"Have him sent to me."
A few minutes later a tall, strong-looking man entered the room where Saint-Remy awaited him. He was dressed simply, but in clothes that denoted nobility.
Saint-Remy made a gesture to the two Templar knights accompanying the Muslim, and with slight bows they wordlessly left the chamber.
When they were alone, the two men embraced and burst out laughing.
"But Robert, what is this disguise?"
"Would you have recognized me had you not seen the arrow?"
"Of course I would have-do you think me incapable of recognizing my own blood brother?"
"You were to see only a Saracen. My disguise is not as effective as I had hoped."
"The brothers have not recognized you."
"Perhaps not. At any rate, I have managed to ride for weeks across the lands of our enemies without anyone suspecting and thought to maintain the mask until I knew your mind. I knew you would remember the arrows we made as children, mine with five notches, yours with three."
"Have you encountered difficulties, my brother?"
"None that I have not been able to solve with the help of young brother Francois de Charney."
"How many men have you journeyed with?"
"Just two Muslim scouts. It is easier for a small party to pass unnoticed."
"Tell me, what news bring you from the Grand Master?"
"Guillaume de Sonnac is dead."
"Dead! How?"
"The Temple was fighting alongside the king of France, and the help we gave was both much needed and well received, as you know from the success of the conquest of Damietta. But the king burned to attack Al-Mansurah, although the Grand Master counseled prudence and careful planning unclouded by the taste of triumph. But the king is headstrong and would not pause in pursuit of his vow to recover the Holy Land. He insisted on entering Jerusalem."
"I sense you bring worse news."
"I do, I fear. The king's strategy consisted of surrounding the Saracens in Al-Mansurah and attacking them from the rear. But Robert d'Artois, Louis's brother, moved precipitously, wiping out a small encampment before the king's troops were in position and alerting the Ayubis. The battle was bloody."
Robert de Saint-Remy wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, as though to erase the memory of the dead that thronged his mind. He once more saw the crimson-colored earth, wet with the blood of Saracen and Crusader both, and his companions-at-arms fighting furiously, without quarter, their swords like extensions of their arms, piercing the bowels of Saracens on every side. He could still feel the weariness in his bones and the horror in his soul.
"Many of our brothers died. The Grand Master was gravely wounded, but we saved him, at least for a time."
Andre remained silent, watching a tempest of emotions sweep across the face of his younger brother.
"The knights Yves de Payens and Beltran de Aragon and I picked de Sonnac up off the field of battle after a treacherous arrow found him, and we carried him as far as we could. But the effort was in vain; he died in the retreat, of a fever."
"What about the king?"
"We won the batde. The losses were terrible; thousands of men lay dead or wounded on the ground, but Louis said that God was with him and that he would triumph. With that battle cry he rallied the soldiers, and he was right-we won, but never was a victory so fragile. The Christian troops marched off then toward Damietta, but the king was sick with dysentery and the soldiers were starving, exhausted. I know not how it happened, all I know is that the army capitulated and Louis has been taken prisoner."
A heavy silence fell over the room, and the two brothers, lost in their own thoughts, hardly moved for long minutes.
Through the window came the echo of knights doing military exercises on the glacis before the fortifications, amid the creaking of wagons and the ringing of the blacksmith's anvil.
At last Andre broke the silence.
"Who has been elected Grand Master?"
"Our new Grand Master is Renaud de Vichiers, preceptor of France, marichal of the order. You know him."
"I do. Renaud de Vichiers is a prudent and pious man."
"He has been sent from Acre in the Holy Land to negotiate with the Saracens for Louis's return. The king's nobles also sent emissaries, with instructions to ask the Saracens to put a price on the king's freedom. Louis is suffering terribly, although he is being attended by the Saracen physicians and receiving good treatment. When I left, the negotiations were making no headway, but the Grand Master trusts he will be able to secure the king's release."
"What shall the price be?"
"The Saracens are asking that the soldiers of the Crusade return Damietta."
'And are Louis's nobles willing to withdraw their troops from Damietta?"
"They will do as the king bids them-he alone can capitulate. De Vichiers has sent a message to him, advising him to agree."
"What orders do you bring me from the Grand Master?"
"I bring you sealed documents and other messages that I have been asked to speak in your ear."
"Then speak."
"We must secure the Mandylion for the order. The Grand Master says that the cloth is the only relic whose authenticity is certain. When you have it, I am to take it to him in our fortress of Saint-Jean d'Acre. No one must know that it is in our power. You may buy it or do whatever you believe necessary, but no one must know that the purchase is for the Temple. The Christian kings are capable of killing for the Mandylion. The pope will also demand it for himself. We have lent him many of the relics that you have been buying from Balduino all these years, and others are in the power of Louis of France, sold or given to him by his nephew.
"We know that Louis wants the Mandylion," Robert continued. 'After the victory at Damietta he sent a delegation with a message for the emperor. The delegation also carried documents with his orders to France."
"Yes, I know. A few days ago the Comte de Dijon arrived with a letter for the emperor. Louis asked his nephew for the Mandylion in exchange for aid to Constantinople."
Robert produced several sealed rolls of documents, which Andre laid on the table.
"Tell me, Andre, what do you know of our parents?"
His brother's lips tightened and he lowered his eyes to the floor. At last, he replied. "Our mother is dead. Our sister Casilda likewise. She died during the birth of her fifth child. Our father, though old and ailing with gout, was still alive last winter. He spends his hours sitting in the great hall; he can hardly walk for the terrible swelling in his feet. Our elder brother, Umberto, administers the inheritance-our lands are prosperous and God has given him four healthy children. It has been so long since we left Saint-Remy…"
"But I still remember the allee of poplars that leads to the castle, and the smell of baking bread, and our mother singing."