Michael Spradlin - Trail of Fate

“Why do they care what you do if you bother no one?”

“You must have grown up in an abbey, to ask such an incredibly naive question. The church does as it will. It is not the kings and monarchs who rule us, but Pope Celestine III. Does not your own order answer only to him?”

“Yes. I suppose, but I. .”

“He has decided the Cathars are enemies of the church, Templar. And now we must decide what to do about it, which is why Philippe is so upset with me. He thinks we should have left you on the beach. He feels we should be well on our way to Montsegur by now instead of taking you to the nearest port.”

“Montsegur?”

“It is our fortress in the mountains. When we are threatened, we retreat there for safety. Usually whoever is upset with us at the moment lays siege, but eventually gives up and leaves. However, Philippe is certain there will be a greater threat this time. As my father’s Seneschal, he wishes to return there at once, but he swore an oath to follow my command.”

“Maybe you should listen to him. Grateful as I am to you for not hurting my friends in their misguided attempt to rescue me, we are well able to find the port on our own, and you can resume your journey.”

Celia did not have a chance to respond, for just then Philippe rode hurriedly into camp and hastily dismounted.

“On arrive!” he said.

“What did he say?” I asked.

“Someone is coming,” Celia said.

Philippe and Celia spoke rapidly. Philippe barked orders, and his men immediately broke camp. Each ofthem spun offfrom the fire to an assigned duty.

“What is happening?” Robard asked. He and Maryam rose from the fire.

“I’m not sure. There is some kind of trouble. I think someone is after them.”

Robard looked at me in disbelief, then snorted. “What do you mean by trouble exactly?”

“What other kind of trouble do we know?” I asked.

The fire was extinguished and we were plunged into darkness. The half moon had just peeked over the horizon, and there was enough light for me to see Robard’s face.

“Just to be sure, you mean the bad-men-chasing-us-again kind?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” I said apologetically.

Robard sighed. “I will say this. Since I rescued you from those bandits, you’ve never been at a shortage for excitement.”

“Tristan, what are we going to do?” Maryam asked.

“Celia and her group are being pursued by enemies of some sort. She calls herself a Cathar, whatever that means.” Robard and Maryam shrugged. “Her father is an important religious leader among her people and has made enemies of the church. An archbishop they met with in a place called Narbonne is angry with them for some reason. Philippe was convinced they were followed, and now he has spotted something.”

“Something?” Robard asked. He knew the answer. Danger was approaching.

“This is not our concern. You don’t intend to become involved in her problems, do you?” Maryam asked.

“No, I don’t plan to,” I said.

In truth, I had no idea what to do. Did I owe anything to Celia? I had my duty to the Grail to consider. If they were being pursued by a large force, their only logical choice was flight. Robard, Maryam and I could slip away into the forest and work our way toward the coast and follow it until we came upon a port.

Within minutes, the horses were saddled and nearly every sign of our camp was gone. Only a close inspection by an experienced forester would find any evidence that a camp had ever been made here.

Celia approached the three of us while her friends mounted their horses.

“Philippe says nearly fifty of the archbishop’s guards are tracking us. They are a few miles back and moving slowly, but will be on us before morning if we do not leave right away.” She looked at me expectantly.

“Then you must leave now,” I said.

“What will you do?” she asked.

“We’ll be fine; we’ll head back toward the shore and follow it west until we find a port city. Don’t worry about us,” I told her.

Celia looked down at the ground for a moment, as if struggling to speak.

“Tristan, realize this: these men following us are ruthless. They kill and maim with no provocation. If they suspect you have seen us and helped us in any way. .” She let the words hang in the air.

“We’ll be safe,” I assured her.

“How do you know. .?” She looked at me strangely, but I nodded. The Grail had kept me safe thus far. It would protect the three of us. Then, almost as if she remembered how the strange sound she had heard pulled her to me on the beach, she nodded. I hadn’t had much time to think about it, but I wondered if the Grail was pulling me to her just as much. As if she needed its protection as well. But that sounded foolish. My duty was to protect the Grail, not to treat its wonders like a cheap carnival trick. Sir Thomas had entrusted it to me because he believed I would keep it safe. And although I sorely wished he had picked someone else, he had chosen me. I had to get on with my mission.

“You are a two-day walk from Perpignan. You should easily find a ship there,” she said.

Philippe was mounted and impatient to be under way. “Mademoiselle. .,” he whispered.

“Shh,” she hissed at him.

“Thank you, Tristan,” she said.

“For what?” I asked.

“For listening.” She nodded good-bye to Maryam and Robard, then mounted her horse, and we watched in silence as they rode away into the darkness.

Robard had retrieved his bow and held it in his left hand. Nervously shifting back and forth on his feet, he coughed quietly.

“Tristan?” he asked.

“Yes?”

“Time to go,” he said.

Both Maryam and Robard were eager to be on their way. We started off at a trot, following the stream. It would lead us to the shore eventually, and from there we could make our way to the city. We hiked in the opposite direction of Celia and her riders. Moving along in silence, Robard finally suggested we stop for the night.

“We need to rest,” he said. “I’m exhausted. Haven’t had much sleep since we came out of the water.”

“All right,” I said. “But we should reach the shore soon. We should make camp there. We’ll be far enough away from Celia’s camp then. If anyone finds us, it will be easier to convince them we’ve been following the shore and haven’t come across any other travelers.”

By the time two hours went by, the half moon rode high in the sky, providing us some light. The smell of salt water wafted over us, and we broke through the trees. There before us was the shore. It gave me pause to look again upon the ocean that had spit me out not so long ago. I took no joy in being near the water again.

We weren’t hungry, but we built a fire, and its light and warmth did much to improve my mood. No one spoke much; we were all too tired to talk. Angel found a spot close to the fire, curled up and was soon fast asleep.

It was time for me to carefully examine the contents of my satchel, and I was pleased to see that everything, although damp, had survived with little damage. On the second day aboard ship I’d wrapped Sir Thomas’ letter and the note I brought from the abbey in oilskin to protect them from the dampness. They were wet, but both were still readable and would likely dry out in fine shape. Even my blue woolen blanket had made it through.

With Maryam and Robard close by I couldn’t inspect the Grail, but Robard had shot an arrow through the satchel at very close range when we were back in Outremer and it had survived without a scratch. The Grail had likely survived being bounced about in the waves. I would check on it later, when I had time alone.