it is a product of my ambition. No, it must come from a far place and rumours of its discovery must run ahead of its coming so that folk kneel in the street to welcome it.” Charles understood that. So why not just kill Vexille now?“ Because he has the zeal to find the true Grail and if it exists, I want it. Men know his name is Vexille, and they know his family once possessed the Grail, so if he is involved in its discovery then it will be all the more convincing. And another reason? He's well born. He can lead men and it will take all his force to prise that Englishman from his lair. Do you think forty-seven knights and men-at-arms will follow you?” The Cardinal had raised Vexille's force from his tenants, the lords who ruled the lands bequeathed to the Church in hope that prayers would wipe away the sins of the men who granted the land. Those men would cost the Cardinal dear, for the lords would not pay rents for a year now. You and I are from the gutter, Charles/ the Cardinal said, and men-at arms would despise you/
There must be a hundred lords who would seek your Grail/ Charles suggested.
A thousand and a thousand men would/ the Cardinal agreed mildly, but once they possessed the Grail they would take it to their King and that fool would lose it to the English. Vexille, so far as he is any man's, is mine, but I know what he will do when he has the Grail. He will steal it. So you will kill him before he has a chance.'
He'll be a hard man to kill/ Charles worried.
Which is why I am sending you, Charles. You and your cut throat soldiers. Don't fail me/
That night Charles made a new receptacle for the fake Grail. It was a leather tube, of the sort crossbowmen used to carry their quarrels, and he packed the precious cup inside, padded the glass and gold with linen and sawdust, then sealed the tube's lid with wax.
And the next day Gaspard received his freedom. A knife slit his belly, then ripped upwards, so that he died slowly in a pool of blood. Yvette screamed so loudly that she was left voiceless, just gasping for breath, and showed no resistance as Charles cut the dress from her body. Ten minutes later, as a mark of gratitude for what he had just experienced, Charles Bessieres killed her quickly. Then the tower was locked.
And Charles Bessieres, the crossbowman's quiver safe at his side, led his hard men south.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, amen.“ Thomas said the words half aloud and crossed himself. Somehow the prayer did not seem sufficient and so he drew his sword, propped it up so the handle looked like a cross and dropped to one knee. He repeated the words in Latin. In nomine patris, et filii, et spiritus sancti, amen.” God spare me, he thought, and he tried to remember when he had last made confession.
Sir Guillaume was amused by his piety. I thought you said there were few of them?'
There are,“ Thomas said, standing and sheathing his sword. But it doesn't hurt to pray before a fight.”
Sir Guillaume made a very sketchy sign of the cross, then spat. If there's only a few,“ he said, we'll murder the bastards.” If, indeed, the bastards were still coming. Thomas wondered if the horsemen had turned back towards Astarac. Who they were he did not know, and whether they were enemies he could not tell. They had certainly not been approaching from Berat for that lay northwards and the riders were coming from the east, but he was certain of one reassuring fact. He outnumbered them. He and Sir Guillaume commanded twenty archers and forty-two men-at arms and Thomas had estimated the approaching horsemen at less than half those numbers. Many of Thomas's new men-at-arms were routiers who had joined Castillon d'Arbizon's garrison for the opportunity of plunder and they were pleased at the thought of a skirmish that could provide captured horses, weapons and armour, and even, perhaps, the prospect of prisoners to ransom. You're sure they weren't coredors?“ Sir Guillaume asked him. They weren't coredors,” Thomas said confidently. The men on the ridge top had been too well armed, too well armoured and too well mounted to be bandits. They were flying a banner/ he added, but I couldn't see it. It was hanging straight down.“ Routiers, perhaps?” Sir Guillaume suggested.
Thomas shook his head. He could not think why any band of routiers would be in this desolate place or why they would fly a banner. The men he had seen had looked like soldiers on a patrol and, before he had turned tail and galloped back to the village, he had clearly marked the lances bundled on packhorses. Routiers would not just have lances on their sumpter horses, but bundles of clothing and belongings. I think/ he suggested, that Berat sent men to Astarac after we were there. Maybe they thought we'd go back for a second bite?'
So they're enemies?'
Do we have any friends in these parts?“ Thomas asked. Sir Guillaume grinned. You think twenty?”
Maybe a few more/ Thomas said, but no more than thirty.“ Perhaps you didn't see them all?”
We'll find out, won't we?“ Thomas asked. If they come.” Crossbows?'
Didn't see any.'
Then let's hope they are coming here/ Sir Guillaume said wolfishly. He was as eager as any man to make money. He needed cash, and a lot of it, to bribe and fight and so regain his fief in Normandy. Maybe it's your cousin?' he suggested. Sweet Jesus/ Thomas said, I hadn't thought of that/ and he instinctively reached back and touched his yew bow because any mention of his cousin suggested evil. Then he felt a pulse of excite ment at the thought that it might truly be Guy Vexille who rode unsuspecting towards the fight.
If it is Vexille/ Sir Guillaume said, fingering the awful scar on his face, then he's mine to kill.'
I want him alive/ Thomas said. Alive.'
Best tell Robbie that/ Sir Guillaume said, because he's sworn to kill him too/ Robbie wanted that revenge for his brother. Maybe it isn't him/ Thomas said, but he wanted it to be his cousin, and he especially wanted it now for
