not.”
“He will see the benefits of having an alliance with such a brotherhood,”
insisted Hugues.
“Yes, as a personal army he can call on at will. You’re playing right into his hands!” Will crossed to him. “Hugues, I swear this will be the end of us. You aren’t saving the Temple with this alliance, you’re destroying it!” He faltered.
“You remember Garin de Lyons?”
“How could I forget? He stole the Book of the Grail and almost exposed the Anima Templi. Robert told me all about him”
“What Robert doesn’t know, what no one else knows, is who he did it for.
At the fall of Acre, Garin confessed he had been working for Edward. The attack on the Templar party conveying the crown jewels to Paris: that was Edward. His plan to retake the jewels failed and when Garin told him about the Book, Edward used him to hunt it down. The king was planning to blackmail the Brethren to help him expand his kingdom. He knew we controlled the Temple, its wealth and power, and he was going to use our resources for himself. His attempts to capture the Book also failed and maybe that would have been the end of it only Everard misguidedly made him guardian of the Anima the fall of the templars
55
Templi. Edward tried to use this position to fund his war against Wales, but by then Everard and I had become suspicious of him and we endeavored to cut ourselves away from his influence.” Will’s words were coming in a rush.
“Edward sent Garin to force us to yield and while he was in the Holy Land, trying to worm his way into my life, Garin discovered Grand Master de Beaujeu’s plan to steal the Black Stone of Mecca.” He watched the emotions changing on Hugues’s face: surprise, shock, incredulity. “On Edward’s behalf, he worked against me, trying to get the Stone. In holding the Muslims’ holy relic to ransom, he believed Edward would get what he wanted: money for a future assault on Scotland and his own Crusade.”
Hugues moved away. “Garin told you this?” he asked fi nally.
“Yes.”
“Where is he now? What happened to him?”
“He died at Acre.”
“You are sure?”
When Will nodded, Hugues sighed roughly. “Then none of this can be proven. Garin may have been lying to you. Is there other proof?”
Will went to speak, then shook his head. “No,” he admitted, frustrated,
“but—”
“Do you know what I think this is about?” Hugues went to his desk and leaned against it, arms folded. “I think this is about your own dislike of Edward. It was you, not Everard, who came to the conclusion that Edward was working against us. Everard said as much in his writings. He was careful about what he did reveal, but reading between the lines that much at least was evident. He spoke of Garin as a wayward arrow and believed he was working for himself in the Holy Land. If you confronted Garin, no doubt he would have implicated someone else, so as not to take the blame, which, from everything everyone has told me about him, seems very likely.”
“No, that isn’t—”
“I think,” Hugues cut across him, “that there was some part of you that was jealous when the priest, your mentor, appointed Edward as guardian. Until then, you had been his closest confidant. With the arrival of Edward, that changed. And of course there are your ties with Scotland. I know you still have family there and I know this decision to go to war in your homeland must be hard for you to accept, but you cannot let personal feelings cloud your judgment of the wider implications here. Edward could very well be the Temple’s only chance for survival. I cannot allow anything to jeopardize that. I’m sorry, 56 robyn
young
Will. I have to trust my instincts and my instincts tell me it was Garin, and Garin alone, who betrayed us.”
Will felt the weight of doom pushing down on him. “You cannot do this!”
“My decision is fi nal.”
“I am head here!” shouted Will, reaching for his sword.
Hugues’s eyes
“He will see the benefits of having an alliance with such a brotherhood,”
insisted Hugues.
“Yes, as a personal army he can call on at will. You’re playing right into his hands!” Will crossed to him. “Hugues, I swear this will be the end of us. You aren’t saving the Temple with this alliance, you’re destroying it!” He faltered.
“You remember Garin de Lyons?”
“How could I forget? He stole the Book of the Grail and almost exposed the Anima Templi. Robert told me all about him”
“What Robert doesn’t know, what no one else knows, is who he did it for.
At the fall of Acre, Garin confessed he had been working for Edward. The attack on the Templar party conveying the crown jewels to Paris: that was Edward. His plan to retake the jewels failed and when Garin told him about the Book, Edward used him to hunt it down. The king was planning to blackmail the Brethren to help him expand his kingdom. He knew we controlled the Temple, its wealth and power, and he was going to use our resources for himself. His attempts to capture the Book also failed and maybe that would have been the end of it only Everard misguidedly made him guardian of the Anima the fall of the templars
55
Templi. Edward tried to use this position to fund his war against Wales, but by then Everard and I had become suspicious of him and we endeavored to cut ourselves away from his influence.” Will’s words were coming in a rush.
“Edward sent Garin to force us to yield and while he was in the Holy Land, trying to worm his way into my life, Garin discovered Grand Master de Beaujeu’s plan to steal the Black Stone of Mecca.” He watched the emotions changing on Hugues’s face: surprise, shock, incredulity. “On Edward’s behalf, he worked against me, trying to get the Stone. In holding the Muslims’ holy relic to ransom, he believed Edward would get what he wanted: money for a future assault on Scotland and his own Crusade.”
Hugues moved away. “Garin told you this?” he asked fi nally.
“Yes.”
“Where is he now? What happened to him?”
“He died at Acre.”
“You are sure?”
When Will nodded, Hugues sighed roughly. “Then none of this can be proven. Garin may have been lying to you. Is there other proof?”
Will went to speak, then shook his head. “No,” he admitted, frustrated,
“but—”
“Do you know what I think this is about?” Hugues went to his desk and leaned against it, arms folded. “I think this is about your own dislike of Edward. It was you, not Everard, who came to the conclusion that Edward was working against us. Everard said as much in his writings. He was careful about what he did reveal, but reading between the lines that much at least was evident. He spoke of Garin as a wayward arrow and believed he was working for himself in the Holy Land. If you confronted Garin, no doubt he would have implicated someone else, so as not to take the blame, which, from everything everyone has told me about him, seems very likely.”
“No, that isn’t—”
“I think,” Hugues cut across him, “that there was some part of you that was jealous when the priest, your mentor, appointed Edward as guardian. Until then, you had been his closest confidant. With the arrival of Edward, that changed. And of course there are your ties with Scotland. I know you still have family there and I know this decision to go to war in your homeland must be hard for you to accept, but you cannot let personal feelings cloud your judgment of the wider implications here. Edward could very well be the Temple’s only chance for survival. I cannot allow anything to jeopardize that. I’m sorry, 56 robyn
young
Will. I have to trust my instincts and my instincts tell me it was Garin, and Garin alone, who betrayed us.”
Will felt the weight of doom pushing down on him. “You cannot do this!”
“My decision is fi nal.”
“I am head here!” shouted Will, reaching for his sword.
Hugues’s eyes
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