"Katherine Kurtz - Knights Templar 01 - Temple and the Stone" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kurtz Katherine)

sorrow of a mother who has lost children of her own.

"Poor, wee lamb," she managed to whisper. "May our Lord and His dear Lady Mother receive her
kindly."

Arnault drew a short, sharp breath and drew back, stunned, letting the others mill past him as he
attempted to comprehend the enormity of what had just occurred. Mingled with the stark political
implications of the Maid's death was his sinking certainty that his own experience had been no mere foray
into dreams. The shadow he had glimpsed, and with which he had sparred, was no gentle angel of death,
bringing welcome release from suffering, but rather, some malevolent entity come to destroy the innocent.

All at once he felt the need for fresh air. Closing his ears to the sounds of grieving, he wrapped himself in
his blanket and stumbled outside. The rain had ceased, but the sky was still stormy, the wind still tossing
at the ship anchored just offshore, now become a funeral barge instead of a wedding ship. Mercifully, Jay
had stayed within.

This was not the first time Arnault had encountered evil in spiritual form. But such entities rarely entered
the world of men save in response to human summoning-which meant that the attack on the little Maid
had been no chance occurrence, but deliberately contrived as murder. Arnault did not doubt the
testimony of his inner senses; but when he tried to imagine who could have compassed such a deed, and
in such a manner and for what purpose, his thoughts reeled back on themselves in bewilderment.

He turned his face to the wind while he asked himself once again whether what he had witnessed could
have been his own fantasy. But he knew with a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that there was no
question of that.

He dared not confide in anyone in the present party; certainly not the brash and insensitive Jay. But he
would certainly convey his suspicions to the appropriate superiors at the earliest opportunity.

The closest of those superiors, and one who might be strategically placed to ascertain who most might
have benefited from the Maid's death, was currently assigned to the principal Scottish preceptory at
Balantrodoch, just south of Edinburgh, where Brian de Jay was Master. Arnault had orders to return to
Paris for reassignment after concluding his escort duties to the now dead Queen of Scots; and news of
the tragedy would have to be carried abroad in any event. But since transport back to France could be
arranged most expeditiously from farther south, he decided that traveling with Jay as far as Balantrodoch
could be easily justified. In fact, certain of his superiors in Paris would expect it.

One thing was certain: If the little Maid's death had been compassed by agents of the Dark, Arnault's
assistance eventually would be called upon to counter their intentions.

Chapter Two

THE DEATH OF THE LITTLE MAID OF NORWAY WAS OVER-shadowed in the following year
by two closely connected events that shook the foundations of Christendom and utterly claimed the
attention of FrтАЪre Arnault's Templar superiors at all levels. The first was the sacking of the Christian city
of Tripoli, at the instigation of the Sultan Qalawun. The second was the destruction of the city of Acre by
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