DAVID NI A L L WILSON
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To Speak With Lifeless Tongues is a product of White
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PART ONE
5
DAVID NIALL WILSON
ONE
Evening dropped slowly over the walls of the
Convent of Our Lady of Bitter Tears. Against the
backdrop of orange sunlight and multi-hued clouds
the structure stood silent, cresting a small rise with
the huge expanse of the Cambrian Mountains rising
up from behind. The last of the sunlight seeped
over the tips of the peaks, slipping down at odd
angles and sending huge, elongated shadows to
grope at the old stone walls, as if trying to pry loose
secrets long buried.
There was no movement in the gardens, and the
bell in the small chapel was silent. The hour of
meditation had arrived and transported the sisters
to communion with their Lord. Each had taken to
her quarters, waiting expectantly. Each expected
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
6
that He or His servant might come to them. Each
believed in her heart that it would be her time.
Behind the heavy oak doors of the Mother
Superior’s chambers the silence was broken by
heavy, rasping breaths that wheezed and scratched
their way free of one darkened corner of the room.
The small table that sat before her window, commanding
a view of the valley below, was set for a
meal that had gone untouched. Flies buzzed lazily
about the rotting remains of that meal and the
sickly-sweet stench of rotted meat permeated the air.
As the last of the light leaked from the room a
chair creaked. Old bones crackled as limbs too long
in one position were set in motion. A wracking
cough, brittle and harsh, broke the silence followed
by the grating sound of a flint being struck. The
wick of a tallow candle came to life, wavering softly
in the slight breeze from the window, and a thin,
frightened face came into focus.
Mother Agnes sat with both hands cupped about
the base of the candle, unmindful of the hot wax
dribbling slowly down the sides toward her withered
hands. She stared straight through the window
into the black void beyond, waiting. As did the
sisters who no longer took her counsel, she considered
that He might come, and the thought chilled
her to the center of her brittle, arthritic bones.
There was no warmth in her anticipation. Death
comes to all who wait in His own good time. Agnes
felt that her time must be near. There was no other
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
way to explain away the madness, and her God
wasn’t answering her prayers.
So many days had passed since He’d first come
to them, so many dark and endless nights. Such
beauty. Never, in all the years of her service to her
savior had she felt drawn so completely to a man.
She should have known then—should have felt
that it was wrong. Nothing had mattered when he
turned his eyes upon her. Nothing but pleasing
him—not even her faith. He had taken that faith
and twisted it, returning it only after it was worn
away and useless.
Beyond the window a wolf howled, and a shiver
shot through her weakened frame, nearly dropping
her from her seat to the cold stone of the floor.
What light there had been the night had swallowed
whole. The moon had not yet risen to her throne
of white light, leaving the world cloaked in black.
A cloak of mourning. There was no way to know
what might be out there, and yet Agnes knew. She
felt it in her heart of hearts, the approach of eternity
and the lack of light.
She prayed under her breath, a low, keening
moan of words that were no more comprehensible
to her mind than they would have been to any who
listened. The verses were mismatched and random,
blending and molding themselves to her grasping
attempts at coherent thought. One anchor remained
to her sanity and she clung to it with the
patience of the damned and desperate.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
8
The supply train would arrive soon. There would
be contact with the villages below the mountain,
and Father Joseph would be with them. He would
arrive, God willing, by the light of day, and she
would find some way to make her tongue function
properly. She would gather the strength to go to
him and to tell him of the Hell that had descended
upon her convent. She would make him drive that
evil forth, or they would all perish in the attempt,
but it would happen in less than a day.
A whisper of cloth brushing against stone
sounded beyond her window, and she cowered further
into the shadows, willing her heartbeat to
silence and clamping down on the suddenly raucous
sound of her own breath. She felt the wood of
her chair and the cool stone of the wall behind her,
and she imagined herself a part of them, inanimate
and uninteresting to whatever might be seeking her
out. It was a vain hope. The shadow slipped across
the sill of her window and came to rest, upright and
towering above her, just within her chamber. She
didn’t have the energy left to scream.
The shadow figure stood suddenly at her side.
She couldn’t remember if He’d walked across that
space, glided, or merely appeared at her shoulder,
but He leaned forward and his lips brushed her ears
as He spoke. She tried to pull away. The words of
her prayers became more chaotic and meaningless,
and the strength bled from her frame as she pressed
against the stiff back of her chair, digging her fin-
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
gernails into the wood until they broke from the
pressure. She stared straight ahead, avoiding the
sight of Him, but His words seeped through the wall
of concentration she’d erected as easily as wind
beneath an ill-fitting door. The taste of anticipation
altered, but she continued her prayer.
“I have waited for this moment,” the Dark One
whispered, breathing the words into her ear and
sending tingles of energy rippling down her arms,
standing the soft hairs on end as it passed. She’d
never been so intimately close to a man, not since
her vows had removed her from the mainstream of
life. She felt the magnetic pull of his flesh and
nearly cried out in shame and desire at once.
“Leave me…” she rasped, surprising herself with
the strength of her words. “Return to whatever
shadow spawned you, leave me—us—in peace.”
“I cannot do that, Agnes,” the shadow continued
smoothly. “You mean so very much to me now. I
have learned from you, but I have shared so little.
It is time for you to learn what I have to offer, as
your little sisters have done. You want that, don’t
you, Agnes?”
She turned her head farther away, aware that the
motion bared her throat, and tossed the graying
locks of her hair aside in the same motion, though
she knew it was not proper. There was no touch,
not of breath or of pain. All that she sensed was His
nearness, and it wore away at her control as he
continued to speak.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
10
“You pray to a savior who has been too long gone
from the earth,” he said. “You waste your life and
your love on one who will see you only after you
have fallen to dust, if ever. You were a beautiful
woman, Agnes…full of life.”
“I serve my Lord,” she whispered desperately. “I
will stand at his side in Glory, and this will be nothing
but a dark moment in time—a nothingness
without meaning.”
“You are wrong,” he said, laying one hand gently
on her shoulder. “You will still be standing when
he comes again, in the flesh that binds you now,
and he will turn away.”
Then the pain came, the bite of something sharp
penetrating her throat, followed by wave upon
wave of pleasure. She shuddered, and her arms
dropped to her sides in sudden release, then returned
to their grips on the chair. She felt the life
draining swiftly from her aged frame, and she felt
the faith of a lifetime being stolen away. It was too
much.
A small flame still burned within her, a light that
she could make out through the murky haze of sensations
that began where the flesh of his hands
gripped her frail shoulders and radiated out in
waves that threatened to consume her humanity.
Blanking her mind, she ceased her struggles and
concentrated on that light.
There were other pressures. He assaulted her
flesh, but he was attempting to violate her mind as
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
well, her memories. He was seeking something, and
the sudden knowledge that denial of that information
would be the same as a victory gave her the
focus to draw herself slowly toward the flame of her
own being. He might have her blood—she knew
that it was her blood he stole—but he would not
have her soul. He would not drag her into the
nightmare that was his own existence, and he
would not find the answers he sought within her.
As her strength ebbed and the light grew to fill
her mind, she felt a sudden influx of energy. He
would not have her. Flesh was the cage that held
her to the world, but within the light that grew and
pulsed before her she felt the hands of her savior
reaching out to draw her in.
He shifted her in his arms, drawing her up and
out of her chair and tilting her back so that she
faced the ceiling. His dark eyes filled her sight,
threatening for a moment to blot out the light from
within, then fading to a blur of shadow at the
fringes of her consciousness. The world receded,
but something was important about his actions. He
held a wrist above her now, and he reached over
almost casually with his free hand to slice at that
wrist with a fingernail too long to be real, and too
real to be pure. Her mouth opened, and she stared
into the dark pits where his eyes should have been,
but she did not see him.
His intent was clear, and as he raised the weeping
wound above her, blood dripping in a steady
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
12
stream down his forearm, she drew on the awesome
strength of the light that called to her so strongly.
She released herself from the world, wrenching
herself from her flesh and soaring free.
From above and far away she saw her body convulse
in the Dark One’s arms. She saw the crimson
flow of blood from the cut of his arm as it dribbled
meaninglessly off over the lips of the shell that had
housed her, but she felt no emotion at the sight. No
disgust. No violation. No victory.
Her body was lost to her, but it was lost to him
as well. She sensed that his words had not been
metaphorical. There was an ageless quality in the
glint of his eyes and a detached loneliness in the
tones of his voice that hinted at knowledge beyond
the scope of human years. There was hunger there
as well, and not all of that hunger was directed at
her blood, though that was a large part of it.
As she drifted away she sensed that he, too,
fought his way through bondage. He sought answers,
but the essence of his being forced other
issues to the forefront of his mind and robbed him
of time and concentration. He fed because he had
to, but there was more that he’d wanted from
Mother Agnes of the Convent of Our Lady of Bitter
Tears. He would get nothing.
Other voices called out to her now, musical and
inviting, and the light had grown so bright that all
else disappeared from her thoughts. She slipped
within that glow, and her essence co-mingled with
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
the energy of the light. It was a true communion,
a joining, and the voices became her own, or she
became the voices. The chambers and the stone
walls of the convent dropped away until nothing
remained.
The dark figure felt the life slip from his aging
victim’s body, and he cursed. It was not directed at
God, or at himself, but at eternity in general.
Montrovant felt the rivulet of blood making its way
down his flesh and cursed himself for not cramming
the cut between the old one’s lips before she could
escape him. She was gone, and the blood that splattered
and dribbled over her wrinkled, silent face
was nothing but strength and sustenance wasted.
The wound healed quickly, and with a contemptuous
toss he flung the husk that had been Mother
Agnes across the room. Her bones shattered on
impact with the stone of the wall, and her blooddrained
flesh made a wet, smacking noise as it
spread out on impact and fell to the floor, limp and
empty. He hadn’t meant to throw her so violently,
but she’d been his best hope and now he would
have to move on and try again.
Montrovant strode to the window, wiping his
sleeve across his lips to clear away the last of the
Mother Superior’s blood. He’d shared enough of
her thoughts before she escaped him to know that
his time in the convent was at an end. That meant
that he, or le Duc, would have to find an answer—
any answer—this very night.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
14
The supply train would arrive in the morning, or
the next. It didn’t matter. They would arrive soon,
and that was enough. Montrovant knew that he and
le Duc could take precautions that would lead those
arriving off on false trails, away from the truth. They
could make it look as if bandits had raided the convent
for food and shelter, perhaps even for a taste of
the virtue of the good sisters, but eventually there
would be discoveries, information that didn’t fit the
motives or patterns of mountain bandits.
They would notice the wounds on the women’s
necks. They would notice the broken, blooddrained
carcass of the Mother Superior and wonder
what kind of man could perpetuate such violence
with such disregard to their Lord. They would put
the facts together, and they would know what to
look for. He and le Duc had to be gone before the
dawn, and they had to find a place that none would
think to look for them, or it might be the last night
of their existence.
He stared out into the darkness. He had vague
ideas where the Brotherhood might have gone,
where Kli Kodesh might have sent them, but it
seemed a step beyond him to draw even with his
prey. They always seemed a few miles ahead; or else
they slipped away as he followed a false lead into
one form of trouble or another. Montrovant had
not been patient in life, and the virtue had not
forced itself upon him as his mind matured and his
body ignored time. Now this. Another delay.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
He had purposely kept them as far from the cities
as possible. The clans were beginning to grow
in strength, and any hint of interference from outside
forces drew unwanted attention. Montrovant
had no patience for games of politics that involved
the power of others. He had his own concerns.
He burned to find the treasure he sought…the
Grail…to bring it back to his sire, to drink from
that most powerful of cups and feel the power beyond
anything he or any other had
experienced…to rule. Surely one who drank the
blood from such a cup would rule the world, and as
long as he walked the earth, Montrovant would see
to it that no other took that position. Perhaps even
Eugenio would get a bit of a surprise, once the Grail
was his.
He was tempted to go for le Duc that instant and
leave the convent behind. They’d been lazy, staying
too long and enjoying the solitude and the
attention of the sisters, who’d come to view them
as visiting angels or gods in human flesh. Only the
Mother Superior had eluded Montrovant’s control.
It had been many years since he’d encountered
such complete, unwavering faith in another. His
faith was strong, but it was in darker gods and his
unnatural instincts. Those instincts told him that
it was time to change tactics.
He reached out with his mind and felt the subtle
presence that was le Duc. It had been several years
now since he’d Embraced the Frenchman, and
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
16
though he missed having a living, breathing servant
to care for his needs during the daylight hours,
it was good to have a companion. Since beginning
his quest, he’d been voluntarily cut off from
Claudius and the rest of his clan. There had been
communications, of course, reports back and forth,
but he’d not seen any of the others since he’d left
for Jerusalem decades prior. It seemed a lifetime,
and even for one whose years had spanned several
mortal lifetimes, it was a lonely burden.
Jeanne was feeding. For just an instant
Montrovant maintained the link, savoring the
beauty of the sensation—the joining. He knew
Jeanne would pull free before the sister was gone
completely, leaving her weak and trembling on her
bed to wake with visions she’d never truly escape.
Le Duc was more dramatic with the humans than
Montrovant. Briefly, the elder Cainite wondered if
he was becoming too jaded. There had been a time
when he’d enjoyed the hunt and the kill as much
as le Duc did now, but that was fading. His obsession
was costing him his sanity.
He swept his arm across the table where the rancid
meal still sat, untouched. The plates and
garbage crashed to the floor, rotted meat and untouched
wine splashed against the stone. Moving
swiftly, he systematically ransacked the room. He
removed a few valuables, a silver crucifix and several
pieces of jewelry that spoke of an earlier time
in Agnes’s life. They were dainty, the sort of trin-
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
kets that a doting father might bestow upon his
daughter.
Brief memories stolen from her as her lifeblood
drained into him flitted through Montrovant’s
mind. An Agnes none of the sisters would recognize,
dressed up for a party—waiting on the steps
of a keep for her father’s return from war. He caught
glimpses of her mother, brothers who’d watched
over her. An old woman who’d read to her and
taught her to be a lady. None of it mattered now.
The father had lost a daughter, the old woman a
pupil.
Now that daughter lay in a heap of ruined flesh,
her life dedicated to pursuits that long-lost father
would never have fully understood. Dedication
such as hers was not a common human trait.
Montrovant tucked the jewelry into a pouch on his
belt and continued his destruction of the room.
Somehow, he didn’t want to leave anything of
Agnes behind. She’d made her escape.
When the room was a shambles, he turned away,
putting Mother Agnes and her life behind him. He
strode purposefully into the hall and made his way
toward the next floor of the convent, where the
sisters’ quarters lined two walls. The cells were
small and severe, a single bunk for rest and a small
table where each of the sisters could keep her personal
effects. None was more elaborate than any
other, and yet he knew from the experience of the
past weeks that each had its own sensation. The
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
18
flavor of the woman, her blood, her thoughts and
her passions, seeped into the walls of cold stone.
Her name was Maria, a small pale woman, like a
slender ghost with ringlets of blonde hair cascading
over her shoulders. Her quarters had a delicate,
frightened feel to them. Her thoughts were furtive,
always seeking approval and fearing retribution.
He’d spent one long evening just holding her, not
feeding, not taking advantage, but pressing her
trembling form tightly against his breast and letting
the triphammer of her heartbeat flutter against
him. She was possibly the most vulnerable human
he’d ever encountered, and in her faith she sought
an answer to that vulnerability, a protection that
a cold, severe God would never grant her.
There were others, and Montrovant wished his
time with them were not through. There was something
new to be learned in each experience, and
he’d built his strength considerably since he and le
Duc had first appeared before the sisters.
An image of Eugenio rose unbidden to the forefront
of his mind. For perhaps the first time since
his sire had closeted himself away in a convent near
Rome, he was beginning to understand the motivation
behind that seclusion. The privacy and the
security were temptations hard to resist in a world
where one of his kind had to be constantly on their
guard.
The last time Montrovant had visited Claudius,
he’d left his sire standing on the ramparts of that
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
monastery, staring off into the darkness.
Montrovant had been in such a hurry to get away,
to make a mark in the greater scheme of things and
bring power and glory to their clan. It hardly
seemed as if that clan still existed within the scope
of his world. All his thoughts centered on the
Brotherhood he sought, and the treasure they
guarded…his treasure, the Grail. There had to be
an end to it, and soon.
He turned a corner and le Duc was there, pulling
one of the doors closed behind himself softly.
He turned, smiling, and Montrovant found himself
caught up in that smile.
“We must leave,” he said quickly, not wanting to
waste time.
Jeanne only nodded in answer. They’d been on
the road together for so long that most thoughts
seemed shared. Montrovant turned away, and le
Duc followed as the tall, gaunt vampire led the way
toward the front of the building. There was only
one entrance to the convent, and it was there that
Montrovant was heading. The two had not slept
their days within those walls, and it would take a
bit of time to gather their possessions for a long ride
from the mountains where they’d kept them
stashed.
“I’ll go to the stables,” Jeanne offered.
“I will be waiting,” Montrovant answered. They
moved through the huge wooden doors into the
night, and Montrovant left those doors open wide.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
20
The remaining sisters would recover eventually,
and if they were lucky their supply train would arrive
in time to nurse them back to health and to
soothe their loss. Montrovant doubted that any of
them would ever fully release his image, and the
thought amused him. It was good to have left a
mark on the world, however fleeting.
“Sleep well,” he called over his shoulder. “Sleep
well my ladies, and farewell.”
Then he leaped into the air in one fluid motion
and shifted to a smaller blur of darkness, spreading
his arms as they collapsed into deeper darkness, a
shadow, slipping among the shades. The night wind
bore him upward toward the open face of the
mountain, and his spirit soared. It was time to move
on, and perhaps, with luck, their next stop would
be the one.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
TWO
Le Duc was making his way out of the stables
leading two of the finest mounts the sisters had to
offer when a soft, feminine voice drifted through
the shadows to him.
“You are…leaving?” The voice was familiar, but
it had a plaintive, whining tone to it that kept him
from putting a face to it immediately. “Just as the
other. You will go and never return.”
Sister Madeline. He knew her now, and he
shifted his gaze to the left, picking her form from
the darker shadows. She stood watching him, her
hands clasped before her and her eyes open so wide
that it seemed he could see to the very depths of
her soul.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
22
“Other?” he asked, moving closer and stopping
to stand only a few feet from the trembling girl.
“Yes,” she said, breathing heavily. Her expression
was the vacant, empty stare of one bereft of all
hope. She did not seem concentrated on what she
was saying, but instead let her words ramble wherever
her thoughts carried her. Fascinated, le Duc
did not interrupt.
“He came as you have come, in the hours of darkness.
So beautiful. Sister Sarah said that he must
be an angel, but to tell him so only made him laugh.
His name was Owain. Will you follow him?”
“Owain?” Le Duc rolled the name about in his
mind. Something was familiar about it, but he
couldn’t place it exactly.
“Owain,” Madeline agreed. “You are not so tall
as he,” she continued, moving closer, “but you are
more beautiful.” She’d slid into his arms, drawn by
some image created in her own mind…not truly
seeing le Duc at all. Trembling with shame, she
pressed her flesh wantonly against his and craned
her neck as if to allow him easier access.
“I know what you want,” she continued, trembling.
“It was the same when he came to me. I will
give it to you freely, if you will not leave me. I want
to go with you.”
He could see the battle waging beyond her eyes
…could sense the tension. Years of piety and faith
warring with stolen moments of darkness… dreams
of adventures and other places and wilder hearts.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“That is not possible, love,” le Duc said, pulling
back slightly so he could meet her gaze. “Where we
go, none may follow.”
She would have protested further, but he leaned
in then, clamping onto the softness of her throat
and letting her warm blood spill over his lips. She
had offered, and he would accept, despite the fact
that he had no intention of agreeing to her terms.
He would need strength for the time to come, and
the scent of her so near had wakened the hunger.
He wasted no time, draining her as quickly and
completely as he dared, then carried her inert form
gently to where a mound of hay lay in one corner
and set her down atop it. She would remember
little, another angel come and gone in the night.
It wouldn’t be until she saw Mother Agnes, or until
the supply train arrived, that she would begin to
realize the truth of what had become of her. Even
then, Jeanne thought, she would remember him
fondly. It was the way of his curse.
As he moved into the night with the horses in
tow, he continued to wonder over this Owain. Odd
that none of the sisters had mentioned him before
now, especially to Montrovant, whose powers of
persuasion caused Jeanne’s own to pale to nothingness.
He wondered if Owain could have anything
to do with their search, or if it were just coincidence
that another passing Cainite had made use
of the readily available supply of blood in the convent.
He had to hope that Montrovant would
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
24
recognize the name as well, and that it would mean
more to him than it did to le Duc himself.
He wound his way quickly up the mountainside
toward the caves they’d shared these last weeks,
deep in thought. He knew Montrovant would be
ready, pacing before the doorway to the cave and
fuming at the delay. He knew, also, that the scent
of fresh blood would carry, and that the reasons for
the delay would be clear. He was happy to have the
news of another of the Damned with which to divert
his sire’s anger.
Long years on the road had not softened his sire’s
hard edges, but le Duc himself had matured considerably.
He’d been an angry man, seeking something
on which he couldn’t quite focus. Others had distrusted
him, including Hugues de Payen, who’d
taken him into the fold of the Knights Templar
long years past. That distrust had been wellfounded,
not because le Duc didn’t respect de
Payen, but because Montrovant was the stronger.
There had been little choice in the decisions le Duc
had made, but he regretted none of them. He was
where he was because it was ordained to be so. That
was what he believed. The fact that Montrovant
scoffed at this logic deterred him not a whit from
his belief.
Le Duc had been on his way to the Holy Land,
part of a caravan. He and a few others, including
his one-time ally Pierre, who’d been responsible in
part for Jeanne’s own induction into the Templars.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
Turkish bandits had descended upon their group,
trapping them against an outcropping of stone in
the desert. Jeanne had fought wildly, his mind
given over to the red haze that had ruled his youth
and his arm, never tiring, sending one after another
of their Saracen attackers to meet Allah.
In those days Jeanne had cared nothing for anyone
but himself, but he’d lived for battle. When de
Payen and his knights had stormed up and rescued
them, Jeanne and Pierre had been the only two still
putting up much of a fight. Later, after realizing
who and what had become their savior, both men
had made the commitment to join the ranks of
those knights, each for his own reasons.
Pierre had been sincere. He was the sort of man
who needed structure and rules. De Payen’s order
was nothing if not structured. Jeanne had wavered
over the decision to go to de Payen when
Montrovant had appeared to him from the shadows
and all but coerced him into it. He’d become the
man on the inside, Montrovant’s agent within the
temple.
The two of them, Montrovant and le Duc himself,
had left Jerusalem behind when Montrovant
realized that the treasures he sought, foremost of
them the Holy Grail, had eluded him. The ancient
one known only to le Duc as Santos had been
driven from the tunnels beneath the Temple of
Solomon, and Kli Kodesh, the most ancient vampire
that Jeanne had yet encountered, had sent the
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
26
treasures away with a group of his own followers,
luring Montrovant back to the Holy City just long
enough for the trail to become cold.
They had been searching ever since. Le Duc’s
own Embrace had come along the way, and it was
that single experience he could reach back to in his
mind and feel the completion of his destiny. He had
always been a hunter, one who took what he
needed from others without thought. Now that
nature was realized more fully, his being centered
on hunger and the hunt, and he owed that to
Montrovant. Montrovant seemed to need something
more, to seek completion. Jeanne had found
himself in the Blood—he was content to follow
Montrovant’s lead.
He rounded the last curve in the trail and saw his
companion, pacing as Jeanne had known he would
be, his eyes blazing. Hurrying his pace, Jeanne led
the horses the last few yards, trying to keep a grin
from washing over his features.
“You should not have stopped,” Montrovant said,
his voice brittle with anger. “We have very little
time to reach a place of safety—unless of course
you’d like to take your chances with those who will
find Mother Agnes’s corpse?”
Le Duc ignored the verbal assault. He handed
over the reins of one of the mounts and turned to
the other in silence, grabbing his packed belongings
from where Montrovant had placed them
outside the entrance of the small cavern.
27
DAVID NIALL WILSON
“I was gathering information,” Jeanne said after
a moment’s silence. “Does the name Owain mean
anything to you?”
“Ventrue.” Montrovant’s one word answer was
filled with a mixture of complex emotions. Foremost
was hatred. “Owain is Ventrue—very old.
Why do you ask?”
“Madeline, the sister I spent the past few minutes
with, spoke of him. She told me that he came here
before we did—how long before, she didn’t say. She
said we were leaving her, just as Owain had done,
like dark angels.”
“Owain was here?” Montrovant’s anger was sidetracked
instantly by his curiosity. “Perhaps we
aren’t as far off our trail as I was beginning to fear.
Owain has been seeking the old Christian secrets
longer than I, though for vastly different reasons.
If he was here…”
“But we have no idea where he went from here,”
le Duc pointed out, swinging into his saddle. “I
wonder how the knowledge of his passing can help
us?”
“It helps to be reminded of the world beyond our
small circle,” Montrovant replied, leaping onto his
own mount in a single, graceful motion and spurring
it up the trail, away from the convent. “I get
so wrapped up in my own thoughts that at times I
forget we are not alone here.”
“I have not been alone a single night here,” le
Duc said, chancing a grin.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
28
“You know what I mean,” Montrovant replied.
He tried to remain gruff, but for some reason his
spirits had been buoyed by the news of Owain’s
passing.
“I know of several places Owain might have been
headed. There is an abbey where I heard he stayed
at one time—at Glastonbury. Perhaps we can pick
up our trail again there. If not, at least we might
find a way to contact Eugenio—to see if any have
reported sightings of the order.”
“Do you think that’s wise?” le Duc asked cautiously.
“Were we not to remain apart from the
others?”
He waited anxiously for this answer. Though
Montrovant was his sire, he felt the pull of their
clan, as well, and for most of his time among the
Damned he’d been forced to ignore that call. His
road was separate from theirs, but he longed to
know them. It wasn’t something the two spoke of—
not since the first time le Duc had brought it up.
Montrovant was usually an intriguing companion.
His wit was honed by centuries of existence,
and his mind was always questing after concepts
and ideals beyond his present state. There were
other times, when his innate cruelty shone through
like a beacon and the bitter frustration of years on
the road ripped away the veneer of control. Jeanne
had broached the subject of the Clan Lasombra
before. He wanted to travel among them, to meet
others of his kind and to know the intrigues and
29
DAVID NIALL WILSON
emotions that drove them. It had seemed so natural,
this urge, and he’d felt compelled to share that
urge with Montrovant.
The elder vampire had gone into a rage. One
moment Jeanne was standing, arms clasped behind
his back and his brow furrowed in concentration as
he sought the perfect words to convey his meaning.
The next he was flying through the air, stunned.
Before he’d even hit the ground Montrovant was
upon him, one hand holding him prone by the
throat as if he were a child, or a recalcitrant mongrel.
No matter how he’d struggled, he could not
move, and Montrovant had slowly begun to compress
his fingers in a crushing grip.
Face scant inches from Jeanne’s own, Montrovant
had spit his words like poison into his
progeny’s face.
“You will wish for nothing, Jeanne, that I do not
wish for you. You will seek no other without my
blessing, and you will not receive that blessing. I
am apart from them, and you are of me.”
There had been no way to answer with Montrovant’s
hand clenched over his throat. No words
would have sufficed. Le Duc felt his hold on his
new existence hanging in the balance, tipping gently
one way, then the other on the fine point of
Montrovant’s temper. Then the moment had
passed. Jeanne had said no more, and within the
hour it was as if nothing had taken place. At least
it was thus for Montrovant. That moment of un-
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
30
certainty, where death had stared him in the face
a second time, lines of finality etched across his
face, would remain with le Duc as long as he walked
the Earth.
“We can chance contact,” Montrovant answered
slowly, unaware of Jeanne’s musing, “but we
will have to be discreet. The cities are not as they
once were. I used to walk those streets without fear.
The dangers were there, of course, but only for the
unwary. We kept to ourselves, the others did the
same. It has changed. Glastonbury is a Ventrue
city—there are those of our kind present, but they
are not in power, and it will do us well to remember
that we are walking onto dangerous ground.”
“What would be the charm in a safe, boring existence?”
le Duc asked, arching an eyebrow. To
himself he wondered what advantage or disadvantage
this new turn of events might prove to his own
situation. He’d spent little enough time in the cities
since his Embrace—even less in a city where
they planned to stay for more than an hour or two.
For Montrovant it would be old, but for Jeanne it
was a new experience.
“Let us waste no more time,” Montrovant said
with finality. Wheeling his mount, he spurred it up
the trail.
The moon was nearly full, and the mountainside
glowed with a luminescence that bordered on the
brilliance of the day, though the colors were muted
to silvers and grays. It was a good night to be on the
31
DAVID NIALL WILSON
road. It occurred to Jeanne that they had indeed
spent too much time at the convent. Their focus
had been lost, temporarily, but now it had been
returned to them.
They made their way up the mountain in silence,
lost in separate worlds and content to remain that
way. The road narrowed as they climbed, and it was
obviously less traveled, but Montrovant hardly
slowed his pace, passing over rocky crags and leaping
cracks in the road at breakneck speed. They did
not need the horses to carry them. They would
make better time without them, in fact. It was for
the sake of appearances that they rode, and
Montrovant was not concerned enough with those
appearances to worry over the health of his mount.
It would move with sure-footed grace, or it would
fall. If it fell, he would leave it. Le Duc knew this
from experience.
He wasn’t as gifted as his sire at taking other
forms, but he could move very quickly when the
need arose. They neared the peak of the first crag,
and Montrovant reined in, turning to stare back
the way they’d come.
“I don’t want to climb farther than this. We
should be far enough ahead of them that they can’t
catch up before nightfall—not allowing time for
them to discover what we have left behind. There
was a village here once—there.”
He pointed down the steep side of the mountain
toward an indistinct grouping of shadows. Le Duc
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
32
could make out the shapes of crumbled buildings,
but there was no sign of life. He turned back to
Montrovant quizzically.
“There are safe places for us there,” Montrovant
said simply. “I have stayed there before—long years
ago. We will camp.”
Le Duc was surprised. There were still many
hours before the sunrise would crest the mountain,
and he’d thought Montrovant would want as many
miles as possible between them and the convent
before he sought shelter.
They turned from the road and began the slippery
trek down the mountain. Jeanne felt his
mount flounder once, sliding and whinnying
sharply, but it regained its balance, and thus its life.
He followed Montrovant, still silent, but suddenly
full of questions. There had to be something of significance
in the ruins they now approached. The
question was, how did he broach the subject without
knowing the nature of his sire’s emotional
attachment to the place? He had no desire to be
attacked again.
The ground evened out and they moved along
what must once have been another road, though it
was covered over by sliding rock and gravel. It led
straight into the center of the ruined village, and
Montrovant rode through the crumbled square without
once glancing to the right or the left. He moved
to the center of the square and stopped, looking
around slowly as if he saw things that were not there.
33
DAVID NIALL WILSON
“It was different last time I saw it,” he said softly.
“I came here with Eugenio once, before he locked
himself away and became prince. We spent a lot of
time on the road in those days—nothing like you
and I have done—but more often than not we
found ourselves between homes. We came here one
evening, to an inn that stood beyond those trees.”
Montrovant gestured to the left of the road.
“There was a woman—Gwendolyn—who came to
me that first evening we were there. Something was
different about her, I saw it from the start, but I
couldn’t quite make the connection. She knew me immediately
as one of the Damned, and yet she was not
one of us. The blood pumping through her veins was
as red and hot as any I’ve tasted, and it was her own.
Her eyes were what set her apart from the others.
“She couldn’t have seen more than twenty summers,
and yet those eyes drank me in as if she’d
known my spirit for eternity.”
“What did Eugenio think?” le Duc asked softly.
“Did he approve?”
“Eugenio was much wilder in those days. He saw
none of this. If he was aware of her, and I have to
believe that he was, he did not care that she was
present. If she had no intention of revealing us to
the mortals of the village, then Claudius was content
to leave her, and me, to our own devices.”
Le Duc was truly intrigued. This was certainly a
side of Montrovant he’d never expected to see,
though he knew he should have suspected it.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
34
“Who was she?”
“I never found out,” Montrovant sighed. “I spent
most of a single night in her company, dancing,
talking. She knew what I wanted of her, and I was
arrogant enough to believe that I would just take
her when the time was right. It became one of those
moments that Claudius is so fond of throwing up
in my face when he gets onto one of his sermons
on caution.”
“Do you want to tell me the story?”
Montrovant spun in his saddle, smiling slightly.
“I thought I already was.”
They dismounted, and Montrovant led the way
to the remnants of what must have been a stable.
Enough remained of the walls to conceal their
mounts and to shelter them if the weather grew
bad.
Next Montrovant moved down one of the side
streets and came up near the rear of what must have
been the inn he’d spoken of earlier. There was an
opening leading downward, broken steps and the
scent of stale, damp earth. Montrovant didn’t hesitate,
and le Duc followed. Moments later they were
swallowed in comfortable darkness and they passed
more deeply inward until they reached a door.
It was odd. The door stood, even after all the
years since Montrovant had claimed he was last in
the village. Wrought of stone, the door had a
wrought-iron handle in the shape of a great ring.
It looked as though it would take two large men to
35
DAVID NIALL WILSON
pull it aside, though le Duc had no such concerns
about Montrovant’s ability.
To his consternation, however, Montrovant
grabbed the ring with a single finger and pulled.
There was no sound save a soft, sibilant hiss, and
the stone slid aside smoothly. Turning to face
Jeanne once again, Montrovant grinned widely.
“This is where she brought me, Jeanne. It is here
that the story truly begins.”
Jeanne ducked inside, taking in the stone
benches that lined the walls and the torches embedded
in the walls. There were racks that must
once have held hundreds of bottles of wine and
there were one or two smaller alcoves that might
have been for the storage of supplies, but the main
room looked like the ruined, rotting memory of
someone’s private chambers.
Montrovant pulled the door shut once again,
slipping a metal bar into a bracket beside the door
that secured it effectively. Taking a seat on one of
the stone benches, he crossed his legs, glancing up
with a gleam in his eye that was different from any
Jeanne had seen.
Jeanne seated himself as well, waiting, and after
a few moments, Montrovant spoke.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
36
THREE
Montrovant was vaguely aware of Jeanne leaning
back to listen, but his mind was a thousand
miles and a hundred years away. He could still paint
the images of the village over the remnants. The
walls and buildings, streets and squares had not
been crumbling ruins then—they had lived and
breathed, and he’d stumbled into the midst of it
like a drunken prince. He spoke, and the words
washed the present into the recesses at the back of
his mind.
Claudius had known of the inn they approached
from some earlier time. Dwelling on his past was
not something Montrovant’s sire was known for,
and he looked even less kindly on those who would
try to force the issue. To Montrovant it hadn’t
37
DAVID NIALL WILSON
mattered. He was content to live the present and
let the bones and shadows bury themselves.
For whatever reason, he had no idea that the inn
would be anything more than what it appeared to
be, a gathering place for mountain peasants who
wanted a deep tankard of ale and an even deeper
measure of cheer. The sounds of song and laughter
had carried beyond the village to the road, and
Montrovant drank it in like a prince might enjoy
a fine wine. Life. He could sense them, could pick
up their scents on the wind, each subtly different,
each magnificent.
Claudius was in rare form himself. His pace had
picked up steadily as they drew near to the inn, and
there was a gleam in his eye that Montrovant had
not seen in months. He was actually looking forward
to rubbing elbows with these mortals, and
Montrovant found this more fascinating even than
the prospect of the hunt. Claudius was a creature
of habit, and this night he seemed bent on breaking
his own rules.
“We must be cautious,” Claudius warned as they
entered the village square. “They will be drunk,
and they will all be stumbling away from this place
through the shadows…but they are not stupid
people. They know the kinds of dangers those shadows
hold all too well, and they will jump before
there is even a reason to do so…you must watch
them. They will know if something is seriously
amiss, and we must be careful that they don’t real-
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
38
ize it is so until we are gone from here, the memory
of our passing nothing more than mist on the
grass.”
Montrovant nodded. He knew all of this as well
as he knew his own mind. It was not like Claudius
to instruct him, but Montrovant knew better than
to question it. His sire had an air of distraction
about him that made Montrovant nervous. He
wanted no ill words between them until he knew
exactly what was going on.
Light spilled from the windows of the inn, and
the bloodscent permeated the night. The two were
met near the entrance by an old man who took the
reins of their mounts. His grin was lopsided, and
the left side of his face did not function properly,
falling slack and lifeless. His expressions lacked
completion. He was half-grinning as he took Montrovant’s
reins.
“I’ll take good care of ’em, masters,” he slurred
through a nearly ruined mouth. “Take fine care of
’em, that’s what. You go on in and have a drink or
two—best thing for a night like this one. Best thing
for a night like any.”
The man’s cackling laughter floated after the two
as they made their way to the door of the inn and
entered. The light from the fire was bright, and it
took Montrovant a moment to adjust his senses. He
moved quickly toward the back of the room, ignoring
the sudden silence and the stares of the locals.
Claudius followed more slowly.
39
DAVID NIALL WILSON
As the two slid into a booth near the back of the
inn the sound picked up slowly. It was clear that
they weren’t going to prove immediately entertaining,
so for the moment they’d been appraised and
forgotten. Montrovant knew that his sire had
worked toward that end, making the two of them
as inconspicuous as possible and clouding them in
the eyes of those they passed.
It was a necessary precaution. Montrovant stood
nearly six foot five, gaunt and thin but at the same
time wiry and powerful. Claudius had long, flowing
gray hair and eyes that could steal one’s soul.
The two made an imposing sight, one not the usual
fare for such an establishment. If they were to draw
no attention to themselves, it was necessary that
they sacrifice a bit in style.
A few moments after they’d seated themselves,
a thin, waifish girl sauntered over to the table. She
couldn’t have been more than sixteen, but the wink
in her eye and the swish of her hip told other stories
about her experience.
“What’ll you have?” she asked, tossing her hair
over one shoulder and letting her gaze linger a bit
longer than necessary over Montrovant’s eyes. She
clearly intended herself as a menu item, and Montrovant
had to fight to hide the grin that threatened
to surface. Claudius had no such problems.
“We will have wine, mulled and hot. We will also
have privacy. You will leave us, and you will not return,
except to bring our wine. Do you understand?”
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
40
It wasn’t a true question. The girl had no more
choice in the matter than the wine. They would
not drink it, of course, but they could savor the
aroma and dream, and the sight of the drinks in
their hands, emptied discreetly now and then to be
refilled, would serve their anonymity.
She turned, but not before taking another instant
to stare at Montrovant longingly. She sensed something
in him. He drew her and she flitted around
the flame that was his essence like a trapped and
helpless moth. Eugenio snapped her mind free and
sent her scurrying toward the bar with a glance.
Glaring at Montrovant, the elder vampire almost
snarled.
“I told you to be careful. She is the innkeeper’s
daughter. Too many would miss her presence. She
is not for us.”
Montrovant was shocked. He’d enjoyed the moment
of control with the girl, but he’d not meant
to follow that road. He could sense her mind as well
as his sire could. He’d already removed her name
from the menu. What in Hell was bothering Eugenio?
“I am not a child,” Montrovant grated at last,
aware of the possible mistake he was making but
unable to keep his silence. “I know what is safe and
what is not. What I don’t know is why you have so
suddenly forgotten my knowledge of these things,
and why you would insult me when I have done
nothing to deserve it.”
41
DAVID NIALL WILSON
Claudius half rose from his seat, then sank back
down. The anger drained from his features as
quickly as it had risen, but Montrovant was pinned
to his seat by the remnant of the fear that short
moment had generated. Scenes from his past he’d
not thought of in decades had surfaced, and he’d
contemplated, just for a second, what it might
mean to truly die. The moment passed.
“I am here on business,” Claudius said at last. “It
is a tricky thing, and I am not certain how it will
go. This place is not exactly what it seems. It would
serve you well if you could learn to look at every
new place in that fashion. I have to talk to an old
acquaintance, and you will be on your own.”
“Acquaintance? One of the clan?”
“No,” Claudius said almost too fast. “I will tell
you more when we are a safe distance from this
place. Suffice it to say that our roads may never be
the same after this night.”
“You are afraid.” Montrovant didn’t ask it as a
question, he stated it in disbelief.
“I am not afraid,” Claudius snapped. “I am nervous.
There is a difference.”
Montrovant snorted once, but he held his silence.
He knew he’d pushed the boundaries of good
sense already, and he knew when to retreat. He
already had enough to mull over in his mind; no
sense in agitating Claudius further.
“I’ll be fine,” Montrovant assured his sire. “I’m certain
I can behave myself for a few hours on my own,
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
42
and I’m equally certain I can provide my own meal
without causing undue stress to your meeting, whatever
it might be. Dismiss me from your thoughts.”
Claudius had glared at him for what seemed an
eternity. Montrovant knew that the elder vampire
was weighing the dangers of their situation. If
Claudius knew that things were not as they seemed,
that meant he also had a good idea what things
were. Montrovant wondered what test he was passing
or failing in the mind’s eye of his maker.
“Just be careful,” Claudius said at last. “It is an
important night.”
It was then that the girl returned with their wine.
She also had a small bit of parchment which she
nervously placed before Claudius. She stood staring
at him, as if waiting to see if he would reveal
his secrets in her presence.
Impulsively, Montrovant reached out and took
her hand in his own, meeting her gaze with a smile.
He watched Claudius out of the corner of his eye.
The response was sudden and final. The girl
clutched her hand to her breast, ripping it free of
Montrovant’s own and whirling in sudden fear.
Claudius only smiled after her, then turned for an
instant to meet Montrovant’s gaze. There were
volumes of anger and promises of pain in that gaze,
but Montrovant met it steadily. He tried to keep his
own smile cold and unreadable.
“I hope that everything goes…well.” he said
softly.
43
DAVID NIALL WILSON
Claudius turned to the parchment and unfurled
it hurriedly, scanning the single page quickly, then
rolling it and tucking it beneath his robes.
Montrovant waited, as had the girl, but he got no
more response than she, and finally he feigned a
loss of interest to let his eyes rove about the room.
“You will know more than you care to soon
enough,” Claudius whispered, suddenly so close to
his ear that the soft exhalation of air behind the
words tickled Montrovant’s ear. “For once, trust
that I am serious and act accordingly.”
Before Montrovant could answer, he was alone.
He glanced quickly about the room, but none
seemed to have noticed Claudius’s passing.
A fight broke out momentarily at one end of the
bar, but a well-aimed swipe of one huge arm from
the beefy innkeeper, catching one on the chin and
the other across the throat, sent both assailants
crashing into a wall. Montrovant stared, caught by
surprise for the first time in decades.
“That’ll be enough out of the both of you,” the innkeeper
growled. “Next time I won’t be so easy on you.”
Neither of the two assailants was rising, though
one of them was shaking his head groggily and trying
to roll over to his back. The power behind that
blow had been incredible.
Turning to Montrovant slowly, the innkeeper
caught his eye for just a second. The man winked,
nodding ever so slightly at the two on the floor and
giving a quick shrug of his shoulders.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
44
This place is not exactly what it seems.
Eugenio’s words came back to him in an instant,
and Montrovant scanned the room more cautiously,
but with renewed interest. Most of the
attention, for the moment, was drawn toward the
short scuffle, so he was able to take in each patron
in turn without fear of being caught at it. In remote
places such as this, it was best not to show any
undue interest in the affairs of strangers.
There were three men at the corner booth, small
and swarthy and dressed in the rough clothing of
farmers. They kept to themselves, each nursing a
mug of ale. They talked in low voices, dark eyes
locked on their drinks and the table. Montrovant
probed more deeply, exerting just the slightest bit
of mental energy, but there was nothing there.
He slid around to the next booth. A man and a
woman sat opposite one another. He was tall and
thin, blonde hair sweeping back over his shoulders
and a hat pulled close over one eye. He leaned so
far across the table that his chest was flat against
the surface and his hair dangled dangerously near
his drink. She was shorter, but equally fair of complexion.
She did not lean forward as he did, but
neither did she lean back. She hung on his every
word, and he laid it on thicker and deeper as the
moment progressed.
Before Montrovant was able to probe further, the
man stopped speaking suddenly and turned. Montrovant
lowered his gaze to the table before him
45
DAVID NIALL WILSON
barely in time. They knew he watched them. More
to contemplate, more danger to avoid. He waited
until he heard the faint murmur of the man’s voice
again, then continued to scan the room.
Nothing caught his interest among the others. A
pair of hunters, two guardsmen on leave from the
service of a Welsh lord. Talk of the wars in the East,
rumors from France and the British Isles. Nothing
new or even slightly captivating. He was about to
return his mind to contemplation of just what
might be going on in such a place when a whisper
of silk and the scent of jasmine ushered a slender
figure into the seat opposite him.
“I hope you won’t think me rash,” the woman
said, smiling. Her voice was deep and husky… sensual.
She leaned back so that the folds of her robe
revealed a subtle curve of breast. Her heart pulsed
brazenly, just beneath the surface.
Montrovant didn’t speak immediately. He drank
in her lithe, well-muscled frame, clearly visible
despite the loose-fitting garments. She had a playful
grin splashed across her face and her eyes made
promises he doubted any mortal could keep.
“Beautiful,” he said, whispering the word softly
so that it would not carry. He wanted her to hear
him, but he did not want the others in the room to
be aware. Too many of them had already proven
more than they seemed. He had no intention of
giving them a reason to pay attention to him.
He shifted his gaze quickly about the room. None
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
46
of the other patrons seemed aware that she had
joined him. Either that or they were too caught up
in their own concerns to worry over it. Montrovant
returned his attention to his new companion.
“Do you make a habit of joining strangers at their
table?”
“I make a habit of doing what pleases me,” she
replied so quickly that it nearly startled him.
“That is an interesting habit,” he replied at last.
“It will not prolong your life, I’m afraid, but it will
make it so very much more enjoyable.”
Smiling, the woman raised her glass, which he
noticed for the first time was full of wine, just as his
own. He picked his own glass up reflexively and
raised it to meet hers above the table.
“To interesting times,” she said, taking a quick
sip. Montrovant nodded, raising the glass to his
own lips and letting the warm wine rest against the
surface of his lips before setting it back on the table.
He feigned a swallow, but he didn’t know if she
bought it. It didn’t matter. He’d been looking for
the perfect victim, and she’d dropped herself at his
table without even an invitation. He only hoped
that whatever business had drawn Claudius to the
inn was going as smoothly.
“It’s warm in here,” she said, drawing her robes
a bit farther apart. Montrovant gripped the table to
calm himself. She’d turned her head, allowing him
full sight of her pale throat. A wave of dizziness
passed through him, and it took longer than he
47
DAVID NIALL WILSON
would have liked to regain control of his voice.
“Would you like to go for a walk?” he rasped,
cursing himself inwardly for the break in his voice.
“I’d like that,” she answered, reaching for his
hand, “if we were walking to my quarters…”
Montrovant rose without a further word. He
placed some coins on the table and met the innkeeper’s
eyes a last time. The man wore an
expression of indifference, but Montrovant would
have sworn he’d seen something more dancing in
the depths of those eyes. It was as if the innkeeper
were laughing inwardly at some earthshaking joke
the rest of the world was not aware of. Perhaps he
was. Perhaps they all were.
He allowed himself to be led past the scattered
tables and into the night beyond, barely aware of
the buzz of conversation that rose momentarily at
his departure. The sound was cut off by the clatter
of the door swinging closed behind him. It was like
walking into a different world.
She wrapped her arm about his waist, and he allowed
it. The warmth of her was fascinating, and
the tantalizing closeness of her fresh, sweet blood
was dizzying. He let the sensations sweep him away.
Claudius had abandoned him for the evening, and
he’d not get a better invitation than this one. None
in the bar had shown her the slightest attention,
and there had been no protest when she left the
establishment in the company of a complete
stranger. Apparently it was a habit of hers. He knew
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
48
he would be gone before any noted her absence the
following evening, if indeed any noticed it at all.
Alarm bells sounded deep within his mind, but
his mind had little to do with what was happening
to him. His hunger had supplanted all pretense at
coherent thought. The beast within him was rising
to the surface, and it would not be denied.
She seemed unaware of the change taking place
within him, but Montrovant was no fool. The slight
tightening of her arm about his waist, the hurrying
of her steps, these indicated that she was aware that
something was different. Even with the bloodscent
blurring reality, he knew that something was—different.
Victims did not hurry to bring the wolf to
their home. Victims struggled, and bled, but they
did not smile, nuzzling into their assailant’s neck
and whispering endearments into his ear. Victims
did not do anything he did not dictate to them, and
this woman was doing whatever she pleased.
The woman seemed more impatient for them to
reach their destination than he himself, and that
was the thing that finally reached him. She was
eager. She knew the danger he presented—possibly
even his nature—and yet she dragged him
onward as if it were she, not he, who was doing the
stalking. He dragged his pace a bit, fighting to regain
control of his senses. He fully intended to go
through with his plans, regardless of what this
woman thought she might be out to accomplish,
but he needed to do so with his mind alert.
49
DAVID NIALL WILSON
She hesitated for a second, turning to search his
eyes. He allowed the glazed expression to return—
leaning in a bit closer to her and leaning on her
strength. She seemed satisfied, and moments later
she was stumbling down a set of stairs behind the
inn toward the cellars, giggling and dragging at his
arm as if she were nothing but a young girl with a
new love. He let her drag him downward. The
darkness would serve him better than it would her.
Now that he was making a conscious effort to
sort things out for himself, something had begun to
itch at the back of his thoughts. He tried to brush
it aside, but whatever it was would not release him
once it had his attention. There was something
familiar about the girl at his side, something in her
scent, or her eyes. He couldn’t imagine what could
be of such importance in a mortal, but he knew
now that he would have to find out.
She had ideas of her own. She fumbled open the
lock on the door and the two of them tumbled into
the shadows beyond. Montrovant’s vision wasn’t
hindered by the lack of light, but he forced himself
to trip over an empty bottle on the floor, maintaining
what might remain of his facade of humanity.
She only turned and looked at him oddly. There
was no hesitation to her steps, and though she
closed the door behind them immediately, she did
not look away from his eyes. She could see as well
as he. The games had begun.
“Who are you?” he asked, sliding a few feet away
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
50
from her and bracing his back against the wall.
He must have looked in some way comical, because
she covered her mouth with one slender hand
and giggled at him, offering no answer. She took a
slow step toward him, loosening her shirt another
notch. Her gaze was locked on his. He exerted his
will, expecting her to break the contact, or at least
to struggle. She leaned into the draw of his mind,
releasing herself and slipping across the stone floor
into his arms in a rush.
He was assaulted at once by the heat of her flesh
and the wanton offering of her throat. She’d turned
her head to one side as she moved forward, nearly
impaling her soft skin on the tips of his fangs before
he could snap his jaws shut and push her away.
She was quick. Before he could disengage her from
his arms she was pressing forward again, speaking
softly.
“Please,” she murmured, sliding back into his
embrace. “Please. You want it—I know you want
the blood. Take it. Make me as you. I burn for it.
My nights are consumed. Make me as you, and I
will serve you for eternity…I will hunt for you. I
will entertain you…”
Montrovant ducked beneath her arm and crossed
the room like a streak of dark lightning. She followed,
but he moved away again, staying far
enough away that the hot pulse of her blood was
not clouding his thoughts.
She knew. That was the first and most important
51
DAVID NIALL WILSON
thing that stabbed into his fogged mind. She knew,
and he could never let her leave this room with
that knowledge. She was also right. He wanted
her—badly. It was more than just the blood—he
could have returned to the shadows beyond the inn
and found a more suitable meal. He did not want
that; he wanted her. Forever.
It was a sensation that had not plagued him since
his Embrace. He’d never thought to bring another
under the shadow. Eugenio was his companion and
sire, how could he have sought another? Certainly
none had ever begged him for that Embrace. Damn
her, how could she know? There had to be something
he was missing, something that set her apart
in a way that he could understand.
She moved toward him again, tentatively. She
knew he could evade her if he wished, so she tried
a different tack. She lowered her head, letting the
dark locks of her hair fall forward across slender
shoulders and moved toward him, never looking up
to see if he still waited or if he’d gone. Her hands
she held out before her, crossing them submissively.
“Take me,” she said softly. “Oh, please take
me…”
His resolve was crumbling. Her bare skin fairly
glowed with the life that flowed through her veins.
Her movements were sensual, graceful to a degree
that escaped most mortals. The scent of her blood
blended with the aromas of a hundred years of
wines, ale long aged in wooden casks, and a hun-
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
52
dred dried spices lining the shelves of the small
room.
“Who are you?” he mumbled a final time as she
reached him, kneeling and dropping her hair in a
cascade across his boots. She did not speak, and he
found that he no longer cared for the answer.
With a roar of desire and frustration, he grabbed
her, drawing her up to him and twisting her head
roughly to the side.
“Oh!” she cried. He thought she might be coming
to a realization of what her reckless plunge into
his arms would truly mean, but as her eyes passed
his, as her face turned away, all he saw in her eyes
was delight—delight and triumph. It fueled his
hunger, and he dropped his lips to her soft throat.
He never touched her flesh. There was a sound
from above, then a rush of wind, and he felt himself
yanked off his feet. He was tossed across the
room like a sack of grain, and though he rolled
aside with a quick grunt as he crashed into the cellar
wall, he wasn’t quick enough. Strong hands held
him by his throat, pinning him to the floor, and he
found himself thinking of the girl’s blood. It was a
worthy final thought.
“Alphonse!”
The word broke the silence like ice shattering on
stone. It was Claudius’s voice, and the grip on
Montrovant’s throat was released as quickly as it
had taken hold.
“Claudius, he is mine. He would have taken her
53
DAVID NIALL WILSON
—would have taken her soul.”
“You know the truth of this, Alphonse. I will not
ask you twice to leave him be.”
Montrovant rolled to one side. He could see a
thin, wiry figure crouched a few feet away from
him, and Claudius’s tall form framed by the doorway,
backlit by the moonlight from outside.
Gwendolyn had crawled into a corner and was sitting
with her knees clasped before her. She did not
seem concerned with the scenario playing out before
her. If Montrovant had had to put a guess to
her thoughts and expression, he’d have said she was
pouting. What in Hell was going on?
“She is not for you,” the thin Cainite spat, turning
to face Montrovant. He made no further
advance, but neither did he back away, even
though Claudius had taken the last few steps into
the cellar and stood between them.
“I thought you told me you could look after yourself?”
Claudius said softly. The tone of his voice
belied his calm. “I told you what I was doing was
important—couldn’t you have gone to the fields
and found a peasant?”
“She found me,” Montrovant said, wishing momentarily
for better control of his own tongue.
“She knew me.”
“Of course she knew you,” Alphonse growled.
“Gwendolyn is my daughter. She has tasted my
blood—it was necessary for her own protection.
You—you would have Embraced her.”
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
54
Montrovant said nothing, but he turned to where
Gwendolyn sat alone in the corner.
“I would have shared his Embrace, if I could,” she
said, finally raising her eyes. “You tantalize me,
show me your powers, then deny me. You claim you
love me, but you torture me daily and nightly, and
there is no escape. If I cannot be as you, I wish I
were dead.”
Claudius paid no attention to her. His eyes were
cold with anger, but there was a distraction to his
movements that spoke of other concerns. “Come,”
he said at last.
Montrovant followed his sire out of the cellar.
Behind him he could hear the girl’s voice rising to
a screech of anger. He pictured her launching herself
at her father, scratching futilely at his eyes,
begging and receiving everything except that
which she desired. It was a dangerous situation. If
she ever gave up on getting her way, she might turn
on him. Better if, as she suggested, Alphonse allow
her to die.
“You have disappointed me,” Claudius spat, “but
I have no time for it. Great forces are at work, historic
events at hand, and it seems that we are to
play our part in them. At least I must…
“Grondin has passed. There are few as ancient as
I, and the balance of Clan power is shifting.”
Montrovant stopped in his tracks. He’d known
his sire was old, but he’d never stopped to wonder
just how old.
55
DAVID NIALL WILSON
“My words were clear enough,” Claudius snapped.
“You will have decisions to make in the days
to come. I will not be free to travel, and I would not
hold you in one place. You must decide your own
fate from now on.”
Smiling darkly now…“You will be fine, my dark
one, I call you that because even under my control
you are arrogant; in the face of sanity you spit and
turn away. Where others would not go, you travel
freely and without fear. It will bring you the eternal
death, but that is now your choice.”
Montrovant didn’t trust himself to speak. Too
much had already happened for one night. Freedom.
He’d dreamed of it, talked of it—yearned for
it. Now, in the face of realizations Gwendolyn had
brought to the surface of his mind, he knew it for
what it also meant. Separation. Solitude. Eternity
loomed dark and endless.
“Come,” Claudius said, turning and taking to the
air in a rush of wind and shadow. “Let us feed. Tomorrow
at sunset we leave for France.”
_
Le Duc was mesmerized. It wasn’t until the familiar
weight of the sun rising to the sky beyond the
walls that protected them had settled firmly over
him that he realized just how long Montrovant had
talked. He’d never heard his sire go on at such
length about anything in the past.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
56
Montrovant shook his head suddenly, as if he
were just becoming aware of how much he’d said.
“You must have thought a lot about this
Gwendolyn,” Jeanne said softly. “To remember that
time so vividly.”
“She was nothing,” Montrovant replied quickly,
rising and moving to the base of the steps leading
to the surface. “Help me check the seal on the door.
We will have to move fast once the sun drops.”
Le Duc didn’t press the issue, but he smiled at
Montrovant’s back. A sensitive side? Not likely, but
interesting. He rose quickly and joined Montrovant
in his careful checks of the light seal. It was only
an empty gesture, something to defuse the tension
that had followed Montrovant’s tale.
‘We will follow Owain,” Montrovant said at last,
breaking the silence. “It is possible that such a
course will take us nowhere, but it is as good as any.
A great deal of information passes through the
streets of Holywell. There are those who will share
that information with us—others that can be coerced.”
“And the rest?” Jeanne asked.
“We will see about them when we get there,”
Montrovant replied. He made his way to one of the
cots lining the walls and lay back in silence.
Le Duc followed his example. He had a great deal
to think about, but it could wait for the night. The
sun was rising, and his mind was slipping into cool,
protected darkness.
57
DAVID NIALL WILSON
_
Beyond the sealed entrance to the wine cellar,
daylight crept slowly across the ruins of the village.
Shadows shortened. Through those shadows, a
single figure moved slowly closer to the remnant of
the inn. The wind caught in her hair and caused it
to dance about her softly. Her lithe, slender figure
was complemented by tight leather leggings and a
long robe of deep green material that shimmered in
the growing light. Her eyes were hidden deep
within the folds of the robe, but a smile twitched
at the corners of her mouth.
She noted where Montrovant and le Duc had
tethered their horses. With a quick whistle she
summoned her own mount and calmly secured it
with the others. There were a lot of hours before
sunset, and she needed to find some shade and get
to sleep. The sunlight didn’t have the same kind of
terror for her that it would for those below, but it
wasn’t pleasant, either. She preferred the light of
the moon and the caress of shadow.
There was a ruined home nearby that still had
three of its four walls and a bit of roof left to it, and
it was there that she headed. Her pack would make
a fine pillow, and she had a drape to string across
the area where she would sleep. It would block the
worst of the sun and her natural desire to sleep
during the daylight hours would take care of the
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
58
rest. She hadn’t yet been able to shake the draw of
the earth, as her sire had assured her that she
would. He had, of course, several centuries of experience
over her.
Gwendolyn lay back with a smile and closed her
eyes. It was going to be an interesting reunion. A
night to remember. She reached impulsively into
her pack and pulled free the letter, sealed in wax
and imprinted with her sire’s mark. She clutched
it to her breast. It had been a long time since she’d
seen Montrovant, and he’d failed her that night,
but it would be good to see what the years had done
with him. One thing her sire had told her had
proven true. In the face of eternity, it was best to
keep things interesting.
59
DAVID NIALL WILSON
FOUR
When they rose and exited the wine cellar, she
was waiting for them, seated on a slab of stone that
had once been the lower corner of one of the
houses. Her head was lowered, so her eyes were not
visible. Montrovant stopped short, holding up a
hand to stop Jeanne as well. No normal woman
could have crept up on them so easily. They would
have heard her, smelled her, sensed her in a thousand
different ways. Montrovant felt a tingle of
something familiar, but he couldn’t quite grasp it.
When she raised her head and her eyes met his,
the silence grew tense. She was smiling, but if there
was any humor present in that gaze, it was not near
the surface. She did not so much look at them, as
through them…at something far away.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
60
“It has been a long time,” Montrovant said at
last. “You have not changed much—you must have
found another more willing than I soon after we
left.”
She didn’t answer at first, and Jeanne was about
to break his own silence and ask his sire just what
the hell was going on, when she spoke.
“He found me. That is why I am here. He has
sent me, and I am to bring you a message.”
Montrovant watched her, and Jeanne saw that he
frowned. Something was wrong.
“Gwendolyn,” Montrovant said softly, “what has
happened to you?”
As the realization of who they faced surfaced
suddenly in Jeanne’s mind, along with a thousand
questions he’d have liked to ask on his own, the
first spark of emotion leaped into her eyes and she
rose in a sudden, liquid motion.
“You know full well, and yet you did not warn
me.” Her words were cold, distant. “You would have
done this to me yourself, wouldn’t you? You would
have let me become—this—without thought of
anything but sating your own desires and hungers.”
“You have a poor memory,” Montrovant answered
quickly. “I offered you nothing. You asked.
I would not have Embraced you—I would have fed
and left you.”
“You lie,” she said without passion. She was
mouthing the words, but there seemed to be nothing
behind them. All emotion, even the sudden
61
DAVID NIALL WILSON
spark of anger that had filled her so completely a
moment before, was gone.
“I have no need to lie,” Montrovant replied
softly. “What would I gain by it? Who has done this
to you, and why does he not keep you close by his
side?”
She turned away, but she continued to speak.
“He has no real need of companionship from one
such as I. He took me because it interested him for
the moment. His one fear is boredom.”
“Boredom?” Montrovant had grown very still,
and the word rang out like a clap of thunder.
She turned to him, the slightest touch of curiosity
burning in the deadened depths of her eyes.
“Kli Kodesh,” Jeanne breathed. Montrovant had
said nothing. He had needed no words to convey
the weight of emotion, anger, hatred and desire
that the ancient’s name could invoke.
Gwendolyn was looking at Jeanne now, and the
tiny spark of curiosity had been fanned to a flame.
“How do you know that name?”
“‘Our greatest enemy,’” Montrovant recited from
memory, “‘is boredom. We must strive to keep
things…interesting.’ So, Kli Kodesh has sent you
to me. Does he know of our past? Was sending you
here, to this very place, an amusing side note—a
moment’s diversion? Have you truly fallen to that
level?”
“I came because I wanted to,” she snapped, rising
quickly to stand before Montrovant fearlessly.
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
62
“He has many others he could have sent. I knew it
was you, and I asked that he let the message come
through me. I did not know I would find you here,
but I hoped it might be so.”
“Why?” Montrovant asked coolly. “All that happened
here was a near mistake—something that
was never meant to be. Why would you return to
drag that bit of both of our pasts to the surfaces to
haunt us?”
“I was fascinated with you then. I still am—
haunted by the memory of you,” she answered
truthfully. “You were a handsome creature, Montrovant.
You still are. I thought that perhaps, if I
came back here where it almost began for me, I
could recapture some of whatever it was that made
me pursue you in the first place.”
Feeling bold, Jeanne spoke up quickly. “Quite the
coincidence, don’t you think? It is hard to believe
that we just last night found ourselves drawn to this
place, and you knew you would find us here. You
must have waited here a long time?”
Montrovant turned a scathing glare on le Duc,
but the point had been made. It was too much of a
coincidence, and now the issue required clarification.
“I called you,” she said at last. “I sent images of
that time, memories to draw you closer. He knows
me, Montrovant. He owns me, and he knows me in
ways no other ever has. He knew you would come,
and he was right. He wanted us to meet here.”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“Because it was more interesting,” Montrovant
finished, gritting his teeth so tightly that the sound
of bone on bone was audible throughout the ruined
city. “Always because it is more interesting.”
Gwendolyn let her chin fall to her chest, not
denying it. Once again, it seemed, Kli Kodesh had
manipulated Montrovant’s life, and consequently
le Duc’s as well. Once again he had drawn them
back into a game in which they couldn’t even discern
the elder’s stake.
“Give me the message.” Montrovant’s voice was
cold and distant, and le Duc watched him anxiously.
Without a word she rose, moving closer and
reaching beneath the folds of her robe. She drew
forth a rolled parchment, very official looking.
Montrovant took it, staring at it as if it were a serpent,
poised to strike. It was obvious that he didn’t
want to read it. It was equally obvious that he could
not resist the urge.
With a sudden snarl he ripped free the ribbon
that bound it and unrolled it before him. Le Duc
watched Montrovant’s face for signs of what the
message contained, but his sire’s features revealed
nothing. Not the slightest hint of emotion transited
his face. He scanned the contents of the scroll
quickly, returned his gaze to the top and read it all
again slowly. Without speaking, he rerolled the
parchment and tucked it absently under his belt.
Le Duc stole a glance at Gwendolyn. She was
paying no attention to Montrovant, lost in her own
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
64
world of depression and disappointment. He could
read nothing there. Perhaps she didn’t even know
what message she carried, or care. He returned his
gaze to Montrovant.
“There will be a slight change in our plans,”
Montrovant said suddenly. “We will be traveling to
France. It seems that old obligations beckon to us
both.”
The questions must have risen to Jeanne’s eyes,
because Montrovant continued immediately.
“It is from Kli Kodesh. De Molay is in trouble—
the Church has declared some sort of holy war on
the Templars—they’ve been outlawed.”
“Why the sudden concern for our ‘brethren’?”
Jeanne asked. “We’ve traveled long years without
mentioning them at all. I thought when we left de
Payen and the others behind, that it would be the
end of it.”
“As did I,” Montrovant agreed, turning to stare
off into the shadows. “It seems that others have not
been as lax in their relations with the Temple. Kli
Kodesh tells me that certain treasures—artifacts
once kept beneath the ruins of the Temple of
Solomon—have been moved into de Molay’s Keep.
They are in danger of falling into the hands of the
king’s men, or worse, the Church. Once again, he
has turned to me in a time when he cannot reach
what he seeks.”
“Cannot,” Jeanne mused, “or finds it more amusing
not to? Can you trust him?”
65
DAVID NIALL WILSON
“I cannot afford not to trust him. We have no
leads. If we must return to the Templars to complete
our journey, so be it. I formed them, and I
should be there at the end.”
“There are others.” Gwendolyn spoke up softly,
but she grabbed their attention with her words.
“You are not the only ones. The knights you left in
Jerusalem are not the knights you will find in
France.”
“What do you mean?” Jeanne asked quickly.
“They are dark. There are those among them
who meddle with powers they have no business
seeking. It is part of why they are being destroyed.
They brought it on themselves.”
Montrovant frowned. He tried to imagine the
tall, powerful Hugues de Payen, or the slight, angular
Pierre, who had been his companion, engaged
in dark rites. The image would not come, it was too
preposterous.
Guessing his thoughts, Gwendolyn continued.
“They are not the men you knew, Montrovant.
They are generations beyond, and they have taken
in teachers to aid them. The Church did not hold
the answers they sought.”
“So many years,” le Duc mused. “Could it have
all changed so very much?”
“Change is the only constant in the universe,”
Montrovant replied. To Gwendolyn he said, “If
what you speak is the truth, then there is less time
than I first suspected. We must move out now. Are
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
66
you planning on traveling back with us, or are you
just a messenger these days?”
Her eyes blazed. “I do as I wish. Perhaps I will
travel with you for a while. I want to see what it is
that I’ve been missing all these years.”
Montrovant held his silence, moving to ready his
mount. Le Duc watched Gwendolyn for a moment
longer. Her gaze trailed after Montrovant’s retreating
form, and for just an instant, he thought he saw
a deep, haunting longing in the depths of her eyes.
As the moon rose to her full splendor in the sky,
three shadowed forms disappeared down the side of
the mountain and into the plain beyond. The darkness
swallowed them slowly, and the ruined village
was left to its silence and its solitude.
67
DAVID NIALL WILSON
PART TWO
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
68
FIVE
The walls of the keep of Jacques de Molay, Grand
Master of the Knights Templar, stretched up toward
the mountain at its back. The towers were manned
and the ramparts patrolled incessantly. No hostile
force had yet made an advance on the keep, but it
was only a matter of time and death: the death of
their brothers.
Those on the wall had heard the tales. There
were others joining their ranks daily, refugees from
the cities and provinces beyond their own. The
stories were grim, mumbled and cursed through
trembling lips or cried angrily over too many flagons
of wine.
King Philip had ordered them all to be seized.
They were to be tried as heretics and devil-wor-
69
DAVID NIALL WILSON
shipers and tortured until they confessed. There
was talk of demons and secret orders within their
ranks, but to most of those not closely associated
with de Molay and his advisors, the stories were
insanity. They were a holy order, dedicated to
Christ. They had fought and died from France to
the Holy Land and back. If any were insane, the
refugees muttered into their drinks, it was Philip
and his men.
There were those in the Church who resented
the Templars for various reasons: their wealth, their
influence. The arm of the order was far-reaching
and quick to react to political and economic
changes. This had won them a great deal of power,
but it had earned an equal part of enemies, and it
would appear those enemies were more powerful
than any of them had imagined.
Philip in particular had resented their power, and
it was his resentment, in the end, that had become
their undoing. The Church had turned on them as
well. In the beginning the two entities, Templars
and Church, had complemented one another perfectly.
The Vatican had wanted an army of its own,
one that was beholden to no particular lord or king
save Christ. This was the order that Hugues de
Payen had envisioned, warrior monks dedicating
their lives to keeping the Holy Lands free and protecting
the followers of Christ. A noble intent.
Things had changed. As the refugees continued
to arrive, the stories that had driven them from
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70
their homes took on new and frightening proportions.
Dark figures prowled the passageways of the
keep, and there were chambers and passages in the
tunnels below that were off limits to all but the
Grand Master and his most trusted aides. An aura
of dread, of ancient evil and corruption, rested just
beneath the surface of the place. Whispered rumors
fluttered among the ranks like phantom birds,
never quite coming to rest in reality, but watching
and hovering just out of reach.
Once-proud warriors tracked the movements of
trusted comrades warily. Sullen stares replaced
ready smiles. Their lives crumbled about them, and
the rot that ate them away appeared strongest at
the core.
Along with the refugees, the treasure of the order
had piled into de Molay’s vaults. As secretly as
possible, and more quickly than the nobles of the
combined empires of Europe could have imagined,
the exodus unfolded. Documents, gold, jewels, objects
of power, everything and anything that
contributed to the infrastructure of power that was
the Templars had been gathered in one place, leaving
only husks and questions behind for those who
came to destroy and desecrate. They had been ordered
to disband, but there was no way that the
spirit of something so grand could be wiped easily
or completely from the Earth.
They would endure. Through secret meetings
and traditions they would survive, possibly to see
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
both Church and empire in ashes. The question in
many of their minds, as they assimilated the situation
in the keep and searched for their own
answers, was what would survive. What were the
secrets being sought so desperately by their leaders,
and would they ultimately improve, or corrupt?
Who was to say? For the moment they were stuck
with time alone as a companion and mystery for a
bedfellow. Jacques de Molay could have answered
their questions, and there were others who might
as well, but none were speaking, and Philip drew
nearer every day, death in his heart and the Church
at his back. It was a time of darkness, and the word
that spread was despair.
_
The chamber was dark, so dark that the only way
that the men gathered before Santos could see to
find their places in the room was by following whoever
was directly in front of them, and by staring
into the indistinct shadows thrown by a single
candle. The candle flickered just out of sight in an
alcove, its eerie dancing light reflecting dully off
the rough surface of the stone. There were no
missed steps, despite the close quarters and lack of
light. It was a practiced ritual—a bonding of the
energy of many to the will of a single man.
Santos watched them in grim silence, waiting for
someone to make a mistake. He was particularly
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72
fond of torturing those who erred in the ritual. It
had been some time since he’d had that pleasure.
Behind him the altar stood, covered in black
velvet carefully embroidered with symbols and designs
only he fully understood. He’d taught secrets
to a select few of his followers, but none of them
had enough knowledge to make them any real danger
to any but themselves. Santos had been more
careful here than anywhere else he’d called home
in the long years of his existence. In those previous
years, he’d carried out his duties, providing the
service he’d been created to provide. He’d had no
reason to be bitter.
Things had changed. He had not laid eyes on the
treasures he was created to guard in far too many
years…had not held them or traced their ancient
lines with his withered fingers. Despite his best
efforts and the powers and tools available to him,
the ancient known as Kli Kodesh had managed to
evade him. He had found it necessary to take steps
that would set wheels in motion, and such steps
were never without danger. He’d lived for many
years in a great many places, and there were those
who would recognize his hand in this if he weren’t
careful.
Now the men gathered before him knelt in silence.
Each wore a brown robe that rose to cover his
head with a copious hood. Each moved in careful,
precise motions. Energy was precious. That lesson
they had all learned. It was never to be wasted. Only
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
so much energy was allotted to each of them, and the
wise use of that energy was the only worthy task that
lay before them. To waste it would be a sin.
It was amazing how easily these men had allowed
their understanding of sin to be manipulated and
warped. If asked, each would claim to be a God-fearing
man. As a unit, they were the most awesome
fighting force in Europe: the Poor Knights of the
Temple of Solomon, the Templars.
Santos allowed himself the briefest flicker of a
smile. If Bernard, the fiery-speaking, weak-armed
“saint” who’d organized them into an army could
see them now, it would be a sight worth traveling
for. If Montrovant, whose actions were so different
from others of his kind…more enigmatic, more
arrogant, even, than the elders Santos had known
—so different that even his own brothers called
him the Dark One, whose meddling had caused the
loss of everything that Santos held dear—if that
one could see them, he’d be equally shocked,
though probably less displeased. It was a singular
point of satisfaction to come to this place and warp
what they’d created. It was poor revenge for the loss
he’d suffered, but at least it was something to concentrate
on.
Before him, nearly prostrate, knelt Jacques de
Molay. Of them all, de Molay was most eager to
learn. It was de Molay who had fought for Santos’s
admission to the order as a teacher and counselor.
It was de Molay who had shielded Santos’s actions,
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74
and later his own and those of his followers, from
the Church. De Molay bought Santos time, and
though time was not something Santos was in dire
need of, the peace and quiet that accompanied it
were a welcome respite.
Santos had rebuilt his strength and renewed his
search for what Kli Kodesh had stolen from him.
He now had the resources of the Templars in his
hands, given to him in return for certain teachings
and small powers, insignificant, but impressive to
the uninitiated. So quickly they forgot. He’d not
even changed his name, though he’d dropped the
“Father” in the name of good sense. As Father
Santos, he’d come close to ending their order before
it had truly been launched. It hadn’t been that
many generations since those events, and yet it
seemed that the newer members of the order knew
nothing of him, and those old enough to remember
had forgotten, or did not care. Montrovant had
left them, and de Payen was dead. Power was something
they all sought, and Santos was able to
provide it, albeit at his own pace.
He shook off the weight of memory and closed
his eyes, bringing his hands up before him and
clasping them tightly. He let his head fall back
until his long dark hair brushed the back of his robe
and his eyes pointed directly to the heavens. His
lips opened, and he began to chant, softly at first,
but gaining in volume and intensity as each syllable
rolled out over the room.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
Other voices joined his almost immediately.
None of them knew the entire chant, but each had
his own part to resonate, echoing words and cadences.
Hands clapped in subtle rhythms that
integrated themselves into the whole of the sound.
They were not ready yet, but soon. He only had a
few more lessons to teach, and they would be able
to complete the ritual. It had been many years since
that portal of energy and knowledge had been open
to him, and he felt the elation building within him.
So much power to have been denied.
Images crowded his mind suddenly, images from
his past. He saw the tunnels beneath the Temple
of Solomon in quick flashes. He saw Montrovant’s
burning, arrogant eyes and the steadfast, righteous
countenance of Hugues de Payen. Other faces surfaced.
The confrontation beneath the city with the
Nosferatu, Kli Kodesh and his insolent, insane
smirk. The treasures, now lost, all but one. He saw
the Earth as it had been, falling away from him. He
heard the true name of the buzzard as it had rung
through his mind, felt the powerful wings that had
borne him upward, the head clutched tightly in
talons that gripped like steel clamps. He saw Montrovant,
his puny shadow form fluttering helplessly
behind. Too late and too slow to prevent Santos’s
escape. An ending, and a beginning.
Santos shook his head violently, returning his
concentration to the chant. It was enough that
those he worked with required so much of his time
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76
to learn their parts without causing the ritual to fail
on his own. There was a time and a place for everything,
and the time for revenge would come
soon enough. For the moment he needed to build
his strength and to train his followers. The
Templars were about to fall, and he needed to be
certain that he and those he chose to keep would
be prepared to make it out in one piece. He needed
to be free and with the means to carry on the search
that dragged him onward.
Santos required no companionship. Ancient
tomes, secrets long buried and others yet to be discovered,
these were his bedfellows. He needed no
conversation, nor did he require respect or friendship.
He had dedicated a long existence to a single
purpose, and he had failed at that purpose. It was
too late to redeem that failure, but it was not too
late to rectify the situation.
He needed to recover what was rightfully his. The
secrets he’d been entrusted with were not his possessions,
but the position of guardian was his alone.
It was his right, and his responsibility. Without that
responsibility, he was nothing, and that reality had
spun its web of bitterness over him slowly and certainly.
The darkness that had swallowed his reason
at times was more constant since he’d been run out
of Jerusalem, and he needed to regain the control
it was costing him to hold it at bay.
There had been a time when he’d considered certain
of his followers students. He’d even thought of
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
teaching them secrets that might have given them
a semblance of his own power, his “gifts.” These
before him he held in nothing but contempt,
though he was careful not to let this show. To them
he was the “Dark Master.” They believed that he
would lead them to the spiritual purity and strength
that their puny, disorganized Church had not been
able to provide.
He felt nothing for them. They were tools to be
used toward his goal, and the deadening of his heart
told him that it would always be so. He had trusted
others too much in the past, and they had failed
him. Though he hadn’t been stripped of everything
in his flight from the Holy Land, he’d lost more
than he cared to admit. That defeat had taken
something he’d clung to for centuries—the last
remnant of his humanity.
Behind him he could feel the cold, lifeless stare
of glassy eyes. They bored through him to the core
of his being, calling out to be freed. He did not
flinch from that call. Soon it would be time, and
answers would be his. When he had that information,
these fools would be tossed to the King of
France as bait, and he and a very few others would
depart on the greatest adventure of a long, long life.
He would regain what had been stolen, and he
would find a way to make Kli Kodesh pay. If the
ancient could not be killed, nothing said that unlife
had to be bearable.
With a deep breath to steady his nerves, Santos
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78
returned himself fully to the task at hand. The others
swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the
chant and he let himself be swept away by that
motion. Releasing his mind, he slipped free, riding
the current of sound generated by the ancient
words. Close. He was very close to his goal. It would
not be long before it was over.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
SIX
The night was nearly ended when Jacques made
his way to the upper levels of the keep, avoiding
contact with the few others who were about and
staggering into his quarters. He was spent, heart
and soul. No energy remained for balance, and the
bruises on his legs and shoulders from banging
against walls and door frames were witness to this.
He’d sent the servants away before slipping below
to meet with Santos, so there were none
present to witness his weakened state. His mind
whirled with images and strange words, rhythms
and incantations only half understood. Jacques did
not have full control of the power they were unleashing,
but he could feel it just the same. He
knew when something grand was knocking, and he
meant to find a way to open that door.
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80
The pungent aroma of incense had embedded
itself in his hair and clothing, and his eyes were red
pits of exhaustion. He stumbled across his chamber
to the table beside his bed and reached
immediately for the bottle in its center. Hands
trembling, he dribbled a cup full of the rich, red
wine into a goblet and gulped it down. The drink
burned his parched throat, but he ignored the pain,
pouring a second and downing it with equal disregard.
After a third cup had disappeared, the trembling
dissipated, and he was able to stand up straighter.
Jacques moved to the window, where the light of
dawn was just beginning to seep over the horizon,
and he stared down at the road leading up to the
keep. No sign of Philip. No one was moving on that
road at all, in fact, and that was a sobering thought.
Nothing was the same. Nothing would ever be
the same again. Jacques looked out over the land
that was his by right, by birth and blood. His remaining
time as ruler could be measured in
heartbeats, he knew, and there was one, and only
one, resolution. The dark stranger inhabiting the
lower levels of his keep was the key. Santos was
many things, mage, savant, teacher, but Jacques
had never fooled himself on one point. The man
was evil. He represented power, but it was not the
pure power of the spirit.
If Jacques was to find a way to save his knights,
and his life, it would be through that power. The
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
tremble threatened to return to his hands, and he
doused it with yet another mug of wine. His
thoughts were beginning to fog, but he fought for
a few more coherent moments. He wanted those
moments for himself. Santos had begun to leak up
from the dungeons into his daily affairs, his
thoughts and his dreams. Jacques did not like the
sensation of another controlling his actions.
There was a soft knock on his door, and he contemplated
sending whoever it was away with a gruff
shout. He needed to rest. He could not fight Philip,
or Santos’s control, if he couldn’t keep his eyes
open and his mind sharp. Too many nights had
been spent in darkness and shadows with too little
result, and he needed to shut down his overworked
mind before it fell apart completely.
“Who is it?” he called.
“Louis,” came the quick reply. With a grunt,
Jacques stumbled away from the window sill, managing
somehow to grab the wine bottle as he
turned.
“Come in,” he said.
Louis de Chaunvier entered quickly, pushing the
door closed firmly behind himself. He showed
many of the same signs of fatigue as his lord, but
somehow his dark good looks hid the bags beneath
his eyes more easily. Though the fatigue was obvious
in his expression, the fire in his eyes burned
brightly. Too brightly.
“What is it, Louis?” Jacques asked.
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82
“I cannot sleep, Jacques. I cannot think. What is
to become of us, do you think?”
“I do not know, my friend,” Jacques replied,
lurching forward to slap the shorter man’s shoulder
drunkenly. The wine combined rapidly with his
exhaustion to steal his reason. “We will find a way
through this. I swear it. It has always been so, and
it will remain so.”
“That may be true,” Louis frowned, “but it has
never truly been like this.” He shook his head and
walked across to the table for another glass. Guiltily,
Jacques filled his own glass while his friend’s
back was turned. The bottle was getting low.
Turning back quickly, Louis added, “There has
never been one like him.”
“If you believe the chronicles, there has,” Jacques
argued. “The very foundations of our order rest on
legend. Hugues de Payen himself spoke, when he’d
had enough wine, of a man he called only Montrovant.
This man had powers beyond anyone’s
understanding. There are others. Do not make a fool
of yourself through naiveté, Louis. Santos may not be
all that he claims, but he is more than we believe.”
“Your words make no sense,” Louis snapped. He
snatched the bottle and poured the last of its contents
into the mug he now held. “You speak of
legends and ghosts when the very walls of your own
keep are to be assaulted by an army. That army is
very real, Jacques, and very large. I do not believe
that Philip will be in any mood to negotiate.”
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“You have seen Santos,” Jacques whispered
hoarsely, tossing back the last of his wine. He
brushed the unruly locks of his hair aside so that he
could make eye contact with his friend. “You have
seen what he can do, felt what he can bring forth
in a man. How can you deny that?”
“I deny nothing,” Louis replied. “but I fail to see
how he will help us. Has he given you a plan? Has
he explained to you how these ‘great secrets’ will
win our salvation from the fate that awaits us? No.
I see it in your eyes, and I know it in my heart. He
offers nothing, and he eats our very souls. We must
ready ourselves for war, Jacques, and we must rid
ourselves of this dark burden.”
“No.” Jacques turned away so that Louis could
not read the fear that was rising quickly, fear that
he would be denied what Santos had promised, fear
that there might be nothing to the dark stranger’s
words after all. Fear that he’d cast himself and all
that followed him onto a dark path that led to roads
he had no desire to travel.
“Jacques…” Louis started toward him, but
Jacques held up a hand to warn him back.
“It is beyond our control now, Louis. You know
it is. I cannot send him away. I have to know what
he offers, to know it fully. We are doomed men
whether he stays or goes. We allowed him within
our walls and our minds. The only way to be rid of
him is to understand him, and we have little time
left to gain that understanding.”
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84
“I don’t even understand you any longer,” Louis
snapped, downing his wine in a quick gulp.
De Molay didn’t answer. He teetered between
anger and unconsciousness, and he used the last of
his remaining strength to lurch toward his bed.
Jacques fell face forward across the mattress and
Louis only stood, watching, waiting for him to rise.
When it became obvious that he would not, Louis
whirled to the window, sending his mug through
the opening and out to the courtyard beyond with
a loud curse.
Spinning on one heel, he slammed back through
the door and left de Molay to his silence and his
rest. As he passed from the chamber, he spotted
Jacques’s servants huddled nearby, waiting anxiously
with a tray of food and drink. There was a
single bottle of wine in the center of the tray, and
he snatched it from the startled serving girl as he
passed.
“He won’t be needing it,” he explained, “or you.
Not for several hours. I believe the ‘master’ has
passed out again.”
Louis turned away and marched off toward his
quarters, the bottle clutched tightly in one hand.
He did not look back.
_
One of the servants was a young man with a
piercing gaze and hair so blond that it glistened like
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
spun silver. He slipped back along the wall the way
they’d come as soon as de Chaunvier had passed
from sight. The others were whispering among
themselves, still wondering if they should go to de
Molay and check on him, or leave him alone. They
did not miss the blond youth as he drifted along the
wall, silent as a puff of smoke, and slipped around
the corner.
Once out of sight, Ferdinand wasted no time. He
followed the curving stair to the main level of the
keep and made his way to the south wing. He kept
his eyes to the ground and his movements were
smooth. All around him others were beginning
their day, making their way to prayer or meals, talking
in small groups and wondering what the next
few hours would bring.
There was none among those gathered, knights
and servants alike, who did not fear that the next
day might bring their last few hours on the Earth.
De Molay had put forth no plan, no means by
which they might escape the fate that Philip
planned for them. The only hope lay in casting
aside their pride and their beliefs, and slinking off
into the shadows. Surprisingly few of them took
advantage of this means of prolonging life.
Ferdinand did not understand their motivations.
He knew they would die. His master, Father
Kodesh, had seen it and proclaimed it. Of course,
the father had not proclaimed it to de Molay, or to
the other knights. To them he was a simple priest.
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86
He recited the mass when it pleased him and took
confession for those who had the inclination. He
blessed their weapons and their hearts and sent
them on their way. He played with them like pieces
on a grand chess board, waiting eagerly for some
counter-move that would bring him the challenge
he so craved. That was why Kodesh fascinated
Ferdinand…drawing him like a needy, hungry
moth to a flame.
None of those in the keep held any meaning for
Father Kodesh. He came to them as an emissary of
the Church, but he could have as easily come to
them as the focus of a nightmare. Ferdinand knew
this. He’d seen both sides of his master, dark and
light. He’d been singed by both, and yet he could
not bring himself to draw away.
He rounded a final corner and entered the small
chapel that bordered the south side of the keep.
The interior was dark. Only the muted glow of the
early morning sun leaked through the arched windows
to lap at the edges of shadow. He knew he
would find Father Kodesh there. It was in these
moments, lost between darkness and light, dusk
and dawn, that the father walked most freely.
Ferdinand knew he would want to hear what he
had to say, though at times he wondered why the
priest didn’t just reach out with his mind and take
the knowledge he sought. Another part of the
elaborate game that was Father Kodesh’s life.
“Good morning, Ferdinand.” Father Kodesh
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
leaked from the shadows, never registering at the
periphery of Ferdinand’s vision, and yet there before
him as if he’d been thus all along. Kneeling,
Ferdinand lowered his eyes.
“Good morning Father.”
“I trust you have found something of interest for
me?”
Ferdinand nodded, rising slowly and keeping his
eyes downcast. It was only partly from respect. He’d
been captivated by the depths of his master’s eyes
often enough to know the dangers that lurked
there. Better to chance a surprise blow to the head
than a lost soul.
“De Molay has returned from the dungeons, Father.
He returned to his quarters over an hour ago,
and since then he has finished a bottle of wine and
passed out.”
“That is all?”
Before the level of dismay in Father Kodesh’s
voice could rise to dangerous levels, Ferdinand
added, “Louis de Chaunvier was with him. He
stormed out, taking the wine from de Molay’s
breakfast and muttering about how de Molay would
need nothing for some hours to come. He did not
look pleased.”
“And well he should not,” Father Kodesh replied,
twining the long, slender fingers of his hands behind
his back and turning away to walk slowly
toward the altar at the front of the chapel. “De
Molay is weakening. His hold on this keep, and on
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88
his knights, is dwindling. It will not be much longer
that he is able to hold this place.”
“He has the darkness wrapped about him like a
cloak,” Ferdinand observed, watching carefully to
see how his words would register with the priest.
“He is so caught up in his spells and the dark one
below that he cannot see the wolf slipping up to
swallow him whole.” Then, suddenly realizing his
boldness, the boy fell silent, eyes downcast and face
flushed.
“Do not underestimate de Molay,” Father Kodesh
said quickly, spinning and lifting Ferdinand’s chin
with one long, slender nail, forcing the young servant
to meet his gaze. This time the young man was
not quick enough to avoid the other’s eyes. “That
mistake has been made with these knights in the
past, and that is why the Dark One has had to come
a second time. It is not perhaps the second coming
that the Church would have me teach, but it is significant.
De Molay is more aware of what is
happening here than any give him credit for. His
chosen method of delivering his order might be
flawed, but his heart is strong. It is going to be a
most interesting confrontation.”
Ferdinand felt the words he’d longed to speak
hurtling to the surface of his mind, and he was not
able to bite them off. This time the curiosity got
the better of him. “Father, who are you? Really? I
need to know who it is that I serve.”
Trembling, Ferdinand dropped to his knees on
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
the stone floor. He’d dreaded this moment, dreaded
the time when his own resolve would crumble.
He’d not even seen it coming.
There was no immediate flash of pain, nor did
Father Kodesh raise his voice in anger. At first
there was no reaction at all. Then came the laughter.
It was like the crackling of ice on a lake when
the sun’s rays hit full force. Ferdinand didn’t dare
to raise his eyes from the stone. Not until he heard
Father Kodesh speaking to him softly.
He raised his head slowly, and he found that the
old priest wasn’t watching him at all. That thin,
haunted face was turned away. The words were very
softly spoken, so soft that—despite his fear—
Ferdinand was forced to crawl closer to make them
out.
“I will tell you a story,” Father Kodesh began. “It
is a story of love and hate, betrayal and salvation.
It is the story of a bargain and a curse. I will tell you
my story, and when I have finished, you will sit
with me and help me to decide whether I must kill
you for the knowledge.”
Ferdinand grew very still at that moment. Father
Kodesh had grown momentarily silent as he gathered
and sorted his thoughts. Ferdinand heard his
heart echoing dully in his chest, and for a moment
he thought it would pound its way free. There was
a great rushing sound in his ears, and his sight grew
red and hazy. He found it difficult to breathe. None
of this mattered. He pushed away from the con-
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90
cerns of his body. He tipped forward for an instant
that lasted an eternity, then righted himself and
raised his eyes to meet his master’s.
Father Kodesh looked deeply into his eyes, then
nodded as if he’d found whatever it was he sought.
Without further hesitation, he began to speak, and
as he did so his hands moved to the pouch that he
always wore at his side, absently undoing the
leather strips that bound it as he spoke.
“I knew a man who was once king,” Father
Kodesh began. “He gave me many things: a family
that I’d never had, a purpose that would serve me
for eternity, and a love I never asked for. These
things he gave me because it was his nature to give.
I would not have taken them. I was not as you see
me now—nothing is ever twice as you’ve seen it
once. Remember that, Ferdinand, it is an important
lesson.”
As he spoke, his fingers drew forth objects from
within the leather-bound pouch. As Ferdinand
watched, trapped by the powerful voice and the
magic of the moment, Father Kodesh dropped a
single silver coin on the floor between them.
With a toss of his head that sent his silvery gray
hair dancing over his shoulders, he smiled down at
Ferdinand without humor. “This is my story.
“There were great men such as this world may
never know again in the days of my youth. Men of
purpose. Men of honor. There were darker powers,
as well, and it was to those that I fell as a young
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
man. I had been warned away from certain ruins.
My parents had told me the legends, but I was
strong and fierce—born to be a warrior. I would
listen to no one who told me there were things I
might not do. Because of this, I died for the first
time a great many years ago—so many that your
ancestors spoke a different language and lived in a
far-off land when I was born.
“That does not matter. I went to the ruins one
day while hunting. I told myself it was because I’d
seen game in that area, and that the legends would
keep the other boys away. I told myself it was only
so that I might bring meat to my family and honor
to myself. It was not. It was for foolish pride and the
satisfaction of boyish curiosity. Satisfaction, from
that point on, became a very subjective matter.
“I could have gone there by morning. I could
have taken a friend, or a dozen friends, but I went
alone. It was late afternoon when I strayed to that
side of the mountain, and I knew that if I did not
turn back soon, it would be too late—that I would
have to make a camp and wait for the morning.
Rumors or not, there were other more natural dangers
about by night, and I had sense enough—or so
it seemed—to fear those. I made my choice, spurring
my mount toward the ruins while the light was
still bright.
“It was a magical place. There were stone towers
half torn to the ground by time, and the greedy
seeking secrets buried deep within those walls.
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92
Those walls were eaten away from the top and covered
in clinging vines. There were places where
windows and doors still opened onto shadowed secrets.
Not much of interest to a man, but for a boy
it was a treasure trove of adventure.
“I made my way to the largest of the structures
that remained erect. It must have been the main
building, for there were stairs stretching beneath it
and many of the rooms had kept at least three of
their walls, providing some shelter. I found a nook
that was particularly well-preserved. There was a
fireplace that had not seen use in many years, and
a section of roof still remained to break the worst
of the wind and to provide shelter if it was to rain.
Perfect.
“While the daylight remained, there was little to
fear. I placed what supplies and equipment I carried
within my chosen camp and gathered wood quickly.
This done, I set out to do the hunting that had
been my original purpose. It was not late, and the
area was well populated with deer. I remember very
clearly the buck I brought down that evening.
Somehow the taking of that magnificent beast’s life
touched me. I dragged it back to the clearing—the
light fading rapidly around me—and managed to
hang it from a tree near my camp. I gutted it
quickly and left it to drain as I started a fire among
the twigs and logs I’d gathered, thinking back on
it’s death.
“I still carry that image embedded in my mind. I
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
found the buck on the slope of the mountain. It had
stopped on an outcropping of rock, its chest pulled
up proudly and its nose raised to the wind as if it
sensed something was wrong. I carried only a short
bow, but I was skilled. I watched it longer than I
should have, captivated by that sight. Somewhere
in that time I pulled back the string and let the arrow
fly. I have no idea how long I stood there, before
or after the shot. All I could see was the buck, outlined
against the sky—the arrow in flight—the buck
rearing up and crashing, the expression in its eyes
holding my gaze captive as it fell to its death. I’m
not certain I had a coherent thought between that
moment and the moment I lit the fire. So many
things happened that night that I’m not certain I
remember any of them clearly.
“As I cooked a portion of that meat, I watched
the stairway that opened through what had once
been a doorway a few feet to one side of the fireplace.
The dark hole was mesmerizing as I sat,
gazing through the dancing flames. I remember
that, despite the fire, I felt a chill in the air. I
moved as close to the heat as was safe, and when
the weariness finally overtook my nervous fear, I
turned my eyes away from the doorway and drifted
into fitful sleep.
“I dreamed of red eyes and screaming stags, of
shadows that fell from the walls around me and
blocked the fire from my sight. They moved about
me, touched me, whispered to me and toyed with
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my senses and my mind. I was never truly brought
out of that sleep, and yet I knew that what I saw
was truly happening, no dream, and as I lay helpless
—they fed. They touched their foul lips to my
throat and drank from me as though I were a full
wineskin. They did not take all I had to offer, just
a little. I know now that they probably did not even
need it. Something in me called out to them.
“I woke as alone as I’d been the night before, but
everything had changed. The light was harsh on my
eyes and my head pounded as if I’d been drunk for
a week and only just woken. I staggered to my feet
and took my bearings, remembering almost at once
where I was and what I’d done. The stag still hung
from the tree outside the walls of the ruins, pale
and limp—somehow appearing more dead than it
had when I’d hung it. I saw as I approached that
there was no blood. Gone. Drained. The embers of
my fire still glowed brightly in the ancient fireplace.
There was no sign of the shadows, and yet,
as I’ve said, everything had changed.
“I stared long and hard at the entrance to the cellars
below. I wanted very badly to turn and to run
and never to return, but something in me wouldn’t
allow it. Neither did I mount that stair. It was a
standoff, of sorts, or so I allowed myself to believe.
I turned and left, taking the meat back to my family
and accepting their praise without attention.
Nothing mattered, though the meat was heavenly
when my mother served it that night for dinner.
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“I was waiting for something, you see. That something
did not come for a very long time, but the
knowledge that it would come was enough to mark
me as odd. I spent long periods of time alone, took
walks beneath the moon when my family slept. I
volunteered for night guards and hunts that kept
me away for weeks at a time.
“It became too much for me when I was nearing
my twenty-seventh year. I’d been too long at home,
and the ache was burning within me to return to
those ruins. I did not go to hunt—the memory of
that stag, of its blood and those eyes, boring
through to my soul—had removed any taste I had
for that. I took my pack, a blanket, and nothing
more. I told no one where I was going—they would
only have protested, and I knew somehow that this
was something I would never be able to explain.
“The ruins stood much as I remembered them
from years before. The remains of my fire had been
blown away by the wind, but the stairway still
loomed, and the walls and roof remained in place
as if they were waiting for me.
“I made my fire quickly and settled in, brewing
some of the herb tea my mother had mixed for me
and letting my mind wander. I had no idea why I
had come back, what I expected. I knew that my
life of hunting and chasing women in the society
of my family was growing less and less entertaining,
and even then that tendency toward boredom was
a factor in my being. It was a different time, a dif-
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96
ferent place—and yet it was me, and I was unhappy.
“Flashes of my first night in those ruins had
haunted my nights. I dreamed of red, glowing eyes
and flitting shadows. I dreamed of a doorway into
a darkness I could not penetrate, but that called to
me just the same. I sat, sipping tea and waiting,
wondering what would become of me.
“They came as I was nearly ready to drift off.
They came openly this time, one at a time, exiting
the doorway and forming a moving circle around
me. I did not rise, it would have been pointless. I
did not desire to flee, though my heart pounded
wildly and my gaze swept over them rapidly—waiting,
searching. They would never have let me go.
I’d made my choice, though they had called to me.
I’d come back, and I was theirs.
“There were no words. Perhaps they talked
within their minds, or perhaps they’d been so long
in the darkness, so long one unit, that they’d forsaken
the spoken word altogether. I will never
know. One of them, perhaps the leader, knelt in
front of me, cupping my face in his hands and tilting
his head to one side, curious—searching my
eyes. I tried at first to meet that gaze, then I tried
in vain to pull free. I felt my energy drained, felt
the lethargy falling over me.
“They moved in closer then, brushing hands and
lips over me. I was punctured so many times that I
felt my blood would drain away into the soil and
restore me to unity with the Earth Mother. It was
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not to be. They wasted no precious drop of that
blood. I grew weaker with each sharp caress, but the
images grew clearer, the beauty of their eyes and
pale, luminescent skin overwhelmed me.
“I awoke alone once more, but this time to darkness.
It was cold—colder than any place I’ve ever
been—and yet the cold seemed somehow natural.
Though it was dark, I could see clearly, and the
bottom of a stairway beckoned to me. I rose, as
though in a trance, and staggered toward that stair.
I sensed the sunlight streaming down from above,
and I smiled. All would be clear once I was out in
the daylight.
I took one step, then another, and my strength
seemed to be returning. It was on the third step that
my leg passed through the light of the sun. The
searing pain was incredible, and my leg collapsed,
sending me crashing back to the stone floor. I
clutched my leg against my chest, then scuttled
back into the shadows like a crab, panicked. I
stayed that way until the unbelievable weight of
the sun pressing down on my heart dropped me into
blessed darkness, and I lay still.”
Ferdinand had been sitting, rapt, his eyes locked
on Father Kodesh’s features. As the words faded,
and the odd priest grew silent, the air left the
younger man in a long slow breath. “Vampire,” he
breathed.
Father Kodesh’s eyes were far away, but his words
were chilling and sharp as shards of ice. “You will
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98
not use that word. You will not acknowledge that
I am anything but what I appear to be. If you do, I
will know. If you betray me, remember that only I
shall live. We will speak more of this.”
Ferdinand gulped down the words he’d meant to
say. He couldn’t vocalize what he felt, and somehow
he knew it wasn’t necessary that he do so.
“Leave me,” Father Kodesh said softly. “Leave me
to think on what we must do next.”
Nodding, Ferdinand nearly leaped to his feet,
rushing from the room. Kli Kodesh watched him
go, wondering at the folly he’d just committed. It
had been too long since he’d had anyone to talk
with—anyone who cared to listen, in any case. Far
too long. For just an instant he let his mind wander
to Gwendolyn and her quest. He hoped she
managed to complete the task he’d set her before
King Philip came through and leveled the keep. It
would be so much more—interesting—that way.
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SEVEN
The city of Holywell was not large, nor was it particularly
prosperous, but Jeanne could sense an aura
of antiquity that was both sobering and intriguing.
He knew there were others like himself within the
city walls, others who would know him for who and
what he was. He also knew that they might not be
welcome, particularly in the company of one such
as Gwendolyn. Kli Kodesh was known to all, and
it would not take long for any with the sight to
mark her as one of the ancient one’s chosen.
He’d noticed that despite her initial despondence
she’d moved closer and closer to
Montrovant’s side during their ride. Now Jeanne
was forced to bring up the rear as the other two
conversed in low tones. He’d have been jealous, but
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100
it didn’t serve his best interests. If there was going
to be trouble with Gwendolyn, he knew he was the
one who would have to keep his eyes open for it.
Montrovant was distracted by his quest, and by
Gwendolyn.
It was not like Montrovant to enter any situation
with his mind clouded, and that worried Jeanne
most of all. Once or twice he was on the verge of
saying something, then pulled back. There were
things to be learned from Gwendolyn, as well, and
it was interesting to have another companion, even
if she were concentrating most of her attentions on
his sire.
It also meant that Jeanne was more free to explore
things on his own. That was more of a
blessing than he’d dreamed. He knew that the impression
that Montrovant was giving of inattention
was likely a false one, but it was pleasant to feel, if
only for a while, that he controlled a part of his
own destiny. There would be a time in the future
when that destiny would have to be addressed, but
that time was not yet near.
They entered the city just after dusk. The merchants
and vendors were just finishing the stowing
of carts and goods against the coming darkness, and
the denizens of the darker hours were seeping from
the shadows. Loud shouts and cat-calls rang out
through the night, women laughed and sang. The
music and lifeblood of the inns and taverns echoed
through the cool night air. Torches lit small por-
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
tions of the shadows, and children scurried about,
some on their way home, others sneaking off for fun
and adventure away from their parents’ watchful
eyes. Jeanne was caught up immediately in the
sounds and scents, lights and parade of humanity—
the rhythmic pulse of blood through warm veins.
He was several steps beyond the door of the Weeping
Violet before he noticed that Montrovant and
Gwendolyn had slipped inside.
Cursing, he spun on his heel and backtracked,
pushing aside the heavy curtain that draped the
door and moving silently into the dimly lit interior.
He spotted his companions almost immediately.
Montrovant was deep in conversation with a
short, squat man behind the bar, and Gwendolyn
was playing the part of his woman very well for one
who had claimed to have no interest in him. She
hung on Montrovant, draped over his shoulder, one
arm dangling around his neck and dangling down
across his chest. Her head rested in the crook of his
neck at a pert angle, her hair washing over him like
a silken waterfall.
They were the most astounding couple le Duc had
ever seen, and yet he couldn’t keep his attention on
them. He’d been near the sisters in the convent, but
that had been a moment under his own control.
He’d been with others, but only to take them, to
feed. Not since his Embrace had he been deluged
with the variety and intensity of sensations that assaulted
him in the crowded tavern. He stumbled,
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102
righting himself with difficulty and bumping violently
into a large man with ragged black hair and
a patch covering one eye. He tried to form the
words of an apology, but his tongue was thick and
heavy. In any case, the man gave him no chance.
He spun to face Jeanne, and as he moved—suddenly
—his dagger was in his hand and level with
Jeanne’s chest. The man’s one good eye glittered
dangerously.
The scene shifted off kilter, and everything
slowed strangely. Jeanne saw the other patrons of
the bar turning to the disturbance, the men grinning
broadly but making no move to interfere, the
few women present crying out in delight. His
attacker’s arm jerked in a cruel arc toward his face
and he reached out calmly and gracefully, catching
the wrist beyond the blade and stopping it cold.
There was no thought involved. It happened so
quickly that the entire room came to shocked silence.
The expected blood did not flow.
Jeanne stood there for a long moment, holding
the man immobile by his arm, then he released his
grip and stepped back.
“I was about to say I was sorry, friend,” he said
softly. The one-eyed man stepped forward as if his
mind couldn’t comprehend what had happened
and he wanted another go. It was then that
Montrovant stepped in.
“I believe my friend apologized,” he said. His
voice was like ice. “I also believe he will kill you if
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you don’t put that fool’s toy away and let it go. If
he doesn’t, I most certainly will.”
One-eye had had enough. He turned, glanced at
his companions, who had stood a few paces behind
him until le Duc grabbed his arm and who now had
moved a safe distance back. They turned their
heads as if they’d never seen him before, and he
bolted for the door. Laughter followed on his heels:
loud, derisive laughter. It seemed that the mood
had shifted. Those who’d so recently wanted
Jeanne’s blood to drench the floor had turned their
amusement on his assailant.
Montrovant grabbed Jeanne’s arm and dragged
him to a booth in the back of the room, trying to
slide out of the center of the tavern without further
incident, but the damage was done. Gwendolyn
nodded toward the back entrance and Jeanne noted
the passing of a darker patch of shadow into the
night. Any hope they’d had of a quick, silent entrance
to the city had been shattered.
“What did you imagine you were doing, you
fool?” Montrovant hissed, holding his lips very near
to Jeanne’s ear so no other would hear. “You have
made a spectacle of yourself that these men will not
easily forget. What were you thinking, that you’d
kill and feed on the man right in the middle of the
tavern?”
Jeanne shook his head. In truth, he had no idea
what he’d thought he would do. He had no memory
of any thoughts at all. One thing was certain: what-
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104
ever had motivated him had not been well-conceived.
He still felt a bit overwhelmed, but he was
beginning to get a tentative hold on his emotions.
His first emotion was anger. Montrovant had kept
these sensations from him, all of this—the incredible
rush of blood, the interaction with
others—and for so long. How could he not have
anticipated the effect it would have?
“Have you never been in a tavern before?”
Gwendolyn chimed in, her eyes glittering, delighted.
Apparently her understanding of the
moment was deeper than Montrovant’s, or deeper
than he allowed to show. “You nearly took that
man’s arm off.”
“He attacked me,” Jeanne said softly. “I couldn’t
very well let him stab me, then walk away from it
like nothing had happened.”
“You have much to learn,” Gwendolyn said,
laughing. “Have you kept him so shielded from the
world, then, Montrovant? Is this what I would have
had to look forward to, then?”
Montrovant would not be drawn into their banter.
He was deep in thought, and his gaze followed
the movements of the squat man behind the bar.
After a few moments Montrovant leaned close between
Jeanne and Gwendolyn, the incident of
moments before seemingly forgotten, and whispered
to them hoarsely.
“That is Bertrand. He serves Bastian, and he has
been running this tavern, in one form or another, for
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as long as there has been a Holywell. They are
Brujah, and Bastian is very old. He will not take well
to your little display, Jeanne, once Bertrand reports
it. He works very hard to keep this place neutral.”
“I’m sorry,” Jeanne said simply. “I have never
experienced anything so—overpowering. You
could have warned me.”
Montrovant spun on him, nearly raising an arm
to cuff him on the side of the head, then stopped.
He stared at Jeanne for a long moment, then suddenly
his face transformed and he burst into
raucous laughter. He clapped Jeanne on the back
hard enough to make the smaller man stagger, then
turned back to the bar.
“That I could—that I could. Sometimes I forget
myself. Another round for my friend,” he called out
more loudly, waving to the bartender who glared at
him darkly.
Bertrand moved down the bar toward them, a
flagon of wine in his hand. He moved slowly and
precisely, as if each motion had been thought
through carefully. He leaned over the bar as
Montrovant passed him the necessary payment.
“Another incident like the one earlier, and you’ll
never leave this city. Am I understood?”
Montrovant was not intimidated, but he nodded
without speaking.
“At dawn be in the stables. There will be safe
lodging and we will find a moment to talk, I think.
There is more than just a social call involved here,
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106
and I will have no business transacted on these
premises without my knowledge.”
“Of course,” Montrovant agreed, extending one
huge hand across the bar. Bertrand took it reluctantly,
studying Montrovant carefully. There was a
tension in the air that even the more mundane
customers must have witnessed, but it passed, and
the bartender actually smiled.
He didn’t speak, but the tension was broken. As
the shorter man turned away, Montrovant did so as
well. He nodded toward the back of the bar and
headed for the door where they’d seen the shadowy
figure exit earlier. Jeanne breathed a sigh of relief
as they came out into the fresh night air.
They stood in a narrow alley. At one end, a few
feet away, was the street through which they’d entered
on. The alley extended in the other direction
until it curved between two ancient stone buildings.
Debris littered the ground, and there was a
prone figure propped against the wall just beyond
the fringe of shadow.
Montrovant moved easily into the shadows,
Jeanne and Gwendolyn at his heels. The figure
leaning on the wall didn’t move or acknowledge
their presence, but Jeanne sensed that the man—
it was a man—was alive and awake.
“So, the wandering cub returns to civilization,”
a gravelly voice rose, echoing eerily in the confined
space. “Has Eugenio tightened the leash, or are you
sniffing about on your own?”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
Montrovant lunged forward suddenly, and seconds
later he had the man dangling from one huge
hand, held aloft by the throat. Their faces were
very close, and yet the man showed no real fear.
Jeanne decided he was either dangerously insane or
blind.
“It will be a cold day in your master’s afterworld
when I answer to the likes of you,” Montrovant said
at last, letting the man slip from his grip to fall in
a heap at his feet. “I trust that you’ve informed all
those who need to know of my presence—along
with those who do not?”
“I tell no one a thing without a price being paid,”
the man replied, rising and dusting himself off carefully.
He was slender, not young, but not exactly
old, either. There was a gray, timeless quality about
him that told Jeanne there was more to him than
met the eye. “I waited here to see if your price
might be better than the others,” he continued.
Montrovant stared at him for a moment, then
shook his head, grinning ruefully. “I know you too
well to pay you not to talk, Michel,” he said softly.
“I might as well pay you not to breathe—I would
get equal value for my coin.”
“You do me injustice,” Michel replied, also grinning.
“It is good to see you again, Dark One. The
city has not been as entertaining since your last,
shall we say, overly hasty departure.”
Jeanne was truly confused now. Montrovant must
have known the man would be waiting for them.
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108
Now, after nearly taking the fool’s head off by way
of greeting, he was carrying on a conversation like
they were the best of friends.
“What did he do?” Gwendolyn had moved forward,
eyes shining with interest. Jeanne watched in
amazement.
“Tell her nothing,” Montrovant said quickly.
“Those days are behind me.”
“That isn’t all that was behind him,” Michel
grinned. “Half the Duke’s private guard was behind
him as he rode out of town. They were bitter, too.
It has taken fifteen years to raise a new princess…”
“Princess?” Gwendolyn’s eyebrow arched, and
Jeanne turned to Montrovant with a grin.
“Enough,” Montrovant said. “We have more
important things to do here than the recounting of
my past mistakes.”
“Oh, they have been recounted many times since
you left,” Michel added, his grin still wider.
“Sondra came back, you know. Quite the event
that was.”
“Sondra?” Jeanne asked.
“The princess, of course,” Michel laughed. “Or,
she was the princess when our friend here met her.
She was somewhat more than that when she returned,
and she was not happy to see how her father
had forgotten her and elevated her younger, bastard
sister to legitimacy.”
“He recognized Seline?” Montrovant asked, suddenly
interested. “Despite my warning?”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“No one paid much attention to your warnings
after you’d been gone a year or so, my friend,”
Michel said ruefully. “They might be frightened of
you, but they are certainly not long of memory.
Once things calmed down, they were pretty quick
to start chasing their own interests again.”
“But Seline?”
“Yes, Seline, and you can imagine the stir that
raised. He was without an heir, and she was the
only remaining hope with the bloodlines to keep
the house intact.”
“And did she?” Montrovant asked.
Jeanne was fascinated, watching the interaction
between the two and trying to piece together the
fragments of what they said into a decipherable
whole. Montrovant was getting caught up in the
story, and that in itself was entertaining.
“Of course not,” Michel laughed out loud. “She
might have pulled it off, though. She was one of the
finer wenches of the palace, as you will recall. If
Sondra hadn’t come back—who knows?”
Turning to Jeanne and Gwendolyn, his expression
apologetic, Montrovant explained. “Sondra
was the daughter of a man I had a—problem—
with. She was infatuated with me, and I’m afraid I
might have let the passion of the moment carry me
away.”
“You Embraced her?” Gwendolyn’s voice was
sharp, and Jeanne moved a step back.
“I did it for revenge.” Montrovant met her stare
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110
evenly. “She did not beg me, but her father did me
a disservice. She was beautiful, and young, and vital,
and she was there when I hungered. A very
convenient way to even an old and tiring score.”
Gwendolyn didn’t respond, but it was clear that
the issue was far from resolved.
“Sondra came back almost a year to the day of
her own—transformation” Michel continued, taking
up the story again eagerly when Montrovant
hesitated. His eyes were animated, amused and the
dim light glittered off them brightly. It was obvious
that he’d caught the interchange between
Montrovant and Gwendolyn and put two and two
very quickly into four.
“She visited her father first. He was sick for
weeks. Every time the doctors thought he was on
the road to recovery, he’d grow pale and weak.”
“She killed him?” Jeanne asked, unable to contain
his curiosity.
“No,” Michel said, grinning, “the doctors did.
They determined that he had a poison within him
and that they needed to bleed it out. They did that.
They bled everything out of him. The physicians
were found dead the day after he died, and I suspect
that Sondra did that out of anger over the waste.”
“She is still here, then?” Montrovant asked.
“Sondra, I mean.”
Gwendolyn moved closer, as if she would protest
his interest, but suddenly all humor had drained
from Michel’s face, and she held herself back.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“No. She is dead, and that is why I must warn
you. The Brujah, they have taken this city for their
own. There are those of other blood-lines who
come here, but only with Bastian’s approval.”
“Then Syd is no longer here?” Montrovant demanded.
“I have come a long way to speak with him.”
“Oh, he is here,” Michel answered quickly. “He
has always been here. Even Bastian hasn’t made
any sort of move in that direction. Syd leaves
Bastian alone, Bastian pretends Syd couldn’t kill
him whenever he might decide. Pretty precarious,
but somehow it works.”
Such intrigue. Jeanne had been used to this sort
of thing in mortal life—it was the way of noble
blood. This was different, somehow—deeper. The
powers involved had been there for so long, and the
roots of the “families” had had time to grow very
deep. There was more involved than a younger son
putting his sibling to death, or a duke poisoning the
legal heir.
“This Sondra,” le Duc cut in. “You say she is
dead—she was killed by another Damned?”
“You sound surprised,” Michel observed. “The
Dark One must truly have kept you sheltered. A
hundred years ago a question like yours might have
brought a frown to my grandfather’s face, as well.
Now it is common. The Brujah breach no challenge
to their supremacy here without a confrontation.
Bastian has all but proclaimed himself ruler of this
city, and he is no slouch at tactics.
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112
“Only those who are truly old stand against him,
and, as I said, those he leaves alone.”
“I must see Syd,” Montrovant repeated. “Michel,
can you lead me to him?”
“You know the price that would put on my head,”
Michel countered, meeting Montrovant’s gaze levelly.
“I will make it worth your while,” Montrovant
continued. “I will also offer what protection the
three of us can offer. I may not have Syd’s age, but
I know a few tricks. Bastian is not so old he couldn’t
be brought down a notch.”
Michel hesitated. He seemed to be weighing the
consequences against the entertainment value, and
Jeanne thought suddenly of Kli Kodesh, waiting
somewhere ahead on a road they’d only begun to
travel. Who was this Michel, and how was it that
he spoke so freely and with such knowledge? It was
becoming painfully clear that Montrovant had kept
certain things from him very carefully. Another
thing to concentrate on. Jeanne almost wished they
were back on the road where things were much
simpler. Almost.
“You may be right, my friend,” Michel said at last,
nodding curtly. “I will take you as close as I dare,
and I will direct you the rest of the way in. I’m not
certain how Syd will feel about seeing you again—
it will draw attention to him, as well.”
“That is a road I will travel when I reach it,”
Montrovant replied. “Syd will see me. There is no
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way he could not. If he is not happy to see me, well,
I will have to find a way to cheer him up, won’t I?”
“You have worked that magic on me,” Michel
said, grinning. “I can’t remember the last night that
promised so much of interest. It is good to see you,
old friend. You spend far too much time roaming
around. One like yourself could make things very
hot for Bastian and his minions.”
“You know that, of my kind, I am the only one
for whom the city is not home. The Dark
One…called by the hunt, the wolves…something
not quite right in my blood,” Montrovant countered.
“I have my own roads to travel. I will leave
Bastian to his sedentary life. Eugenio as well.”
As Montrovant spoke, Michel turned away and
trotted quickly up the alley away from the street.
Jeanne was just about to voice a question as to their
destination when the man took a miraculous leap,
clearing a fifteen-foot stone wall to his left and
taking to the rooftops without a slip.
Montrovant followed easily, as though he’d expected
the move, and Gwendolyn wasn’t far
behind, though Jeanne heard her cursing softly as
she corrected her balance and scaled the wall clumsily.
Again he was several steps down the alley
before his mind completely registered that the others
were gone.
Another lesson. Michel might be human, but he
was not one to be trifled with. Jeanne let out a soft
growl and leaped to the rooftop, taking off as swiftly
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114
as possible in pursuit of the three shadows disappearing
in the distance. As he caught up with his
companions, a cloud slid across the moon, plunging
the city into total darkness. A darkness that
swallowed them without a ripple.
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EIGHT
Michel led them quickly over several rooftops,
down through a second alley, and came up short at
the rear entrance to a stable on the southern border
of the city. Montrovant didn’t bother with
questions, and they moved with such speed and
purpose that le Duc was hard-pressed just to keep
up. He trailed along behind Montrovant, at
Gwendolyn’s side, lost in his own thoughts. He
knew he’d need to ask some questions about Michel
at a later time. For the moment he focused on their
breakneck journey across Holywell, and on watching
their backs as best he could.
He had a lot to learn about the politics of the
city, but already he understood that they had inherent
enemies. Best to keep his wits about him and
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116
his eyes and ears open in directions Montrovant’s
were not. Michel huddled immediately against the
rear wall of the stable, as if concentrating, and
Montrovant stood silently beside him. Gwendolyn
stood at Montrovant’s other elbow, watching. She
paid no attention whatsoever to Michel, nor did
she watch le Duc. Only Montrovant captivated her.
Another reason to keep the watch—another responsibility.
It seemed as though, youngest or not,
he was the only one with any common sense left.
Michel peeled himself away from the wall.
Jeanne couldn’t tell if he’d been listening, or sensing
by some other means, but he was apparently
satisfied. He turned to face Montrovant once more.
“The way is clear, for the moment. This is as far
as I go, old friend.”
“You will not take me to Syd?” Montrovant asked
quickly.
“I have done so, you just don’t know it yet,”
Michel said softly. “I must go, Dark One, but I will
see you again soon—you will owe me, you know.”
“That may be true, my slippery friend, but what
I will owe you remains to be seen,” Montrovant
answered.
Without a word, Michel leaped to the rooftops
again and headed off at an angle from the way they’d
come. Le Duc moved as if to follow, but Montrovant
stayed him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Wait,” he said softly. Jeanne was going to protest,
but he saw Gwendolyn stiffen suddenly and
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back against the wall. It was only seconds later that
he felt them. Not that it mattered. They were completely
surrounded.
“You have come a long way,” a sibilant voice
floated out to them through the shadows.
They stood alone, looking about themselves in
alarm, and then he was there. Tall, slender to the
point of emaciation, eyes glowing with a deep
golden fire. Le Duc took a step back, but Montrovant
held his ground.
“Hello, Syd,” he said softly. “You seem to have
been expecting us, despite the long journey.”
“It isn’t a large city,” Syd replied. “Word travels
quickly in certain circles. I, and mine, travel in all
of those circles.”
“So it would seem. You have saved us the trouble
of finding you.”
“You have made an error, Montrovant,” Syd replied
quickly. “You were told to stay clear of all of
us— not to drag us into your little game. You have
chosen to ignore this, and you have chosen the
wrong time and place to make that mistake.”
“Is this any way to greet an old friend?” Montrovant
replied smoothly.
Le Duc caught the slight edge in his sire’s voice.
The air was so charged with tension that every
movement, every intake of breath and every word
spoken was unnaturally immediate. They were immortal,
all of them, to a point. That point was a fine
line they were walking, and the straight-edged blade
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118
of that point was sliding softly across Jeanne’s spine.
“Friend.” Syd spoke the word as if it were unfamiliar,
as if it were an unpleasant taste passing over
his tongue. “Friends do not endanger one another,”
he continued. “Friends do not travel hundreds of
miles to drop their troubles in the lap of another.
Friends do not ignore the instructions of their elders.”
“I have ignored nothing,” Montrovant replied. “I
have come to you for answers, but I have done
nothing to endanger you.”
“You have no understanding of how things are
now,” Syd replied. “You come wandering in from
Hell knows where, dragging a bitch and a pup behind,
asking questions and leaping across buildings
in the middle of the night, and you tell me you
have done nothing to endanger me. Things are not
as they were. The Damned are not all solitary powers
any longer—clans have gathered in some of the
great cities, and rumor carries of others. There are
places where groups of our own have taken control.
Do you know who is in control here, Montrovant?
Do you care?”
“I know more than you believe,” Montrovant
said, taking a step forward. “I know that Bastian
calls orders and others in this city jump, and it
shames me. You are here. You are both older and
stronger than he, and yet you cower in the shadows
and threaten your own.”
“You are not my own.”
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“You were Embraced by Eugenio, as was I,”
Montrovant stated. “You are my brother. If you
choose to deny this, that is your decision, but it is
also a fact.”
Le Duc felt the tension growing, and he knew
that the next words spoken would not be as
friendly. Montrovant was arrogant, and that wasn’t
always the best way to approach a would-be ally. As
it turned out, it didn’t matter. The air around them
erupted in sudden sound, and dark shadows
dropped from the walls and slipped from the streets
and alleys. Bastian was upon them.
“You have led them to me,” Syd gasped.
“If you think that then you are a bigger fool than
I had believed,” Montrovant spat, spinning toward
the nearest of their attackers. He flipped his hand
out in an almost careless gesture, and there was a
howl of outrage and pain from the shadow.
Jeanne moved without thinking. He was young
to the Blood, but his mind was the mind of a warrior.
The red haze had not abandoned him in his
Embrace. The world slowed, and his blade was suddenly
in his hand as he backed toward the wall. It
was an instinctive motion, protecting his back as
he swept the blade in a quick arc to clear the area
near him.
He noted that Gwendolyn was gone. He’d not
seen her go, nor did he believe she’d been taken
down so swiftly. Another question for later, assuming
that later existed.
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120
They were surrounded, but there weren’t as many
as he’d originally thought. Syd’s followers had
melted from the shadows at the first sign of trouble,
and Montrovant had entered the battle like an
avenging angel. The odds had evened and turned
in the blink of an eye. A short, squat form leaped
from the shadows, moving in an odd, sidewise gait
toward Montrovant’s back. Jeanne levered himself
off of the wall without thought, leaping at the
shorter vampire and swinging his blade in a vicious
arc.
His target moved in odd, disjointed motions.
Jeanne adjusted mid-leap, angling the blade lower
and tighter. There was a snarl as he was spotted,
and he felt the air rush past his throat as long,
knife-sharp nails raked upward, barely grazing his
skin. He saw feral, yellowed eyes glowing brightly,
then spinning away at a crazy angle as his blade
separated head from neck. Montrovant whirled,
ducked as Jeanne flew past, and grinned ferociously.
It was over moments later.
Jeanne came back to the reality of the moment
slowly. He was aware that the battle had ended. He
was aware that there were others moving about
him, speaking in low, hurried tones. He leaned
against the wall and waited for the haze to clear. He
prayed that no one would come to him, that none
would touch him. He’d kill them, and it would be
a shame to waste the second life offered in a single
existence. The red slipped from his eyes. The
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voices became coherent. He felt someone drawing
near and steeled himself for the touch that never
came.
“You fought well.” It was Gwendolyn. He turned
slowly, staggering slightly as he removed himself
from the protective surface of the stone wall. He
was surprised once more.
“Where did you go?” he managed to reply. “They
came, and you were gone. Where did you go?”
“I was here,” she said, smiling enigmatically.
“There are a few tricks you don’t know yet, my
friend. I didn’t know who or what they were. I
thought it might be better if one of us were—less
obvious.”
Jeanne stared at her for a long moment, assessing
the emotions he saw warring in her eyes. Trying
to decide whether to call her a coward or applaud
her ingenuity. Neither option was available a second
later when Syd appeared at their side.
His eyes were brighter than when they’d first
seen him. His motions were quicker, more certain.
He was smiling, and the transformation of his features
was amazing.
“You are all right?” Syd asked. Though the words
were friendly, there was a bright glitter in the elder
vampire’s eyes that made Jeanne wonder if
there were any point in answering.
“I’m fine,” Gwendolyn answered immediately.
Jeanne was only able to nod. His mind still lingered
on that fine edge between red and reality. It had
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122
been a long time since he’d been caught up in a
moment of battle. It had never been like this. More
lessons. More that Montrovant might have told
him, but hadn’t. Had he known?
“We must move,” Syd was saying. “We must get
out of sight before Bastian realizes you weren’t
alone. These were sent after you, not me. Not
enough of them—not by a long shot.”
He turned and Jeanne followed. Gwendolyn had
insinuated herself close against his side, and he
allowed her to support him slightly for the first few
steps, aiming him in the right direction.
“You will have to tell me about this place inside
your mind, the place you go when you fight,” she
whispered as they began to move through the door
into the stables. “There are many things you can
tell me, I think.”
He didn’t reply, but he knew the conversation
was far from over. Syd led them into the stables
quickly. Montrovant had entered well ahead of
them, not even bothering to turn and offer reassurances.
The door closed behind them with a
decisive, final thud.
They moved through the center aisle of the
stable in a silent, single-file column. The animals
shied away, snorting and stamping in disapproval,
but did not raise more of a disturbance than that.
It was apparent that this wasn’t the first such latenight,
blood-scented entourage to pass this way.
Most animals would have been in a frenzy.
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A dark passage opened in the wall ahead, and
Jeanne watched with interest as those ahead of him
disappeared through it. When he and Gwendolyn
reached that hole he hesitated for a long moment,
adjusting his eyes to what lay beyond, then
mounted the stairs that appeared before him and
started down. Those behind made their way onto
the stairs as well, and the portal was closed behind
them.
As they moved down the shadowed passageway,
Jeanne felt the weight of eyes upon them. No one
was visible, but there was no doubt that they were
watched. There was no warmth in that surveillance.
“Stick close,” Jeanne whispered, leaning forward
to place his lips close to Gwendolyn’s ear. “Just
because they’ve invited us in doesn’t mean they
aren’t going to kill us.”
She nodded almost imperceptibly in answer. She
needed no warning from him, but it had made him
feel better—more in control—to voice his concern.
Almost immediately he began to wonder if anyone
else had heard. Cursing himself under his breath he
continued into the darkness.
The first thing he saw when he returned to the
light was Montrovant’s face, illuminated by flickering
candle-flame. He stood before Syd, whose
back was to the door, a thin, ethereal figure against
the backdrop of Montrovant’s vast height and
broad shoulders. The lines of Montrovant’s face
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124
were relaxed, and Jeanne breathed easier. They
might not be completely safe, but if Montrovant
was willing to take the chance, odds were he had
reason to believe he could get them out of whatever
was to come.
“You were still wrong to come,” Syd was saying.
“The more years pass, the more important it becomes
that we hide our nature from mortals. We
hide from one another now, and it won’t be so long
before the younger ones start coveting your own
blood. Things are different now.”
“That is all the more reason to aid me,” Montrovant
responded quickly. “What I’m doing, what
I will be able to offer to you, and to the others—it
is worth the risk.”
“To you, everything is worth the risk,” Syd replied,
shaking his head. He turned toward the wall,
unwilling to meet Montrovant’s eyes.
“There are stories,” Syd continued. “I will share
what I know. I will offer you no aid, nor will I give
you any sort of blessing, but after wrongly accusing
you of leading Bastian’s filth to me—and after
the—entertainment—they provided, I feel I owe
you this. Besides, I know little of your knights beyond
what you might hear on the street.”
Montrovant took half a step forward, as though
he’d protest, but stopped when Syd turned back to
him.
“Do not press it, Dark One,” he whispered. “I
know of your ways…I know of your mind, more
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than you would believe. Be happy with what I offer.
You are not so dark as all that.”
For a long moment the two stood, facing off in
silence, then Montrovant smiled. He didn’t drop
his eyes, nor did he look back, but the smile carried
all the answer he needed. Syd returned it.
“It has been too long after all, Dark One.”
They both broke into sudden laughter, some
understanding passing through their taut gaze, and
the tension in the room eased several notches.
Others appeared from shadowed alcoves and
dropped from perches nearer the ceiling of the cavern
—for that was what it was: a huge, hollowed
cathedral in the stomach of the mountain.
Now that the boundaries of the encounter had
been set by the leaders, Jeanne was able to take a
moment to scan the room. It was an impressive
sight. Tapestries lined the walls, and upon closer
observation, dark passages branched out in all directions.
It was a massive, labyrinthine maze of the
damned. They swarmed around the small group in
the center of the room, forming in smaller groups
and watching. Apparently they didn’t get many
visitors. Not that moved under their own power
and had an option of leaving, in any case.
“So,” Syd said at last, after less formal greetings
had been exchanged, “you chased that dog Santos
from the Holy Land, and now you follow the Grail
to the stronghold of these knights, knights whose
very order is a result of your own machinations.
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126
What makes you believe they have found what you
seek?”
Montrovant reached beneath his cloak and
pulled free the letter. He spoke no word, but
handed the paper over to Syd and waited for the
other’s reaction. It wasn’t long in coming.
“Damn him,” Syd spat, scanning the letter
quickly. “How can he continue to mock us like this?”
“He is very old,” Montrovant replied, “and it
would appear that he has the luck of the gods on
his side.”
“There are no gods,” Syd replied, handing the
paper back. “If there were they could never stand
by for such treachery.”
Jeanne was surprised by the violence of Syd’s reaction.
Kli Kodesh’s actions were difficult to
understand—insane in some instances—but
treachery? What could the old one possibly owe to
Syd that would cause such depth of emotion?
Gwendolyn had moved back to stand more
closely by his side.
“He doesn’t appear to be very fond of my sire,”
she whispered.
Jeanne nodded in agreement. Apparently Syd
had heard her, as well, though she’d kept her voice
subdued. He turned to face her then, studying her
features intently, then returned his gaze to Montrovant.
“She is not one of ours,” he said. “Why is she
with you?”
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“She was sent to me,” Montrovant replied
calmly. “The two of us have—a history. It was another
message from Kli Kodesh.”
“I thought I recognized the scent of that blood,”
Syd nodded. He was trembling. “Why have you
brought her here, Dark One? There can be nothing
good between their kind and ours. Nothing.
And look at her! It is his blood. She is Nosferatu,
and yet she shows only small sign of the twisting,
of the scarring. She is not for you.”
“There is more between us than you understand,”
Montrovant replied quickly. “She travels under my
protection.”
“None could protect any of you if it were not my
will,” Syd said softly. “You will walk from these
halls with my blessing, or not at all. It would serve
you well to keep that in mind.”
“I am well aware of the situation,” Montrovant
replied, still smiling. “I wish that you could have
spoken with the ancient one last time I was in his
company. He had some interesting things to say
about Eugenio—things that might change your
opinion of what we all have in common.”
Syd moved so quickly that Jeanne saw only a
blur. The slender vampire took Montrovant’s
throat in his grasp and actually began to lift
Jeanne’s sire from the ground before it became clear
that he had not been quite as quick as he’d thought.
Montrovant’s own hand held a dagger poised over
Syd’s heart.
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128
“You will not speak in that manner of our sire in
my presence,” Syd said, trembling. It was obvious
that he was fighting the urge to squeeze Montrovant
with all his strength and take his chances.
“I will speak at any time and any place in the
manner that I wish,” Montrovant grated, forcing
the words past Syd’s grip on his throat and pushing
the blade forward, backing Syd away.
Jeanne moved closer, and Gwendolyn followed,
but Montrovant waved them back. “You have invited
us into your safe-haven,” he continued. “You
have offered me information, and for that I thank
you. Do not mar that by foolish pride. Eugenio is
no saint, and you yourself would not even know the
name Kli Kodesh if you’d not heard him speak it
first.”
“I do not care for the truth,” Syd spat. “I care for
family. That was not such an issue when you and I
were young. I tell you again, these are different
times.”
“Different times have the same history, my
friend,” Montrovant replied, easing back from the
other’s grip and lowering his blade. “There is no
better teacher than your past.”
“You will find Philip’s army on the road,” Syd said
softly. “They left to lay siege to de Molay several
days ago. Many of the knights have given themselves
up, renouncing their vows and returning to
the safety of the Church. I doubt their sincerity,
truly, but the renouncement of the order is all that
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is asked of them. Those in the temple are not so
easily swayed. Another warning. They are not your
knights. De Payen was their founder, but others
joined him after you departed, and not all of them
were exactly as they seemed.”
“What do you mean?” Montrovant asked, suddenly
serious.
“There are rumors of three knights who came to
the temple after you departed, knights with particular
abilities. Magi, they called themselves, and if the
stories are true they had abilities that would have
come too close to those of your friend Santos for my
taste. You will find a different sort of order upon
your return. I don’t want you to ride in unaware.”
“Suddenly you seem very concerned with my
welfare,” Montrovant grinned. “I will have to learn
what I can from those on the road, then, and
change my approach appropriately. At the very
least I will discard the notion of riding up in full
Templar regalia.”
“That would make for an interesting battle, if
nothing else,” Syd replied, smiling back at him
thinly. “No doubt Philip would be amused to find
something outside the walls of the keep to vent his
anger on.”
“No doubt.” Montrovant began to pace. “Now
we have to find our way out of this place safely—
get our things and get back on the road without
another incident with Bastian. If I’d known things
were so bad here, I’d never have entered his inn.”
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130
“Your things will be fine if you make it back to
them,” Syd said softly. “The one rule that Bastian
has created which even he abides by carefully is the
neutrality of the inn. It is a way station, nothing
more. If you make it there, and you intend to leave,
you will be fine. I would not take him up on those
quarters, if I were you. That is another matter altogether.
You may stay here until the nightfall.”
Montrovant reached out his hand and clasped
Syd’s. “You won’t regret this, my friend,” he said.
“I will do as I have set out to do, and Eugenio will
know that he was right to put his trust in me—as
will you.”
“We do not put any trust in you, Dark One,” Syd
said grinning more broadly. “We just hasten you
along to get you as far away from us as possible before
you bring the world down upon your shoulders.”
“You will miss out on some very interesting times,
then,” Montrovant concluded. “I manage to keep
things entertaining.”
Syd motioned to one of his followers, a dark
woman in robes of deep green. Her eyes were deepset
and haunting, and she gestured for Montrovant,
Gwendolyn, and Jeanne to follow. Montrovant
exchanged a few more words with Syd, his voice
lowered so that only the two of them knew what
he said, then released the other’s hand and followed
the woman’s lead.
Jeanne looked hesitantly over at Gwendolyn,
who watched Montrovant intently. She didn’t hesi-
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
tate to follow, and Jeanne took up the rear once
more, his mind reeling with all he’d seen and heard.
New knights? Magi? Not words normally bandied
about in casual conversation. What were they letting
themselves in for, and how much did Kli
Kodesh have to do with it? He was half-tempted to
ask Gwendolyn, but he knew that she wouldn’t
answer…not truthfully. No more than he could betray
Montrovant.
They wound through shadowy passageways until
they came to a series of doorways opening off of the
main corridor. The woman opened a door and
beckoned for them to enter. They walked into a
suite of two rooms. There was no light. Along one
wall was a table with four crude chairs. There were,
of course, no windows. A single cot hung from the
wall by chains.
Jeanne moved to the doorway leading to the second
chamber. It was more lavish. There was a single
sleeping surface in the center, large enough for a
group if the need arose. There were books lining
the walls, their spines showing from the shelves.
There were musical instruments, covered in the
dust of long disuse.
“We have other visitors occasionally,” the
woman spoke for the first time. “This was the quarters
of a traveling band of Damned musicians…a
flame-haired woman and her followers. I hope you
will find it comfortable.”
“It will be perfect,” Montrovant assured her. She
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132
watched him a moment longer, sizing him up, then
spun on her heel and departed, leaving the three
of them alone for the first time since they’d burst
into the alley behind the Weeping Violet.
“You trust him?” Jeanne spoke up quickly.
Montrovant looked at him for a long moment as
though he might get angry, then grinned fiercely.
“Of course not. We’ll be safe enough for the moment,
though. He has nothing to gain by harming
us, and he does owe us one for the help with
Bastian.”
“Well,” Gwendolyn chimed in, “I guess we’ll be
here for the night—any thoughts on who will rest
where?” She had moved a step closer to Montrovant,
putting a hand possessively on his shoulder
and letting her gaze slide to the large bed in the
center of the second room.
“I have it all worked out,” Montrovant replied.
_
As Jeanne felt the sluggish hold of the sun seeping
down through the earth to cloud his thoughts,
he sensed Montrovant on the surface beside him.
From the other room he imagined he could feel
Gwendolyn fuming. Entertaining. Always.
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NINE
As it turned out, Syd lived up to his word. When
the sun began to set, the same dark-clad woman
appeared at their door, and though they were ready
for whatever form of treachery might occur, they
were led back through the tunnels and deposited in
exactly the same place they’d first found Syd.
“I wouldn’t linger here long,” the woman advised.
“Bastian will not take what happened last
night lightly.”
“Nor do I,” Montrovant agreed. “Let’s go.”
He leaped to the rooftop nearest him and disappeared,
leaving Jeanne and Gwendolyn to scramble
after him. They had no trouble matching his pace
once they recovered, but he’d robbed them of their
opportunity to depart in grace. Ahead they heard
his deep, throaty chuckle.
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134
Jeanne hadn’t asked what their plans were. It had
seemed a bit too obvious for that. Get their things
and get out without Bastian ending their unlives.
Possibly not an easy task, but not complex, either.
He couldn’t make out much of their surroundings
as they passed—they moved far too swiftly.
Montrovant was taking a great chance so early after
dark, moving openly with such speed. If mortals
saw them there would be an uproar. If Bastian, or
even Syd, were to catch wind of it, they would be
furious at the risk to their own security. It bothered
Montrovant not at all. They slid across the last of
the buildings like a shadow and dropped into the
alley behind the inn in silence.
Again there was no hesitation. Jeanne would
have liked a moment to collect his thoughts, and
to ask what they planned to do once inside, but
Montrovant was not in any mood for caution. They
entered so quickly that their sudden appearance
from the back brought the room to a complete and
uncomfortably heavy silence. All eyes turned in
their direction, then slowly back to whatever had
amused them moments before. All but Bernard’s.
“You did not sleep?” he asked softly, polishing the
wood of his bar with an old rag. “I sent someone to
wake you, but you were nowhere to be found.”
“Visiting old friends,” Montrovant answered
smoothly. “Sorry if it caused you any—inconvenience.
We will be leaving tonight. I will pay for
the room, of course, though we did not use it.”
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“Of course,” Bernard replied.
“If you could be so kind as to have someone fetch
our things,” Montrovant continued, “we would be
most grateful. I have a sudden aversion to closedin
places. I suppose I’ve been too long on the road.”
“That much is certain,” Bernard replied, his control
nearly cracking. “You know too little of the
ways of this world, I think. I will have your things
brought in, and you will leave. If you so much as
look back over your shoulder, you will leave more
than my inn—you will leave the Earth.”
Montrovant’s smile broadened. “We understand
one another well enough, then,” he replied. “There
is little here to look back to, and I for one will be
happy to be back on the road.”
They glared at one another for a few more moments,
but neither could think of anything more to
say. Bernard broke the stare first, motioning for one
of the girls waiting tables to come closer. He sent
her for their supplies and baggage, then turned
away without a further word. Jeanne watched him
carefully, but with the exception of the tension in
the innkeeper’s muscles, there was no indication
that he even remembered Montrovant and his
companions were present.
“We will have to watch our backs, I think,”
Gwendolyn whispered, drawing Jeanne and
Montrovant closer. “The girl went for our packs,
but two others left as well—Cainites, and with
Bastian’s stink oozing from them. I sensed them the
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136
moment we came in. I doubt it is coincidence they
left the moment he sent her out.”
“I saw them,” Montrovant replied. “Probably just
to make certain we leave as promised, but you are
right. Nothing can be left to chance now. It would
appear that I have a lot to learn about the world I’m
about to enter, despite the fact that I have walked
its roads for centuries.”
“There is nothing constant but change,” Jeanne
commented dryly. “Here comes our girl now.”
They looked up and saw that he was right. The
girl had returned, staggering under the weight of all
of their possessions. Montrovant took a small pile
of coins from his pouch and laid them on the bar
without a word. Turning to Jeanne, he nodded in
the direction of the girl and they started moving.
Bastian never turned once, not even to be certain
the correct amount had been paid.
Jeanne grabbed his things, smiling brightly at the
girl as he took them in hand. She was trembling, a
human girl who sensed herself on the verge of
knowledge she did not wish for. Then they were
moving again, and Jeanne followed Montrovant
toward the door. Gwendolyn was bringing up the
rear this time, and she looked even more nervous
than Jeanne felt. If this was what city life was like
these days, then he wished they’d never left the
mountains. If he’d wanted this kind of intrigue he
never would have left home for the holy land in the
first place.
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Their mounts were waiting for them at the stable
and they were in the saddle and riding hard for the
city gates before the stable-master was fully aware
of their presence. There was no sign of movement
in the darkness surrounding them, and Jeanne
spread his senses as wide and thin as possible, but
came up empty. Odd, but it seemed that the city’s
inhabitants had cleared out to make way for them.
Did they sense danger, or had Bernard spread the
word?
The silence meant nothing, he knew.
Montrovant was the one to watch, the one who
would know. The problem was that Montrovant
wouldn’t tell them until the last moment, because
if he gave away what he knew—they would know
as well. So they rode on in silence, the three horses
side by side, tearing down the road at breakneck
speed.
Montrovant rode easily, his form bonded with
that of his mount so closely that their silhouette
against the bright light of the moon was that of a
single dark entity. Such rhythm and power.
They rounded a corner, and suddenly Jeanne
sensed the others. They crouched beside the road
in a small copse of shrubs and low-slung trees.
Montrovant veered suddenly, riding straight at
them, and with a shrug, Jeanne followed. Jeanne’s
own instincts told him that the men were only
there to watch them leave, but who was he to argue
with Montrovant’s actions?
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138
There was an intense burst of fear from the direction
of the shrubs, and two dark forms darted
suddenly from the shadows beneath the trees.
Montrovant drew his blade and rode in close to the
first without allowing his mount to break stride. He
swung his arm in a lazy arc, severing the vampire’s
head from his shoulders cleanly before he had a
chance to turn or defend himself.
The other met an equally swift end. Gwendolyn
rode him down, not hesitating as the hooves of her
mount made contact with the man’s heels, then his
head. She wheeled and returned, causing her horse
to rear and bringing it down solidly on the
vampire’s back. He lay, twitching and moaning
wildly in the mud.
Jeanne leaped from the saddle and drew his own
blade. As Gwendolyn backed away, trying to calm
her horse, he lashed out and removed the second
head. It rolled a few feet away and stopped, dead
eyes glaring back at him accusingly.
“Do you think two such as these would have
dared to attack us?” Jeanne asked softly. “It would
not have been…prudent.”
“They were only meant to make certain we left,”
Montrovant said. “I want to send a message back
to Bastian.”
“This should serve,” Jeanne replied, sheathing
his blade and leaping back into his own saddle.
“Assuming these were the only ones he sent.”
“There are no others.” There was no way to tell
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
for certain how Montrovant knew this, but Jeanne
shrugged and returned to his mount, swinging into
the shadow.
“Remind me to make no travel plans in this
area,” Jeanne said with a grin. “Somehow I doubt
we will be welcome here again.”
“Don’t forget Syd so easily,” Montrovant replied
grimly. “I think we may have given him just the
taste of victory he needed to stir him to action. If
we were to return, I think we would find a very
different city indeed. Syd and I may not agree on
many things, but the blood running through those
veins is old and strong.”
Montrovant turned away, and Jeanne could tell
that memories were flashing through his sire’s mind.
He yearned to share them, to ask the questions that
seethed and snatched at his own thoughts, but he
knew better than to push. Time was not a commodity
they lacked. Montrovant would tell him what he
needed to know when he was ready. He always had.
Gwendolyn was not so easily put off.
“How do you know him?” she asked, spurring her
mount until she came up beside Montrovant. “I
heard you say Eugenio was his sire?”
“Eugenio is very old,” Montrovant said, brushing
her off brusquely. “I am not the first he Embraced,
or the last.”
“Perhaps the most difficult, though…?” she persisted.
Montrovant smiled grimly, but he didn’t answer.
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140
Gwendolyn finally caught the mood of the moment.
They rode on in silence, more slowly, but
still at a gallop. Holywell became a dim glow on the
horizon, then faded completely from sight.
Montrovant rode on without further comment,
and Jeanne fell in behind him. Gwendolyn rode at
the Dark One’s side for a while, then dropped back
with Jeanne. They covered ground steadily but not
with particular haste, and it was several hours before
dawn when Montrovant pulled over and
beckoned for them to follow.
“Shouldn’t we get farther away before we stop?”
Gwendolyn asked quickly. “You didn’t exactly send
a friendly message back to Bastian…”
“He won’t follow,” Montrovant stated, waving his
hand in dismissal. “He doesn’t have the time to spare
for such pursuits now that we’ve stirred up his own
hornet’s nest. We have other matters to discuss.”
Montrovant slid from the saddle easily and led
his mount to a small copse of trees off to one side
of the road. At first it seemed only a good place for
a moment’s rest, but as they drew closer, Jeanne saw
that beyond the trees there was an opening into the
side of the mountain itself. The trees grew around
the opening of the cavern, disguising it from view.
“You knew of this place.” Jeanne stated the obvious,
not really questioning.
“I have been here before,” Montrovant agreed.
“Our people have traveled these roads for centuries.
Do you think they have done it openly, walking in
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the daylight and waving to the crowds?”
Jeanne didn’t answer. None was expected.
“You could have mentioned this place,”
Gwendolyn tossed off with her usual candor. “You
may lord it over your progeny all you care to, Dark
One, but do not presume so much with me. I am
not so much your junior, and my sire is—ancient.”
Montrovant stiffened and turned. The air in the
small clearing dropped several degrees in temperature,
and Jeanne cringed inside. Then the tension
dissipated, and Montrovant actually laughed.
“You make me forget the seriousness of the moment.
Come. I have some questions for you, and I
think it is time that I got my answers.”
They secured their horses carefully outside the
cave, tying them off with the best cover available.
Jeanne brought up the rear, sending a final questing
thought behind them. There was nothing, as
Montrovant had said there would be. It just made
him feel better to check.
The cavern was deep and evenly cut. It was obvious
after a few steps inside that it was not a
natural cavern. The walls were too straight, too
perfect. There were niches carved in the stone for
torches, but Montrovant ignored them, plunging
headlong into the gloom.
They moved through a narrow corridor and entered
a larger, darker chamber. Montrovant moved
toward the center of this, then stopped in front of
a series of stone benches.
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142
“I haven’t been here,” he mused, “since I came
this way with Eugenio. I wasn’t certain that it
would all be intact.”
There were signs that they were not the first to
use the chamber, but at the same time there was no
indication that any earlier inhabitants had been
through recently. Dust coated everything with a
fine veneer, and the air had a stale, stagnant taste.
It reminded Jeanne, not unpleasantly, of a tomb.
He searched the shadows. There were small heaps
of clothing piled in the corners, the remnants of a
couple of fires—which seemed bit out of place—
but most of all there was darkness and shadow.
“This is a safe haven, one of the way-stations we
set up in the old days. It is a place where the sunlight
will never reach us. Did you notice the curves
as we came in? They were cut so that the light
would be trapped before it reached this chamber.
We will be safe here until morning.”
“Bastian doesn’t know of this place?” Jeanne
asked quickly.
“Of course he does,” Montrovant answered, gazing
at his progeny steadily. “You doubt, then, my
telling you that he will not follow?”
There was a moment of silent tension, then
Jeanne looked away. “Of course not,” he said softly.
“I just worry.”
“It is your nature,” Montrovant agreed. “He will
not follow, Jeanne, there is nothing to be gained in
it—that is why we have nothing to fear. There will
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be times in the days to come when we will not be
safe, but we are now.”
Jeanne nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
Gwendolyn never questioned Montrovant’s word.
She seemed content to unpack her things and pick
one of the stone benches for her own. Jeanne suspected
that she had known the cavern was there as
well. It made him feel isolated and alone. He erased
the sensation from his mind.
Turning to Gwendolyn, Montrovant smiled again.
“Now, my fine lady, you will tell us a bit more about
just what in the name of the seven levels of Hell is
going on at de Molay’s keep, why your sire wants me
there, and we will see if we can form a useful plan.”
She stared at him defiantly for a long moment,
and Jeanne ducked back a step. She might have
been talking out of place when she spoke of her
own age, and that of Montrovant, or not. Certainly
she was older than he, and the energy crackling
through the chamber was ancient and potent. Had
Montrovant presumed too much this time?
“You will get your answers, Dark One, but not
because you order it. I have not been instructed to
withhold information from you, and so I shall not.
You forget that I am not overly fond of Kli Kodesh,
even though he granted me what you denied.”
“Of course, the old one will know that, as well,”
Jeanne noted bleakly.
Gwendolyn glared at him darkly, but did not reply.
“There are dark powers at work in the keep of
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144
Jacques de Molay, Montrovant. There are things
there that even Kli Kodesh himself cannot control,
though he does not fear them.”
“I would have thought that the knights would
have had their fill of dark powers dealing with
Santos and his ilk,” Jeanne cut in again.
“Santos?” Gwendolyn spun to face him. “Where
do you know that name from?”
Jeanne stared at her, shocked by her sudden outburst,
but Montrovant was on his feet and had her
by the shoulders, turning her back to face him
roughly.
“Where is he?” The words dripped malice and
poison. “If you know where that son of a dog has
gone, I will have the answer.”
“You will have that answer soon enough, in any
case,” she replied, studying him intently. “He consorts
with de Molay as we speak. It is Santos who
led the Grand Master down the path that has led
to Philip’s attack.”
Montrovant released her, turning away quickly.
“Does he still walk in the robes of a priest, groveling
in underground tunnels with his cowled rats?”
“He lives below, yes,” Gwendolyn replied. “But
he is no priest. He walks in the shadows. He takes
what he wants without asking, and de Molay brings
him more. Others have complained, all but a few
who are close to de Molay fear what is happening,
but none has the courage or strength to challenge.
Now it is too late.”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“What do you mean?” Montrovant asked quickly.
“It is never too late.”
“It is too late for de Molay,” Gwendolyn replied,
turning away. “He will not let go of his dark dreams.
He and Santos have brought Philip’s wrath down
on the heads of the Templars, and they will bring
down the order before they are done. It is all or
nothing with that one—I have felt it deep within
him. I have fed from him, Dark One.” She spun to
face him again, moved closer so that their faces
were scant inches apart. “I know his heart. He believes
that the only way through what is to come
is a portal of darkness, and he means to open it.”
Montrovant stared at her for long moments before
he spoke. He searched her eyes—Jeanne
wondered if he might be searching even deeper.
“There was a head,” Montrovant said softly.
“Have you heard anything about a disembodied
head?”
“They worship such an image,” Gwendolyn said
softly. “They have painted symbols and diagrams of
such a thing, and they claim that it will bring them
answers. It is said that a head will lead them to the
truth.”
“He has them as he had his other followers in
Jerusalem,” Montrovant said. “He will drive them
toward the ritual, and they will get answers, but the
answers will be to Santos’s own questions. He seeks
the same things that I seek, and he will stop at
nothing to possess them.”
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146
“Then we must stop him,” Jeanne said.
“You know as well as I how difficult that will be,”
Montrovant said, turning to face his progeny with
a dark, brooding expression painted across his face.
“And Kli Kodesh knows as well. Santos is the only
being I have faced that I believe might be more
ancient. If the treasures I am led to believe are
where your sire claims them to be,” Montrovant
turned back to Gwendolyn, “then he has arranged
for another round of entertainment. They are right
under Santos’s nose.”
Montrovant grew silent then, and Jeanne took
the moment to study him. This was the moment
they’d been waiting for since they’d left the Holy
Land behind, but certainly not the situation they’d
dreamed of. Santos and the Knights Templar were
behind them, or so they’d thought. Now both
loomed on their horizon, the one a faded memory,
the other a recurring nightmare. So many miles, so
many years, all of it to come full circle and face the
same challenge they’d faced at the beginning. At
least it had been the beginning for Jeanne.
Montrovant’s memories were deeper. They carried
generations and decades beyond Jeanne’s
earliest recollection, and the bits and pieces he’d
heard over the years had only made a sketchy backdrop
against which to paint the coming encounter.
“We will be prepared this time,” Montrovant said
at last. “I have no power that can withstand Santos
if he reaches his goal, but we have some time left
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
to us, and we have Philip. The army on the horizon
will distract de Molay. His followers will be in
a panic. He will have to expend more energy than
he wants to keep them in check. Santos will suck
at his soul, but there is only so much that he can
do to hurry things. He races against Philip, and now
against us as well.”
“At least we will have surprise on our side,”
Jeanne said, not really believing his own words.
Montrovant grinned at him. “You think he won’t
know we are there? How did we find out he was up
to his old tricks?” He spun quickly to Gwendolyn.
“Your sire will be certain to drop some hints, I’m
afraid. It is all a game to him—everything is a
game.”
“He has no contact with Santos,” Gwendolyn
retorted hotly. “He would not.”
“You have no idea from whence you come,”
Montrovant said, cutting her off. His voice had
dropped an octave, and there was an odd energy in
the air. Jeanne felt himself removed from it, but it
crackled around him.
“You trust no one,” Gwendolyn accused.
“You will not exist as long as I if you do not learn
that lesson,” the Dark One replied. “Kli Kodesh
may be amused by you now, but he is not easily entertained,
nor for long. He will sell us all out for a
midnight show. We must plan with him in mind as
well. If we are to get into de Molay’s keep, get what
I seek, and get out without being destroyed, then
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148
we will have to make this the best effort of our second
lives. Are you prepared for that?”
He swept his gaze from Jeanne to Gwendolyn,
back to Jeanne. Gwendolyn wasn’t really included,
but there was the question hanging in the air.
When the time came, could they count on her?
Would she be with them, or would Kli Kodesh yank
her by the hidden, subtle ties that bound her, and
cause her to betray them?
“The most important thing,” Montrovant went
on, “is that we get to de Molay as quickly as possible.
We may have to leave our mounts behind. I
don’t want to be riding down some dusty country
road when Philip takes the keep and hands over the
treasure to the Church, or to his own coffers.”
“We might be spotted,” Jeanne pointed out.
“We might die any number of horrible deaths, or
be staked by mindless mortal fools, or burn in the
light of the sun,” Montrovant countered, eyes blazing.
“But if we cower in fear in the face of
challenge, we might as well be dust.”
No one spoke after that. They moved among the
cots, each of them choosing a place to rest, and
they lay back to await the encroaching weight of
the sun’s light. Montrovant had made their
choices, and neither of them had disagreed. When
darkness fell, they would fly, fast and free. Though
Montrovant had listed the walls that stood between
them and their goals, the tone of his voice
had fired Jeanne’s mind. It was time to see what fate
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
would pit against them. As comfortable as he’d
been on the road, it could never replace the red
mask he wore to battle. The darkness held only
questions, but the answers hovered on the periphery
of his mind. He met unconsciousness with a
smile.
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150
TEN
Mordecai watched the sun set from the parapet
of his keep. Despite the years since Kli Kodesh had
gifted him with blood that lessened the pain
brought on by the light of day, he still could not get
over the wonder of such a simple thing—to watch
a sunset. He wasn’t comfortable in bright sunlight,
but in those quiet hours between day and night, he
felt as though he ruled the world. Free of death, and
less inhibited by the restrictions of his kind. Free
of everything save responsibility, and that responsibility
gave him a purpose to drive him—another
gift.
The others rarely joined him for his evening
vigil. They were a quiet bunch, loyal and true, but
not much in the way of imagination. When Mor-
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
decai and his old brood had Embraced them, they
had been on their way to the Holy Land to lend
their lives to God. Now they did that same thing,
after a fashion, though the lives they would have
given were long behind them.
“It is nearly time to go,” a voice floated to him
through the growing shadows. Gustav stood a few
feet inside the doorway.
Mordecai nodded. “In a moment. The night is
just now upon us, and we haven’t so far to travel.”
Mordecai stood at the wall, the wind whipping
at the wispy remnants of his hair. His skin was so
pale that it seemed translucent, glowing faintly
from within. His disfigured face, long beak of a nose
and ears tapering to sharp points somehow failed
to mar the austere beauty of his features. He was
Nosferatu, but he was more, as well. He was of the
blood of Kli Kodesh.
He spun from the wall and entered the tower.
The steep stairs wound away below him and he
followed their mesmerizing spiral toward the lower
levels. He knew Gustav would have the others
ready in the stable. They would be mounted, awaiting
his word.
At times like these, Mordecai wished more than
anything in the world for another to talk with, one
who knew the places and times he’d known, one
who would look upon him as an equal. That was,
after all, the cost of his gift. He could not truly go
among men, though he walked nearer to the light,
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152
earlier and later than almost any other Cainite he’d
encountered. He could not go among his own kind,
either. The blood in his veins was too valuable, too
important. Mordecai hadn’t fed on human blood
since he’d left the Holy Land, and the hunger, behind
him.
He entered the stable and strode directly to his
horse. Gustav stood beside the animal, one hand
holding the reins, the other soothing the beast as
he spoke to it in hushed tones. Mordecai took the
reins and levered himself into the saddle in one
smooth, quick motion. Gustav was mounted before
Mordecai could wheel his snorting stallion. Without
a word, they moved out.
The doors to the stable closed behind them as
they passed through the portal and into the night.
Not all of his followers would join them on the
road: the tower had to be guarded. That which had
been entrusted to them had been spread across the
land in small pockets, but not all of it had passed
from their hands. Certain treasures, certain secrets
—these mortals were not yet ready to know, if
ever they would be. These had to be kept safe.
“Did the master tell you what it is we seek?”
Gustav asked, pulling his mount alongside
Mordecai’s. “It must be something powerful indeed
if he wants us so directly involved.”
Mordecai didn’t answer immediately. Then, “I
know only that the Templars have gathered an
abundance of relics and treasure into their coffers
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
over the years. Among that hoard there were bound
to be things better left hidden. Santos has come to
them.”
Gustav’s eyes sparkled. “Santos? You have spoken
to us of that one, but I never expected to see him
alive and sniffing around our business again.”
“The guardian is not so easily driven away,”
Mordecai replied. “He is ancient, and he can sense
objects of power more readily than you can trace
the lines across the palm of your hand. His presence
verifies what the master has told me. We must be
there before Philip puts the castle to the torch, and
we must find a way to get in and out with whatever
they have found.”
Gustav didn’t reply, but Mordecai sensed the
questions hanging between them. It was one thing
to guard secrets carefully in a tower, tucked away
from the sight and intrusion of the world. It was
quite another to go wandering into the midst of a
war, sneak into a heavily guarded keep and make
off with the thing those inside coveted most. Even
ignoring all of that, there was Santos to consider,
and he alone would make it a risky endeavor.
Mordecai was thankful for the silence. He had no
answers to offer, and he preferred not to dwell on
the impossibility of what was to come. The Master
would not summon them if there were no hope, or
plan. They would just have to wait until the time
came when that plan could be revealed.
They wore heavy robes with deep cowls to hide
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154
their ravaged features, and the wind from their
horses’ speed whipped the cloth back behind them
like huge wings. The road to their tower was not
often traveled, and time was wasted as their mounts
worked across the rough footing, but none would
see them pass. No one came near the tower. Dark
legends surrounded the forest skirting those stone
walls, legends that had been old when Mordecai
first led them down that road with their wagon
dragging behind them and the dust of Jerusalem on
their sandals.
Kli Kodesh had sent him to the tower. Kli Kodesh
knew the legends—for all Mordecai knew, the ancient
was the cause of the legends. Whoever or
whatever was behind them, they were powerful. No
more than a dozen travelers had made their way to
those gates since Mordecai first strode through
them, and none of these had returned. It is not
difficult for the Damned to provide substance to
legends. In fact, those moments had proven immensely
entertaining. Mordecai was beginning to
understand the ancient’s love of entertainment.
The tower disappeared behind them, and the
road stretched ahead. Miles and miles to travel,
hours to think and wonder, plan and pray. Odd,
that last, but after so many years with Gustav and
the others, Mordecai wasn’t beyond the notion that
someone might be listening—even to the Damned.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
ELEVEN
Jacques woke with his head throbbing madly and
his eyes half-focused into blinding, invasive light.
He wrenched to the side, burying his face in the
sheets, but the damage was done. Pain lanced
through his brain and dragged him back to consciousness.
With a groan he rolled over and sat up,
letting his head fall into his hands.
The light told him he’d slept too long again. The
cries of vendors and steady clip! clop! of horses’
hooves were signs that the rest of the inhabitants
of the keep had met the new day when it was truly
that. He wondered for a moment what time it was,
just as quickly forgot the question. Not important.
What was important was to stop the pounding in
his head and to find Santos. There was something
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156
about the daylight hours that diminished the dread
the smaller man could instill. Now was the time to
confront him, and for Jacques to find his answers.
There was a quick knock on his door. The servants
must have heard him stirring. He imagined
them standing there, huddled against the door,
waiting for the moment he would finally rise and
require their services. He ran his hands quickly
back through his hair and sat up straighter.
“Yes?”
“We have food, your lordship. Food and wine…”
“Bring me water in place of the wine,” he
growled, regretting the sound as it vibrated through
his skull. “I will take the food now.”
The door opened and a young girl, no more than
fifteen years behind her, scurried into the room
with a platter in her hand. Hushed voices echoed
in the passageway, and the retreating footsteps of
the others as they rushed off after the water. Gritting
his teeth against the pain, Jacques scowled at
the girl and nodded curtly in dismissal. She
launched herself back through the opening as if her
dress were on fire, and he almost managed a smile.
Louis. As soon as he thought of his friend, the
memories seeped back, dim candle-light flickering
this way and that, shadows and chanted words in
languages spoken in tones that reverberated in
some strange, unnatural way. Following Santos in
the circle, shuffling, then dancing, leaping and
throwing themselves about in a frenzy of dark emo-
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
tion and anticipated power. Louis had shared those
moments, and yet he didn’t quite grasp what
Jacques knew deep within his heart. Santos was the
key.
There was nothing concrete that he could lay a
finger on, but he knew he was right. With Philip
only days away on the road, leading an army with
the might and righteousness of the Church behind
it, nothing short of a miracle could save them.
There were miracles both dark and light, and
Jacques had felt curiously alienated from things
that leaned toward God and daylight since he’d
begun his studies.
Not all of that learning had come from Santos.
There were secrets that had been passed down
through generations of Templars, powers granted to
those with the sight and spiritual power to recognize
and use them. These were his by right of birth
and office. He was Grand Master of the Knights of
the Temple, and that was no small thing. Neither
was it enough to stop Philip.
The faithful gathered around him now. Many of
them had never been near the central keep. There
were those who still lived and died by the creed—
no possessions, no purpose but to serve the temple,
the Church, and their lord. There were others
whom Jacques doubted had ever stood within the
walls of any temple for fear of burning to ashes on
the spot. The order had grown out of all proportion,
and far beyond his complete control. Like all em-
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158
pires do eventually, it was failing. The only thing
that had kept Jacques and his followers on their feet
for this long was the fact that half the rulers in
Europe owed them money.
Louis was among those who would rather fight
and die than fall into the debt of one such as
Santos. Louis had the power, as Jacques himself, but
with Louis it was more a question of honor. Jacques
wanted knowledge to bring himself to a higher
level, to find answers for himself. Louis wanted the
answers for the order. It was a difference of opinion
that had slowly driven them apart since Santos
had arrived at their door, and now it was driving
them all to destruction.
Unless he was right.
He staggered to his feet and wolfed down the
fruit, leaning heavily on the table and closing his
eyes against the stabbing pain in his head. The girl
returned moments later with a pitcher of water and
poured him a goblet. He took it from her trembling
hand, smiling again, and upended the glass over his
head.
“My Lord…” she backed away a step, nearly
dropping the pitcher to the stone floor, and he
grinned at her, the water pouring from his hair and
dribbling down his chin.
“Much better,” he said. Then he laughed. “Pour
me another.”
With a timid smile in return, the girl did as he
asked, and once more he tossed it down over his
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head, feeling the chill as it shocked him from his
lethargy. He set the goblet on the table and ran his
fingers back through the long, damp tangles of his
hair.
“Do you want me to fetch a comb, Lord?” the girl
asked.
“A comb?” he stared at her dumbly for a moment,
then grinned. “Oh, I don’t think that will be necessary,”
he answered her. “I have much to do.” He
reached for the water again, pouring a third goblet
full, and she stepped back away from him, eyes wide
with wonderment and confusion.
Jacques threw back his head and roared with
laughter. Then he turned the cup up and drained
it, letting the cool water flow down his throat and
wash away the sensation of swallowing sand that
the wine had left him with. He slammed the goblet
onto the table and turned away, looking for his
sword. He found it leaning against the table beside
his bed and grabbed it, belting it in place. At least
he’d not been too drunk to take care of his weapons.
The girl scampered back into the hall as he
turned, and Jacques allowed himself to drop his
head into the palm of one hand a final time to concentrate
on ignoring the pain. He might fool the
servants and save himself a bit of unnecessary scandal,
but he couldn’t fool the pain away.
With a final regretful glance at his bed, he turned
toward the door and strode purposefully into the
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160
hall. One of the servants, a boy of about sixteen,
still stood waiting in case he needed anything.
“Go and find Louis de Chaunvier,” he ordered
tersely. “Tell him that I have gone below, and that
I require his company.”
The boy nodded, dropping his eyes to the floor.
Jacques waited, and the boy bolted suddenly like a
frightened deer. Jacques turned away and continued
toward the stairs. He looked neither right nor
left, nor did he scan the passage behind him to be
certain that the boy was doing as he’d asked. He
was already fixated on what lay ahead and below,
and there was no room for mundane concerns between
the throbbing bursts of pain that were his
blood pounding through his temples.
_
Santos heard footsteps approaching. He knew it
would be de Molay. Only one of his own would dare
to come to him at such an hour—alone. He smiled
into the shadows. Time was slipping away from
them, and it was good that the Templar leader was
growing impatient. It would make the next few
days’ events go more smoothly. Santos had to finish
what he’d begun, and it would have to happen
before Philip’s arrival. In his present state, de
Molay would be malleable, open to more radical
suggestions than he might otherwise have been.
Behind him, lost in the shadows of the chamber
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he’d claimed as his own, sat a short wooden table.
Atop that table rested the head, silent and staring
—watching his every move with comprehension
beyond time and physical dimensions. Waiting
with all the answers he needed and sought, waiting
for the ritual. Only the perfect blend of sound
and scent, rhythm and meter could invoke that
power. It had been a long time since he’d had the
resources at his disposal, and that last time had
ended in disaster.
A mortal. A half-Damned mortal had walked
into his chambers and prevented him from completing
his ritual. He’d sought only a name. He’d
not been careful, letting arrogance rule his actions,
and he’d failed. That mortal had cost him everything,
and he meant to restore all that had been
stripped from him. One power still in his possession
could grant him that, and it stared blankly at him
with the wisdom of the universe captured behind
blind eyes and a silent tongue.
A knock on the door startled Santos back to the
moment, and he pulled the door wide. De Molay
stood just outside, glaring at him. The lack of sleep
and wealth of wine that had been the Templar
leader’s night shone forth from the overly bright
glitter in his eyes and the slight slump of his shoulders,
despite the tension with which he held
himself.
“Enter,” Santos said, beckoning Jacques closer. “I
have been expecting you.”
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162
“None of your dark lies today, Santos,” Jacques
grated, stepping quickly into the room. “We have
listened to you, done as you asked, learned—but
too slowly. Philip marches on the castle not a week
away from our gates. Give me an answer, a way
through this.”
“All the answers you require reside within you,”
Santos replied, turning away. He measured his
steps, knowing that de Molay’s anger would only be
fueled by such a cryptic response.
“You mock me,” Jacques said softly. “You mock
me, and you laugh behind my back, and it will end.
You will tell me the secrets I need to know to save
my order, my holdings and my life, or I swear you
will regret it for the rest of your unnatural existence.”
Santos spun, eyes blazing, and strode toward de
Molay defiantly. “You would do well to watch the
tone of your voice,” he said softly. “You will also do
well to remember what you have seen, and with
whom. You are dust beneath my feet, Jacques—a
moment’s diversion in years beyond your comprehension.
I don’t need you, but you need me.
Perhaps this has slipped your mind?”
He was close now, so close that he could feel the
slight tremor that rippled through de Molay’s
frame. Close enough to see the light of fear, coupled
with the madness of total despair, that kept the
man standing before him, defiant despite the consequences.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“You will share what you know with me,” de
Molay continued with a great effort, “or I will tell
them all who and what you are. I will admit to every
dark thing we’ve done or contemplated, and I
will see to it that they drag you out into the sunlight
you seem to hate and stake you to burn.”
Santos stopped short. No one had spoken to him
in such a manner for centuries. Even Kli Kodesh,
that fool of an ancient, who had stripped him of
that which he’d been charged to safeguard and spirited
it off into the night, had not been so bold. The
instant temptation to kill de Molay and just walk
away was nearly overpowering. Nearly. He lowered
his eyes and concentrated, then he spoke.
“I will show you a thing you have not expected,”
he said at last. “I will show you the answer to your
problems, and mine, and we will find those answers
together. All of our training thus far has been leading
you toward the completion of the required
ritual. We are as ready now as we will ever be, and
if we don’t act, we will be destroyed.”
“Show me,” Jacques said softly. “Show me this
answer. I knew that you possessed it, and yet I
doubted. Louis thinks me a fool for listening to you
at all.”
“Your friend de Chaunvier is not a visionary,”
Santos said, his voice suddenly soothing and sibilant
at once. “He lacks your vision, and he lacks
your power. You will be remembered as a great man,
Jacques de Molay.”
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164
As he spoke, Santos ushered his guest toward the
back of the room. As they came to a stop facing the
table, de Molay stopped short, his face awash in
confusion.
“This is a joke? You have brought me here to
show me a head that has been sliced from some
poor fool’s body, and you offer it to me as an answer
to an army at my doorstep?”
De Molay’s hand was on the hilt of his sword in
an instant, but somehow Santos was at his side,
pressing down on that hand and holding it in place,
not allowing the blade to free the scabbard.
“You will listen to me, you fool,” Santos hissed,
“and you will not interrupt me again. You have
done nothing to deserve the answers I will give you.
You have corrupted a once-great order and it
crumbles around your ears. Your only value is that
I cannot perform this ritual alone. You will be
grateful, and you will bow down before me,” Santos
had turned so that the full impact of his eyes
washed over de Molay’s suddenly retreating form,
“and you will do as I instruct. You will do this, or
you will die. Do you doubt me?”
De Molay stood still for an instant, and Santos
was forced, grudgingly, to admire the man’s courage.
He didn’t answer at once, weighing the
probabilities on both sides—thinking it through.
Lesser men had withered beneath his glare. Weaker
men had fallen at his feet and begged for their miserable
lives.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“I will do as you ask,” de Molay said at last. “I will
help you to find your answers, and mine. I will
bring the others, and we will drive Philip back to
his palace. All these things I will do, but know this:
I fall at no man’s feet. Suggest that again, and we
will see if your power is a match for cold steel. I
would rather die here, in the shadows and deceiving
my followers, than submit to such dishonor.”
Santos met de Molay’s gaze for a moment longer,
then nodded slightly. What he’d said earlier had
been only partially true. While he could continue
his existence indefinitely despite what de Molay
might do, his immediate needs included the knight
and his followers in a very direct manner. They
were at somewhat of a standoff, and for some odd
reason it was refreshing not to be immediately
looked upon as superior.
“The head is more powerful than you could imagine,”
he said at last. “You see an amputated bit of
some long-dead body, but you see only the surface.
The head has not known a body for centuries, and
yet it is preserved as well as yours or mine. The eyes
are blind, the mouth silent, but this is not always
the case. The mind within? I’m not even certain
that it is a mind, or that it is embodied in the head
itself, but it knows all, and it will talk. We must
bring it to life, you and I, and we must do it now,
before we are overrun.”
“I am glad that you begin to understand this as a
possibility,” de Molay said softly. “There are a great
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166
number of men, women and children in the keep
above our heads. They may not know of you, or
care what you do, but they depend on me for their
very survival. I do not intend to let that faith be
wasted on me. I want to see them through this.”
“I will not promise you foolishly that I know we
will make it through what is to come,” Santos replied.
“I do know that if there is a way—if there is
a bit of truth that can shift things in your favor, or
even turn the tide and calm Philip, the head will
know.”
Jacques nodded. He’d heard enough of what he
needed to hear to bolster his failing confidence,
and already the implications of what Santos had
revealed to him were beginning to sink in. He
turned toward the head and gazed at the closed lids
of its cold, dead eyes. Nothing. He sensed nothing
of the power Santos hinted at, and yet he knew that
it was true. There was something itching at him
from just beneath the surface—something that
would not be ignored, like a voice whispering from
just far enough away that the words could not be
made out clearly.
“I will bring the others as soon as the light begins
to fail,” he said at last. “Tonight must be the
night.”
“If we are not ready,” Santos cautioned, “if we go
into this unprepared, we may perish to the man.”
“If we do not, we will surely do so,” de Molay
countered. “My scouts place Philip three days from
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
here. I will give you two of those to finish our
preparations. We will meet again tonight.”
Santos nodded, and de Molay turned away, heading
directly for the stairs that would lead him back
to the upper levels—to his people—his knights. He
had neglected them for too long, and it was time for
answers, whatever they might be. He had been dwelling
for too long in a world of doubts and questions.
Jacques felt Santos’s eyes burning into his back
as he walked away, but he wouldn’t give the man
the satisfaction of turning back. Let him gloat. He
would have his moment, and if he provided everything
he claimed that he could, perhaps de Molay
would not kill him for suggesting he bow down
beneath his own keep. The order was not without
those of power, and though that power was of little
use to him in his present situation, it might prove
more difficult to ignore than Santos believed.
Jacques did not lack power, he lacked the knowledge
that might make that power come to his aid.
As he stepped onto the main floor of the keep,
Jacques’ first thoughts were of Louis. The Templar
leader needed his friend to support him in what was
to come more than any other. They had been
through life and love together, and Jacques could
think of no other he might turn to. He needed the
other man’s earthy, well-grounded common sense
for a fresh perspective.
Besides, the two of them would be able to reach
the others twice as quickly. There was no time to
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168
waste if they were to spread the word as widely and
discreetly as necessary. There could be no surprises.
They would need every moment of time, and every
ounce of concentration to memorize the chants
and the steps of the dance. The two days seemed
like a matter of short hours as he contemplated the
cost of failure.
He rounded a corner, and ahead he saw Louis’s tall
form towering over another man in one of the small
interior gardens. Jacques walked more rapidly. A
greeting was on his lips when he bit it back. Louis’s
words floated across the scant yards that separated
them—words Jacques was never meant to hear.
“You will not speak of Jacques de Molay in such
a manner while I walk these halls,” Louis said heatedly.
“You have no idea the pressure that presses
down upon him.”
“I have no idea?” the man fairly whined. “Philip
is on the road to put us all to the flame, and you
tell me I have no idea of the pressure? We all know
the pressure, and what I want to know is just what
the hell you, and your precious Jacques, plan to do
about it.”
Louis’s face reddened, and he slammed his fist
backhanded across the man’s face, sending him
sprawling. Jacques stood still for a moment,
stunned, then moved forward again more rapidly.
Louis was advancing, towering over his fallen adversary
with storm-clouds shifting across his brow.
“Louis,” de Molay called out. “Louis, wait.”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
His friend looked up, startled, and backed off a
half-step, though it was obvious from his expression
and the set of his shoulders that he did not wish to
be distracted.
“Jacques,” he said softly, “I…”
“I know, old friend, I know,” Jacques said quickly.
“It is not the way to our goal. You know this. Don’t
let the frustration drive you to actions that do not
become you.”
“This from you?” Louis replied suddenly, and
with venom. “Why don’t you go cower in your
shadows and prove them all right, then.”
Jacques stopped for a long moment, fighting to
control his temper. He knew there was a measure
of truth in Louis’s words, but he was not accustomed
to being confronted by his own men
—particularly not with others present to carry the
word of it to his followers.
Turning to the man Louis had backhanded, who
was just rising from the ground, one hand clamped
across his rapidly swelling jaw, Jacques forced a thin
smile. “I would suggest that you find another place
to offer your opinions,” he said softly.
The man was going to speak—Jacques felt it—
then he stopped. Something in the eyes he faced,
or the feel of Jacques’s eyes on his own—or the fear
of Louis—stopped him. He nodded quickly and
turned away, scurrying out of the garden and returning
to the depths of the keep.
“He will say nothing good of this,” Louis growled.
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170
“We can’t afford more rumors of our weakness.”
“Let him talk,” Jacques replied quickly. “We have
more important things to discuss.”
He moved closer to remove the likelihood of
anyone overhearing what he said. “I have seen
Santos,” he began. Though Louis frowned at the
mention of their dark mentor’s name, he kept his
silence. Jacques plowed onward. He told Louis of
the head, and he told him of the words that had
been exchanged that morning. Nothing in his
friend’s countenance suggested that he approved,
but he did not interrupt, and it was a long time after
Jacques grew silent before he spoke.
“We have opened Pandora’s Box, my friend,”
Louis said at last. “We have no choice but to see
this through, or to stand here and wait for our
deaths. I have to confess that I’m tempted to wait—
but my heart tells me we must try. Whatever the
cost to our souls, whatever the weaknesses that
Santos will exploit, we have to do what we can.”
“Then you will help me gather the others?”
Louis stared into his eyes, searching for something
that he obviously found.
“I will help you,” he said. “How could I not?”
The two of them turned back toward the keep,
separating at the door. It would be another sleepless
night, but what else remained to them?
Nothing. They didn’t look back at one another as
they parted, but both men had the nagging sensation
of laughter from beneath their feet.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
TWELVE
Ferdinand hurried his steps, moving toward the
chapel with his head lowered and his ears burning,
as though the Devil had caught him at something
and was following on his heels. He’d been outside
the chambers of Louis de Chaunvier, and he’d overheard
the heated exchange that had gone on
within. Before de Molay could exit the room, he’d
turned and run, fearful of being caught. It was not
odd for him to be waiting outside in case something
was needed. He knew it was a needless fear—none
would suspect a poor servant of treachery. Not unless
the fool didn’t have the good sense not to run.
Though his mind cried out for him to slow down
and be cautious, he couldn’t force his body to comply.
He was long gone from de Chaunvier’s chamber
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172
door, but his heart still trip-hammered in his chest,
and his legs felt weak. He feared that if he stopped
running, he would stumble, or fall, and that would
call more attention to him than his headlong flight.
The doors to the keep’s chapel were open wide, as
always, and he slipped inside, taking a moment to
glance around and be certain that none had seen him
enter. It wouldn’t do to draw punishment for shirking
his duties—he needed his freedom to carry out
Father Kodesh’s orders. Now more than ever he knew
it would be imperative that there be no slip-ups.
There were no others in the small chapel. He
slipped between the pews and around the altar,
passing through a ray of scarlet and green light that
filtered in from a stained-glass window above. His
eyes were drawn inexorably upward, and he found
himself staring into the accusing eyes of the Savior.
That deep, sorrowful gaze traced his footsteps,
pinned him to the stone floor like an insect on the
tip of a dagger, trapped against a table top. He
dragged his gaze back to the shadows beyond the
altar and plunged through the doorway.
“Why have you come?” Father Kodesh asked
immediately. “It is a bad time—a dangerous time—
for you to be here.”
“I have news of Santos,” Ferdinand gasped, pausing
finally to catch his labored breath. “I heard de
Molay and de Chaunvier discussing him. They
mean to push things ahead, to attempt whatever it
is that Santos wants them to do soon.”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“How soon?”
“They didn’t say, exactly, but de Molay mentioned
that Philip couldn’t be more than three days
away. He also said that he meant for this—thing—
to happen before then.”
“That is not such a surprise,” Kli Kodesh
frowned. “When else would they attempt it? I don’t
think Philip or his priests are going to want to join
them.”
“There is more,” Ferdinand whispered urgently.
“Santos showed him a head—some kind of disembodied
thing. He told de Molay of its powers, and
now our lord is more determined than ever that this
is the way to save the keep. He is a man possessed,
and somehow it rubbed off on de Chaunvier. They
will gather again tonight.”
Father Kodesh stood very still for a moment, lost
in thought. If what Ferdinand said was true, then
perhaps there was more danger involved than he’d
imagined. He hadn’t thought Santos capable of
teaching so many followers so many intricate rituals
in such a short time. He’d forgotten that there
were adepts of other sorts among the Templars
…such a ritual was not beyond their scope. If the
head were animated none would be beyond its
power, not even Kli Kodesh himself. He had no fear
of dying, but there were fates worse than death,
even worse than a second death, and Santos would
not hesitate to force them upon him.
“You have done well to tell me this,” he said at
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174
last, “but you must go now. You cannot be seen
here, and I have things to accomplish before the
light fails.”
Ferdinand nodded, turning slowly away. Then he
stopped, glancing fearfully over his shoulder,
“What is this thing Santos possesses, Father? What
is it that is powerful enough to ward off an army?”
“It is not,” Father Kodesh replied with a frown.
“De Molay believes that it is, I think, but Santos
knows better. The head is an oracle—it can provide
information impossible to acquire by any other
method—names, secrets. If Santos was to ask it for
my true name, even I would be in peril. His only
thought is of his treasures, his lost pride—we must
be the ones to watch the larger impact of all of this.
De Molay and his Templars are doomed—make no
mistake that Philip will come, and the most that
the head can do is to tell them how a few might
escape, or how they might best prepare to die.
Santos has made fools of them all.”
“Why didn’t you tell them?” Ferdinand whispered,
fearing his impertinent question would
prove his last. To his surprise, Father Kodesh did
not seem angry. There was an odd twinkle in his
eye as he answered.
“It is more entertaining this way, don’t you
think?”
Ferdinand had no answer, so he turned away, ears
burning and heart still slamming wildly in his
chest. Entertaining? he thought. It was horrible.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
As he was leaving the chapel, he heard Father
Kodesh’s voice float after him, and he hesitated.
“Santos can sense my presence, Ferdinand…but
he is not yet certain where I am…they keep him
isolated in the levels below. Find one who will be
near to Santos, and mention my name. That is all
that it will take. Just tell them to let Santos know
that Father Kodesh sends his greetings.”
Shuddering, Ferdinand left the chapel hurriedly,
making the effort to slow his steps to a more normal
speed. He knew he had to get to the kitchen before
he was missed, but his mind was awhirl with so many
questions and images that he could barely draw a
normal breath. And who was he to tell? He certainly
couldn’t walk off to de Molay, or de Chaunvier, and
confront them with his “message.” If they suspected
that Father Kodesh had any information on Santos,
they’d confront him in a heartbeat, priest or not.
He stumbled around a corner, nearly crashing
headlong into a tall, thin man he vaguely recognized
as a visiting cousin of de Molay’s. The boy
was near Ferdinand’s own age, but he held himself
with the haughty, aloof manner of a noble. He
sneered down at Ferdinand, his hand drawn back
as if to strike him for his clumsiness.
“You will pay more attention,” the boy sniffed at
last, holding his hand in check. “You nearly
knocked me into this wall!”
“I am sorry, lord,” Ferdinand said, his voice quavering
and his mind working furiously. “I…I have
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176
an important message from the priest, but I do not
know how to deliver it—I was in a hurry to seek assistance.”
“Who is your message for?” the boy asked, drawing
himself up imperially. “I’m certain I will know
them, and I can pass it on for you.”
“Santos. All he said was to give the message to
Santos.”
The boy’s features grew pale, but to give him the
credit due, he did not flinch. Instead he squared his
shoulders and stared at Ferdinand carefully.
“How do you know of Santos?” he asked. “What
have you heard?”
“I have heard nothing,” Ferdinand replied carefully,
“but I have a message for this Santos, if he is
to be found.”
“Tell me the message,” the boy replied. “I will see
him this very night, and I will be certain to pass on
what you tell me.”
Ferdinand hesitated, as though deciding whether
or not he could trust the boy. He waited just long
enough for his new “friend” to show signs of impatience,
then he nodded, drawing himself up close
to the wall and looking about furtively to be certain
no one else would overhear.
“He said,” Ferdinand whispered, “to tell Santos
that Father Kodesh was here. Nothing more than
that. He claims to have known this Santos for a
very long time—he said nothing further would be
necessary.”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“Kodesh?” the boy repeated dubiously.
Ferdinand nodded.
“Well, I will pass the message along, but to tell
you the truth,” and now it was the boy’s turn to
look about carefully before speaking, “from what
I’ve seen, the last person Santos will ever seek out
purposely is a priest.”
Ferdinand would have loved to have asked questions,
and he thought he might actually have
gotten some answers, but just then Jacques de
Molay rounded the corner, and the boy he was talking
to snapped to attention as if drawn by strings.
Ferdinand bowed his head and pressed against the
stone of the wall, trying to make himself as inconspicuous
as possible.
“You there,” de Molay called out. “Boy.”
Ferdinand looked up.
“Yes, you. I want you to go to the kitchen and
fetch a good jug of wine. I will be meeting in my
chambers with Louis de Chaunvier, and we will
need something to soften the edges of what we shall
discuss.”
Ferdinand nodded, turning and dashing away
along the corridor. Behind him he could feel the
boy’s eyes burning through his back. There had
been so much more that had been left unsaid—
things that obviously weighed on the young
knight’s mind, and Ferdinand was sorry to have not
had the opportunity to learn more about this
“Santos” who had everyone in such an uproar. On
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178
the other hand, his message was delivered, and he
was off the hook and out of the bright lights...better
to be safe and find out about the stranger things in
life after they were history.
No chance of that with Father Kodesh pulling
the strings, but suddenly it seemed like an ideal to
reach for. He wondered, suddenly, why it was that
he’d never been satisfied with the world the way it
was. Now that he knew it wasn’t that way at all, he
missed the security and normalcy of it all terribly.
Still, the image of Father Kodesh (was it really
Father, despite everything else he knew?) would
not quit haunting him. The notion of eternity was
new to him as a reality to those who still walked—
and breathed? Did he?
Ferdinand scurried into the kitchen and prepared
a tray with wine and goblets, as well as some bread
and cheese, that he might carry back to de Molay.
The last thing he wanted to do was to draw unwanted
attention to himself through sloth or
unsatisfactory service.
_
Kli Kodesh exited the chapel through a shadowed
back doorway and began to ascend through
the keep by a spiral stair that had seen little use in
the last fifty years. It dated back to other clerics,
other priests and other times. It was probably not
a passage that Jacques de Molay would recognize,
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
though he presided in name over the entire keep,
and over the affairs of the Templars. It was a church
secret, passed through the years, and Kli Kodesh
was privy to many secrets.
He knew that de Molay’s quarters would not be
far from the top of that stair, and that if he made
it into the passage beyond without being spotted,
there was little chance of drawing attention to
himself, or his access route. It was always a good
idea to have some control over the environment
that surrounded him. Less room for surprise, unless
it came from him. There were other ways he could
have accessed the Grand Master’s Quarters, but he
preferred to keep his status as priest at least questionably
acceptable.
He stopped at the top of the stair and listened.
The door was a smooth slab of stone that blended
neatly with the stone of the wall. If it were not for
the stairs ending directly against it, one might have
concluded that the stairs led to nowhere, or to an
unfinished trail. Kli Kodesh knew better. He extended
his senses carefully. Nothing moved in the
passage beyond. Nothing breathed.
He pushed on the stone and it slid inward without
hesitation. He slipped through the opening
that appeared and into the passage beyond, pressing
the stone back into place quickly. He was two
doors down from de Molay’s quarters. Straightening
his robes and pulling his cowl up over the wispy
gray hairs that fluttered about his head like spider-
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180
webs, he strode toward that door and knocked. No
time for formality.
He could sense the two within, could hear their
voices, lowered and muted. He also sensed that
they did not intend to rise and open the door to
allow his intrusion. Without hesitation he pressed
inward on the door, finding it unlocked, and
stepped inside.
De Molay rose instantly, his face darkening like
the sudden intrusion of a thunderstorm on a clear
day. His mouth was open to curse whoever had the
impudence to invade his quarters, but he clamped
down on his lip, cutting off whatever it was that
he’d been prepared to say. He might not know Father
Kodesh, but he knew the robes of office, and
he knew he faced a man of the Church. He had
enough problems without including open sacrilege
and blasphemy.
“Yes, father,” he grated, gathering control of his
wits quickly. “This is a very difficult time—I’m
afraid I am too busy for confession.”
“And I would not ask it of you,” Kli Kodesh replied.
“I think we both know that it would be far
too interesting to waste on a single priest.”
De Molay stopped, staring openly. What Kli
Kodesh had said was as near to an accusation as
anyone had ever dared speak in his presence, but
somehow the tone in which it had been delivered
did not carry the animosity one might expect.
“What do you want, Father?” he said at last. “I
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have little enough time to live, in all likelihood,
and I have no time and little patience for games.”
“I am here to offer you hope,” Kli Kodesh responded.
“I have information that one comes to
your aid you might not have expected.”
“Unless he rides two days from here at the head
of an army,” Louis de Chaunvier threw in, recovering
from his surprise at Kli Kodesh’s sudden
intrusion, “then he is too late and unimportant to
our present dilemma.”
“He needs no army,” Kli Kodesh responded quietly.
“His name is Montrovant, and he has
supported and defended you—though you have not
known it—since the days of Hugues de Payen.”
“Montrovant?” de Molay asked, sitting back in
his chair suddenly and staring blankly. Then his
mind worked its way around the information that
had just been presented, and that face transformed.
First a slightly hopeful, interested expression, then
doubt—then his features convulsed in anger and he
rose again, slamming both fists down hard enough
on the table to send the goblets of wine that had
rested there flying.
“You dare to come to me like this?” de Molay
cried. “You dare to mock me in my worst hour?
Montrovant? A legend? A myth? You taunt me
with heroes from a past that might or might not
even have existed.”
“Jacques!” Louis’s voice was pained.
“No, it is only fair that he be skeptical,” Kli
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182
Kodesh said, holding up a hand to silence de
Chaunvier. “I would expect no less, and yet I tell you
the truth. I have my sources, and they say that the
man known as Montrovant is less than a day away
from here, riding hard, and that he comes to your
aid. Do not doubt the past,” he added, moving close
enough so that his face and de Molay’s were nearly
touching, nose to nose. “Your history defines you,”
he added, “and those who deny this truth are cursed
to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.”
“No man is that old,” Jacques whispered hoarsely.
“You speak madness.”
“Heads without bodies don’t speak, either,” Kli
Kodesh replied, pulling back a bit and letting his
face take on an inscrutable, impassive expression.
The two knights stared at him. De Chaunvier
leaned forward, nearly standing, and de Molay’s
face had gone chalk white. Neither had the ability
to speak—nor the ability to move. So they
stared. After a long moment of silence, Kli Kodesh
continued.
“Do not seem so surprised, Jacques de Molay.
There are a great many things in this world that you
do not understand. You seek answers beyond the
realm of your knowledge, and in the same breath you
deny as insanity other knowledge that could serve
you just as well. Santos is not what he seems.
Montrovant is not what you’ve heard. I am no ordinary
priest. There are levels of reality, just like any
other thing in life…yours is just one of many levels.”
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“Who are you?” de Molay asked quietly. “Who
are you, and why have you come to me?”
“Be satisfied in knowing that I have,” Kli Kodesh
answered. “I am known in this time as Father
Kodesh. I have known Montrovant and Santos
longer than you, or your father, or your father’s father
have drawn breath. I say again, Montrovant is
near, and he comes to offer his assistance.”
“Should we wait, then?” Louis asked dubiously,
uncertain where to go with the thousand questions
assaulting his mind.
“You will do as you must,” Kli Kodesh answered.
“Know this. There is no love lost between Santos
and Montrovant. They will not work together, so
you have choices to make.”
“Why now?” Jacques de Molay asked, rising
slowly. “Why now, when everything is so close to
ended that it seems an afterthought to offer us aid
of any sort? Why would he come now, and not before?
Santos came here even before we needed him,
and he came bearing knowledge, teaching and
power. Montrovant, if it is indeed the Montrovant
you suggest, has abandoned us until our situation
is so near to hopeless that even his legendary powers
will seem pale in comparison to the threat.
What can he offer? Will he battle Philip singlehandedly?
Will he show us magic that will drive our
attackers into retreat and save the lives of those
who follow me?”
“You know as well as I that this is not an option,”
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184
Kli Kodesh answered. “Montrovant is a powerful
man, but he is not a god. He will offer you aid and
answers, but none can stop Philip. Not
Montrovant, not Santos. It is only a question of
whose answers you will believe.”
“What part do you play in this?” Jacques asked.
“What do you stand to gain by telling us this, by
filling our minds with false hopes and legends without
substance?”
“I gain nothing,” Kli Kodesh replied. “I am a
priest of the one God. When you are ash and Philip
has walked across your grave, I will preach the
Gospel to others.”
“You insolent dog.” De Molay was out of his chair
in an instant, drawing his sword, but de Chaunvier
was quicker, and he grabbed his friend by the arms,
holding him back.
“Listen to him, Jacques,” he cried. “For God’s
sake, listen to something other than that madman
in the cellars and the wine diluting your blood for
just an instant and think! He is offering us hope! He
is offering us an answer that doesn’t rely on shadows
and promises we can’t even understand, let
alone control. Will you not even consider his
words?”
“I will not consider insanity as an option,” de
Molay bellowed. “For God’s sake, Louis, listen to
yourself. He is telling you that some fabled hero
from our past will ride up and lead us to victory. He
is offering us ghosts to replace something we can
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see in front of our faces. He is trying to lead us away
from Santos and the truth, though I still do not see
why.”
“You would not know the truth were it to tap you
on the shoulder and offer itself to you,” Kli Kodesh
said, his voice suddenly cold and distant as the
wind across the desert. “You feed your imagination
with images Santos fans into flames, and you trust
him because you know that if he lies, you die. I tell
you now, neither Santos nor Montrovant can save
you, Jacques de Molay, but because you represent
the lives of many it would serve you well to consider
all your options carefully.”
With that, Kli Kodesh turned to the door and
opened it, slipping back into the passageway and
pulling the portal closed behind him. Louis leaped
to his feet and dove for the door after him, but by
the time he reached the corridor beyond, it was
empty. There were no echoing footsteps, and there
was no sign of the priest who’d stood in their doorway
only moments before.
“You should have listened,” Louis said, turning
back to the room. “Damn you, Jacques, you should
have listened.”
“Are you ready to spend our lives so foolishly that
you would stand on the ramparts of the keep watching
the horizon for signs of a dream?” de Molay
asked his friend quietly. “I heard his words, my
friend, and I would love to believe them, but I have
seen Santos—I have felt his power—and all I have
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186
from this—priest—is words. I must go with what I
know, not what I wish for.”
“If you are mistaken?” Louis asked, turning to the
window and gazing into the distance, as though
Montrovant might ride into sight even as they
spoke, ending the debate.
“Then we are dead,” de Molay replied, bending
to retrieve his goblet from the floor. He poured it
full of wine once again and tossed it down in a
single gulp. “We are dead, and he will say the last
rites with a smirk on his face, damn his soul.”
Louis continued to stare into the distance, not
arguing. It was plain that his heart was not in the
decision, but he did not argue further. He leaned
over the sill of the window, and he kept watch. He
felt as though he might stand that way until Philip
arrived and parted his head from his shoulders, but
it was not to be. De Molay downed yet another
glass of wine, then called out to him.
“It is time, Louis. Santos will be waiting, the others
will be gathering. We must go.”
Reluctantly, Louis released the window and
turned toward the door, his heart heavy and resigned.
In the distance, too faint to be heard, the
clip-clop of horses’ hooves sounded through the
darkness. The moonlight washed the keep in chiaroscuro
grays. It was a night of destiny.
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THIRTEEN
Montrovant had grown grim and silent as they
continued their journey, but le Duc did not sense
anger directed at himself, or at Gwendolyn. The
old fire was in his Master’s eyes, the old obsession
back to haunt him. Montrovant saw the image of
what he sought so clearly in his mind. Jeanne was
still uncertain how possession of the ancient artifact
could be so important to the Lasombra. He also
had difficulty in understanding, particularly after
the poor reception they’d received from Syd, just
why Montrovant would want to do anything to
help the others in his “family.”
So many questions, pushed aside once more in
the face of action. They covered many miles in the
nights after leaving Holywell, stopping only to rest,
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188
and to feed. He noted with consternation that
Gwendolyn did not join them in their hunting, nor
did she seem to starve. She rode at their sides, and
she watched them with a deep longing in her eyes
when the blood-hunger overcame them, but she
did not join in. Finally, it was too much for his curiosity.
“How is it that you ride with us, night after night,
watching us feed, and yet you take none for yourself?
I would be mad had I waited so long. You are
no different than you were three days ago.”
“It is Kli Kodesh,” she said softly. “I wanted that
hunger. I know you won’t believe that. I didn’t truly
understand it myself, but now I know—now that it
is too late for me. I lived a dull life, over-protected
by a father who feared the one thing I yearned for
each night. Passion. He kept me from any danger,
but danger is the only thing that speeds my heart.
“Alphonse, your father is Alphonse, yes?
Montrovant told me some of the tale.”
“Yes,” Gwendolyn smiled, “Alphonse. I saw his
passion. I saw him in his hunger, though he was
careful to distance himself from me at those times.
I’m not really his daughter, you know.”
“I wondered about that,” Jeanne replied, “but I
didn’t want to contradict him,” he nodded toward
Montrovant, who rode a little ahead of them, scanning
the road and the shadows beyond constantly.
Jeanne knew that his master was probably aware of
every word they spoke—perhaps of their thoughts as
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
well, but he gave no indication of it. It was impossible
to tell if he were listening, or ignoring them.
“He is my great-grandfather,” Gwendolyn continued.
“My great-grandmother still carried my
grandfather, Alphonse’s son, when Alphonse was
Embraced. He managed to get away from them, to
avoid drawing them into the shadows that had
claimed him, but he returned. He followed the family,
looked after them whenever possible. He caught
me on the road, seeking escape. He would have
taken me back to my mother, but I told him that I
would just escape again. I thought I was strong
enough to tempt him. I thought he would bring me
to the shadows and passion I craved. I had more
chance, it seems, staying with my mother.
“I became Alphonse’s servant, his eyes and hands
by the light of day. He kept me close, waking before
the night could bring others near enough, and
naming me his daughter if any asked. He watched
me like a fussy old bitch with her pup. He very
nearly smothered all that was left of my dreams.
“Then I saw Montrovant. I don’t know why that
was different, or what it was that led me to place
everything on the line like that. There is something
about your sire that is somehow less tame …less
controlled. I knew that there were reasons why few
were Embraced, but I thought he might be the one
to break those rules. I knew that Eugenio would keep
my ‘father’ busy long enough, if only I could convince
my dark one…Montrovant…to save me.”
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190
“But Kli Kodesh brought you that gift, or curse,
instead,” Jeanne concluded. “Is it so bad? Does it
make such a difference?”
“The hunger never came upon me after I fed from
my sire,” she replied. “The darkness welcomes me,
but I can endure the sun more readily than most of
our kind. I have no family or clan save he who
made me, though he was once Nosferatu, before the
curse that changed him so long ago…binding him
to unlife in ways I can’t even fathom, let alone
explain. He seeks final destruction more than any
I’ve known, but it eludes him easily. To him I am
nothing more than a tool—and possibly a short
diversion from eternity. He gave me eternity,
Jeanne, but he did not give me what I sought. Instead
he gave me hell.”
Jeanne grew silent for a moment then, considering
her words. He tried to count mentally the times
he’d yearned to see the sunlight. He tried to imagine
the night without the hunger, Montrovant with
anything but the predatory, cat-like gait that
marked his power. Eternity to live. He’d never even
considered the impact of eternity, and he’d had
Montrovant at his side since his Embrace—he’d
known no loneliness.
“I don’t envy you your pain,” he said at last, “but
I would not so easily discount the magic of daylight,
or the control your lack of hunger affords you. You
may find passions of a different sort, if you set your
mind to it. Kli Kodesh might be bored—he has
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
lived long enough to use that as an excuse. For you,
a world awaits.”
She stared at him in silence, then a slight smile
creased her face. “You sound like my sire,” she said
at last.
“Then perhaps he is wiser than you let on,”
Jeanne said, returning the smile.
Suddenly Montrovant reined in, motioning for
them to do the same. He had his head cocked to
one side, as if he were listening for something, but
Jeanne knew that it went deeper than that. He was
reaching out with his senses, seeking—something.
Jeanne had detected nothing, but he didn’t doubt
Montrovant’s ability. He’d seen it proven on too
many occasions.
“We are near the army,” Montrovant said at last.
“We must be more cautious from here on out. No
mention of the Templars unless we are certain we
have found someone who will speak freely, and we
must find ways not to draw attention to ourselves.
I intend to get information here, but we must be on
our way soon enough to get a lead on the army. We
must reach de Molay before they do, or we have
wasted our trip. The first of their guards are watching
the road about a mile from here.”
Closer than Jeanne had thought. Montrovant
turned and started down the road again, not moving
too fast. He didn’t want to alarm the perimeter
guards, who would no doubt stop and question
them soon enough. Jeanne followed, and Gwen-
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192
dolyn rode at his side, a bit closer, it seemed. Jeanne
smiled.
Jeanne detected the guards himself about five
minutes before they drew abreast of the small stand
of trees that concealed them. Montrovant had
slowed his mount to a slow walk, and when a voice
called out to them from the shadows to halt, he did
so calmly, turning to watch the two men approach.
“Who are you,” the man asked gruffly, “and
where are you headed?”
“We are traveling to the holdings of my cousin,
Claude,” Montrovant answered smoothly. “Is something
the matter?”
“Philip’s army is less than a dozen miles ahead,”
one of the two guards replied. “You will have to
make your way around to one side or the other.
None may pass except Philip’s own men.”
“And aren’t we all Philip’s men?” Montrovant
smiled, sitting up a bit taller in the saddle. Nothing,
not shadows or the silly smile planted on his face,
nothing in the world could remove the regal, overbearing
presence that was Montrovant. He towered
over the two guards, and suddenly royal blood
seemed to drip from his words. “I am certain that
Philip would not appreciate your impertinence. This
is the road that leads where I am going, and I am
certainly not going to turn aside. Perhaps I can get
a flagon of wine in your camp—some food?”
The reaction was instantaneous. The two men
moved back a step, and the one who’d been silent
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
spoke up suddenly. “No disrespect, Lord, but we
were tasked with the guarding of this road.”
“And you are doing an admirable job,”
Montrovant cut him off, “but I doubt that your
orders were to make trouble for one of Philip’s own
nobles?”
The two shuffled uncomfortably. It was clear that
they did not want to let Montrovant pass—and
equally clear that they were going to do so. Jeanne
smiled again, but he lowered his face so that they
could not see.
Just then, there was a clatter of weapons, and the
soft footfalls of approaching horses from the direction
of the camp. Jeanne searched the darkness
until he could make out two more men approaching
slowly.
“Your reliefs?” Montrovant asked, dropping the
venom from his voice as suddenly as he’d added it.
“Yes, lord,” the first guard replied.
“Then your problem, and mine, are solved, are
they not? You may escort us to the camp.”
Straightening his shoulders haughtily, a movement
that Jeanne didn’t believe he could have
perfected in a century of practice, Montrovant
started on down the road again. The two guards
moved forward as if to protest, but Gwendolyn was
passing them and she gifted them with a sudden,
brilliant smile. There was more power in that smile
for a soldier on the road than in any amount of
royal posturing on Montrovant’s part. Sad and
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194
haunted she might seem, but Gwendolyn was beautiful,
and the ancient blood that coursed through
her veins only enhanced that beauty.
The three of them continued into the shadows.
Jeanne could hear the four guards exchanging hurried
words, then he heard the two moving quickly
up behind them. It seemed that, despite Montrovant’s
desire to move into the camp without
drawing attention, they were to have a personal
entourage.
“Have you been on duty long?” Montrovant
asked as the two pulled up to one side of him. He
didn’t turn to look at them, but his tone was
friendly enough.
“Since sunset,” the first man said gruffly. “It has
been a long, thirsty night.”
They rode in silence for a moment longer, then
Montrovant spoke again. “I am more tired than I
imagined.” he said, faking a yawn. “Perhaps you
would like to stop with us and share a drink? I’ve
brought a gift of wine for my cousin, but somehow
I doubt he’ll begrudge us a drink on the road…”
The two guards looked at one another and
shrugged. They were off duty—the road was no
longer their problem, and free wine was never
something to be turned down lightly.
“What are your names?” Gwendolyn asked. Her
voice was an octave lower than normal, husky and
sensual.
“I am Pasqual,” the first man replied quickly,
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“and this rascal at my side is Thomas.”
Montrovant smiled at them, reining in his horse
quickly. “We must really stop and drink,” he said.
“I don’t think I can ride another mile without some
rest.”
“Don’t mind if we do,” Thomas said, glancing at
his partner to be certain he’d said the right thing.
“It’s still a ways to camp, and we’d have a fight on
our hands to find a good bottle this late.”
“Excellent. It’s settled then,” Jeanne piped in,
speaking for the first time. “We haven’t had a rest
in hours, nor a drink. I for one was beginning to
think that this saddle had become a part of my
body. Fine thing that would be, trying to walk.”
They all laughed at this, and what tension remained
in the air was broken. Jeanne sensed the
warm blood flowing through the veins of their new
companions, and he steeled himself to ignore it.
There would be time enough for feeding when
they’d learned all they could learn, and it wouldn’t
do to take a guard on his way back to the main camp.
They dismounted near a large, gnarled tree and
Montrovant made a great show of rummaging
through his backpack. He’d brought the wine from
Holywell with just such a use in mind. There was
no way for the two men to know that the three of
them had no use for provisions. Sometimes the
extra space in their baggage could come in handy.
Turning back, Montrovant held high two large
bottles of dark red wine.
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196
He set one aside and popped the cork easily out
of the second with his dagger. The two guards eyed
the bottle with appreciation. When they could,
they stole sidelong glances at Gwendolyn. She
watched them in amusement, smiling when she
caught them staring—even winking at Thomas
when he stared a bit too long. Montrovant was an
imposing man—neither of them wanted to be too
forward with his woman.
Sensing this, Jeanne spoke again. “You are remiss,
Andre,” he said, speaking directly to
Montrovant. “You have failed to introduce yourself,
your sister, or your companion. What sort of
host do you suppose you will seem?”
“You are right, Antoine,” Montrovant replied
without missing a beat. “I am Andre le Duc Puy,
third heir in line for a holding so small it barely
qualifies as a holding—just this side of the mountains.”
He nodded vaguely back in the direction
they’d come. Thomas and Pasqual paid little attention
to his words. They’d perked up at Jeanne’s
calling Gwendolyn Montrovant’s sister, and they
were eyeing the bottle Montrovant waved about
thirstily.
“This is my sister, Jeanice, and my traveling companion
Antoine de Monde. And this,” he held
forth the bottle so that Pasqual could reach it, “is
the finest vintage my father’s cellars can boast. I
hope that you’ll find it to your taste.”
Pasqual had already tipped the bottle up for a
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
long gulp and handed it off to Thomas, who followed
suit. The bottle then moved through
Gwendolyn’s hands—after a lingering touch of her
slender fingers on the guard’s hand as she took it.
She held it to her lips, never letting her eyes leave
Thomas’s, tilted it but did not drink. She passed it
to Montrovant, who followed suit, and then Jeanne
took his turn. If Pasqual noted that little of the
contents had disappeared before he had the bottle
in his hand again, he made no indication of it.
“So,” Montrovant said as the bottle passed to
Thomas a second time, “Philip has finally had his
fill of the Templars?”
Thomas barely noted that he had spoken. His
eyes were locked on Gwendolyn, who smiled at
him, letting her eyes drop to the ground coyly, then
glancing up again. Pasqual watched his companion
in amusement for a moment, then answered.
“There are rumors of dark things in de Molay’s
keep,” he said softly. “Philip is not intolerant, but
there are things that must not be allowed. I have
heard from the mouth of one who walked the halls
of that keep of strangers who rarely come out by the
light of day, of strange chanting rising from the lower
levels of the keep, late at night. He spoke of the worship
of things unclean as if they were commonplace.
The Templars, I think, have fallen from their faith.”
“I have known some of those knights,” Jeanne
offered. “They seemed steadfast, honest warriors to
me, if a bit over-zealous.”
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198
“Oh, they are not all like de Molay,” Thomas said
quickly. “My brother and two of my cousins have
taken that oath, and more honest, God-fearing
men you could not find.” He took another long
swallow of wine as the bottle passed back to him.
Jeanne watched the play of moonlight over the
man’s features. When the hunger was upon him,
things that normally would not catch his eye came
to new life. He could see the muscles working in
Thomas’s jaw, could sense the pulse of blood
through his throat. The man’s eyes glittered, and
the scent of his blood was intoxicating. Jeanne
clamped down on his senses, managing to nod at
the appropriate pauses in the conversation to show
his interest and attention.
“De Molay is said to traffic with demons. He has
brought sorcerers into his keep. My friend told me,”
Thomas’s voice lowered, as if the shadows might be
listening to him speak, “that he heard that chanting
himself, and that it was in no tongue of man.
He speaks five languages, and none of them were
a help to him listening to those voices. De Molay
has called more upon himself than he realizes, I
think.”
He took another quick drink and upended the
bottle, letting the final drop splash free. Montrovant
smiled and reached for the second bottle.
He had it open in a second and handed it to
Pasqual, who had inched his way slowly around
until he sat directly beside Gwendolyn, so close
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
that their legs nearly brushed. Jeanne could feel the
heat of the man’s desire flooding through him—the
rush of blood to his loins.
Gwendolyn glanced over at him and he saw a
flash of something—hunger?—in her eyes. Then it
was gone and she was whispering and giggling with
the guard again. Jeanne cursed under his breath.
She knew what the added heat was doing to him.
She knew he hungered, and she teased him with it.
Anger boiled forth, but as soon as it reached the
surface of his mind he realized the ridiculousness of
it and it transformed to sudden laughter. The sound
burst from him in a wave of uncontrolled hilarity.
Montrovant and Thomas stopped speaking for a
moment to look at Jeanne in amazement. He
couldn’t help himself. He needed to release the
tension building within him, and somehow the
image of Gwendolyn, a drunken, foolish mortal
hanging on her every word and motion, smiling
across the clearing as she made the blood pulse
faster through her companion, was too much for
him.
“For…forgive me,” he said, staggering to his feet
and walking quickly into the shadows.
“He has trouble with wine,” Montrovant said
apologetically. Gwendolyn had turned away to prevent
her own smile from following Jeanne’s into
gales of laughter.
“Ah,” Thomas said, nodding in understanding.
“Well, then, that much more for the rest of us.”
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200
“No more for me,” Gwendolyn said softly. “I
wouldn’t want to act the fool.”
Pasqual mumbled something soft and stupid into
her ear—no doubt considering himself gallant—
and Montrovant returned to the subject at hand.
“But these sorcerers,” he said, somehow managing
to sound truly puzzled, “where did he find them?
France has no lack of magicians and charlatans, as
we both know. Are these Frenchmen?”
“It is said they are not,” Thomas replied, suddenly
serious. He took another long gulp from the
bottle. “There was one in particular, a short, dark
man who rarely left the lower levels of the keep—
this one bothered my friend deeply. He had the
look of a Turk, or some other Saracen dog. Not a
fit companion for holy knights, I’m thinking.”
“Indeed,” Montrovant replied. His mind was
whirling. “Did this sorcerer have a name?”
“He did,” Thomas replied, scratching his head
with the bottom of the bottle as he thought. He’d
forgotten completely about passing it to his companion,
and Pasqual was so enamored of
Gwendolyn that he’d forgotten completely why
they’d stopped in the first place. “I’m not certain I
remember what he said. It seems it was San something
or other, like a saint, but this one is no holy
man. He wears long robes that seem to be brown,
but that ripple with shifting colors as he moves—
no fabric like my friend had ever seen.”
Montrovant had grown very still. “Could his
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name have been Santos?” he said at last.
Thomas sat bolt upright, nearly spilling the remaining
wine and wasting the next few moments
in making certain that he did not. “That is it,” he
said. “How did you know?” He looked slightly suspicious
for a second, but then he remembered the
wine in his hand and upended the bottle. The last
of it slid down his throat and he stared at the empty
container reproachfully, as if it had betrayed him
personally.
Montrovant had turned away. His shoulders were
tense, and Jeanne walked back around the tree,
having recovered his control, just in time to see his
sire turn back to the guard, reach out, and snatch
the man out of his seat in one fluid motion. He
clamped onto Thomas’s throat, draining the hot
blood from his veins, before Jeanne could gasp in
protest.
Gwendolyn shrugged, slapped Pasqual hard across
the face, and let him drop into her lap. She cocked
her head to one side, smiling at Jeanne in invitation.
He didn’t hesitate. He couldn’t imagine what
Montrovant was thinking, but the hunger was too
powerful to be ignored. There would be time enough
to sort it all out when he had sated the thirst.
He fell on Pasqual, letting his head lean against
Gwendolyn’s breast. He felt her leaning in close,
felt her lips close to his own throat as he fed. She
was entranced. He knew she was reading his emotions
—sharing the heat of the moment somehow.
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202
He pressed up against her lips more fully, drawing
Pasqual along with him. It seemed an eternity before
he tossed the body aside. When he did so he
did not move away from Gwendolyn, but lay shuddering
in her lap. Montrovant had finished with
Thomas and was up, striding back and forth before
the tree, deep in thought.
As quickly as he could, Jeanne gathered his wits
about him and untangled himself, rising. “What is
it?” he asked. “What did he tell you?”
“It is Santos,” Montrovant snapped. “That is why
Kli Kodesh wants me there, why he sent you,” he
turned to Gwendolyn in sudden fury, “to drag me
here. He couldn’t get what he wanted from Santos
before without using me for a decoy, and he thinks
to do so again.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,”
Gwendolyn replied, rising at the sudden accusation
in his voice and facing him. “I have done only what
I was told, and I have traveled with you in good
faith.”
Montrovant grew calmer suddenly. “I know that.
I have seen how Kli Kodesh treats his followers. I
am only angry that I didn’t guess what was to come
sooner.”
“Who is Santos?” Gwendolyn asked.
“He is ancient, and he is a guardian, that is the
gist of what I know. You should ask your sire if you
truly want more information. I intend to do just
that when we reach de Molay’s keep.”
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Montrovant stared down at his feet as if he’d just
realized there were bodies there. “We must ride. We
have half of this night left to us, and we have to
reach de Molay in time.”
They pulled the bodies behind the tree, obscuring
them slightly from the road, and Jeanne drove
the two guards’ horses off into the night. They
would find their way back to camp, riderless, and
a patrol would be sent out—but in the direction
from which they had come. Jeanne knew they’d be
beyond range of the army the following night.
He thought briefly of Gwendolyn, of how she’d
shared his hunger, of how it had felt to be so close
to another besides Montrovant. He’d sensed the
blood that flowed through her veins, as well—the
ancient’s blood—the curse. It had seemed
intoxicatingly sweet. He also thought of Kli
Kodesh. The old one would have enjoyed their trip
so far—it had been nothing if not entertaining.
They mounted and, turning from the road,
Montrovant led them off into the night at a gallop.
The moon, still high in the sky, lit their way. The
race was on.
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FOURTEEN
De Molay and his followers drifted down into the
lower levels slowly, men from different levels of
nobility, different provinces and backgrounds, coming
together under the cloak and mantle of
darkness for a single purpose. They would save
those above by any means possible, and if it meant
the cost of their own souls, that was acceptable.
Santos sensed this as they made their way into the
chamber he’d prepared so carefully. Many times
he’d felt the energy rising and the desire flowing
from man to man—but this was different. Always
he’d been the focus, the power bending each soul
to its task. De Molay, weak as he as he was, malleable
and naive in the ways of power, was their
focus.
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Somehow he would have to lead them all
through everything that was to come without compromising
this basic principle. De Molay was a
savior in their eyes, the leader who would see them
through to safety. These were not simple men, but
leaders—rulers who’d forsaken their own titles and
lands to follow a greater cause. These were men
with lives resting on their decisions, on their integrity
and their faith. They would not be the easy
tools Santos had made use of in the past. They were
their own men, and he had to keep this in mind as
he molded them into a single cohesive force that
could bring him the answers he needed. He had to
hold them together long enough to meet his own
needs. It would be a challenge, and after so many
years of having things exactly his way, a challenge
was something he looked forward to. He watched
as they poured through the doors, and he smiled.
Soon. He would know soon if he was wasting his
time.
De Molay took his customary spot near the front,
de Chaunvier at his side. They moved in silence,
forming the circles—concentric binding rings that
would become their protection and their focus in
what was to come. Something was wrong almost
immediately. One of the younger men, one whose
name Santos couldn’t even recall, was moving toward
the front, away from his normal position.
Cursing inwardly, Santos moved instantly to cut
him off.
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206
“I mean no disrespect,” the young man said, the
words spewing suddenly from his mouth as if he’d
kept them there, poised on his tongue and suppressed
until just that moment. “I have come with
a message, a message that I was to bring to you, and
to you alone.”
Santos stopped short. A message? Who, other
than those gathered, would know who he was? His
mind began to race, and the anger he’d suppressed
for so long began to boil and rage in his stomach.
Before the boy spoke, he knew the words that
would follow.
“I was to tell you that Father Kodesh is here. He
said you would understand…”
Santos was trembling. He struggled with the heat
of the anger, the flames of rage that threatened to
blaze outward from the black pit that had once
housed his soul, and scorch them all to cinders.
Closing his eyes and backing away, he came to rest
against the stone wall of the chamber, beside the
altar that held the head, and he grew silent.
The boy, horrified by the reaction his message
had brought about, backed away hurriedly, crashing
against the gathered knights and drawing cuffs
and curses from all sides. None paid too much attention
to him, though—all eyes were turned to
Santos. It was several moments before the small
man’s eyes blazed open once more, and when they
did all those present pulled back and away. His eyes
glowed with a horrible light, and his features
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twisted suddenly into an expression never meant
for a human face.
“Prepare!” he grated harshly. His voice was magnified
and distorted, echoing eerily through the
chamber. All fell to their knees, heads dropping to
the cold stone of the floor and hearts beating rapidly.
Whatever had happened, whatever the name
Kodesh had meant to him, it had brought forth the
truest glimpse of power Santos had released in their
presence.
The chanting rose as if from a great distance, and
though they knew that it was Santos, this knowledge
did nothing to calm the fear in their hearts.
Worked into the words he spoke, blended with
staccato rhythms and impossible pronunciations,
they heard words—names—that called out to
them. Each of them heard a different name, felt a
different tug at his soul. They did not raise their
heads, but as the pulsing darkness of the chant
filled them, their voices rose to join it—drawn by
the words, the names they could not recognize and
yet could not escape. The names that were their
very essence, drawn forth and stolen, feeding
Santos’s growing strength.
As the rhythm took control, they began to rise,
slowly, as if from a deep sleep. They stumbled
against one another, wobbling in place as their
heads dropped back in unison, eyes still closed but
pointing skyward. As the chant continued, changing
tone and picking up intensity, they grew
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208
steadier. The circles tightened, and they began to
shuffle slowly forward, one body so close to the
next that it was impossible to tell where each began
or ended, their robes flowing together and
flapping about them at each step.
Santos seemed oblivious to them, staring through
them and beyond, his features still contorted horribly,
his voice booming forth as if he spoke into a
long, echoing chasm. The name Kodesh had
launched him into a frenzy that could only be released
through the flame of power, flowing up from
deep within him. He needed to feel that energy, to
experience the joining. He needed to know that it
was too late for those above, that he would succeed
where he’d failed once before, and that he would
have Kodesh groveling at his feet as he’d dreamed
on so many dark occasions. He needed to feel his
power, and the best way to ensure that he did was
the chant.
Each of those moving through the dance was
joined in turn to Santos. Each of their energies
would be turned toward the single task of reviving
the head—of seeking the answers that would lead
him to his goal. They all knew that they were seeking
answers, they just didn’t know those answers
would be directed only to Santos’s questions. They
didn’t realize the totality of their servitude.
He could see de Molay leaping past every now
and then as the circle spun a certain way. The
man’s eyes were sunken, hollow and empty—
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haunted. Others had different ways of coping but
the end of it was the same. Deep in their hearts
they knew that Santos ruled them more surely than
de Molay ever could. They knew that they would
never achieve the freedom they sought, nor would
there be an answer to Philip and his army. The end
of the Knights Templar as they had known them
was in sight, but even closer and more easily spotted
was the means of their personal destruction.
The level of their combined voices rose and fell
with the rhythm, and Santos felt the energy in the
room expanding. He closed his eyes, letting the
sounds wash his thoughts of revenge and his concerns
for the completion of their task from his
mind. He reached out to the power that hovered
above and around them and began to channel it
through himself, letting it renew and cleanse him.
He felt his legs launching into the intricate steps
of the dance, though he’d not directed that action,
and he screamed in release.
Whirling from his place at the altar he launched
into the midst of the others, taking a place in the
circle and matching them step for step, his voice
rising and falling within the backbeat provided by
theirs, his words more quickly spoken and complete.
He wove in and out of the sound, the melody
to their harmony. None but he knew the meaning
of the words, but all felt the power behind them,
the power that grew around them and filled them,
the power that promised the answers they sought.
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210
He knew it would not reach the required level—
not so soon—but he felt the tension, the hunger to
succeed that permeated the hearts of the others
who danced. He knew it could be done, and soon.
Increasingly it appeared that if it were not accomplished
soon, it would fail again, and that was a
turn of events that he wasn’t ready to face even the
remote possibility of.
They danced, and he chanted, and the hours
passed slowly through midnight toward dawn. At
some predetermined interval, though it would
never be a point that any of the others could be
certain of, the ritual ended. Limbs returned to the
control of those born to them. Voices, hoarse from
too much and too harsh use grew silent. Without
speaking to one another, they filtered out, moving
stiffly through the stone doorway into the passage
beyond and on toward the stairs that would lead
them to their chambers, strong wine, and beds long
overdue.
Santos stood in the shadows, watching them go.
They did not glance in his direction. For them, he
did not exist, certainly not at that moment. He was
a tool, a means to an end. That was what their
minds repeated over and over, fighting to convince
their aching, God-starved souls that it was true.
De Molay was one of the last to leave. He
stopped for a moment, turning back, and stared at
the altar. His eyes seemed to bore into the vacant,
unseeing eyes of the head where it rested. The
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flickering light of the candle flames danced along
the walls and the smoke from incense and offerings
swirled about the base of the altar, lending it an air
of otherworldliness. Finally, he dropped his eyes
and turned away. Santos wondered if the man
might actually have felt something, been gifted
with a passing vision. Whatever the case, he
seemed satisfied with what he’d seen.
Santos watched him walk off into the darkness,
but he did not move to follow. Instead, he turned
in a different direction altogether—toward the door
on the side of the chamber that led to his own quarters.
He had to sit and gather his thoughts—there
was work to be done, and he would need all of his
faculties to complete that work. He was not immune
to the rigors of the ritual, merely more accustomed
to them. It had drained his own strength as well as
that of the others, and what he’d borrowed from
them he’d channeled back out again, feeding it to
the head, using it to support the requests he made
with his mind. He was not so much the final goal
of that stolen power, but the redirecting force.
He sat and crossed his legs, then his arms, letting
his head drop forward against his chest. Emptying
his mind, he floated free, letting himself cast off his
physical form and drift as his thought directed.
Shut down and bereft of input from his mind, his
body could recover more quickly. Free of the physical,
he could seek answers to different questions.
He could seek the other—the missing link. Kli
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212
Kodesh was a thorn in his side, but rarely did he do
his own work. The ancient Cainite slunk through
the shadows, watching and smiling just out of sight,
praying for something of interest to blossom from
the ashes of a world gone too cold—too distant—
to warm what remained of his heart.
Santos knew such despair well—but he had his
own way of dealing with it—more direct. He lived
for a purpose, a focus, and that focus called to him
across years of denial—years when he had been
unable to fulfill the tenets of his geas. He’d been
charged to guard and protect certain relics, objects
of power his creators had deemed too dangerous,
too important, for the lot of mortals and immortals
alike. For over a century he’d kept that pledge—
adding some secrets, learning more of those he’d
been entrusted—always secure.
Now those treasures, and their secrets, had been
wrested from his grasp, his heritage denied. Inadvertently,
Kli Kodesh had renewed Santos’s will to
survive. The challenge had proven immense, the
fear, the uncertainty, all of it had blended to bring
levels of energy and intensity to his thoughts and
actions that the centuries had stripped away. He
might feel grateful for it, once he’d recovered that
which was his—without the challenge he might
have withered into shadows and left his charges to
fate and history. Now it was personal.
He slipped into the Shadowlands, letting reality
fade behind him. The familiar gray and black wash
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of decay engulfed the stone walls, dust and debris
littered the passages, and the dim brilliance that
permeated day and night in those lifeless lands
poured in from above. The stone of the floor was
ravaged by time, large chunks of it missing entirely.
He let his spirit float upward through the cracks.
The keep was a ruin, the walls crumbling and
fallen, the gates nothing but skeletons of stone and
rotted wood. He let his senses range beyond the
keep, searching. Somewhere he believed he would
find them. Whoever, whatever Kli Kodesh had
called to his aid was out there, waiting to be discovered
and vanquished. He felt the death to
come—the decimation. It wasn’t far in the future.
All around him, in the shadows and beyond, the
restless dead waited, some with slave chains, others
watching for glimpses of the living. They, too,
could sense what was to come.
He moved toward the main gate and passed
across a patch of scorched earth with a wooden
stake protruding from its center. The wood was
charred. Dust swirled around its base in a breeze
that seemed to come from every direction at once,
and to dissipate the same way. Santos hesitated.
Something important would happen here—someone
important would die. He considered for a
moment the notion of waiting to see if he might
discover the source of the ashes, but his mind told
him that those ashes lay beyond his own goals—in
the days to come.
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214
As he moved across the land he saw remnants of
Templar robes, red crosses faded and torn, caught in
the limbs of trees and blowing across the road. There
was no trace of the flesh that had carried them—no
indication of life—or afterlife—save those who
waited in the shadows. They ignored him, and he
them. He had nothing to share with the dead. There
were always secrets to be learned in their company,
but this night he required only their world.
He moved across the land to where Philip’s army
was approaching. He could move much more
swiftly in this state, and the miles flowed away beneath
him rapidly. The camp appeared on the
horizon, dim light from the fires flickering against
the eerie illumination of the sky.
He moved among them. Seated around the fires
were men with their faces half-eaten by decay, others
missing limbs and with horrifying wounds that
already festered with decay. They joked and
laughed with others who would survive the days to
come, unaware of the fate already etched across
their death-tainted forms. Santos ignored them. He
reached out with his senses, seeking something that
didn’t belong, something beyond their mortal
world of blood and death.
Once or twice he thought he detected a slight
trace of what he sought. The essence of his past
called out to him, and he could not discern whether
his own mind created the sensations, or they were
real. There was no concentration of the sensation,
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just ghost whispers that tantalized, but could never
satisfy. The agitation of his inability to narrow his
search to a particular area ate at his control, and he
knew he must return. His physical shell was vulnerable
when he was disembodied, and it would take a
certain amount of time and effort to make his way
back if something were to go wrong. Montrovant
might well be waiting in the shadows, watching and
laughing, but there was no time to dwell on it.
With a sigh of release, Santos slipped back across
the miles. It was not like the slow, concentrated
passage he’d made to reach Philip’s camp. He
snapped across the distance, one world to the other,
darkness and shadow to the flickering light of torch
and candle—numb spirit gave way to the cool,
damp recesses of the lower levels of the keep. The
stone was back in place, solid and seemingly impervious
to time or destruction. Santos smiled thinly
as it all came back into focus.
Rising, he made up his mind. He would have to
bring matters to a close quickly and certainly. He’d
felt the level of energy during the ceremony—more
than adequate to his needs. All that remained was
the final, driving force—the desire of his servants,
and that he could accomplish in only one way. He
would have to go to them, and he would have to
lie. De Molay was in a particularly bad position to
doubt Santos’s word—he needed a miracle. All that
remained was to promise it to him, and to turn that
deceit to his own favor.
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216
Santos strode purposefully through the passageways,
reaching the main stair and starting up
without hesitation. They’d not seen enough of him
on the upper levels, it was time to make an entrance
as only he could do. It was time for closure.
_
Ferdinand just managed to slip back behind the
pillar as Santos’s short, robed figure emerged from
the stairs leading to the lower levels. He wasn’t
certain why he ducked—something deep inside his
mind called out to him and he obeyed. He slammed
himself against the cold stone of the wall, his heart
hammering madly, and Santos slid past him as
smoothly as a snake. Somehow the man did not
look to his side, did not see Ferdinand quivering in
the darkness—or did not find him important
enough to acknowledge.
For a long moment after he was alone in the passageway,
Ferdinand did not move. He felt trapped,
as though a thousand eyes watched him, the combined
weight of their stare pressing him against the
wall. His mind told him that he was safe—that he’d
not been spotted, but his mind could not control
the fear, and the fear had latched onto his heart.
Finally he pulled free of the wall. Looking both
ways up and down the passage, he drew in a deep
breath and turned to follow in the direction Santos
had taken. He didn’t want to follow. He wanted to
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turn and to run as fast as his legs could carry him
away from what was to come, but he could not.
Father Kodesh would want to know—would need
to know—what was about to take place. Santos
never left the lower levels, and it must be an important
event indeed to cause him to do so.
Nothing of this magnitude could be ignored.
As he began to move, his courage returned.
There was no sign of his quarry, but it wasn’t difficult
to guess where he might be headed. Only a few
nobles had quarters on the upper levels. The direction
Santos had taken was a direct path toward de
Molay’s private chambers.
Something was happening, something important.
Ferdinand wanted more than anything to bear
the news of whatever it was back to Father Kodesh,
to win his trust. Too many things beyond the scope
of reality as he’d grown to understand it had lured
him to the shadows. He needed to know what
Santos had planned, and he needed to know that,
when it was all over, there was at least a chance
that he would still be involved—that the boundaries
of his existence might be extended. He
wanted to know if he would be more than a momentary
tool, granted the darkness that Father
Kodesh strode through so boldly, or whether he
would be cast aside and forgotten.
He rounded the last corner slowly. De Molay’s
door was just ahead, and he peered around the corner,
making certain that the passageway was empty,
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218
before sliding from the shadows and approaching
the door. This was the true test of his courage. It
was one thing to slink through the shadows, another
to be out in the open. Though it would not
be odd for a servant to wait outside de Molay’s door,
this fact did not wipe away the fear.
He moved cautiously forward until he was a single
pace—a second—away from the door. Too close not
to commit. He took the last couple of steps and
pressed his ear to the door. At first he could hear
nothing but the pounding of his own heart, but as
he stood waiting the fear receded a bit, and he became
aware of the voices beyond the wooden door.
The first was as familiar as his own voice. The
Templar lord was excited, and his voice carried
more easily than it might have otherwise.
“Tomorrow? So soon? But Philip will not be here
for at least three days—why now? Just yesterday
your vision guided us to wait.”
“I have had—visions.” The voice that followed
de Molay’s was slippery, almost too soft to be heard,
but Ferdinand concentrated, and he found that,
soft as they were, the words were clear and sharp.
“I have seen this keep in ruins, the skeletons of
your followers strewn throughout, and a great
scorched patch of earth in the main courtyard, surrounding
the remains of a wooden stake. There is
less time to spare than you think, Jacques de Molay.
The time to act is now. Our faith must carry us
through the moment—nothing less will suffice.”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
“How do we know you have seen any vision?” a
third voice cut in angrily. It was Louis de Chaunvier.
Ferdinand recognized the harsh tones of the
big knight’s voice instantly.
“You are not the only late-night visitor we’ve had
these past nights,” de Chaunvier continued. “A
priest—though for the life of me I can’t think him
such, came to us and told us others were approaching.
He said that powers from our past would
return—do you believe that, Santos? Do you believe
the past can return to make itself known in
the present?”
“Montrovant.” The word was out of Santos’s
mouth before he could bite down on it, and the
reaction that one word brought to the two knights’
faces confirmed his suspicion.
“You knew?” de Molay breathed. “He is truly
coming, and you knew, and you did not speak—told
us nothing?”
“The Dark One may indeed come,” Santos said
at last, his voice carefully even and controlled.
“There is nothing he can do for you except to
watch you burn and to sift through the ashes Philip
leaves behind. He is but one man.”
“As are you,” de Chaunvier cut in.
Ferdinand’s heart caught in his throat as he considered
the reaction such a statement might draw.
Santos was no ordinary man to be spoken to in such
tones.
The expected explosion did not come. There was
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220
a long moment of silence, then Santos continued
as if he’d not heard the last outburst at all.
“You have no idea what you face, or what you
have in your favor. There are other powers at work
here than those we seek to invoke—ancient, powerful
beings who will grind you beneath their boots
to serve their own ends, or for the sheer enjoyment
of it. To them, you are less than dust. If you choose
to trust them, that is what you will become. You
have but one chance, and that chance lies with the
power of the oracle that awaits below.”
“And you?” de Chaunvier insisted. “Among
these ancient powers, serving only themselves,
what master do you serve?”
Only silence followed for a matter of several
moments, and Ferdinand was certain that the
Templar lord had gone too far. Miraculously, there
were no screams of horror or pain.
“I am not here to debate with you,” Santos answered
softly. Though his voice was low and subdued,
the venom was apparent in his tone, and the words
carried with a power that went beyond mere sound.
“I am here to warn you, and to offer you a way to
continue your pitiful existence. If the situation were
not so dire, and if it did not threaten my own safety
as well as yours, I’d kill you very slowly, my friend,
and as you died I’d remind you that you are a pitiful,
weak mortal man—and that I am not. You may believe
that, or not, as you choose. Do as you will in
what is to come, just believe this—I will survive.”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
Ferdinand backed away from the door. Something
told him the interview was over, and he did
not want to face whoever might be the first to depart
the chamber. He had nearly backed into the
shadows when the door suddenly slammed open
and Santos emerged.
Miraculously, Ferdinand had slid into the shadows
in time once more. Santos was angry, and he
spun away with a short step moved down the passage
quickly.
De Molay’s voice floated after him from within
the chamber. “We will be ready. We will come tomorrow
after the sun has set.”
Ferdinand had grown brave from his success at
evading Santos twice, and he did not hesitate as
long before following as he had on the lower levels.
He wanted to know if there would be other
stops, or if Santos would disappear into the dungeons
again. He wanted a full report to give him
reason enough to see Father Kodesh.
He slipped along the stone wall, keeping back far
enough that Santos’s shadow would just turn a corner
before he would follow, keeping his eyes peeled
for any turn that might divert the shorter man from
his return to the shadows below.
He saw Santos round the final corner and he
hurried his steps, wanting to be certain he caught
the last glimpse of the dark, mysterious stranger as
he ducked out of sight. It was that haste that was
Ferdinand’s undoing.
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222
As he rounded the last corner, a strong hand
whipped suddenly out of the shadows, taking him
by the throat and pinning him roughly to the wall.
He tried to cry out, but his air was cut off.
Santos watched him as he might a bug he was
contemplating bringing his heel down upon. He
bored into Ferdinand’s mind and heart with eyes no
more human than those of a stone statue.
Ferdinand tried to struggle, but it was pointless—
the strength of the man’s grip was incredible, and
his feet barely reached far enough to brush the
stone floor as he was lifted like a child.
There was an odd, tingling sensation, and Santos
eyes blazed with sudden light.
“Kodesh,” he muttered. Nothing more, just that
one word. Without further hesitation, the man
dragged Ferdinand free of the wall and continued
on toward the stairs. Ferdinand struggled, but it was
pointless. He was dragged behind Santos like a
child’s doll, banging painfully off the stone of the
floor and stumbling down the steps. Santos continued
as if he weren’t dragging a grown man behind
him, paying no more attention to his captive’s efforts
at escape than he might a recalcitrant puppy.
As the darkness swallowed him, Ferdinand
reached out with his mind—crying out to his master
for help. He didn’t know if his message would
get through, but he knew he had to try. As the two
passed onto the stairs, the passageway returned to
its silence, and all grew still. Only the muffled
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sound of feet on stone stairs indicated that anyone
moved through the darkness, and that sound faded
slowly into quiet.
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224
FIFTEEN
As the horrible weight of the sun’s rays lifted
from the Earth, Montrovant and le Duc rose from
their safe-haven in the cellar of an abandoned
home and moved toward the surface in silence.
They were less than two hours’ ride from de Molay’s
keep, and their silence reflected their tension. It
was a moment of fates tilting, balanced on a thin
wall of uncertain knowledge. Just before he
mounted the final step into the growing shadows,
Montrovant stopped, halting Jeanne with a hand
hard against his chest.
Jeanne shook off the last vestiges of lethargy that
clouded his mind, willing his senses to become fully
alert. He’d noted immediately that Gwendolyn was
not with them, but this wasn’t a rare thing—she did
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not fear the sunlight as strongly as they did.
Though it could burn her, and destroy her, she
could bear it for longer periods than they. She seldom
required rest.
The sound of voices floated down from above
and he strained to make out the words. One of the
voices was Gwendolyn’s, and though she sounded
agitated, he didn’t believe it was from fear. Nothing
in her tone spoke of immediate danger, but who
could she be talking to? The other voice was softer,
but somehow more powerful. Jeanne could feel it
shivering through him, carrying easily despite its
subdued tone.
Jeanne turned to Montrovant, but before he
could form his question, the tall vampire was up
and through the opening, diving to his right and
coming to his feet in a crouch. Not knowing anything
else to do, le Duc followed suit, taking the
opposite direction and rolling to a halt behind a
small bit of crumbling wall.
The conversation beyond the door stopped, and
the night fell to silence. Jeanne noted several
things at once. Gwendolyn stood in the clearing
beyond the cellar stairs. At her side a man stood,
thin and gray, his hair whipping about him like a
white mantle. Jeanne’s mind put the image to a
name at the same instant Montrovant voiced it.
“Kli Kodesh.”
Nothing more was said for a long moment, then,
with a suddenness that nearly caused Jeanne to
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226
launch backward into the shadows, the ancient
threw back his head and began to roar with laughter.
His frame shook, and he doubled over insanely.
Montrovant stood, glaring coldly at his antics, and
Gwendolyn stepped back a pace, but Jeanne could
only watch in amazement.
Montrovant moved slowly forward, but Kli
Kodesh didn’t even acknowledge his advance. He
was still doubled over, convulsing helplessly in
gales of unchecked mirth. Jeanne searched his sire’s
features and saw the anger building. He moved forward
himself then, to intercept if necessary. Anger
would not be enough to bridge the gap in power
between the two.
Montrovant spoke first.
“Why have you come, to gloat?”
Kli Kodesh raised up a bit, regaining control of
himself slowly. Montrovant stood, waiting, as a
parent might over a recalcitrant child. Looking up,
seeing him towering above, Kli Kodesh reeled to
one side, shrieking hysterically and falling into
another fit of laughter.
Montrovant moved to follow, but Jeanne was at
his side, and he held him back with a hand on one
arm. The older vampire turned back swiftly, as if to
strike his follower aside and continue, but when
their eyes locked, he hesitated, then stopped. The
anger did not dissipate, and he was clearly not
pleased by Jeanne’s interference, but he made no
further move after Kodesh.
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“What is the meaning of this?” he demanded,
turning to Gwendolyn instead.
“I did not call him here,” she replied. “He would
not have come had I done so. He does as he pleases.”
“As do we all,” Kli Kodesh tossed in, choking on
the effort to form the words. “As do we all. You in
particular should understand that, Dark One. You
will forgive my outburst, I hope.” He was still grinning
inanely, but his voice was coming under
control. “You were so dramatic, leaping from the
shadows to catch me—doing what?”
“I am trying to understand just that,” Montrovant
grated. “I understand that you’ve dragged
me across the miles once again. I understand that
you sent me into the mosque of al Aqsa on a fool’s
errand, full aware I would not come out with what
I sought, and that I might not come out at all. I
understand that you played me against Santos toward
your own end without a second thought for
how it would affect others. Am I missing something?
Are there other reasons I should despise you,
or have I covered my ground well?”
The ancient’s laughter, as well as all traces of
humor, dissipated like so much dust, swirling away
in the wind. He stood straight and silent, his eyes
boring into Montrovant’s, but the Dark One did
not flinch.
“You don’t know everything you believe you do,”
Kli Kodesh said, finally breaking the silence. “You
are so certain you have the answers, all of them,
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228
and that your plans will lead you to the glory and
dreams you’ve set aside for yourself.”
“And you are certain that the world is but a huge
entertainment set aside for your own amusement,”
Montrovant retorted. “At least I don’t slink
through the shadows while others carry out my
plans.”
Kli Kodesh stiffened, but again he didn’t reply.
Jeanne kept expecting the ancient to snap under
the barrage of insults and accusations, but he held
his ground.
“We have no time for this,” Kodesh said at last.
“For different reasons, we have come to the same
road once again. It might have been a thousand
others, but it was not.”
“Perhaps our roads have crossed by chance,”
Montrovant replied, “or perhaps you led us here.”
He was unable to let the antagonistic tone drop
from his voice. Jeanne had rarely seen his sire so
angry, and never in a situation where he could not
vent that anger without ending his existence.
“I admit that I brought you here,” Kli Kodesh
said softly. “I sent the message with Gwendolyn to
warn you of what was taking place, and to let you
know that what you seek is very near.”
“The Grail is in that keep?” Montrovant nodded
in the direction of de Molay’s grounds. “Is that
what you want me to believe? If de Molay has such
an item in his possession, then why would he need
help against Philip?”
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“I did not say that de Molay was in possession of
anything. I said that what you seek is very near.”
“More riddles. Always the same, old one, your
words, your actions…what will I do to amuse you
now?”
“I’m not asking for you to amuse me,” Kli Kodesh
replied softly. “I’m asking for your help. Santos is
here.”
“Santos…” Montrovant’s already angry countenance
darkened yet again. “Santos. I had hoped
he’d returned to whatever dark little hole he
crawled out of.”
“It is not that simple,” Kli Kodesh replied.
“Santos did not become what he is in the same way
we have been Embraced. He was created, and that
creation bore a purpose. He is the guardian, and he
will stop at nothing to find that which has been
entrusted to him. He seeks revenge, as well, but the
thing that eats away at his mind and whatever
blackness now represents his heart, is his failure to
live up to his responsibilities.”
Montrovant was not convinced. “What could I
do for you that you could not do for yourself, old
one? Die a second and final death?”
“He has someone—close to me.” Kli Kodesh replied,
averting his eyes. “He has a follower of mine,
one with enough of my essence within him to give
Santos power I cannot afford. I would go after him
myself, but I fear he might have the advantage.”
“So you want me to do it for you,” Montrovant
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230
replied, spitting violently. “You are afraid—you—
and you want me to take the risk.”
Kli Kodesh was standing across the clearing in
one instant, and nose to nose with Montrovant in
the next. Neither Jeanne nor Gwendolyn were
aware of the motion until it had been completed,
and even Montrovant was only able to move scant
seconds before the ancient’s flesh would have contacted
his own.
“You presume too much,” Kli Kodesh hissed.
Montrovant held himself steady, and Jeanne was
amazed by his control. The tension in the air was
thick enough to have sliced with a blade, but
Montrovant would not back down.
“You may destroy me, if it is your wish,” he replied
coldly, “but I will speak my mind. For one
coming in search of aid, you have a strange way of
presenting yourself.”
Kli Kodesh backed off a pace, but his eyes still
blazed with cold fire.
“Who does he hold?” Jeanne asked, trying to
break the aura of anger and venom that poisoned
the air.
Both Montrovant and Kli Kodesh turned to him
as if they’d been slapped. They’d apparently forgotten
that they weren’t alone.
“His name is Ferdinand,” Gwendolyn said at last.
“He is a servant in de Molay’s service. Father
Kodesh here has been using him as an informant.”
“He is Embraced?” Montrovant asked.
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“No,” Kli Kodesh said, turning away, “but I have
foolishly shared too much with him. Knowledge
can be as dangerous as blood in the wrong hands.”
“And so you fear Santos,” Montrovant replied
incredulously. “After all that has happened, after
we sent him scurrying into the shadows, you still
fear him.”
“Do not make the mistake of believing that because
Santos was driven from Jerusalem he is not
a great danger to you,” Kli Kodesh continued. “He
still retains the head, and from the reports
Ferdinand was able to bring to me before he was—
taken—it is this very night that the oracle head
will speak again. You and I both know the consequences
that could bring.”
“He knows you are here, obviously,” Montrovant
mused, “but what danger is there to me? He has no
idea I’m anywhere near here.”
“You underestimate his anger and capacity for
revenge. When the oracle speaks again, he will ask
after you. If you were a thousand miles away, still
he would ask about you. It was you who took away
his purpose…his reason to exist. It was you that led
de Payen to him, and the Church, and it was you
who chased him from the Holy Land, his tail between
his legs.”
“So what can we do?” Jeanne cut in. “If what you
say is true, we must act, and now. We have no access
to that keep, and Santos is too powerful for a
direct assault to do us any good.”
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232
“You have an advantage,” Kodesh replied. “I have
spread the news of your arrival—you are somewhat
of a legendary figure, Dark One. At least one of de
Molay’s close aids is awaiting your arrival. Louis de
Chaunvier is his name, and he is de Molay’s closest
confidant. He doesn’t trust Santos, though he’s
agreed to support de Molay. If you can reach him
before they move to the lower levels you might be
able to find a way in—a way to disrupt what is to
come. Once broken, the circle of power that Santos
will use to reach the oracle cannot easily be restored.
Not in time to do any of us harm.”
“And what is in this for me?” Montrovant asked.
“You have given me your usual riddles, but there
must be more. If I am to ride to battle in your
name,” he paused at this, sneering slightly, “then I
must know what it is that I’m fighting for. When
will you reveal the location of the Grail? As soon
as your henchmen have had a chance to move it?”
“You will have your answers,” Kli Kodesh replied.
“I have no reason to withhold them—not after
Ferdinand is freed.”
Gwendolyn moved closer. “Freed, or killed? Why
must we free him?”
“He amuses me.” Kli Kodesh dismissed her with
a toss of his thin, snow-white locks. Jeanne
watched her eyes as they dropped to the ground and
read the disappointment in her expression. She was
the old toy now, it seemed. Kli Kodesh had already
moved on to new amusements.
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“It would be safer to kill him,” Montrovant threw
in. “Easier, as well. It is one thing to get in and
strike swiftly at the source of the danger. Making
it back out of that keep with a prisoner is another
matter entirely.”
“I’ve told you,” Kli Kodesh smiled thinly, “they
nearly worship your memory. You will have all the
assistance you require once Santos’s hold over them
is broken.”
Montrovant stared at him without speaking, trying
to read the inscrutable lines of the ancient’s
face. Kli Kodesh returned that stare until
Montrovant, at last, looked away.
“I have never been so tempted to risk my existence
for the chance at another’s blood,” he said at last.
“Your words entice me, but my heart tells me you
serve no other but yourself—ever. You speak in
riddles, telling each of those you meet what he
wishes to hear, but all that is given in return are more
riddles, and then betrayal. I do not want to help you,
and yet that choice, as well, you have removed.
“I sense that you are truthful in one thing: the
Grail is near here. If the treasure you snatched from
beneath my very nose in the Holy City was not
near, then Santos would not be here either. If you
won’t give me the location, what choice do I have
but to seek that answer in the only other place I
might find it?
“I will go after Santos, and, if it amuses me,” here
he hesitated, taking a step closer and staring intently
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234
into Kli Kodesh’s ancient eyes, “I might release your
servant. Make no mistake, I will eventually find
what I seek. I will hold it in my hand, and I will
drink from those depths, and I will feel that power.
Your games and lies and trickery will not matter then
more than leaves dropping in an autumn breeze.”
Kli Kodesh merely stood and watched him, expression
unreadable. He did not look away, nor did
he flinch at the insults. He watched Montrovant
patiently, waiting for him to finish. Angry as
Montrovant was, he was wasting his words. Kli
Kodesh had come to them with a purpose in mind,
and that purpose would be served. He was content
to stand back now and watch to see what would
transpire. Jeanne read it in the ancient’s stance, in
the casual set of his shoulders. It reminded le Duc
of a parent’s patience with a stubborn child.
“We must move now if we are to reach de
Chaunvier before he leaves his chambers,” Gwendolyn
cut in. “They will wait only until the moon
has reached the center of the sky to start, and they
will be in their places in Santos’s chamber before
that.”
“I will need you with me.” Kli Kodesh spoke the
words softly, but their impact on Gwendolyn was
sudden and intense. She spun, her eyes wide and
her mouth falling open. She backed up a step toward
Montrovant, her arms raising from her sides.
“But…I have come with them so far, to leave
now…”
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“Your place is with me. Have you forgotten this?”
Gwendolyn’s head dropped to her chest and the
fire left her voice. “No. Of course not. How could
I forget?”
“She has been a great help to us,” Jeanne cut in,
aware as the words left his mouth that he was overstepping
more boundaries than he could imagine.
He pressed on. “She knows the inside of the keep
better than we—would it not be better if she stayed
with us until this was complete?”
“I cannot risk another so close to me with
Santos,” Kli Kodesh replied with cold finality. “You
must go on your own. We have other tasks to complete.”
“If I find,” Montrovant said, ignoring the exchange,
except as it affected his own plans, “that
you are spending the time while I am doing as you
bid me in betraying me again, it will be a final mistake.
There are things which you fear, and there are
other powers on this Earth than yourself. I will
track you, and I will destroy you. On that you have
my word. Take the girl if it means so much to you,
but remember your promise.”
Without another word, Montrovant turned and
walked away through the shadows. He made no
move toward the horses—there was no time. It was
him and le Duc against the night, Santos, and
whatever demons that ancient might possess. The
time for worrying over being spotted doing something
supernatural was past. If he failed in the
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236
moments and hours to come, then the knights
would be nothing but a faded memory—whether it
was Santos or Philip who made it so, it would happen.
None who might see him this night was likely
to see another.
Besides, if what Kli Kodesh had told them was
the truth, they would not be looking for
Montrovant the man, or Montrovant the knight.
They would be looking for a dark savior, a power
to flash from the shadows and drive Philip screaming
into the night. He did not want to disappoint
any who might actually be watching.
They flashed across the landscape, leaving
Gwendolyn and Kli Kodesh to stand in the shadows
and watch as they disappeared into the
distance. Montrovant was the swifter, but le Duc
managed to keep him in sight, following his sire by
the sound and scent as much as the sight of his
darting, shadowy form. They both knew the way to
de Molay’s gates. The aroma of hot, fresh blood was
in the air, drifting to them from the walls of the
keep and the halls and chambers beyond.
Montrovant moved as if he were oblivious to that
scent, but le Duc had no such strength. The hunger
was eating at his concentration. He fought it back,
focusing on his sire, and on the landscape before
them. There would be time enough for the hunger
and the blood when the night’s work was done.
He reached deep inside for the familiar red haze,
felt the world slowing, his motions becoming
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
smooth and fluid. He did not so much hear and see
the landscape as it passed as he felt it—became one
with it. He remembered the haze from his mortal
days in battle, remembered the sensation of seeking
and ending the lives of others. He felt it in the
air, sensed it in his sire as he flashed across the land
in the Dark One’s wake. It would be a night to remember.
He moved to the laughter of the fates, and
de Molay’s keep loomed above them, tall and imposing,
entrapping them like a huge spider’s web.
_
As Montrovant and le Duc sped off into the darkness,
Kli Kodesh stood watching, as though his will
could drive them more swiftly to their goal. At last
he turned to Gwendolyn, whose eyes were still focused
on the ground at her feet, her shoulders
drooping in despair.
“Come,” he said softly. “You will see them again
soon enough. For now we have others to meet.
There are more things afoot tonight than de Molay
and Santos know—more than Montrovant suspects.
We must not hesitate, or it will be too late.”
Gwendolyn nodded. She did not appear cheered
by his promises, but neither did she hesitate to do
as he bid. If she opposed him, it was certain she’d
never see Montrovant again, and that was not a
thing her heart could bear.
Kli Kodesh and Gwendolyn streaked into the
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238
darkness, moving on a line parallel to the keep.
The night returned to its silence—the moon
watching them all with her solitary, glowing eye.
In the darkness ahead, Gwendolyn suddenly sensed
a group of others—all Damned. She nearly pulled
back, certain that it was a trap, but Kli Kodesh only
quickened his pace. With a small cry she followed,
wondering what deception she’d be dragged into
next. Wondering if Montrovant would believe that
she’d known nothing about it. Wondering. Suddenly
the night that had seemed so short loomed
like an endless, painful dream.
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SIXTEEN
Gwendolyn quickly became aware that Kli
Kodesh was not heading for the keep, as she’d supposed.
Despite his brave words to Montrovant, it
appeared that perhaps he did fear Santos. At least
he seemed not to wish a direct encounter. It wasn’t
until she sensed the presence of others that she
truly understood.
It had all been planned. Down to Montrovant’s
dramatic departure, the speeches and call for aid—
none of it was true. Not completely. Kli Kodesh had
led them all down trails of falsehood carefully laid
for the purpose of diverting their attention from his
true purpose. She should have suspected. Ferdinand
was only a servant. He might well have more
knowledge of her sire than he’d had before
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240
Gwendolyn left, but that did not mean he was a
danger. He did not have the Blood, and he did not
have Kli Kodesh’s true name—without one or the
other of those things there was no particular danger
that Santos could pose without being face to
face with Kli Kodesh. At least that was the way she
understood it.
The two of them moved around a small copse of
trees and she saw another waiting for them. He
stared straight into her eyes from a very long distance,
and she knew him in that instant. Nosferatu.
Gustav. She’d met him only once before, but the
experience had been so intense that she’d never
shaken his image from her mind. He was powerful,
not so much older than she, but a leader where she
preferred to be led.
Gustav’s own followers spread around him, shadowed
by the darkness, a circle of red glowing eyes.
Those eyes traced the progress she and Kli Kodesh
made, progress that was much slower than it had to
be—as if for effect.
“You have called, and we have come,” Gustav
said without hesitation. “What is it that you would
have us do—where are the treasures?”
“They are safe enough, for the moment,” Kli
Kodesh said, reaching out a hand to place it on the
Nosferatu lord’s slender shoulder.
Gwendolyn was amazed again by the translucent
quality of the vampire’s skin—the way that her
sire’s blood had twisted even the horror of the
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
Nosferatu to a thing very akin to beauty. Gustav
was tall, emaciated, his head completely bald and
his nose resembling a beak more than any appendage
born to a human face, and yet he was not ugly.
He glowed from within, a light that could not be
extinguished, and it shone on certain hidden angles
of his face, enhanced the expressive quality of his
eyes, until features that would have seemed hideous
under any other circumstances transformed themselves
into a thing of power.
“You have done well,” Kli Kodesh continued.
“Montrovant has charged ahead, as I knew he
would, to launch himself into the jaws of the demon.
He was never one for the waiting game. We
have a full day until Philip arrives, and with the
confusion that will soon take place within the
keep, we should be able to be in and out of the
tomb without causing a stir. We must be gone before
the dawn.”
Gustav nodded, but the questions in his eyes remained.
“Why now?” he asked quietly. “Why not wait
until Philip has his way with de Molay, and the area
has returned to peace? Why take the chance of
being seen, caught, or worse? Why draw the attention
of others, of Santos or Montrovant, when
there is no need?”
“Need?” Kli Kodesh replied, grinning slyly.
“There are a great many levels and intensities to
such a thing as need. We will act as I’ve said we will
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242
because it pleases me. There would be no point to
this if it did not complicate—have you learned so
little of me over the years, Gustav?”
He hesitated for a long moment, studying the
elder Nosferatu’s features carefully.
“Surely you know that the only purpose to such
actions is the value of the entertainment?”
Gustav didn’t reply, but Gwendolyn detected no
amusement in those cold, gray eyes. He merely
nodded and waited. She waited as well. She had no
real idea of what was to come—this was the closest
her sire had ever come to revealing intimate
information in her presence. She knew that Gustav
and his followers had played an important role in
the ancient’s past—a role that somehow continued
into the present and expanded with the events of
the time.
She couldn’t imagine what could have brought
the thin, aristocratic Kli Kodesh into partnership
with such horrors as the Nosferatu, but it was obvious
that there were a great many things she could
not imagine that it might be better if she could. She
had to wonder, knowing what she did of the various
families of the Damned, if her sire were not
Nosferatu himself, prior to the curse…if she did not
have that twisted blood in her own veins…held at
bay by his own special taint.
Too much depended on what would take place in
the next few hours. She needed to listen, to concentrate,
and when the opportunity arose, she needed to
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get away and take that information to Montrovant.
She knew that the Dark One did not trust Kli Kodesh,
that he had probably anticipated the treachery, but
still she had to do what she could.
She could barely restrain herself from glancing to
the skies…Montrovant had his own ways of following.
There was no reason to believe he would take
her sire at face value, though the ancient would no
doubt detect such surveillance…and would it matter?
The runes had been cast…what remained was
to determine their meaning, and to act accordingly.
It would not be easy. Kli Kodesh’s control was
masterful and complete, and he was not alone. All
it would take, once she made her break, was for one
of his followers to casually mention her absence,
and it would be over. He would summon her back
and she would obey. No matter the call of her heart,
the call of the blood would win the battle, and
there was no way of knowing how he would react
after such treachery.
The Nosferatu gathered more closely about Kli
Kodesh and Gustav, and she drew herself into the
shadows, watching. They were speaking in very low
tones, and though she could catch small snatches
of words, half-sentences and slightly raised tones,
she could not put enough of it together to make
sense. They continued to mention a tomb, and
treasures, but nothing specific that she could grasp.
Whatever it was that consumed their attention,
it was not her. She continued to pull herself farther
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244
back into the darkness, not letting her gaze waver
from the small circle that surrounded Kli Kodesh.
If one of them turned, or if her sire shifted his attention
toward her for even an instant, she would
fail. If she failed, she would not get a second
chance.
Her nerves fluttered but she held them in check
with every bit of her will. If she bolted, they would
see her. She needed to be far enough away before
she made her break that none would catch the
motion in the periphery of their senses or vision.
She kept moving, thinking all the while that it was
happening too easily, that it was as though they
were letting her go, but unable to stop now that
she’d committed herself. She wondered briefly if
Montrovant would trust her even if she did manage
to break away.
When she could only just make out the group
standing in the distance, she turned and let herself
stretch out—moving so quickly across the landscape
that she blurred to a shadow. She moved in
tense anticipation of the rude jerk that Kli Kodesh’s
control could apply, but it did not come. She disappeared
around the far side of the keep and made
directly for the wall, not hesitating as she reached
its base, but leaping against the stone, moving so
quickly she seemed to glide upward. She scaled the
wall as if there were steps and handholds cut into
the stone and slipped over onto the top of the wall
gracefully.
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Two events occurred in rapid succession then.
There was a strangled cry from her left, and she
sprang. Even as she’d come to rest on the wall she’d
sensed the guard—too close not to notice. She had
no time to spare for worrying over who might see
her. She was in the air again almost the second her
feet touched the stone, and she snapped the man’s
neck in the next instant, strong hands closing over
him and smashing him down against the stone. The
scent of his blood was pleasant, but it did not draw
her. She let him fall, turned to check back the way
he’d come, and followed the wall toward the nearest
stair.
Now that she was in, she wanted to draw as little
attention to herself as possible. She needed to
reach Montrovant quickly, and she could not do
that if she had a group of angry mortals chasing her,
or any other such diversion.
She stretched her senses, seeking Montrovant's
mind—calling out to him. She knew such a call was
dangerous. It might attract Kli Kodesh’s attention,
if he were looking for her. She knew that if he truly
wanted to find her, the effort would be less than
that of a mortal swatting a gnat, but she wanted to
believe she’d won freedom without his notice—at
least for the moment. The thought that even this
bid for freedom was tied to his devious plans was
more than she could stand.
There was no immediate sign of Montrovant’s
presence, so she scrambled down a curving stair to
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246
the courtyard of the keep and picked her way
through the gardens, sliding from tree to tree,
shadow to shadow, eyes and mind alert for any who
might notice her passing. There was no movement
outside the confines of the keep itself, and few
lights burned within. Fewer than she would have
expected.
There was an odd vibration in the earth beneath
her—an energy that seeped up to caress her obscenely.
She hurried her steps, not wanting to
maintain contact with the ground beneath her—
forcing motion. She felt the call of that energy, felt
it searching her soul for—something. She drew her
thoughts deeper into her own mind and concentrated.
She slipped along the inner wall until she came
to a door, and thankfully it opened. Security, for
the moment, seemed concentrated on the outer
wall. That would change when Philip drew near.
For the moment she took advantage, entering the
dimly lit passage beyond the door and heading
straight for the central passage of the keep. She
knew the inner layout well enough after the time
she’d spent there with Kli Kodesh before he’d sent
her away. Those times had been less tense, Philip’s
edict only a distant rumor, and she’d had free run
of the keep.
She headed straight for de Chaunvier’s quarters.
That was where her sire had sent Montrovant, and
that was where she assumed he’d be, if she weren’t
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too late. Otherwise they would all be below, and
Montrovant would be forced to follow, hoping to
disrupt the ceremony before it was too late. If he
failed, it would be too late for them all—Santos
would have the answers he sought and there would
be nothing to stop him. Nothing.
She reached the upper level and made the turn
toward de Chaunvier’s quarters, stopping short as
she rounded the corner and drawing herself quickly
back around into the shadows. Voices floated down
the corridor—the steady pounding of booted feet.
She sensed Montrovant, le Duc and one other immediately.
It had to be de Chaunvier. She’d met the
man only once, and briefly, at mass. “Father”
Kodesh had been speaking on the sin of pride—
she’d not seen him look to the floor during the
moment of silent prayer. He’d stared ahead, instead,
fierce, proud eyes that bowed to no one.
She knew that Montrovant would know she was
there, but at the same time she understood that it
would not be a good thing for de Chaunvier to
know. He would be caught up in the moment, walking
in the presence of legend—of the sort of history
one never expects to see validated. Montrovant
had been instrumental in the formation of their
order, even though the knights he’d known had
predated the actual Templars by several years. The
stories had grown from even the magical, unreal
reality to mythic proportion. Now the myth walked
the halls of Jacques de Molay—the only real ques-
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248
tion was whether he could prevent the mistakes of
his predecessors from recurring, and the future from
swallowing himself and the knights irrevocably.
Gwendolyn managed to find an alcove she could
press herself into before the three passed. Their
voices became clearer as they approached, then
passed.
“Santos is a snake,” Montrovant was saying. “He
seeks nothing that will not aid his own particular
cause, and to believe for even a moment that he has
your interests in mind as well is folly. He will spit on
the ashes of this keep and worm his way into Philip’s
confidence without the slightest guilt. He cares for
nothing but revenge and the recovery of what he
believes to be his own—treasures and powers that
belong rightfully in the hands of the Church.”
“The head?” de Chaunvier asked. “Is the head
such a treasure?”
“The head is a power unto itself,” Montrovant
intoned. Gwendolyn would have smiled at the purposefully
ominous tone of his voice, had the
situation been anything but what it was. “It is not
a part of Santos’s charge, but something he acquired
through association with the Cappadocians.
He is an extremely learned scholar in all of the dark
arts. The head is the key to his power—the answer
to his questions. If Santos possesses your true name,
he can control your soul. The head can provide
that name—even mine. That power cannot save
you from Philip, as he claims, unless of course you
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
have some way of forcing him to use that power on
Philip himself…which I doubt. The damage he can
do once it is his again is beyond description.”
“What do we do about Philip, then?” de
Chaunvier asked, his voice rising an octave. “If you
don’t come to aid us, why should I listen to you?”
“There are worse things than dying at Philip’s
hand,” Montrovant replied evenly. “Much worse.
If you believe that the short years of your life are
the only ones that can matter in your existence,
you have not been paying attention to what Santos
has told you. There are powers you do not understand,
issues that hang in the balance this night
that you could never comprehend. What is important
is this—Santos must be stopped. Jacques de
Molay must be stopped. He has been drawn in too
deeply. He may even know that it is wrong, but still
he will go through with this because he sees no
other alternative. He is not ready to give himself
for the good of the many. He will have it all or
none, and that is when Santos is at his most dangerous.
He will suck de Molay dry, and he will take
you all along with him. He has no soul left to lose—
that is the difference.”
There was silence for a long time after that.
Gwendolyn waited until she heard them descending
the stairs before she slid from the shadows and
followed, keeping herself pressed tightly against the
wall and carefully back from the group descending
ahead of her.
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250
Once she caught le Duc glancing back over his
shoulder. His eyes met hers unerringly, their minds
linked—just for that second, and he nodded. Then
the contact was broken and she was following at a
distance again—separate, but knowing they were
aware of her presence. The energy she’d felt seeping
up from below was growing in intensity—
driving up through stone and brick to grasp at her
with ghost-fingers of unclean desire. She sensed
that what was sought was not herself, but the blood
that flowed through her veins. Kli Kodesh’s blood.
The blood that could lead Santos back to her sire
and be the force behind his revenge.
There wasn’t enough behind the groping assault
to be effective, but it was an insidious reminder of
how much was at stake. Her mind reeled, and in a
sudden moment of clarity, she saw that there was
no way that Kli Kodesh had not foreseen this, that
he had not let her go full aware she was leaving.
How could he not be aware? The only questions
was, why had he allowed it, and what did he expect
her to do now that she was within the keep? What
possible entertainment value could she provide
that would be worth the risking of his blood?
She followed them to the main level of the keep,
and moments later, de Chaunvier in the lead, they
disappeared down the stairs that led to the lower
levels. She moved to the head of that stair, but hesitated.
There would be no turning back from this. She
didn’t know why she was drawn after Montrovant as
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
she was, but in the end the reasons did not matter.
She slipped onto the stairs and melted into the shadows
along the walls. There was no movement below
save the three she followed, but she could sense that
something was growing—something deep and resonant
that shook the walls and vibrated through the
stone of the floor and up through her bones.
It had begun. She knew, somehow, that de
Chaunvier’s presence was necessary to the completion
of the ritual, but they had not waited for him
to begin it. Santos was no fool. He would not hold
off his plans for one mortal—even if the lack of
that mortal might cause him to fail entirely. His life
was in little danger, comparatively. It was his new
followers who fought for their lives. It gave them
an energy and power that they would not otherwise
have had, and perhaps—despite de Chaunvier’s
treachery—it would be enough.
The chanting was loud enough to be heard
clearly from where she made her way along the
wall, but she could not make out the words. They
were in no language she was familiar with—not
even in a language that sounded remotely human.
The syllables were too rough—and at the same
time too complex—for human speech. Instead it
reminded her of an odd, rhythmic melody—a dirge.
There was no real tune to it, but the patterns of
sound were unmistakably musical in nature.
She felt a rift growing between Montrovant and
de Chaunvier. Apparently the Templar lord had
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252
gone ahead, entering the chamber as he was expected
to, leaving Montrovant beyond the portal.
The chanting shifted subtly, new tones adding
themselves into the mix and others melting to different
notes as if whatever had shifted in the energy
that flowed through the tunnels and chambers had
been made complete. De Chaunvier. He’d added
his voice to those of the others.
Somehow Santos seemed unaware of the intrusion
of Montrovant, le Duc, and herself, but it did
not ring true with stories Kli Kodesh had told her
of events in the past. If he was not aware, then
something else was taking his full attention, and if
he was aware, and just unconcerned, then it was
worse yet. She knew that if anyone was an unexpected
twist in the mix it was her. Montrovant
knew she was there, le Duc as well, but de
Chaunvier did not, and it was his mind that Santos
had drawn into the chant.
Gwendolyn doubted that the Templar lord had
the strength of will to keep any secrets. If Santos
didn’t yet know he was in danger, he would know
soon enough. The question was whether or not de
Chaunvier could reach Jacques de Molay in time
to warn him, and whether that warning would be
taken well. Santos might be evil, but de Molay still
believed him the only answer to their dilemma. It
would not be easy to sway the man from this belief,
even less easy with Santos’s spells weaving their
way around them all.
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She pressed as close to the wall as she could and
slid forward. The doors to the chamber itself were
still out of sight, and she wondered where
Montrovant was hiding, or if he was hiding. There
was no way to predict what he might do. The only
thing she knew for certain was that they could not
let the ceremony reach completion. She could only
imagine what kind of danger that might bring as
Santos anger burst on them full bore; not to mention
the bulk of the Templars, who would see their
intrusion as sacrilege.
She glanced around the corner and took in the
passage beyond in a second. Montrovant and le
Duc stood poised on either side of the doors to the
chamber, as though they were waiting for something,
a sign from within, or the last moment when
concentration would be furthest from the possibility
of interference.
She slithered around the corner, making no
sound and willing her mind to silence. It was not
enough. Montrovant looked up from where he
stood on the far side of the entrance to the chamber,
met her eyes, and stopped her cold. She had
never seen such resolve—such intensity—in a
single pair of eyes. He nodded toward the door almost
imperceptibly, then held up a hand to warn
her back.
Something was happening. The energy, which
only moments before had circled them, permeating
the air, was coalescing and sliding inward. She
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254
could feel the circling of force, like an invisible
vortex, drawing everything into that chamber of
shadows, drowning out separate sounds in a single
cloak of confusion and darkness.
She reached her own hand out toward
Montrovant, but before he could react, a scream
arose from within the chamber. It rose like the
mournful cry of a banshee—the wailing of a tormented
soul. A shiver sliced through her veins, and
she knew the voice in that moment as de
Chaunvier’s.
The energy crackled and rushed out of control—
no longer focused, but still powerful. At that
moment, Montrovant leaped through the doorway
into the chamber, le Duc at his heels, and, knowing
nothing else to do, Gwendolyn rushed for the
entrance after them with her head lowered and her
mind reeling. For better, or for dead, there was no
turning back.
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SEVENTEEN
Jacques de Molay was only aware of Louis’s arrival
on the very periphery of his senses. He knew
that things had changed, that something formerly
lacking in the chant had shifted and grown more
powerful. He felt it as it coursed through him, entering
and receding in waves that drained each of
his thoughts as they came to him, taking with it his
energy, his resolve. He stood and he danced. His
lips moved and he knew that the odd, incomprehensible
words of the chant were pouring forth in
waves, but he had control of none of it.
He was beginning to wonder if there would be
anything at all left of him by the time it was over—
part of him hoped there would not be. The
sensation was of such completion, such wonder and
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256
power, that to become a part of it for eternity did
not seem such a bad end. Not as bad as being
burned alive by Philip and his fanatics, or betrayed
by the very Church he’d sworn to serve.
Santos swayed before the altar like a serpent,
sleek and hypnotic. When Jacques looked he did
not see the short, slight man he’d spent so many
hours listening to and studying under, but another
altogether. This being was tall, emaciated and powerful.
He waved his arms and threads of energy that
Jacques had not previously been aware of were spun
through the air like a giant tapestry, crackling with
energy and leaping wildly toward the walls. The
pulsing energy behind those threads was blended
with the rhythm of the chant—with the patterns
of the dance. It was woven into his own mind and
soul, a part of him as he was of it. Magic.
How many times had he dreamed of that word—
that notion. Magic that he could control. Magic
that would open doors to things unknown and
solve problems where his own mind came up
against stone walls. This was an impossibility, all
of it, and yet he danced, and he sang, and he
watched the lifeless face glaring down on them
from the altar, heart in his throat for the miracle
that would save them all.
Now the magic flowed around him like water in
a raging river and he had no control over it whatsoever.
He wasn’t certain if he’d even survive it,
and the notion that the prancing demon by the
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altar cared for the salvation of his soul, his people,
or his order had passed through fantasy to the totally
surreal long before that moment. Santos was
not human. He walked and talked as a man, but
Jacques knew that what he saw now was much
closer to the reality—the rest was a clever facade.
These thoughts and others slipped in and out of
his mind, but he wasn’t able to grasp them or give
them coherent consideration. They were snatched
away and replaced with the thoughts he was supposed
to add to the spell.
He sensed that the magic was not all Santos’s
doing. He felt each and every one of his followers
in that force, felt them draining away toward the
altar in the same fashion that he felt his own
strength fading. It didn’t affect their ability to
prance and leap to the rhythm of the chant, or to
keep the words pounding loudly from throats that
should have been dry and sore. That strength was
being focused back through them by Santos. He
was taking their essence and distilling it through
himself, using it to work them like marionettes.
Suddenly Louis was at his side. His friend’s features
faded in and out, wavering from shadow to
grim visage and back again with each pounding of
the energy that forced the blood through his veins.
He concentrated, gripping the final strands of his
dissolving mind. Louis. He had to try to warn
him—to let him know what was happening. He
had to force his lips to form coherent words.
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258
In a sudden instant of clarity he was able to make
out his friend’s eyes. They were panicked, bloodshot.
Louis was fighting the same fight within his
own mind, clawing his way through the others toward
Jacques. He was trying to say something, to
snap free of the power that bound him.
Jacques saw this, then he saw Santos rise to an impossible
height above them—or seem to—and he saw
him snare Louis with a glance. Waving his hands in a
new pattern, not part of the rhythm, but running in
syncopated time to it, Santos reached out toward Louis
and Jacques saw his friend lurch, stricken, nearly dropping
to his knees. The energy surged, threatening to
break free, but suddenly Louis was back on his feet. He
spun past Jacques, dipping and leaping with a perfection
his limbs could never have attained on their
own. His eyes flashed past Jacques, and they were
dead. Where there had been a strong will battling
for freedom there was dead, unseeing darkness.
It was too much. The weight of the responsibility
he’d carried for so long roared down on Jacques
like a landslide, crushing its way straight through to
his heart. He let his head fall back and he forced the
scream that rose from somewhere deep within him
to slash through the sound, disrupting the chanting
and flying at Santos like a weapon.
“No!” He forced the word out, and though it was
strangled and garbled, it was heard. Santos spun toward
him, raising his arms again, but it was too late.
“Enough!” Jacques cried. “Enough. It. Will. Stop. Now.”
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
All around him, the others dropped like flies.
The energy had sustained them while Santos was
directing it, circling it back to them and draining
it free again. Now the flow had stopped, and there
was nothing to keep them animated. Jacques staggered,
but did not fall. Somehow he held himself
steady, keeping his gaze directed at Santos.
Santos quivered with rage. The power rippled
through and around him. There was a greenish haze
rising from the altar, surrounding the head, but it
sat as dead and silent as when Jacques had first laid
eyes on it, and somehow he knew that it would
continue to do so. Santos took a step forward, then
another. His eyes were blazing now, and his hands
were in motion once again. His lips were moving—
mumbling something so low that the sound did not
carry. Jacques felt the hairs rising on his neck, and
he knew that he’d made the last mistake of a long
life. As surely as his mother had borne him, he was
going to die.
Then the world exploded around him for the
second time in only a span of short moments, and
strong arms grabbed him from behind, dragging
him away. He had no opportunity to resist, nor did
he have any way of knowing who it was that held
him. It didn’t matter. They were moving back
through the fallen bodies toward the door, and others
were moving as well. A huge, dark figure had
materialized in the door as Louis screamed, dark
hair flying about his head as he dove into the
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260
chamber with impossible grace and speed. A second
shadow flitted across that opening, not so fast,
but with purpose, and he caught the glitter of a
blade drawn.
Then there was nothing to do but lower his head
and force the remaining energy in his tortured
frame toward his feet. Whoever held him supported
him a bit, but it was obvious that they were not
much stronger than he.
“Damn you, Jacques,” Louis’s voice snapped in
his ear, “stand up and run, or as God is my witness
I will kick you through that door and all the way
up the stairs. We have to sound the alarms—these
men need help, and we are in no condition to offer
it.”
“Who?” Jacques managed to grunt. “Who has
come?”
“Montrovant.” Just that one word, but it
slammed through Jacques like a stake hammered
through his heart. He’d been warned. He’d been
told that the Dark One would come, and he’d chosen
his own path—the wrong path. Now good men
lay at his feet as he ran for the sake of his own
doomed life. He didn’t know if any of it could have
been avoided, but he knew that the fault for it lay
on his shoulders.
They ducked through the door and into the passage
beyond, expecting at any moment to feel the
familiar tug of Santos’s mind dragging them back,
but the attack never came. There were cries from
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the room at their back, sounds that neither Jacques
nor Louis could identify, or cared to.
A woman stood in the hall, just outside the door,
and Jacques tried to stop and warn her, to let her
know of the danger that lay within, but Louis
dragged him onward. Jacques nearly broke free, but
then he saw her face—met her gaze. She was not
frightened, but there was a dark beauty about her
that defied description, a luminescence to her skin
and a depth to her eyes that he’d never before experienced.
He met that gaze for only an instant, then Louis
was dragging him away again, but the image of her
features embedded itself in his mind. Then there
was the gray stone of the walls and the sudden
added difficulty of forcing his drained body up the
stairs toward the levels above—toward the world
he’d known all his life and forsaken, toward those
he’d doomed. He owed them this last effort. He
owed them anything that was left to him, but still
he could not erase the woman’s image from his
mind. He swore to himself that, should he live
through the night, he would find her—would test
the hunger in those eyes and know her mind.
The sound of dark, maniacal laughter floated up
from below, and they redoubled their efforts to
climb free. Louis was calling ahead of them, trying
to attract the attention of guards, or servants, anyone
who might roust the others from their bed.
They might all die when Philip made his way to the
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262
castle, but they would fight one battle before then,
and in this they could not fail. The laughter continued
to mock them as they fled.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
EIGHTEEN
Le Duc sensed that Santos was aware of their
presence, but he was equally aware that de Molay’s
sudden outburst and treachery had not been expected.
The room was a chaos of cries and bodies
slamming against one another in a frantic effort to
escape something that could not be seen. Santos
stood in the midst of it, swaying back and forth like
a confused serpent, sweeping his gaze around the
room.
Montrovant was moving, and Jeanne followed
his sire’s lead. There was enough movement in the
shadowed chamber to disguise their motion and
give them a few more seconds. Jeanne felt his mind
slipping away, felt his hand groping for the blade
he wore at his side, as the tense lines of his face
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264
melted into a grim smile. The haze was descending,
the red madness of battle that had been his mantle
since the days of his youth, that had led him from
his home, to the Holy Land, to the Templars, and
finally led Montrovant to him. He welcomed it.
There might be nothing Jeanne could do in the
conflict to come, but if he died the final death it
would be as he’d always known it would. He would
die a warrior, clawing at his enemy’s throat and
watching as the red blood spilled, his or the other’s.
It mattered little, in the end. All blood spilled
eventually. Santos was a worthy foe, and it was as
good a day as any to meet Death a second time.
He rolled nimbly in the opposite direction from
the one Montrovant had taken, sliding through the
milling bodies like quicksilver, using them as shields
and gliding through shadows when there was no
other cover available. Always his eyes were focused
on Santos. The man paid no attention to him, but
he did not trust things on the surface as he trusted
his heart. His heart told him to tread lightly.
He saw that the small, thin man had spun away
from him, saw his shoulders tense and his hands
come up to spin and weave in some sort of intricate
pattern that left wisps of light hanging behind his
fingers in the air. Montrovant rose from the darkness
across the room, moving toward Santos and
the altar before which he stood so swiftly that he
appeared to glide. His eyes glowed brightly and his
lips were drawn back in a snarl.
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
Jeanne watched for a second, fascinated, as his sire
moved toward Santos. There was no effort to pull
away on the smaller man’s part, no evidence of fear.
A soft chant drifted across the room, and Jeanne
realized that he could hear it over the cries and
moans of the others, who were finally finding their
way toward the door in their panic. He concentrated,
but he couldn’t make out the words. He thought he
heard the name Montrovant, but he couldn’t be certain,
and it galvanized him into action.
He moved forward as quickly and silently as possible.
He could not tell if Montrovant had seen
him, nor could he be certain that Santos was not
aware of him, but it no longer mattered. There was
no other enemy in sight, and the battle madness
demanded blood. He kept close to the floor and
locked his gaze on Santos’s slowly swaying form.
Behind Santos, a mist formed of incense and residual
energy clouded the features of the head.
Jeanne’s concentration slipped. The head was as
dangerous as Santos—did they dare to ignore it in
such a moment? The ritual had not been completed,
but who knew what properties it might
actually possess, or how they might be released?
Who knew how close they were to a destruction
they could not understand or combat?
Santos took a step back, and Jeanne stopped,
standing tense but very still, watching. Montrovant’s
leap had brought him in a long, slow arc
toward Santos’s throat, soaring across the chamber
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266
like a giant bird of prey. Santos held his ground,
and at the last second he lashed out with one arm
almost contemptuously. Montrovant drove into the
smaller man, but was knocked aside, deflected by
the impossibly powerful blow. Santos staggered but
was not toppled, and Montrovant rolled to one
side, out of sight.
Jeanne moved. He leaped at the altar, taking the
head by the wispy gray hairs that clung to its scalp
and swinging it up into the air like a club. He saw
the eyes, dead and lifeless, spinning up over his
head, then he saw nothing but his target.
Santos spun, eyes blazing, but le Duc was beyond
thought. With a scream of rage, he brought the
head around in a wide arc, crashing it against the
side of Santos’s skull and driving him back. The
hair held, and Jeanne swung the head up again,
intending a second blow. Santos, recovering swiftly,
swept out with one leg and knocked Jeanne’s feet
from beneath him deftly. The head swung up and
flew into the shadows.
In the second that Santos’s concentration was
broken—as he turned to watch the head fly across
the room and mouthed a negation that never made
it to full sound—Montrovant sprang again. This
time Santos didn’t even see him coming, and the
two of them tumbled to the ground in a blur of
darkness. Jeanne moved forward, his sword raised,
but he couldn’t get a good glimpse of who was on
top at any given moment. The speed of their move-
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ments was uncanny, the strength of their blows
enough to be felt through the stone floor of the
chamber. Jeanne danced about nimbly, waiting.
He heard a strangled cry, recognized it as
Montrovant, and moved closer, but he still couldn’t
be certain that if he attacked he would not strike
his sire. With a curse he drew back his blade, ready
to swing it with all his might—to hell with the
consequences. The blow never fell.
Gwendolyn materialized from the shadows with
sudden fury, screeching madly.
“Let him go!” she cried. “It is not the Dark One
you want. It is the blood of Kli Kodesh, and I tell
you now it stands before you. Kill Montrovant and
you will never see it spilled—never know that name
that has haunted you through the ages. This I
swear.”
Santos heard her, and her words struck home. He
did not release his grip on Montrovant’s throat, but
he raised his head to stare at her. His head was
cocked oddly to one side, like a dog that has heard
something it can’t quite figure out. In that instant
Jeanne struck.
He put every ounce of strength granted him in
his second life into that blow, slashing at a slight
upward angle with his blade, driving it in beneath
Santos’s chin and slicing cleanly through the skin
of his throat. One moment the ancient stared at
Gwendolyn, the next his head seemed to leap from
his shoulders, following the arc that the other head
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268
had taken short moments before.
There was a garbled, unintelligible bark of sound
as his larynx gave way, then nothing. Silence.
Jeanne and Gwendolyn watched numbly as the
head took flight and Montrovant rolled free, tossing
the dried husk that had been Santos’s body
aside in distaste.
There was no blood. There was no moisture at
all. Santos had disintegrated into dust, leaving the
pungent odors of spice and musk in the air. What
remained of his frame couldn’t support the weight
of his robes, and they crumpled to the floor. Montrovant
rose to stand beside le Duc, staring at the
remains.
“What was he?” Gwendolyn asked softly. “What
manner of being crumbles to dust at his death?”
“I do not believe we can count on his death any
more than we can understand his power,”
Montrovant answered. “We have won. For now
that must be enough.”
He turned toward the doors that led to the keep
above.
“They will be returning shortly. I will have to
speak to them, de Chaunvier and de Molay. I will
have to explain why I am here and pray that they
know where the treasures are being kept—that they
know of the Grail. We have very little time.”
“How do you know how much time remains?”
Jeanne asked, still dazed from the battle madness.
“Do you not hear them?” Gwendolyn asked, turn-
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ing her enigmatic smile full upon him. “De Molay’s
men are on the stairs, calling out as they come, and
the name of Philip is on their lips. They come to
rescue you, but only because they fear Philip more
than the broken power of Santos.”
Jeanne did hear them, once he concentrated.
Feet were pounding on the stairs, and the clatter
of armor and weapons drew nearer.
“The head,” Montrovant said quickly. “We must
get it and remove it from this place. It is too powerful
to fall into Philip’s hands, or those of the
Church. It must be taken far away where it can do
no further harm.”
“I will take it,” Gwendolyn said softly. “I will take
it down the back wall of the keep, where the mountain
and the ocean meet. There is no way that
Philip, de Molay or any other could follow me
there.”
Montrovant stood very still, gazing into her eyes,
trying to read whatever emotion or deception might
be behind her words. Satisfied, he turned away.
“We will catch up with you when this has
ended,” he replied. “We have to go after the Grail.”
“Wait,” Gwendolyn called out as he headed for
the door.
Montrovant turned, standing tall and proud, his
eyes glowing brightly.
“They mentioned a tomb,” she said softly. “Kli
Kodesh, he has others nearby—Nosferatu. They are
outside the gates of the city.”
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270
“I knew I couldn’t trust him,” Montrovant spat.
“It is well. We will deal with de Molay and his men,
and then we will deal with the ancient and his
treachery, one way or the other. He shall have his
entertainment this night, I think…more than he
has bargained for.”
“He thought that you and Santos would destroy
one another,” Jeanne said softly.
“No,” Montrovant replied. “He knew that one of
us would survive. He knew, as well, that the conflict
would buy him time. Let us pray that it has not
been enough time.”
He turned to the door and was gone as surely as
he’d stood before them scant moments earlier. Le
Duc stole a last glance at Gwendolyn, trying to read
the inscrutable expression on her face and failing.
Then he spun to follow Montrovant to the upper
levels. Nothing mattered now but to see it through
to the end, and the haze had not departed so completely
that he could resist the draw of battle. If
Philip were truly approaching, and if Montrovant
was planning to support de Molay, or even to win
his way free, it was likely that Jeanne’s blade would
drink deeply at least one more time before the
night was through. As he hit the stairs at a run, he
prayed that it would be so. He had been too long
at peace. The scent of blood, the taste of it permeated
the air, driving him further toward the red. He
could not stop to feed, not now. But soon.
He could not hear Montrovant on the stairs, but
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he could sense the trail his sire had left, and he
followed that familiar tug of blood to blood, letting
himself be drawn onto the main level and ignoring
the stares of those around him as he bounded
through them and headed for the stairs.
His first thought was that Montrovant had returned
to de Chaunvier’s quarters, but as he rose
through the keep he realized that it was not so.
They had bypassed that level and headed up toward
the wall and the towers beyond. Montrovant was
climbing toward the open air, and Jeanne doubled
his pace, racing upward in pursuit.
He was vaguely aware of Gwendolyn gliding
along behind him. She kept her silence, but he
could sense the tension that drove her onward.
Any moment Kli Kodesh could call out to her. She
might want to support Montrovant, her “Dark
One,” as she’d dubbed him, but it was not fully her
decision. The only hope she had was that her sire
was too involved in whatever subterfuge he’d entered
into with his Nosferatu followers to bother
with her. The other possibility was that, independent
as her actions seemed, they were exactly what
Kli Kodesh expected of her. Jeanne knew he would
have to watch her, along with whatever other responsibilities
and burdens fell to him. Montrovant
would ignore her as insignificant; Jeanne could not
afford to follow suit.
He reached the top of the stairs and flew toward
a squat wooden doorway at the end of a short hall.
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272
He could feel the night breeze slipping in through
that opening, and he could hear footsteps running,
voices crying out—the voices the others had heard
from below. He knew his own senses were not what
they might be. He was younger in the blood than
they. He knew, also, that he had other talents,
other strengths, that they might not even suspect.
He could sense the pounding of blood through
many sets of veins—the pumping of endless hearts.
For a second he reeled from the sudden impact of
seductive sensation. He stumbled against the wall
of the keep and the impact jarred him back to the
moment.
Below he could feel them surging forward, hundreds
—thousands strong. He could hear their cries.
“Sorcerers! Heathens! Death to de Molay!”
So many strong hearts pumping delicious blood,
so many thoughts floating on the breeze, confusing
his already weakened control. Jeanne forced himself
to slow his steps, taking equal control of his
thoughts and reaching out to Montrovant for support
—or at least for direction. He’d slammed into
the wall so quickly that he’d lost track of his sire,
and the last thing he wanted at that moment was
to be abandoned on the wall of a castle full of mortals
out for blood. They did not know him as they
knew Montrovant. They would remember if they
checked the books, the records—his name would
be present—but it would not be enough.
He staggered past two guards who were rushing
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along the wall, eyes intent on the mob below. He
watched as they reached out for the topmost rungs
of a ladder he’d not even seen, shaking it violently,
then pushing it outward with a cry. He heard those
who’d climbed cry out in anger, then in fear, as they
tumbled into the darkness, armor and weapons
weighing them down mortally. The crashing,
screaming, and moaning from below attested to the
good aim—or fortune—of the guards. They’d taken
out more than those dropped.
Jeanne saw Montrovant ahead. The Dark One
had leaped to a point on one corner of the wall,
standing like a huge specter against the backdrop
of the sky, glaring down at those massed below. His
head was thrown back, fangs extended and eyes
glowing pits of hatred and anger. He looked less
like a man than at any moment since Jeanne had
first seen him…more like a demi-god, paying no
attention to the arrows whistling by his head. He
stood immobile for what seemed an eternity, and
Jeanne had just managed to get himself moving
again when Montrovant dove back onto the wall
and retreated toward him rapidly.
“We have to get below,” he said quickly. “There
is something wrong. The Church is with Philip, but
it is not just the Church—there are others. I can’t
tell for certain who, or what, they have traveling
with them, but there is an aura of old power hanging
over us like a shroud. We have to move to be
certain that shroud doesn’t settle over us.”
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274
Le Duc hesitated. “You mean we are leaving?”
“Unless you feel a sudden urge to die for the order
you left so long ago,” Montrovant grated, “then
I would suggest we leave, yes. What we seek is not
within these walls, I would sense it if it were, and
Santos would most certainly have had it in his
possession. If we stay, we will almost certainly
never leave under our own power.”
The matter-of-fact way Montrovant outlined
their probable fate drove like a well-honed blade
through the battle-madness that had engulfed le
Duc’s consciousness. Gwendolyn appeared suddenly
at their side, but Montrovant barely spared
her a glance. He turned and headed back toward
the stairs.
Jeanne followed, grabbing Gwendolyn by the arm.
He wanted her as close to him as possible so he
could watch her. She didn’t resist as he dragged her
back toward the stairs, but she did look perplexed.
“He says they have someone—something—with
them. We have to get out. Now.”
“But…” Gwendolyn looked back over her shoulders.
The guards had successfully repelled the
attack. Below they could hear the sound of retreating
boots and the clatter of horses’ hooves and
weapons. For the moment, Philip was drawing
back. The keep would not be taken so easily, it
seemed. Not this night.
“There is nothing we can do. We are not enough,
not with what they have brought against us. We
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must go.”
She nodded suddenly and followed, and Jeanne
released her arm. Montrovant had already disappeared
into the depths of the keep, and the two of
them rushed down the stairs like a strong burst of
wind, charging explosively onto the lower level.
Jeanne hesitated, but suddenly Gwendolyn grabbed
his arm and yanked him forward again. He might
have lost track of Montrovant, but she had not. He
followed her lead, and he found that they were returning
toward the lower levels.
Everyone they passed stared, but none questioned
their passing. Montrovant dropped to the
lower level like a stone through water and wound
his way down the passages, passing the chambers
where Santos and the head had threatened to destroy
them all only moments before. The battle was
up and beyond the walls; none had the energy to
concentrate on a new threat from below.
Jeanne wondered what the purpose of returning
to those vault-like chambers might be. Santos was
dead, or gone for the time being—there was nothing
of value left below, unless Montrovant was after
the head, and that was difficult to understand. If
that had been the case, why leave it in the first
place?
They did not stop at the room where they’d encountered
Santos, however. Montrovant flew past
that entrance without so much as a glance, running
full tilt down the passageway beyond. The floor had
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276
begun to slope upward again by the time that le
Duc suspected there was another way out. He came
to a halt behind his sire’s back, directly in front of
what seemed to be a solid wall blocking their
progress. Without hesitation Montrovant moved
forward, ran his hands across the stone surface, and
pressed quickly in a sequence of indentations. The
stone slid aside easily, not even a soft grinding
sound to note the passing of tons of stone.
Turning with a quick, dark smile, Montrovant
said, “I saw one of the knights enter this way
earlier…knew I could find the latch if I looked
closely. I didn’t think we’d need an escape route
until I sensed what awaited us out there.”
Another mystery. There had been such doorways
and passages in Jerusalem, but Jeanne had never
had the opportunity to broach the subject, and now
was certainly not the time.
Montrovant launched himself into the darkness
behind the portal he’d opened, and Jeanne followed.
He felt Gwendolyn moving close at his side,
and was suddenly glad she was there. The stone
closed behind them, as though on some sort of
timed mechanism, and they were plunged into total
blackness. The lack of light calmed Jeanne’s
nerves, and he found himself moving smoothly and
confidently again. Ahead he sensed the movement
of cooler air—freedom—or Philip? Only the next
few moments could tell.
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NINETEEN
Beyond the main battle lines, the bulk of Philip’s
army had begun the task of entrenching themselves
for a siege. There was little hope that their initial
surge would overwhelm the defenders of the keep.
It might be days—even weeks—before they could
breach the walls and bring down the gates. It didn’t
matter. Time was on their side—time, hunger,
thirst—all the weaknesses of mankind.
Philip’s own tents were set far back from the front
line, and beyond these there was yet another grouping
—smaller, but very elegant for such travel. The
tents were of scarlet, and there were as many servants
rushing here and there between them as there
were guards patrolling the outskirts of the camp.
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278
Brown robed figures stood stoically by the entrances
to these tents, weapons that looked only
slightly more out of place than the men who bore
them hung in plain sight from the belts that bound
their robes.
In the central tent, a tall thin figure sat quietly,
his thoughts turned toward his own mind. All of his
concentration was inward. He couldn’t afford even
the slightest spark of his true being to slip through
the walls of his control. His mask of humanity had
to remain complete and compelling. There were
other enemies than Jacques de Molay present, and
none of them could be taken lightly. He’d sensed
the passing of the guardian, Santos, among others.
The fleeting ghost-touch of Kli Kodesh’s ancient
essence flitted about the shadows, but never quite
made itself known. He couldn’t be certain whether
the old one would detect him or not. It was even
less likely that he would be able to guess at Kodesh’s
reaction to his presence. Best that none knew he
was there, for the moment, and that he assume it
to be so.
The brothers gathered about him closely, and
they all knew of his “condition.” He could not
travel in the light of day, but had to sleep—at times
to be borne upon their shoulders, or hauled in a
cart. It was a penance, so they believed. He had
traveled thus for hundreds of miles, and as each of
those miles passed, the danger of suspicion grew,
and the tales of his devotion to his Lord, and to the
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Church, multiplied. It would have to end soon, or
he would have to leave—possibly for good. There
was no way he could let the truth be known.
He wanted to call out to the others, to join them.
The road had brought longings he’d not known he
still had—a desire for open road and bright stars
shining down on a road to new lands. It had been
dead within him for so long, this urge toward adventure
and the open road, that it suddenly made
him feel very alive. He smiled at the thought.
The tent flaps were pulled wide, and
Bartholomew, one of his followers, made his way
into the interior of the tent. He did not speak, but
instead stepped forward, nearly dragging the cowl of
his robes on the ground he bowed so low. In his hand
he held a bit of paper, and this he placed on the floor
before his master’s feet. He backed away without a
word, sweating profusely and breathing shallowly.
Glancing down, the thin priest read the words on
the message quickly. It was in Philip’s bold, arrogant
script.
“We have them trapped like rats. Soon the
Church will have the opportunity to cleanse them.
We ask your blessing in the coming siege. The men
are restless—it could mean the difference of days
or weeks.”
As representative of the Church it was his duty
to bless. He was to sanction the spilling of blood
in the name of God, and this message was Philip’s
way of asking that he bestow that blessing this very
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280
night. There was time. The sun was hours from the
horizon, and it had been too long since he’d walked
among men freely. Another foolish urge, he knew,
but another that made him smile as well.
Rising, fighting to maintain the inward concentration
that would allow him the control he needed
for the blank-faced, stoic guise he wore in mortal
company. It was his shield against detection, as
long as he was able to maintain it. He strode purposefully
to the front of the tent and pushed the
flap aside, stepping into the night beyond. The
monks at the door looked at him in surprise, then
returned to their silent vigils. There were other
matters within that required their attention.
Leaving them behind, he strode through the
camp. His dark red robes glistened like black liquid
in the darkness, and the whisper of silk against
his thighs as he moved was rhythmic and hypnotic.
He moved with a grace that would have shamed a
dancer, and he moved directly toward Philip’s tent.
No time to waste, no reason to do otherwise.
He came to a halt just outside, and the guards were
already scrambling back through the door as they
sighted him striding from the shadows. In truth,
though they respected the Church very much,
Bishop Eugenio made them nervous. He could feel
their fear trailing behind them as they fought to be
the one who would enter the tent to announce his
arrival—and to not be the one left outside to greet
him as he arrived. He drank in their fear and was
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surprised at how much the sensation pleased him.
“Your Eminence,” a bulky young swordsman
spoke up, stepping forward and kneeling in the dirt,
head bowed.
The tent flap opened, and suddenly the opening
was filled. Philip stood there, untired by the day’s
journey or the evening’s battle. His eyes were alight
with the thought of victory after so long on the road,
and his spirits were high—undoubtedly aided in this
by the fruit of the vine. He stepped from his tent and
knelt quickly, if not overly reverently, reaching out
to take his visitor’s hand and bring it to his lips.
“I thank you for coming,” Philip said. “It is a
grand day, or will be when the sun rises upon it. It
will be a good thing to face it with the blessing of
our Lord.”
“I am not certain how our Lord truly perceives all
of this violence,” he answered, drawing Philip back
to his feet easily, aware that the man was astonished
by his strength. “I will offer my blessing,
nonetheless. We must end this, and soon.”
“That much we agree upon Your Eminence,”
Philip replied. “War sounds so much more pleasant
when the bards wrap their tongues about it than it
seems when one is caught up in the middle of it. I’ll
be as glad as any to return to my castle, and my
wife, and spend a few weeks—maybe years—deciding
the fate of battling cattle herders.”
“Let us do this. Let no more blood be shed without
the proper invocations and blessings. Let this
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be a battle for all that is godly and righteous.”
“Of course,” Philip said curtly. “How could I wish
it otherwise? If it were not for the atrocities involved,
I certainly would not be standing here
before the holdings of Jacques de Molay, nor, I’m
certain, would I find myself in such fine company.”
Turning back to the guard who’d first noticed
their visitor arriving, Philip barked his commands
quickly. The young man stumbled over himself to
get away and spread the word. All those not injured
or on the front line already were to assemble.
It had been a short conversation, much as expected.
Philip was as intimidated as the others, as
uncomfortable as any. He attributed his fear to
God, to the tenets of Church and faith, to his upbringing
—to a lifetime of supporting a Faith that
rarely supported in return. The Church was fast
becoming an agent of fear, another road to power
for those not graced with royal blood.
None of that would matter in the moments to
come. What could inspire fear on the one hand
could inspire greatness on the other. He would bless
their weapons, put the words and power of God
behind the deaths they would cause, and they
would go to the battle with the glow of faith burning
from their eyes and lending its strength to their
arms. It had been so through the crusades, through
the pages and histories of the Bible, warped as those
were becoming over the years.
He had seen too many such battles, too many
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tragedies attributed to a force for the greater good,
to put any faith in powers beyond his own. Fortunately,
in all the centuries of his life, his own had
never proved lacking.
He strode through the gathering ranks of Philip’s
men purposefully, looking to neither side, but concentrating
on the air a few feet above the heads of
those directly in front of him. He didn’t need to
watch where he was going. His senses were keen
enough to guide him, and they were scurrying to get
out of his way, in any case. He fully believed that
the superstitious cretins would move tents or cut
down trees to prevent them blocking his passage if
they thought it would aid their souls on the road
to “Heaven.”
He could hear the sounds of the battle in the
distance. Small fires had cropped up all around
him, some with the aromas of food wafting from
them, others merely warding against insects and
adding to the illusion of size the army wanted perceived
by those on the walls of the keep.
He could make out small figures scurrying about
on those walls, shadows against the dim light of the
moon. The closer, brighter light of the campfires,
and the deeper red of the fires near the siege engines,
the tar and pitch that would be slung over the walls,
clinging to walls and men alike, burning them to ash.
“Praise the Lord,” he muttered.
“What, Father?” a soldier standing nearby asked,
fluttering around him like a nervous bird. “Is there
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284
something I can get you? Is something wrong?”
“Nothing.” He brushed the man aside and continued
along the rapidly forming line to what
passed as the center, wondering if he could, after
all, bring himself to mouth the meaningless words
that he knew he must utter to pacify them all.
Somewhere out there, Montrovant and the others
were waiting, seeking what could not be found.
There were matters much more important than the
coming battle, or the lives of a few knights—even
that of a king—in the balance.
Philip motioned that he should approach, and he
did so, though nothing in his manner or gait suggested
that it was due to any desire to be near the
monarch.
“There is a great evil loose upon the land,” Philip
cried out. “An abomination before the Lord. Men
worshiping idols, forsaking the God of their fathers
and their father’s fathers for the promise of dark
powers. We move to put an end to this—to drive
that evil back to the darkness from which it arose.
We walk in the shadow of the Lord. We act in the
name of His Church. This night we will receive his
final blessing, and soon, very soon, we will prevail
in the task lain before us.”
Turning, he locked eyes, then he continued.
“Bishop Scarpocci will administer the sacrament.”
Stepping forward, Eugenio lowered his head and
began to pray loudly and without passion. All
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around him the heads of those gathered dipped as
well. Silence dropped over them quickly and completely,
and his words echoed off the distant walls
of the keep, so powerfully did they carry. They were
words of praise—promises of victory and assurances
of divine strength. They were tightly fabricated lies
and deceptions, wound into the fabric of belief that
had once held the Templars themselves so tightly
to their cause.
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TWENTY
Kli Kodesh and Gustav conferred in the shadow
of one of the larger tombs. They hadn’t counted on
Philip being quite so prompt, and there were other
things happening that were outside the range of
their plans.
Gustav did not like things to be outside the confines
of closely regulated boundaries, and though he
couldn’t exactly sense what it was that was wrong,
he knew that his master was only too aware.
“There is something—someone—with Philip,”
Gustav said at last. “I cannot tell for certain who,
but they are old—powerful.”
“I know him,” Kli Kodesh answered impatiently.
“He will not cause us problems. He is here as an
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emissary of the Church.”
“The Church has never been our friend, and that
would seem to give him license to act the same.”
“I am telling you, Eugenio will not pose a threat.
We must move our cargo out of here now—this
very night. Montrovant might be distracted, but he
is not stupid. And there is the bitch to consider.
She has told him by now what we plan.”
Gustav stared at his master for a long moment,
trying to gauge what he saw in those ancient, grayflecked
eyes. He did not believe that Gwendolyn
had escaped on her own. He didn’t believe, for that
matter, that he himself could have done so. He
didn’t answer. Not for the first time he was forced
to try to weigh his own importance in the ancient’s
eyes. Not for the first time he was less than happy
with the result.
“If Montrovant is aware of us,” Gustav said at
last, “then moving the treasures would be playing
right into his hands. If we leave them in place, we
could make a run for it, distracting him.”
“We will move them tonight,” Kli Kodesh replied
without hesitation.
“He will catch us.”
“Do you fear him, then, Gustav? Have you so
little faith in me that you think one so young can
take something we do not wish taken?”
“I fear nothing. If I did, I would not follow you
and your endless…entertainments.”
There was a tense moment of silence where
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288
things might have gone either way. Gustav waited,
motionless, for Kli Kodesh to decide his fate. The
time for dancing and foolishness was past. Those
around them had ceased all movement at the first
raising of Gustav’s voice.
Kli Kodesh’s face cracked suddenly, breaking into
a helpless gale of mirth. He fell to the ground, doubling
his thin frame over and letting his
snow-white hair dangle to the ground before him.
His frame shook uncontrollably and he banged his
head violently into the earth, as if trying to shake
loose the humor of the moment and return himself
to his senses.
Gustav did not move. He wasn’t foolish enough
to think that this was truly a vulnerable position for
the ancient, nor was he ready to challenge such
power with his life on the line. He stood, his followers
gathered at his back, watching in silent
fascination, until Kli Kodesh regained some measure
of control and raised himself to his knees, looking
about himself in bewilderment for just a second.
The next his eyes were clear and bright again.
“Pack everything up, Gustav. We leave within
the hour.”
There was no point in further argument. Turning
away in silence, Gustav gestured for the others to
begin moving the stone from the door of the tomb.
Others were already moving closer with a small
horse-drawn cart. On the cart sat several wooden
crates, banded in steel. They lay open and empty,
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their interiors dark patches in the silvery moonlight.
Kli Kodesh stood back and watched, still trembling
from the fit of laughter that had claimed his
senses only moments before. He watched, but his
mind was far away—scanning—planning against
possibilities only he could see.
Eugenio should not have come. He should be
tucked safely away in his monastery, where he was
happy. He should be ignoring his progeny’s odd
quest, leaving them all to their amusements, and
yet here he was. There had to be more to it than a
simple desire to help Montrovant. The call of blood
to blood was a strong one, but the risk of exposure
in Eugenio’s position was phenomenal. The
Lasombra had far too much to lose for it to be a
simple rescue of his progeny.
What then? Brow furrowed, Kli Kodesh continued
to concentrate, watching the darkness that surrounded
them as the Nosferatu quickly packed the
contents of the tomb onto the cart and prepared to
take off. Damn Eugenio, anyway; what did he want?
_
Jeanne pressed himself to keep up, and
Gwendolyn moved easily at his side. Montrovant
had launched himself through a lighter patch in the
shadows ahead, and Jeanne saw an instant later
that it was a doorway. The light he saw was that of
the moon, and they’d come out just beyond the
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walls of the keep on the opposite side from Philip
and his army. To their right was a sheer cliff, dropping
away to a rocky beach. The crash of waves on
those rocks was rhythmic and hypnotic, but
Jeanne’s concentration was on Montrovant.
The tall vampire had stopped short, turning his
head first one way, then the other, as if confused.
Jeanne let his own senses expand, searching for
whatever was the cause of Montrovant’s confusion.
He felt others out there, powerful presences. One
was familiar enough: Kli Kodesh. There was another,
though, achingly familiar and nearly as
ancient. He couldn’t put a name to it, but as he
came nearer, Montrovant did so for him.
“Eugenio.”
Jeanne hesitated, grabbing Gwendolyn again and
holding her back. He had to be certain he’d heard
what he thought he’d heard, and he had to be certain
how Montrovant would react. Eugenio? Here? Why,
after all this time, and what did it mean for them?
“We must move quickly,” Montrovant said suddenly,
turning to them. His eyes burned with
intensity. “Eugenio has come—he is with Philip. I
have no idea how this has come about, or why, but
if he were here to aid us he would have made his
presence known before now. If he were not my sire
I would not have known him just now—his mind
is powerfully shielded.”
“Kli Kodesh is near as well,” Gwendolyn cut in.
“I can feel him nearby—he is…disturbed by some-
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thing.”
Montrovant paused for an instant. If Kli Kodesh
were distraught, then apparently there were others
whose plans had been complicated by this new
twist. Then the moment passed and he spun away,
disappearing so quickly into the night that he was
nearly out of sight before Jeanne was able to launch
himself in pursuit, cursing.
They moved along the edge of the cliff, heading
on a straight line away from the keep itself. The
fires on the other side shone around the edges of
the stone structure, silhouetting it in rose and magenta
against the deep ebony of the sky. De Molay
and the others could not hold out for long. The
Templars’ days were numbered, it seemed. They
would die, but the Dark One lingered.
As they passed beyond the cleared area that surrounded
the keep, a short, squat stone structure
loomed on their left. A church. Jeanne wasn’t certain
exactly how he knew this, but there was a feel
to the old place that reached out to him. It left him
cold, cold and empty as the church itself must have
been for the last fifty or more years. Half the walls
had given way to time, and the windows were wide
open and overgrown with vines. The small tower
that had once housed the bell lay toppled to one side,
and the moon played off it in eerie, shadowed streaks.
Beyond the church was a gate that was no longer
attached to the fence decaying on either side of it,
and it was through this that Montrovant sped. He
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paid his companions no more attention than he
might have an annoying insect that flitted about
his head, and for a moment Jeanne considered just
stopping, pulling Gwendolyn to a halt beside him,
and letting the fool get himself killed. It would
solve a lot of problems, he knew, but there were
other, worse dangers—and one of those might be
waiting behind them. If Kli Kodesh was not interested
in doing them in, Eugenio almost certainly
had other than their best interests in mind. Even
if neither of them were concerned with a couple so
young to the Damned, the fallout from whatever
they did have in mind was likely to require all the
craft and strength they had between the three of
them, just for survival.
Montrovant was moving with a bit more stealth.
Jeanne relaxed somewhat as he and Gwendolyn
caught up. He didn’t slow his own progress until he
was nearly abreast of his sire, not wanting the other
to put on a burst of speed and leave them behind.
Whatever was coming up next, they would all be
a part of it, and he wanted to be close enough to
follow Montrovant’s lead. Gwendolyn seemed content
to let him lead the way, and he was grateful
that she didn’t question him. She certainly had the
right to, but it would have served no purpose at that
moment but to slow them down.
The impression that they were not alone grew
stronger each second. Jeanne could feel the weight
of eyes boring through him, from the front, back,
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sides. He ignored the nagging mental itch and concentrated
on more practical senses…sight,
sound—touch. He knew that Montrovant, or
Gwendolyn, for that matter, was more likely to
detect trouble than he, but his instincts were different
from theirs. His were the instincts of a born
warrior, without the burden of careful thought or
devious planning. Things that might not register in
Gwendolyn’s mind would alert him in an instant.
Montrovant couldn’t be trusted not to ignore such
warnings. That left Jeanne.
The graves surrounding them were overgrown
and crumbling, with a very few exceptions. Apparently
whoever had once cared for the cemetery had
long since given up that responsibility. A very few
monuments were cleared well enough that the inscriptions
could be read. It seemed if one did not
have surviving family, there was no one left to
maintain the grave…or to mourn the dead in this
desolate place.
“Where are they?” Gwendolyn asked at last. “I
can feel them, Kli Kodesh, the others, but I cannot
tell where they are watching us from.”
“We are surrounded,” Montrovant replied softly,
“but it is a ruse. We are meant to concentrate on
the imminent danger of those left behind while
others make off with what we seek. They circle us
to confuse our senses. The rest of the party is moving
—there.”
He turned suddenly and pointed along the ragged
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line of the cliff. Jeanne frowned, In that direction
the drop to the ocean below was even more steep
and cruel than that beside the walls of the keep.
Access from that direction would be impossible for
any invading force, nearly so for a single very talented
man. It would pose little challenge to one
such as Kli Kodesh, but how could they escape once
they made the descent? Something was not right.
“It is another trick,” Jeanne exclaimed suddenly.
“There is no reason they would risk us catching up
to them on that cliff, and there is no way they could
escape with any sizable cargo unless they plan on
destroying us here.”
Montrovant spun, surprised, but then he nodded.
Concentrating, he smiled. “If they plan on ending
us here, Kli Kodesh himself will have to do the
work. There is none other among them powerful
enough.”
“Then Gustav is not here,” Gwendolyn cut in.
“He was old to the Blood when he first fed from Kli
Kodesh. He was here when I escaped.”
Montrovant nodded in agreement. The ancient
Nosferatu was nowhere nearby, and that was reason
enough to believe that Jeanne was correct.
Somehow he was moving in another direction, and
they were shielding that movement.
“We can sit tight and wait to see what they have
planned,” Montrovant said softly, “or we can try to
outguess them and follow Gustav.”
“I have no stomach for waiting,” Jeanne replied.
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“I want to leave this place,” Gwendolyn agreed.
“They are driving me insane, and too much of eternity
stretches before me to face without my wits.”
Montrovant smiled. Jeanne knew he’d never
planned on truly offering a choice. More likely he
was concentrating, trying to determine where
Gustav might have gone. Jeanne could sense nothing
but a confusing mess with one powerful splash
to their left. That splash was Kli Kodesh himself,
and suddenly he knew what they had to do.
“It is the ancient who shields him,” he cried. “He
is moving around the flank of Philip’s army.”
Cursing, Montrovant dove into action, leaping
straight at Kli Kodesh so suddenly that he was gone
before Jeanne and Gwendolyn could react. They
followed as best they could, but even with proper
warning neither was match for the Dark One’s passion
or speed. There was a cry from the shadows, a
loud curse.
Jeanne slid around the corner and skidded to a
stop. Montrovant was kneeling, his entire frame
trembling with the effort to rise. The anger and
hatred blazed from his eyes, which glowed like hot
coals in the darkness.
Standing over him, Kli Kodesh held one hand
out, palm down, as if physically pressing his assailant
into place on the ground. The ancient’s eyes
glittered, as well, but with madness and mirth, not
anger.
“No,” Gwendolyn cried. Jeanne reached for her,
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but again he was too slow. She leaped past him,
screeching in rage and diving at her sire’s eyes with
her hands outstretched like talons. He looked up,
half dazed, half-amused. His eyes locked with hers,
and she fell to the ground, her legs collapsing beneath
her and her head dropping so that her face
pressed into the damp soil. Kli Kodesh started toward
her, his smile washed away in a sudden burst
of rage. As he moved, he neglected Montrovant for
just that second.
Jeanne saw the Dark One poising to spring and
he launched himself into the fray, knowing it was
a foolish and probably final gesture, but unable to
stop himself. Montrovant had no chance against
one so ancient, none at all, but if he were to have
the opportunity to test this he needed a distraction.
“Leave her,” Jeanne cried as he leapt from the
shadows. “Leave her and face me, old one. I’ve had
enough of your damned games.”
Jeanne’s blade was in his hand, though he did not
recall drawing it, and the rage rushed through his
veins, shutting down rational thought. This grinning
madman had played them all for fools again
and again, and now he stood there, mocking them,
controlling them like so many marionettes in a
show. It was too much.
He swung his sword in a wide arc, aiming it for
Kli Kodesh’s throat. Of course, that throat was not
there when the blade passed, but neither was Kli
Kodesh closing in on Gwendolyn any longer. A
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huge shadow materialized from the right, crashing
into the old one and driving him to the ground.
Jeanne tossed his blade aside and leaped after them.
No way Montrovant could hold him, but the three
of them? What then?
He crashed into the rolling heap of bones and
muscle and managed to make out Montrovant’s
dark hair, blowing wildly about his head in the
night wind. Grabbing Kli Kodesh’s legs, he held on,
praying that Montrovant had something in mind
besides just attacking and dying. Gwendolyn was
beside them now, and she’d latched onto one of her
sire’s arms, holding it in place.
Looking up, Jeanne could see that Montrovant
had Kli Kodesh’s throat gripped tightly between
strong fingers and was holding that ancient, graying
head tightly against the ground.
“Where is it?” Montrovant screamed. “Where
have they taken it? You will answer me, or by all
that is holy your blood will spill for the final time
this night.”
The ancient went suddenly limp in their arms,
but none of them released their hold. Jeanne knew
it was too easy, and moments later, when their
captive’s emotions shifted yet again, driving him
into gurgling, hissing spurts of laughter, he knew
the truth of it. They were the playthings of a madman.
Montrovant’s anger grew and the ancient’s mirth
followed suit. The ancient rolled back and forth on
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the ground, beating his hands against the earth
despite the hold Gwendolyn had on one arm, kicking
his legs in seeming glee as Jeanne held on
grimly.
As the haze released his mind slowly, Jeanne
became aware that they were not alone. The
Nosferatu. Montrovant paid them no more mind
than he might have a swarm of insects, but Jeanne
leaped to his feet, locating his blade in an instant
and bringing it to the ready. Gwendolyn stood as
well, but she made no move to attack or defend,
only watched coolly as the disfigured, ethereal band
circled them slowly.
Then, almost casually, Kli Kodesh pressed his
hands against the ground and levered himself upright,
despite Montrovant’s grip, finding his
balance and lurching to his feet. Montrovant did
not release his hold, and the two of them stood
now, the elder grinning up into the face of the
younger, whose face was so suffused in rage that
Jeanne began to worry he might have lost his reason.
With a sudden violent heave, Montrovant actually
lifted Kli Kodesh off the ground and flung him
to the side, where he crashed into the stone wall
of a tomb. Looking a bit surprised, the ancient regained
his feet once more, brushing the dust calmly
from his robes as the Dark One approached him
once again.
“You really are wasting your time, you know,” Kli
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Kodesh spoke at last. “I’ve sent the treasures out of
here with Gustav, and if you don’t catch him by
sunrise, he will be long gone.”
Montrovant stopped and stood very still. Jeanne
could feel the emotions warring in his sire’s mind,
could feel the turmoil. Another chase, more lies,
more likely than not, and this grinning madman
stood there still, mocking them. Tantalizing
Montrovant with first one, then another bit of the
puzzle, but never enough to keep up with the new
pieces being cut.
“Why should I believe you, old one?”
Montrovant replied at last. “Why, when you have
twice sent me to near-certain destruction, both
times for the dual purpose of distracting your enemies
and providing sick, personal entertainment
for your ancient, putrid mind? You tell me why I
should believe you, because my instincts tell me
you are lying to me once again, and I’m tired of
being toyed with.”
“So,” Kli Kodesh replied, still smiling. “You will
stay and threaten my existence, will you? Surrounded
as you are, powerful as I am, you would
rather fail to kill me than pursue your dreams? I’d
thought better of you than that, really I had. I have
to say I’m a bit disappointed, Dark One.” On those
ancient, mocking lips, the name seemed empty. It
was obvious which of the two had seen the deeper
darkness.
Suddenly there was a stir among the Nosferatu,
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300
and both Kli Kodesh and Montrovant turned to the
outer ring, as though they’d heard something far
away. Moments later, the steady creaking of wagon
wheels approached them, and the shuffling of feet.
Many feet. The Nosferatu drifted back into the
shadows, and Jeanne could feel their fear, though
as of that second he didn’t know the nature of their
danger.
Montrovant stood like a statue, waiting. The
ancient stood beside him, a few feet away, and for
the first time since his earliest encounter with Kli
Kodesh in Jerusalem, Jeanne saw an expression of
bewilderment blanketing those inscrutable features.
A tall thin figure made his way through the
graves, and behind him a group of others, huddled
close together and shuffling in step, followed. As
he drew closer, the man tossed the hood back from
his head, letting his long hair blow in the wind and
the bright glitter of his eyes burn forth.
“Eugenio,” Montrovant muttered under his
breath. “Wha…?”
“I thought it was about time I came and saw
what was happening for myself,” Bishop Scarpocci’s
voice boomed out. “I see that there are more forces
involved here than I was led to believe.”
Kli Kodesh was grinning again, and he stepped
forward a few feet. Jeanne could sense the power
emanating from this new figure, could feel the call
of blood to blood that drew him more strongly,
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even, than Montrovant’s.
“Now this is entertaining indeed,” Kli Kodesh
cackled. “This is better even than I could have
planned it. Both of you here at once. How jolly.”
“You see,” Eugenio said softly, “I knew you would
not be able to resist having a hand in all of this. I
knew I would find you here, and, if I did, I would
find what Montrovant seeks, as well.”
Kli Kodesh smiled again. “You have found your
whelp,” he said, ignoring Montrovant as he would
a child, “but that is all you have found. There is no
treasure for you here, no Grail or holy object,
Bishop. You’d better run along back to your little
stone prison and stick to things you understand.”
Montrovant started toward Kli Kodesh again, but
Bishop Scarpocci held up a hand, motioning him
back. With a smile that matched Kodesh’s own, he
motioned to those behind him. They moved slowly
forward, and the creaking of wagon wheels resumed.
Seconds later, a cart rolled into sight. On the
driver’s seat, bound in chains, sat a robed figure.
Jeanne stared at the wagon, then turned back to
Eugenio, and finally to Kli Kodesh. Kli Kodesh had
gone silent, and his jaw had dropped. He spoke a
single word.
“Gustav.”
“The entertainment,” Eugenio said softly, “is just
beginning.”
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TWENTY-ONE
Jacques staggered down the main hall of his keep.
There were screams all around him, women sobbing
in corners and young people rushing about,
gibbering in fright. His men held the walls, but
barely. Philip had redoubled his attack, and somehow
Jacques knew that his moments were
numbered. His mind reeled with the events of the
past few hours. So many things he might have done
differently…so many others he need not have
dragged down with him.
Now he wandered, stumbling into walls and cursing
as he went, toward his chambers. There was
nothing left to do. He would sit back in his chair,
the same chair he’d sat back in for decades. He
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would pour himself a large goblet of wine, down it,
then pour another, and he would continue that
process until there was nothing left of his mind. No
pain. No images of men burning, falling from the
walls of his keep trying to keep out a ruler who
fought with the same Church at his back that
Jacques had sworn to defend. No accusing glances
or cries of fear. Red wine to wash away the red
blood that stained his hands.
He staggered onto the stairs, climbed. It wasn’t
until he was nearing the top step that he felt a
strong hand clamp onto his shoulder, pulling him
back. He lurched forward, trying to keep his balance
and not go toppling back down the stairs. The
motion dropped him to his knees, cracking them
painfully on the stone of the floor, and anger blossomed
suddenly, overcoming the melancholy that
had stolen his sense only moments before.
“Damn you, I…” he turned, and he fell silent.
Louis stood there, one hand still gripping his shoulder,
staring at him with such reproach and disdain
that it stole his courage in an instant.
“It has to end, Jacques. We can’t slink off to
drown our sorrows as these people who trust us die.
By the God I still deem holy, I will not let it happen.”
Jacques didn’t answer immediately, and Louis
shook him insistently. “Do you hear me? We must
do something…now. This very moment.”
“And what would you have me do, Louis?”
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Jacques asked, shrugging free of the other man’s
grip and turning to face him fully. “Would you have
me wade out into the attacking horde and beat
them off with the strength of my arm and the courage
of my soul? Would you have God intervene?
Should I ask him, do you think? What is it that you
think you and I might do to set things right? Tell
me now, for I am without words or thoughts on
this!”
Louis’s reaction was sudden and violent. Jacques
barely had time to realize his friend’s arm was
swinging back before the fist connected with his
jaw and sent him reeling backward. He pinwheeled
his arms, trying to recover his balance, but it was
too little too late. He crashed into the stone stairs
with stunning force, cracking his head on the wall.
Before he could cry out Louis was on him, holding
him down by the throat.
“Damn you,” Louis grated, his eyes blazing inches
from Jacques’s own, “You will get up and you will
come with me and we will find a way to end this. I
have followed you, listened to you, and it is possible
that I have given over control of my soul to you and
that demon you keep below. I will not see you drag
the others down that same road so you can spend
your last hours clutching a bottle of wine and crying
in your room. You will stand like a man, or I will
kill you now and save Philip the trouble.”
Jacques blinked once in confusion; then his eyes
cleared. He rose shakily, Louis still gripping him by
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the arm, waiting for an answer.
“You are right, of course,” he said, brushing his
friend’s hand aside. “I have no right to give up,
though my soul is forfeit. I think, perhaps, that it
is time for you and I to pay Philip a visit, or to
welcome him to our halls.”
“You will repent?” Louis asked.
Jacques returned his friend’s gaze levelly. “I will
not. I have failed in what I sought, but it does not
change the loss of my faith. With creatures such as
Santos in the world, how can one have faith in
higher powers?”
“That is the difference between us, Jacques,” Louis
replied. “With such powers as Santos loose in the
world, I cannot help but pray to a higher power.”
Jacques clapped him on the back heartily, the
smile returning to his face for the first time in so
long it felt strange. He started back down the stairs,
bellowing for his armor and his sword, and Louis
fell in behind him. The time for waiting was at an
end. They were knights, after all, and when there
was trouble, there was one way they met it best:
together, swords drawn and minds free of all else.
Perhaps if they’d remembered that, they might not
have been dragged so far into the darkness.
_
The air in the keep seemed charged with energy.
Knights and servants ran crazily about, gathering
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306
weapons, slipping into armor. Jacques had called
them all to the courtyard, and rumors flew in all
directions of what he had planned. Some believed
de Molay would lead them in an attack, spending
their lives in one last, insane charge. Others believed
he would surrender and put himself at Philip’s
mercy. Still others said that he’d found a way they
might all slip past the army waiting beyond their
gates and escape to fight again another day.
One thing was certain, he was going to act. That
was the best news they’d had since hearing of
Philip’s edict. There were no new rumors of the
dark stranger in the dungeons of the keep, but it
was whispered that things had changed. It was also
apparent that their lord had not returned to those
lower levels. There was no more talk of devils and
black magic. Jacques was storming about like a man
possessed, but he was alive with the spirit of the
Templars, and it was a familiar spirit.
It took a remarkably short amount of time to
gather the majority of them into the courtyard, and
Jacques wasted no time. He jumped to the top of a
wagon so that he could be seen and raised his hands
for silence. In that moment, standing as he was,
looking down on them from above, he looked every
bit the Templar lord. He wore full armor, his
eyes flashed fire—he was the Jacques de Molay of
old.
“I have called you here to give you a final
choice,” he cried. “I have led you into a position
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that could cost your lives, and I am sorry for that.
I would not change anything that I have done,
except that I would have done what I have done on
my own. I have cost you all a great deal, and for
that I hope you—and God—can forgive me.”
There was a rumble of whispered words, but the
sound died away quickly when he continued to
speak.
“Philip stands outside our gates, the Church at
his back, ready to put to death any who will not
renounce the vows we have sworn to live by. He
has proclaimed to the world that all that we are, all
that we stand for, is darkness and evil. He has said
that we are the servants of Satan, and for this he
and his followers have declared that we must repent
or die.”
Here he paused, looking around at those gathered
in silence, searching their faces carefully.
“I would not make that choice for any man. Our
order will not die here today. You know we stretch
beyond the boundaries that Philip controls, beyond
even the boundaries set forth by the Church. There
are places you can go—ways to continue in the
service we have set forth. These roads I open to
you. You may go, renounce the order, renounce
me—and save your lives. It was not your choice to
risk them—but I will make it your choice to keep
them.”
“What of you?” a tall knight cried out from the
very top of the stairs leading back into the keep.
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“What will you do?”
“My time here is ended,” Jacques declared stoically.
“Philip will not accept my repentance, even
were I to offer it, and I shall not. I have lived too
long as I am, too many bridges have burned behind
me. I will not tell you all of the things I’ve done,
nor the things I’ve seen,” He swept his gaze over
them quickly, as if expecting them to challenge his
words. “I will say only this—there is more to our
world than meets Philip’s eyes, or even those of the
Church. Do not let them close yours. Leave here
as free men, and find your families—your homes.
Keep our secrets alive in the world. Too many great
men have come before me for you to allow me to
end it here.”
The murmuring rumble of voices rose quickly,
and Louis de Chaunvier stepped up to stand at
Jacques’s side.
“I will remain, as well,” he cried. “Any among
you who would stand with us as brothers may remain.
We will send word this very day to Philip
that he might let those who wish to repent leave
in peace.
“Know this—if you remain with us, your lives are
forfeit. Philip will put us to the flame—he has no
choice. The minions of Rome swarm around him
like insects waiting for their turn at a rotting carcass.
There will be torture, pain, and no easy
deaths.”
Small groups began to cut off from the main
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pack. Jacques stood quietly watching as many
moved toward the keep, some to retrieve their belongings
for a journey, others to retrieve their
weapons in the hope of dying cleanly before Philip
took them and burned their lives away. There was
nothing more he could say. His future lay in the
shadowy shapes flickering through the flames just
visible as a glow above the walls of the keep. In the
clashing of weapons and the cries of an enemy he’d
once called brother.
Louis clapped him on the back once more.
“I will go now and organize those who will leave.
They will need the provisions worse than we—and
I think it will take some doing to get them out of
here quietly.”
Jacques nodded. He was nearly beyond words, but
he managed to voice a final question.
“Where is he, do you think, Louis?”
“Philip?”
“Montrovant. The Dark One. He was here when
we needed him most, but now it is as though we
dreamed it all. Do you think he watches us still? Do
you think he approves?”
Louis pondered the questions for a long moment,
then shrugged. “He did not seem to judge us,
Jacques, only to warn us. This is not his fight—not
any longer. We should be thankful he returned in
time to grant us our souls.”
“Did he?” Jacques turned away and strode toward
the stables, his shoulders squared and his steps
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310
strong and even. He did not turn back.
Louis watched him go, then, turning to the nearest
knight who’d remained at his side, he barked
out orders for a messenger to be sent to Philip, and
for others to gather what remained of the supplies.
He would have to get them packed and distributed
quickly, or it would be too late. Once Philip took
the keep, all would be forfeit, and it was unlikely,
though he might be willing to spare the lives of the
“repentant,” that he was going to be generous with
food, medicine or other supplies. His men had been
too long on the road.
In the distance he heard the clatter of hoofbeats
and the cries of the awaiting army. It was, he decided,
a good night to die.
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TWENTY-TWO
Jeanne saw Kli Kodesh stare at the wagon for a
long time, not meeting Gustav’s eyes. There was no
defeat in his stance, no backing down or turning
away. Jeanne’s mind began to work over the possibilities
swiftly. What more could he have planned?
The Nosferatu he had gathered about them, with
Gustav in chains, were no match for Eugenio, nor
for Montrovant, for that matter. Kli Kodesh might
destroy them all himself, but not without a price,
and not without the risk that he himself would be
taken down. Protected as he might be from the final
death by his curse, his blood was under no such
protection. Jeanne could feel the draw of it himself,
and he knew that the potential flowing through the
ancient’s veins called out to Montrovant and the
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312
bishop even more strongly.
“We will see what we do and do not have,”
Eugenio said softly. He gestured to the monks gathered
at his back, and they moved toward the cart.
Gustav glared at them, but he was helpless to prevent
them from searching the cart, and he knew it.
Jeanne watched in fascination.
Kli Kodesh made no move to prevent them from
doing as the Bishop had bid them, and that was
strange, as well. Something was itching at the back
of Jeanne’s mind. Something they were forgetting.
The monks pulled back the cloth coverings on
the wagon to reveal the large wooden chest that lay
beneath. Montrovant strode forward suddenly,
leaping to the side of the wagon and pushing the
monks out of his way. They didn’t resist, scurrying
this way and that at his approach. Eugenio didn’t
say a word, only watched.
Montrovant didn’t hesitate. He grabbed the lid
of the chest, and, though it was locked securely,
ripped it back so that the wood around the hasp
gave way and it slammed open with a thud. He
stood that way for a long time, gazing at the contents
of the chest. Jeanne wanted desperately to
know what was in that box, but he knew better
than to interrupt the moment.
Suddenly Montrovant plunged one hand into the
crate and drew it forth with a long, thick chain of
pure gold dangling from his hand. Beneath his
tightly gripped fingers an ornate cross spun lazily
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in the moonlight. It was old, and there was something
more. Jeanne could sense a power emanating
from it—a presence. Montrovant held it for a long
moment, then threw it back into the box in disgust.
Leaping back to the ground, he called out to
Eugenio.
“It isn’t here.”
“Not here? What do you mean?”
“I mean,” Montrovant replied, “that we have
captured the wrong treasure. There are objects of
power in that chest, things I doubt that mortal men
have held or felt the magic of in hundreds of years,
but there is no Grail.”
Eugenio turned back to Kli Kodesh, who watched
them with a mocking smile planted on his ancient
features.
“Did you truly believe that I would send such an
object away protected by only one? Even one such
as Gustav? Did you think I would hand it over to
you so easily?”
“Where is it?” Montrovant growled. “What have
you done with it?”
“What makes you think I ever had it?” Kli
Kodesh replied shortly. “In fact, what makes you
think that what you seek is a cup? What makes you
believe that the vessel that contains the blood you
seek has ever been something so simple?”
“You speak in riddles,” Montrovant replied, his
anger returning hot and sudden. He took a step
toward the ancient before regaining control of his
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314
temper. “I am so very tired of playing that game.”
Jeanne was listening to the exchange, but only
with the periphery of his mind. There was something
waiting to form that he knew would be
important, and he had to shut out his surroundings
enough to grasp it. Gwendolyn had noticed his
frown, and she’d moved closer, shielding him from
the ancient. He didn’t know why she would make
such a pointless gesture, but in seeing it his last
reservations about their new traveling companion
slipped away. She might not be of any use against
her sire, but it was not because she didn’t hate him.
It hit him at last with the subtlety of a herd of
wild stallions. The others. He had completely forgotten
those who were scaling the walls of the cliff
toward the ocean below. Both he and Montrovant
had been so certain that the group was a decoy that
they’d pushed them from their minds. The dawn
wasn’t far away, and there was little time in which
to act.
“Boats!” He cried out the word before he could
temper his reaction with caution. Montrovant spun
on him, ready to take the frustration the ancient
was building in his mind out on someone less powerful.
Something in the word “boat” sank in. Jeanne
saw the light of comprehension flash across his
sire’s face, and the equally confused look that
passed Eugenio’s at the same moment.
“The cliffs. Damn you,” Montrovant spat at Kli
Kodesh, “you sent it to the cliffs!”
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The Dark One sprang for the shadows, but Kli
Kodesh was faster. Jeanne knew they had guessed
rightly in that instant. His plans undone, the ancient
wasn’t ready to have them broken up by
Montrovant, or anyone else. The two went down
in a heap for the second time that night, but
Eugenio was by their side in an instant, dragging
them apart.
“So,” Kli Kodesh spat, “you would challenge
me?”
Eugenio reached beneath his robes and pulled
out a small pendant. It was an Egyptian symbol, an
ankh. He held it up before him and began to chant
in a language Jeanne couldn’t understand. The
light in Kli Kodesh’s eyes flashed from anger to
concern and he backed away slowly.
Montrovant didn’t hesitate. He leapt toward the
cliffs in the distance, and without a backward
glance, Jeanne followed. He knew Gwendolyn was
with them as well, but he couldn’t stop to look back
and be certain she was keeping up. Behind them
the chanting continued, and he could hear Kli
Kodesh responding with curses and odd phrases of
his own. The power that had flooded that area was
astonishing—beyond anything Jeanne had ever
experienced, even in the presence of Santos.
He didn’t know how long Eugenio could hold the
ancient at bay, but shortly it wouldn’t matter. They
would either head off the Nosferatu at the cliffs, or
they would be too late. There was little, at this
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
316
point, that Kli Kodesh could do to stop them. He
might follow and destroy them, but they would
know whether they were right, or wrong.
Jeanne didn’t truly care about the Grail in the
way that Montrovant did, but he was beginning to
get the fever. It had never seemed as real to him
before as it did in that moment, and the implications,
even to one not impressed by affairs of the
Church, were staggering. He’d seen the power of
other objects, and his heightened senses had
granted the ability to perceive how much strength
faith could lend to a mortal. How much more powerful,
how much greater the aura, of an object like
the Grail? And what had Kli Kodesh meant when
he’d asked Montrovant how he knew it was a cup
that held the blood he sought?
Too many questions, and none of them as important
as keeping up with Montrovant, who flew
across the miles like a storm. He paid no heed to
his followers, nor did he appear to take note of
anything they passed. He angled straight for the
cliffs, and Jeanne was beginning to fear that he
would be over the cliff and out of sight before
Gwendolyn and himself even reached the edge.
When he reached the cliff’s edge, Montrovant
didn’t hesitate. He leapt into the night sky, forcing
the transformation, stretching his arms, even
as they shriveled and re-formed, beating them
wildly at the air until the leathery skin stretched
out and drew him aloft once more. He circled once
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and dove.
Jeanne had no such ability. He gazed down over
the cliff at the pounding waves below. There was no
sign of a ship, and nothing moved on the small, sandy
coast at the foot of the rocky drop-off. Nothing.
Gwendolyn appeared at his shoulder then, pulling
him back from the cliff’s edge, and he pulled
away from her angrily.
“Montrovant is down there,” he grated, “and if
we don’t find a way to follow, and quickly, he will
be gone.”
“He will not go far,” she said urgently. “Something
is happening back at the keep—something
important. Kli Kodesh has left the bishop and the
others behind. They are leaving as well. All of
them are headed for de Molay’s keep.”
“What does it mean?” he asked her. “Why would
they return to that place?”
“I don’t know,” she replied, “but I sense none of
the others—if the Nosferatu were here, they have
found a way to escape from here long since. We
cannot catch them before the light.”
Jeanne leaned back over the cliff, but he still saw
nothing. He stretched his senses, searching for the
Dark One, and he detected nothing but a faint
glimmer of his sire’s essence, high above and moving
away rapidly.
“I will wait here, and when he returns, we will go
to the keep and see what has happened.”
“I will wait with you, but the dawn will not be
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318
long in coming. You cannot wait beyond that.
Montrovant will return, with or without that
which he seeks, and he will find shelter. He has
walked this Earth much longer than we, and we
must trust him to watch out for his own safety.”
“There is the tomb,” Jeanne replied. “We can
return to the tomb and wait there, if he doesn’t
return. He will certainly go there, if only to find out
what transpired between Eugenio and Kli Kodesh.”
Gwendolyn nodded. She turned, then, following
his gaze out across the waves, and Jeanne glanced
at her sidelong, wondering how much she knew—
how much she could see and feel beyond his own
abilities. She cocked her head, as if listening to a
sound across a great distance, but she held her silence.
_
Philip had sent members of his personal guard in
search of Bishop Eugenio Scarpocci as soon as the
messengers arrived from the keep, but the bishop
was not to be found. It didn’t matter. After so much
time on the road, so many days of marching and
sleeping in damp, chilly tents and eating slop, they
were about to be vindicated. The Church was a part
of this victory, and he wanted the bishop there to
witness and bless his victory, but he would not wait
indefinitely. There would be plenty of time the
following evening, when the Bishop’s “condition”
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allowed him to exit his own quarters, for prayers
and blessings. Perhaps it was proper that this night
should be his alone.
The messengers themselves, two young knights
barely old enough to ride and carry a full-weight
blade, sat atop their mounts, trembling in fear. He
left them that way as he savored the moment. He
had no intention of harming them, nor did he plan
on a mass slaughter of those within the keep, but
there was no reason to tell them this at such an
early point. No doubt his reputation preceded him,
and he rather enjoyed their squirming and posturing.
Finally, he decided he’d waited long enough. He
gestured to one of his guards, who led the two
mounted men forward, and he stood, waiting for
them to gather the courage to speak.They did not
do so at once, instead keeping a close eye on the
armed guards that flanked them. Finally, the older
of the two raised his eyes to meet Philip’s.
“Your highness,” he began, his voice shrill and
ill-controlled, “Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of
the Order of the Poor Knights of the Temple
Solomon, has asked that I relay the following request
to you. He wishes to open the doors of his
keep, and to allow those who feel the need to repent,
as you ask, to go. He further requests that,
should this happen, no harm come to those he releases.”
“No harm will come to any man who repents his
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320
sins in the name of God and swears allegiance to
Mother Rome,” Philip answered grandly. “You must
return with this answer, but you must add the following.
Tell Jacques de Molay that the lives of all
who repent will be spared, but that the lives of
those who do not will be forfeit. Tell him that we
will find the truth behind the tales of his evil, and
that the Lord will have his retribution. We have
come not in my name, but in the name of the one
God, and no work of Satan will be allowed to flourish
in any land where I have sovereignty.”
The second lad’s head popped up at these words,
and there was surprising courage etching the young
lines of his face.
“Jacques de Molay serves no evil,” he said slowly.
His companion had turned to regard him in what
amounted to abject terror, but the boy paid him no
heed.
“The knights have supported the Church from
these shores to the Holy Land and beyond. They
have supported the monarchy in times of trouble,
both financial and in battle. It is a sad day that we
have come to this.”
“Who are you, lad?” Philip asked.
“My name is Antoine Cardin,” he replied
proudly. “My father served in the order, and his
father before him. My great-grandfather served
under Hugues de Payen himself.”
“That is a grand history,” Philip replied, “and one
to be proud of. You are not a blind man, though,
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so you may see what has happened. The order you
serve is not the order Hugues de Payen foresaw. Idol
worship. Sorcery. Putting one’s self before the
Church. These are sins that cannot be ignored, and
all of these and more have been reported within
these walls. I urge you, Antoine, to reconsider what
it means to you to serve the Church, and to reconsider
as well the value of your life. If you do not
recant your vows, you will forfeit your life, and I
will watch you burn before the sun rises tomorrow.”
Cardin didn’t speak, but he wheeled his mount
and started for the keep without looking back. His
companion, nearly panicked, turned and followed
the younger knight at a gallop. Philip stood and
watched them leave, deep in thought.
He wondered how a man like de Molay could
inspire such fanatic loyalty. His own men, he knew,
would abandon him in a second in the face of such
a hopeless cause. He couldn’t blame them; no man
wanted to die. He wondered what it would be like
to care about something deeply enough to consider
it worth his life. Shrugging, he turned back to the
camp and began to bark orders to his commanders
as he made his way to his tent. He could ask his
questions of de Molay himself, once he’d rested and
the keep was theirs.
He disappeared between the flaps of his tent and
the preparations began in earnest for the evacuation
of the keep. The sun was just cresting the
horizon.
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322
_
There was no sign of Montrovant, and the pain
of the sun was finally too much for Jeanne to stand.
Gwendolyn stood silently at his side, waiting for his
word. He knew she would get him to shelter, knew
as well that she didn’t require it as soon as he did—
but that this day she would wait with him. He
wondered, not for the first time, about the blood
that had given her this gift, or curse, dampening
the burning fear of the sun, and taking the hunger
that drove him, day and night.
“He will come,” she said softly. “We must get you
out of the light.”
Nodding, Jeanne let her lead him away from the
cliff, and the sudden release of the concentration
he’d focused on the horizon, where Montrovant
had disappeared, allowed the pain and the immediacy
of his danger to flood his senses. The pain
lanced through him and he cried out, setting off for
the cemetery with every ounce of strength left to
him. He felt the hunger building, but there was no
time, or way, for him to feed, not with the sun rising
and an army camped only a few short miles
away.
Gwendolyn was at the tomb even before he
flashed into the small clearing. There was no sign
of the others—only footprints and the ruts where
the wagon-wheels had plowed into the earth re-
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mained. He had no time to wonder what had happened.
He slid into the soothing darkness of the
tomb with a groan, and Gwendolyn entered after
him, pulling the stone seal back into place easily
and shutting out the light. The pain slipped away
almost as quickly as it had come, and the darkness
called out to him.
“I…” he began.
“Shhhh…” Gwendolyn soothed. “Rest. When
the sun has departed once more, we will talk, and
we will go to the keep to see what has happened.
The Dark One will return…he is not so easily
evaded, no matter what Kli Kodesh or the bishop
believe.”
As Jeanne slipped into darkness, he thought he
heard screams and the clatter of weapons, but they
faded into shadow. Long after his mind had shut
down, Gwendolyn sat at his side, staring at the door
and listening to what happened beyond. She was
listening when the doors of the keep opened and
Philip’s army rolled in. She was listening when
those who would survive trudged wearily out onto
the road and began to make their way to homes and
families far away. She was listening, still, when
Jeanne awoke.
The first thing he noticed was that the door was
rolling aside, and that Gwendolyn was nowhere
near it. The second was the sound of screams, and
the acrid smell of smoke and soot.
Montrovant stood framed in the doorway, haggard
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324
and worn, though his eyes blazed with incredible
intensity. He spoke a single word, “Come,” and
turned away. Jeanne rose, and he followed. The
edges of the shadows were illumined by the glow of
distant flames, and with Gwendolyn at his side and
Montrovant striding purposefully ahead, they returned
a final time to the keep of Jacques de Molay.
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TWENTY-THREE
They followed Montrovant for a few moments in
silence, neither willing to be the one to drag him
from his reverie. Finally, without turning to acknowledge
them, he began to speak.
“When I leapt from the cliffs,” he began, “I could
sense them, barely, against the horizon, and I
thought that there might be time—just enough
time—for me to reach them. I knew you could not
follow, but there was no time to explain. One lost
moment and I’d have had no chance at all.”
“You found them, then?” Jeanne asked quickly.
“No. The sun rose, and I knew that, even if I
made it to the ship, they would deny me shelter and
I would be destroyed. I followed as far as I dared,
and I memorized the course they were sailing, but
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
326
I could do no more.
“I barely made it back to the shore, and not near
here, before the light burned too brightly for me to
continue. I found a small cavern just above the
rocks, and I crawled as far back into it as I could.
There I stayed as the sunlight burned and the ship
moved farther and farther out to sea. When it grew
dark, I flew over the sea once more, but there was
nothing. Not a sign, not a glimpse. I came straight
here then, though I knew Kli Kodesh and the others
would be gone. I’d hoped to find you here.”
“What is that smoke?” Jeanne asked, not wanting
to change the subject, but unable to contain his
curiosity.
“They will burn the heretics at the stake this
night,” Montrovant replied matter-of-factly.
“Those who have not repented their vows to the
Templars will die.”
“Who would be foolish enough to die for such a
cause?” Jeanne asked. “Why would they not pretend
to capitulate, then leave and regroup?”
“Because they do not think like you, my friend,”
Montrovant said, smiling for the first time since
he’d returned. “Jacques de Molay will die, and also
his friend, de Chaunvier, I believe. There are others,
some fanatics, others fools. All will die before
the Earth has fully cooled from the sun.”
Gwendolyn shivered, clutching her arms about
herself. To live after death did not mean that one
lost the fear of it—the acidic, heart-stopping ter-
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DAVID NIALL WILSON
ror that oblivion could muster. Fire was as dangerous
to the three of them as it would be to de Molay,
and Jeanne wondered fleetingly if they were truly
safe. Certainly Philip could not harm them, not on
his own, but Eugenio had still not given up the
secret of what had dragged him forth from his monastery
—his safe-haven. Kli Kodesh had not made
his presence known, either, and both of them were
still nearby. Even Jeanne could feel them.
The two ancients were keeping their silence, and
Montrovant ignored them, moving closer to the
keep with every passing moment. They could see
the glow of flames in the distance, and as they
neared the cleared area before the keep, the light
grew brighter. Voices materialized from the silence,
cries of pain, cries for mercy…cries of glee from
those who looked on. The stench of burning flesh
filled the air, reminding Jeanne briefly of feasts and
tournaments—days long denied him.
They reached the outer ring of those gathered, and
Montrovant began, slowly, to work his way forward.
He kept to the shadowed area along the wall, preferring
to be behind the stake—beyond the point
where all eyes would focus. He didn’t want to call attention
to himself, but he had to know—had to see.
Jeanne wanted to see as well. He had been one
of these men, had worn the white robes of the
Templars and ridden at their side. He’d known
Hugues de Payen, tall, proud founder of the order,
and he’d lived through the first of the hundreds and
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328
thousands of conflicts that had besieged them.
Though he was beyond such concerns, it was difficult
to let them go completely.
They worked their way through the crowds, and
eventually they broke into the front ranks. One man
hung from a stake in the center of the clearing, halfcharred
as flames licked at his legs and torso. He
screamed, but no one listened—not to his pleas for
help. They listened to his pain, to the screaming, but
none cared for his well-being. They had not come
to see him saved, but to see him destroyed.
The man was Jacques de Molay, and Jeanne felt
a moment of pain, a hint of loss, that was difficult
to explain. The Templar lord had made poor
choices. He’d nearly sold them all into a slavery
much worse than any punishment Philip might
mete out, and that included death. He’d been willing
to sacrifice them all—everything—for answers
to questions he would never have fully understood.
Still, he was Grand Master. It was not a position
held by the unworthy.
Jeanne thought that the end must be somewhere
near, but suddenly the man’s features returned to
their lucidity. Though the flames licked and crackled
about him, engulfing all but his head and
shoulders and setting his hair ablaze like a flaming
halo, he smiled, and against all the laws of nature,
or of God, he began to speak.
“Are you ready to repent your sins?” a voice
boomed out. Jeanne turned in shock. Kli Kodesh
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stood a pace beyond the circle of wide-eyed spectators,
and at his side was Bishop Scarpocci.
Ko-desh wore the robes of a priest, and none in the
circle seemed dismayed by this. Jeanne had forgotten
that the ancient had stayed in the temple under
the guise of a priest.
“There is time to save your soul, if not your life,”
he continued. “What say you, Jacques de Molay?
Will you burn now and forever for your sins, or will
we welcome you into the arms of your God?”
“I burn,” de Molay croaked, forcing the words
through parched, crackling lips, bending over with
the effort. “I burn, but you will follow, Philip. You
and the coward you call Pope will join me before
the court of God Almighty before a year’s time has
passed. This is my promise to you. The Knights of
the Temple will not die…but you shall.”
As he spoke his eyes pierced the shadows, ignoring
Kli Kodesh, bypassing Eugenio, and driving
their full weight into the rapt gaze of King Philip.
The monarch met that gaze, but looking more
closely, Jeanne saw that there was a tremor in
Philip’s stance.
De Molay’s jaws still moved, but no further sound
emerged. Jeanne tried to read those crackling lips,
to know who else was cursed, but there was no hope
for it. The flames rose, engulfing de Molay’s body
and charring him to ash.
“Ashes to ashes,” Montrovant whispered, as if
mocking Jeanne’s thoughts, “dust to dust.”
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330
Montrovant turned away, and moments later,
Jeanne followed. Gwendolyn turned as well, but
stopped suddenly, and Montrovant stiffened in that
moment. He’d felt the same tug that she had, and
he turned quickly, taking her by the arm, pulling
her close, and guiding her out through the gathered
warriors, knights, servants and onlookers. Kli
Kodesh was calling to her, but it seemed that the
Dark One was not quite ready to let her go.
He held Gwendolyn’s hands tightly between his
own, and turned quickly to Jeanne.
“Go to them,” he said. “Tell them that she is with
us, now, and that we will continue our quest. Tell
them that it is over for now.”
“And if they will not listen?” Jeanne asked.
“Then return, if you can,” Montrovant finished,
“and if you do not, I will come after you. I think our
friend,” he gestured at the grinning, flaming skeleton
engulfed in flames behind them, “would agree
that it truly is a good night to die.”
_
Jeanne made his way back through the crowd
quickly. He had little patience for those gawking at
the spectacle of men being burned alive, and he
pushed his way roughly through the crowd, ignoring
those he angered. The two “priests” had moved back
from the front ranks for the moment, probably until
the next victim was brought forth to the slaughter.
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Jeanne meant to find them before that happened.
He saw the colors of the Church flying above one
of the tents, and he made straight for it, sweeping
his eyes over those who scurried about the camp
and watching for any sign of Scarpocci or Kli
Kodesh. He sensed them both before he saw them,
and Eugenio met him at the flap of the tent, one
hand dropping in a calming gesture onto the shoulder
of the guard Jeanne was about to cast aside to
gain entrance. He realized that they must have
known he was coming, possibly from the moment
Montrovant commanded it.
“So, the Dark One has sent his whelp,” the
bishop said suavely. “Enter, Jeanne le Duc, we have
much to discuss. It is always good to welcome—
family.”
Jeanne felt the rush of anger that threatened to
overcome his thoughts and battered it down. He
was here for a reason, and that reason did not involve
tossing away his existence in a futile attempt
to retaliate against Eugenio. He lowered his head
and entered the tent as the bishop held the flaps
open wide. They slipped closed behind him, and he
found that he now faced both elders.
“Why is he here?” Jeanne asked, the words leaping
forth before he could regain control of his
thoughts.
Kli Kodesh smiled and rose from where he’d been
sitting.
“The bishop and I have come to an agreement of
TO SPEAK WITH LIFELESS TONGUES
332
sorts,” he said suavely. “I think your sire will find
the arrangement—entertaining.”
Jeanne bit his lip to keep from responding. He’d
had enough of the ancient’s “entertainment” to last
several lifetimes, but now was not the time to tell
him so. Not before he had what he’d come for.
“Arrangement?” he prodded.
“It seems,” Bishop Scarpocci joined in, “that ‘Father’
Kodesh has slipped his treasures through our
grasp another time. I take it from your presence
that Montrovant did not reach the ship in time.”
“No,” Jeanne replied simply, “he did not.”
“Then it is settled,” Scarpocci said with finality,
turning to nod at Kli Kodesh. “We will bring the
matter before the Church upon my return, but you
may take my word that they will agree. I am not
without influence in Rome.”
“I don’t doubt you,” Kli Kodesh replied. “You
have been closed up in that monastery so long that
I was beginning to wonder if you’d ever break free,
but your influence is not to be questioned. Your
name is spoken in places much farther from Rome
than this, and with respect.”
“Enough of your words,” Eugenio snapped.
Jeanne watched the two carefully. Apparently
things were not quite as civil in the seclusion of the
tent as they’d first appeared.
“Your order will guard the treasures, maintaining
constant contact with the Church, and with
Montrovant. These are the conditions. I will set
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the Dark One up in a stronghold not far from the
mountain in question, and you will have your followers
contact him there. A representative of the
Church—unless things have changed since my
departure, Bishop Santorini—will keep tabs on
both Montrovant and the order. He is not quite
aware of my nature, but he knows enough to fear
me. I trust Montrovant will have no trouble in
earning the same level of ‘respect.’ The first indication
of treachery, and it is ended.”
“Agreed,” Kli Kodesh said, a faint smile dancing
across his lips.
“Order?” Jeanne cut in.
“You will remain silent until I speak to you
again,” Eugenio lashed out. “You will take the instructions
I will give you to Montrovant, and you
will convince him to follow them, or I will have
you, and he, on the very pyre that took de Molay
this night. Is that understood?”
Jeanne gazed at the bishop calmly, though the
anger raged just below the surface of his thoughts.
He did not acknowledge the bishop’s words, nor did
he deny them. He gazed silently into those ancient,
timeless eyes, and he waited.
“Tell the Dark One I will meet him on the walls
of my monastery in two weeks’ time. Tell him to prepare
himself for the task of building a new Order, a
new breed of knight. Tell him that not everything
is as it seems, and that he must do as I say—just this
once—in all the long years of his existence. Tell him
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334
to search his heart, and to trust me. I will speak to
him when I can—soon. Can you remember that?”
The words were etched into Jeanne’s mind, but
still he hesitated a moment. Despite his obvious
disadvantage, he wanted to be certain that fear did
not show on his features. He wanted this arrogant,
ancient vampire to know that things were indeed
not as they seemed; that though it might appear to
be so at the moment, he did not have every advantage.
Finally, as if in afterthought, Jeanne nodded.
“It is well,” Eugenio said softly. “Go, and deliver
my message. You must take yourself from this area
swiftly.”
“What of Gwendolyn?” Jeanne asked quickly.
“She wishes to accompany us, but,” he hesitated,
turning to Kli Kodesh, “that choice is not entirely
hers.”
“She may go as she wills,” the ancient cackled.
“I will see her again. I will see you all again. I will
see you all as dust, and there will be new entertainments.”
Jeanne turned, not acknowledging the ancient’s
taunting words. He slid through the flaps of the
tent and headed off into the shadows. Behind him,
mocking laughter floated through the night. A
single word filled his mind, floating out from the
interior of the tent to haunt him.“Dust.”
335
DAVID NIALL WILSON
TWENTY-FOUR
Montrovant’s eyes narrowed dangerously as
Jeanne relayed Eugenio’s message. He spoke
quickly, not commenting or embellishing the
words. The central point was that their search was
over. Not only had they not acquired the Grail, but
they would now be expected to maintain contact
with Kli Kodesh’s Nosferatu, never truly knowing
if those had it or not, and unable to act. It was a
bittersweet moment, and when he’d finished,
Jeanne stepped back a pace, watching his sire’s features.
A world of emotions and a longing that stretched
up from his very soul crossed the Dark One’s face.
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336
Years—centuries—a lifetime. He’d dedicated them
all to this singular purpose, and for what? To become
a watchdog for the Church? A guardian of
guardians, only in place because he was powerful in
ways the holy men were not?
Finally he spoke.
“It would seem that, for now, our traveling days
are numbered, Jeanne,” he said softly. “I don’t know
whether Kli Kodesh ever had the Grail, but if he
has it, we can’t afford to turn aside from this. You
say that Eugenio told him treachery would end our
bargain?”
Jeanne nodded.
“Then our course is clear. We will go to this
mountain, we will watch them as we are bid, and
we will find a way to incite them to treachery.”
With a sudden laugh the tall, gaunt vampire
clapped Jeanne on the back heartily.
“Will you join us, milady?” he asked, turning to
Gwendolyn and offering her his arm.
Smiling, she took it, offering her other to Jeanne.
There were several hours before morning, and suddenly
he felt the urge to run—to run and not look
back—all cares forgotten.
As if in answer to his wish, Montrovant took her
hand, turning and streaking off into the night.
Gwendolyn ran easily at his side, and Jeanne
watched as they took off, smiling softly. He lifted
his eyes to the moon, feeling that silvery light wash
over him, and went in pursuit.
337
DAVID NIALL WILSON
A sudden dizziness shifted through him, and he
stumbled, smacking his chin on the ground painfully.
Something was happening—something
new—and he was having trouble orienting himself.
The Moon called, and they answered. Behind
them, smoke rose over the keep of Jacques de
Molay…dark, bitter, and final.
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338
EPILOGUE
Beneath the keep of Jacques de Molay, in a silent
room of damp stone, the head lay forgotten in a
corner. The dust that had been Santos shifted. At
first the movement was slight—barely a shifting of
air—a whispered promise in the dark stagnancy of
the dungeon. Then there was more. Energy coalesced
about the area, and the spirit that had been
Santos reached out—sought—found maggots, wiggling
and squirming in one of the damper corners.
He dug deeper, found their name—vibrated the air
to form the sound. The change was slow—excruciatingly
slow. What passed for consciousness
339
DAVID NIALL WILSON
nearly left him, but then he had experienced the
change.
Slowly he crawled across the floor, sightless, using
his other senses. He didn’t have the strength to
seek a larger form—a more complex name. He slid
across the cold stone floor until he came up against
the solid mass of the head, and he began to slither
upward. He didn’t stop until he’d found the ear,
and, with a supreme effort, he toppled inside. Once
there he crawled deeper as quickly as he could.
Exhausted, he rested.
All thought, all function, closed down. He would
wait. He would endure. He would return. Nothing
mattered but that he return to his geas…his duty.
If it took a year, or a century, such things mattered
little to him. A final thought—a name—flashed
through his thoughts as he passed into darkness.
“Montrovant.”
As he passed into the void, gray-flecked eyes
mocked him, and dark laughter pressed around his
soul.