by Dan Davis
On a scaffold in front of Notre Dame, the Templar Grand Master and three more of the most powerful other Templar lords were brought from the gaol to receive the sentence—that of perpetual imprisonment. The affair was supposed to be concluded when, to the dismay of the prelates and wonderment of the assembled crowd, the Templars arose. They had been guilty, they said, not of the crimes imputed to them, but of basely betraying their Order to save their own lives. They stated that the Order of the Knights Templar was pure and holy and the charges were fictitious and the confessions false.
King Philip was furious.
A short consultation with his council was all that was required for his wishes to be agreed. The canons pronounced that a relapsed heretic was to be burned without a hearing. They said that the facts were notorious and no formal judgement by the papal commission need be waited for. That same day, by sunset, a pyre was erected on a small island in the Seine, the Ile des Juifs, near the palace gardens. There the Templar lords were slowly burned to death, refusing all offers of pardon for retraction, and bearing their torment with a composure which won for them the reputation of martyrs among the people, who reverently collected their ashes as relics.
Before he was burned, Molay was stripped to his underclothes and bound to the stake. After he prayed, he raised his voice and despite his advanced age and years of imprisonment, his voice was powerful and filled with righteousness so that all the assembled heard his words and trembled.
“God knows who is in the wrong and has sinned. Soon, misfortune will come to those who have wrongly condemned us. God will avenge our death.”
All he and his brothers had needed to do was to hold their tongues and they would have lived. Instead, they chose honour over life.
But out of all the death and horror, we had won the freedom of the knight Sir John D’Arcy and the squire Hugh de Tours.
On the boat that morning with the sun warming us as we rowed downriver away from our pursuers in Chinon toward Stephen, waiting with fresh horses by the town of Saumur.
“This is all so incredible,” John said, after we had related most of our story and the purpose of the Order of the White Dagger. “And the change has already taken place in me? I am immortal now? With strength and swiftness that will be the envy of mortal men. And yet I am required to drink human blood.” He sighed, looking at the banks as they flowed past.
“You may drink my blood,” Hugh said, eagerly.
“Actually,” Thomas said. “We have servants who will provide you with blood. Both of you.”
“Me?” Hugh said.
“We have need of dutiful men,” Thomas said. “Do we not, Richard?”
“I suppose so,” I allowed, smiling.
“If you would be willing to join us,” Thomas continued, “it would mean giving up the chance of fathering a child. Of making a family.”
“I gave up that chance when I joined the Templars,” Hugh replied without hesitation.
“Well, then, young man,” Thomas said. “Will you renounce your oath to one Order, which is dying, and join another which has a greater purpose?”
John smiled at Hugh’s astonished expression. “We would be brothers in arms for eternity, my friend.”
“Yes,” Hugh whispered. “Yes, I will do it gladly.”
John and Hugh embraced with great passion and fervently kissed each other upon the mouth, their eyes shining.
“Oh, for God’s sake,” I said, looking at Thomas, who stared studiously away at the distant bank, pretending to be oblivious. No doubt, he had employed the very same tactic during his decades in the sleeping quarters and dark corners of the commandries and castles of the Knights Templar.
After we escaped, Hugh allowed his blood to be emptied from his body before he drank of mine and rose to become the newest member of the Order of the White Dagger beside his dear friend and close companion John.
Both men would serve us faithfully for decades and help our cause greatly as the enormous conflict between the kingdoms of England and France began. It was a conflict that history would come to call the Hundred Years War and it was then that our Order encountered a new and brutal immortal enemy on the battlefield by a village named Crecy.
A cunning and monstrous enemy that we would come to know as the knight of the black banner.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Thank you so much for reading the first three books in the series, and the short story.
The main story continues in Vampire Knight - the Immortal Knight Chronicles Book 4.
Get it now on Amazon!
If you enjoyed the Immortal Knight Chronicles Box Set Books I-III, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.
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BOOKS BY DAN DAVIS
The Galactic Arena Series
Science Fiction
Inhuman Contact (Prequel 1)
mybook.to/InhumanContact
Onca’s Duty (Prequel 2)
mybook.to/OncasDuty
Orb Station Zero (Book 1)
mybook.to/OrbStationZero
Earth Colony Sentinel (Book 2)
mybook.to/EarthColonySentinel
The Immortal Knight Chronicles
Historical Fiction - with Vampires
Vampire Crusader (Book 1)
mybook.to/VampireCrusader
Vampire Outlaw (Book 2)
mybook.to/VampireOutlaw
Vampire Khan (Book 3)
mybook.to/VampireKhan
Vampire Knight (Book 4)
mybook.to/VampireKnight
Vampire Heretic (Book 5)
Coming soon
Vampire Impaler (Book 6)
Coming soon
For a complete and up-to-date list of Dan’s available books, visit:
http://dandavisauthor.com/books/
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dan Davis is an author of action-packed sci-fi, fantasy and historical fiction. He writes THE IMMORTAL KNIGHT CHRONICLES and the GALACTIC ARENA series.
Dan is a massive history fan and brings a dedication to historical authenticity even in his books about vampires. One of the main factors in writing a series that takes place over centuries was so that he could explore his favourite historical events and the key battles in English and European history.
He loves historical fiction by Steven Pressfield, Giles Kristian, Patrick O'Brian and many others.
He is inspired by science fiction authors such as Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, Kim Stanley Robinson, Orson Scott Card, John Scalzi, Neal Stephenson and Iain M. Banks.
He has read all of Bernard Cornwell's books more times than can possibly be healthy.
Dan is a husband and father living in the county of Essex in England.
Please contact Dan if you have any questions about his books. He would love to hear from you.
EMAIL: [email protected]
WEBSITE: dandavisauthor.com
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/dandavisauthor
Thanks so much for reading