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Ninian’s blue eyes were wet with tears. Staring at Josse, he said, ‘I think she’s dead.’

Twelve

It was only with grave misgivings that Josse left the boy out in the forest. He walked some of the way back to the house with him, and then Ninian said he preferred to go on alone. ‘I’d better be quick,’ he said. ‘It’s past the time I usually see to my horse.’

Trying to mask his fear for the lad, Josse said lightly, ‘You used to have a pony called Minstrel.’

Ninian’s face lit up. ‘Fancy you remembering that! Minstrel came with me when I went to Sir Walter’s, but I’m much too big for him now.’ It was said with a touching note of pride. ‘The youngest pages ride him. He’s old and a bit slow, and they can’t come to any harm.’

‘Aye,’ Josse said absently. Sir Walter. That would be Sir Walter Asham, the knight with whom Josse had placed Ninian when Joanna had abandoned the outside world and gone to live in the forest. It was, as she had said at the time, no life for a boy like Ninian, who had such rare and noble blood in his veins.

‘And then I got the horse I have now, and he’s called Garnet because his coat is reddish chestnut, and- Josse, you’re not listening!’

‘I am!’ Josse protested. Then, for the piercing blue eyes gave the impression that they saw all too clearly, ‘Well, I heard the last bit. I was thinking about Sir Walter. Ninian, why did you not go to him for help when Sir Piers was attacked? His manor is only some twenty miles from here. Did you not know the way?’

‘Of course I did! Josse, I couldn’t — it would have been like abandoning Sir Piers and I had been commanded to serve him, so that wouldn’t have been right at all.’

Josse was thinking ahead. ‘But you will go back to Sir Walter when

… er, when this matter has been settled?’

Ninian stared at him for a long moment. Then his eyes slid away. ‘I don’t know,’ he muttered.

‘But you’re in the middle of your training! Your mother intended you to have the upbringing that prepares a man for the life of a knight and she-’

‘My mother is no longer here,’ Ninian said coldly. ‘It is now up to me to decide the course of my life.’ His hard gaze softened. ‘I’m sorry, Josse. I did not mean to be rude. I have to protect the statue, you see, and I can’t really look beyond that at the moment.’

‘Aye, I understand.’ Josse looked down into the intent face. You won’t go back to your old life, lad, he thought in a sudden flash of insight. I can’t see clearly what you’ll do instead, but it won’t be what your mother believed was right for you.

‘Josse?’ Ninian was looking anxiously at him. ‘Is something the matter?’

‘No, of course not.’ Josse forced a laugh.

They were now quite close to the house in the woods where Ninian was living. ‘Go back to the abbey,’ Ninian said. ‘I’m quite all right. I like it here,’ he added.

Despite his misgivings, Josse saw that it was true. ‘Shall I come and see you tomorrow?’ he suggested. He very much wanted to tell the boy about his little half-sister.

‘No, I’ll come to you,’ Ninian replied. ‘I’ll wait behind the big oak where I put the statue.’

‘Very well. Until tomorrow, then.’ And with a cheerful wave, he turned and paced away.

Helewise had been summoned to the infirmary, where Piers was anxiously asking to speak to Josse. ‘He is not here just now,’ she said to the sick man, standing by his bed and taking his hot hand in hers. ‘Can I help?’

‘Oh, my dear lady, I would speak of matters not fit for your ears!’ Piers protested.

‘You refer to the activities that went on in the tower on the Ile d’Oleron?’ she asked softly.

His face, already flushed with fever, burned a deeper red. ‘I am ashamed that you should have had to hear such things,’ he muttered. ‘But no — the matter that lies so heavily on my mind is something very different.’ He paused, studying her intently. ‘My lady, I have spoken of the dark secret that the Knights of Arcturus were formed to protect.’

‘Yes,’ she agreed. She sat down on the edge of his bed, for now they both spoke very quietly.

‘It did not originate in Outremer but in Egypt, during an early age of the world when men worshipped strange deities who bore the heads of animals,’ Piers whispered. ‘There was Horus the falcon-headed, Thoth with the head of an ibis, Hathor the helper of women, in the image of the divine cow.’

The poor man must be suffering dreadfully, Helewise thought, to see such frightening, febrile visions. But she did not interrupt.

‘Above them all there were Isis and Osiris,’ Piers went on, ‘husband and wife but also twin brother and sister, who fell in love in the womb and who did not desert each other, even through death and beyond, for when Osiris was murdered and dismembered by Seth, Isis reassembled his body and by her magic restored him to life. She was the life-giver, loved and worshipped all over the old world and she-’ As if he suddenly remembered where he was and to whom he was speaking, Piers abruptly stopped and said anxiously, ‘My lady, I beg your pardon, that I speak of such things within this holy place.’

‘It’s all right,’ she said soothingly. ‘Go on.’

He was fretful now, turning his head on the pillow, and she felt his fingers grasp hers convulsively. ‘They had answered Pope Urban’s great call to arms and most of them went out to Outremer with Robert of Normandy or his cousin, the duke of Flanders.’ She realized he was now speaking of the Knights of Arcturus. ‘I don’t know which of them discovered it — their camp was some distance away from Jerusalem and it is said that a group of them came across their find by purest accident.’ He sighed heavily. ‘There were learned men among the original thirteen, men with unorthodox views, and since arriving in the East they had been distressed at the war they saw waged for a holy purpose. The world was changing and the sounds of steel clashing against steel and the screams of wounded men dying in agony drove out the quiet voice of the spirit. To find what they found was somehow meant, for it possessed within it an older, simpler power and it spoke with a voice of ancient wisdom.’ He closed his eyes. ‘Or that is what they say.’

‘So they hid their discovery,’ she said slowly, ‘and in time brought it back to the West and formed themselves into a guardian group, and the eternal task that was theirs and that of their descendants was to keep it safe.’ She thought she had a good idea what the nature of this discovery might be.

‘It began with such a pure and noble motive.’ His voice was infinitely sad. ‘But there is a seductive appeal in secrecy, is there not? The power affected the descendants of those first honourable men and, in only a hundred years, they have fallen from the heights of honour to the depths of depravity. Dear sweet Lord, no wonder my poor old uncle tried to warn me off.’ He closed his eyes, his face crumpling in distress.

‘Were they…? Is it their intention to guard this secret for ever?’ she asked.

He opened his eyes, agitated again. ‘No! They were meant to judge when the moment was right to reveal what they knew,’ he said urgently. ‘That was why Philippe had to go to Chartres — the knights had considered concealing their treasure within the new cathedral, so that the power would always be there for those who knew to go looking for it, only… only…’ A tear rolled down his cheek. She waited, and slowly he recovered his control. ‘That proposal was outvoted,’ he said flatly. ‘Instead Philippe was to take funds from the knights’ coffers and commission a special statue. He found a talented mason and gave his orders, but the mason, de Fleury, found out something — I do not know what — and tried to make Philippe pay for his silence. He might have picked up some unpleasant little details about Philippe but the poor soul did not know nearly enough; no man threatens Philippe de Loup, not if he wants to live.’

‘And so you-’ she began, but then she stopped. She thought she understood now. Many things that had deeply troubled her all at once began to clarify, and the heavy burden she had been carrying for the past two days no longer weighed her down. ‘Sir Piers?’ She spoke very gently, for she thought he had slipped into sleep.