“It did belong to my father. And his father before him. But I don’t intend to miss.”
“I’ve always wanted my own bow,” Maryam said mischievously.
Robard pulled an arrow from the wallet at his back. He looked at it, sighting along its length to make sure it was straight and true.
“Tristan, what do you think, will she recognize my arrow?” he asked. I shrugged and stared up at the castle again, thinking hard. What would Celia think? If I sent her some type of message, would she know it was from me? Or would she expect a trick? Then I decided. If we could get close enough to the walls without being captured by the High Counsel, maybe she would be able to hear or recognize us. It was not a perfect plan, but it would have to do. The rest depended on Robard.
With a sigh, I removed Sir Thomas’Templar ring from my satchel. Robard nodded, and slid the ring over the point of the arrow along the shaft until it reached the feathers. I found a loose black thread on the edge of Maryam’s tunic and pulled it from the cloth, and with it Robard wrapped the ring tightly to the arrow. He tested the weight and balance of the arrow in his hand until he was satisfied.
“I’m going to move out of the trees. I want to get a feel for the wind. Let’s just hope no one spots me.”
Robard trotted forward, bent at the waist. Within a few yards he had cleared the forest. He moved stealthily along, keeping his eyes on the fortress. There were no shouts of warning from the woods or calls of alarm. So far, so good.
A Templar ring, an English arrow and a thread from an Assassin’s tunic. I offered up a silent prayer, begging God to guide the arrow. For good measure, I rubbed the satchel on the spot where the Grail lay in its secret compartment. I strained to hear the humming sound I’d heard before whenever I needed a miracle. If ever I needed one, it was now. But the Grail remained silent.
First, Robard needed to make the shot. Then someone needed to find the arrow and take it to Celia. Then she would need to discern its meaning. I had to trust she would know what to do when the time was right. That was the plan. Flimsy, with a great deal of luck needed for it to even have the remotest chance of working. But it was all I had.
Robard found a spot that suited him and squatted behind a large boulder, still intently studying the fortress above. He reached down and grasped a small handful of dirt, tossing it in the air, watching to see how the breeze moved it.
He waited, thirty yards away from us, and I silently bade him to hurry. We could be seen at any time. Finally, he stood and tested the pull of the bow a few times. Then he took his stance, feet slightly more than shoulder width apart, left arm straight and still, with the guard of the bow clutched firmly in his left hand. His right hand held the nock of the arrow gently between his fingers, and then he pulled back and I heard the familiar creak of wood and sinew.
“Maryam, no offense, but I hope you lose your bet,” I murmured to her quietly.
And we watched in silent wonder as the arrow moved upward toward the heavens, flying at first as if it would not stop until it hit the sun. Then it arched over ever so gently and began its return to earth. I worried the arrow might hit someone inside the fortress and hurt, or even kill them. But then I thought the odds of a single random arrow finding flesh inside a mountain fortress were slim.
So I prayed harder and held my breath as the arrow picked up speed on its downward descent.
And it vanished behind the walls of Montsegur.
15
Robard threw his arms up in the air and Maryam brought her hands together in a silent clap. I stood awestruck. Robard ducked down and trot ted back to us.
“Ha ha!” he said exuberantly when he reached us. “I knew I could make it!”
“Magnificent, Robard, truly a fantastic shot,” I said.
We both looked at Maryam, and I expected to see glumness or chagrin on her face, but there was none. In fact she was smiling ear to ear. She made a quick and fluid movement of her arms, and her daggers materialized in her hands.
“Well done, archer. I did not believe you had it in you!” She flipped the daggers in the air, taking each by the blade, and held them out to Robard hilt first. “A wager is a wager. Your choice.”
Robard looked at her and smiled. He unstrung his bow, rested the stave on the ground and leaned against it, studying her intently.
“I’m going to need a while to choose. For the time being, you keep them. When I’ve decided which one I want, I’ll let you know. Fair enough?” He looked at her with his head tilted at a jaunty angle.
“As you wish,” Maryam said. She spun them in the air again, and they vanished within the folds of her sleeves.
Robard’s success gave me a sense of hope. Maybe we could make this work after all.
“What now?” asked Robard.
“I think it’s best to wait until dark to attempt the next phase of the plan,” I said. “We’ll have a better chance of moving about undetected.”
Maryam and Robard agreed, and we crept deeper into the woods. We found a dense copse of evergreens where we secreted ourselves. Robard offered to keep the first watch while the rest of us napped. Before we closed our eyes, we shared the remaining bit of food we had left. Ideally we would be inside the castle before it was time for our next meal.
The mountain air was much cooler now. I pulled my tunic tight up around my neck and leaned back against a tree. Before I knew it, Robard was shaking me awake. Darkness had fallen.
I looked up at Robard, confused and still in the twilight of sleep. It had been near dusk when I lay down. He had let me doze much longer than I had intended.
“I thought you needed the rest. Might help you come up with better plans,” he said, smiling.
Apparently Robard considered himself a court jester. Still, I was grateful.
“Have you seen anything?” I asked.
“A group of riders came by about two hours ago, but since then, nothing. There is firelight through those trees though. No more than half a league from here, at the base of the trail leading to the southwest wall of the fortress. It’s where I’d station my men if I were him.”
“We better wake Maryam and get started,” I said.
“Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? It’s not too late.”
“No. . I made a promise. It wouldn’t be right if I didn’t try to help. Sir Thomas always taught me that a Templar keeps his word. The order is sworn to protect the weak.”
“I wouldn’t exactly call Celia weak, and I’m curious as to what you think you can do from inside that the people already there can’t. Think this through, squire. If you go any farther, if you get inside, you are committed. If you show yourself to the High Counsel now, your deception is revealed. Just be sure.”
Robard was right. I would add to my ever growing list of enemies: Sir Hugh, the King’s Guards and King Richard, and, if I helped Celia, the High Counsel. And if he truly was the High Counsel to an archbishop, then he was highly connected to the church and would make a powerful foe. And it also meant he probably knew all the local regimentos of the Templars. He could probably send Sir Hugh straight to me if he so desired.
And there was another thing. Something I hadn’t mentioned to either Maryam or Robard. I feared Sir Hugh was closing in on us. There was nothing to base my fear on other than a tickle along the back of my neck. But there were times when I thought that at any moment I would turn my head and he would appear. I was sure of it.
“Let’s go,” I said.
Robard roused Maryam, and we moved slowly toward the enemy campfire. It was pitch black out with no moon, and the going was slow. The terrain was steep and rough, and more than once we stumbled over the uneven ground and tree roots that fought for purchase in the rocky soil.
It took us the better part of an hour to draw close enough to the fire to get a sense of what we were facing. Their camp was pitched just inside the tree line. The fire was large and sat in a small clearing. We crept closer until we could see the outlines of several men seated and
standing about it. I counted twenty, which was about half of the original force. There was no sign of their horses, so they must have had them picketed beyond the fire. We would need to circle around.
We pulled back deeper into the woods and considered our options.
“Where do you suppose the rest of the men are?” Maryam wondered.
“Probably gone with the High Counsel to gather reinforcements,” I said. “These few remain here to keep anyone from leaving or entering the castle, until more troops arrive.”
We crept back into the trees and circled, always keeping the fire to our left.
“They aren’t going to expect anyone, so I’m betting they have a single guard on the horses,” Robard whispered.
This turned out to be true. When our eyes readjusted to the darkness, we saw the dim shapes of the horses tethered to a length of rope running between several trees on the far side of their camp. It was a good fifty yards from the fire, so I hoped we could make it away silently.
“How are we going to get rid of the guard?” Robard asked.
“I haven’t thought that far ahead yet,” I replied. “Give me a minute.”
Maryam sighed dramatically, dropping her head, and muttered under her breath, “Only by the grace of Allah have we made it this far.” This stung, true as it might be.
“Wait here,” she said, and she melted into the night.
“Maryam, hold on!” I whispered. But she was gone.
It was so dark that I could barely see Robard, though he stood only inches away.
“Some girl,” he said quietly.
“She is indeed.”
We waited in silence, having no idea what to do or if we even had a role in Maryam’s plan.
Then very faintly I heard the guard speak.
“Louis? C’est toi?” Louis, is that you?
Next came a clunking sound and a groan, followed by the snorts of nervous horses, pawing away. Then in the dim light there was Maryam, frantically untying the animals one by one and turning them loose. I held my breath until she reached the last three in line.
“Come on,” I whispered to Robard.
We picked our way through the darkness until we reached the horses.
“Quickly,” I said.
We each mounted up. Luckily the High Counsel’s knights had not unsaddled.
We guided the horses through the woods and, using the distant fire, tried to steer them through the trees until we could reach the trail. Unfortunately the underbrush grew thickly in this area and in order to reach the castle we would need to pass very near the fire. I found it hard to believe we would escape unseen, and indeed, an instant later, someone saw us trying to quietly pick our way through the darkened forest.
“Arretez! Arretez!” he shouted.
The fire became a clamor of chaos as the soldiers began to shout and jump to their feet, scrambling for their weapons.
“Let’s go!” I shouted and kicked at the sides of the horse. The horse bounded forward and Maryam and Robard spurred along right behind. Angel barked, but I concentrated on holding the reins. Bending low in the saddle, I trusted the horse to pick its way through the trees and not run me into a low-hanging branch.
We moved through the very edge of the clearing, and one of the men had wits enough to draw his sword and charge at me. I held tightly to the reins with my left hand and drew the short sword with my right. But, almost comically, Angel charged at the man, barking ferociously, and ran in and around his feet until the man tripped and fell to the ground. A few yards past the clearing, we burst onto the trail and began the steep climb toward the fortress.
I hoped the confusion of the lost horses would give us enough advantage to gain the castle gate before they could catch us.
“Hurry!” I yelled behind me.
We gave free rein to the horses, and once clear of the woods they galloped along the trail. They were used to the rocky terrain and slowed only a little.
We were nearly halfway there when I heard shouts and the approaching hoofbeats of the High Counsel’s men. I looked back to find those on foot carrying torches, but it sounded as if a few had managed to find their mounts in the darkness.
Each of us hollered for our horses to go faster, and I grasped the reins as tightly as I could, praying the sprint over the rough ground wouldn’t send one of us crashing to our deaths. Ahead I could see a few torches flickering on the battlements of Montsegur, as the noise must have attracted the evening guard. I prayed again, hoping Celia had found Robard’s arrow and would know what to do.
The wind was stronger out here in the open, and the horse’s mane whipped against my face. The gate was only a short distance now. I glanced behind me. It was too dark to see Robard and Maryam, but I heard them shouting encouragement to their steeds. Angel barked as she raced to keep up with us.
With my reins I whipped the horse’s flanks, urging him to go faster. More torches lit up the battlements now, and the outline of Montsegur was visible in the darkened gloom of the night.
A few seconds later, we were at the castle gate. “Ouvrez la porte!” I shouted. Open the door!
“Celia, if you can hear me! It’s Tristan! We are here to help, but please open the gate!”
Looking up, I could see torches bobbing to and fro and men shouting, but could not make out what they were saying. We turned our mounts to face the oncoming rush. The men carrying torches were closer now. I was not worried about them because they still had much ground to cover, but the mounted soldiers would arrive at any moment, even though I couldn’t yet see them. I strained to hear, but the roar of the wind drowned out their approach.
Robard dismounted, and in the flickering torchlight I could see he had nocked an arrow in his bow. Maryam joined him on the ground, her daggers glinting in the torchlight from the walls.
“Tristan! You had better do something quickly!” Robard shouted as he scanned the trail for targets.
“Celia! Jean-Luc! Ouvrez la porte!” I shouted again.
I steered my horse right to the gate and pounded on the thick wooden door with the hilt of my sword.
“Help! We are friends!” I shouted in both English and French.
“Tristan! They’re almost here!” Maryam shouted.
Over the noise of the wind and the shouts all around us, I heard the thundering hoofbeats. We were trapped.
Robard loosed an arrow in the darkness and I heard a scream. I dismounted. We would have to make our last stand here at the gates of Montsegur.
Robard shot again but missed, and the sound of the horses drew still nearer. I clutched the satchel with my free hand, wishing I had taken Robard’s advice and headed home instead of standing where I was now, on a rocky mountaintop about to be run down by my enemies. Then, though it was difficult to hear in all the noise and confusion, the satchel vibrated slightly against my hand, and the musical hum of the Grail reached my ears. I breathed a sigh of relief, but not wishing to tempt fate, hollered again as loudly as I could for someone to please open the door.
Robard, as he was wont, shouted curses at the oncoming soldiers.
“Come and get it, you Frank swine! I’ll send you all to the bloody devil!” he shouted over the sound of the approaching riders. I was reasonably sure not one of them understood a word he said.
The wind picked up, but the sound of the breeze couldn’t hide the fact that the horsemen were nearly upon us. Robard kept shooting, and even Maryam joined in, shouting out at them in Arabic. How brave they were. Friends I didn’t deserve, I thought, chiding myself for bringing them to this place, leading them to their deaths. I hoped the Grail would protect them, save them as it had saved Maryam on the ship. Please, God, I prayed. Don’t let my friends die.
And my prayer was answered by the groaning sound of the castle door as it swung slowly open.
16
Robard, Maryam! The door!”
With a shuddering creak the wooden door pushed open just wide enough for a person to slip inside. Inside, Jean-Luc hel
d a torch in one hand and shouted, “Pressez!” Hurry! Robard didn’t hear him, as he was lustily shouting and shooting at the oncoming men. I grabbed Maryam by the arm and shoved her through the door.
“Robard! It’s open!” I shouted.
“Want another, you fleas on a Frank dog’s arse? Show this one to your pompous cow of a High Counsel!” he shouted as he loosed yet another arrow.
Jean-Luc stepped through the door, and in the light of his torch I could see Robard reaching for his wallet, but I leapt forward and grabbed his arm.
“Robard! We have to go now!” Something whizzed by my head, and a crossbow bolt thunked into the wood of the door behind me. I pulled at Robard, and Angel barked at him furiously, either because he was unnecessarily risking his life or because she was angry at his mention of fleas. Robard released one final shot, and then we all darted through the gate to safety. The door moaned shut and I could hear the horses and the men outside shouting. The sounds of bolts and battle-axes thumped against the gate.
Robard, Maryam and I slumped, bent over with our hands on our knees, trying to catch our breath. The sounds of the High Counsel’s men eventually retreated.
The interior of Montsegur was lit by torches. A few yards away, a large bonfire cast a glimmering light off the rocks and bricks of the walls. I heard a voice I recognized in an instant.
“Hello, Templar,” she said.
When I first looked at her, something happened to my heart. I’m not sure what, for nothing like it had ever happened to me. It seemed to stop beating momentarily, then started again as if in a rush to catch up. My breath wouldn’t come, and I told myself it was because I was winded from the ride and all the excitement outside the gate. But I knew it wasn’t true.
She was dressed simply, in a cream-colored tunic falling well below her knees. My eyes were drawn to hers. I remembered their icy blueness. If anything, the intervening days had drawn them an even deeper shade. Her auburn hair fell loose about her shoulders and framed a heart-shaped face. Her skin glowed in the firelight, and looking at her made me feel like I had taken a long drink of cool spring water.
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