Maryam was pacing now. She looked at the Grail. “Then when you survived the attack and nursed me back to health, I heard it in the underbrush as the Saracens searched for us. But I had no idea it was this holy object. All this time I thought it was you.”
“Maybe it is him,” Celia spoke up.
“What? What do you mean? What’s so special about an orphaned squire to a Templar Knight?” Robard asked, clearly not believing or understanding anything we were saying.
“What is so special about a squire, you ask? Wasn’t a simple carpenter from Nazareth chosen by your God for greatness? And wasn’t a common merchant chosen by God to lead Maryam’s people? Look at who was given this duty: someone who is kind and good and loyal, and puts the lives of others above his own. Why Tristan? Why
I felt the heat rise to my face. Try as I might, I could not keep my chest from swelling. The sounds of the world stopped and everything was quiet. Maryam and Robard and even Angel melted away, and for a moment it was only the two of us. She thought this of me? Would I ever be able to live up to her?
“I heard the same sound Maryam describes as we rode along the beach,” she went on. “When I asked Tristan if he’d heard it as well, he changed the subject. He knew what I was talking about-I could see it in his eyes. He didn’t want to tell me, and now I understand why. I think it was the Grail leading me to him. We Cathars do not believe the way your church does, Tristan. We do not believe in things like divinity or saints or miracles. And yet I heard this sound. And so did Maryam. So I must pray for understanding, because it seems clear you are carrying a miracle.”
“What? I’m not much for church, God knows, but even I know blasphemy when I hear it! God would never allow something so sacred to be used in such a frivolous manner,” Robard said. “Assuming this is the Holy Grail, which it’s not! I’ve been with Tristan the whole time and I haven’t heard anything. Nothing at all! I don’t believe there even
“There is.” I shrugged. There was no way to easily convince Robard. “This is it.”
“So what do we do now?” Maryam asked.
“I have to do my duty. Sir Thomas ordered me to get to Scotland and make sure it is safe,” I said.
“I understand,” said Celia. “And I would go with you if I could. But I have a responsibility to my people.”
“Yes, I know,” I said, surprised at how much the news disappointed me. I knew she couldn’t go, but still wanted her to. What was wrong with me?
“I’m with you,” Maryam said. “I will do all I can to help you finish this. I will help you keep the prophet’s cup safe.”
I smiled my thanks at her and looked at Robard.
“What?” he asked, surprised. “Did I not tell you earlier I was in this to the end? Nothing has changed. I still don’t believe it. But I knew you just weren’t carrying papers. I thought maybe you’d stolen something, like gold, and was going to tell you to just give it back, whatever it was. Then we met Sir Hugh, and I realized that whatever you had of his, he probably didn’t deserve it anyway. But I didn’t think you thought you were carrying a priceless relic. I still don’t. It looks like a vase to me!”
Despite myself I couldn’t help laughing, and for the briefest instant I wondered what I had ever done to deserve friends like these. I was no longer angry with Sir Thomas for the burden he’d given me, for without it I would never have met these three. That could not be measured.
“There is something else I need to tell you,” I said.
Robard looked at Maryam. “You realize he’s probably going to tell us his tunic is made from the Virgin Mother’s veil or something.”
“Robard!” Maryam said, shocked at his blasphemy.
“What?” He threw up his arms and shrugged, feigning innoceNce.
“That’s not it. I carry only one relic. As far as I know. The way my luck is going, Sir Thomas’ battle sword could belong to King Arthur. But there is something else you should know.” And I told them all about my encounters with King Richard and his guards. Every detail. I wanted to cleanse my soul of all my secrets, and once I got going, I couldn’t stop.
Robard pursed his lips. “If I didn’t know better”-he stopped and walked to the window and spat-“I would think the Lionheart wants you dead.”
“I know,” I said.
“But why?” Maryam nearly shouted. “What interest could he possibly have in you?”
I shrugged, for I had no answer. “I just wanted you all to know everything. Before our next step. If you want out, I understand.”
Robard and Maryam didn’t hesitate. “We’re in,” he said. “I don’t expect to have to have this conversation again.” He clapped me on the shoulder. Maryam and Celia smiled.
Angel gave a happy yip, which a moment later became a low growl. Stopping to listen, we heard the rising shouts of alarm and general commotion coming from outside. Just then Jean-Luc knocked at the doorway and threw the door open. He spoke quickly to Celia, then rushed away.
“What is the matter?” I asked.
“Your friend Sir Hugh has returned,” she said, “with more men this time. His leaving was a ruse. We are under attack!”
22
We ran out of the keep and across the bailey. Jean-Luc had moved quickly to man the forward battlement. Other villagers were running about, bringing their pitchforks and swords forward, determined to drive back Sir Hugh and his invading hordes.
“Start the fires!” I yelled. My siege engines still stood at the ready. I hoped we would have enough earthen jugs and time to use them before Sir Hugh’s men could get a foothold on the walls.
“Tristan,” Robard yelled as we ran toward the battlements, “I don’t have enough arrows to even slow them down. You had better come up with something quick.”
“Can you shoot a crossbow?” I asked.
“Of course I can shoot a crossbow, but why would I want to?” he scoffed.
“Because it’s all we have at the moment. Save what arrows you have for when they are really needed.”
Robard nodded and cut toward the armory. Maryam and Celia were rallying the villagers along the northwest wall. Several of the village elders, with Angel’s assistance, were herding the children back into the keep. They would be safe there.
While they stoked the fires, I raced up the ladder to the forward battlement to survey the field. I was shocked by what lay before me. A quick count of regimento flags told me there were more than six hundred Templars on the field before us. Even with the loss of the High Counsel’s men, wherever they had gone, Sir Hugh had still gained numbers. For a moment, I was glad to at least be rid of Father Renard, though the way my luck went I was sure I would encounter him again somewhere. Sir Hugh was more than enough to deal with at the moment. If he had managed to gather more Templars from nearby commanderies, would more be arriving? And how soon?
It was almost dark but still light enough to see the lines forming. Several small groups had already raced forward to the walls and were making a halfhearted attempt to use scaling ladders, but they were paying a dreadful price as Jean-Luc’s crossbowmen cut through them.
At first I was confused by their tactics. Why were they not more deliberate in trying to overcome us on the battlements? I could not see Sir Hugh on the field in the gathering darkness, but something wasn’t right here. The Templars at the walls shouted now and then, and a few of them even chucked a few rocks at the crossbowmen, ducking behind shields when the bowmen answered with a shot, but their surge was unorganized and lacked intensity.
Then Sir Hugh’s plan was revealed and my mouth fell open to my chest.
From out of the tree line, pulled by several teams of horses and dozens of men, came a giant battering ram. It moved on four huge wooden wheels supported by a triangular base. From the framework hung a log, carved by ax to a sharp point, covered with an iron casing. It would be rolled up to the gate and then several teams of men
