Templar's Destiny (9780545415095) (17 page)

Fabienne's estates were several leagues from the castle. I rode in the wagon next to Torquil, performing what healing I was able, with Aine sitting nearby settling his mind with her song. The carving was tucked securely in my sporran. The part of me that had been cut away was back and I was whole once more, but it did not ease my pain. We had arrived as the sun sank behind the hill, jostling up a road that led to the heart of her property.

The main house was grander than I would have imagined of someone who was not royalty. The enormity of what she risked to help the Templar and a group of strangers struck me as we entered. Her manservant opened wide the great wooden door and carefully the Templar and I carried Torquil inside. His body was slack in our arms, our grip and movement hampered by the care with which we had to move him.

The common room was warm, and I restlessly paced when I wasn't checking on Torquil's progress. He lay on his stomach on a cot as far from the fire as we could manage while still keeping him warm. The wounds on his feet and legs were horribly sensitive to heat. Every time he cringed and cried out in his sleep, my heart tore a little more. The welts on his back were a mass of yellow, black, blue, and red. It was too much to try and heal him all at one time, so I waited and paced until I could start again. I had steadied the worst of the trauma, but a fever lurked about, fighting my abilities. He had yet to gain consciousness, and I wanted to beat the walls with frustration.

“Tell me everything ye remember,” said the Templar. “I know that yer memory is very good, Tormod. Ye told me that in the beginning.”

So much had been going on. I struggled to recall the exact words that Gaylen had spoken. I stopped mid-stride. “I asked him why de Nogaret wanted the list o' Templar holdings an' he said, ‘the Templars will see their last days an' nothing ye will do can change the outcome.'” The Templar was silent.

“We've got to get to the trainees. All o' this hinges on them in some way. I can feel it,” I said. “Ye do as well. What is it that holds ye back?” The carving was glowing warm in my sporran. Aine and Fabienne both looked at him expectantly. “Let me go in as one o' them, Alexander. The Grand Master can arrange it. I can find out what they hide.”

The Templar held my eyes, calculation strong in them. I did not expect him to agree with my idea, but nevertheless he said, “Do the next healing session on yer brother an' we will leave before vespers.”

Aine looked up at me with fear in her eyes. As I moved to Torquil's side, she shifted with me. “Can we not just leave here?” she whispered. “We have what ye came for, both the carving an' yer brother. Let us leave these lands before something worse goes wrong.”

I paused in my ministrations. “I canno' leave matters as they are, Aine. I am the chosen Protector o' the carving. She has been leading me on this journey from the beginning, an' I have to follow Her on to the end. There is still the matter o' the visions I've been granted. They are to work together as one, somehow, an' I believe the answer lies a' the preceptory with those three men.” She leaned her head against my shoulder and for once comfort was not hers, but mine to give. “Here, help me now. There is still much healing to be done before I will be easy in leaving him.”

Torquil was resting as comfortably as he could. There had been no fever for a long stretch of the early evening. Many of his body's wounds were on the mend, but I feared more the injury to his mind. I thought of Seamus and how he had been after a time with the King's torturer. Mayhap Aine was right, I should take him home so that my mam could tend him. How could I leave him this way, and go back for more trouble?

But if I did not go on to the preceptory, then all of this, all of the suffering and pain and struggle would account for nothing. I sat beside Torquil remembering each of the stages of the journey, calling to mind every bit of vision I could remember and trying to lay it out in some kind of order. There had been so many.

“Are ye ready?” The Templar stood before me holding a set of black apprentice robes. I reached for them with a shaking hand, the red of the cross calling to me as it had for the whole of my life. This was what I had waited for. And yet it was a farce. I was not in truth a Templar's apprentice. I dropped the robe to my lap, saddened by the thought.

“Some apprenticeships are done in unconventional ways, Tormod. Ye are a Templar in all but the steps o' the rite, an' when all o' this is done, I will see to the omission.”

I smiled wryly. If I didn't know better I would think that information was gleaned from a direct read of me.

“'Tis yer face, lad. There is so much expression there, yer mind is clear.” He motioned to the robe. “Get ready. We should move quickly. It's a ride ahead o' us, an' I sent on a groom to ask for an audience with the Grand Master. We'd best not keep him waiting.”

I rode beside the Templar, who at last wore his robes and armor openly. I took the black of apprentice with pride and honor. The land about us was thick with snow that had fallen through the afternoon and into the evening, but I had no eye for its beauty. Apprehension filled my every moment, between worry for Torquil and tension for the role I was about to play. I could see the outline of the wall and the rise of the dwellings beyond. “Will they know who ye are?”

“I haven't been here since I was a lad. This time of night the chance that anyone might recognize me is less. I did not give my name, but the Order's code for emergency to the messenger.” He stopped his horse and mine followed suit. “A rider approaches.”

We sat our horses anxiously, watching the dark rider traverse the twisting road up from the preceptory. He rode quickly and directly to our place on the road, sidled up beside Alexander, and spoke. “The night has eyes.”

“The Lord sees all,” the Templar replied.

“We have been waiting for ye. The Grand Master is in the sacristy off the chapel. I will take you now.” The man did not wait for an answer but turned his mount back down the road with us trailing.

The sacristy was a small room where the brothers kept the robes for prayer and the sacrament of the Lord. Beyond the cupboards built into the wall, there was only a small table and a single chair to fill the space. Several candles lit the room and in the chair sat the Grand Master, Jacques de Molay.

We had met once before, and at the time I had the poor luck to have a frightful vision of the man burning at the stake. It was not something either of us would ever forget. Alexander went down on one knee and kissed his ring, then stood and stepped away. I followed suit.

“I had wondered who it was that would invoke the code of secrecy, but now that I have seen you my blood grows cold. Brother Alexander,” he said. “I received word of the Abbot and have sent strong objections to the treatment of one of us. An emissary from the Order is negotiating the Abbot's release, but the King's man is stalling our advances.” He looked my way and greeted me. “Tormod MacLeod, if I remember correctly.

He turned his attention back to Alexander. “Brother, tell me what is it that brings you here so late in the year and at night?”

“Grand Master, we bring grave news. Several trainees to the Order have been seen meeting with agents o' the King. I fear that there are plots hatching an' growing within the Order,” said Alexander.

The Grand Master met his eyes. “Have you names and know you what the meetings were about?”

“No, Grand Master, but Tormod would recognize them. He has seen their faces an' heard their voices,” Alexander said.

“What do you propose?” he asked.

“Just that Tormod be allowed to join the ranks as apprentice, to follow an' listen to the conversations that are beyond our ears.” The Templar was steadfast in his belief that I could do what we proposed. I was not as confident, for though I had seen them, I knew that at least one of them had seen me as well.

The Grand Master was quiet a moment, then met my eyes. “Is this something you want, Tormod? If what you say is true, this could very well be a dangerous undertaking.”

“Aye, Grand Master, if there is aught to be done in the name o' the Order, I would consider it my duty to the Lord.” I wished then that none of this had ever come to pass for a fear as deep and as wide as the great ocean washed over me. I knew that the outcome would have dire consequences for the Grand Master. In all of the visions that I had seen, this much was true.

“Then we will make it so. Cells have been readied for the both of you. Dinner has passed, but bread and cheese can be found in the kitchens. I warn you, watch yourselves. I have always felt safe and secure within the walls of our Order, but of late things have not been the same. I do not know of the trainees you speak of, and I have no powers beyond the strength of my hands, mind, and belief, but I feel a tension inside these walls that was never ours before.” He laid his hands on my head. “Be safe, young man. Walk with the Lord.”

And to Alexander he said, “You have been a friend and ally for time without pause, Alexander. May the Lord's light shine upon you and whatever may come, let it protect you, always.” He made the sign of the cross upon his forehead.

“Thank ye, my Lord Grand Master.”